OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of long-term follow-up of Valsartan and amlodipine tablets(Ⅰ)on blood pressure control and renal protection of patients with refractory hypertension. METHODS:120 patients with refractory hypertension were di-vided into control group and observation group according to the patients’wishes,with 60 cases in each group. All patients accepted the triple therapy of amlodipine+valsartan+hydrochlorothiazide and life-style intervention;at the time of discharge from hospital, the blood pressure was well controlled. After discharge from hospital,control group was given amlodipine;observation group was given Valsartan and amlodipine tablet (Ⅰ) orally,1 tablet each time,qd,and dose increasing according to blood pressure,with maximal dose no more than 2 tablets. With 18 months of follow-up,blood pressure and renal function indexes of 2 groups were ob-served at different time points,and blood pressure control rate and the rate of renal function injury were also observed at the last follow-up;the occurrence of ADR was observed. RESULTS:2 cases and 3 cases were follow-up loss in observation group and con-trol group,respectively. With 12 and 18 months of follow-up,24 h systolic pressure,24 h diastolic pressure and 24 h urine protein of 2 groups increased significantly while creatinine clearance rate decreased significantly compared with before discharge;but the in-dexes of observation group was better than that of control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). At last follow-up,the rate of blood pressure in observation group was significantly higher than in control group(84.5% vs. 52.6%),the rate of renal function injury was significantly lower than control group(8.6% vs. 24.6%),with statistical significance(P<0.05). There was no statisti-cal significance in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Valsartan amlodipine tablet(Ⅰ)has obvi-ous advantages in long-term follow-up of blood pressure control of patients with refractory hypertension. It can significantly reduce the incidence of renal function injury with good safety.

ObjectiveTo investigate the cumulative incidence of persistent hypothyroidism in patients who were diagnosed as postpartum thyroiditis ( PPT),and to determine the factors associated with the development of persistent hypothyroidism in those patients.MethodsThe present study was performed as the continuous study followed by the former epidemiological survey on PPT,in which 58 patients with PPT (35 overt PPT and 23 subclinical PPT) were diagnosed.The 58 patients were followed up at 12th month postpartum,and then for every 6 months until 24 months postpartum.Fasting blood samples were taken for testing serum TSH,thyroid peroxidase antibody ( TPOAb),and thyroglobulin antibody ( TgAb ).Free T3 ( FT3 ),free T4 ( FT4 ),and TSH receptor antibody ( TRAh ) were detected if TSH was abnormal.50 healthy postpartum women were used as control group.ResultsOf the total 58 PPT patients,91,4％ ( n =53 ) were successfully followed.Five patients with overt PPT and 6 patients with subclinical PPT developed persistent hypothyroidism,and the cumulative incidence of persistent hypothyroidism in the studied PPT patients was 20.8％.Among 15 PPT patients who had a classical biphasic course (a thyrotoxic phase followed by a hypothyroid phase),persistent hypothyroidism was seen in 26.7％ (n =4 ).Among 11 PPT patients with hypothyroidism only,persistent hypothyroidism was seen in 63.6％ ( n =7).On the contrary,none of the patients with thyrotoxicosis only had persistent hypothyroidism.All of the patients who developed persistent hypothyrodism had a higher TSH levels than 4.8 mU/L at 6th month postpartum.Before delivery,TSH levels of the patients developed persistent hypothyroidism were significantly higher than those of the patients with transient hypothyroidism,and this was the case at the 12th month postpartum ( all P＜0.01 ).PPT patients maintained a relatively higher rate of thyroid autoantibodies.The positive rate of TPOAb at the 12th,18th,and 24th month postpartum was 56.6％,50.9％,and 52.8％,respectively; and the positive rate of TgAb being 35.8％,30.2％,and 30.2％,respectively.Both the positive rate and titer of TPOAb in patients with overt PPT were higher than those in patients with subclinical PPT at the 18th and 24th month postpartum (P＜0.05).Conclusions 20.8％ patients with PPT developed persistent hypothyroidism at the 24th month postpartum.Whether a patient with PPT would develop persistent hypothyroidism depends on his clinical feature and TSH level.

Objective To compare the therapeutic effects,toxic side effects of late-course three dimensional conformal radiotherapy plus chrono-chemotherapy(DDP+5-FU/CF) and conventional radiotherapy plus chemotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Eighty-six NPC patients admitted from Feb. 2001 to Jan. 2002 were divided randomly into two groups:1.Chrono-chemotherapy + late course three dimensional conformal radiotherapy(CCR) group—44 patients were treated by late course three dimensional conformal radiotherapy plus chrono-chemotherapy, and 2.Routine-chemotherapy-radiotherapy (RCR) group—42 patients were treated by routine chemotherapy plus radiotherapy. The patients in CCR and RCR group were comparable in age, KPS, stage and pathology. All patients were treated by combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with chemotherapy stared 2 weeks ahead of radiotherapy. Chemotherapy: Braun pump was used in all drug infusions;1.CCR group—DDP 80?mg/m2 starting from 10:00 until 22:00,5-Fu 750?mg/d/m2 starting from 22:00 until 10:00 next day, CF 200?mg/d/m2 starting from 10:00 every day, infused at normal speed. These drugs were given for 3 days, 14 days as one cycle, totally 2 cycle, and 2.RCR group—with the same drugs at the same total dose, only with the difference being DDP and CF given QD, starting from 10:00 but at the normal speed. 5-Fu was given throughout the day and continuously for 3 days, totally for 2 cycles. Radiotherapy: linear accelerator irradiation was given to either group. Composite facio-cervical field + anterior cervical tangential field to D_T 40?Gy/4w, followed by the coned down per-auricular field plus anterior tangential field or ?beam irradiation. In CCR group, after D_T 40gy/4w, late course 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3DCRT) was used to add D_T 30?Gy/3w. In RCR group, routine radiotherapy of 40?Gy/w was supplemented with 30?Gy/3w. The total dose in either group was 70?Gy/7w at the nasopharynx, D_T60-70?Gy/6-7w at the neck, as cure while 50?Gy/5w for prophylaxis. Results The CR and PR of the CCR group was 45.5% and 95.5%, while the CR and PR of RCR group was 23.8% and 71.4% respectively. There was significant difference between the two groups in CR and PR (P

OBJECTIVE: To assess the practical and health economical values of non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) in Changsha Municipal Public Welfare Program. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was carried out on 149 165 women undergoing NIPT test from April 9, 2018 to December 31, 2019. For pregnant women with high risks, invasive prenatal diagnosis and follow-up of pregnancy outcome were conducted. The cost-benefit of NIPT for Down syndrome was analyzed. RESULTS: NIPT was carried out for 149 165 pregnant women and succeeded in 148 749 cases (99.72%), for which outcome were available in 148 538 (99.86%). 90% of pregnant women from the region accepted the screening with NIPT. 415 (0.27%) were diagnosed as high risk. Among these, 381 (91.81%) accepted amniocentesis, which led to the diagnosis of 212 cases of trisomy 21 (PPV=85.14%), 41 cases with trisomy 18 (PPV=48.81%) and 10 cases with trisomy 13 (PPV=20.83%). The sensitivity and specificity of NIPT for trisomy 21, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 were (97.70%, 99.98%), (97.62%, 9.97%) and (100%, 99.97%), respectively. In addition, 213 and 30 cases were diagnosed with sex chromosomal aneuploidies (PPV=46.2%) and other autosomal anomalies (PPV=16.57%), respectively. For Down syndrome screening, the cost and benefit of the project was 120.79 million yuan and 1,056.95 million yuan, respectively. The cost-benefit ratio was 1: 8.75, and safety index was 0.0035. CONCLUSION NIPT is a highly accurate screening test for trisomy 21, which was followed by trisomy 18 and sex chromosomal aneuploidies, while it was less accurate for other autosomal aneuploidies. The application of NIPT screening has a high health economical value.
Aneuploidy ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Noninvasive Prenatal Testing ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Trisomy 18 Syndrome/genetics*