Clinical analysis of high-intensity focussed ultrasound ablation for abdominal wall endometriosis: a 4-year experience at a specialty gynecological institution

Objective: To evaluate the long-term clinical effect of high-intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) as a non-invasive modality for ablation of abdominal wall endometriosis (AWE) foci.

Methods: All women who were diagnosed with cutaneous endometriosis and underwent HIFU ablation and 4-year follow-up were included. Patient symptoms, imaging performed, HIFU ablation, recurrence, lesion location, size and number were collected and analyzed.

Results: A total of 51 women with 57 painful abdominal wall masses with a median volume of 4.00?cm³ and a mean age of 30.5±2.12 years were treated with HIFU. The main symptoms were a palpable painful abdominal mass (93%), protrusion of the skin (28.1%, 16) or lack of protrusion of the skin (71.9%, 41). Ultrasound was initially performed in 100% (51) of women, whereas 6% (3) required MRI examinations to distinguish the features and range of the masses. Ablation was performed with a median 300?s of sonication time, 40?min treatment time, 150?W of power and 41800?J of total energy to treat lesions that were a median volume of 3.83?cm³. No severe complications occurred, except in one patient with a first-degree skin burn, during the 48-month follow-up period. The pooled recurrence of cutaneous endometriosis occurred in 3.9% (2) of women.

Conclusion: The diagnosis of AWE should be confirmed with imaging of the lesion number, location, size and features before HIFU ablation. HIFU should be the first choice for the treatment of AWE as it is a non-invasive method, with high efficiency and safety and rapid postoperative recovery.     

Improvements in epidermal function prevent relapse of psoriasis: a self‐controlled study

While therapeutic approaches for psoriasis are widely available, preventive regimens are lacking. We aimed to determine whether improvements in epidermal function could prevent psoriasis relapse. Two self‐controlled cohort studies were designed, enrolling two cohorts of patients with psoriasis (n = 30 and n = 60) to be treated topically with an in‐house‐prepared emollient or ATOPALM^® cream applied twice daily to one forearm for 20 and 30 days, respectively, while the same sites on the contralateral arm served as the untreated control. Epidermal function on both arms was assessed prior to and at the end of the trials. Delayed relapse on the treated arm was seen in 54.5% and 71% of patients in the first and second cohort, respectively. The time of psoriatic relapse correlated with the extent of abnormalities in baseline epidermal function. These results suggest that improvements in epidermal function with topical emollients can prevent/attenuate the development of psoriasis.     

经胫骨隧道前交叉韧带双束八股解剖重建的临床研究

目的观察关节镜下采用自体腘绳肌腱经胫骨隧道前交叉韧带（anterior cruciate ligament, ACL）双束八股解剖重建的临床效果。方法随访上海交通大学附属第六人民医院运动医学科2018年12月—2020年1月收治的103例ACL断裂患者资料，其中男78例，女25例，年龄18~45岁，平均（26.8±5.86）岁；左侧47例，右侧56例，均采用关节镜下自体腘绳肌腱经胫骨隧道打股骨骨隧道，ACL双束八股解剖重建。按照Lysholm评分、国际膝关节评分委员会（IKDC）膝关节评分、Tegner膝关节评分标准和膝关节自我效能量表K-SES评价疗效。结果所有患者术后获随访12～42个月，平均（24±8.18）个月；手术前、末次随访评分比较，Lysholm评分分别为（48.41±4.44）分和（95.34±1.91）分，2组比较差异有统计学意义（P<0.001)；IKDC评分分别为（44.05±4.36）分和（95.66±1.89）分，2组比较差异有统计学意义（P<0.001)；Tegner评分分别为（2.84±0.95）分和（6.15±0.89）分，2组比较差异有统计学意义（P<0.001)；膝关节自我效能量表K-SES量表（3.10±0.83）分和（7.12±1.10）分，2组比较差异有统计学意义（P<0.001)。末次随访103例患者前抽屉试验阴性，轴移试验阴性。98例（95.1%）Lachman试验阴性，5例（4.9%）Lachman试验1°阳性。结论关节镜下采用自体腘绳肌腱经胫骨隧道双束八股解剖重建前交叉韧带是一种恢复膝关节稳定性，恢复伤前活动水平的有效方法。     

Identification of key genes and pathways in discoid lupus skin via bioinformatics analysis

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is the most common skin manifestation of lupus; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying DLE remain unknown. Therefore, we aimed to identify key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in discoid lupus skin and investigate their potential pathways.To identify candidate genes involved in the occurrence and development of the disease, we downloaded the microarray datasets {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE52471","term_id":"52471"}}GSE52471 and {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE72535","term_id":"72535"}}GSE72535 from the Gene Expression Database (GEO). DEGs between discoid lupus skin and normal controls were selected using the GEO2R tool and Venn diagram software (http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/Venn/). The Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), Enrichr, and Cytoscape ClueGo were used to analyze the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome pathways and gene ontology. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) of these DEGs were further assessed using the Search Tool for the Retrieval Interacting Genes version 10.0.Seventy three DEGs were co-expressed in both datasets. DEGs were predominantly upregulated in receptor signaling pathways of the immune response. In the PPI network, 69 upregulated genes were selected. Furthermore, 4 genes (CXCL10, ISG15, IFIH1, and IRF7) were found to be significantly upregulated in the RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, from analysis of Enrichr and Cytoscape ClueGo.The results of this study may provide new insights into the potential molecular mechanisms of DLE. However, further experimentation is required to confirm these findings.     

Using arterial spin labeling blood flow and its histogram analysis to distinguish early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma from lymphoid hyperplasia

To investigate the feasibility of arterial spin labeling (ASL) blood flow (BF) and its histogram analysis to distinguish early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from nasopharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia (NPLH).Sixty-three stage T1 NPC patients and benign NPLH patients underwent ASL on a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging system. BF histogram parameters were derived automatically, including the mean, median, maximum, minimum, kurtosis, skewness, and variance. Absolute values were obtained for skewness and kurtosis (absolute value of skewness [AVS] and absolute value of kurtosis [AVK], respectively). The Mann–Whitney U test, receiver operating characteristic curve, and multiple logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis.The mean, maximum, and variance of ASL BF values were significantly higher in early-stage NPC than in NPLH (all P < 0.0001), while the median and AVK values of early-stage NPC were also significantly higher than those of NPLH (all P < 0.001). No significant difference was found between the minimum and AVS values in early-stage NPC compared with NPLH (P = 0.125 and P = 0.084, respectively). The area under the curve (AUC) of the maximum was significantly higher than those of the mean and median (P < 0.05). The AUC of variance was significantly higher than those of the other parameters (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that variance was the only independent predictor of outcome (P < 0.05).ASL BF and its histogram analysis could distinguish early-stage NPC from NPLH, and the variance value was a unique independent predictor.