Effects of minimally invasive versus open esophagectomy on circulating tumor cells in patients with esophageal cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and open esophagectomy (OE) on the level of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 73 patients with EC undergoing MIE (n=38) or OE (n=35) in our department between October, 2015 and October, 2017 were enrolled, with 10 patients with benign esophagus disease and 10 healthy volunteers as controls. The levels of CTCs in the peripheral blood of the participants were detected using CanPatrol technique and analyzed for their association with the operation methods and perioperative complications.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CTCs were detected in 60.3% (44/73) of the EC patients but in none of the control subjects. CTC level after the surgery was significantly higher than that during the surgery, and CTC level during the surgery was significantly higher than that before surgery (P<0.001). The preoperative and intra-operative CTC levels were not significantly different between MIE and OE groups (P>0.05), but the postoperative CTC level was significantly lower in MIE group than in OE group, and postoperative increment of CTC level (from the preoperative level) was significantly lower in MIE group than in OE group (P<0.001). The total incidence of postoperative complications was significantly lower in MIE group than in OE group (28.9% vs 54.3%, P=0.023), and in both groups, CTC levels in patients with complications were significantly higher than those in patients without complications (P=0.001 and P=0.005 in MIE and OE groups, respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MIE may help to reduce the number of peripheral blood CTCs early after the operation, and dynamic monitoring CTCs level assists in evaluation of the prognosis of EC patients. CTC level may serve as an indicator for monitoring the prognosis of EC.</p>

Hemocompatibility evaluation in vitro of small-caliber expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vessel with silk fibroin coating sulfonated by low temperature plasma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the hemocompatibility of a small-caliber expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vessel with silk fibroin coating sulfonated by low temperature plasma treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The composite blood vessel was prepared by first coating the small-caliber expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vessel with silk fibroin followed by sulfonation by low temperature plasma treatment. After hemolysis test in vitro, dynamic coagulation time test, blood platelet adhesion test, and recalcification time test were performed to evaluate the hemocompatibility of the composite blood vessel.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Scanning electronic microscopy revealed obvious platelets adhesion on the conventional artificial (control) vessel, which seldom occurred on the composite vessel. The curve of absorbance-clotting time of the composite vessel declined more slowly than that of the control vessel. The recalcification time of the composite blood vessel averaged 603 s, significantly longer than that of the control vessel (480 s, P = 0.000).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The composite blood vessel has good antithrombotic activity and hemocompatibility as a promising vascular prosthesis.</p>

Relationship between early spontaneous cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and thyroid hormone metabolism after mitral replacement in patients with rheumatic heart disease / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the relationship between early spontaneous cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) and thyroid hormone metabolism after mitral replacement in patients with rheumatic heart disease, and explore the treatment strategy of early spontaneous cardioversion after mitral valve replacement.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>According to the occurrence of cardioversion, 138 patients with mitral valve replacement were divided into conversion group and non-conversion group, and based on the duration of sinus rhythm, the patients in conversion group were divided into < 3 days group and > 3 days group. Triiodothyronine (T3) was detected by radioimmunoassay in all the patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>T3 metabolism decreased significantly after the operation in all the patients. Early spontaneous cardioversion of AF occurred 2 h after the operation in 52 cases (37.7%), and 28 (20.3%) of the cases had a duration of sinus rhythm longer than 3 days. T3 was significantly decreased in conversion group and non-conversion group by 44.5% and 58.7% at 2 h, by 40.0% and 52.4% at 24 h and by 28.6% and 37.7% at 72 h after the operation, respectively. The levels of T3 in conversion group was significantly higher than the levels in non-conversion group, and showed no significant variation with the duration of sinus rhythm.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Enhancement of T3 levels after mitral valve replacement may increase the probability of early spontaneous cardioversion of AF, but can not affect the duration of sinus rhythm. This finding supports the supplementation of T3 perioperatively in patients undergoing cardiac surgeries.</p>

Expression of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein mRNA and its clinicopathological significance in non-small cell lung cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the expression of AT-rich sequence-binding protein (SATB1) mRNA in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and explore the role of SATB1 in the development of NSCLC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The total RNA was extracted from NSCLC tissues and normal lung tissues and reverse transcribed into cDNA. Real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR was performed for detecting the expression of SATB1 mRNA these tissues.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of SATB1 mRNA was 13-fold higher in NSCLC tissues than in normal lung tissues (P<0.001), and in metastatic and nonmetastatic NSCLC, the expression was 23.63 and 5.57 folds that in normal lung tissues, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SATB1 mRNA expression might be associated with the development and lymph node metastasis of NSCLC and may potentially used as an indicator for predicting the prognosis of NSCLC.</p>