Plasma D-dimer Can Effectively Predict the Prospective Occurrence of Ascites in Advanced Schistosomiasis Japonica Patients

China still has more than 30,000 patients of advanced schistosomiasis while new cases being reported consistently. D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product. As ascites being the dominating symptom in advanced schistosomiasis, the present study aimed to explore a prediction model of ascites with D-dimer and other clinical easy-achievable indicators. A case-control study nested in a prospective cohort was conducted in schistosomiasis-endemic area of southern China. A total of 291 patients of advanced schistosomiasis were first investigated in 2013 and further followed in 2014. Information on clinical history, physical examination, and abdominal ultrasonography, including the symptom of ascites was repeatedly collected. Result showed 44 patients having ascites. Most of the patients' ascites were confined in the kidney area with median area of 20 mm². The level of plasma D-dimer and pertinent liver function indicators were measured at the initial investigation in 2013. Compared with those without ascites, cases with ascites had significantly higher levels of D-dimer (0.71±2.44 μg/L vs 0.48±2.12 μg/L, P=0.005), as well ALB (44.5 vs 46.2, g/L) and Type IV collagen (50.04 vs 44.50 μg/L). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated a moderate predictive value of D-dimer by its own area under curve (AUC) of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.54–0.73) and the cutoff value as 0.81 μg/L. Dichotomized by the cutoff level, D-dimer along with other categorical variables generated a prediction model with AUC of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68–0.89). Risks of patients with specific characteristics in the prediction model were summarized. Our study suggests that the plasma D-dimer level is a reliable predictor for incident ascites in advanced schistosomiasis japonica patients.

Clinical Characteristics of Cervical Cancer in Uygur Young Women in Xinjiang / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics and etiological factors of cervical cancer in young Uygur women in Xinjiang.Methods" We reviewed 350 cases of young Uygur females diagnosed with cervical cancer in our hospital during 1998-2007.The patients were divided into two groups according to their admission time (1998～2002 group and 2003～2007 group).Results: The incidence of cervical carcinoma among yong Uygur women was 12.9% in the 1998-2002 group and 10.3% in the 2003-2007 group.The first symptom was vaginal contactive bleeding.In both groups, most patients were peasants, but the percentages of highbrow was higher in the 2003-2007 group.Patients in the 2003～2007 group were of older age at first marriage and had lower rate of abortion.There was no significant difference in histological type between the two groups.However, patients in the 2003-2007 group presented with much earlier stage of cervical cancer and 56.9% of them were of stage Ⅱ disease, compared with 18.1% in the 1998-2002 group (P<0.05).Squamous cell carcinoma was the dominant histological type.Conclusion: The incidence of cervical carcinoma in young Uygur women tends to decrease due to screening and advocation of late marriage, less reproduction in remote rural areas of Xinjiang.