The results of clinical studies are usually described with statistical data. When we conduct systematic reviews of clinical studies it is important that the statistical methods used in the original research are evaluated. By doing so, we can assess the validity and reliability of the evidence.
Objective To define an evidence-based conclusion concerning ultrasound screening for fetal genital system malformations during pregnancy. Methods In order to assess whether or not ultrasound screening for fetal genital system malformations is effective and feasible, we searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2009), MEDLINE (1981 to 2009), ACP Journal Club (1991 to 2008), and BMJ Clinical Evidence (1999 to 2008) for systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies, and controlled clinical trials. Results Five cohort studies and three crosssectional studies were retrieved. The results showed ultrasound screening detected fetal sex determination by the contour of the rump and the angle of the genital tubercle to a horizontal line through the lumbosacral skin surface in the first trimester. Scrotal size and penile length increases with gestational age for male fetuses, and by 32 weeks, bilateral testicular descent was observed in most cases. Ultrasonographic scans, fetal genetic studies, and hormonal assays of amniotic fluid can diagnosis certain diseases, fetal sex differentiation disorders, fetal endocrinal disorders, and chromosome abnormality. Conclusion The findings of this study should reassure physicians and parents alike that ultrasound screening is an reliable option for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal genital system malformations, but more randomized controlled trials are needed to further supply relevant evidence.
Objective To study the effect of myofibroblast on the development of pathological scar. Methods From 1998 to 2000， 14 cases of keloid(k), 13 cases of hypertrophic scar(HS), and 7 cases of scar were studied through immunohistochemistry and electronical microscope. Results Myofibroblasts were often observed in the hypertrophic HS by electronical microscope, but no myofibroblast was observed in the K and NS. αSMactin was expressed in fibroblast of HS, but was not expressed in K and NS. Conclusion Myofibroblast may play a role in the development of hypertrophic scar. The difference between the absence of myofibroblast in keloid and the invasion of keloid deserves further study.
Objective To formulate an evidence-based conclusion concerning ultrasound screening for fetal malformations for a pregnant woman after 12 gestational weeks. Methods Based on the clinical problem of whether pregnant women need ultrasound screening for fetal malformations after 11-14 gestational weeks, we used “ultrasound or sonography and prenatal or fetal at first trimester or 11-14 weeks; ultrasound exposure; fetal development” as the keywords and searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2008), MEDLINE (1981 to 2008), ACP Journal Club (1991 to 2008), and BMJ Clinical Evidence (1999 to 2008) for systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed to identify the current best evidence. Results Three systematic reviews, two RCTs and ten cohort studies were retrieved. The results showed ultrasound screening detected different fetal malformations in the first, second and third trimester. Not all of the fetal malformations could be detected through prenatal ultrasound screening. Nuchal translucency (NT) measurement as a tool for screening chromosomally abnormal fetuses and detecting fetal malformations by ultrasound proved to be effective if performed within 11-14 gestational weeks. The routine second trimester screening, however, could not be replaced by a detailed ultrasound examination at 11-14 gestational weeks. Most of the trials concluded that the effect of ultrasound on a fetus was not harmful. Conclusion The findings of this study should reassure physicians and parents alike that ultrasound screening is an appropriate option for the pregnant women after 12 gestational weeks.
ObjectiveTo analyze the relation between the place of residence of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and patient compliance or regimen decision-making or outcomes for neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in the current version of the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA). MethodsThe version of DACCA selected for this analysis was updated on June 29, 2022. The patients were enrolled according to the established screening criteria and then assigned into inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups as well as inside and outside of Chengdu City groups. The differences in the patient compliance or regimen decision-making or outcomes (changes of symptom and imaging, and cancer marker carcinoembryonic antigen) for NAT were analyzed. ResultsA total of 3 574 data that met the screened criteria were enrolled, 3 142 (87.91%) and 432 (12.09%) were inside of Sichuan Province group and outside of Sichuan Province group, respectively; 1 340 (42.65%) and 1 802 (57.35%) were inside of Chengdu City group and outside of Chengdu City group in Sichuan Province, respectively. ① The constituent ratios of the patient compliance for NAT had no statistical differences between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups (χ2=0.299, P=0.585) as well as between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=3.109, P=0.078). ② In terms of the impact of the place of residence on the decision-making of NAT: For the patients with targeted therapy or not, there was a statistical difference between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups (χ2=5.047, P=0.025), but which had no statistical difference between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=0.091, P=0.762); For the patients with radiotherapy or not, there were no statistical differences in the constituent ratios of patients between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups as well as between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=2.215, P=0.137; χ2=2.964, P=0.085); For the neoadjuvant intensity, there was a statistical difference between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups (χ2=12.472, P=0.002), but which had no statistical difference between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=2.488, P=0.288). ③ The outcomes for NAT: The changes of carcinoembryonic antigen had no statistical differences between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups as well as between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (H=1.762, P=0.184; H=3.531, P=0.060); In the symptom changes, there was a statistical difference between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups (χ2=3.896, P=0.048), which had no statistical difference between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=0.016, P=0.900); In the image changes, the difference was statistically significant between the inside and outside of Chengdu City groups (χ2=7.975, P=0.005), but which had no statistical difference between the inside and outside of Sichuan Province groups (χ2=0.063, P=0.802). ConclusionsThrough data analysis in DACCA in this study, it is found that there are no statistical differences in compliance and carcinoembryonic antigen changes. However, decision-making of NAT for patients of inside and outside of Sichuan Province has different choices on whether to assist targeted therapy and chemotherapy intensity for NAT; Symptom changes of NAT in patients of inside of Sichuan Province has a better effect than in patients of outside of Sichuan Province; Imaging change of NAT in patients of inside of Chengdu City has a better effect than in patients of outside of Chengdu City.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of polyethylene glycol and sodium phosphate in bowel preparation of capsule endoscopy. Methods We searched CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data, PubMed, EMbase, and The Cochrane Library (Issue 6, 2016) up to June 2016, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about polyethylene glycol and sodium phosphate in bowel preparation of capsule endoscopy. Two reviewers independently screened literatures, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and then meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of six RCTs involving 531 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: compared with the sodium phosphate solution group, the polyethylene glycol solution group had poor intestinal cleansing effect (OR=0.43, 95%CI 0.21 to 0.88,P=0.02), higher incidence of adverse reaction (OR=3.20, 95%CI 1.13 to 9.06,P=0.03); but shorter gastric retention time (OR=–11.61, 95%CI –13.71 to –9.51,P<0.000 01) and residence time in the small intestine (OR=–4.17, 95%CI –7.74 to –0.60,P=0.02). Conclusion The efficacy of oral polyethylene glycol is poor in cleaning effect and adverse reaction than sodium phosphate solution, but better in the digestive tract residence time for capsule endoscopy. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, the above conclusion is still needed to be proved by more high-quality studies.
Objective To study the clinical value ofNa＋/I－ symporter (NIS) expression on thyroid carcinoma diagnosis and 131I therapeutic effects prediction. Methods Thirty-one cases of thyroid carcinomas enrolled in this hospital from 1998 to 2006 were included. Using immunohistochemical method, NIS expression location, positive cell staining and expression intensity were observed, which was calculated by immunohistochemical scores (IHS) and NIS expression level was compared between primary and metastatic carcinoma. Results NIS was over-expressed on the basolateral membrane in positive control——Grave disease tissue, and showed no staining in negative control. NIS was expressed in cytoplasm in all 31 primary carcinomas, and IHS was over or equaled to 4 in 80.65% of them. Except for 2 no staining, NIS was expressed in cytoplasm in the rest 28 metastatic carcinomas. NIS expression was related to the pathological type of thyroid carcinoma, the best in PTC, then FTC, and the weakest in fvPTC. NIS expression in metastatic carcinoma was related to that in primary carcinoma.Conclusion NIS is over-expressed in cytoplasm in most thyroid carcinoma, and the iodide uptaking defect is mainly due to its wrong location. It has great potential to be applied in clinic by that it can help with the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid diseases, especially between FTA and FTC, and that it can help predict the therapeutic effects of 131I therapy following thyroid operation.
Objective To analyze the relationship between the residence and oncological characteristics of colorectal patients served by Sichuan University West China Hospital as a regional center in the current version of the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA). Methods The DACCA version selected for this data analysis was the updated version on January 5, 2022. The data items analyzed included: residence, precancerous lesions, family history of cancer, tumor location, tumor morphology, tumor orientation, tumor pathology, tumor differentiation and preoperative TNM staging. According to the regional distribution of colorectal cancer patients' residence in the database, they were divided into Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group, and the Sichuan group was further divided into Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group. Results The DACCA database was filtered by conditions to obtain 7 232 valid data. ① The composition ratio of precancerous lesions in different places of residence: The difference between the Sichuan group and the non-Sichuan group was statistically significant (χ2=14.462, P=0.003), and the difference between the Sichuan-Chengdu group and the Sichuan-non-Chengdu group was not statistically significant (χ2=7.591, P=0.101). ② Composition ratio of family history of cancer in different places of residence: In the family history of cancer in oneself, the difference between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group as well as between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group were not statistically significant (χ2=1.121, P=0.606; χ2=1.047, P=0.621). In the family history of cancer in relatives, the differences in the composition ratio of different tumor histories between the Sichuan group and the non-Sichuan group, and between the Sichuan-Chengdu group and the Sichuan-non-Chengdu group were not statistically significant (χ2=0.813, P=0.692; χ2=2.696, P=0.262). ③ Tumor site composition ratios in different places of residence: The difference between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group was not statistically significant (χ2=0.476, P=0.490), and the difference between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group was statistically significant (χ2=36.216, P<0.001). ④ Tumor morphology composition ratio in different places of residence: The difference between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group was statistically significant (χ2=19.560, P<0.001), and the difference between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group was not statistically significant (χ2=5.377, P=0.247). ⑤ Composition ratio of tumor orientation in different places of residence: The differences in composition ratio of tumor orientation between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group and between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group were statistically significant (χ2=17.484, P=0.005; χ2=26.820, P<0.001). ⑥ Composition ratio of tumor pathological properties under different residence: The differences in the comparison of pathological properties between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group as well as between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group of CRC patients were not statistically significant (χ2=8.136, P=0.408; χ2=7.278, P=0.506). ⑦ Composition ratio of tumor differentiation degree under different residence groupings: the differences in the composition ratio of tumors with different degrees of differentiation were not statistically significant between Sichuan group and non-Sichuan group, and between Sichuan-Chengdu group and Sichuan-non-Chengdu group (H=0.289, P=0.591; H=0.156, P=0.693). ⑧ The composition ratio of TNM staging of tumors before operation in different places of residence: between the Sichuan group and the non-Sichuan group, the difference in the composition ratio of preoperative TNM staging of CRC patients was statistically significant (H=8.023, P=0.005); between the Sichuan-Chengdu group and the Sichuan-non-Chengdu group, the difference in the composition ratio of preoperative TNM staging of CRC patients was not statistically significant (H=0.218, P=0.640). Conclusions Data analysis in DACCA reveal multiple associations between the place of residence and oncological characteristics of CRC patients. There are differences in the composition of the types of precancerous lesions among CRC patients in different places of residence. The proportion of CRC is higher in the family history of cancer. In terms of the site of tumor occurrence, the proportion of tumors located in the rectum is higher than that in the colon. In the composition of tumor morphology in all regions, the ulcerative type is the most frequent. The composition of tumor orientation is different in patients with CRC, and those who has involved a circle of the intestinal wall are the most frequent. Most CRC patients are already in middle or late stage when the tumor is discovered, and the proportion of middle or late stage patients in non-Sichuan provinces was even higher.
ObjectiveTo analyze the relation between educational level of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and decision-making and curative effect of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in the current version of the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA). MethodsThe eligible CRC patients were collected from June 29, 2022 updated DACCA according to the screening criteria and were assigned into 4 groups according to their educational level, namely, uneducated, primary educated, secondary educated, and tertiary educated. The differences in NAT decision-making, cancer marker change, symptomatic change, gross change, imaging change, and tumor regression grade (TRG) among the CRC patients with different educational levels were compared. ResultsA total of 2 816 data that met the screening criteria were collected, 138 of whom were uneducated, 777 of whom were primary educated, 1 414 of whom were secondary educated, and 487 of whom were tertiary educated. The analysis results revealed that the difference in the composition ratio of patients choosing NAT regimens by educational level was statistically significant (χ2=30.937, P<0.001), which was reflected that the composition ratio of choosing a simple chemotherapy regimen in the uneducated CRC patients was highest, while which of choosing combined targeted therapy regimen in the tertiary educated CRC patients was highest. In terms of treatment outcomes, the composition ratios of changes in cancer markers (H=4.795, P=0.187), symptoms (H=1.722, P=0.632), gross (H=2.524, P=0.471), imaging (H=2.843, P=0.416), and TRG (H=2.346, P=0.504) had no statistical differences. ConclusionsThrough data analysis in DACCA, it is found that the educational level of patients with CRC can affect the choice of NAT scheme. However, it is not found that the educational level is related to the changes in the curative effect of patients with CRC before and after NAT, and further analysis is needed to determine the reasons for this.
Objective To systematically review the endometrial receptivity evaluated by transvaginal ultrasound and predict the clinical pregnancy outcome of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Methods PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect studies on transvaginal ultrasound evaluation of endometrial receptivity to predict the clinical pregnancy outcome of IVF-ET from inception to December 1st, 2021. Two researchers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies. RevMan 5.4 software and Stata 16.0 software were used to perform meta-analysis. Results A total of 24 cohort studies and 1 case-control study were included. The total sample size was 6 632 cases, including 3 340 in non-pregnancy group and 3 292 in pregnancy group. The results of meta-analysis showed that there was no difference in endometrial volume (MD=−0.11, 95%CI −0.33 to 0.11, P=0.34) or uterine artery S/D (MD= −0.04, 95%CI −0.17 to 0.09, P=0.55) between the two groups. The endometrial thickness measured on human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) day in the non-pregnant group (MD=−0.48, 95%CI −0.77 to −0.18, P=0.001) was thinner than that in the pregnant group. On embryo transfer (ET) day, uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) (MD=0.08, 95%CI 0.02 to 0.15, P=0.01) and resistance index (RI) (MD=0.01, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.01, P<0.000 01) were higher than those in the pregnancy group. Conclusion Endometrial volume and uterine artery S/D measured during IVF-ET were not correlated with clinical pregnancy outcome, while endometrial thickness measured on HCG day and uterine artery PI and RI measured on ET day were correlated with clinical pregnancy outcome. Transvaginal ultrasound evaluation of endometrial receptivity has a certain predictive value for clinical pregnancy outcome of IVF-ET. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.