Recent studies have increasingly utilized gradient metrics to investigate the spatial transitions of brain organization, enabling the conversion of macroscale brain features into low-dimensional manifold representations. However, it remains unclear whether alterations exist in the cortical morphometric similarity (MS) network gradient in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). This study aims to examine potential differences in the principal MS gradient between individuals with SCZ and healthy controls and to explore how these differences relate to transcriptional profiles and clinical phenomenology.

MS network was constructed in this study, and its gradient of the network was computed in 203 patients with SCZ and 201 healthy controls, who shared the same demographics in terms of age and gender. To examine irregularities in the MS network gradient, between-group comparisons were carried out, and partial least squares regression analysis was used to study the relationships between the MS network gradient-based variations in SCZ, and gene expression patterns and clinical phenotype.

In contrast to healthy controls, the principal MS gradient of patients with SCZ was primarily significantly lower in sensorimotor areas, and higher in more areas. In addition, the aberrant gradient pattern was spatially linked with the genes enriched for neurobiologically significant pathways and preferential expression in various brain regions and cortical layers. Furthermore, there were strong positive connections between the principal MS gradient and the symptomatologic score in SCZ.

These findings showed changes in the principal MS network gradient in SCZ and offered potential molecular explanations for the structural changes underpinning SCZ.

Suicidal ideation (SI) is very common in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, its neural mechanisms remain unclear. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) region may be associated with SI in MDD patients. This study aimed to elucidate the neural mechanisms of SI in MDD patients by analyzing changes in gray matter volume (GMV) in brain structures in the ACC region, which has not been adequately studied to date.

According to the REST-meta-MDD project, this study subjects consisted of 235 healthy controls and 246 MDD patients, including 123 MDD patients with and 123 without SI, and their structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to determine whether there was a correlation between GMV of ACC and SI in MDD patients.

MDD patients with SI had higher HAMD scores and greater GMV in bilateral ACC compared to MDD patients without SI (all p < 0.001). GMV of bilateral ACC was positively correlated with SI in MDD patients and entered the regression equation in the subsequent logistic regression analysis.

Our findings suggest that GMV of ACC may be associated with SI in patients with MDD and is a sensitive biomarker of SI.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most prevalent malignant tumor in China. This study aimed to compare the cost effectiveness of combined nivolumab and ipilimumab with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC. The findings will contribute to the economic evidence for making clinical and health policy decisions.

Taking a healthcare system perspective, this study used a partitioned survival analysis model to simulate the disease trajectory of advanced NSCLC during first-line treatment over a model cycle of three weeks. The simulation extended over a span of 12 years. A five percent discount was incorporated for both costs and health outcomes. Published clinical efficacy and cost data were extracted from the CheckMate 9LA study (NCT03215706) and drug pricing information was gathered from the YaoZhi website. Utility values were derived from 13 tertiary hospitals in five provinces of China. Base case and sensitivity analyses were also conducted.

The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab resulted in a lifetime cost of CNY850,068 (USD119,127) and 1.796 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), whereas chemotherapy incurred a lifetime cost of CNY276,313 (USD38,722) and a gain of 1.206 QALYs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for combination therapy was CNY971,955 (USD136,208) per QALY gained, which was more than three times the average gross domestic product per capita in China (CNY85,698 [USD12,010] in 2022) and indicated that the therapy was not cost effective. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that the likelihood of nivolumab plus ipilimumab being cost effective, compared with chemotherapy, was 0.02.

Nivolumab plus ipilimumab demonstrated enhanced health outcomes for patients with advanced NSCLC, compared with standard chemotherapy, but the ICER exceeded the acceptable threshold, suggesting that the treatment is not cost effective.

Ultrasonic scalpels are widely used in urological surgery. Although portable ultrasonic scalpels are convenient to use and install, the existing evidence on their safety and effectiveness is scarce. This study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of portable ultrasonic scalpels in urological surgery with traditional ultrasonic scalpels to aid clinical decision-making.

A multicenter, prospective, non-randomized controlled trial was conducted from February to August 2023 in three tertiary hospitals in China. The intervention group included 90 prospectively enrolled patients undergoing urological surgery during the same period of hospitalization: 45 with portable ultrasonic scalpels and 45 with traditional scalpels. Demographic and clinical data of patients in the study were collected. Data on quality of life were obtained using the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L scale preoperatively, at discharge, and one month and three months after surgery. Descriptive analysis and a generalized linear model were used in the data analysis.

A total of 82 patients were included in the study: 39 in the intervention group and 43 in the control group. The average hospital stay and intraoperative and postoperative blood loss in the intervention group were lower than in the control group (p>0.05). From baseline to discharge, the decrease in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in the intervention group was smaller (–0.134 versus –0.287; p<0.05) than in the control group. During the follow-up period, there were no significant differences in the changes in QALYs between the two groups. The decline in QALYs was significantly influenced by variables such as intraoperative blood loss and surgical site.

There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics or changes in QALYs between the intervention and control groups. Portable ultrasonic scalpels in urological surgery may be as equally effective as traditional scalpels with respect to clinical outcomes, with additional benefits in reducing QALY decline at discharge. Further research with large samples and long-term follow-up should be conducted.

We developed a real-world evidence (RWE) based Markov model to project the 10-year cost of care for patients with depression from the public payer’s perspective to inform early policy and resource planning in Hong Kong.

The model considered treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and development of comorbidities along the disease course. The outcomes included costs for all-cause and psychiatric care. From our territory-wide electronic medical records, we identified 25,190 patients with newly diagnosed depression during the period from 2014 to 2016, with follow-up until December 2020 for real-world time-to-event patterns. Costs and time varying transition inputs were derived using negative binomial and parametric survival modeling. The model is available as a closed cohort, which studies a fixed cohort of incident patients, or an open cohort that introduces new patients every year. Utilities values and the number of incident cases per year were derived from published sources.

There were 9,217 new patients with depression in 2023. Our closed cohort model projected that the cumulative cost of all-cause and psychiatric care for these patients would reach USD309 million and USD58 million by 2032, respectively. In our open cohort model, 55,849 to 57,896 active prevalent cases would cost more than USD322 million and USD61 million annually in all-cause and psychiatric care, respectively. Although less than 20 percent of patients would develop TRD or its associated comorbidities, they contribute 31 to 54 percent of the costs. The key cost drivers were the number of annual incident cases and the probability of developing TRD and associated comorbidities and of becoming a low-intensity service user. These factors are relevant to early disease stages.

A small proportion of patients with depression develop TRD, but they contribute to a high proportion of the care costs. Our projection also demonstrates the application of RWE to model the long-term costs of care, which can aid policymakers in anticipating foreseeable burden and undertaking budget planning to prepare for future care needs.

Congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common congenital malformation affecting fetuses and infants, poses a significant and rapidly emerging global challenge in children’s health. Prenatal and newborn screening are very important for preventing CHD. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the status and corresponding foci of articles on CHD screening in the Chinese or English language using bibliometric methods.

Publications on prenatal or newborn screening for CHD were included. The Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched to identify literature published from inception to 31 March 2023. CiteSpace was used to perform bibliometric analysis on the number of publications, institutions, authors, and keywords to generate corresponding knowledge maps.

A total of 582 publications were retrieved from the WoS and 233 from the CNKI databases. There was an increasing trend in the number of English and Chinese articles published, with the trend beginning in 2010 for Chinese language articles and in 2007 for English language articles. In English language publications, GR Martin was the most influential author, and the top five institutions were from high-income countries. Among the Chinese language publications, Wenhong Ding was the most influential author and the Hunan Province Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital was the most commonly reported institution. Keyword analysis revealed that the most frequently occurring terms in both language publications were as follows: antenatal diagnosis, cardiac auscultation, and fetal echocardiography in English language articles and screening, prenatal screening, and fetal in Chinese language publications.

Increasingly, articles on CHD screening have been listed in the WoS and CNKI databases. This bibliometric study provides the status and trends in the research on screening for CHD and may help researchers identify hot topics and explore new research directions in this field.

This study aimed to explore the influence of laryngopharyngeal reflux on the features of vocal fold polyps and prognosis after office-based transnasal vocal fold polypectomy.

Eighty-four vocal fold polyp patients were retrospectively analysed. Patients were assigned to laryngopharyngeal reflux or non-laryngopharyngeal reflux groups using pre-operative Reflux Symptom Score-12.

The laryngopharyngeal reflux group had significantly higher pre-operative Reflux Sign Assessment scores, worse lifestyle and worse eating habits than the non-laryngopharyngeal reflux group. After office-based transnasal vocal fold polypectomy, the Reflux Symptom Score-12 and Reflux Sign Assessment score decreased in both groups, although the laryngopharyngeal reflux group still had higher values. The non-laryngopharyngeal reflux group had better vocal fold morphology recovery than the laryngopharyngeal reflux group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that smoking and a higher pre-operative Reflux Symptom Score-12 score were independent risk factors for poor prognosis.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux is detrimental to vocal fold recovery of vocal fold polyp patients following office-based transnasal vocal fold polypectomy. For vocal fold polyp patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux, lifestyle and diet guidance should be focused.

Many psychotropic drugs are highly associated with related weight gain. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are established anti-obesity and glucose-lowering agents. Preliminary evidence also indicates they are fit for purpose in mitigating psychotropic drug-related weight gain (PDWG). This systematic review aims to synthesize the extant evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of GLP-1RAs on weight change in persons experiencing PDWG.

Online databases (ie, PubMed, OVID Medline, Google Scholar) were searched to identify relevant studies from inception to January 1, 2024. Articles were screened by title, abstract, and full-text by three independent reviewers against inclusion and exclusion criteria.

We identified six studies with participants aged ≥18 (n=374) that were eligible for inclusion in our systematic review. Most studies reported a significant and clinically meaningful effect of GLP-1RAs on anthropometrics and/or metabolics. All RCTs replicated the finding of modest or greater effects of GLP-1RAs; the most studied agents were liraglutide and exenatide. There was insufficient literature to conduct a meta-analysis.

Evidence suggests that GLP-1RAs are effective in mitigating weight gain in persons prescribed psychiatric medication. It is hypothesized that GLP-1RAs may moderate weight change in persons prescribed psychiatric medication through direct effects on metabolism and cognitive processes implicated in hunger/satiety. Future studies should aim to explore the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy profiles of various GLP-1RAs in the treatment and prevention of abnormal weight and metabolic homeostasis in psychiatric populations.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of esketamine (Esk) combined with dexmedetomidine (Dex) on postoperative delirium (POD) and quality of recovery (QoR) in elderly patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical lung cancer surgery.

In this prospective, randomized, and controlled study, 172 elderly patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical lung cancer surgery were divided into two groups: the Esk + Dex group (n = 86) and the Dex group a (n = 86). The primary outcome was the incidence of POD within 7 days after surgery and the overall Quality of Recovery−15 (QoR − 15) scores within 3 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included postoperative adverse reactions, extubation time, PACU stay, and hospitalization time. Serum levels of IL-6, IL-10, S100β protein, NSE, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ were detected from T0 to T5.

Compared with the Dex group, the incidence of POD in the Esk + Dex group was significantly lower at 7 days after surgery (14.6% vs 30.9%; P = 0.013). The QoR − 15 score was significantly increased 3 days after surgery (P < 0.01). Levels of IL-6 and CD8+ were significantly decreased, and IL − 10 levels were significantly increased at T1-T2 (P < 0.05). At T1-T4, NSE levels were significantly decreased, while CD3+ and CD4+/CD8+ values were significantly increased (P < 0.01). At T1-T5, serum S100β protein concentration decreased significantly, and CD4+ value increased significantly (P < 0.01). The incidence of nausea/vomiting and hyperalgesia decreased significantly 48 hours after surgery (P < 0.01). The duration of extubation, PACU stay, and postoperative hospitalization were significantly shortened.

Esketamine combined with dexmedetomidine can significantly reduce the POD incidence and improve the QoR in patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical lung cancer surgery, which may be related to the improvement of cellular immune function.