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Background: Few studies have reported the clinical characteristics and outcomes of young adult patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to formulate a nomogram to predict the prognosis of young adult HCC patients. Methods: Young adult patients diagnosed with HCC from 2004 to 2015 were screened from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Based on the multivariate analysis results, a nomogram was constructed. The concordance index (c-index) and calibration were used to assess the predictive performance of the nomogram. The clinical benefit was measured by using decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: The mean follow-up time of the patients was 25.0±34.0 months. Gender, race, AFP level, Edmondson–Steiner classification, treatment and TNM stage were selected as independent prognostic factors and integrated into the nomogram. The c-indexes of the two sets were 0.786 and 0.775, respectively. The calibration curves showed good agreement between the nomogram-predicted probability and the actual observations. Furthermore, the DCA indicated that the nomogram had positive net benefits compared with the conventional staging system. Conclusions: The nomogram could accurately predict the prognosis of young adult HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a new method for rapid structural damage inspection of steel tube slab (STS) structures along randomly measured paths based on a combination of compressive sampling (CS) and ultrasonic computerized tomography (UCT). In the measurement stage, using fewer randomly selected paths rather than the whole measurement net is proposed to detect the underlying damage of a concrete-filled steel tube. In the imaging stage, the ℓ1-minimization algorithm is employed to recover the information of the microstructures based on the measurement data related to the internal situation of the STS structure. A numerical concrete tube model, with the various level of damage, was studied to demonstrate the performance of the rapid UCT technique. Real-world concrete-filled steel tubes in the Shenyang Metro stations were detected using the proposed UCT technique in a CS framework. Both the numerical and experimental results show the rapid UCT technique has the capability of damage detection in an STS structure with a high level of accuracy and with fewer required measurements, which is more convenient and efficient than the traditional UCT technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Significant hemorrhage together with blood transfusion has negative impact on postoperative morbidity, mortality, and long-term survival of liver resection. Various techniques of vascular occlusion have been developed to reduce intraoperative blood loss. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of Pringle maneuver, hemi-hepatic vascular occlusion, and treatment without vascular occlusion used during liver resection. Method: Data of 574 patients with Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), who underwent major hepatectomy between January 2009 to March 2013 by Pringle maneuver (N = 158), hemi-hepatic vascular inflow occlusion (N = 216), or without any vascular occlusion (N = 200), were included in this retrospective study. Perioperative blood transfusion, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative liver function, and surgical complications were analyzed and compared between the three groups. Result: There were no significant difference observed in postoperative bilirubin, liver enzyme, and albumin levels between three groups (P>0.05). 5 patients (2.5%) in no occlusion group, 2 (1.3%) in Pringle group, and 8 (3.7%) in hemi-hepatic group had liver failure; but, there were no differences (P>0.05). The overall postoperative complications rate between three groups did not reach significant differences (33.5% vs 34.2% vs 42.6%, respectively; P>0.05). However, significant differences in intraoperative blood loss between no occlusion group (638.2±426.8 ml) and Pringle group (518.0±451.0 ml) or hemi-hepatic group (513.0±366.7 ml) (P<0.01). Conclusion: Although there were no differences found between three groups regarding postoperative complications rate, no vascular occlusion group had more blood loss than the other two groups during liver resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective and Background: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a prediction score for postoperative complications by severity and guide perioperative management and patient selection in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing liver resection. Methods: A total of 1543 consecutive liver resections cases were included in the study. Randomly selected sample set of 70% of the study cohort was used to develop a score to predict complications III–V and the remaining 30% was used to validate the score. Based on the preoperative and predictable intraoperative parameters, logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors and create an integer score for the predicting of complication. Results: American Society of Anesthesiologists category, portal hypertension, major liver resection (more than 3 segments) and extrahepatic procedures were identified as independent predictors for complications III–V by logistic regression analysis. A score system integrating these 4 factors was stratified into three groups and significantly predicted the risk of complications III–V, with a rate of 1.6%, 11.9% and 65.6% for low, moderate and high risk, respectively. Using the score, the complications risk could be predicted accurately in the validation set, without significant differences between predicted (10.4%) and observed (8.4%) risks for complications III–V (P = 0.466). Conclusions: Based on four preoperative risk factors, we have developed and validated an integer-based risk score to predict postoperative severe complications after liver resection for hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma patients in high-volume surgical center. This score may contribute to preoperative risk stratification and clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]