Application of combined multimodal neuroimaging and video-electroencephalography in intractable epilepsy patients for improved post-surgical outcome prediction.

AIM: To investigate the ability of a multidisciplinary approach that combines multimodal neuroimaging with video-electroencephalography (v-EEG) to predict post-surgical outcomes in patients with intractable epilepsy, and explore prognostic predictors for these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with intractable epilepsy who underwent surgery between March 2016 and October 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Demographic, clinical, v-EEG, neuroimaging, surgical, and regular follow-up seizure outcome data were collected. Forty-six patients with a follow-up of at least 12 months were graded by Engel scores. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to explore prognostic factors that could predict post-surgical seizure outcomes. RESULTS: Of the 58 patients, 28 were males. The median age was 27 years, the median age at first seizure was 11 years, and the median duration of seizures was 10 years. The Kaplan-Meier log-rank test showed that regardless of whether the follow-up duration was considered, epilepsy type, v-EEG, PET/CT, image post-processing methods, and a multidisciplinary approach that combined multimodal imaging with v-EEG were all correlated with seizure outcomes. Multivariate analysis found that the multidisciplinary approach was an independent predictor of post-surgical outcomes in patients with intractable epilepsy (hazard ratio = 11.400, 95% confidence interval = 2.249-57.787, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the multidisciplinary approach could provide independent prognostic information for patients with intractable epilepsy undergoing surgery. This approach has strong potential for the easier selection of patients to undergo surgical treatment and accurate prognostication.

[Impact of antimicrobial stewardship program on antimicrobial usage and detection rate of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria].

Objective: Analyze the changes of indicator of antimicrobial usage and detection rate of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB), in order to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). Methods: The antimicrobial stewardship program was implemented since December 2011 at the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. Intensified effort was made from 2014 to 2017. We divided the program into four stages, one before ASP (2010-2011) and three after ASP (2012-2013 as the first, 2014-2015 as the second and 2016-2017 as the third post-ASP stages). The usage rates in outpatient,emergency department and inpatient, along with the antibiotic use density (AUD, defined as daily doses/per 100 patient-days), the AUD of the third-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems in inpatient were reviewed retrospectively. The detection rates of extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs)-producing Escherichia coli, ESBLs-producing Klebsiella pneumonia, carbapenem-resistant E. coli, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa were also analyzed at the same time. The correlation analysis between the detection rate of MDR-GNB and the indicator of antimicrobial usage was made. Result: Among four stages, the usage rates were 55.2% (560 578/1 015 540) , 38.1% (493 554/1 296 336) , 26.8% (378 602/1 411 595) and 23.1% (347 817/1 502 817) in outpatient, 75.6% (429 582/568 230) , 61.4% (382 558/623 138) , 43.6% (265 102/608 071) and 35.1% (218 484/622 397) in emergency department, and 76.0% (30 568/40 221) , 53.7% (30 437/56 636) , 49.9% (37 395/74 895) and 50.3% (35 493/70 544) in inpatient, respectively. All indicators decreased significantly (χ(2)=297 811.798, 3 155 704.783, 5 592.037, P<0.01). The AUD in inpatient was 38.4,31.8,21.7 and 19.41,and the AUD of the third-generation cephalosporins were 13.83, 11.21, 6.20 and 6.84, respectively, which decreased significantly after ASP (r=-0.878, -0.781, P<0.05). The AUD of carbapenems were 1.94,1.77,1.87 and 1.93, respectively (r=0.123, P>0.05). A total of 11 289 strains of bacteria were collected, including 5 589 strains of E. coli, 2 823 strains of K.pneumoniae, 1 637 strains of A. baumandii, and 1 240 strains of P. aeruginosa.The detection rates of ESBLs-producing E.coli and ESBLs -producing K. pneumoniae in four stages were 75.4% (1 034/1 371) , 66.6% (893/1 341) , 57.8% (834/1 443) , 46.7% (670/1 434) and 78.7% (547/695) , 67.5% (455/674) , 49.3% (421/854) , 32.5% (195/600) , respectively,both decreased significantly (χ(2)=266.204; 328.805, P<0.01). The detection rates of Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii were 28.2% (115/408) , 26.7% (126/472) , 24.3% (125/515) and 12.0% (29/242) respectively,and showed significant decreasing trend after ASP (χ(2)=18.112, P<0.01). The detection rates of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa were 11.3% (40/355) , 18.5% (58/313) , 13.4% (46/343) and 7.0% (16/229) , respectively,with the most obvious decrease in the third stage after ASP. The detection rates of carbapenem-resistant E. coli and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumonia were continuously lower (<5%). There were positive correlations between the detection rates of ESBLs-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae and all usage indicators (r(1)=0.930, 0.974, 0.746, 0.958, 0.842; r(2)=0.910, 0.960, 0.765, 0.963, 0.898, P<0.05). Conclusion: The antimicrobial stewardship program can effectively reduce both the usage of antimicrobial and the production of MDR-GNB, which has great value to promote rational clinical use of antimicrobials and reduce bacterial resistance.

[Related factors analysis for lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a series of 2 073 patients].

Objective: To investigate the related factors for lymph node metastasis (LNM), especially for high volume LNM (>5 metastatic lymph nodes) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: The medical records of 2 073 consecutive PTC patients who underwent lobectomy, near-total thyroidectomy or total thyroidectomy with ipsilateral or bilateral central lymph node dissection in Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital from November 2013 to October 2014 were reviewed. Clinical and pathological features were collected. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to identify the related factors for LNM/high volume LNM. Results: In all 2 073 patients, LNM and high volume LNM were confirmed in 936 (45.15%) cases and 254 (12.25%) cases respectively. In univariate analysis, large tumor size, young patients (<40 years), male were associated with both LNM and high volume LNM. In multivariate analysis, tumor size >2.0 cm, young patients (<40 years), male were independent related factors of LNM (OR=5.262, 95% CI: 3.468 to 7.986; OR=2.447, 95% CI: 2.000 to 2.995; OR=1.988, 95% CI: 1.593 to 2.480, respectively, all P=0.000) and high volume LNM (OR=6.687, 95% CI: 4.477 to 9.986; OR=2.975, 95% CI: 2.224 to 3.980; OR=2.354, 95% CI: 1.737 to 3.191, respectively, all P=0.000). In 1 414 PTMC patients, a similar result was also demonstrated.Compared with young patients (<40 years), old patients (≥60 years) had lower incidence of LNM (25.47% vs. 52.24%, χ(2)=62.903, P=0.000) and high volume LNM (1.89% vs. 13.18%, χ(2)=37.341, P=0.000). Additionally, old patients also had lower risk of both LNM (OR=0.316, 95% CI: 0.194 to 0.517, P=0.000) and high volume LNM (OR=0.142, 95% CI: 0.034 to 0.599, P=0.000). Conclusions: The tumor size was the main related factor for both LNM and high volume LNM in PTC. The treatment should be more active in patients with tumor size >2 cm with consideration of higher incidence and risk for LNM and high volume LNM. Young patient was another important related factor for LNM and high volume LNM. In PTMC, old patients had lower incidence and risk for both LNM and high volume LNM. Dynamic observation or less surgical extent could be an option for these patients.

Establishment of a hepatocyte line for studying biosynthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from a marine teleost, the white-spotted spinefoot Siganus canaliculatus.

A hepatocyte line was established from the liver of white-spotted spinefoot Siganus canaliculatus to study the biosynthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA). The cells from the line, designated S. canaliculatus hepatocyte line (SCHL), grew and multiplied well in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM)-F12 medium supplemented with 20 mM 4-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazine-1-ethanesulphonic acid (HEPES), 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) and 0·5% rainbow trout Oncorhychus mykiss serum at 28° C, showing an epithelial-like morphology and the normal chromosome number of 48 (2n) and have been subcultured for over 60 passages. The identity of the hepatocytes was confirmed by periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining. The mRNA expression of all genes encoding the key enzymes for LC-PUFA biosynthesis including two desaturases (Δ4 Fad and Δ6-Δ5 Fad) and two elongases (Elovl4 and Elovl5), were detected in all cells from passages 5 to 60 and their expression levels became stable after passage 35 and showed responses to various PUFA incubation. This is similar to the situation determined in the liver of S. canaliculatus that were fed diets containing different fatty acids. These results indicated that SCHL was successfully established and can provide an in vitro tool to investigate lipid metabolism and regulatory mechanisms of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in teleosts, especially marine species.

Degradation of nitenpyram pesticide in aqueous solution by low-temperature plasma.

In order to study the new technique of plasma wastewater treatment, the degradation behaviour ofnitenpyram (NTP) pesticide was investigated in a low-temperature plasma formed during a dielectric barrier discharge process. The reactor was a radial flow sedimentation tank centred around the water inlet. We studied the effect of pesticide concentration and input power of the dielectric barrier discharge, together with the effect of external factors on the degradation of nitenpyram pesticide wastewater such as conductivity and the use of various of catalysts, and the reaction products were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The results showed that NTP could be effectively removed from aqueous solution by low-temperature plasma. Increasing the input power could improve the efficiency of degradation, conforming to a first-order kinetic model. Use of a suitable catalyst clearly improved the degradation process, as also did low conductivity. The pH of NTP was reduced with discharge time.