ObjectiveTo investigate the significant effect of costimulatory pathway B7CD28/CTLA4 on the islets of Langerhans transplantation. MethodsThe literatures were reviewed to summarize the molecular structure and functions of the pathway and the related animal experiments.ResultsThe costimulatory pathway B7CD28/CTLA4 was one of the signaling pathways of T cells activation and proliferation. If the costimulatory signals were absent, Tlymphocyte would be induced to the clonalanegy. Through blocking the costimulatory pathway mediated by CD28, CTLA4Ig prolonged to the islets of Langerhans survival in recipients. ConclusionBy the studies of the costimulatory pathway, it is helpful to understand the immune mechanism of the survival of islet grafts.
OBJECTIVE: To provide experimental basis for improving the curative effect of pectus excavatum. METHODS: Twelve rabbits were adopted in this experiment. After the bilateral second and third costal cartilages of the rabbits were resected subperichondrially, their right second and third costal perichondriums were damaged intentionally. Then, the bilateral third costal perichondriums were stitched into a tube-like structure and the second ones were left opened. After 2, 4, 6 of operation, the bilateral second and third neocartilages were measured for their width, and histological character were observed under microscope. RESULTS: 1. After 2, 4, 6 months of operation, the average width of the bilateral second neocartilages were significantly greater than the preoperative ones. 2. 4 and 6 months after operations, there was no significant difference in the average width of the bilateral third neocartilages and the preoperative ones. 3. The amount, distribution of costal neocartilage cells and the arrangement of costal neocartilage matrix within the left second and third costal cartilages were better than the right under the light microscope. 4. The left third costal neocartilage was regenerated and remodeled better than all the others. CONCLUSION: The integrality of costal perichondrium is in favor of the regeneration of costal cartilage, and the sleeve stitch of costal perichondrium facilitates the remodeling of costal neocartilage.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the status of economic evaluation of liver cancer screening in China, so as to provide reference for further studies.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM and VIP databases were searched to collect economic evaluation studies of liver cancer screening in China from inception to December, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and conducted descriptive analysis of basic characteristics, methods of economic evaluation and main results as well as quality and uniformity of reporting.ResultsA total of 5 studies were included. Among them, the starting age of screening were found to be 35 to 45 years old; α-fetoprotein (AFP) testing and ultrasound examination combined procedure and screening interval of every 6 months were mostly evaluated. The quality of the 5 studies was satisfactory, and the uniformity of reporting was relatively acceptable, with a median score of 78% (range: 60% ~ 78%). Two population-based studies reported cost per liver cancer detected (44 thousand and 575 thousand yuan). Three studies reported cost-effectiveness ratio(CER) based on life year saved (LYS) and quality adjusted life year (QALY). Among these results, only 1 study from mainland China reported CER based on LYS (1 775 yuan), and the calculated ratio of CER to local GDP per capita was estimated as 0.1, while 2 studies from Taiwan province reported 4 CERs, and the ratios of CER to local GDP per capita ranged from 1.0 to 2.2.ConclusionsInformation from liver cancer endemic areas such as Taiwan province indicates promising cost-effectiveness to conduct liver cancer screening in local general population, while data from mainland suggests that conducting liver cancer screening combining AFP and ultrasound in high-risk population will be cost-effective, however only supported by 1 regional study. This needs to be verified by further economic evaluations based on randomized controlled trials or cohort studies as well as health economic evaluations.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the disease burden of osteoporotic fracture (OPF) in China.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP database for observational studies of the disease burden of osteoporosis in China from inception to Jan 30th, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies.The descriptive analysis was used to analyze the economic burden of OPF in China.ResultsA total of 23 studies were included. The average cost of OPF was 27 561.27 yuan. Women were more prone to OPF than men. Hip and spinal fractures were the diseases which had higher average hospital costs.ConclusionsWomen are more prone to osteoporotic fractures than men. The higher hospital costs of OPF may cause the reason for growing financial burden of patients. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify conclusions.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the cost-effectiveness of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) versus conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) from a societal perspective. MethodsA decision-tree model was constructed to conduct cost-utility analysis, simulating the short-term intraoperative to postoperative clinical progression of patients. Primary evaluation metrics included cumulative costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold was set at three times the 2024 per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of China. The sensitivity analyses were performed to assess robustness of the model. ResultsThe base-case analysis revealed that patients in the RALS group gained 0.09 more QALYs at an additional cost of ¥39 079.52 compared with CLS group, the derived ICER was ¥437 157.36/QALYs, exceeding the predefined WTP threshold. The results suggested that RALS does not demonstrate superior cost-effectiveness compared with CLS in the management of early-stage EC. Univariate sensitivity analysis indicated that, when the annual surgical volume per robotic device reaches 809 cases, or the cost of Endowrist consumables per robotic surgery drops below ¥6 568.46, RALS will emerge as a more cost-effective surgical strategy. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis revealed that that RALS becomes more cost-effective when the WTP threshold exceeds ¥402 145.80. Conclusion From a Chinese societal perspective, robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery for early-stage endometrial cancer is not cost-effective compared with conventional laparoscopic surgery at the current WTP threshold of three times per capita GDP.
Objective To evaluate the ambulatory surgery mode by using health economical mothods and provide reference for optimization and decision of surgical operation mode. Methods The patients who underwent unilateral flexible ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotriphy for ureteral calculi in Xiangya Hospital, Central South University between January 1st to December 31th, 2015 were selected in this study, including 59 with ambulatory surgery mode (the ambulatory group) and 65 with special in-hospital surgery mode (the special group). The differences in average bed occupancy time, cost, therapeutic effect, and satisfaction between the two operation modes were compared. Results The average bed occupancy time in the ambulatory group and the special group was (1.03±0.18) and (6.35±0.74) days, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The patients in both groups were followed up for one month after the operation, and the incidence of complications was 6.8% (4/59) in the ambulatory group and 6.2% (4/65) in the special group, without significant difference (P>0.05). The satisfaction score in the ambulatory group and the special group was 96.48±0.23vs. 96.53±0.18 without significant difference (P>0.05). The differences in direct medical cost [(17 738.28±1 027.85)vs. (21 307.67±554.41) yuan], direct non-medical cost [(103.39±18.25) vs. (630.76±78.90) yuan], indirect cost[ (266.93±47.12) vs. (1 640.44±190.55) yuan], and total cost [(18 128.10±1 037.76) vs. (23 558.29±619.20) yuan] between the ambulatory group and the special group were all statistically significant (P<0.05). The treatment effect index in the ambulatory group and the special group was 0.96 and 1.05, respectively; the cost-effect ratio was 18 883.44 and 22 436.47, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that the adjusted cost-effect ratio in the ambulatory group (16 629.64) was still lower than that in the special group (20 534.91). Conclusions The cost-effect ratio of ambulatory surgery mode is superior than that of special in-hospital surgery mode, and there is no obvious difference in patients satisfaction between the two modes. Ambulatory surgery mode can be recommended to patients who meet the indications of day surgery.
Objective To compare the cost-effectiveness of Baofukang and Xinfuning in the treatment of HPV infection, and to provide references for reasonable clinical prescription, pricing drugs and the cognition product value. Methods Decision tree model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of Baofukang and Xinfuning from the perspective of the cost payer. In the model, the effectiveness was mainly measured by the clearance rate of HPV based on meta-analysis. The cost data was mainly based on the published price data from the websites of the Development and Reform Commission, Bidding Center, the Health Department and so on. The single factor sensitivity analysis was performed based on the change of effectiveness and price. Results The effective rate of Baofukang treatment for 48 days was 61.89%, and the effective rate for 42 days was 63.05%, while Xinfuning’s effective rate for 30 days was 46.58%. The total cost were 668.61 yuan, 630.09 yuan and 850.83 yuan, respectively. Baofukang users had lower costs yet higher clearance rates of HPV compared to Xinfuning at different treatment time. In sensitivity analysis, the evaluation results would not been affected. Conclusion The current study suggests that Baofukang is more cost-effective than Xinfuning in the treatment of HPV infection.
Objective To investigate present status of health care in peri-brain-death and analyze its effectiveness and health economic characteristics. Method Retrospective analysis of case series was conducted and a total of 940 patients from surgical intensive care unit (SICU) were reviewed on treatment and part of direct medical expenditure. The patients admitted from Jun. 1999 to Dec. 2000 and Nov. 2001 to Jun. 2002 were included in this study. Data were processed by SPSS 10.0. Results Patients were included if they had two of the three symptoms for at least one hour: deep coma, pupillar light reflex disappear, and no autonomic respiratory. Ultimately 115 patients were included, with a total cost of ￥2 515.9 per day for each case, whereas mortality was 99.10%. Mortality increased with the state of peri-brain-death prolonged. Eighty percent of patients included were dead within 72 hours after admission. Conclusions Attempts to resuscitate patients of peri-brain-death have been the most widely applied in China, however, it resulted in great unnecessary consumption of health resources. It is of great importance to promote legislation of brain death in China.
Objective To summarize the role of costimulatory molecules in inducing immune tolerance of organ transplantation. Methods Domestic and international publications online involving costimulatory molecules and immune tolerance in recent years were collected and reviewed. Results The relationship between costimulatory pathways and transplantation immunity has already been clarified in recent years. The main costimulatory molecules alreadly found mainly include B7-CD28/CTLA4, CD40-CD154, 4-1BB/4-1BBL, and ICOS-B7h, etc. Costimulatory pathways com-inhibition or combining with other immunosuppression methods could obtain stable and long lasting immune tolerance. Conclusions With the development of immunology and molecular biology, costimulatory pathways of T lymphocyte activation will be further interpreted. Other new costimulatory molecules will be discovered in the future, which will afford theory evidence for inducing immune tolerance.
ObjectiveUnder the principle of promoting the reform of TCM payment methods, analyzing the difference in efficacy and cost of treatment using Western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine, and providing health economics basis for the reform of payment methods for advantageous diseases of TCM. MethodsData from the first page of medical records of 4 Chinese hospitals and 4 western hospitals of the same level were collected from 2020 to 2021 in typical areas, focusing on four typical TCM advantageous diseases that were consistent with diabetes, cervical spondylosis, arthralgia syndrome in the lumbar area or pelvic inflammation, and a total of 14 958 cases were included through propensity score matching. Under the assumption of same disease, same effect and same price, the age, bed days, total cost, discharge condition and reoperation condition of the same disease in 90 days were analyzed and compared between the two groups. ResultsIn terms of outcomes, the experimental group showed significantly better discharge outcomes compared with the control group for the four diseases. In terms of cost, the control group had higher total costs for arthralgia syndrome in the lumbar area and cervical spondylosis, while the control group had lower total costs for diabetes. After controlling for treatment effects, the control group had higher costs for cervical spondylosis and pelvic inflammatory disease compared to the experimental group, while the control group had lower costs for diabetes and arthralgia syndrome in the lumbar area compared to the experimental group. ConclusionThe experimental group shows better treatment effectiveness for the four TCM-dominant diseases. The control group has higher costs for cervical spondylosis and pelvic inflammatory disease when discharge outcomes are limited, while the control group has lower costs for diabetes and arthralgia syndrome in the lumbar area. This highlights the necessity of reforming the payment methods for TCM-dominant diseases. Additionally, the development of TCM-dominant diseases should focus on addressing the high demand for elderly chronic diseases in TCM.