Eighteen cases of primary tumors of the duodenum were reported. There were four cases of benign tumors, and fourteen cases of malignancy. The tumor was located in the bulb of the duodenum in seven cases, the descending part in nine cases and the transversepart in two cases. Five cases were complicated with intestinal perforation. Four cases with hemorrhage, four cases with obstruction and five cases with choledochal obstruction. The pathology, diagnosis and treatment of primary duodenum tumors are discussed.

Objective To evaluate the role of clinical features,radiography and histopathology in differential diagnosis between chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis(CNPA)and aspergilloma.Methods Thirty-four patients including 8 cases of CNPA and 26 of aspergilloma comfirmed by operation and histopathology in First Affiliated Hospital,Zhejiang University were investigated retrospectively.The clinical manifestations,radiological and pathological findings of all the patients were analyzed and related references were reviewed. Results The age of onset was not significantly different between CNPA and aspergilloma.Obsolete pulmonary tuberculosis and lung abscess were predisposing factors of them.Productive cough was presented in all 8 cases of CNPA,haemoptvsis in 7,and 5 were presented with constitutional symptoms.The most common symptom of aspergilloma was haemoptysis, which was presented in 25 cases.The less common symptoms were cough and sputum,which was presented in 17 cases.Only two cases were presented with constitutional symptoms."Air crescent"sign at radiography was typical and suggestive of diagnosis in both CNPA and aspergilloma,but the wall of cavity in CNPA was thicker and irregular,infiltrates were often to be seen around the cavity.Histologically,CNPA and aspergilloma both showed septate fungal hyphae branching at an acute angle.CNPA was characterized with the presence of tissue invasion by aspergillus,tissue necrosis and granulomatous inflammation. Fungal hyphae ware only found in a preexistent cavity or ectatic bronchus without tissue invasion in aspergilloma.Conclusions Histopathology is gold standard of differential diagnosis of CNPA and aspergilloma. Meanwhile, clinical features and radiological findings appear to be valuable for the diagnosis.

Objective To explore the role of body fat distribution in the pathogenesis of obesity-related asthma.Methods Totally 125 patients with stable asthma were recruited and were divided into non-obese group (n =51),peripheral obesity group (n =34) and central obesity group (n =40) according to body mass index and waist circumference.The FEV1％,FVC,FEV1/FVC ratio,IL-6,and hs-CRP levels in peripheral blood,eosinophil and neutrophil percentage in induced sputum,as well as exhaled NO levels were determined,and asthma control test (ACT) scores were calculated.Both one-way analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were used for statistical analysis.Results The values of FVC in the central obesity group and the non-obese group were [3.98 (3.99) ±0.99] L and [4.51 (4.51) ±1.00] L,while the levels of IL-6 and hs-CRP in peripheral circulation and the percentage of neutrophils in induced sputum were [33.63 (33.28) ± 14.04] ng/L and [21.22 (21.33)±11.23] ng/L,[2.12 (2.15) ±0.73] mg/L and [0.92 (0.91) ±0.61] mg/L,52.58 (52.81) ± 14.14 and 45.41 (45.34) ± 12.84,respectively (all P ＜ 0.05).After adjusting for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) doses,the ACT scores were also significantly higher in central obesity group (22.10 ± 1.68 vs.23.01 ± 1.62) (P ＜ 0.05).Only the hs-CRP level was found significantly higher in peripheral obesity group than in non-obese group [(1.54±0.68) mg/Lvs.(0.91 ±0.61) mg/L] (P＜0.05).Conclusion Central obesity may play the leading role in the pathogenesis of obesity-related asthma.

Objective To explore the clinico-pathological features, immunophenotype, treatment and prognosis of urologic primary primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET). Methods The clinical data of 3 patients with urologic PNET were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were male, aged 29, 32 and 75 years respectively. Two of the lesions were located in the kidney, and the third was located in the bladder. The sizes of renal tumors were 7.7 cm×6.2 cm and 12.6 cm×9.4 cm respectively. Imaging examinations revealed a well-defined mass with inhomogeneous echo inside. The size of bladder tumor was 10.0 cm×10.0 cm. CT scan demonstrated irregular thickening of the bladder wall, and the density of the wall was inhomogeneous. In the 2 cases of renal PNET radical surgery was performed, while an emergency palliative surgery to remove a blood clot and biopsy were performed in the bladder PNET case. Results In light microscope, the tumors were characterized by uniform small round or oval cells and nest-like or dense sheet structures surrounded by sparse fibrovascular stroma. Homer-Wright rosettes or pseudorosettes were observed, as well as mitoses. Immunohistochemical study revealed that all cases showed positive staining for CD99, synaptophysin and vimentin. One of the renal tumor cells showed positive for CD56, and the other renal tumor and urocystic tumor cells were focally positive for chromogranin A. Additionally, in 1 of the cases of renal tumor there was a high positive rate of 80% for Ki67 staining while the other case showed less than 5%. All 3 cases were eventually diagnosed as PNET. The first renal tumor case was not treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy postoperatively, and the patient died of recurrence 14 months after surgery. Both the second renal tumor case and the bladder tumor case underwent chemotherapy postoperatively, and they died 4 and 6 months after surgery respectively. Conclusions The urologic primary PNET is a very rare, highly malignant soft tissue tumor, and the diagnosis must be based on pathologic findings and immunohistochemical phenotypes. The multimodal treatment for urologic primary PNET consists of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the factors that result in lower respiratory tract infection by Candida albicans and the situation of drug resistance in geriatric inpatients.METHODS Clinical samples were collected from the geriatric inpatients with lower respiratory tract infection in our hospital from Jan 2004 to Dec 2006,and among them,146 patients were found containing C.albicans in their sputum.Meanwhile retrospective analysis was made.RESULTS There were many factors resulting in lower respiratory tract nosocomial infection by C.albicans in geriatric inpatients,and the detection rates of C.albicans increased year by year in the past three years were 25.2%,36.9% and 39.9%,respectively.The drug resistance of C.albicans raised obviously at the same time was 20.6%,41.8% and 34.2%,respectively.CONCLUSIONS It is necessary for reducing lower respiratory tract infection rates to efficiently control the C.albicans infection factors and to properly use antibiotics.

A total of 185 hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were recruited.And the questionnaire of COPD Assessment Test (CAT) was used to evaluate the CAT scores and Hamihon Depression Scale to evaluate HAMD scores.Lung function,body mass index,smoking and medication were measured and recorded in details.According to the HAMD scores,65 cases had depression and 120 cases no depression.Comparing with the no-depression group,the results show that HAMD and CAT scores were higher significantly in the depression group and there was a lower proportion of long-term domiciliary oxygen therapy.According to the logistic regression analysis,the CAT scores were associated with global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) stages Ⅳ and HAMD scores.These results suggest that poor lung function and depression affect greatly the quality of life for stable COPD patients.

Objective To investigate the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in airway inflammation and airway remodeling in asthmatic rats,and to explore the possible molecular mechanism of artesunate (ART) in the treatment of asthma.Methods Forty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into normal group,asthmatic group,dexamethasone group,low-dose artesunate group,middle-dose artesunate group and high-dose artesunate group.Asthmatic models were established by ovalbumin (OVA) challenge and aerosol inhalation,and were treated with drugs.The morphological changes of lung tissue,the white blood cell count and the white blood cell count of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were observed in each group.The bronchial wall thickness and smooth muscle thickness were measured by Image-Pro plus image analysis software.The expressions of β-catenin and WISP-1 in lung tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR respectively.The expression of IL-6 in serum and BALF was detected by ELISA.Results The artesunate group rats,airway inflammatory cells infiltration,the smooth muscle thickness,bronchial wall thickness were significantly lower than those in asthma group,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.01).The expression of artesunate group β-catenin,WISP-1 protein and WISP-1 mRNA were significantly lower than those in asthma group,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜0.01).The level of IL-6 in serum and BALF of artesunate group was significantly lower than that of asthmatic group (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The possible mechanism of artesunate to improve airway inflammation and airway remodeling in asthmatic rats related to the inhibition of Wnt/ beta-catenin signaling pathway activity and down-regulation of IL-6 levels.

In this study, 17 kinds of Dendrobium species of Fengdous including 39 individuals were collected from 4 provinces. Mitochondrial gene sequences co I, nad 5, nad 1-intron 2 and chloroplast gene sequences rbcL, matK amd psbA-trnH were amplified from these materials, as well as nrDNA ITS. Furthermore, suitable sequences for identification of Dendrobium species of Fengdous were screened by K-2-P and P-distance. The results showed that during the mentioned 7 sequences, nrDNA ITS, nad 1-intron 2 and psbA-trnH which had a high degree of variability could be used to identify Dendrobium species of Fengdous. However, single fragment could not be used to distinguish D. moniliforme and D. huoshanense. Moreover, compared to other combined fragments, new type combined fragments nrDNA ITS+nad 1-intron 2 was more effective in identifying the original plants of Dendrobium species and could be used to identify D. huoshanense and D. moniliforme. Besides, according to the UPGMA tree constructed with nrDNA ITS+nad 1-intron 2, 3 inspected Dendrobium plants were identified as D. huoshanense, D. moniliforme and D. officinale, respectively. This study identified Dendrobium species of Fengdous by combined fragments nrDNA ITS+nad 1-intron 2 for the first time, which provided a more effective basis for identification of Dendrobium species. And this study will be helpful for regulating the market of Fengdous.

Objective To evaluate the effect of autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) on phenotype transformation and proliferation of rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).Methods Cultured PASMCs were treated with different concentrations of 3-MA (low-dose group,2.0 mmol/L;middle-dose group,4.0 mmol/L;high-dose group,8.0 mmol/L;control group,0 mmol/L).The protein expression of LC3 Ⅱ,OPN and Vimentin was detected by Western blotting.Cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay.Results The autophagy of PASMCs was decreased with the increase of the concentration of 3-MA.Compared with the control group,significantly down-regulated protein expression of LC3 Ⅱ,OPN and Vimentin was observed in 3-MA-treated cells,with significantly lower proliferation activity.Conclusion The autophagy inhibitor 3-MA significantly down-regulated the expression of LC3 Ⅱ,OPN and Vimentin in PASMCs,with inhibiting the proliferation of PASMCs.

Objective To investigate the correlation between clinicopathologic factors and peritoneal dissemination from gastric cancer, and the impact of palliative resection on the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer complicated by peritoneal dissemination. Methods Based on our database built in 1994, the clinicopathologic data and the result of follow-up of all gastric cancer patients were analyzed retrospectively using the software of SPSS. Results One hundred and five out of 792 (13. 3% ) patients with primary gastric cancer were found complicated with peritoneal dissemination. The clinicopathologic factors in patients with peritoneal dissemination were significantly correlated with primary tumor penetrating through serosa, lymph node metastasis, primary tumor involving whole stomach, undifferentiated carcinoma, Borrmann IV and female gender (P