Outcomes and factors associated with early mortality in pediatric postcardiotomy veno‐arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Mortality and morbidity of children received veno‐arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA‐ECMO) support after cardiac surgery remain high despite remarkable advances in medical management and devices. The purpose of this study was to describe outcomes and risk factors of applying VA‐ECMO in the surgical pediatric population. We retrospectively analyzed 85 consecutive pediatric patients (aged <18 years) who received postcardiotomy VA‐ECMO from January 2010 to December 2018. Median (IQR) age at ECMO implantation in this cohort was 12.7 (6.4, 43.2) months, median weight was 8.5 (6.0, 12.8) kg, mean ECMO duration was 143.2 ± 81.6 hours and mean hospital length of stay was 48.4 ± 32.4 days. Seventy‐five patients (88.2%) were indicated for postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock. The successful ECMO weaning rate was 70.6% and in‐hospital mortality was 52.9%. The most common diagnosis was transposition of great arteries (n = 18, 21.2%), while acute kidney injury occurred most often (n = 64, 75.3%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that thrombocytopenia, hemolysis, and nosocomial infection were positively correlated with in‐hospital mortality. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis presented that thrombocytopenia significantly increased the 180‐day mortality in patients with successful weaning. Therefore, multiple factors had adverse effects on prognosis. Patient selection and procedures from ECMO implantation to weaning need to be closely monitored and performed in a timely manner to improve outcome.     

Approach selection and outcomes of craniopharyngioma resection: a single-institute study

Neurosurgical Review - Since there are many approaches for successful craniopharyngioma resection, how to choose a suitable approach remains problematic. The aim of this study was to summarize...     

Pyriform sinus fistula in children: A comparison of endoscopic-assisted surgery and endoscopic radiofrequency ablation

BackgroundPyriform sinus fistula (PSF) is a rare congenital anomaly, and the preferred definitive treatment is yet to be verified. In this study, we investigated the treatment outcomes of PSF specifically comparing endoscopic-assisted surgery and endoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RA).MethodsThe medical records of patients treated for PSF at the Shanghai Children's Hospital between October 2016 and September 2019 were retrospectively evaluated.ResultsThere were 93 girls and 98 boys. The median age at onset and operation was 3 years and 5 years, respectively. Endoscopic-assisted surgery was performed in 143 patients. During the same period, RA was performed in 48 patients, and 10 of them concurrently underwent incision and drainage of neck abscesses. Longer hospital stay was found in the endoscopic-assisted surgery group than in the RA group (10.50 ± 3.93 vs. 5.02 ± 3.30 days, P < 0.001). Postoperative complications were not significantly different between the two groups, except for neck infection (0 vs. 8.3%, P = 0.004). After a median follow-up period of 21 months, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of recurrence (1.4% vs. 0, P = 0.560).ConclusionPatients treated with RA had a significantly shorter hospital stay than those treated with endoscopic-assisted surgery. Outcomes of endoscopic-assisted surgery and RA were not significantly different for the management of PSF and treatment method should be tailored to the patient.Level of evidenceIV.     

Protective effect of pinocembrin from Penthorum chinense Pursh on hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury via regulating HMGB1/TLR4 signal pathway

Hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury (HIRI) is of common occurrence during liver surgery and transplantation. Pinocembrin (PIN) is a kind of flavonoid monomer extracted from the local traditional Chinese medicine Penthorum chinense Pursh (P. chinense). However, the effect of PIN on HIRI has not determined. We investigated the protective effect and potential mechanism of PIN against HIRI. Model mice were subjected to partial liver ischemia for 60 min, experimental mice were pretreated with PIN orally for 7 days, and H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage model in AML12 hepatic cells was established in vitro. Histopathologic analysis and serum biochemical levels revealed that PIN had hepatoprotective activities against HIRI. The variation of GSH, SOD, MDA, and ROS levels indicated that PIN treatments attenuated oxidative stress in tissue. PIN pretreatment obviously ameliorated apoptosis, and restrained the expression of HMGB1 and TLR4 in vivo. In vitro, compared with H₂O₂ group, the contents of ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential, apoptotic cells, and Bcl-2 protein were decreased, while the Bax protein expression was increased. Moreover, HMGB-1 small interfering RNA test and western blotting showed that PIN pretreatment reduced HMGB1 and TLR4 protein levels. In conclusion, PIN pretreatment effectively protected hepatocytes from HIRI and inhibited the HMGB1/TLR4 signaling pathway.     

Clinicopathological characteristics,prognosis, and chemosensitivity in patients with metastatic upper tract urothelial carcinoma

PurposeTo investigate the clinical characteristics, chemosensitivity, and outcome of metastatic upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).Patients and MethodsRecords of patients with metastatic UTUC since January 2005 were retrieved from a database that included clinical and survival data. Statistical analyses including survival and multivariate analyses of factors were respectively performed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model.ResultsA total of 250 consecutive UTUC cases were evaluated. There were 56 patients (22.4%) with initially diagnosed stage IV disease. The most common metastatic sites were lung (39.6%), distant lymph nodes (39.2%), bone (19.6%), liver (18.0%), and adrenal gland (7.2%), respectively, and the local recurrence rate was 10.4%. Two hundred thirteen patients received first-line chemotherapy. The overall response rate was only 28.7% and the median progression-free survival time was only 5.0 months. The overall survival time of the cohort was 18.0 months. Multivariate analyses showed that initially diagnosed stage IV disease, number of metastatic organs ≥3, no response to chemotherapy and cycles of chemotherapy ≤2 were adverse prognosticators for overall survival.ConclusionUTUC presented to be more prone to metastasize than locally recur and thought to have low chemosensitivity. Stage IV disease at initial diagnosis, number of metastatic organs, response and cycles of chemotherapy were independent prognosticators for metastatic UTUC.     

微量补体反应性溶血测定法

本文报道从酵母多糖活化的急性期患者血浆中分离Ｃ＾－５６复合物，并经ＤＥＡＥ－纤维素ＤＥ－３２阴离子交换层析纯化。利用微孔板和自动微孔板测定仪建立了一种简单，灵敏，准确的微量反应性溶血测定法。     

大鼠膈腹膜间皮孔的电镜观察

用扫描电镜和透射电镜观察了正常大鼠膈腹膜间皮，并观察了腹膜腔内注射中国墨汁和兔血液后大鼠膈腹膜间皮的变化以及腹膜腔和间皮下毛细淋巴管的关系。     

I型内皮素受体反义寡聚核苷酸抑制VSMC增殖及内膜增生

目的　观察 型内皮素受体 (ETA)反义寡核苷酸(ODN)对血管平滑肌细胞 (VSMC)增殖和内膜增生的抑制作用 .方法　 1细胞培养 :取家兔主动脉中膜消化后培养传代 ,经抗 α- actin鉴定后使用第 4～ 6代传代细胞 ;2人工合成ODN:经 Genbank检索筛选 ,合成含 18bp ETA- ODN片段 ,再对 5 端硫代修饰以增加稳定性 ,同时行地高辛标记以检测反义片段的细胞膜穿透性 ;3 MTT分光光度法检测 ETA-ODN对 VSMC增殖的抑制作用 ;4运用放射受体结合分析法 (1 2 5I- ET- 1)了解 ODN对 ETA蛋白表达的抑制作用 ,以探讨其反义作用 ;5兔颈动脉空气干燥模型在体研究 ODN对血管内膜增生的抑制作用 :应用 F- 12 7凝胶载体携带 ETA-ODN(3.0μmol· L- 1 )导入血管周围 ,术后不同时间观察增生内膜相对厚度 .结果　 ODN于培养后 12 h进入细胞内 ,并逐渐增加 ;15 μmol· L- 1 ETA- ODN对 VSMC增殖具有抑制作用 ,2 4h后即有显著作用 ;ETA- ODN对 ETA表达亦有明显的抑制作用 ,表现为 CPM于 2 4h逐渐减少 ;ETA- ODN导入后 ,血管增生内膜相对厚度减少 .结论　 ETA- ODN以浓度和时间依赖方式抑制 ETA蛋白表达以及 VSMC的增殖 ;反义寡核苷酸是通过反义机制实现对 ETA蛋白和 VSMC增殖的抑制作用     

抗天疱疮抗体阻断棘层松解的实验研究

目的 研究抗天疱疮抗体对天疱疮抗体棘层松解的阻断作用,探讨天疱疮治疗的新途径。方法 制备出小鼠抗天疱疮抗体,在体外天疱疮器官培养基础上,采用病理学及直接免疫荧光技术,观察不同浓度及时相抗天疱疮抗体对天疱疮抗体致棘层松解的阻断效果。结果 抗天疱疮抗本在体外与天疱疮抗体结合后,能有效地减少天疱疮抗体与角质形成细胞的结合,小剂量时能减轻天疱疮抗体致棘层松解的程度,大剂量时则能基本阻断棘层松解的发生。结论 抗天疱疮抗体与天疱疮抗体结合后能有效地减轻或阻断棘层松解的发生。