ACP and RCP provide similar cerebral protective effectiveness combined with deep hypothermia circulatory arrest and could be selected according to the actual condition in aortic arch surgery. A high-quality randomized controlled trial is urgently needed to confirm this conclusion, especially for stroke morbidity following ACP or RCP.

Although the science of implantable materials has advanced therapeutic options in vascular surgery, graft failure is still a problem in need of a durable solution. With the development of coating and decellularization techniques, coated prosthetic grafts have become an option; however, whether decellularized human saphenous vein can be conjugated and implanted is not known. Human great saphenous vein (GSV) was harvested and decellularized and hyaluronic acid (HA)–heparin was conjugated to the GSV; water contact angles (WCA), morphology, and sulfur element change were measured before and after heparin bonding. GSV patches were implanted into the rat inferior vena cava and aorta; patches were harvested (Day 14) and analyzed. HA–heparin was successfully conjugated to the decellularized human GSV with altered morphology and reduced WCA. The HA–heparin coated decellularized GSV patch was anti‐thrombotic in vitro, and significantly decreased neointimal thickness both in patch venoplasty and angioplasty in a rat model. Both CD90 and nestin positive cells participated in neointima formation. These data show that HA–heparin coated human GSV patches decrease neointimal thickness when used both in venoplasty and arterioplasty. Tissue engineered decellularized human GSV is a promising vascular prosthesis.

Cardiac fibrosis in post-myocardial infarction (MI), seen in both infarcted and non-infarcted myocardium, is beneficial to the recovery of heart function. But progressively pathological fibrosis impairs ventricular function and leads to poor prognosis. FAK has recently received attention as a potential mediator of fibrosis, our previous study reported that pharmacological inhibition of FAK can attenuate cardiac fibrosis in post MI models. However, the long-term effects on cardiac function and adverse cardiac remodelling were not clearly investigated. In this study, we tried to determine the preliminary mechanisms in regulating CF transformation to myofibroblasts and ECM synthesis relevant to the development of adverse cardiac remolding in vivo and in vitro. Our study provides even more evidence that FAK is directly related to the activation of CF in hypoxia condition in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Pharmacological inhibition of FAK significantly reduces myofibroblast differentiation; our in vivo data demonstrated that a FAK inhibitor significantly decreases fibrotic score, and preserves partial left ventricular function. Both PI3K/AKT signalling and ERK1/2 are necessary for hypoxia-induced CF differentiation and ECM synthesis; this process also involves lysyl oxidase (LOX). These findings suggest that pharmacological inhibition of FAK may become an effective therapeutic strategy against adverse fibrosis.

Surgical treatment for GEL is both safe and effective. The choices of operative methods mainly depend on the location and range of lesions. We prefer to treat GEL via esophagectomy combined with esophago-gastrostomy or esophagus replacement with colon. The long-time quality of life is better in the latter.

We conducted a nested case-control study within a cohort of 6,244 patients to assess risk factors for avascular necrosis (AVN) of bone in children and adolescents following allogeneic transplantation. Eligible patients were ≤21 years of age, received their first allogeneic transplant between 1990 and 2008 in the United States and had survived ≥ 6 months from transplantation. Overall, 160 cases with AVN and 478 controls matched by year of transplant, length of followup and transplant center were identified. Cases and controls were confirmed via central review of radiology, pathology and/or surgical procedure reports. Median time from transplant to diagnosis of AVN was 14 months. On conditional logistic regression, increasing age at transplant (≥5 years), female gender and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were significantly associated with increased risks of AVN. Compared to patients receiving myeloablative regimens for malignant diseases, lower risks of AVN were seen in patients with non-malignant diseases and those who had received reduced intensity conditioning regimens for malignant diseases. Children at high risk for AVN include those within the age group where rapid bone growth occurs as well as those who experience exposure to myeloablative conditioning regimens and immunosuppression post-HCT for the treatment of GVHD. More research is needed to determine whether screening strategies specifically for patients at high risk for developing AVN with early interventions may mitigate the morbidity associated with this complication.