Comparative diagnostic accuracy of the IOTA SRR and LR2 scoring systems for discriminating between malignant and Benign Adnexal masses by junior physicians in Chinese patients: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The accuracy of ultrasound in distinguishing benign from malignant adnexal masses is highly correlated with the experience of ultrasound physicians. In China, most of ultrasound differentiation is done by junior physicians. PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic performance of the International Ovarian Tumour Analysis (IOTA) Simple Rules Risk (SRR) and IOTA Logistic Regression Model 2 (LR2) scoring systems in Chinese patients with adnexal masses. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of ovarian cancer tumor patients who underwent surgery at a hospital in China from January 2016 to December 2021. Screening patients with at least one adnexal mass on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two trained junior physicians evaluated each mass using the two scoring systems. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to test the diagnostic performance of each system. RESULTS: A total of 144 adnexal masses were retrospectively collected. Forty masses were histologically diagnosed as malignant. Compared with premenopausal women, postmenopausal women had a much higher rate of malignant masses. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) of the SRR was 97.5% (95% CI: 86.8 -99.9%), 82.7% (95% CI: 74.0 -89.4%), 68.4% (95% CI: 58.7 -76.8%) and 98.9% (95% CI: 92.5 -99.8%). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV of the LR2 were 90.0% (95% CI: 76.5 -97.2%), 89.4% (95% CI: 81.9 -94.6%), 76.6% (95% CI: 65.0 -85.2%), and 95.9% (95% CI: 90.2 -98.3%). There was good agreement between two scoring systems, with 84.03% total agreement and a kappa value of 0.783 (95% CI: 0.70-0.864). The areas under the curve for predicting malignant tumours using SRR and LR2 were similar for all patients (P > 0.05 ). CONCLUSION: The two scoring systems can effectively distinguish benign from malignant adnexal masses. Both scoring systems have high diagnostic efficacy, and diagnostic efficacy is stable, which can provide an important reference for clinical decision making.

Construction of pH-Dependent Nanozymes with Oxygen Vacancies as the High-Efficient Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenger for Oral-Administrated Anti-Inflammatory Therapy.

It is of great significance to eliminate excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Herein, for the first time, a novel nanozyme NiCo2 O4 @PVP is constructed via a step-by-step strategy. Noticeably, the existence of oxygen vacancy in the NiCo2 O4 @PVP is helpful for capturing oxygenated compounds, while both redox couples of Co3+ /Co2+ and Ni3+ /Ni2+ will offer richer catalytic sites. As expected, the obtained NiCo2 O4 @PVP exhibits pH-dependent multiple mimic enzymatic activities. Benefiting from the introduction of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), the NiCo2 O4 @PVP possesses good physiological stability and excellent biosafety in stomach and intestines' environment. Meanwhile, the NiCo2 O4 @PVP also presents strong scavenging activities to ROS in vitro, including • O2- , H2 O2 , as well as • OH. Furthermore, a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis model is established for evaluating the anti-inflammatory activity of NiCo2 O4 @PVP in vivo. Based on the size-mediated and charge-mediated mechanisms, the nanozyme can pass through the digestive tract and target the inflamed site for oral-administrated anti-inflammatory therapy. More interestingly, compared with the model group, the expression levels of inflammatory factors (e.g., Interleukin- 6 (IL-6), Interleukin- 1ß (IL-1ß), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)) in colon of mice show a significant decrease after nanozyme intervention, thereby inhibiting the development of IBD. In short, current work provides an alternative therapy for patients suffering from IBD.

Efficacy of high intensity focused ultrasound treatment for cystic adenomyosis: a report of four cases.

BACKGROUND: Cystic adenomyosis is a particular type of adenomyosis, High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as a non-invasive method, has also been used to treat adenomyosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of HIFU for the treatment of cystic adenomyosis. METHODS: Diagnosis of cystic adenomyosis was obtained through trans-vaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ultrasound-guided HIFU ablation was performed under conscious sedation. The patients were evaluated by the comparison of pre-HIFU and post-HIFU imaging, as well as the Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Quality of Life (UFS-QOL) questionnaire subscales, consisting of Symptom Severity Score (SSS) and Heath Related Quality of Life (HRQL). RESULTS: HIFU was effective in treating cystic adenomyosis. No complications were observed in the four patients who were successfully treated with HIFU. Compared to preoperative symptoms and patient satisfaction, symptoms at the first follow-up observed significant improvements, with no dysmenorrhea and high health-related quality of life. During the outpatient follow-up of one month, three months, and six months postoperation, the four patients were still without dysmenorrhea and were highly satisfied with the HIFU ablation. CONCLUSIONS: HIFU, as a non-invasive treatment, supplies a safe and effective possibility for the treatment of cystic adenomyosis.

A modified culture strategy of human keratinocytes to shorten the primary culture time.

Shortening time from biopsy to graft preparation is crucial for the coverage of extensive burn wound in major burn patients. This study was aimed to shorten the culture time of keratinocytes by means of one modified cell culture method. Three factors (temperature of dispase, area of skin, and age of patient) that might have impacts on cell behavior were evaluated. The results showed that cells isolated with dispase at 37°C exhibited an improved cell activity than being isolated at 4°C. The time that cells reached subconfluence with various skin areas was in order of 3 cm(2) < 2 cm(2) < 1 cm(2) (120.07 ± 5.03 h, 141.33 ± 4.16 h, and 193.33 ± 6.11 h, respectively). Furthermore, compared with the young and middle-aged groups, proliferation of keratinocytes isolated from children skin tissue was better. These results indicated that 3 cm(2) skin biopsy from a young patient, isolated with dispase at 37°C, was a promising strategy to shorten the cultivation of keratinocytes.