Two cases of labyrinthine ossification were founded in temporal bone exploration and in cochlear implantation. One was caused by temporal bone fracture, the other had bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss but the reason for labyrinthine ossification was unknown. In this case,unilateral total labyrinthine ossification was not confirmed in preoperative CT scan.

Objective:To evaluate the value of DWI with background suppression (DWIBS) in evaluating the injury of the low limb nerves in patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS).Methods:The clinical and imaging data of 30 patients with GBS and 30 healthy volunteers matched with their age and gender in Zibo Central Hospital from January 2018 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients received lower limb nerve electrophysiological examination and all subjects received lower limb nerve DWIBS examination one week later. The display of tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve after DWIBS image reconstruction in normal volunteers and GBS patients was scored by two senior radiologists. Kappa consistency test was used to analyze the consistency of the two senior radiologists′ scores. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV) and motor nerve conduction amplitudes of tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve in patients with GBS among different DWIBS scores. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between DWIBS tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve scores and electrophysiological parameters in patients with GBS.Results:In the DWIBS images of 30 healthy volunteers, 60 tibial nerves and common peroneal nerves showed clear, sharp edges, good signal intensity, uniformity, and the scores were 4. The consistency between the two radiologists was good (Kappa value=1.0). In the 60 tibial nerves and common peroneal nerves of 30 GBS patients, 53 tibial nerves and 52 common peroneal nerves showed abnormal changes in varying degrees, including blurred edges, distortions, difficulty in recognition, and weakened signal strength, etc. The consistency between the two readers was good (Kappa value=0.879,0.863,respectively.).With the decrease of DWIBS score, the MCV and motor nerve conduction amplitude values of tibial nerves and common peroneal nervesin GBS patients decreased, and the differences between the score groups were statistically significant ( P<0.01). The scores of tibial nerves and common peroneal nerves in DWIBS were positively correlated with MCV ( r=0.83, 0.84, respectively, P<0.05) and motor nerve conduction amplitude ( r=0.81, 0.79, respectively, P<0.05). Conclusion:DWIBS could provide a three dimensional visualization of tibial nerves and common peroneal nerves, and evaluate the disorders of peripheral nerves in patients with GBS. There has correlation between the scores of tibial nerves and common peroneal nerves in DWIBS with electrophysiology parameters.

The cartilage-protective effect of ginkgolide C(GC)on the two modeling modalities was investigated based on joint pain,degree of cartilage pathology,ECM degradation process,and level of inflammatory mediator production in rats.Twenty-five SD rats were selected and randomly di-vided into five groups:the control group(Control group),model 1 group(ACLT group),adminis-tration 1 group(ACLT+GC group),model 2 group(MIA group),and administration 2 group(MIA+GC group.)The rats were euthanized after 4 weeks of the test.Femur,tibia and blood samples were collected from the right hind limb of rats.The degree of pathology in the femur and tibia of rats was assessed by saffron O solid green staining and OARSI score.Immunohistochemis-try was used to detect the expression levels of collagen Ⅱ and MMP-13 in cartilage.ELISA was used to detect the changes in the levels of MMP-3,MMP-13,CTX-Ⅱ,COMP,COX-2,INOS,IL-1β,and TNF-α in the serum of rats.Cold sensitivity test and knee extension vocalization test were conducted to detect the degree of joint pain in rats.ACLT could cause more severe structural dam-age to articular cartilage compared with the MIA group.The OARSI scores and the expression of MMP-13 in femur and tibia,and the serum levels of MMP-13,MMP-3,CTX-Ⅱ,and COMP were higher in the ACLT group than those in the MIA group.However,the levels of inflammatory me-diators COX-2,IL-1β,and TNF-α were significantly lower in the ACLT group than in the MIA group(P＜0.0l).GC intervention reduced the OARSI score(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01)and pain scores,inhibited the ECM matrix degrading enzymes(MMP-13,MMP-3),cartilage metabolism markers(CTX-11,COMP),and inflammatory mediators(COX-2,INOS,IL-1β and TNF-α)ex-pression,and promoted collagen Ⅱ synthesis.Both modeling methods resulted in cartilage damage.In particular,the OA model constructed by ACLT+PMMx method in rats had obvious joint dam-age,which was favorable to investigate the degree of cartilage structural damage.GC attenuated cartilage pathological changes,pain severity and inflammatory response in the rat OA model in both groups,thus exerting a cartilage-protective effect.

Chronic low-back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common pain conditions. Current clinical guidelines for low-back pain recommend acupuncture for CLBP. However, there are very few high-quality acupuncture studies on CLBP in older adults. Clinical acupuncture experts in the American Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (ATCMA) were interested in the recent grant on CLBP research announced by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The ATCMA experts held an online discussion on the subject of real-world acupuncture treatments for CLBP in older adults. Seven participants, each with more than 20 years of acupuncture practice, discussed their own unique clinical experience while another participant talked about the potential mechanism of acupuncture in pain management. As a result of the discussion, a picture of a similar treatment strategy emerged across the participants for CLBP in older adults. This discussion shows that acupuncture may have complicated mechanisms in pain management, yet it is effective for the treatment of chronic pain involving maladaptive neuroplasticity; therefore, it should be effective for CLBP in older adults.