Role of shear wave elastography in the evaluation of the treatment and prognosis of supraspinatus tendinitis

BACKGROUND Supraspinatus tendinitis recurs easily after treatment.One of the main reasons is the lack of objective tools for the efficacy evaluation.Shear wave elastography(SWE)can quantitatively analyze the tissue elasticity of region of interest by measuring the Young’s modulus(YM)value.AIM To explore the role of SWE in the efficacy and prognostic evaluation of supraspinatus tendinitis.METHODS Eighty-seven patients with supraspinatus tendinitis treated in Jiading District Central Hospital Affiliated Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences were recruited.Another 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled as the control group.The visual analogue scale(VAS)and Constant-Murley Score(CMS)were recorded before treatment.All participants were scanned by SWE scan,and the YM value of the region of interest were recorded.Spearman correlation analysis was performed on YM values with VAS and CMS.Univariate repeated measures analysis of variance was used to calculate the changing trend of VAS,CMS and SWE under different treatment courses.After treatment,the patients were further grouped based on who achieved significantly effective and curative treatment.The patients in the continued treatment group continued to receive treatment according to the YM value,and the remaining patients who stopped receiving treatment were included in the stopped treatment group.All patients were followed up for 1 year,and the difference in recurrence rates between the continued treatment group and the stopped treatment group were compared.RESULTS The SWE images of supraspinatus muscle in healthy volunteers were mainly blue,while those of patients with supraspinatus tendinitis showed regional red and green areas.The average YM value of the supraspinatus muscle in healthy volunteers was 26.12±4.03 kPa.The average YM value of patients with supraspinatus muscle was greater than that of healthy volunteers(average YM=60.61±11.53 kPa,t=26.344,P<0.001).The YM value was positively correlated with VAS(r=0.564,P<0.001)and negatively correlated with CMS(r=-0.411,P<0.001).The changes of VAS and CMS were the most obvious in course 1 and then decreased gradually.The degree of change in YM values was similar in different courses.After a 1-year follow-up,the cumulative relapse-free rate in the continued treatment group was 91.43%,which was significantly higher than that in the stopped treatment group(64.71%,X2=7.379,P=0.007).CONCLUSION SWE can objectively indicate the severity of supraspinatus tendinitis.Using the YM value as a criterion for curative effect may reduce the recurrence rate.

Intranasal ketamine for the treatment of patients with acute pain in the emergency department

BACKGROUND:Pain in the emergency department(ED)is common but undertreated.The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy and safety of intranasal(IN)ketamine used as an analgesic for patients with acute injury with moderate to severe pain.METHODS:This study was a cross sectional,observational study of patients more than 8 years old experiencing moderate to severe pain[visual analog score(VAS)>50 mm].The initial dose of IN ketamine was 0.7 mg/kg with an additional dose of 0.3 mg/kg if VAS was more than 50 mm after 15minutes.Pain scores and vital signs were recorded at 0,15,30 and 60 minutes.Side-effects,sedation level and patient's satisfaction were also recorded.The primary outcome was the number of patients achieving≥20 mm reductions in VAS at 15 minutes.Other secondary outcome measures were median reduction in VAS at 15,30 and 60 minutes,changes of vital signs,adverse events,satisfaction of patients,and need for additional ketamine.RESULTS:Thirty-four patients with a median age of 29.5 years(IQR 17.5–38)were enrolled,and they had an initial median VAS of 80 mm(IQR 67–90).The VAS decreased more than 20 mm at15 minutes in 27(80%)patients.The reduction of VAS from baseline to 40 mm(IQR 20–40),20 mm(IQR 14–20)and 20 mm(IQR 10–20)respectively at 15,30 and 60 minutes(P<0.001).No critical changes of vital signs were noted and adverse effects were mild and transient.CONCLUSION:This study showed that IN ketamine is an analgesic choice for patients with acute injury in moderate to severe pain in an overcrowded and resource limited ED.

Cumulative sum analysis score and phacoemulsification competency learning curve

AIM： To use the cumulative sum analysis score（CUSUM） to construct objectively the learning curve of phacoemulsification competency.METHODS： Three second-year residents and an experienced consultant were monitored for a series of 70 phacoemulsification cases each and had their series analysed by CUSUM regarding posterior capsule rupture（PCR） and best-corrected visual acuity. The acceptable rate for PCR was 〈5%（lower limit h） and the unacceptable rate was 〉10%（upper limit h）. The acceptable rate for bestcorrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 was 〈10%（lower limit h） and the unacceptable rate was 〉20%（upper limit h）. The area between lower limit h and upper limit h is called the decision interval. RESULTS： There was no statistically significant difference in the mean age, sex or cataract grades between groups. The first trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 22 nd case. His best-corrected visual acuity CUSUM was in the decision interval from his third case and stayed there until the end, never reaching competency. The second trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 39^ th case. He could reach best-corrected visual acuity CUSUM competency at his 22 ^nd case. The third trainee achieved PCR CUSUM competency at his 41 st case. He reached bestcorrected visual acuity CUSUM competency at his 14 ^th case.CONCLUSION： The learning curve of competency in phacoemulsification is constructed by CUSUM and in average took 38 cases for each trainee to achieve it.

Implementation and experiments for interactive lyrics transcreation system

The evolution of the Internet has enabled us to enjoy the music created in various countries.But still,it is often difficult to understand the lyrics written in foreign languages.Professional translators have published many international songs with lyrics that fit the melody so that the ordinary people can enjoy the lyrics of such international songs.This paper discusses lyrics transcreation into the Japanese language.Also,the paper presents an interactive visual lyrics transcreation system and describes the details of its implementation.This system allows users to select temporary lyrics from a set of tentative translations and then freely modify the lyrics with a real-time visualization mechanism.We also propose a lyrics translation algorithm that solves an essential problem of lyrics translation into Japanese.In this study,we interviewed two experts regarding problems with lyrics translation and received reviews of our presented system.We also conducted preliminary experiments with 19 participants to determine the best combination of user interface components for our system.We performed additional user experiments inviting 12 participants to compare lyrics transcreation using the presented system to manual lyrics transcreation.Lyrics transcreation by the presented system brought better results against those of manual transcreation.

Assessment of the Visual Analogue Score in the Evaluation of the Pruritus of Cholestasis

Background and Aims:A visual analogue score (VAS),based on application of a visual analogue scale,has been widely used to assess pruritus in clinical studies of patients with cholestatic liver disease.A VAS is a numerical score of the severity of the perception of pruritus,and,hence,is inherently subjective.The objective of this study was to assessthe reliability of a VAS as an index of pruritus in cholestatic patients.Methods:In 8 patients with chronic pruritus due to primary biliary cholangitis,values for a VAS of pruritus were compared with corresponding measurements of scratching activity,which were generated by a monitoring system specifically designed to quantitate this activity.The relationship between individual values for the VAS and corresponding values for scratching activity during a specific interval immediately preceding the recording of the VAS was examined by determining the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.Results:The mean Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between individual values for the VAS and corresponding mean values for scratching activity was 0.072;the range of these coefficients was-0.04 to 0.26.A VAS of pruritus is an unreliable index of scratching activity,and,hence,of the pathophysiological process responsible for the pruritus of cholestasis.Conclusion:It is concluded that the use of a VAS as a primary quantitative endpoint in trials of the efficacy of potential therapies for the pruritus of cholestasis may be inappropriate.