Alterations of Cerebral Functional Connectivity in Patients with Frontal Lobe Epilepsy:A Graph Theory Study

The aim of the present study is to investigate the brain functional network changes of patients with frontal lobe epilepsy(FLE)by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(rsfMRI)and graph theoretical analysis.rsfMRI is performed in 46 adult patients with FLE and 46 age matched healthy controls(HCs).A functional network is built from these subjects,and the topological properties of such network are analyzed quantitatively using graph theoretical methods.According to the results,both FLE patients and HCs exhibit prominent small world features.Compared with HCs,FLE shows a decrease in local efficiency(Eloc),clustering coefficient,nodal efficiency as well as nodal degree.Furthermore,FLE(seven)has fewer hubs than HCs(ten).The functional abnormalities in the network organization suggest functional disturbances in patients with FLE.This study helps to gain new insights into the functional disorder in patients with FLE.The networks built here can also be a set of potential biomarkers for the diagnosis,monitoring and the treatment of FLE.

Anatomical variation of infra-pyloric artery origination： A prospective multicenter observational study (IPA-Origin)

Objective： Infra-pyloric artery （IPA） is an important anatomical landmark in treatment of gastric cancer and is the key vessel for pylorus-preserving gastrectomy and subgroup of infra-pyloric lymph nodes. However, its anatomical variation is not thoroughly understood. Our study aimed to clarify the origination of the IPA. Methods： We did this prospective, multicenter, open-label, observational study at gastric surgery departments of 34 hospitals in China. Gastric cancer patients aged 18 years or older and scheduled to undergo elective total or distal gastrectomy were assigned. During the surgery, IPA dissecting and exposing the origination point with photographs or video clips were required. The primary outcome was the origination of the IPA. Analysis of variance, χ2 tests and Fisher＇s tests were used to analyze the differences between groups. The study is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov （No. NCT03071237）. Results： Between May 8 and July 31, 2017, 429 patients were assigned for the study, and 419 （97.7%） patients had the IPA dissected and recorded through photograph or video and were included in the primary outcome analysis. The median age was 62 years old, and 73.7% were male. Among the patients, 78.5% received laparoscopic surgery. Single IPA origination was identified in 398 （95.0%） patients, including gastroduodenal artery （GDA） in 154 （36.8%） patients, anterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery （ASPDA） in 130 （31.0%） patients, and right gastroepiploic artery （RGEA） in 114 （27.2%） patients. Fifteen （3.6%） patients were identified with multiple IPA and 6 （1.4%） patients were identified as IPA absence. The differences in the distribution of surgical approach （P=0.003） and geographic area （P=0.030） were statistically significant. No difference was shown in sex, age, gastrectomy type, tumor location, and clinical T, N and M stage. Conclusions： Our study found that the IPA originates from GDA, ASPDA and RGEA in similar proportions. Laparoscopic surgery may be more helpful in dissection of the IPA than open surgery.

A study on specialist or special disease clinics based on big data

Correlation analysis and processing of massive medical information can be implemented through big data technology to find the relevance of different factors in the life cycle of a disease and to provide the basis for scientific research and clinical practice. This paper explores the concept of constructing a big medical data platform and introduces the clinical model construction. Medical data can be collected and consolidated by distributed computing technology. Through analysis technology, such as artificial neural network and grey model, a medical model can be built. Big data analysis, such as Hadoop, can be used to construct early prediction and intervention models as well as clinical decision-making model for specialist and special disease clinics. It establishes a new model for common clinical research for specialist and special disease clinics.