Peripheral artery disease (PAD) of the lower extremities, which poses a major challenge in the field of global public health, has seen a rising trend in its incidence and disability rate year by year. With the continuous innovation of new diagnostic techniques, imaging evaluation methods, and treatment strategies, profound changes have taken place in the diagnosis and treatment paradigm in this field. Based on the “European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Asymptomatic Lower Limb Peripheral Arterial Disease and Intermittent Claudication” issued by the European Society for Vascular Surgery in 2024, we systematically reviewed the relevant international guidelines in recent years and conducted horizontal comparisons. Combining with the latest clinical research evidence, we conducted an in-depth analysis from the perspective of evidence-based medicine on the strategic evolution, technical key point updates, and clinical evidence levels of endovascular treatment for lower extremity PAD. The aim is to provide an evidence-based medical basis for clinical decision-making.
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) released the "2024 ESC guidelines for the management of elevated blood pressure and hypertension" on August 30, 2024. This guideline updates the 2018 "Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension." One notable update is the introduction of the concept of "elevated blood pressure" (120-139/70-89 mm Hg). Additionally, a new systolic blood pressure target range of 120-129 mm Hg has been proposed for most patients receiving antihypertensive treatment. The guideline also includes numerous additions or revisions in areas such as non-pharmacological interventions and device-based treatments for hypertension. This article interprets the guideline's recommendations on definition and classification of elevated blood pressure and hypertension, and cardiovascular disease risk assessment, diagnosing hypertension and investigating underlying causes, preventing and treating elevated blood pressure and hypertension. We provide a comparison interpretation with the 2018 "Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension" and the "2017 ACC/AHA guideline on the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults."
The American Thoracic Society Committee Task Force on Standards for Pulmonary Function had recommended a standardized reporting format for pulmonary function tests due to considerable variability in pulmonary function reports presented to end users, which might lead to potential confusion and miscommunication. This recommendation includes seven parts: overview, introduction, methods, report format, selecting and reporting reference values, grading the quality of pulmonary function tests and conclusions. This document presents a reporting format in test-specific units for spirometry, lung volumes, and diffusing capacity that can be assembled into a report appropriate for a laboratory’s practice. Recommended reference sources are updated, with especially emphasizing to adapt lower limit of normal (LLN) or z score instead of percent of prediction to estimate the abnormal results. This document provides detail and clear explanation on the recommendations, which might improve the interpretation, communication, and understanding of test results. However, parts of recommendation might not be used directly in our clinical practice owing to some specific conditions in China. We suggest to use appropriate normal predictions from Chinese population, to include small airway parameters such as mid-maximal expiratory flow for early detection of pulmonary function deterioration, and to include inspiratory flow volume curve, as well as strengthen the quality control data and figures in the report format.
Abstract: Objectives To evaluate the accuracy of four existing risk stratification models including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons(STS) 2008 Cardiac Surgery Risk Models for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE), the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) model, and the initial Parsonnet’s score in predicting early deaths of Chinese patients after CABG procedure. Methods We collected clinical records of 1 559 consecutive patients who had undergone isolated CABG in the Fu WaiHospital from November 2006 to December 2007. There were 264 females (16.93%) and 1 295 males (83.06%) with an average age of 60.87±9.06 years. Early death was defined as death inhospital or within 30 days after CABG. Calibration was assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test, and discrimination was assessed by the receiveroperatingcharacteristic (ROC) curve. The endpoint was early death. Results Sixteen patients(1.03%) died early after the operation. STS and ACC/AHA models had a good calibration in predicting the number of early deaths for the whole group(STS: 12.06 deaths, 95% confidence interval(CI) 5.28 to 18.85; ACC/[CM(159mm]AHA:20.67deaths, 95%CI 11.82 to 29.52 ), While EuroSCORE and Parsonnet models overestimated the number of early deaths for the whole group(EuroSCORE：36.44 deaths，95%CI 24.75 to 48.14；Parsonnet：43.87 deaths，95%CI 31.07 to 56.67). For the divided groups, STS model had a good calibration of prediction(χ2=11.46, Pgt;0.1)，while the other 3 models showed poor calibration（EuroSCORE：χ2=22.07，Plt;0.005；ACC/AHA：χ2=28.85，Plt;0.005；Parsonnet：χ2=26.74，Plt;0.005）.All the four models showed poor discrimination with area under the ROC curve lower than 0.8. Conclusion The STS model may be a potential appropriate choice for Chinese patients undergoing isolated CABG procedure.
With the publication of a vast amount of clinical research on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the National Health Commission of China have all updated their diagnostic and treatment guidelines for HCC. There are no differences in the definition of HCC risk populations among the AASLD 2023, NCCN 2024, and China Liver Cancer Staging and Treatment Guideline (CNLC) 2024. Notably, CNLC 2024 has updated its guidance on high-risk factors and prospective surveillance for HCC based on the characteristics of HCC patients in China. The four guidelines have seen significant updates in the areas of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies, local treatments, and systemic treatments for HCC. CNLC 2024 refines the indications for local treatment, improves systemic treatment, and introduces new first-line therapy, including camrelizumab combined with rivoceranib or tislelizumab. The second-line therapy nivolumab plus ipilimumab for advanced HCC are recommended by AASLD 2023, NCCN 2024, and ASCO 2024, which may become a new first-line therapeutic option for patients with advanced HCC. We compare and interpret these four guidelines in this paper.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is highly heterogeneous and is diagnosed according to the 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. The decision of treatment should be upon age, International Prognostic Index score and the tolerability of chemotherapy. High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation is the standard care for relapsed, chemotherapy sensitive patients. Clinical trials are recommended in specific conditions.
The management of malignant pleural effusion remains a clinical challenge. In November 2018, American Thoracic Society, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and Society of Thoracic Radiology summarized the recent advances and provided 7 recommendations for clinical problems of the management of malignant pleural effusion. This paper interprets these recommendations to provide references for management and research on malignant pleural effusion.
In April 2025, the Breast Cancer Expert Committee of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) formally issued the CSCO Guidelines for Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment (2025 Edition). These guidelines, building upon the 2024 edition, adhere to a stringent update protocol that incorporates evidence-based medical research, drug accessibility, and expert consensus, thereby ensuring scientific rigor while improving clinical applicability. This article systematically examines the principal revisions pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer in the latest edition of the guidelines. We provide a comprehensive analysis, integrating the most recent international evidence-based medical findings, with the objective of offering a standardized reference for clinical decision-making.
Randomized double-blind controlled trials (RCTs) conduct researches in carefully selected populations to ensure results of RCTs are unaffected by external disturbances and provide evidence of safety and efficacy. Real-world researches further help to understand the real world effects of new technologies in different medical environments after-market authorization. RCTs are the evidence foundation of real-world researches, and real-world researches provide valuable complement to RCTs. Medical insurance database is one of the most important database in real-world researches. Now, China's national medical insurance is entering a new era and transits from passive payment and compensation into a value-based strategic purchase mechanism for its insured population to buy the most cost-effective services. It is necessary to establish a mature, well-organized and value-based mechanism. The core of such mechanism is values, which is the price/performance ratio of innovative medicines and technologies rather than looking at the price solely. Demonstrating innovative drug value is an essential part of health care assessment. The authors argue that the assessment of the overall value of innovative technologies or medicines should include and based on the following four dimensions: clinical value, economic value, patient value and society value.
The International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) recently released the first ISTH guideline for antithrombotic treatment of COVID-19, which provides recommendations on anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents for patients with COVID-19 in different clinical settings. The target audience includes clinicians in internal medicine, intensive care, infectious diseases, hematology, vascular medicine, residents, family physicians, and other health care providers providing inpatient or outpatient care to COVID-19 patients. This article interprets the important parts of ISTH guideline.