The ultraviolet spectrophotometric method for determination of vitamin A in breast milk was simplified. The milk sample was extracted directly with ammonia water, ethyl alcohol and ether, the saponification procedure be- ing omitted. The optimal height of the aluminum oxide adsorption column and the optimal rate of flow for elution were developed. The observation was made whether the elution for vitamen A was complete by identifying the fluorescence of vitamin A directly under ultraviolet light in the eluat-es collected instead of SbCl3-Vitamin A blue color reaction. The simultaneous estimation of Vitamin A in breast milk and in the standard solution of Vitamin A with this method showed E300nm/E325nm less than 73%, agreeable with the British Pharmacopoeia. The recovery was 100.8%. This procedure has advantages of high sensitivity, simplicity, time saving and economy.

Objective To observe the changes of blood sugar following use of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in patients with severe burn. Methods A total of 140 patients with severe burn but with no history of diabetes were randomly and equally divided into Group A ( 18-44 years old) and Group B ( ≥45 years old) according to WHO criteria. Then, two groups were randomly divided Group B0 (treated with normal saline), 35 patients per group. Change of blood sugar and amount of insuline for control of blood sugar were observed and analyzed. Results Of 140 patients in four groups,128 patients accomplished the test, with no statistical difference upon general conditions between groups (P ＞0.05 ). Within four weeks after test, the amount of insuline used for control of blood sugar was (2908.0 ± 153.5) IU and (724.1 ± 31.1 ) IU respectively in Groups A1 and A0, (3725.9 ± 88.4) IU and (801.8 ±22.2) IU respectively in Groups B1 and BO. The results showed that the patients needing insulin to control blood sugar in Group B were more than that in Group A ( P ＜ 0.01 ). The time for blood sugar recovering to normal range in patients with high blood sugar with no use of rhGH in Group A1 and Group B1 was (5.21 ±0.64) d and (5.03 ± 1.01) d respectively (P＞0.05). Conclusions The blood sugar of patients with severe burn will rise after use of rhGH. The age of the patients is positively correlated with changes of blood sugar. Standard use of rhGH does not induce diabetes.

Objective To assess the efficacy of percutaneous transhepatie variceal embolization (PTVE) in treating esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding after esophageal-gastric devascularization with splenectomy in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods Twenty-two patients, who had history of esophageal-gastric devascularization with splenectomy, were either underwent PTVE with TH glue (n=10) or endoscopic injection of sclerosis (EIS, n = 12) for treatment of esophageal or gastric variceal rebleeding between Nov. 2006 and Sep. 2008. The patients were followed-up for recurrent bleeding, mortality, grade of esophageal and gastric varices and liver function. Portal vein pressure was measured before and after collateral embolization in PTVE group. Results ① The patients were followed-up for 12.5 months in PTVE group and 13.4 months in EIS group. There was significant difference (P<0.05) between PTVE and EIS groups in rebleeding rate (1/10 vs 7/12) and mortality (0 vs 3/12). ② The degree of esophageal and gastric varices after embolization or EIS was improved significantly. ③ For patients with portal vein thrombosis, combination of PTVE with portal vein balloon plasty could markedly improve portal vein blood supply. ④ Neither PTVE nor EIS aggravated the liver cirrhosis. Conclusion Compared with EIS, PTVE with TH glue may be a more effiective method in the treatment of rebleeding of patients with liver cirrhosis who had accepted esophagealgastric devascularization with splenectomy.

Objective:To study the CT manifestations of malignant hepatic perivascular epithelioid cell carcinoma (PEComa).Methods:Clinical data of nine patients undergoing surgery with histologically confirmed malignant hepatic PEComa in Yueqing People's Hospital, Wenzhou People's Hospital, and Yongjia County People's Hospital from January, 2010 to June, 2022 were retrospectively collected, including two males and seven females with a median age of 47 (43, 56) years old. The CT findings, including tumor size, shape, boundary, density, and enhancement patterns, were analyzed.Results:CT scans showed that all nine tumors were single lesions. Five tumors were located in right liver lobe, three in left lobe, and one in caudate lobe. The median tumor diameter was 5.7 (range, 3.3-16.0 ) cm. In terms of tumor shape, three were round, four were quasi-circular, and two were irregular. Eight tumors had well-defined boundaries, while one was ill-defined. Nine tumors showed uneven densities and were lower than the adjacent liver parenchyma. Four tumors had a false capsule, one contained fatty tissue, and six had necrotic and cystic changes. In the arterial phase of contrast-enhanced CT scanning, two tumors showed moderate enhancement and seven showed significant enhancement. In the portal venous and delayed phases, enhancement decreased significantly in four cases, showing a " fast-in and fast-out" pattern. In four cases, the enhancement persisted, showing a " fast-in and slow-out" pattern. One case showed no enhancement in any phase but had a strip-like enhanced vessel inside the tumor. Five cases had significantly thickened vessels around the tumor.Conclusion:The CT manifestations of PEComa are as follows: round or quasi-circular lesions with well-defined boundaries, uneven low densities, significant enhancement in the arterial phase and rapid washout or persistent enhancement in the portal venous and delayed phases.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical features of severe or critical ill adult patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). METHODS: The clinical data of 75 patients with severe or critical COVID-19 in Honghu People's Hospital from January to March in 2020 were collected. RESULTS: Of the 75 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, 41 were male (54.67%) and 34 were female (45.33%) with a mean age of 67.53 ±12.37 years; 43 patients had severe and 32 had critical COVID-19, and 49.3% of the patients had underlying diseases. The main clinical manifestations included fever (78.67%) and coughing (70.67%). Compared with the severe patients, the critically ill patients had higher proportions of patients over 60 years old with elevated white blood cell count, increased prothrombin time, and higher levels of hsCRP, PCT, D-dimer, ALT, LDH, cTnI and NT-proBNP. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that an age over 60 years, leukocytosis, hs-CRP elevation, prolonged prothrombin time, and increased levels of D-dimer, NT-proBNP and cTnI were associated with severe COVID-19. Multivariate logistic regression showed that an age over 60 years (OR=8.165, 95% : 1.483-45.576, =0.017), prolonged prothrombin time (OR=7.516, 95% : 2.568-21.998, =0.006) and elevated NT-proBNP (OR=6.194, 95% : 1.305-29.404, =0.022) were independent risk factors for critical type of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS An age over 60 years, a prolonged prothrombin time and elevated NT-proBNP level are important clinical features of critically ill patients with COVID-19, and can be deemed as early warning signals for critical conditions of the disease.
Aged ; Betacoronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; Critical Illness ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; Retrospective Studies