The effectiveness of the puncture channel plugging for reduction of complications after CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

The effect of plugging the puncture channel with a mixture of hemocoagulase injection on the complications of CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic need biopsy (PTNB) was discussed. The medical records of PTNB were retrospectively studied from June 2017 to May 2022. In the study, the puncture channel of 626 patients were blocked, while remain 681 patients' were not. The Mantel Haenszel method performed layered analysis and evaluated the correlation of adjusted confounding factors. The Odds Ratio and its 95% confidence interval were calculated using the Woof method. The incidence of high-level pulmonary hemorrhage was significantly reduced in patients with lesions ≤ 2 cm and different needle lengths. Patients with different pleural-needle tip angle and perineedle emphysema were blocked, and the incidence of pneumothorax and thoracic implants was significantly reduced. Through puncture channel plugging, the incidence of pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumothorax and thoracic catheterization of PTNB under CT guidance was reduced.

Application of rapid on­site evaluation in computed tomography­guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy of pulmonary nodules of ≤2.0 cm in diameter.

Histopathological findings are the gold standard for diagnosing lung nodules, and Invasive diagnostic procedures such as percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) are often inevitable for a confirmative diagnosis. However, the traditional biopsy method is inefficient for the diagnosis of small pulmonary nodules (diameter ≤2.0 cm). The present study aimed to investigate the application of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) in CT-guided PTNB of pulmonary nodules (≤2.0 cm in diameter). Data from patients undergoing PTNB in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Qiqihar Medical College between June 2018 and June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 250 patients were included and divided into the ROSE (n=177) and the non-ROSE groups (n=73). The comparison of these two groups indicated significantly higher specimen adequacy [93.22% (165/177) vs. 71.23% (52/73)] and diagnostic accuracy [90.40% (160/177) vs. 68.49% (50/73)], as well as a significantly lower rate of secondary biopsies [5.08% (9/177) vs. 28.77% (21/73)], in the ROSE group. The coincidence rate between the diagnosis with ROSE and the final pathological results was 96.73%, indicating high consistency (κ=0.925). The results indicated that the application of ROSE in PTNB of pulmonary nodules with a diameter of ≤2.0 cm can ensure sufficient material sampling, improve the diagnostic accuracy and reduce the secondary biopsy rate, without increasing complications. ROSE can ensure high consistency with the results obtained from the pathological evaluation.

Comparison of CT findings and histopathological characteristics of pulmonary cryptococcosis in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients.

Pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC) is a common fungal infectious disease, and infection can occur in patients with any immune function. To better understand PC, we compared the CT findings and histopathological results in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. The clinical data of 68 patients with PC were collected retrospectively and divided into the immunocompetent group and immunocompromised group. The clinical characteristics, CT manifestations and histopathological characteristics of the two groups of patients were compared. Forty-two patients (61.8%) were immunocompetent, and 26 patients (38.2%) were immunocompromised. Compared with immunocompromised patients, 57.14% (24/42) of immunocompetent patients were asymptomatic (p = 0.002). Compared with immunocompetent patients, cough (14/26, 53.9%) and fever (13/26, 50.0%) were the main symptoms in immunocompromised patients (p = 0.044, p = 0.007). Nodular lesions (97.6%, 41/42) were the most common CT type in immunocompetent patients, and the CT characteristic was a single lesion (25/42, 59.5%); the main histopathological type was nodular fibrogranuloma (30/42, 71.4%), and the main histopathological characteristic was inflammatory granuloma (31/42, 73.81%) formed by macrophage phagocytosis of Cryptococcus. Consolidation (15/26, 57.7%) was more common in the CT type of immunocompromised patients. Multiple lesions (24/26, 92.31%), air bronchial signs (19/26, 73.081%) and cavities (9/26, 34.62%) were the main CT characteristics. The mucinous colloid type (19/26, 73.1%) was its main histopathological type, which was mainly characterized by a small amount of surrounding inflammatory cell infiltration (17/26, 65.4%). There were significant differences in the classification and characteristics of CT and pathology between the two groups (p < 0.05). Through the CT manifestations and histopathological characteristics of PC under different immune function states, it was found that immune function has a significant impact on the CT manifestations and histopathological characteristics of patients with PC.

miR-497 targets VEGF signal pathway to regulate proliferation, invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells: a primary study using DEC-MRI.

PURPOSE: To quantify the expression of miR-497 and its target gene VEGF-B in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and microvascular invasion (MVI) to identify their relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. METHODS: Imaging data of postoperative cancer and adjacent tissues of HCC patients with MVI diagnosed by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) were retrospectively analyzed. The expression of miR-497 in clinical samples and HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines was quantified by quantitative PCR (Q-PCR). Correlations between miR-497 and patient survival and VEGF-B were explored in TCGA database. The invasion and migration of SMMC-7721 cells were tested by transwell assay. The binding sites between miR-497 and its target gene VEGF-B were verified by dual-luciferase reporter (DLR) assay, and VEGF-B levels were analyzed by western blot (WB). RESULTS: miR-497 showed a lower expression in HCC patients with MVI than those without MVI. It was also lowly expressed in HCC cell lines compared to normal liver cell lines. The proliferation and migration in HCC cells were inhibited by overexpression of miR-497, which were enhanced after transfection with miR-497 inhibitor. miR-497 had an effect on VEGF-B levels and there was a regulatory relationship between them. miR-497 was able to target VEGF-B and downregulate the receptor of VEGF-B (FLT-1). CONCLUSION: miR-497 was lowly expressed in HCC tissues, and its overexpression inhibited invasion and metastasis in HCC cells by suppressing VEGF-B levels. MiR-497 and its target gene VEGF-B are closely associated with the biological function and may serve as prognostic factors of MVI in patients with HCC.

Circular RNA circ­CCT3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by regulating the miR­1287­5p/TEAD1/PTCH1/LOX axis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by a poor prognosis because of its insensitivity to radiation and chemotherapy. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to serve important roles in hepatocellular carcinogenesis. circ­CCT3, a novel circRNA, was screened from the differential tissue expression results of a circRNA microarray. Relative expression levels of circ­CCT3 in specimens and cell lines were evaluated by reverse transcription­quantitative PCR and the relationship between circ­CCT3 and prognosis was analyzed by Kaplan­Meier curves. The oncogenic role of circ­CCT3 was confirmed in HCC cells through a cell counting kit­8 (CCK­8) assay, a colony formation assay, acridine orange/ethidium bromide double fluorescence staining, flow cytometry, a wound­healing assay and a Transwell assay. Bioinformatics prediction and luciferase reporter assays validated that circ­CCT3 facilitated HCC progression through the miR­1287­5p/TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) axis. TEAD1 could then directly activate patched 1 and lysyl oxidase transcription, as analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays. The present study identified a novel circRNA, circ­CCT3, which may be used as a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Clinical and computed tomography features in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently broken out in China. To describe the clinical and computed tomography (CT) characteristics in patients with COVID-19-induced pneumonia, the current study retrospectively analyzed the data of 152 patients with pneumonia between December 30, 2019 and February 29, 2020. Pharyngeal swabs for nucleic acid detection of respiratory secretions were used for all patients. A total of 65 cases were diagnosed as COVID-19, and 87 cases were non-COVID-19. When comparing the clinical and CT characteristics of the two groups of patients, only sex and history of exposure presented a statistically significant difference. The normal/low white blood cell count, low lymphocyte ratio and high C-reactive protein (CRP) exhibited a statistically significant difference between the two groups. A total of 62 patients in the COVID-19 group exhibited ground-glass opacity (GGO), which was higher than that in the non-COVID-19 group. In the COVID-19 group, 33 cases presented angiographic thickening in GGO, and 27 cases displayed a paving stone sign, which were higher than those in the non-COVID-19 group. Compared with the non-COVID-19 group, the lesions in the COVID-19 group were principally characterized by bilateral lungs, multifocal and subpleural distribution. The results of the present study revealed that when the male patients with contact history in the epidemic area exhibited fever and cough symptoms, the laboratory tests indicated normal/low white blood cell counts, low lymphocyte ratios and elevated CRP levels. CT scans were recommended for subsequent examination. GGO or GGO and consolidation with bilateral lungs were indicated to be primarily distributed in the multifocal subpleural area and were accompanied by angiographic thickening in GGO and paving stone sign. In conclusion, regardless of whether the viral nucleic acid test is positive, COVID-19 should be considered for medical treatment observation in isolation.