Serum Levels of VWF, t-PA, TNF-α, and ICAM-1 in Patients Receiving Hemocoagulase Combined with Platelet-Rich Plasma during Total Hip Replacement.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of hemocoagulase combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in total hip replacement (THR) on reducing bleeding and improving knee joint function in the patients with osteoarthritis. Methods: From February 2018 to February 2020, 80 osteoarthritis patients undergoing THR were included in the study, of which 40 cases were treated with PRP and hemocoagulase (test group) in the joint capsule in THR and the other 40 cases received saline and thrombin in the joint capsule after THR (control group). Postoperative drainage and corresponding functional exercise were performed for the two groups 12 hours after operation. The outcome measures including operation time, soft-tissue release, blood routine, drainage volume, perioperative blood loss, postoperative incision inflammation, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and range of motion (ROM) of the joint were recorded. Results: The hemoglobin and hematocrit values of the test group on the second postoperative day were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The postoperative drainage volume and perioperative blood loss were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The test group was better than the control group in the ROM of the joint at 7 and 15 days after the operation (P < 0.05). A lower value of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time was revealed in the test group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the operation time, intraoperative soft-tissue release, postoperative incision inflammation, incidence of DVT, incidence of deep infection, and ROM at day 90 after THR was found in the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The application of hemocoagulase combined with PRP in THR can reduce perioperative blood loss, increase wound healing speed and quality, and improve coagulation and immune function. It is a safe and effective method for the patients with knee osteoarthritis who underwent THR.

Quantitative evaluation of bone marrow fat content and unsaturated fatty index in young male soccer players using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS): a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Marrow fat exists as a distinct adipose tissue and plays a critical role in affecting both the quantity and quality of bone. However, the effect of soccer training on marrow fat has been rarely reported. This study aims to evaluate and characterize the marrow fat content and composition in different bone areas of soccer players and age-matched healthy subjects using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). METHODS: Between May 2020 and June 2020, 20 professional soccer players (20.7±0.9 years) and 20 age-matched healthy subjects (21.2±0.8 years) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The 1H-MRS were acquired from the 3rd lumbar vertebrae, bilateral femoral necks, and distal tibias of all subjects using a single-voxel point-resolved spatially localized spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence. Four soccer players underwent a second magnetic resonance (MR) examination within a 30-minute interval after the initial scan to evaluate test-retest reproducibility. Inter- and intra-observer measurement reliabilities were assessed using 10 randomly selected spectra from the soccer players group. All spectra were processed using the jMRUI software package (http://www.jmrui.eu/). Quantified water and lipid signals were used to calculate fat content (FC) and the unsaturated fatty index (UI). RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, we found that soccer players had a lower FC in L3 and bilateral femoral necks and higher UI in the left femoral neck (P<0.05). All FC and UI values of the bilateral distal tibias showed no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). The UI values of the right femoral neck or distal tibia were markedly higher than the left side in both inactive subjects and soccer players (P<0.05, except for the femoral neck in players), and there were notable ΔUI differences in the lower limbs between the soccer players and the healthy subjects (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Soccer practice can be considered a positive sport that contributes to decreasing FC in lumbar vertebrae and femoral necks and increasing the UI in femoral necks. Quantitative MRS provides an ideal modality to predict marrow fat metabolism caused by mechanical stimulation.

Real-world clinical outcomes of olaparib therapy in Chinese patients with advanced serous ovarian cancer treated in Macau.

BACKGROUND: Olaparib has been approved as an active and maintenance therapy for patients with platinum-sensitive, BRCA-mutated high-grade serous ovarian cancer (SOC). However, the efficacy and safety data is lack among Chinese ovarian cancer patients. AIM: This real-world study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety profile of olaparib in patients from mainland China, where olaparib is currently unavailable. METHODS AND RESULTS: This single-center, observational study included 65 patients with pathologically confirmed advanced serous ovarian cancer from Kiang Wu Hospital in Macau between December 2015 and September 2017. Progression-free survival (PFS) and other endpoints (treatment response, disease progression, and adverse events) were evaluated. PFS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The median treatment duration was 4 months (range, 1-15). The median PFS for the overall population was 4.2 months (95% CI 2.7-5.2), while those for patients with wild-type BRCA1/2 and BRCA1/2 mutations were 3.1 months (95% CI 1.3-4.6) and 5.3 months (95% CI 2.8-7.1), respectively. The median PFS tended to be longer for patients on maintenance therapy (between 9.0 months [95% CI 1.4-17.5] and 10.0 months [95% CI 2.5-18.1]) than for those on active therapy (between 3.1 months [95% CI 2.1-3.8] and 3.0 months [95% CI 1.4-4.5]). Most patients (87.0%) experienced low-grade adverse events; the most common of which were fatigue (49.0%) and nausea (35.0%). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate clinical benefit of olaparib to mainland Chinese patients with high-grade SOC, particularly for patients with BRCA mutations and who require maintenance therapy.

Associations Between Pain Patterns and Self-Reported Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To study pain locations and patterns in knee osteoarthritis (OA) and determine associations between knee pain patterns and pain characteristics, functional status, and psychological status. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: A convenience sample of 203 patients with knee OA was recruited from two university-affiliated hospitals from July 2016 to July 2017. METHODS: Pain locations were recorded with Photographic Knee Pain Map. Pain characteristics, functional dysfunction, pain catastrophizing, and pain self-efficacy were assessed, and demographic and radiographic data were also collected. Self-reported clinical outcomes across common pain patterns were compared. RESULTS: The medial joint line area (72.9%) was the most prevalent pain zone. The common pain patterns were diffuse (34.5%), isolated medial (22.7%), isolated anterior (9.9%), and medial-lateral pain (9.9%). Scores of intermittent pain (mean difference [MD] = 9.669, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.815 to 16.523) and knee-related function in daily living (MD = -10.353, 95% CI= -17.358 to -3.349) were worse in diffuse pain compared with isolated medial pain. Knee-related symptom scores were higher with isolated medial (MD = 13.146, 95% CI = 6.725 to 19.566), isolated anterior (MD = 15.102, 95% CI = 6.525 to 23.679), and medial-lateral (MD = 15.281, 95% CI = 6.704 to 23.857) pain relative to diffuse pain. Diffuse pain, after adjusting for confounding factors, was associated with more severe knee pain at rest, higher scores of constant and intermittent pain, lower knee-related function scores, higher pain catastrophizing, and lower pain self-efficacy scores (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The most common pattern is diffuse pain, which is associated with worse knee pain intensity at rest, constant and intermittent pain experiences, and worse physical and psychological status, compared with more localized patterns.

Facile solution-phase synthesis of gamma-Mn3O4 hierarchical structures.

BACKGROUND: A lot of effort has been focused on the integration of nanorods/nanowire as building blocks into three-dimensional (3D) complex superstructures. But, the development of simple and effective methods for creating novel assemblies of self-supported patterns of hierarchical architectures to designed materials using a suitable chemical method is important to technology and remains an attractive, but elusive goal. RESULTS: The hierarchical structure of Mn3O4 with radiated spherulitic nanorods was prepared via a simple solution-based coordinated route in the presence of macrocycle polyamine, hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene (CT) with the assistance of thiourea as an additive. CONCLUSION: This approach opens a new and facile route for the morphogenesis of Mn3O4 material and it might be extended as a novel synthetic method for the synthesis of other inorganic semiconducting nanomaterials such as metal chalcogenide semiconductors with novel morphology and complex form, since it has been shown that thiourea can be used as an effective additive and the number of such water-soluble macrocyclic polyamines also makes it possible to provide various kinds of ligands for different metals in homogeneous water system.

[Overlapping tissue expansion techniques and its clinical applications].

OBJECTIVE: To improve the results of the soft tissue expansion technique. METHODS: Two expanders were buried in the same soft tissue pocket in an overlapping pattern. The inflation process was carried out routinely. RESULTS: 19 cases of various tissue defects were treated with the overlapping tissue expansion technique since March 1999. Good results have been achieved. CONCLUSION: The overlapping tissue expansion technique can provide much more expanded tissue and reduce complications compared with the traditional expansion technique. It is especially suitable for repair of the defects at the facial and cervical region.