Space-occupying lesions of the lacrimal gland at one tertiary eye center in China: a retrospective clinical study of 95 patients

AIM: To investigate the treatment status and prognosis of space-occupying lacrimal gland lesions at one tertiary eye center in China. METHODS: A retrospective clinical study was performed on 95 patients with space-occupying lesions of the lacrimal gland surgically treated at the Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University from 2003 to 2007. The reviewed clinical data included age, gender, side of the lesion, duration of signs and symptoms, histopathological diagnosis, treatment modality, recurrence (local, regional, and distant metastasis) and survival. RESULTS: Of the 95 cases (99 eyes), pleomorphic adenomas were the most common lesions (43 cases), followed by lymphoid disorders (14), inflammatory pseudotumors (11), carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenomas (11), and adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC, 6). There were 8 patients with relapsed pleomorphic adenomas. Five of these 8 cases had malignant pathological changes. All patients with ACC had metastasis and three of them died during their follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that the most common lacrimal gland lesions were pleomorphic adenomas. Multiple recurrence and surgical procedures may increase the risk of tumor progression. ACC had a high incidence of tumor metastasis and a poor prognosis.

Clinical and laboratory features of PCR-confirmed periocular tuberculosis in China

Experts lack knowledge of periocular tuberculosis（TB） in China. Nested polymerase chain reaction（PCR） shows advantages in diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB. Our study aims to explore the clinical and laboratory features of PCR-confirmed periocular TB. We retrospectively reviewed medical records of presumptive periocular TB and performed nested PCR test to confirm diagnosis. Nine cases were recruited. Clinical symptoms were chronic and insidious. Eight cases achieved favorable visual acuity, while one underwent enucleation due to fungalTB panophthalmitis. Sensitivity of caseous necrosis, acidfast bacilli（AFB） staining and interferon γ release assay（T-SPOT） test are 33.3%, 44.4% and 85.7% respectively. Low lymphocyte percentage（P=0.019） and high monocytelymphocyte ratio（P=0.042） positively correlate with AFB staining. Male gender（P=0.048） and Langhans giant cell（P=0.048） positively correlate with caseous necrosis. To conclude, traditional TB ancillary tests are not as sensitive as nested PCR technique. Several factors facilitate diagnosis including male gender, decreased lymphocytes, and typical Langhans giant cells.

Lacrimal sac lymphoma: a case series and literature review

AIM: To study the clinical and pathological characteristics of the lacrimal sac lymphoma, which is rare but it is the major type of non-epithelial malignant tumor in the lacrimal sac region. METHODS: Sixty-four cases of malignant lacrimal sac tumors in our hospital from 1986 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Eight cases of lacrimal sac lymphoma were carefully reviewed. RESULTS: There were five mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue(MALT) lymphomas, one diffused large B-cell lymphoma, one NK/T cell lymphoma, and one mantle cell lymphoma. All eight patients represented symptoms of epiphora with swelling in the lacrimal sac for a certain period of time and showed no signs of systemic involvement at the first time of clinical visits. They had received either chemotherapy or radiotherapy after surgery. Long-term follow-up(from 11 to 220 mo) showed that, except one patient with MALT lymphoma died for unknown reasons at 104 mo after surgery, the other 7 patients were all alive with no signs of local recurrence, neither in other organs. CONCLUSION: Non-epithelial malignant tumors of the lacrimal sac are rare and lymphoma is the major subtype.

An Effective Approach for the Preparation of High Performance Thermal Conductive Polymer Composites Containing Liquid Metal

The preparation of high-performance thermal conductive composites containing liquid metals(LM)has attracted significant attention.However,the stable dispersion of LM within polymer solution and effective property contribution of liquid metals remains significant challenges that need to be overcome.Inspired by the properties of the dendritic structure of the tree root system in grasping the soil,“shear-induced precipitation-interfacial reset-reprotonation”processing strategy is proposed to prepare nanocomposites based on aramid micron fibers(AMFs)with hierarchical dendritic structure.Thanks to the combination of van der Waals force provided by hierarchical dendritic structure,electrostatic interaction between AMFs and LM,coordinative bonding of―NH to LM,together with interfacial re-setting and multi-step protonation,several features can be achieved through such strategy:conducive to the local filler network construction,improvement of interfacial interaction,improvement of the stability of filler dispersion in the solvent,and enhancement of mechanical and thermal properties of the films.The resulting AMFsp H=4/LM films demonstrate a thermal conductivity of 10.98 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1)at 70%filler content,improvement of 126.8%compared to ANFs/LM film;while maintaining a strength of~85.88 MPa,improvement of 77%compared to AMFs/LM film.They also possess insulation properties,enable heat dissipation for high power electronics.This work provides an effective strategy for the preparation of high performance polymer composites containing liquid metal.