Efficacy of hardware maintenance after fracture-related infection / 中华创伤骨科杂志

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of internal fixation maintenance after fracture-related infection (FRI).Methods:Retrospectively analyzed were the data of 81 patients with deep FRI after 6 weeks of internal fixation who had been treated with hardware maintenance at Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital Affiliated to School of Medicine, Zhejiang University between 2013 and 2021. They were 61 males and 20 females, aged from 11 to 73 years (average, 11 years). After admission, the patients received bacterial culture, thorough debridement, negative pressure suction, soft tissue repair, and local and intravenous antibiotics. If a joint was affected by FRI, its cavity was cleaned and drained. Infection control and fracture healing were regularly observed in all patients. A treatment was considered successful when the internal fixation was maintained until fracture union, and considered as unsuccessful when the internal fixation was removed before fracture union. Risk factors associated with treatment failure were identified from gender, age, smoking, diabetes, fracture type, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, methicillin-susceptible staphylococcus (MSSA) infection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, Escherichia coli infection, infection by two kinds of bacteria, negative bacterial culture, early infection (within 2 weeks) and local use of antibiotics.Results:All patients were followed up for an average of 30 months (from 6 to 84 months). Fracture union was achieved in 62 (76.5%) patients with infection control and internal fixation retained. Masquelet technique was used to treat bone defects in 2 patients; a muscle flap or skin flap was used to reconstruct soft tissue coverage in 11 cases; fracture union was achieved by antibiotics and dressing changes in 2 patients with sinus tract. Amputation was performed in one unsuccessful case due to uncontrollable infection, and internal fixation was changed to external fixation in the other 18 unsuccessful cases, of which 3 achieved final bone union after application of Masquelet technique, 7 achieved final bone union after application of bone transfer technique, and 3 achieved soft tissue coverage after reconstruction with flap technique. Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, open fractures and FRI for more than 2 weeks were high risk factors for failure in internal fixation maintenance ( P<0.05). Conclusions:If internal fixation is still stable and effective, hardware maintenance should be tried first in the patients with FRI within 6 weeks after fracture internal fixation. Muscle flap or skin flap surgery should be performed as soon as possible to effectively control infection and promote fracture union in the patients with soft tissue defects after thorough and effective debridement. History of open fracture, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, and FRI for over 2 weeks may be risk factors for failure in internal fixation maintenance.

Preoperative gross classification of gastric adenocarcinoma: Comparison of double contrast-enhanced ultrasound and multi-detector row CT / 中华普通外科杂志

Objective To compare the accuracy of double contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCEUS) and multi-detector row CT (MDCT) in determining the gross classification in patients with gastric carcinoma (GC) preoperatively.Methods 239 patients with GC proved by endoscopic biopsy were included.DCEUS (intravenous microbubbles combined with oral contrast-enhanced ultrasound) and MDCT were performed preoperatively.The diagnostic accuracy of DCEUS and MDCT in determining gross classification was calculated and compared.Results The overall accuracy of DCEUS in determining the gross appearance of GC was higher than that of MDCT (85％ vs.80％,P ＜ 0.05);there was no significant difference in accuracy between DCEUS and MDCT for Borrmann Ⅰ and Ⅳ classification of AGC (x2 =1.175,P =0.323 for type Ⅰ;x2 =2.171,P =0.141 for type Ⅳ);the accuracy of DCEUS for EGC,Borrmann Ⅱ and Ⅲ classification of GC was higher than that of MDCT (x2 =16.307,P =0.000 for EGC;x2 =39.950,P =0.000 for type Ⅱ;x2 =35.770,P =0.000 for type Ⅲ).Conclusion DCEUS is valuable in determining gross typing of gastric adenocarcinoma preoperatively.

The treatment of early and delayed infection of intramedullary nails of lower limb / 中华骨科杂志

Objective To explore the treatment methods and prognosis of early infection and delayed infection after intramedullary nail fixation.Methods Data of 22 cases of postoperative infections after intramedullary nail from January 2013 to August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 18 males and 4 females aged from 20 to 72 years old,with an average age of 46.8 years.14 cases were tibias and 8 cases were femurs.In the early infection group,6 cases showed swelling,heat and pain in the affected area with drainage and pus.In the late infection group,12 cases showed sinus formation and 4 cases showed no sinus tract.According to whether the infection occurred within six weeks,it was divided into early infection and delayed infection groups.Of 6 patients in early infection group,there was 1 case of septic shock which underwent removal of intramedullary nails,debridement and antibiotic bone cement stick implantation.5 cases were retained intramedullary nail and underwent local debridement treatment.Late infection occurred in 16 patients.One patient with tibia infection was given partial dressing to heal the fracture.Then the intramedullary nail was removed and intramedullary debridement was performed.Two patients with poor general condition,the intramedullary nails were removed and debridement was performed.Calcium sulphate cement was implanted and fixed with external fixation.The remaining 13 cases were treated with debridement and antibiotic cement stick implantation.We compared the differences between early and late infections of internal fixation,infection control,fracture healing,and secondary fracture fixation.Results Of the 6 patients with early infection,1 patient with septic shock removed intramedullary nails to control infection.After infection controlled,the fracture was treated with intramedullary nailing.Of the 5 patients with retained intramedullary nails,2 patients' infection were controlled and 3 were uncontrolled.After removal of the intramedullary nails the infection was control.The success rate of retaining intramedullary nails was 33.3％ (2/6).Late infection occurred in 16 cases and infection was all controlled.The fractures healed in 22 patients.The fracture healing time of 6 patients with early infection was 2-6 months,with an average of 3.67±2.08 months.The fracture healing time of 16 patients with late infection was 2-4 months (average 3.2±0.79) months.Conclusion Patients with early bone infections after femoral and tibial intramedullary nail surgery may attempt debridement therapy with retained intramedullary nails,but the failure rate is high.If the intramedullary nail fails to remain,follow the treatment of patients with delayed bone infection.For patients with delayed bone infection,because the fracture has not yet healed,thorough debridement is used after the removal of internal fixation,then calcium sulfate or antibiotic bone cement stick should be implanted and fixed with external fixation.For the second phase,we may choose plate,intramedullary nail or external fixation to fix the fractures according to the soft tissue condition.All of the fixation methods could provide good fracture healing.

Restoration of long bone defects of infected tibia with induced membrane technique / 中华创伤骨科杂志

Objective To evaluate the induced membrane technique (Masquelet technique) used for restoration of long bone defects of infected tibia.Methods This retrospective study evaluated 44 patients with long bone defect of infected tibia who had been treated at Department of Orthopedics,The Second Affiliated Hospital by the induced membrane technique between January 2004 and January 2017.They were 31 males and 13 females,aged from 18 to 71 years (mean,43.7 years).Of them,17 were complicated with diabetes,13 with primary hypertension,and 12 with more than two basic diseases.Their bone defects ranged from 6 to 17 cm (average,11 cm).Their postoperative fracture healing and complications were observed.Results This cohort received from 2 to 5 operations on average (average,3.7 operations).All the patents obtained bony union after 9 to 13 months (average,11.3 months).Their follow-ups ranged from 16 months to 11 years (average,3.1 years).Nineteen complications related to the surgery occurred in 15 cases.Skin healing problem after implantation of bone cement was found in 5 cases which called for operative intervention,infection relapsed in 8 patients after the first phase of cement implantation which necessitated further surgical debridement for successful management,local haematoma appeared after bone grafting in one case of 17 cm bone defect,implant failure occurred in one case,leg length discrepancy larger than 2 cm was observed in 3 cases,and a discharging sinus developed in one case 2 years after successful healing of a tibial defect.Conclusions The induced membrane technique appears to be a good alternative management for large tibial defects secondary to infection.The technique should be considered in the surgeon's armamentarium and patients conditions as it is effective and associated with a low rate of complications.

Medical imaging in tumor precision medicine: opportunities and challenges / 浙江大学学报·医学版

Tumor precision medicine is an emerging approach for tumor diagnosis, treatment and prevention, which takes account of individual variability of environment, lifestyle and genetic information. Tumor precision medicine is built up on the medical imaging innovations developed during the past decades, including the new hardware, new imaging agents, standardized protocols, image analysis and multimodal imaging fusion technology. Also the development of automated and reproducible analysis algorithm has extracted large amount of information from image-based features. With the continuous development and mining of tumor clinical and imaging databases, the radiogenomics, radiomics and artificial intelligence have been flourishing. Therefore, these new technological advances bring new opportunities and challenges to the application of imaging in tumor precision medicine.

Application of contrast enhanced ultrasound in the diagnosis of carotid plaque characteristics：comparison with magnetic resonance angiography / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To compare the application value of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography ( CEMRA ) in the diagnosis of carotid plaque characteristics . Methods Fourty-six patients ( 48 carotid plaques) were performed with carotid CEUS and CEMRA examination prior to carotid endarterectomy . The following characteristics of plaque including the surface of the plaque ,the presence of calcification ,the internal composition and the diameter stenosis were observed and measured ,which were compared with pathologic and digital subtraction angiography ( DSA ) results . Results There were 42 vulnerable plaques and 6 stable plaques in the 48 plaques . Fourty-seven carotid plaques had been correctly diagnosed by CEUS and CEMRA ,and one plaque had been misdiagnosed . The sensitivity ,specificity and accuracy between CEUS and CEMRA had no obvious differences in terms of the overall evaluation of plaque vulnerability ( P > 0 .05) ;CEUS and CEMRA in the diagnosion of the plaque surface situation had no statistical difference in terms of sensitivity ,specificity and accuracy compared with pathological results( P > 0 .05) ;There was no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy rate between two modalities ( P 0 .05) . With DSA examination results as the gold standard ,the accuracy of CEUS in the diagnosis of the diameter stenosis was 97 .92% (47/48) ,CEMRA was 100% (48/48) ,they had no significant difference between two groups ( P > 0 .05 ) . Conclusions CEUS and CEMRA in carotid plaques characteristic evaluation have respective advantages ,are highly complementary ,and combining two methods can systematically evaluate for plaque characteristics .

Extracellular matrix synthesis and ultrastructural changes of degenerative disc cells transfected by Ad/CMV-hTGF-beta 1 / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine whether the synthesis of proteoglycan, collagen and associated ultrastructure are related to the adenovirus-mediated gene transferred to adult degenerative cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adenovirus/cytomegalovirus human transforming growth factor-beta 1 (Ad/CMV-hTGF-beta 1) was used to transfect degenerative cells. Antonopulos method, Miamine method and transmission electron microscopy were conducted to study the synthesis of proteoglycan, collagen, and ultrastructure, respectively. Cell cultures were established from the nucleus pulpous and annulus fibrosus tissues, which were taken from surgery.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Nucleus pulpous and annulus fibrosus cells were efficiently transduced by the adenoviral vector carrying hTGF-beta 1 gene. The synthesis of proteoglycan and collagen increased compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The metabolism of cells was slightly improved. No significant toxic effects were found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Expression of hTGF-beta 1 gene is efficient to accelerates proteoglycan synthesis and thus accelerates the improvement of collagen. The function and structure of degenerative cells are improved. Ad/CMV-hTGF-beta 1 may be suitable for treating disc degeneration.</p>