[Clinical value of high frequency ultrasound in the diagnosis of hip joint involvement in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the correlation between hip joint musculoskeletal ultrasound score and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) disease activity, as well as to investigate the value of high frequency ultrasound in the assessment of hip joint involvement in AS. METHODS: The clinical data of 244 patients with AS who were treated in the rheumatology department of from March 2019 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, there 174 males and 70 females, aged from 19 to 58 years old with an average of (34.22±9.49) years old;the disease duration of AS patients ranged from 8 months to 26 years, with an average of (13.68±4.04) years.The 244 patients were divided into disease group (83 cases) and control group (161 cases) based in the presence of hip joint involuement. According to the the disease activity, patients in the disease group were further categorezed into active phase (45 cases) and stable phase (38 cases). The ultrasound scores of patients in the active and stable phases of the disease group and the control group were compared. Relevant factors of hip joint involvement in AS patients were analyzed, and analyze the correlation between ultrasound score and Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score index(BASDAI), Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index(BASFI), visual analogue score of pain (VAS), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and the correlation between hip joint capsule score and tendon attachment end score and BASDAI, BASFI, VAS, CRP and ESR. RESULTS: The hip joint capsule score(3.06±1.12), femoral head score(1.45±0.43), tendon attachment end score(3.28±1.30) and total ultrasound score(6.65±2.31) of the disease group were higher than those of the control group(1.51±0.48)、(0.66±0.27)、(1.61±0.53)、(3.81±1.44)scores (P<0.05). Multifactor Logstic regression analysis showed that the course of disease, hip joint capsule score and total ultrasound score were independent risk factors for hip involvement in AS patients.The hip capsule score (3.65±1.22)and total ultrasound score(8.28±2.33) in the active phase of the disease group were higher than those in the stable phase (2.48±1.04)、( 6.82±1.96)scores(P<0.05). The hip joint capsule score and total ultrasonic score of AS patients were positively correlated with BASDAI, BASFI, VAS, CRP, and ESR (P<0.05, P<0.01).The score of tendon attachment end was positively correlated with CRP (P<0.05). The score of joint capsule effusion in AS patients was positively correlated with BASDAI, BASFI and VAS (P<0.05, P<0.01). The synovial blood flow score was positively correlated with BASDAI, VAS, CRP and ESR (P<0.05, P<0.01). The synovial thickening score was positively correlated with BASDAI, BASFI, VAS, CRP and ESR (P<0.05, P<0.01). There was no correlation between the score of tendon attachment end and BASDAI, BASFI, VAS, CRP and ESR. CONCLUSION: There is a correlation between hip joint ultrasonic score of hip joint and clinical indexes in AS patients.Hip joint capsule score and total ultrasonic score were independent risk factors for hip involvement in AS patients. High frequency ultrasound exhibits clinical value in the diagnosis of hip joint involvement in AS patients.

[Pollution Characteristics and Source Apportionment of n-Alkanes and PAHs in Summertime PM2.5 at Background Site of Yangtze River Delta].

To investigate the pollution characteristics and sources of organic aerosols at a background site of the Yangtze River Delta, day- and night- PM2.5 samples were collected from May 30th to August 15th, 2018 in Chongming Island, China and measured for their normal alkanes (n-alkanes) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content employing a GC-MS technique. Concentrations of PM2.5, n-alkanes, and PAHs during the entire sampling period were (33±21) µg·m-3, (26±44) ng·m-3, and (0.76±1.0) ng·m-3, respectively. During the entire campaign, 35% of the collected PM2.5 samples were of a particle loading larger than the first grade of the China National Air Quality Standard (35 µg·m-3), suggesting that further mitigation with respect to air pollution in Chongming Island remains imperative. In the period with a PM2.5 concentration higher than 35 µg·m-3, which was classified as the pollution period, concentrations of n-alkanes and PAHs were one order of magnitude higher than those in the period with PM2.5 less than 15 µg·m-3, which was classified as the clean period. During the entire campaign, OC was higher in the daytime than in the nighttime, mainly due to the daytime photooxidation that enhanced the formation of secondary organic aerosols. During the pollution period, concentrations of EC and other pollutants were higher in the nighttime than in daytime, mainly due to the transport of the inland pollutants by the nighttime land breeze. Such a diurnal difference was not observed for the pollutants in clean periods, mainly due to the relatively clean breeze from East China Sea that diluted the air pollution. Diagnostic ratios showed that 67% of n-alkanes in PM2.5 was derived from fossil fuel combustion. PMF analysis further showed that during the pollution period, vehicle exhausts and industrial emissions were the largest sources of PAHs, both accounting for 51% of the total in PM2.5. In contrast, during the clean periods ship emissions were the largest source, contributing about 45% of the total PAHs, exceeding the sum (38%) of vehicle and industrial emissions.