Predictors of survival following surgical resection of limited-stage small cell lung cancer

BackgroundAdjuvant chemotherapy, postoperative radiation (PORT), and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) have been individually examined in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). There is a paucity of data on the effectiveness of each adjuvant treatment modality when used in combination after surgical resection of SCLC.MethodsData were collected from 5 cancer centers on all patients with limited-stage SCLC who underwent surgical resection between 1986 and 2019. Univariate and multivariable models were conducted to identify predictors of long-term outcomes, focusing on freedom from recurrence and survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy, PORT, and PCI.ResultsA total of 164 patients were analyzed. Multivariable Cox regression analysis did not identify any adjuvant therapies to significantly influence recurrence in this cohort. Specifically, PORT was not associated with a significant influence on locoregional recurrence and PCI was not significantly associated with intracranial outcomes. Adjuvant chemotherapy improved survival in all stage I through III disease (hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.81; P = .005) and even in pathologically node negative patients (hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.91; P = .024). Although PCI was found to improve survival in univariate analysis, it was not significant in a multivariable model. PORT was not found to affect survival on either univariate or multivariable analysis.ConclusionsThis is among the largest multi-institutional studies on surgically resected limited-stage SCLC. Our results highlight survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy, but did not identify a statistically significant influence from mediastinal PORT or PCI in our cohort. Larger prospective studies are needed to determine the benefit of PORT or PCI in a surgically resected limited-stage SCLC population.     

Diffusion-weighted MRI and PET/CT reproducibility in epithelial ovarian cancers during neoadjuvant chemotherapy

PurposeTo investigate the reproducibility of diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI and ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG)-Positron emission tomography/CT (PET/CT) in monitoring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer.Materials and methodsTen women (median age, 67 years; range: 41.8–77.3 years) with stage IIIC-IV epithelial ovarian cancers were included in this prospective trial (NCT02792959) between 2014 and 2016. All underwent initial laparoscopic staging, four cycles of carboplatine-paclitaxel-based chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery. PET/CT and DW-MRI were performed at baseline (C0), after one cycle (C1) and before surgery (C4). Two nuclear physicians and two radiologists assessed five anatomic sites for the presence of ≥ 1 lesion. Target lesions in each site were defined and their apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), maximal standardized uptake value (SUV-max), SUV-mean, SUL-peak, metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were monitored (i.e., 10 patients × 5 sites × 3 time-points). Their relative early and late changes were calculated. Intra/inter-observer reproducibilities of qualitative and quantitative analysis were estimated with Kappa and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs).ResultsFor both modalities, inter- and intra-observer agreement percentages were excellent for initial staging but declined later for DW-MRI, leading to lower Kappa values for inter- and intra-observer variability (0.949 and 1 at C0, vs. 0.633 and 0.643 at C4, respectively) while Kappa values remained > 0.8 for PET/CT. Inter- and intra-observer ICCs were > 0.75 for SUV-max, SUL-peak, SUV-mean and their change regardless the time-point. ADC showed lower ICCs (range: 0.013–0.811). ANOVA found significant influences of the evaluation time, the measurement used (ADC, SUV-max, SUV-mean, SUV-max, SUL-peak, MTV or TLG) and their interaction on ICC values (P = 0.0023, P< 0.0001 and P =0.0028, respectively).ConclusionWhile both modalities demonstrated high reproducibility at baseline, only SUV-max, SUL-peak, SUV-mean and their changes maintained high reproducibility during chemotherapy.     

Influence of coronary stenosis location on diagnostic performance of machine learning-based fractional flow reserve from CT angiography

BackgroundCompared with invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR), coronary CT angiography (cCTA) is limited in detecting hemodynamically relevant lesions. cCTA-based FFR (CT-FFR) is an approach to overcome this insufficiency by use of computational fluid dynamics. Applying recent innovations in computer science, a machine learning (ML) method for CT-FFR derivation was introduced and showed improved diagnostic performance compared to cCTA alone. We sought to investigate the influence of stenosis location in the coronary artery system on the performance of ML-CT-FFR in a large, multicenter cohort.MethodsThree hundred and thirty patients (75.2% male, median age 63 years) with 502 coronary artery stenoses were included in this substudy of the MACHINE (Machine Learning Based CT Angiography Derived FFR: A Multi-Center Registry) registry. Correlation of ML-CT-FFR with the invasive reference standard FFR was assessed and pooled diagnostic performance of ML-CT-FFR and cCTA was determined separately for the following stenosis locations: RCA, LAD, LCX, proximal, middle, and distal vessel segments.ResultsML-CT-FFR correlated well with invasive FFR across the different stenosis locations. Per-lesion analysis revealed improved diagnostic accuracy of ML-CT-FFR compared with conventional cCTA for stenoses in the RCA (71.8% [95% confidence interval, 63.0%–79.5%] vs. 54.8% [45.7%–63.8%]), LAD (79.3 [73.9–84.0] vs. 59.6 [53.5–65.6]), LCX (84.1 [76.0–90.3] vs. 63.7 [54.1–72.6]), proximal (81.5 [74.6–87.1] vs. 63.8 [55.9–71.2]), middle (81.2 [75.7–85.9] vs. 59.4 [53.0–65.6]) and distal stenosis location (67.4 [57.0–76.6] vs. 51.6 [41.1–62.0]).ConclusionIn a multicenter cohort with high disease prevalence, ML-CT-FFR offered improved diagnostic performance over cCTA for detecting hemodynamically relevant stenoses regardless of their location.     

Identifying current uses of return to work screening tests and their effectiveness of reducing the risk of reinjury in athletic occupations – A systematic review

ObjectiveTo identify the current return-to-work (RTW) screening tests conducted for athletic occupations following injury and their effectiveness of reducing reinjury risk.MethodsA search was made of multiple databases (BioMed Central, CINAHL through ebscohost, EMBASE, Google Scholar, PUBMED, Scopus, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science) from their inception to March 2022, using relevant terms to identify articles meeting predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. The search, data extraction, risk of bias, and evaluation of the certainty of the findings were completed independently by two authors. To understand the effectiveness of screening tests and their impact in reducing in reinjury rates, results were split into the following three time points: “Short-term” (≤1 year), “Medium-term” (≥2 years) and “Long-term” (≥3 years).ResultsFive studies (n = 507) met the inclusion criteria. There was a very low level of certainty for the effectiveness of screening tools reducing reinjury risk at short-term, medium-term and long-term follow ups. Only one study recorded a large effect in the reducing reinjury risk.ConclusionThe results demonstrated very low level of certainty for the effectiveness of screening tests reducing the risk of reinjury. A gap in our understanding currently exists for the effectiveness of RTW screening tests in tactical athletic occupations following injury and further research investigating is required.     

Evaluation of a Safety Protocol for the Management of Thirst in the Postoperative Period

PurposeTo associate medications, anesthetic techniques, and clinical conditions that interfere in the time of patient approval in the safety protocol for thirst management.DesignA quantitative, analytical, and longitudinal study conducted in Southern Brazil.MethodsA nonprobabilistic sample, of 203 adult patients in the immediate postoperative period, evaluated every 15 minutes for 1 hour.FindingsA general prevalence of thirst of 67.7%, and mean intensity of 6.38. Fentanyl, morphine, rocuronium, and sevoflurane increased lack of approval in the protocol within 30 minutes (P < .05). General anesthesia (P < .0001) and level of consciousness (95.4%) presented the highest nonapproval rates.ConclusionsAnesthetics and general anesthesia delayed protocol approval; however, after 30 minutes, 75.4% of patients had been approved. Level of consciousness was the main criterion of disapproval. The protocol identified crucial clinical conditions that made it impossible for the patient to receive thirst relief strategies and demonstrated that thirst can be satiated precociously with safety.     

艳山姜挥发油通过调控巨噬细胞CD36和ABCA1表达抑制泡沫细胞的形成

目的:观察艳山姜挥发油对氧化低密度脂蛋白(ox-LDL)诱导巨噬细胞转化为泡沫细胞的抑制作用,并探索其机制。方法:使用佛波酯(PMA,100μg·L^-1)诱导人白血病单核细胞(THP-1)24 h后形成巨噬细胞,实验分为4组,分别为空白组(无血清RPMI 1640),模型组(80 mg·L^-1ox-LDL),艳山姜挥发油低剂量组(80 mg·L^-1ox-LDL+4μg·L^-1艳山姜挥发油),艳山姜挥发油高剂量组(80 g·L^-1ox-LDL+20μg·L^-1艳山姜挥发油)。噻唑蓝(MTT)比色法检测艳山姜挥发油对巨噬细胞的活性的影响,蛋白免疫印迹法(Western blot)检测巨噬细胞中白细胞分化抗原36(CD36)和三磷酸腺苷结合盒转运体A1(ABCA1)的表达,酶联免疫吸附测定(ELISA)检测巨噬细胞内胆固醇酯含量,油红O染色法检测巨噬细胞中脂质小滴的含量。结果:艳山姜挥发油对巨噬细胞无毒性。与空白组比较,模型组的巨噬细胞内脂滴和胆固醇酯的含量显著增加(P<0.01),CD36蛋白表达显著上升(P<0.01),ABCA1蛋白表达无显著变化;与模型组比较,艳山姜挥发油显著抑制巨噬细胞中脂滴和胆固醇酯的含量(P<0.01),下调CD36的蛋白表达(P<0.01),上调ABCA1蛋白的表达(P<0.01),艳山姜挥发油可抑制巨噬细胞向泡沫细胞的转化。结论:艳山姜挥发油对ox-LDL诱导的巨噬细胞向泡沫细胞的形成具有抑制作用,该药理作用与艳山姜挥发油下调巨噬细胞CD36和上调ABCA1蛋白的表达有关。     

谭新华从肝肾论治男科疾病临证经验

谭新华教授采用温肾补肝、益肾疏肝、填精消癥、养肾柔肝、补肾泻肝之法治疗男性不育症、勃起功能障碍、前列腺增生症、精索静脉曲张、慢性前列腺炎等男科疾病临床疗效显著。本文结合典型案例对谭教授从肝肾论治男科疾病经验进行总结。     

中药有效成分有机-无机杂化纳米载体的研究进展

纳米载体在改善中药有效成分溶解性、生物膜透过性与生物体内行为、增效减毒等方面发挥着重要作用,具有广阔的应用前景。作为新型纳米载体,有机-无机杂化纳米载体由有机和无机材料或载体复合而形成,结合了两者的优势,能够更好地发挥其在药物递送中的作用,提高药物稳定性、载药量和生物相容性,并可以实现多功能化。笔者对近年来国内外中药有效成分有机-无机杂化纳米载体的研究和应用情况进行了总结与分析,并展望其发展前景,可为高效安全递送中药有效成分的新型递药系统的研究提供参考。