A novel portable endoscopy system for upper gastrointestinal examination: a multicenter clinical study / 中华消化内镜杂志

Objective:To evaluate the performance, efficacy and safety of a novel portable endoscopy system for upper gastrointestinal examination.Methods:A multicentered, open-label, randomized, non-inferiority controlled study was conducted in 3 clinical research centers from June 2019 to June 2020, and a total of 90 outpatients admitted to Department of Gastroenterology were randomly assigned to the trial group ( n=44) undergoing portable endoscopy and the control group ( n=46) undergoing Olympus endoscopy. The examination success rate, image quality, performance, overall operation satisfaction rate, biopsy success rate and adverse events of the two groups were compared. Results:The examination success rates of the trial group and the control group were 97.73% (43/44) and 100.00% (46/46) respectively with a difference of -2.27% (95% CI: -6.68%-2.13%), higher than the set non-inferiority margin of -10%. Rates of good and excellent image quality were 100% in both groups, and the difference of 0 was higher than the set non-inferiority margin of -10%. There was no significant difference in the rate of good and excellent performance of the operating system between the two groups [97.67% (42/43) VS 100.00% (46/46), P=0.483]. There was significant difference in the overall satisfactory rate of the operation between the two groups [86.05% (37/43) VS 100.00% (46/46), P=0.011]. A total of 9 cases underwent endoscopic biopsy, including 5 cases in the trial group and 4 cases in the control group. The biopsy channels in both groups were smooth and the biopsy were successfully completed. There was no significant difference in adverse event rate between the two groups [25.00% (11/44) VS 10.87%(5/46), χ2=3.07, P=0.080]. All adverse events disappeared in 48 hours, and no severe adverse events or device defect events occurred. Conclusion:The novel portable endoscopic system is comparable to Olympus endoscopic system in terms of the operating performance, the image quality and safety. Therefore, this system is safe and effective for upper gastrointestinal examination.

Relationship between pancreatic fibrotic markers and glycated hemoglobin levels in patients with type 3c diabetes mellitus secondary to chronic pancreatitis / 中华胰腺病杂志

Objective:To investigate the relationship between pancreatic fibrotic marker transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) and platelet derived growth factor-BB(PDGF-BB) and serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with type 3c diabetes mellitus secondary to chronic pancreatitis(CP-T3cDM).Methods:The clinical data of 39 patients with CP-T3cDM admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University between February 2018 and August 2020 were collected, and the patients' age, gender, body mass index, duration of chronic pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus, smoking history, alcohol consumption history, serum HbA1c level at admission, degree of pancreatic atrophy, morphology of the main pancreatic duct, and treatment of diabetes mellitus were recorded. Serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB were detected by ELISA. Patients were divided into high and low level group according to the median TGF-β and PDGF-BB levels, respectively. Clinical characteristics of patients were compared between the TGF-β and PDGF-BB high and low level group. The correlation between TGF-β, PDGF-BB and HbA1c was analyzed by Spearman's correlation analysis.Results:A total of 39 CP-T3cDM patients were included; 35 were male and 4 were female. The age of first onset of chronic pancreatitis was (42±14) years old, and the duration of diabetes mellitus was 24(4, 36) months. The serum HbA1c level was (7.8±1.6)%, and the serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB levels were 20.5(10.5, 43.1) and 647.5(276.9, 1349.2)pg/ml, respectively. The serum HbA1c levels of patients in the high-level group of serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB were significantly higher than those in the corresponding low-level group [8.6%(7.4%, 9.9%) vs 6.7%(6.2%, 7.8%) and 8.6%(7.4%, 9.6%) vs 6.7%(6.1%, 7.8%), respectively] , and the difference was statistically different (both P value <0.01), while none of other indicators showed statistically significant differences between both groups. The correlation analysis showed that the levels of TGF-β and PDGF-BB were significantly positively correlated with HbA1c level ( r=0.45, 0.53, both P value <0.01). Conclusions:Increased pancreatic fibrosis in patients with CP-T3cDM was an important factor contributing to elevated blood glucose level. Patients with higher serum pancreatic fibrotic factors exhibited a significant increase in HbA1c level.

Analysis and treatment of pneumothorax after mechanical ventilation in critical patients with COVID-19 / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:The clinical characteristics of critical COVID-19 patients with pneumothorax after mechanical ventilation were retrospectively analyzed to provide reference for epidemic prevention and treatment.Methods:A retrospective analysis was made on 130 cases of COVID-19 critically patients admitted from January 1, 2020 to February 13, 2020 in Jinyintan Hospital of Wuhan.The clinical characteristics, mechanical ventilation related pneumothorax and treatment were analyzed.Results:Among the 130 patients with COVID-19 in critical condition, 7 (5.38%)cases had mechanical ventilation related pneumothorax (including bilateral and unilateral pneumothorax). All the 7 pneumothorax patients received bedside closed drainage, oxygen saturation and oxygen partial pressure were significantly improved after closed thoracic drainage.No statistical differences were found in other indexes (pH, lactic acid, PCO 2, oxygenation index). Conclusion:For large critical COVID-19 care centers, the involvement of thoracic surgeons are recommended to deal with the thoracic complications associated with mechanical ventilation. After the occurrence of pneumothorax, if there are no other obvious contrainstances, thoracic closed drainage should be given in time.

Discussion on clinical course and multidisciplinary treatment strategy for chronic pancreatitis / 中华胰腺病杂志

As a progressive and chronic intractable disease, chronic pancreatitis (CP) is generally manifested as early chronic pain, and then exocrine and endocrine insufficiency, and various complications in clinical course. The complex clinical manifestations lead to the controversies over treatment strategies at present, involving a multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) approach. It can enable different professional medical experts to discuss the diagnosis and treatment for patients together during a specific period (online or offline), which is an effective mode for diagnosing and treating complex diseases nowadays. MDT for CP usually begins with lifestyle intervention and drug therapy, and then goes with endoscopic interventions and surgical resection, or their combination. This article reviewed the current status on MDT approaches for CP and shared the MDT experience from Changhai Hospital in order to improve the management of CP course.

Comparison of Recovery Phase CT Features between Mild/moderate and Severe/critical Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients / 中国医学科学院学报

To investigate the computed tomographc(CT)features of mild/moderate and severe/critical cases of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)in the recovery phase. Totally 63 discharged patients in Wuhan,China,who underwent both chest CT and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)from February 1 to February 29,2020,were included.With RT-PCR as a gold standard,the performance of chest CT in diagnosing COVID-19 was assessed.Patients were divided into mild/moderate and severe/critical groups according to the disease conditions,and clinical features such as sex,age,symptoms,hospital stay,comorbidities,and oxygen therapy were collected.CT images in the recovery phase were reviewed in terms of time from onset,CT features,location of lesions,lobe score,and total CT score. There were 37 patients in the mild/moderate group and 26 in the severe/critical group. Compared with the mild/moderate patients,the severe/critical patients had older age [(43±16) years (52±16) years; =2.10, =0.040], longer hospital stay [(15±6)d (19±7)d; =2.70, =0.009], higher dyspnea ratio (5.41% 53.85%; =18.90, <0.001), lower nasal oxygen therapy ratio (81.08% 19.23%;=23.66, <0.001), and higher bi-level positive airway pressure ventilation ratio (0 57.69%; =25.62, <0.001). Time from onset was (23±6) days in severe/critical group, significantly longer than that in mild/moderate group [(18±7) days] (=3.40, <0.001). Severe/critical patients had significantly higher crazy-paving pattern ratio (46.15% 10.81%;=4.24, =0.039) and lower ground-glass opacities ratio (15.38% 67.57%; =16.74, <0.001) than the mild/moderate patients. The proportion of lesions in peripheral lung was significantly higher in mild/moderate group than in severe/critical group (78.38% 34.61%; =13.43, <0.001), and the proportion of diffusely distributed lesions was significantly higher in severe/critical group than in mild/moderate group (65.38% 10.81%; =20.47, <0.001). Total CT score in severe/critical group was also significantly higher in severe/critical group than in mild/moderate group [11 (8,17) points 7 (4,9) points; =3.81, <0.001]. The CT features in the recovery stage differ between mild/moderate and severe/critical COVID-19 patients.The lung infiltration is remarkably more severe in the latter.