Diabetic foot ulcers: A devastating complication of diabetes mellitus continues non-stop in spite of new medical treatment modalities

Diabetic foot ulcer is a devastating complication of diabetes mellitus and significant cause of mortality and morbidity all over the world and can be complex and costly. The development of foot ulcer in a diabetic patient has been estimated to be 19%-34% through their lifetime. The pathophysiology of diabetic foot ulcer consist of neuropathy, trauma and, in many patients, additional peripheral arterial disease. In particular, diabetic neuropathy leads to foot deformity, callus formation, and insensitivity to trauma or pressure. The standard algorithms in diabetic foot ulcer management include assessing the ulcer grade classification, surgical debridement, dressing to facilitate wound healing, off-loading, vascular assessment (status and presence of a chance for interventional vascular correction), and infection and glycemic control. Although especially surgical procedures are sometimes inevitable, they are poor predictive factors for the prognosis of diabetic foot ulcer. Different novel treatment modalities such as nonsurgical debridement agents, oxygen therapies, and negative pressure wound therapy, topical drugs, cellular bioproducts, human growth factors, energy-based therapies, and systematic therapies have been available for patients with diabetic foot ulcer. However, it is uncertain whether they are effective in terms of promoting wound healing related with a limited number of randomized controlled trials. This review aims at evaluating diabetic foot ulcer with regard to all aspects. We will also focus on conventional and novel adjunctive therapy in diabetic foot management.     

基于人工智能的骨龄辅助评价系统对四川地区完全性生长激素缺乏症患儿骨龄研究

目的探讨采用基于"人工智能(AI)的骨龄辅助评价系统(上海初云医疗科技有限公司与四川大学华西第二医院合作开发)"(以下简称为AI系统)对完全性生长激素缺乏症(CGHD)患儿诊断及骨龄评价准确性。 方法选择2014年7月至2019年11月，于四川大学华西第二医院确诊的66例来自四川地区CGHD患儿为研究对象，纳入研究组。选择同期于病例收集医院儿童保健科进行骨龄测定的67例来自四川地区身高达标儿童作为对照，纳入对照组。对每例受试儿进行左手腕关节正位X射线摄片骨龄测定，由2位医师采用《TW₂骨龄评分法中国未成年人南方标准》(以下简称为TW₂CHN)》与《TW₃骨龄评分法标准》(以下简称为TW₃)，盲法评价受试儿TW₂CHN-桡、尺、掌指骨(RUS)与TW₂CHN-腕骨(carpal)、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-RUS及TW₃-carpal骨龄(以下简称为5种传统骨龄)，以及以同性别、年龄身高达标儿童5种传统骨龄为标准，计算受试儿5种传统骨龄百分位数。同时，采用AI系统分别对每例受试儿采取TW₂CHN与TW₃法，评价其AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-RUS及AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄(以下简称为5种AI骨龄)及其相应百分位数。以上述5种传统骨龄＋5种AI骨龄(以下简称为10种骨龄)相应的P₅₀、P₂₅、P₁₀、P₃值(统称为P_n值)作为诊断CGHD患儿临界值，分别计算其诊断CGHD患儿的敏感度、特异度、约登(Youden)指数、准确率、阳性似然比、阴性似然比、阳性预测值、阴性预测值。采用Kappa值评价2组受试儿5种传统骨龄百分位数与对应的5种AI骨龄百分位数评价结果的一致性，以及2位医师对2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄百分位数评价结果一致性。绘制上述10种骨龄百分位数诊断CGHD患儿的受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线，并计算曲线下面积(AUC)。采用配对t检验，对2组受试儿TW₂CHN骨龄与TW₃骨龄进行比较。本研究遵循的程序符合2013年新修订的《世界医学协会赫尔辛基宣言》要求。2组受试儿年龄、性别构成比等一般临床资料比较，差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。 结果①采用10种骨龄的P_n值分别作为诊断CGHD临界值，对133例受试儿CGHD诊断结果显示，除了TW₃-RUS骨龄中，以骨龄≤P₁₀作为诊断CGHD患儿临界值时的诊断准确率最高(85.0%)，TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS骨龄中，均为以骨龄≤P₂₅作为临界值时，对CGHD的诊断准确率最高，分别为81.9%、75.2%、88.0%、78.2%、75.2%、73.6%、81.2%、72.9%、78.9%。②一致性检验结果显示，2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS与AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal与AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20与AI-TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-RUS与AI-TW₃-RUS、TW₃-carpal与AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄百分位数评价结果均为中等一致性，Kappa值分别为0.445、0.578、0.570、0.446、0.430(均为P<0.001)。③对2位医师对2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄百分位数评价结果进行一致性检验显示，其Kappa值为0.790(P<0.001)，一致性较高。④绘制10种骨龄百分位数评价结果诊断CGHD的ROC曲线分析结果显示，TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-carpal、TW₃-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS骨龄百分位数诊断CGHD患儿的AUC分别为0.932、0.859、0.915、0.895、0.844、0.823、0.805、0.866、0.860、0.764(均为P<0.001)。⑤133例受试儿的TW₃-RUS、TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS、AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄，均分别显著低于TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal骨龄，并且差异均有统计学意义(t＝21.746、25.287、16.498、9.290，P<0.001)。 结论TW₂CHN法、TW₃法对CGHD患儿骨龄评价及诊断均有临床价值，TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄对于CGDH患儿诊断效能高。四川地区儿童TW₃骨龄较TW₂CHN骨龄低，TW₃法可能不完全适用于四川地区儿童骨龄评价。AI系统对于四川地区CGHD患儿骨龄评价结果与传统骨龄评价结果具有中等一致性，可为临床医师评价受试儿骨龄提供帮助。     

Bench to bedside: recent advances in lung cancer pathological research with implications for diagnostic clinical practice

After decades of relative stagnation lung cancer is emerging as a disease type where rapid progress is being made in diagnosis and therapy, as well as in our understanding of disease biology. Much of this progress is of immediate impact to diagnosticians, and more is likely to affect diagnostic practice in the near future. In this review we seek to briefly summarize several key areas of active research of immediate or probable imminent value to trainee and consultant pulmonary pathologists alike. We cover some major changes in tumour classification, grading, and patient stratification, as well as considering the state of the art in machine-assisted interpretation of lung cancer histology, and the use of genetically modified lung cancer models.     

Redox active or thiol reactive? Optimization of rapid screens to identify less evident nuisance compounds

Compounds that exhibit assay interference or undesirable mechanisms of bioactivity are routinely encountered in assays at various stages of drug discovery. We observed that assays for the investigation of thiol-reactive and redox-active compounds have not been collected in a comprehensive review. Here, we review these assays and subject them to experimental optimization to improve their reliability. We demonstrate the usefulness of our assay cascade by assaying a library of bioactive compounds, chemical probes, and a set of approved drugs. These high-throughput assays should complement the array of wet-lab and in silico assays during the initial stages of hit discovery campaigns to pursue only hit compounds with tractable mechanisms of action.     

Tongue cancer treatment and oncological outcomes: The role of glossectomy classification

BackgroundNowadays surgery remains the gold standard of treatment for tongue cancer. Via a more clear and precise terminology, the glossectomy classification by Ansarin et al. facilitates shared communication between surgeons, allowing comparison between published research and improving surgical practice and patient care. To establish the association of glossectomies, according to their classification by Ansarin et al. with overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DSF), and cause-specific survival (CSS) in tongue cancer, we conducted a systemic retrospective study on 300 consecutive patients affected by primary oral tongue cancer and treated with surgery at the European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS (IEO).MethodsThree hundred patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma and treated at the Division of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of the European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS were cataloged according to the glossectomy classification. OS, DFS, and CSS were compared by surgical treatments.ResultsOS-5yrs was 80% for the type I glossectomy group, 75% for type II, 65% for type III, and 35% for type IV-V. DFS-5yrs was 74%, 60%, 55%, and 27%, respectively for I, II, III, and IV-V glossectomy group; CSS-5yrs was 82%, 80%, 72%, and 48%, respectively for I, II, III, and IV-V glossectomy group (p < 0.01).ConclusionsThis study confirmed that the application of the glossectomy classification was statistically correlated with patients' oncological outcomes.     

An update on the classification of phyllodes tumours of the breast

Phyllodes tumour (PT) is a rare fibroepithelial neoplasm of the breast, histologically categorized into 3 grades, namely benign, borderline and malignant; each with distinct clinical behaviour and implications for management. This article addresses challenges in the diagnosis, grading and management of PT in excisional and core needle biopsy specimens, with a brief review of recent molecular findings.     

一测多评法在中药质量控制中的应用及研究进展＊

一测多评法（quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker，QAMS）已成熟应用于中药材、中药提取物及中成药领域等中药复杂体系的质量评价研究中，有效解决了因对照品缺乏而导致的多指标质控技术推广难问题。本文查阅近五年的国内外研究文献，重点总结了高效液相色谱、气相色谱和质谱等技术在QAMS法中药质量控制中的应用。高效液相色谱联用紫外检测器（UV）技术应用最为广泛，最适合于中药QAMS法定量，结果稳定、准确；而高效液相色谱联用蒸发光检测器在中药QAMS法应用中，其测定准确性和适用性仍然需进一步探索和验证。液质联用技术虽然具有灵敏度高、线性范围宽等优点，但易受仪器参数、基质效应等的影响。进一步发展HPLC-UV技术在中成药制剂质量评价中的应用，是QAMS法多成分定量值得关注的方向；探索LC-MS和GC技术在中药QAMS质量评价中的稳定性和普适性是未来将面临的挑战。