Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising locoregional therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The utilization of luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics provides a new opportunity to design functional photosensitizers (PS). PSs targeting the critical organelles that are susceptible to reactive oxygen species damage is a promising strategy to enhance the effectiveness of PDT. In this paper, a new PS, 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]-4-[4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)styryl]pyridinium bromide (TPE-Py-OH) of tetraphenylethylene derivative with AIE feature was designed and synthesized for PDT. The TPE-Py-OH can not only simultaneously target lipid droplets and mitochondria, but also stay in cells for a long period (more than 7 days). Taking advantage of the long retention ability of TPE-Py-OH in tumor, the PDT effect of TPE-Py-OH can be activated through multiple irradiations after one injection, which provides a specific multiple light-activated PDT effect. We believe that this AIE-active PS will be promising for the tracking and photodynamic ablation of HCC with sustained effectiveness.

Fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FSNPs) can provide high-intensity and photostable fluorescent signals as a probe for biomedical analysis. In this study, FSNPs hybridized with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens (namely FSNP-SD) were successfully fabricated by a surfactant-free sol-gel method. The FSNP-SD were spherical, monodisperse and uniform in size, with an average diameter of approximately 100 nm, and emitted strong fluorescence at the peak of 490 nm. The FSNP-SD selectively stained the cytoplasmic regions and were distributed in the cytoplasm. Moreover, they can stay inside cells, enabling the tacking of cells over a long period of time. The intracellular vesicles and multinucleated cells were increase gradually with the rise of FSNP-SD concentration. Both cell viability and survival only lost less than 20% when the cells were exposed to the high concentration of 100 μg/mL FSNP-SD. Additionally, the cell apoptosis and intracellular ROS assay indicated that FSNP-SD had no significant toxic effects at the maximum working concentration of 80 μg/mL. This study demonstrated that the FSNP-SD are promising biocompatible fluorescent probes for living cell imaging.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of laparoscopic microwave ablation (LMWA) as compared with conventional open resection (ORES) for the treatment of giant hepatic hemangioma. and analysis: A retrospective chart review was conduct on patients with hepatic hemangioma underwent LMWA or ORES between 2014 and 2016. Of 131 patients, 37 patients underwent ORES and 94 patients underwent LMWA. Blood loss, operative time, postoperative hospital stay, hospital cost (RMB) were significantly different between two groups. Patients after LMWA experienced significantly less pain than those patients undergoing ORES. At a mean follow-up period of 12.8 ± 3.6 months in ORES group and 13.5 ± 2.5 months in LMWA group, no long-term complication was observed. Compared with ORES, LMWA is a safe and effective minimally invasive for treating giant hepatic hemangioma.

To describe cases of gut perforation after orthotopic liver transplantation. Data were collected from our center database and medical records. Six of 187 patients (3.2%) who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation from January to December 2005 developed gut perforation. All patients were male with an average age of 46 years. Modified piggyback liver transplantation was performed at the Organ Transplantation Center, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University. Previous operation, steroid therapy, and prolonged portal venous cross clamp time, poor nutritional status and iatrogenic injury were found to be its ecological factors. The patients with gut perforation were found to have fever, increased leukocytes, mild abdominal pain and tenderness. The median portal venous clamp time was 63 min (range 45-72 min), median cold ischaemia time was 11.3 h (range 7-15 h). Median intraoperative blood loss was 500 mL (range 100-1200 mL) and median operation time was 8.8 h (range 6-12 h). None of the six patients developed acute cellular rejection. White cell count was above 18 x 10(9)/L in five patients (neutrophilic leukocytes were above 90%) and 1.5 x 10(9)/L in one patient. Bacterial culture in drainage liquid revealed enterococci in five patients. Of the 6 patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation, 3 survived and 3 died after modified piggyback liver transplantation. Gut perforation occurs after orthotopic liver transplantation in adults. A careful and minimal dissection during OLT, longer retention of the stomach tube, and reducing the portal clamp time and steroid dose should be taken into consideration. If gut perforation is not prevented, then early diagnosis, preferably through detection of enterococci may ensure better survival.