Extrapancreatic necrosis volume:A new tool in acute pancreatitis severity assessment?

BACKGROUND Many scores have been suggested to assess the severity of acute pancreatitis upon onset.The extrapancreatic necrosis volume is a novel,promising score that appears to be superior to other scores investigated so far.AIM To evaluate the discriminatory power of extrapancreatic necrosis volume to identify severe cases of acute pancreatitis.METHODS A total of 123 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis at Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology,St Spiridon Hospital between January 1,2017 and December 31,2019 were analyzed retrospectively.Pancreatitis was classified according to the revised Atlanta classification(rAC)as mild,moderate,or severe.Severity was also evaluated by computed tomography and classified according to the computed tomography severity index(CTSI)and the modified CTSI(mCTSI).The results were compared with the extrapancreatic volume necrosis to establish the sensitivity and specificity of each method.RESULTS The CTSI and mCTSI imaging scores and the extrapancreatic necrosis volume were highly correlated with the severity of pancreatitis estimated by the rAC(r=0.926,P<0.001 and r=0.950,P<0.001;r=0.784,P<0.001,respectively).The correlation of C-reactive protein with severity was positive but not as strong,and was not significant(r=0.133,P=0.154).The best predictor for the assessment of severe pancreatitis was the extrapancreatic necrosis volume[area under the curve(AUC)=0.993;95%confidence interval(CI):0.981-1.005],with a 99.5%sensitivity and 99.0%specificity at a cutoff value of 167 mL,followed by the mCTSI 2007 score(AUC=0.972;95%CI:0.946-0.999),with a 98.0%sensitivity and 96.5%specificity,and the CTSI 1990 score(AUC=0.969;95%CI:0.941-0.998),with a 97.0%sensitivity and 95.0%specificity.CONCLUSION Radiological severity scores correlate strongly and positively with disease activity.Extrapancreatic necrosis volume shows the best diagnostic accuracy for severe cases.

Shaping the future of application for information and communication technology in national economic analysis

Characterized by networking,digitization,and intellectualization,the new generation of Information and Communication Technologies(ICTs)has promoted integration of various national economic industries,with a more significant leading role in the socio-economic development.In order to describe the influence of ICT industries on economic growth,this paper has comprehensively analyzed the contribution mechanism of ICTs to current economy.Crucial indicators,such as Total Telecommunications Business(TTB),Data Traffic(DT),and Computing Power Development Index(CPDI),have been innovatively selected to sufficiently describe the data circulation scale and the processing capacity in the era of digital economy.Based on relevant statistics of 31 provinces(municipalities or autonomous regions)in China from 2011 to 2020,quantitative results have been put forward to interpret the impact of ICT industries on the national economy development by using correlation coefficient analysis and data regression analysis methods.The measurement results show that TTB,DT,and CPDI are positively correlated with the national economic development,indicating that each 1%increasement of TTB,DT,and CPDI increases Gross Domestic Product(GDP)by 0.08%,0.09%,and 0.6%,respectively.