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Objective: To investigate the clinical features of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC)-related thrombosis (PICCRT) within 2 weeks after PICC placement in cancer patients and its dynamic influence on the blood flow status of veins inserted with catheter, and to provide support for implementing thrombosis prevention and control measures., Methods: Between May 2019 and July 2020, patients who had solid tumors and who had PICC were prospectively enrolled at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Scheduled color Doppler imaging was performed to examine the status of PICCRT formation at 8 points of time, with the first one conducted one day before the insertion of PICC and the other 7 completed within 2 weeks after the insertion of PICC. Then, based on whether patients had PICCRT, the patients were divided into two groups, a non-PICCRT group and a PICCRT group. The PICCRT group was further divided into two subgroups, an asymptomatic PICCRT group and a symptomatic PICCRT group, according to whether the patients had thrombosis-related symptoms and signs. Comparisons were made to study the incidence of PICCRT and the vascular diameter and the blood flow velocity in the veins inserted with catheters at different points of time in the patients of different groups., Results: Among 173 cancer patients in the cohort, 126 (72.8%) developed PICCRT, all of which occurred within 1 week after PICC insertion. There were 95 cases of asymptomatic PICCRT and 31 cases of symptomatic PICCRT. Before and after PICC insertion, the vascular diameter of both the asymptomatic and symptomatic PICCRT groups was significantly smaller than that of the non-PICCRT group and the blood flow velocity was significantly slower than that of the non-PICCRT group, with the difference continuing to increase with the prolongation of catheter indwelling time., Conclusion: Inserting catheters in veins with bigger vascular diameter and faster blood flow velocity may help reduce the incidence of PICCRT. The first week post catheter insertion is the key intervention period for the prevention of PICCRT., (Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences).)

Objective: To investigate the effect and mechanism of static progressive stretching (SPS) in different durations on traumatic knee contracture in rats., Methods: Seventy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups, including surgical modeling group ( n =50), control group (CON, no surgery, no treatment, n =10) and trauma without immobilization group (TRA, no treatment, n =10). The knee contracture model was established, and 50 surgical modeling rats were randomly divided into five groups including static progressive stretching treatment for 20 minutes group (S20 min, n =10), treatment for 30 minutes group (S30 min, n =10), treatment for 40 minutes group (S40 min, n =10), untreatment group (UNT, no SPS, n =10) and modeling group (MOD, n =10, euthanized after immobilization for histological staining and Western blot). Individuals in the S20 min, S30 min, and S40 min groups were anesthetized and submitted to SPS. One treatment session took place every other day. A total of 8 sessions were given till the final treatment session on the day 16. On the day 0, 8, and 16 of intervention, the range of joint motion (ROM) and gait analysis were measured and compared. After the ROM measurements and gait analysis, the rats were euthanized on the day 16 and the samples were stained with HE and Masson methods. The changes of pathological organization were observed. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)., Results: ① ROM：the ROM of S30 min group recovered similar to that of the S20 min and S40 min groups after 8 days of treatment ( P >0.05), and was the best among all the surgical modeling groups after 16 d of treatment ( P <0.05). The ROM of S20 min, S30 min and S40 min groups significantly improved on the day 8 and day 16 comparing with that on day 0 ( P <0.01). ② Gait analysis: the stands in the S30min group improved best on the day 8 and day 16 ( P <0.05) , and better than that on day 0 ( P <0.05). The stride length of the S30 min group progressed similar to that of the S40 min group on the day 8 ( P >0.05), and there was no difference among three groups on the day 16 ( P >0.05). The stride length of the S30 min group appeared to recover more quickly on the day 8 ( P <0.05), and those of S20 min and UNT groups recovered significantly on the day 16 ( P <0.05). In addition, the swings in the S30 min group improved best ( P <0.05), and it appeared to recover better on the day 16 ( P <0.05). There was no statistical difference in terms of the swing speed among the four surgical modeling groups on the day 8 ( P >0.05). The swing speed of the S30min group increased most than those of the other three groups ( P <0.05), and it was much better on the day 8 and day 16 comparing with that on the day 0 ( P <0.05 ). ③ HE and Masson staining: the fibrosis and inflammation of the S30min group were significantly suppressed comparing to the other groups on the day 16. ④ Western blot: The protein expression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-6 were significantly lower than those in the other intervention groups including the S20 min, S40 min and UNT groups on the day 16 ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: Static progressive stretching treatment for 30 min could significantly improve the traumatic knee contracture in rats. The mechanism may be that the SPS decreased the expressions of TGF-β1 and IL-6, reduced the adhesion and inflammation of joint capsule. Therefore it relieved the pain and increased the joint mobility by reconstructing the structure of the capsule and suppressing the fibrotic changes., (Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Science Edition).)

Objective: To determine the expression level of GATA-2 gene in acute myeloid leukemia with maturation (AML-M2) patients carrying AML1/ETO fusion gene., Methods: Bone marrow samples were collected from 23 patients with de novo adult AML-M2 carrying AML1/ETO fusion gene. GATA-2 gene expression was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR). We analyzed the correlation between GATA-2 gene expression and laboratorial features and clinical prognosis of patients., Results: GATA-2 expression levels (GATA-2 gene copies/reference gene copies) in the patients were found to be 2.17%-1 260.65%. A GATA-2 expression over or equal to 82% was defined as HIGH (10 cases), while an expression level below 82% was defined as LOW (13 cases). No significant differences were found in age, sex, white blood cell count or the rate of bone marrow blasts between HIGH and LOW expression groups (P > 0.05). Although the difference in complete remission rate between the two groups was not statistical significant (P = 0.067 8), the HIGH expression group had higher relapse rate (71.43% vs. 15.38%, P = 0.022 3) and higher mortality rate (70.00% vs. 7.69%, P < 0.05). The DFS and OS of the HIGH group are statistically significantly lower than that of the LOW group (P < 0.01). In the HIGH group, the patients choosing HSCT (2/10) are all alive without relapse, while among those choosing chemotherapy only (8/10), seven out of eight patients died., Conclusion: High expression level of GATA-2 in AML-M2 patients with AML1/ETO is associated with high risk of relapse and poor prognosis. Therefore, AML-M2 patients with AML1/ETO fusion gene and high expression of GATA-2 would possibly benefit from additional treatments except for chemotherapy.