Artificial intelligence in dermatology: past, present, and future No abstract available

High-frequency ultrasound features of basal cell carcinoma and its association with histological recurrence risk Background: Due to advances in high-frequency ultrasound technology, it is easier to detect fine structures of skin lesions. The aim of this study was to examine the ultrasonographic features and use recurrence risk stratification to assess the diagnostic performance of pre-operative ultrasound examination of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Methods: This was a retrospective study. Forty-six BCC lesions underwent pre-operative ultrasound examination using 50- and 20-MHz probes. Ultrasonographic shape, margin, internal echoes, hyper-echoic spots, posterior echoes, and depth of the lesion were evaluated and correlated with the risk of recurrence based on histological features. Results: Forty-two patients had 46 skin lesions in total. The high-risk (n = 6) and low-risk (n = 40) groups exhibited considerable overlap in the ultrasonographic manifestations and no significant difference in margin (χ2 = 3.231, P = 0.072), internal echo (χ2 = 1.592, P = 0.207), or posterior echo (P = 0.169). However, high-risk BCCs tended to be irregular in shape than low-risk lesions (χ2 = 4.313, P = 0.038). Both types presented hyper-echoic spots (χ2 = 1.850, P = 0.174). Additionally, 78% of low-risk lesions were confined to the dermis (31/40), and 100% of high-risk lesions infiltrated into the sub-cutaneous tissue, resulting in a significant difference between the two groups (χ2 = 10.951, P = 0.001). Ultrasound detected sub-clinical lesions in five patients. Conclusions: High-frequency ultrasound can provide important information for pre-operative evaluation of risk in BCC foci and reveal hidden lesions. The technique may play a crucial role in guiding therapeutic options for BCC.

Clinical and dermoscopic features of surgically treated melanocytic nevi: a retrospective study of 1046 cases Background: Compared with Caucasians, unique demographic and clinical features have been reported in Chinese patients with malignant melanoma, but similar comparative studies of melanocytic nevi (MN) are lacking. This study examined the clinical and dermoscopic features of MN in surgically treated Chinese cases. Methods: Clinical data and dermoscopic findings from 1046 cases of MN were collected and analyzed. Cases were treated from January 1 to December 31, 2014 at the Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Peking University First Hospital. The association between nevi location and histologic subtypes was examined with Chi-squared test and univariate logistic regression. Chi-squared test was also used to analyze the proportion of globular patterns across different body sites, and proportion of parallel furrow patterns across different histologic subtypes. Results: The majority of the nevi were from female patients, irrespective of location. The range of age at the time of nevi onset was from 0 (birth) to 79 years. There were 381 (36.4%, 381/1046) congenital nevi; of these 81.6% (311/381) were present at birth. Nevi appeared before 30 years of age in 83.2% (870/1046) of the cases. Median values of length growth rate in congenital and acquired MN were 2.0 and 1.6, respectively. Median values of length growth rates in four age groups (0–9, 10–19, 20–29, and ≥30 years) of congenital nevi were 2.2, 2.0, 2.4, and 2.0, respectively. In acral nevi, which often need to be differentiated from acral lentiginous melanoma, 50.2% (109/217) were junctional (odds ratio [OR]; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 91.572 [52.210–160.959], P < 0.05). Acral location was also associated with a higher likelihood of compound nevi subtype (OR [95% CI]: 14.468 [8.981–23.306], P < 0.05). The globular (59.4%, 354/596) and pseudonetwork (48.8%, 291/596) dermoscopic patterns were often seen in the head and neck region. In areas other than head and neck and acral regions, the globular pattern was the commonest pattern (34.8%, 71/204) regardless of age. Parallel furrow pattern occurred in 46.0% (87/189) of acral MN, followed by fibrillar pattern (21.7%, 41/189). Conclusion: Unique clinical and dermoscopic features exist in Chinese patients with MN compared with observations reported in other population.

Thyroid function of twin-pregnant women in early pregnancy Background: Serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is higher in twin than that in singleton pregnancies. As hCG stimulates the thyroid to produce more free thyroxine (FT4), which may lead to decreased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, the reference ranges of thyroid-related indicators may differ between singleton and twin pregnancies in the first trimester. This study aimed to establish reference ranges for thyroid-related indicators in early twin pregnancies and to compare them with singleton pregnancies. Methods: Data of 820 twin-pregnant women were extracted from the established database of all pregnant women who delivered at Peking University First Hospital from October 2013 to May 2018; 160 who met National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry criteria were included to establish TSH and FT4 reference ranges. We screened 480 (3:1 paired) women with singleton pregnancies from the same database as controls. The Mann-Whitney test for TSH and FT4 levels was applied for comparisons between singleton and twin pregnancies. Results: First-trimester reference ranges (4–12 gestational weeks) for twin pregnancies were: TSH 0.69 (0.01–3.35) mIU/L and FT4 16.38 (12.45–23.34) pmol/L. Median TSH was significantly lower at 7 to 12 gestational weeks than that at 4 to 6 gestational weeks (0.62 vs. 0.96 mIU/L, Z = −1.964, P = 0.049); FT4 was not significantly different between the two groups. Compared to singleton pregnancies, median TSH was significantly lower (0.69 vs. 1.27 mIU/L, Z = −6.538, P = 0.000), and FT4 was significantly higher (16.38 vs. 14.85 pmol/L, Z = −7.399, P = 0.000) in twin pregnancies in the first trimester. Conclusions: Specific reference ranges for thyroid-related indicators for twin pregnancies are needed to avoid a misdiagnosis of thyroid dysfunction. Moreover, establishment of separate reference ranges for 4 to 6 and 7 to 12 gestational weeks in twin pregnancies may be considered.

Epidemiology of Sepsis-3 in a sub-district of Beijing: secondary analysis of a population-based database Background: With the publication of Sepsis-3 definition, epidemiological data based on Sepsis-3 definition from middle-income countries including China are scarce, which prohibits understanding of the disease burden of this newly defined syndrome in these settings. The purpose of this study was to describe incidence and outcome of Sepsis-3 in Yuetan sub-district of Beijing and to estimate the incidence rate of Sepsis-3 in China. Methods: The medical records of all adult residents hospitalized from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2014 in Yuetan sub-district of Beijing were reviewed. Patients with sepsis-3 and severe sepsis/septic shock were identified. The incidence rates and mortality rate of sepsis-3 and sepsis/septic shock were calculated, incidence rates and in-hospital mortality rates were normalized to the population distribution in the 2010 National Census. Population incidence rate and case fatality rate between sexes were compared with the Z test, as the data conformed to Poisson distribution. Results: Of the 21,191 hospitalized patients, 935 patients were diagnosed with Sepsis-3, and 498 cases met severe sepsis/septic shock criteria. The crude annual incidence rate of Sepsis-3 in Yuetan sub-district was 363 cases per 100,000 population, corresponding to standardized incidence rates of 236 cases per 100,000 population per year, respectively. The overall case fatality rate of Sepsis-3 was 32.0%, the crude population mortality rates of Sepsis-3 was 116 cases per 100,000 population per year, the standardized mortality rate was 67 cases per 100,000 population per year, corresponding to a speculative extrapolation of 700,437 deaths in China. The incidence rate and mortality rate of Sepsis-3 were significantly higher in males, elderly people, and patients with more comorbidities. The 62.1% of patients with Sepsis-3 had community-acquired infections, compared with 75.3% of infected patients without Sepsis-3 (P < 0.001). The most common infection in patients with Sepsis-3 was lower respiratory tract infection. When compared with patients with Sepsis-3, patients diagnosed as severe sepsis/septic shock were more likely to have higher case fatality rate (53.4% vs. 32.0%, P < 0.001) Conclusions: This study found the standardized incidence rate of 236 cases per 100,000 person-year for Sepsis-3, which was more common in males and elderly population. This corresponded to about 2.5 million new cases of Sepsis-3 per year, resulting in more than 700,000 deaths in China. Clinical trial registration: NCT02285257, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT02285257.

Low deceleration capacity is associated with higher stroke risk in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation Background: Deceleration capacity (DC) is a non-invasive marker for cardiac autonomic dysfunction; however, few studies have shown that the influence factors of cardiac autonomic dysfunction and the correlations between DC and stroke risk in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to explore the influencing factors of abnormal DC and the relationships between DC and stroke risk in patients with paroxysmal AF. Methods: The study included hospitalized paroxysmal AF patients with DC measurements derived from 24-h Holter electrocardiography recordings taken between August 2015 and June 2016. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to evaluate the associations between correlated variables and abnormal DC values. The relationship between DC and ischemic stroke risk scores in patients with paroxysmal AF was analyzed. Results: We studied 259 hospitalized patients with paroxysmal AF (143 [55.2%] male, mean age 66.4 ± 12.0 years); 38 patients of them showed abnormal DC values. In the univariate analysis, age, hypertension, heart failure, and previous stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) were significantly associated with abnormal DC values. Among these factors, a history of previous stroke/TIA (odds ratio = 2.861, 95% confidence interval: 1.356–6.039) were independently associated with abnormal DC values in patients with paroxysmal AF. The abnormal DC group showed a higher stroke risk with the score of congestive heart failure, hypertension, age >75 years, diabetes mellitus, previous stroke and TIA (CHADS2) (2.25 ± 1.48 vs. 1.40 ± 1.34, t = −4.907, P = 0.001) and CHA2DS2-vascular disease, age 65–74 years and female category (VASc) (3.76 ± 1.95 vs. 2.71 ± 1.87, t = −4.847, P = 0.001) scores. Correlation analysis showed that DC was negatively correlated with CHADS2 scores (r = −0.290, P < 0.001) and CHA2DS2-VASc scores (r = −0.263, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Lower DC is closely associated with previous stroke/TIA, and is also correlated negatively with higher stroke risk scores in patients with paroxysmal AF. It could be a potential indicator of stroke risk in paroxysmal AF patients.

Newly detected atrial fibrillation is associated with cortex-involved ischemic stroke Background: Both cortical and cortical-subcortical (cortex-involved) lesions are typically associated with embolic stroke, of which atrial fibrillation (AF) is the common cause. The aim of this study was to find out the associations between cortex-involved stroke, vascular risk factors, and the subtypes (discovery time and duration) of AF. Methods: This was an imaging study of the China Atrial Fibrillation Screening in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients (CRIST) trial. Between October 2013 and June 2015, 1511 acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients within 7 days after stroke onset at 20 Chinese hospitals were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter cohort, cross-sectional study. The final analysis of this sub-study included 243 patients with AF with required magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences. AF was diagnosed by 6-day Holter monitoring and classified by duration of 24 h. Two stroke specialists blinded to the clinical information reviewed MRI (diffusion-weighted MRI). The third stroke specialists, also blinded to the clinical information, assessed the conflicts. Adjusted large artery atherosclerosis as confounding factor, the associations between cortex-involved lesions, vascular risk factors, and the subtype of AF were evaluated by univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Results: Of 243 acute ischemic stroke patients with AF, 190 were known AF and 53 were newly detected AF. There were 28 patients with AF persistent >24 h and 25 persistent ≤24 h in newly detected AF. Patients with newly detected AF were likely to have a fewer history of stroke or TIA (16.98% vs. 36.31%, P = 0.008) and lower fasting blood glucose (5.91 ± 1.83 mmol/L vs. 6.75 ± 3.83 mmol/L, P = 0.030) than patients with known AF. Among these 243 patients, 102 (41.98%) patients were with cortex-involved lesions. Cortex-involved lesions were significantly related to newly detected AF persistent >24 h (odds ratio [OR]: 4.517, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.490–13.696, P = 0.008), proteinuria (OR: 3.431, 95% CI: 1.530–7.692, P = 0.021), and glycosylated hemoglobin (OR: 0.632, 95% CI: 0.464–0.861, P = 0.004). Conclusions: Compared to previously known AF, newly detected AF persistent >24 h was associated with cortex-involved ischemic stroke. Clinical trial registration: NCT02156765, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT02156765

Genetic variants of rs1275988 and rs2586886 in TWIK-related acid-sensitive K+ channel-1 gene may be potential risk factors for obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea Background: The pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of OSA by assessing the association between the human tandem of P domains in a weak inwardly rectifying K+ channel (TWIK)-related acid-sensitive K+ channel-1 (TASK-1) gene and OSA. Methods: A total of 164 patients with severe OSA and 171 patients without OSA were recruited from the Center for Hypertension of People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (China) from April to December in 2016. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1275988 and rs2586886) in the TASK-1 gene were selected and genotyped using a kompetitive allele specific polymerase chain reaction genotyping system. Clinical-pathological characteristics and genotype data were compared between the severe and non-OSA groups to explore the association between TASK-1 gene polymorphism and severe OSA. Results: There were no significant differences in genotype distribution, allele frequency, and the recessive and dominant model of the two selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1275988 and rs2586886) between the severe and non-OSA groups in the total population (P > 0.05). However, for patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m2, the distribution of genotypes and alleles, and the recessive model (GG + GA vs. AA) exhibited significant differences between the severe and non-OSA group (for genotypes: P = 0.014 and P = 0.026; for alleles: P = 0.006 and P = 0.011; for the recessive model: P = 0.005 and P = 0.009, respectively). The simple logistic regression analysis revealed that the GG genotype was a risk factor for OSA. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were 4.902 (1.582–15.186, P = 0.006) for rs1275988 and 4.420 (1.422–13.734, P = 0.010) for rs2586886, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the combination of GG genotypes of rs1275988 with BMI ≥28 kg/m2 increased the risk of severe OSA (OR = 8.916, 95% CI 4.506–17.645, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Both the GG genotype of rs1275988 and GG genotype of rs2586886 in the TASK-1 gene may play as potential risk factors in obese patients with OSA.

Ultrasound for diagnosing new difficult laryngoscopy indicator: a prospective, self-controlled, assessor blinded, observational study Background: Unpredictable difficult laryngoscopy (DL) remains a challenge for anesthesiologists, especially when difficult ventilation occurs during standard laryngoscopy. Accurate airway assessment should always be performed, but the common airway assessment methods only perform superficial screening. Thus, the deep laryngopharyngeal anatomy may not be evaluated. Ultrasound-based airway assessment has been recently proposed as a useful, simple, and non-invasive bedside tool as an adjunct to clinical methods, which may facilitate identification of DL. The present study aimed to determine the correlation between ultrasound-measured indicators and DL. Methods: Patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with tracheal intubation were enrolled. Ultrasonic airway assessments were performed before anesthesia induction. Ultrasound diagnostic indicators included the thickness and width of the base of the tongue, the angle between the epiglottis and glottis, the length of the thyrohyoid membrane, and the thickness of the lateral pharyngeal wall. A score of ≥3 in the Modified Cormack-Lehane Scoring System was used as a standard of DL and was also applied to divide patients into DL and non-DL groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic ability of various diagnostic indicators. Results: A total of 499 patients were enrolled into non-DL and DL groups comprising 452 (452/499, 90.6%) and 47 (47/499, 9.4%) patients, respectively. One ultrasonic diagnoses indicator correlated with DL, namely, the angle between the epiglottis and glottis. When the angle between the epiglottis and glottis was 50°, the area under the ROC curve was maximum (0.902), and the best sensitivity (81%) and specificity (89%) were achieved. Conclusions: Airway ultrasounds should be considered to identify DL. The ultrasonic angle measured between the epiglottis and glottis is highly associated with DL, which may occur when the angle is less than 50°. Clinical trial registration: ChiCTR-DDT-13004102, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=5465

Emergency irradiation with 3.4 Gy/2f in sellar/suprasellar germinoma patients with rapid visual acuity decline Background: Rapid visual acuity (VA) decline was a common complaint in patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma. In our hospital, 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation was applied to save patient VA and enable subsequent chemoradiotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of emergency irradiation with 3.4 Gy/2f in patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma who had rapid VA decline. Methods: From January 2014 to December 2017, 33 patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma who complained of VA decline within 3 months received 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation in Beijing Tiantan Hospital. The best-corrected VA (BCVA) and mean deviation (MD) were measured. Correlations between visual function change and clinical factors, including age at diagnosis, duration of VA decline, extent of tumor regression, serum level of tumor markers, were analyzed. Results: Among 33 patients with sellar/suprasellar germinoma, the median diameter and volume of sellar/suprasellar lesions were 32 mm (range: 5–55 mm) and 12.9 cm3 (range 0.6–58.5 cm3), respectively. Data on pre- and post-emergency-irradiation BCVA were obtained in 32 patients. For the right eyes, BCVA was improved in 23 patients (71.9%), unchanged in 7 (21.9%), and worsened in 2 (6.2%); and for the left eyes, these numbers were 27 (84.4%), 4 (12.5%), and 1 (3.1%), respectively. In terms of the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution = Log (1/BCVA) score, the improvement was significant in both eyes (P < 0.001). In terms of MD, six patients had paired data and the improvement was marginal in the right eyes (P = 0.068) and significant in the left eyes (P = 0.043). However, no clinical factor was found to have correlation with visual function improvement. Conclusion: In sellar/suprasellar germinoma patients with VA decline, 3.4 Gy/2f of emergency irradiation was effective in improving visual function.