Twelve tips for expanding undergraduate clinical teaching capacity

Undergraduate medical education has expanded substantially in recent years, through both establishing new programs and increasing student numbers in existing programs. This expansion has placed pressure on the capacity for training students in clinical placements, raising concerns about the risk of dilution of experience, and reducing work readiness. The concerns have been greatest in more traditional environments, where clinical placements in large academic medical centers are often the “gold standard”. However, there are ways of exposing medical students to patient interactions and clinical supervisors in many other contexts. In this paper, we share our experiences and observations of expanding clinical placements for both existing and new medical programs in several international locations. While this is not necessarily an easy task, a wide range of opportunities can be accessed by asking the right questions of the right people, often with only relatively modest changes in resource allocation.     

甲状旁腺切除术用于难治性肾性继发性甲状旁腺功能亢进的安全性及近远疗效

背景与目的:甲状旁腺切除术(PTX)是治疗药物不能控制的难治性肾性继发性甲状旁腺功能亢进症(SHPT)的重要手段,但PTX术后仍有可能发生永久性甲状旁腺功能减退,无动力性骨病或难治性骨软化症,且国内尚缺乏对PTX术后远期的疗效观察的研究。本研究进一步评价PTX治疗难治性肾性SHPT的安全性与近远期疗效。方法:纳入2011年1月—2014年12月在安徽医科大学第二附属医院行PTX治疗的139例伴有难治性肾性SHPT的维持性透析患者。收集患者术前及术后3 d、6个月及1、2、3年的临床资料、血全段甲状旁腺激素(iPTH)、血钙、血磷、血红蛋白(Hb)及红细胞压积(Hct)等,观察并记录术后症状缓解情况、术后并发症和随访情况。结果:139例患者的PTX手术成功率为95.7%(133/139),术中共计切除甲状旁腺腺体537枚,平均切除3.86枚/例。12例(8.6%)术后发生一过性喉返神经损伤,其中声音嘶哑9例(6.5%),饮水呛咳3例(2.2%),未予处理术后3个月内均自行好转。术后低钙血症或缺乏维生素D者120例(86.3%),给予西那卡塞、补钙及补充活性维生素D治疗后得到有效控制。全组未发生切口感染、出血、窒息及甲状腺功能减退等外科并发症。患者的贫血状况均有不同程度地改善,Hb和Hct术后6个月明显升高并在随访期间保持稳定;术后iPTH明显降低,术后3 d的血钙、磷、钙磷乘积水平最低,随访3年仍低于手术前,所有变化与术前均有统计学差异(均P0.05)。随访期间无死亡病例。患者术前的骨痛、顽固性皮肤瘙痒、失眠、异位钙化、肌无力伴萎缩症状在术后1 d即明显缓解;身高缩短、骨骼畸形患者随访期间无进行性加重;纳差、全身营养状况及自理能力术后3个月内不同程度地改善。11例(7.9%)持续性SHPT,包括4例(2.9%)术中未完全切除甲状旁腺腺体,1例(0.7%)术中1枚腺体较小而未切除完全,6例(4.3%)术后检查存在纵隔异位甲状旁腺。随访期间,5例(3.5%)腺体未切除完全者的iPTH均800 pg/mL,肌无力及顽固性皮肤瘙痒临床症状明显,再次行PTX;6例(4.3%)存在异位甲状旁腺腺体者,因手术风险较大患者拒绝再次手术,予以药物治疗;8例(5.8%)术后复发,其中6例(4.3%)系前臂移植物复发所致,均在局麻下行前臂皮下移植物切除;2例(1.4%)系颈部原位残留腺体过度增生,予以二次手术,术后症状缓解。所有进行二次手术的患者在随访结束时无明显的临床症状,均未复发。结论:PTX可改善难治性肾性SHPT患者临床症状、贫血及钙磷代谢,且近远期疗效均较好,是治疗难治性SHPT的安全有效方法。     

Different clinical features between patients with ROS1-positive and ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer

ObjectiveTo compare the baseline clinical characteristics between patients with ROS1-positive and ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the correlations of these subtypes with the distribution of metastases.MethodsWe compared the clinical characteristics and imaging features of patients with ROS1-positive and ALK-positive NSCLC using statistical methods.ResultsData for 232 patients were analyzed. Compared with ALK-positive NSCLC, ROS1-positive NSCLC was more likely to occur in women (71% vs 53%), and primary lesions ≤3 cm were more common in patients with ROS1-positive compared with ALK-positive NSCLC (58% vs 37%). There was no significant difference in the distribution of metastases between the two groups. Subgroup analysis within the ROS1-positive group showed that, compared with primary lesions >3 cm, primary lesions ≤3 cm were more likely to present as peripheral tumors (72% vs 43%) and more likely to exhibit non-solid density (44% vs 4%).ConclusionsAlthough ROS1-positive and ALK-positive NSCLCs show similar clinical features, the differences may help clinicians to identify patients requiring further genotyping at initial diagnosis.     

Thromboembolism in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiac disease, which has a marked heterogeneity in clinical expression, natural history, and prognosis. HCM is associated with a high prevalence of thromboembolic events (stroke and systemic embolic events), even if taking no account of atrial fibrillation (AF), leading to unexpected disability and death in patients of all ages. Several risk factors of thromboembolism such as AF, greater age, left atrial diameter, heart failure and others have been confirmed in patients with HCM. Conventional thromboembolic predictive models were estimated by several trials in HCM population but it turned out to be unsatisfactory. Based on those previous explorations, researchers tried to modify or develop novel models suitable for HCM population in thromboembolism prediction. In consideration of catastrophic advent events of thromboembolism, current guidelines have recommended life-long anticoagulant therapy after a single short AF.Therefore, early identification of risk factors for thromboembolism, accurate risk stratification, timely preventive measures and aggressive management may help to avoid serious adverse thromboembolic events in HCM population.