BACKGROUND: Nickel-chromium ceramic alloy with well anti-causticity has been widely used in clinic; however, it should be paid much attention to the toxic and side effects of the released nickel and glucinium ions. Therefore, studies about modifying alloy component, enhancing physical and chemical performance, and improving biocompatibility are hot topics recently. OBJECTIVE: To measure the in vitro cytotoxicity of self-made nickel-chromium ceramic alloy comparing with nickel-chromium alloy and pure titanium metal. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A contrast observational experiment was performed at Central Laboratory of China Medical University from May to December 2006. MATERIALS: L-929 cells at logarithmic phase were used in this study. Self-made nickel-chromium ceramic alloy was provided by Metal Institute of Chinese Academy of Science, pure titanium was provided by Matsukaze Japan Co., Ltd., and nickel-chromium alloy was provided by Heraeus Kulzer Dental Co., Ltd. METHODS: L-929 cells were assigned into nickel-chromium ceramic alloy, pure titanium, nickel-chromium alloy, positive control, and negative control groups. The cells were cultured in 96-well culture plate. Every five wells were randomly selected from each group, and 12 wells were used for the duplication. Cell suspension (100 μL) at concentration of 1.0×108/L was added in each well. Leaching liquor (100 μL) was added in self-made nickel-chromium ceramic alloy, pure titanium alloy, and nickel-chromium alloy groups, respectively, lead leaching liquor (100 μL) was added in positive control group to make the final concentration at 50%, and RPMI 1640 culture solution (100 μL) was added in the negative control group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Absorbance was measured at day 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 using MTT colorimetric assay to calculate relative growth rate. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in absorbance between three metal groups and negative control group (P > 0.05), but there were significant differences in absorbance between three metal groups and positive control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Cell growth rate was > 100% and cytotoxicity was grade 0 in the pure titanium group; while, cell growth rate ranged from 86.36% to 99.49% and cytotoxicity was grade 1 in both self-made nickel-chromium ceramic alloy and nickel-chromium alloy groups. At day 3 after culture, cytotoxicity was grade 2 in the positive control group. CONCLUSION: Self-made nickel-chromium ceramic alloy has a little cytotoxicity and requires for the clinical application.

BACKGROUND: There have been no reports in CNKI database addressing the cellular apoptosis caused by stainless steel materials used in the dental magnetic attachment. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of 3 stainless steel materials used in the dental magnetic attachment, cobalt-chromium alloy, titanium alloy, and austenitic stainless steel on L-929 cell apoptosis. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A comparative observation was performed at the Central Laboratory of China Medical University between June and December 2007. MATERIALS: Mouse L-929 fibroblasts in logarithmic growth phase were provided by Institute of Tumor, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, China. Cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) alloy was purchased from Heraeus-Kulzer Corporation, China. Titanium alloy was obtained from Morita Company, Japan. Austenitio stainless steel was provided by Institute of Mental Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. METHODS: The leaching liquor of Co-Cr alloy, titanium alloy, and austenitic stainless steel was made by culturing 3 kinds of round-slice mental materials in 24-well plate with RPMI-1640 medium at 0.1 mL/cm2 (leaching liquor volume: specimen surface area). L-929 fibroblasts were divided into 5 groups: Co-Cr alloy, titanium alloy, austenitic stainless steel, negative control, and positive control. The Co-Cr alloy, titanium alloy, and austenitic stainless steel groups were cultured with corresponding leaching liquor (250, 500, and 1 000 g/L). Cells from the negative control and positive control groups were cultured with simple RPMI 1640 medium and 100 mg/L mitomycin-treated L-929 cells. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Following 24-hour culture, the effects of 3 kinds of leaching liquor (at different concentrations) on L-929 fibroblasts were examined through the use of flow cytometer. RESULTS: There was significant difference in cellular apoptosis between Co-Cr alloy, titanium alloy, and austenitic stainless steel groups at the same concentration or between different concentrations for the same dental material (P < 0.01), but no significant difference existed between titanium-alloy (250 g/L) and negative control groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Co-Cr alloy, titanium alloy, and austenitic stainless steel have apparent influence on cellular apoptosis. The apoptosis rate is the greatest in the Co-Cr alloy group, followed by austenitic stainless steel group, and lastly titanium alloy group.

Objective Based on the mathematical models established in Department of Thoracic Surgery of Peking University People's Hospital for predicting malignant probability for solitary pulmonary nodules ( SPN),another continuous 145 patients with SPN were assessed to verify the accuracy of the model comparing with foreign models (Mayo model and VA model).Methods A retrospective cohort study in our institution included 145 patients with definite pathological diagnosis of SPN from Oct 2009 to Aug 2011,72 males and 73 females,average age (59.4 ± 12.2 ) years old.Clinical data included age,gender,course of disease,symptoms,history and quantity of smoking,time of smoking cessation,history of tumor,family history of tumor,tumor site,diameter,calcification,speculation,border,lobulation,traction of pleural,vascular convergence sign,and cavity.These raw data were incorporated into our model,Mayo model and VA model,the probability of malignant in every patient was calculated separately according to methods described before.The sensitivity and specificity of these 3 models were evaluated then.Afterwards,calibration of the 3 models was assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test.Discrimination was tested by calculating the area under curve ( AUC ) after the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn.Results 32.4％ (47 in 145 patients) of the nodules were malignant,and 67.6％ (98 in 145 patients) were benign in this group.Verified the accuracy of our model with sensitivity of 94.9％,specificity of 66.0％,positive predictive value of 85.3％ and negative predictive value of 86.1％.The H-L test showed good fitting in all models ( P ＞0.05 ).The AUC for our model was 0.874 ±0.035,and 0.784 ± 0.041 in Mayo model (P =0.004 compared to our model),0.754 ± 0.041 in VA model (P =0.002 compare to our model).And,there was not significant statistical difference between Mayo model and VA model (P ＞0.05 ).Our model has the best precision indexed by AUC,which were statistically significant differential compared with Mayo model and VA model.Conclusion The model established by our center has superior value than foreign counterparts in predicting the probability of malignant or benign in patients with SPN.

Objective To investigate the ischemic injury of hepatic cell caused by hepatic artery occlusion.Methods The hepatic artery was occluded in 20 dogs via operation,while the portal vein remained patent.Specimens were gained from the right liver at four time points:before occlusion of the hepatic artery,20(minutes),40 minutes and 60 minutes after artery occlusion.Each specimen was examined by HE and BCL-2 by immunohistochemistry.The gray scale of BCL-2 in HE sections was detected.Results Hepatic cellular injury was obvious 20 minutes after occlusion of the hepatic artery.Irreversible hepatic cellular injury was(observed) 60 minutes after hepatic artery occlusion.The results showed that the gray scale of BCL-2 at every time point after hepatic artery occlusion were significantly different from that before hepatic artery occlusion(P

0bjective Evaluate the clinical factors affecting the definite pathological diagnosis of solitary pulmonary odules(SPN).Methods From Jan 2000 to July 2009,390 patients(212 men,178 women,median age 57.1 years,range from 17 to 86 years)got definite pathological diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules in our Institute were investigated.All following clinical data were collected:age,gender,course of disease,symptoms,history and quantity of smoking,history of tumor,family history of tumor,site,diameter,calcification,spicular sign,border,lobulated,traction of pleural,vascular convergence sign,lymph nodes of mediastinum,adhesion,depression of pleural,pleural effusion.Results The surgical procedures included 20 tumor enucleation,153 wedge resection,and 217 lobectomy.There were 130 benign lesions,including hamartoma(n=33),arteriovenous istula(n=1),cyst(n=2),interstitial pneumonia(n=1),tuberculoma(n=49),lymphoproliferative(n=2),fungal ball(n=3),neurofibroma(n=1),inflammatory pseudotumor(n=27),sclerosing hemangioma(n=9),bronchiectasis(n=2).260 were malignant lesions,including Alveolar cell carcinoma(n=23),Metastatic carcinoma(n=20),Carcinoid(n=4),Squamous cell carcinoma(n=40),adenecarcinoma(n=164),Small cell carcinoma(n=9).Single factor analysis and Logistic regression analysis show that there were significant differences in age, diameter,border,calcification and depression of pleural in judgement character of SPN.In addition,there were no differences in gender,course of disease,symptoms,history and quantity of smoking,history of tumor,family history of tumor,site,spicu lar sign,lobulated,traction of pleural,vascular convergence sign,lymph nodes of mediastinum,adhesion and pleural effusion.Conclusion Age of patient,and diameter,border,calcification,pleural depression of the tumor were significant risk factors in judgment character of SPN.

Objective To determine the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for the diagnosis of intrapulmonary tumors located adjacent to the central airway.MethodsThe study was retrospective,from September 2009 to September 2011,33 patients with pulmonary masses located close to the central airways suspected to be lung cancer were accessed by EBUS-TBNA.Conventional bronchoscopic biopsy before EBUSTBNA was nondiagnostic in all cases.If EBUS-TBNA did not result in a formal pathological diagnosis of malignancy,patients were subsequently referred for a surgical procedure.ResultsOf the 33 patients,EBUS-TBNA confirmed lung cancer in 29 cases (4 small cell lung cancer,25 non-small cell lung cancer).Four patients were not confirmed by EBUS-TBNA,3 cases were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma by thoracoscoopy or thoracotomy,the other one was a pulmonary inflammatory lesion diagnosed by thoracoscopy.The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy,negative predictive value and positive predictive value of EBUS-TBNA for the diagnosis of intrapulmonary lesions was 90.2％,100％,90.9％,25％,and 100％,respectively.The procedure was uneventful,and there were no complications.ConclusionEBUS-TBNA is an effective tool with a high yield for the diagnosis of intrapulmonary lesions located adjacent to the central airway.

Objective To evaluated the role of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in the diagnosis of thoracic sarcoidosis.Methods The study was retrospective,from September 2009 to June 2011,35 patients with suspected sarcoidosis,with enlarged hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes on computed tomography ( ≥1.0 cm),underwent EBUS-TBNA.Patients in whom EBUS-TBNA was nondiagnostic subsequently underwent surgical biopsy or a minimum of 6 months clinical and radiologic follow-up.Results EBUS-TBNA was performed on a total of 87 lymph node stations in 35 patients.Of the enlarged lymph nodes,64 (73.6％) were located in the mediastinal region and the remaining 23 ( 26.4％ ) around the hilar or interlobar area.A final diagnosis of sarcoidosis was made for 28 (80％) of the patients.In patients with a final diagnosis of sarcoidosis,EBUS-TBNA demonstrated noncaseating epithelioid cell granulomas in 25 ( 89.3％ ) of the patients.EBUS was well tolerated by all of the patients with no complications.Conclusion EBUS-TBNA is a safe procedure with a high yield for the diagnoses of thoracic sarcoidosis of stage Ⅰ or Ⅱ.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESolitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) is a knotty problem in clinical work. The clinical manifestation and pathological features of SPN in sizes may be obviously different. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the diameters and clinicopathologic characteristics of SPN.

METHODS390 patients (212 male, 178 female, ranging from 17 years to 86 years, median age 57.1 years) with SPN who were postoperatively diagnosed by pathology between Jan. 2000 and Jun. 2009 are enrolled to this study. In these cases, the number of SPN diameters which are smaller than 0.5 cm (including 0.5 cm) (group A) is 16, between 0.5 cm and 1 cm (including 1 cm, not including 0.5 cm) (group B) is 58, between 1 cm and 2 cm (group C) is 163, and between 2 cm and 3 cm (group D) is 153. The clinical manifestation, and postoperative pathological characters are analyzed in various diameter ranges.

RESULTSAll procedures were carried out securely, including tumor enucleation (n = 20), wedge resection (n = 153), lobectomy (n = 217). There are 130 benign cases (33.3%) and 260 malignant cases (66.7%). 58.5% SPN are detected incidently with no symptoms. There is an increasing incidence of clinical symptoms as the increasing diameter of SPN. All the cases are divided into 4 groups, the prevalence of malignant are separated 43.7% (group A), 50.0% (group B), 63.2% (group C), 79.1% (group D). The diameter of SPN is positively correlated with incidence of malignancy (chi2 = 22.535, P < 0.001). Single factor analysis and Logistic regression analysis show the diameter of SPN is an independent risk factor of malignant pathology (OR = 1.922, P < 0.001). Fourteen patients in all of the SPN were followed up by 2 years or more before operation, and 10 of them turn out to be malignant at last. In the 14 patients, 7 cases were found not enlarged by CT scan, and 3 of them (42.9%) were malignant.

CONCLUSIONThe diameter of SPN is highly associated with clinical symptoms, and is a significant risk factor to predict pathology. Early diagnosis and treatment is so important for patients with SPN.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule ; pathology ; surgery