In the context of the rapid development of contemporary medical industry and the unbalanced development of various subspecialties, expert consensus plays an extremely important role in guiding clinical practice and improving the quality of medical care. However, there are some deficiencies and limitations in the formation process and final report of the expert consensus. Therefore, this paper summarizes and reviews the definition, applications, and functions of expert consensus and the new progress of expert consensus formation methods by fully reviewing the literature, and puts forward the prospect. The purpose is to provide a reference for the production and application of expert consensus related to medical care, improve the outcomes of medical care, and upgrade the quality and level of medical services.
With the advancement of research on rare ocular diseases such as inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) has advanced in recent years, especially breakthroughs in therapeutic approaches represented by cell and gene therapy, potential intervention strategies have emerged for these conditions. Establishing standardized endpoints and evaluation methods for visual function in patients with IRD has become crucial for assessing disease progression, safety, and therapeutic efficacy of innovative treatments. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) is widely recognized as one of the primary endpoints for assessing visual function. However, for IRD patients with severe rod photoreceptor dysfunction, who often present with profound low vision or even legal blindness, the applicability of BCVA as a traditional visual function indicator is limited. The multi-luminance mobility test (MLMT) has emerged as a functional visual assessment tool that evaluates the ability to navigate obstacle courses under varying illumination levels. By establishing graded evaluation standards, MLMT objectively quantifies the impact of lighting conditions on patients’ nobility and spatial orientation, providing a novel quantitative tool for assessing visual function in IRD clinical trials. Currently, there is a lack of unified and standardized guidelines for the use of MLMT in China, posing challenges to its implementation in practical clinical research. To address this, Ocular Fundus Disease Society of Chinese Medical Association and Chinese Medical Doctor Association convened a multidisciplinary team comprising clinical experts in genetic retinal diseases, statisticians, and optical specialists to investigate the current applications and technical characteristics of MLMT, ultimately formulating consensus recommendations for its use as a clinical trial endpoint for IRD gene therapies. This consensus aims to provide a set of MLMT operating norms applicable to China's national conditions, guide clinical practice and research in ophthalmology and related disciplines, and promote the standardization process of IRD clinical trials in China, so as to better serve the IRD patient population and promote the development of related fields.
COVID-19 has been an established and continuing health problem. For the first time, this consensus focused on multi-scenario populations in the home/community, hospitalization and rehabilitation periods, and addressed medical nutrition management issues on which no consensus had yet been reached. This consensus was formulated on the basis of a comprehensive review of the existing evidence combined with the opinions of experts, with a view to complementing the existing guidelines/consensus.
The high incidence of hydatid disease in seven northwestern provinces, is one of the reason of "Poverty due to illness, and return poverty due to illness" in China. The incidence of chest hydatid disease in China after hepatic hydatid disease ranks second. Department of thoracic surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University is on the domestic leading position of the treatment of chest hydatid disease. Since 1956 the first case of pulmonary hydatid cyst were completed, we have successfully finished the surgical treatment of pediatric chest hydatid disease, chest hydatid disease complex, huge pulmonary hydatid cyst, mediastinal and pleural hydatid cyst, and rib hydatid in our department. To further standardize the treatment of chest hydatid disease, a special formulation of "technical specification for chest hydatid disease diagnosis expert consensus" by our department were produced, in order to help clinicians treat chest hydatid disease by more suitable strategies. This consensus was released in July 2015, for the original version. The definition, diagnosis, treatment principle, and prevention of chest hydatid disease were elaborated and clinical experiences of 60 years were combined with in this consensus, in order to help the clinicians for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hydatid disease.
Mediastinal and chest wall tumors contain various benign and malignant tumors. In order to further standardize the whole-course diagnosis and treatment of mediastinal and chest wall tumors, the consensus was formulated through discussion by the expert group. Based on the clinical diagnosis and treatment experience and various prospective and retrospective studies, the consensus was formed.
The “Expert consensus on the standardized procedure of selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90 microspheres for liver malignancies (2024 edition)” is China’s first comprehensive technical guideline document on yttrium-90 microsphere selective internal radiation therapy (90Y-SIRT), developed collaboratively by domestic experts in interventional radiology, hepatobiliary surgery, nuclear medicine, and other related fields. This consensus systematically outlines the standardized requirements for the entire process of 90Y-SIRT, including patient selection, preoperative assessment, dosage calculation, procedural techniques, and postoperative management. This section provides an in-depth interpretation of the consensus's core elements, with a focus on analyzing its innovations and differences compared to international guidelines and previous domestic practices. It highlights the consensus’s guiding value in promoting the safe, standardized, and efficient implementation of this technology in China, offering a reference for clinical practice to physicians across multiple disciplines, including hepatobiliary surgery, interventional radiology, medical oncology, and nuclear medicine, etc.
Clinical practice guidelines need to be based on evidence, but traditional Chinese medicine, especially integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine guidelines, inevitably need to combine clinical research evidence, ancient literature, and expert experience and consensus. In the process of formulating, there are deviations in understanding and application of the expert consensus method and expert experience, resulting in opaque of the recommendations, unclear of the details of the diagnosis and treatment strategy, less prominent of the advantages and value of traditional Chinese medicine, which affects the scientificity, transparency, applicability, promotion and application of the guidelines of traditional Chinese medicine or integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. This study discusses the guiding principle of "evidence as a core, consensus as a supplement, and experience as a reference" that was generally followed and puts forward detailed methodological suggestions to the formulation of guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
The subtype of lung cancer that presents as subsolid nodules on imaging exhibits unique biological behavior and favorable prognosis. Recently, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) issued "The 2023 American Associationfor Thoracic Surgery (AATS) expert consensus document: Management of subsolid lung nodules". This consensus, based on the latest literature and current clinical experience, proposes updated strategies for managing subsolid nodules. It emphasizes the correlation between imaging findings and pathological classification, individualized follow-up and surgical management strategies for subsolid nodules, and multimodal treatment approaches for multiple subsolid pulmonary nodules.
Clinical efficacy evaluation is important for the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In view of the existing accumulation and current situation of the TCM clinical efficacy evaluation, based on the international perspective, and taking the rational and objective evaluation of TCM clinical efficacy and safety as the foundation, in order to enhance TCM evidence level to support clinical decision-making and promote TCM industry and TCM internationalization development, the State Administration of TCM entrusted China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences to establish China Center for Evidence Based Traditional Chinese Medicine (CCEBTCM). CCEBTCM is expected to optimize the allocation of evidence-based research resources in TCM field to further integrate advantages of evidence-based TCM research teams, promote consensus on evidence-based TCM standards, share evidence-based TCM data or information and lead cultural exchanges between Chinese and overseas. In this way, the status and influence of TCM in the world will be enhanced so that it can better serve global health.
Spina bifida and tethered spinal cord are congenital diseases that can lead to severe disability. At present, most doctors in relevant specialties in China still have insufficient understanding of spina bifida, resulting in high incidence and aggravation of its complications. To provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of spina bifida and tethered spinal cord in China, experts from neurosurgery, urology, orthopedics, spine surgery, and rehabilitation departments who have experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of spina bifida discussed and summarized their experiences, and referred to the relevant literature on the diagnosis and treatment of spina bifida at home and abroad. Expert consensus was formed in the following aspects: concept, classification, and pathological changes of spina bifida; diagnosis; treatment process and operation timing; principles and methods of treatment; rehabilitation; and follow up. This expert consensus can provide reference for relevant care providers of spina bifida in China.
