ObjectiveTo detect the expression of Krüppel like factor 8 (KLF8) in breast cancer tissues and cells and to explore the clinical significance of KLF8.Methods① The Oncomine database was used to analyze the differential expression of KLF8 mRNA in the breast cancer tissues. The Kaplan-Meier Plotter database was used to analyze the relationship between KLF8 mRNA expression and prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, post-progression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with breast cancer. ② The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the KLF8 expression levels in the 16 clinical patients with breast cancer and 7 breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-12A, Hs-578T, MCF-7, BT-474, MDA-MB-453, ZR-75-30) and normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A, and the immunofluorescence was used to further detect the localization of KLF8 expression in the 2 breast cancer cell lines with higher KLF8 expression level. ③ The immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KLF8 protein in 135 cases of breast cancer tissue microarrays, and the relationships between KLF8 protein expression and clinicopathologic characteristics or overall survival were analyzed.Results① The Oncomine database showed that KLF8 mRNA expression in the breast cancer tissues was higher than that in the normal breast tissues (P<0.001). The median KLF8 mRNA expression level was taken as the cut-off point for high or low KLF8 expression. The results of Kaplan-Meier Plotter data analysis showed that the prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, postprogression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with low KLF8 mRNA expression were better than those of patients with high KLF8 mRNA expression (P<0.05). ② The results of qRT-PCR and Western blot all showed that the KLF8 mRNA and protein expression levels in the breast cancer tissues were higher than those in the adjacent normal tissues (P=0.002, P<0.001). In addition, the Western blot results showed that the expression of KLF8 protein in the 7 breast cancer cell lines was higher than that in the normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A respectively, and KLF8 protein mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of breast cancer cells and highly expressed in the nuclear of a few cells. ③ There were 63 cases of high KLF8 expression and 72 cases of low KLF8 expression by the immunohistochemical analysis of 135 patients with breast cancer tissue microarray (the H-score of the immunohistochemical test results was 75 as the cut-off point, H-score >75 was the high KLF8 expression and H-score ≤75 was the low KLF8 expression), the differences of statuses of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) between the patient with high KLF8 expression and low KLF8 expression were significant (P<0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the prognosis of patients with high KLF8 expression was worse than that of patients with low KLF8 expression (P=0.002). The univariate analysis showed that the TNM stage, statuses of ER and PR, and KLF8 expression were related to the prognosis of patients with breast cancer (P<0.05), further multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that the later stage of TNM and high KLF8 expression were the independent risk factors (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that KLF8 highly expresses in both breast cancer tissues and breast cancer cells, which is related to the statuses of ER and PR and prognosis of patients with breast cancer. KLF8 might be involved in the progression of breast cancer as an oncogenic gene, or it might provide a new direction for prognosis judgment and molecular targeted therapy of breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo study the feasibility and safety of CT-guided preoperative Hookwire localization of pulmonary nodules in clinical application.MethodsClinical data of 102 patients who were scheduled to undergo surgical treatment for pulmonary nodules from June 2015 to April 2020 in the North Ward of Thoracic Surgery Department of Ruijin Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 38 males and 64 females, aged 23-82 (53.2±12.8) years.ResultsAll 102 patients with pulmonary nodules underwent CT-guided preoperative Hookwire localization successfully, with a localization success rate of 100.0%. The localization time was 27.0 (11-67) min; the number of times to adjust the angle during the positioning process was 6.9 (3-14); the needle depth of the positioning needle was 41.5 (16.3-69.1) mm. A total of 48 (47.1%) patients had a small amount of bleeding in the lung tissue in the positioning area after positioning; 53 (51.9%) patients had a small amount of pneumothorax after positioning; 16 (15.7%) patients were found that the positioning needle completely shedded from the lung tissue in the subsequent surgery. One patient was transferred to open thoracotomy because of extensive dense adhesion in the thorax, and the remaining 101 patients were operated on under thoracoscopy. Postoperative pathology showed that 5 (4.9%) patients were adenocarcinoma in situ, 28 (27.5%) were microinvasive adenocarcinoma, 36 (35.3%) patients were invasive carcinoma and 32 (31.3%) patients were benign lesions. No patients had complications or adverse events related to preoperative positioning.ConclusionPreoperative CT-guided localization of Hookwire intrapulmonary nodules is safe and effective, and can meet the intraoperative localization needs of thoracic surgeons in most clinical situations, and is not inferior to other preoperative localization methods currently used in clinics.
ObjectiveTo explore technical essentials and safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) guided by gallbladder ampulla localization on an imaginary clock for cholecystitis.MethodsA retrospective study of 8 707 continuous patients with mild cholecystitis who underwent LC from July 1998 to February 2018 at a single institution was conducted. Among them, 3 168 patients were treated by the traditional LC from July 1998 to February 2007 (a traditional LC group), 5 539 patients were treated by the LC with the guidance of the gallbladder ampulla localization on an imaginary clock from March 2007 to February 2018 (a gallbladder ampulla localization group). The conversion to open surgery, bile duct injury, return to the operating room due to postoperative massive abdominal bleeding, bile leakage without bile duct injury, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative hospital stays were compared between the traditional LC group and the gallbladder ampulla localization group.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the gender, age, course of disease, and type of cholecystitis between these two groups (P>0.050). The rates of conversion to open surgery, bile duct injury, return to the operating room due to postoperative massive abdominal bleeding, bile leakage without bile duct injury and the operative time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative hospital stays in the traditional LC group were 3.00% (95/3 168), 0.13% (4/3 168), 0.09% (3/3 168), 0.03% (1/3 168), (43.6±12.6) min, (18.7±3.3) mL, (3.6±2.7) d, respectively, which in the gallbladder ampulla localization group were 0 (0/5 539), 0 (0/5 539), 0 (0/5 539), 0 (0/5 539), (32.2±10.5) min, (12.4±3.5) mL, (3.5±2.8) d, respectively. The differences of conversion to open surgery, bile duct injury, return to the operating room due to postoperative massive abdominal bleeding rates, and the operative time and intraoperative blood loss were statistically significant between these two groups (P<0.050). The differences of the bile leakage without bile duct injury rate and postoperative hospital stays were not statistically significant between the two groups (P>0.050).ConclusionThis study shows that gallbladder ampulla localization on an imaginary clock is useful for ductal identification so as to reduce bile duct injury and improve safety of LC in case of no conversion to open surgery.
ObjectiveTo summarize the current common clinical laparoscopic gastrointestinal tumor surgical localization methods, and to provide reference for clinicians to choose reasonable localization methods. MethodThe domestic and foreign literatures related to laparoscopic gastrointestinal tumor surgical localization methods were searched and reviewed. ResultsThe common localization methods for laparoscopic gastrointestinal tumor surgery were imaging localization, preoperative endoscopic localization, intraoperative endoscopic localization and intraoperative fluorescence localization, among which abdominal enhanced CT and endoscopic-related localization methods were the most commonly used localization methods in clinical practice at present. ConclusionA variety of methods are available for surgeons to choose from, and the precise localization of tumors is better facilitated by combining multiple methods.
Epilepsy is a clinical syndrome characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures caused by various etiologies. Etiological diagnosis and localization of the epileptogenic focus are of great importance in the treatment of epilepsy. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) technology plays a significant role in the etiological diagnosis and localization of the epileptogenic focus in epilepsy. It also guides the treatment of epilepsy, predicts the prognosis, and helps physicians intervene earlier and improve the quality of life of patients. With the continuous development of PET-CT technology, more hope and better treatment options will be provided for epilepsy patients. This article will review the guiding role of PET-CT technology in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, providing insights into its application in etiological diagnosis, preoperative assessment of the condition, selection of treatment plans, and prognosis of epilepsy.
Drug-refractory epilepsy (DRE) may be treated by surgical intervention. Intracranial EEG has been widely used to localize the epileptogenic zone (EZ). Most studies of epileptic network focus on the features of EZ nodes, such as centrality and degrees. It is difficult to apply those features to the treatment of individual patients. In this study, we proposed a spatial neighbor expansion approach for EZ localization based on a neural computational model and epileptic network reconstruction. The virtual resection method was also used to validate the effectiveness of our approach. The electrocorticography (ECoG) data from 11 patients with DRE were analyzed in this study. Both interictal data and surgical resection regions were used. The results showed that the rate of consistency between the localized regions and the surgical resections in patients with good outcomes was higher than that in patients with poor outcomes. The average deviation distance of the localized region for patients with good outcomes and poor outcomes were 15 mm and 36 mm, respectively. Outcome prediction showed that the patients with poor outcomes could be improved when the brain regions localized by the proposed approach were treated. This study provides a quantitative analysis tool for patient-specific measures for potential surgical treatment of epilepsy.
ObjectiveTo explore the application value of CT-guided microcoil localization in pulmonary nodule (diameter≤15 mm) surgery.MethodsThe clinical data of 175 patients with pulmonary nodules who underwent single utility port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from August 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. According to whether CT-guided coil localization was performed before operation, they were divided into a locating group and a non-locating group. There were 84 patients (34 males, 50 females, aged 57.8±8.8 years) in the locating group and 91 patients (46 males, 45 females, aged 57.6±10.8 years) in the non-locating group. The localization success rate, localization time, incidence of complications, surgical and postoperative conditions were analyzed between the two groups.ResultsAll 84 patients in the locating group were successfully located, and localization time was 19.0±3.6 minutes. Among them, 19 (22.6%) patients had a small pneumothorax, 4 (4.8%) pulmonary hemorrhage and 2 (2.4%) coil shift; 6 (7.1%) patients had mild pain, 3 (3.6%) moderate pain and 1 (1.2%) severe pain. Sex (P=0.181), age (P=0.673), nodule location (P=0.167), nature of lesion (P=0.244), rate of conversion to thoracotomy (P=0.414), rate of disposable resection of nodules (P=0.251) and postoperative hospital stay (P=0.207) were similar between the two groups. There were significant differences in nodule size (P<0.001), nature of nodule (P<0.001), the shortest distance from nodule to pleura (P<0.001), operation time (P<0.001), lung volume by wedge resection (P=0.031), number of staplers (P<0.001) and total hospitalization costs (P<0.001) between the two groups.ConclusionCT-guided microcoil localization has the characteristics of high success rate, and is simple, practicable, effective, safe and minimally invasive. Preoperative CT-guided microcoil localization has important clinical application value for small pulmonary nodules, especially those with small size, deep location and less solid components. It can effectively shorten the operation time, reduce surgical trauma and lower hospitalization costs, which is a preoperative localization technique worthy of popularization.
Objective To explore the anatomical parameters of the cervical uncinate process “inflection point” through cervical CT angiography (CTA) and MRI measurements, offering a reliable and safe anatomical landmark for anterior cervical decompression surgery. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the cervical CTA and MRI imaging data of normal adults who met the selection criteria between January 2020 and January 2024. The CTA dataset included 326 cases, with 200 males and 126 females, aged 22-55 years (mean, 46.7 years). The MRI dataset included 300 cases, with 200 males and 100 females, aged 18-55 years (mean, 43.7 years). Based on the CTA data, three-dimensional models of C3-C7 were constructed, and the following measurements were obtained from the superior view: uncinate process “inflection point” to vertebral artery distance (UIVD), uncinate process tip to vertebral artery distance (UTVD), uncinate process “inflection point” to “inflection point” distance (UID), uncinate process long-axis to sagittal angle (ULSA), and uncinate process “inflection point” to transverse foramen-sagittal angle (UITSA). From the anterior view, the anterior uncinate process to sagittal angle (AUSA) was measured. From the posterior view, the posterior uncinate process to sagittal angle (PUSA) was measured. Based on the MRI data, uncinate process “inflection point” to dural sac distance (UIDD) and dural sac width (DSW) were measured. The trends in measurement parameters of C3-C7 were observed, and the differences in measurement parameters between genders and between the left and right sides of the same segment were compared, as well as the difference in UID and DSW within the same segment was compared. Results The measurement parameters from C3 to C7 in the CTA data showed a general increasing trend, with no significant difference between the left and right sides within the same segment (P>0.05). The UIVD, UTVD, and UID were greater in males than in females, with significant differences observed in the UIVD and UTVD at C3 and C6 and UID at C3, C6, and C7 (P<0.05). The MRI measured DSW showed a general increasing trend from C3 to C7, and the DSW at C6 was greater in females than in males, with a significant difference (P<0.05). The UIDD showed a gradual decreasing trend, with the smallest value at C6. There was no significant difference between males and females or between the left and right sides within the same segment (P>0.05). The UID was greater than the DSW at C3-C7, and the differences were significant (P<0.05). ConclusionThe uncinate process “inflection point” is a constant anatomical structure located at the anteromedial aspect of the uncinate process tip and laterally to the dural sac. It maintains a certain safe distance from the vertebral artery. As a decompression landmark in anterior cervical spine surgery, it not only ensures surgical safety but also guarantees complete decompression.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and application value of three-dimensional reconstruction for localization of pulmonary nodules in thoracoscopic lung wedge resection.MethodsThe clinical data of 96 patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung wedge resection in our hospital from January 2019 to August 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed, including 30 males and 66 females with an average age of 57.62±12.13 years. The patients were divided into two groups, including a three-dimensional reconstruction guided group (n=45) and a CT guided Hook-wire group (n=51). The perioperative data of the two groups were compared.ResultsAll operations were performed successfully. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the failure rate of localization (4.44% vs. 5.88%, P=0.633), operation time [15 (12, 19) min vs. 15 (13, 17) min, P=0.956], blood loss [16 (10, 20) mL vs. 15 (10, 19) mL, P=0.348], chest tube placement time [2 (2, 2) d vs. 2 (2, 2) d, P=0.841], resection margin width [2 (2, 2) cm vs. 2 (2, 2) cm, P=0.272] or TNM stage (P=0.158). The complications of CT guided Hook-wire group included pneumothorax in 2 patients, hemothorax in 2 patients and dislodgement in 4 patients. There was no complication related to puncture localization in the three-dimensional reconstruction guided group.ConclusionBased on three-dimensional reconstruction, the pulmonary nodule is accurately located. The complication rate is low, and it has good clinical application value.
ObjectiveTo compare the imaging characteristics and surgical methods of pulmonary nodules in the external 1/3 group and internal 2/3 group. MethodsA retrospective analysis of clinical data from patients who underwent thoracoscopic preoperative CT-guided lung nodule localization at the Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from September 2020 to April 2022 was conducted. ResultsA total of 215 patients were enrolled (247 pulmonary nodules), including 70 males and 145 females, with a median age of 48 years. Based on the location of the nodules under CT guidance, those located in the external 1/3 area of the lung were classified into an external 1/3 group, while those located in the middle 1/3 and inner 1/3 areas were classified into an internal 2/3 group. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of general clinical data, nature of pulmonary nodules, distribution of pulmonary nodules in lobes, localization time, or localization complications (P>0.05). However, there were statistical differences in the distance of pulmonary nodules from the pleura [0.6 (0.0-1.9) cm vs. 1.8 (0.0-4.5) cm, P<0.001], size of pulmonary nodules [0.7 (0.2-1.8) cm vs. 1.0 (0.2-2.0) cm, P<0.001], and surgical methods (P=0.002). In the external 1/3 group, 92.1% of nodules underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection, while fewer patients underwent other procedures; in the internal 2/3 group, 77.1% of nodules underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection, and 19.3% underwent segmentectomy. ConclusionThe diameter of pulmonary nodules, the distance of pulmonary nodules from the pleura, and surgical methods differ between the external 1/3 group and internal 2/3 group. Thoracic surgeons can develop more precise surgical plans based on the location and size of pulmonary nodules.