室性心律失常的研究：创新铸就超越

室性心律失常危害身心健康,尤其是室性心动过速（室速）和心室颤动（室颤）更可直接导致心脏性猝死。21世纪的前10年,国内外在室性心律失常的机制和防治研究中均取得重要进展。本期杂志刊登一组文章,涉及医院内室颤的救治、室速和室颤的机制、药物治疗、射频消融治疗、植入型心律转复除颤器（ICD）的应用等内容。所刊文章或许有诸多不足,并不完美,但锐意创新为其共同特点。     

Cystic fibrosis in the pancreas: Recent advances provide new insights

Idiopathic chronic pancreatitis accounts for up to one third of chronic pancreatitis cases. The most common inherited disease of the exocrine pancreas is cystic fibrosis, which is caused by mutations of a gene encoding an ion transport protein. It was discovered during the past year that many patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis have mutations of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. This article reviews the evidence associating mutations of this gene with chronic pancreatitis and discusses the implications of this association for the evaluation, pathogenesis, classification, and possible prevention of pancreatitis.     

Cystic fibrosis in the pancreas: Recent advances provide new insights

Idiopathic chronic pancreatitis accounts for up to one third of chronic pancreatitis cases. The most common inherited disease of the exocrine pancreas is cystic fibrosis, which is caused by mutations of a gene encoding an ion transport protein. It was discovered during the past year that many patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis have mutations of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. This article reviews the evidence associating mutations of this gene with chronic pancreatitis and discusses the implications of this association for the evaluation, pathogenesis, classification, and possible prevention of pancreatitis.     

Alcohol and atherosclerosis: Recent insights

Light to moderate alcohol intake is known to have cardioprotective properties; however, the magnitude of protection depends on other factors and may be confined to some subsets of the population. This review focuses on factors that modify the relationship between alcohol and coronary heart disease (CHD). The cardio-protective effect of alcohol seems to be larger among middle-aged and elderly adults than among young adults, who do not have a net beneficial effect of a light to moderate alcohol intake in terms of reduced all-cause mortality. The levels of alcohol at which the risk of CHD is lowest and the levels of alcohol at which the risk of CHD exceeds the risk among abstainers are lower for women than for men. The pattern of drinking seems important for the apparent cardioprotective effect of alcohol, and the risk of CHD is generally lower for steady versus binge drinking. Finally, there is some evidence that wine may have more beneficial effects than beer and distilled spirits; however, these results are still controversial and may be confounded by personal characteristics and other lifestyle factors such as diet. The inverse association between alcohol intake and CHD is influenced by age, gender, drinking pattern, and possibly by type of alcohol.     

Brugada syndrome: Recent advances and controversies

The Brugada syndrome, first described as a new clinical entity in 1992, is widely recognized today as a form of inherited sudden cardiac arrest. The past 16 years witnessed a progressive increase in the number of reported cases and a dramatic proliferation of articles serving to define the clinical, genetic, cellular, ionic, and molecular aspects of the disease. This article provides a brief overview of recent advances in our understanding of the clinical presentation and molecular and cellular mechanisms and an update of existing controversies.     

Ischemic mitral regurgitation: Recent advances

Opinion statement  This article reviews recent developments in the pathophysiology and management of ischemic mitral regurgitation. Recent imaging studies using three-dimensional echocardiography have added clarity to the mechanism responsible for this condition. This article also discusses recent studies on outcomes of surgical repair, including current results and potential risks of restrictive annuloplasty. Because of the limitations imposed by restrictive annuloplasty, adjunctive surgical methods focusing on the left ventricle or papillary muscles are being investigated to address this disease. In the interim, a downsized complete rigid or semirigid annuloplasty repair appears to offer good midterm outcomes.     

Epidemiology of sepsis: Recent advances

Sepsis, as defined by an expert consensus definition, is the development of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome in the presence of infection. Using this clinically applicable definition, several studies have evaluated the epidemiology of sepsis over the past decade. The current incidence of sepsis is at least 240 patients per 100,000 people in the United States population, whereas for severe sepsis it is between 51 and 95 patients per 100,000 people. The incidence rate for sepsis has been increasing over the past two decades, driving an increase in the number of deaths despite a decline in case-fatality rates. Sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for more than 17 billion dollars in direct healthcare expenditures.     

Personalized oncology: Recent advances and future challenges

Personalized oncology is evidence-based, individualized medicine that delivers the right care to the right cancer patient at the right time and results in measurable improvements in outcomes and a reduction on health care costs. Evolving topics in personalized oncology such as genomic analysis, targeted drugs, cancer therapeutics and molecular diagnostics will be discussed in this review. Biomarkers and molecular individualized medicine are replacing the traditional “one size fits all” medicine. In the next decade the treatment of cancer will move from a reactive to a proactive discipline. The essence of personalized oncology lies in the use of biomarkers. These biomarkers can be from tissue, serum, urine or imaging and must be validated. Personalized oncology based on biomarkers is already having a remarkable impact. Three different types of biomarkers are of particular importance: predictive, prognostic and early response biomarkers. Tools for implementing preemptive medicine based on genetic and molecular diagnostic and interventions will improve cancer prevention. Imaging technologies such as Computed Tomography (CT) and Positron Emitted Tomography (PET) are already influencing the early detection and management of the cancer patient. Future advances in imaging are expected to be in the field of molecular imaging, integrated diagnostics, biology driven interventional radiology and theranostics. Molecular diagnostics identify individual cancer patients who are more likely to respond positively to targeted chemotherapies. Molecular diagnostics include testing for genes, gene expression, proteins and metabolites. The use of companion molecular diagnostics is expected to grow significantly in the future and will be integrated into new cancer therapies a single (bundled) package which will provide greater efficiency, value and cost savings. This approach represents a unique opportunity for integration, increased value in personalized oncology.     

Thalassemia: Recent insights into molecular mechanisms

Recent advances in defining the molecular basis for the thalassemia syndromes are discussed. We now realize that the causes of the thalassemia phenotype are diverse and include gene deletions, nuclear RNA processing defects, nonsense mutations, fusion genes, termination codon mutants, and unstable globin chains.     

Review: Recent advances in liver transplantation

Liver transplant is a life-saving treatment with 1-year and 5-year survival rates of 90% and 70%, respectively. However, organ demand continues to exceed supply, such that many patients will die waiting for an available organ. This article reviews for the general gastroenterologist the latest developments in the field to reduce waiting list mortality and maximise utilisation of available organs. The main areas covered include legislative changes in organ donation and the new ‘opt-out’ systems being rolled out in the UK, normothermic machine perfusion to optimise marginal grafts, a new national allocation system to maximise benefit from each organ and developments in patient ‘prehabilitation’ before listing. Current areas of research interest, such as immunosuppression withdrawal, are also summarised.     

Imaging of the pituitary: Recent advances

Pituitary lesions, albeit relatively infrequent, can significantly alter the quality of life. This article highlights the role of advanced imaging modalities in evaluating pituitary-hypothalamic axis lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the examination of choice for evaluating hypothalamic-pituitary-related endocrine diseases. Advanced MR techniques discussed in this article include dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, 3T MRI, magnetization transfer (MT) imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), proton MR spectroscopy, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, intraoperative MRI, and intraoperative real-time ultrasonography.     

Recent advances: Infections of the spine

The global increase of spinal infections is concomitant with the rise of its risk factors, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes mellitus, intravenous drug use, advanced age, and gunshot wounds to the spine. Because spinal infections have a wide span of presentation, early detection and differentiation are notoriously challenging. Current advances in laboratory and imaging techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction, fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, and 99mTc-ciprofloxacin scintigraphy, allow for better diagnostic rendering of the infection and its degree of spinal involvement. Less invasive surgical procedures and preventive surgical management have helped reduce spinal infection morbidities such as deformity and neurologic deficit. Although proper antibiotic regimen and correct surgical management are of vital importance to successful patient outcome, early detection remains the most critical factor.     

Imaging of the thyroid: Recent advances

Although thyroid scintigraphy and ultrasound continues to be the mainstay of the diagnostic imaging of the thyroid gland, there have been several recent advances that are of interest to both radiologists and endocrinologists. In this review article, the authors discuss recent progress in imaging of the thyroid by use of radionuclide imaging including single photon-emission computed tomography/positron emission tomography, ultrasonography (USG), USG elastography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and optical coherence tomography.