Current preoperative staging for lymph nodal status remains inaccurate. The purpose of this study was to build an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict pathologic nodal involvement in clinical stage I-II esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients and then validated the performance of the model.
 
  A total of 523 patients (training set 350; test set 173) with clinical staging I-II ESCC who underwent esophagectomy and reconstruction were enrolled in this study. Their post-surgical pathological results were assessed and analysed. An ANN model was established for predicting pathologic nodal positive patients in the training set, which was validated in the test set. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was also created to illustrate the performance of the predictive model.
 
  Of the enrolled 523 patients with ESCC, 41.3% of the patients were confirmed pathologic nodal positive (216/523). The ANN staging system identified the tumour invasion depth, tumour length, dysphagia, tumour differentiation and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) as predictors for pathologic lymph node metastases. The C-index for the ANN model verified in the test set was 0.852, which demonstrated that the ANN model had a good predictive performance.
 
  The ANN model presented good performance for predicting pathologic lymph node metastasis and added indicators not included in current staging criteria and might help improve the staging strategies.
 The ANN model presented good performance for predicting pathologic lymph node metastasis and added indicators not included in current staging criteria and might help improve the staging strategies.
  Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TPO) is characterized by the presence of diffuse cartilaginous or bony submucosal nodules that lead to airway lumen narrowing.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/CP-690550.html  So far, there was no study in South Korea analysing a large number of TPO patients. We aimed to elucidate its treatment strategy and clinical course by analysing the characteristics of TPO patients.
 
  In this retrospective study, we reviewed the clinical data of 40 patients diagnosed with TPO by bronchoscopy between October 1997 and April 2019 at a single referral hospital.
 
  Of the 40 patients, 26 (65.0%) were male and the median age was 63.0 years. The most common symptom was cough (n=12, 30%). Pulmonary function test (PFT) revealed an obstructive pattern in 10 (25.7%) patients. Chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed 23 (62.6%) patients with diffuse narrowing and calcified nodules. In bronchoscopy, the entire trachea was found to be involved in 30 (75.0%) patients and airway narrowing was identified in 6 (15.0%) patients. Endobronchial biopsies were obtained from 15 patients and the most common findings included typical cartilaginous and bony tissues (n=14, 93.3%). Since most patients were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, they did not undergo any specific treatment. Of the 19 symptomatic patients, 2 (5.0%) patients received laser therapy for treating tracheal stenosis.
 
  TPO is a slowly progressing disease and is well managed with conservative therapies. Although TPO shows a distinctive pattern by bronchoscopy, it follows a benign clinical course.
 TPO is a slowly progressing disease and is well managed with conservative therapies. Although TPO shows a distinctive pattern by bronchoscopy, it follows a benign clinical course.
  Left heart involvement might be a differential factor in the physiopathology and prognosis of severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) following cardiac surgery. We aimed to compare the outcomes of isolated tricuspid valve surgery (ITVS) after congenital versus left heart-disease surgery.
 
  We retrospectively studied and followed up 58 patients who underwent ITVS for TR following cardiac surgery in our center from January 2012 to December 2017. According to the different etiologies of TR, the participants were divided into one group of TR following surgery for congenital heart diseases (CHD) (pCHD group, n=24), and another group of TR following surgery for left heart disease (pVHD group, n=34).
 
  Compared to the pCHD group, the pVHD group presented with a more advanced age (P<0.001), higher model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score calculation (P=0.04), and higher EuroSCORE II calculation (P=0.01). In the post-operative course, the pVHD group showed a longer mechanical ventilation time (P<0.001) and longer intensive care unit stay (P=0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in in-hospital mortality (8.8% 
  0, P=0.26), or the incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (20.6% 
  12.5%, P=0.47) at follow-up.
 
  Severe TR following surgery for left heart disease is associated with higher surgical risks and a remarkable frailty as compared to that following surgery for CHDs; however, with the development of surgical techniques and peri-operative management, ITVS can be safely performed in both conditions with promising contemporary mid-term outcomes.
 Severe TR following surgery for left heart disease is associated with higher surgical risks and a remarkable frailty as compared to that following surgery for CHDs; however, with the development of surgical techniques and peri-operative management, ITVS can be safely performed in both conditions with promising contemporary mid-term outcomes.
  This study evaluated the lymph node ratio (LNR) defined as the ratio of the number of metastatic lymph nodes to the number of dissected lymph nodes as a prognostic factor for survival in patients with pT1-2N1M0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
 
  We retrospectively reviewed 413 patients with pathologic T1-2N1M0 NSCLC after complete surgical resection and mediastinal LN dissection between January 2004 and December 2012. The cut-off value for LNR was determined using χ
  tests, which were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression model. Based on this model, the optimal cut-off value for LNR was 0.1.
 
  The study included 337 males and 76 females with a mean age of 62 years (range, 34-83 years). Patients with a high LNR (≥0.1) were more likely to be female and have more adenocarcinomas compared with patients with a low LNR (<0.1). The overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were significantly worse in the high LNR group than the low LNR group (OS, 55.4% 
  69.8%, respectively P=0.