Evidence-based medicine in China

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been promoted in China for the past 2 decades and has had a great in-fluence on the field of medicine. Medical students, practitioners, and policy makers have employed evidence from well-designed and well-conducted studies to optimize decision-making. This article summarizes the recent progress in EBM in China. Development of EBM in remote areas of China Ten years ago, many remote areas, such as Tibet, Xinjiang, the western edge of Yunnan Province, the northeast edge of Guizhou Province, and Western Sichuan Plateau, suffered from deep medical and social problems. There was a wide disparity in access to physicians practicing EBM between rural areas and big cities at that time.

Aspiration therapy for acute embolic occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery

BACKGROUND Embolic superior mesenteric artery(SMA) occlusion is associated with high mortality rates. Delayed treatment often leads to serious consequences, including intestinal necrosis, resection, and even patient death. Endovascular repair is being introduced, which can improve clinical symptoms and prognosis and decrease the incidence of exploratory laparotomy. Many reports have described successful endovascular revascularization of embolic SMA occlusion. However,most of those reports are case reports, and there are few reports on Chinese patients. In this paper, we describe the technical and clinical outcomes of aspiration therapy using a guiding catheter and long sheath technique which facilitates the endovascular repair procedure.AIM To evaluate the complications, feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of endovascular treatment for the acute embolic occlusion of the SMA.METHODS This retrospective study reviewed eight patients(six males and two females)from August 2013 to October 2018 at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University. The patients presented with acute embolic occlusion of the SMA on admission and were initially diagnosed by computed tomography angiography(CTA). The patients who underwent endovascular treatment with a guiding catheter had no obvious evidence of bowel infarct. No intestinal necrosis was identified by gastrointestinal surgeons through peritoneal puncture or CTA. The complications, feasibility, effectiveness, safety, and mortality were assessed.RESULTS Six(75%) patients were male, and the mean patient age was 70.00 ± 8.43 years(range, 60-84 years). The acute embolic occlusion of the SMA was initially diagnosed by CTA. All patients had undertaken anticoagulation primarily, and percutaneous aspiration using a guiding catheter was then undertaken because the emboli had large amounts of thrombus residue. No death occurred among the patients. Complete patency of the suffering artery trunk was achieved in six patients, and defect filling was accomplished in two patients. The in-hospital mortality was 0%. The overall 12-mo survival rate was 100%. All patients survived, and two of the eight patients had complications(the clot broke off during aspiration).CONCLUSION Aspiration therapy is feasible, safe, and beneficial for acute embolic SMA occlusion. Aspiration therapy has many benefits for reducing patients' death,resolving thrombi, and improving symptoms.

Organoids of liver diseases: From bench to bedside

Understanding the occurrence, development, and treatment of liver diseases is the main goal of hepatopathology research. Liver diseases are not only diverse but also highly heterogeneous among individuals. At present, research on liver diseases is conducted mainly through cell culture, animal models, pathological specimens, etc. However, these methods cannot fully reveal the pathogenic mechanism and therapeutic characteristics of individualized liver diseases.Recent advances in three-dimensional cell culture technology(organoid culture techniques) include pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells that are cultured in vitro to form self-organizing properties, making it possible to achieve individualized liver disease research. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the development of liver organoids, the existing and potential applications of liver regenerative medicine, the pathogenesis of liver disease heterogeneity, and drug screening.

Sonographic features of umbilical vein recanalization for a Rex shunt on cavernous transformation of portal vein in children

BACKGROUND The Rex shunt was widely used as the preferred surgical approach for cavernous transformation of the portal vein(CTPV)in children that creates a bypass between the superior mesenteric vein and the intrahepatic left portal vein(LPV).This procedure can relieve portal hypertension and restore physiological hepatopetal flow.However,the modified procedure is technically demanding because it is difficult to make an end-to-end anastomosis of a bypass to a hypoplastic LPV.Many studies reported using a recanalized umbilical vein as a conduit to resolve this problem.However,the feasibility of umbilical vein recanalization for a Rex shunt has not been fully investigated.AIM To investigate the efficacy of a recanalized umbilical vein as a conduit for a Rex shunt on CTPV in children by ultrasonography.METHODS A total of 47 children who were diagnosed with CTPV with prehepatic portal hypertension in the Second Hospital,Cheeloo College of Medicine,Shandong University,were enrolled in this study.Fifteen children received a recanalized umbilical vein as a conduit for a Rex shunt surgery and were enrolled in group I.Thirty-two children received the classic Rex shunt surgery and were enrolled in group II.The sonographic features of the two groups related to intraoperative and postoperative variation in terms of bypass vessel and the LPV were compared.RESULTS The patency rate of group I(60.0%,9/15)was significantly lower than that of group II(87.5%,28/32)7 d after(on the 8th d)operation(P<0.05).After clinical anticoagulation treatment for 3 mo,there was no significant difference in the patency rate between group I(86.7%,13/15)and group II(90.6%,29/32)(P>0.05).Moreover,3 mo after(at the beginning of the 4th mo)surgery,the inner diameter significantly widened and flow velocity notably increased for the bypass vessels and the sagittal part of the LPV compared to intraoperative values in both shunt groups(P<0.05).However,there was no significant difference between the two surgical groups 3 mo after surgery(P>0.05).CONCLUSION For children with hypoplastic LPV in the Rex recessus,using a recanalized umbilical vein as a conduit for a Rex shunt may be an effective procedure for CTPV treatment.

Comparing irinotecan/cisplatin with etoposide/cisplatin in patients with ED-SCLC: A meta-analysis of efficacy and toxicity

Objective: Irinotecan in combination with cisplatin for extensive-stage disease small-cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC) patients has gained wide interest. Varying results for this treatment underpin the need for a synthesis of evidence. Methods: We conducted a literature-based meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of the benefit comparing irinotecan in combination with cisplatin (IP) with etoposide in combination with cisplatin (EP) in ED-SCLC patients. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS); secondary outcomes included overall response rate, 1- and 2-year survival rates, disease control rate and toxicity. Results: Four trials including 1,541 patients were identified in the analysis. No positive results (P<0.05) were seen: OS (HR=0.85, CI95%=0.71-1.01; P=0.08) with high heterogeneity (Chi 2 =7.76, df=3 P=0.05]; I 2 =61%), PFS (HR=0.91, CI95%=0.74-1.28; P=0.36) with high heterogeneity (Chi 2 =11.96, df=3 P=0.008]; I 2 =75%), overall response rate(OR=1.16; CI95%=0.79-1.70; P=0.45), disease control rate (OR=1.01; CI95%=0.74-1.38; P=0.95), 1-year survival rate (OR = 1.30; CI95%=0.98-1.72; P=0.07) and 2-year survival rate (OR=1.97; CI95%=0.95-4.09; P=0.07). Fewer patients who received IP suffered severe hematologic toxicities (grade≥3), such as neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and leucopenia. However, severe non-hematologic toxicities (grade≥3), such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, anorexia, and dehydration, were more common among patients who received IP. Conclusion: IP does not lengthen the overall survival or progression-free survival compared with EP in patients with ED-SCLC. Fewer patients receiving IP had grade ≥ 3 hematological toxicities of neutropenia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia, but more had grade≥3 diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, anorexia and dehydration.

Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus for preventing necrotizing enterocolitis in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The therapeutic effect of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus on necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC)in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants was controversial,and we aimed to explore the exact impact of the two probiotics.Methods The PubMed,EMBASE,Web of Science and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies published from January 1,2010 to February 28,2019.Results were combined with fixed-effect model or random-effect model with specific conditions.Sensitivity analysis was conducted by the trim-and-fill method,and the Begger's and Egger's test were used to measure publication bias.Results The meta-analysis included 16 original articles with 4632 very-low-birth-weight preterm infants.With respect to the intervention of Bifidobacterium,we estimated non-significant decrease in the morbidity of NEC with a risk ratio(RR)of 0.75[95%confidence internal(CI)0.56-1.01,P=0.06].Regarding the effect of Lactobacillus,there was no evidence of significant lower risk in the incidence of NEC(RR=0.67,95%CI 0.39-1.17,P=0.16).The use of mixture of probiotics(Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus)reduced the risk of NEC in the probiotics group(RR=0.45,95%CI 0.25-0.80,P=0.007).Conclusion The mixture of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus could prevent the morbidity of NEC in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants.But Bifidobacterium or Lactobacillus alone did not show this effect.

Genomic profiling and the impact of MUC19 mutation in hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach

Dear Editor,Hepatoid adenocarcinoma(HAC)is a rare pathological subtype of extrahepatic tumor,featured by hepatoid differentiation andα-fetoprotein(AFP)-production[1,2].Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach(HAS),accounting for 0.3%to 1.0%of all gastric cancers(GCs),has attracted increasing attention due to its high degree of malignancy[3].Compared with classic GC,HAS showed a higher rate of vascular invasion,lymph node metastasis,and liver metastasis,with only 9.0%survival rate at 5 years[4].Currently,there is no effective treatment for HAS,and little is known about its pathogenesis.Herein,we investigated the molecular features of HAS and identified potential therapeutic targets for HAS.

Toripalimab in advanced biliary tract cancer

Gemcitabine combined with platinum/fluorouracil drugs is the standard firstline treatment for advanced biliary tract cancers(BTCs).We explored the safety and efficacy of toripalimab plus gemcitabine and S-1(GS)as the first-line treatment for advanced BTCs.At a one-sided significance level of 0.025,a total of 50 patients could provide 80%power to show the efficacy at targeted progression-free survival(PFS)rate at 6 months of 70%versus 40%for the combined treatment.This single-arm,phase II study enrolled 50 patients with advanced BTCs who previously received no systemic treatment.The regimen was as follows:toripalimab(240 mg,i.v.,d1),gemcitabine(1,000 mg/m2,i.v.,d1 and d8),and S-1(40–60 mg bid p.o.,d1–14,Q21d).The primary endpoint was progression-free survival.The secondary endpoints included overall survival(OS),objective response rate(ORR),duration of response(DOR),and safety.The associations between response with PDL1 expression,tumor mutational burden(TMB),and genetic variations were explored.Patients were enrolled from January 2019 to August 2020,with a median follow-up time of 24.0 months(IQR:4.3–31.0 months).

Comparison of Risks of Thromboembolism of Drospirenone-Containing and Nondrospirenone -Containing Combined Oral Contraceptive Use: A Meta-Analysis

This study aimed to estimate the risk of venous thromboembolism(VTE),arterial thromboembolism(ATE),and other side effects following the use of drospirenone(DRSP)-containing combined oral contraceptives(COCs).When compared with non-DRSP-containing COCs,DRSP-containing COCs decreased the risk of VTE by 15%in the overall study population,although this was not statistically significant(adjusted hazard ratio/risk ratio[95%confidence interval]0.85[0.69,1.04]).DRSP-containing COCs also showed significant benefits in terms of ATE risk.The body mass index of the subjects significantly decreased by 0.64 kg/m^(2) after taking the DRSP-containing COCs for 6 months.We concluded that DRSP-containing COCs were safe for use and could be broadly recommended.