ObjectiveIn order to provide a data base for fund project applicants and funding priorities, we would summarize the basic situation and key points of basic research in liver transplantation by analyzing the projects funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of liver transplantation.MethodsThrough the big data knowledge management and service platform of NSFC, internet-based science information system, and shared service network of NSFC, we searched the funding project information in the liver transplantation relevant field from 2010 to 2019, then analyzed the effectiveness of the Young Scientists Fund of NSFC in promoting young researchers and the research focus and development direction of funding projects.ResultsIn the latest 10 years, NSFC persistently and stably funded the basic research in the field of liver transplantation, with the total number of funding projects was 387, and the funding budget was 198.215 million yuan. The main types of funding projects were the General Program and the Youth Science Fund. There were 210 General Program project (54.3%) with an amount of 113.14 million yuan (57.1%), 127 Young Scientists Fund (32.8%) with an amount of 27.9 million yuan (14.1%), and 22 Fund for Less Developed Regions (5.7%) with an amount of 9.03 million yuan (4.6%). Sun Yat-sen University and Zhejiang University were far ahead of other supporting institutions in both the total number of projects undertaken and the amount of funds granted. The youth/surface ratio reached as high as 72.2% (13/18). The conversion rate of Young Scientists Fund to higher-level projects reached about 50%, which was significantly higher than the overall level of 24.7% (21/85) in the field of liver transplantation. The funding projects were mainly distributed in application code H0318 (liver regeneration, liver protection, liver failure, and artificial liver, 58, 15.0%), H0321 (organ transplantation of digestive system, 169, 43.7%), and H1006 (organ transplantation and transplantation immunity, 50, 12.9%). The main research fields were transplantation immunity and liver injury and liver protection. At the same time, projects such as graft function and complications of liver transplantation were also funded. There were few studies on the immune status of long-term survival in patients after liver transplantation and the mechanism on prevention of immunosuppressant-related diseases.ConclusionsThe NSFC has a great leading effect on the discipline development and talent cultivation of liver transplantation. However, there are still some problems in the discipline layout, such as the lack of attention to the mechanism of long-term graft function and chronic immune rejection.
Objective To investigate the application progress of mixed reality (MR) technology in hepatobiliary and pancreatic fields. Method The relevant literatures on the application of MR technology of the hepatobiliary and pancreatic field in recent years at home and abroad were reviewed. Results MR technology had been widely used in the hepatobiliary and pancreatic field, including preoperative diagnosis and evaluation, surgical plan formulation, doctor-patient communication, intraoperative navigation precision surgery, teaching practice and many other aspects, which had the advantages of shortening the operation time, reducing the difficulty of surgery and improving the success rate of surgery. To some extent, it had promoted the innovation of clinical diagnosis and treatment in the field of liver, gallbladder and pancreas. Conclusions The application and development of MR related techniques are of great significance to the operation and teaching in the hepatobiliary and pancreatic field. With the development and progress of MR technology and modern medicine, MR technology will give full play to its advantages in intelligent real-time navigation hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery system and promote the further development of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery.
ObjectiveTo review the current clinical application of Beger procedure and Frey procedure for benign disease or low-grade malignant potential lesion of pancreas. MethodsRelevant literatures about current advance of clinical application of Beger procedure and Frey procedure published recently of domestic and abroad were collected and reviewed. ResultsWith the concept of organ-preserving operations was adopted in recent years, Beger procedure and Frey procedure were applied generally. Beger procedure and Frey procedure were associated with tolerable perioperative risk, postoperative complications, and good outcomes in the aspects of preservation of function and curability in these lesions compared to conventional pancreatectomy, with preservation of the physiological food passage, thus patients gained weight faster, had less pain, and demonstrated better exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function postoperatively and an improvement in the quality of life. Both procedures had reached an international position as a standard operation for the treatment of benign disease or low-grade malignant potential lesion of pancreas. But after long-term following-up early advantages were no longer present. ConclusionsBeger procedure and Frey procedure are safe and effective in providing good outcomes in the aspects of preservation of function and curability in benign disease or low-grade malignant potential lesion of pancreas. Organ-preserving pancreatectomy could become a new organ-preserving standard operation.
Objective To summarize the current advance of xenotransplantation. Methods Relevant literatures about current advance of xenotransplantation published recently domestic and abroad were collected and reviewed. Results Major progress of xenotransplantation had been made in the understanding of xenoimmunobiology in the last two decades and in the threshold of clinical application. However, many problems of immunological rejection were still needed to be explored and resolved. Conclusion Xenotransplantation as a transplantation source has an extensive potential to resolve the shortage of transplanted organs for end-stage organ failure, how to suppress rejection and prolong survival of grafts more effectively is a focal point of search in the future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis with full thread headless compression screws via combined minimal incisions.MethodsBetween January 2012 and December 2016, 36 patients (36 feet) with ankle diseases underwent tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis with parallel double thread headless compression screws via minimal anterior and lateral oblique incisions. There were 14 males and 22 females with an average age of 53.8 years (range, 18-76 years). There were 19 cases of left feet and 17 cases of right feet. There were 21 cases of talar necrosis, 7 cases of post-traumatic arthritis, 3 cases of rheumatoid arthritis, 2 cases of tuberculosis infection (inactive), 1 case of talar absence, 1 case of Charcot’s disease, and 1 case of pigmented villonodular synovitis of ankle and subtalar joints. Preoperative American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score and visual analogue scale (VAS) score were 53.7±2.5 and 5.9±0.2, respectively. The operation time was recorded and the wound healing and complications were observed. The bone healing was assessed by X-ray film and CT scanning. The function and pain of joint were evaluated by AOFAS and VAS scores.ResultsThe mean operation time was 49.8 minutes (range, 33-82 minutes). Incision infection occurred in 1 patient (2.8%) at 3 weeks after operation, and recovered after debridement. The other incisions healed by first intention without complications. Thirty-five patients were followed up with an average of 18.5 months (range, 12-29 months). Imaging examination showed fusion of the ankle and subtalar joints with an average fusion time of 10.9 weeks (range, 8-15 weeks). After 1 year, the AOFAS score (84.7±0.6) and VAS score (0.3±0.1) were significantly higher than preoperative scores (t=12.596, P=0.000; t=30.393, P=0.000).ConclusionIt is an effective surgical method of tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis with full thread headless compression screws via combined minimal incisions for end-stage ankle disease because of the less complications incidence and the higher postoperative fusion rate.
ObjectiveTo analyze risk factors of intraoperative massive hemorrhage in patients with pancreatitis-induced sinistral portal hypertension (SPH) and to explore its strategies of treatment.MethodsThe clinical data of patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH admitted to the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2015 to March 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The intraoperative massive hemorrhage was defined as the blood loss exceeding 30% blood volume. The factors closely associated with the intraoperative massive hemorrhage were analyzed by the forward logistic regression model.ResultsA total of 128 patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH were enrolled in this study, including 104 males and 24 females, with an average age of 47 years old and a median intraoperative bleeding volume of 482 mL. Among them, 93 patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH caused by the pancreatic pseudocyst after acute pancreatitis and 35 caused by the chronic pancreatitis. There were 36 patients with history of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and 46 patients with hypersplenism. Thirty-six patients suffered from the massive hemorrhage. Among them, 30 patients underwent the distal pancreatectomy concomitant with splenectomy, 1 patient underwent the duodenum- preserving resection of pancreatic head, and 5 patients underwent the pseudocyst drainage. The univariate analysis showed that the occurrence of intraoperative massive hemorrhage in the patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH was not associated with the gender, age, body mass index, albumin level, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, hypersplenism, type of pancreatitis, course of pancreatitis, number of attacks of pancreatitis, size of spleen, maximum diameter of lesions in the splenic vein obstruction site, or number of operation (P>0.05), which was associated with the diameter of varicose vein more than 5.0 mm (χ2=19.83, P<0.01), the intraperitoneal varices regions (χ2=13.67, P<0.01), the location of splenic vein obstruction (χ2=5.17, P=0.03), the operation time (t=–3.10, P<0.01), or the splenectomy (χ2=17.46, P<0.01). Further the logistic regression analysis showed that the varicose vein diameter more than 5.0 mm (OR=6.356, P=0.002) and splenectomy (OR=4.297, P=0.005) were the independent risk factors for the intraoperative massive hemorrhage in the patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH.ConclusionsSplenectomy and having a collateral vein more than 5.0 mm in diameter are independent risk factors for intraoperative massive blood loss in surgeries taken on patients with pancreatitis-induced SPH. Attention should be paid to dilation of gastric varices and choice of splenectomy.
ObjectiveTo optimize the culture method of human primary pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells and cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and investigate the effect of CAFs on the growth of primary PDAC cells in vitro and tumor formation in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model.MethodsThe PDAC specimens were collected and primarily cultured. In order to observe the effect of CAFs on the growth of primary PDAC cells in vitro, the CAFs were co-cultured with primary PDAC cells consistently and the alone cultured primary PDAC cells served as the control. Then, these cells were injected into the shoulder blades of NOG mice in order to develop the PDX model.ResultsWhen the primary PDAC cells separated from the CAFs, the proliferation capacity of the primary PDAC decreased rapidly in the passage culture in vitro, and the most cells were terminated within 5 generations. By contrast, when the CAFs co-cultured with the primary PDAC cells, the proliferation capacity of primary PDAC cells were preserved, which could be stably transferred to at least 10 generations. The tumors of NOG mice were detected during 2–3 weeks after injecting the mixed cells (primary PDAC plus CAFs), while had no tumor formation after injecting CAFs alone. The rate of tumor was 92.9% (13 cases) in the primary PDAC plus CAFs group, which was higher than that of the CAFs alone group (64.3%, 9 cases), but there was no statistical difference because of the small sample size. The volume of tumor in the primary PDAC plus CAFs group at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after the tumor cells injection was significantly larger than that in the CAFs alone group at the corresponding time point, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01).ConclusionsThe CAFs could promote the growth of primary PDAC cells in vitro. This new method of co-culture CAFs with primary PDAC could improve the success rate of primary PDAC cells culture and improve the success rate of PDX model in NOG mice.