Objective: To compare the efficacy of paroxetine and amitriptyline in the treatment of primary fibromyalgia syndrome.Methods:46 out- and in-patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome were randomized to two groups and treated respectively with amitriptyline 25mg~50mg per day and paroxetine 10mg~20mg per day. The Visual analogue scales(VAS) was used to evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects were recorded at baseline, month 1 and month 3.Results:In both groups pain was alleviated with statistical significance after 1 month of treatment. However the efficacy of amitriptyline and paroxetine was not statistically significant at different time points. The occurrence of adverse effects in paroxetine group was less than in amitriptyline group and the difference was statistically significant, especially dry mouth and palpitation.Conclusion:Paroxetine is as effective as amitriptyline in the treatment of primary fibromyalgia syndrome but with a better safety profile.

In the isolated adult rat's ventricular myocytes and artificial bio-membrane-liposomes, the lipid peroxidation caused by generating system of free radicals (FeCl2 & ascorbic acid ) was significantly inhibited by Co Q10, and the inhibition effect of Co Q10 was both dose-and time-dependent. The results showed that Co Q10 had an antioxi-dation effect and served as a scavenger of free radicals at the level of membrane .

Objective To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of cardiovascular computed tomography angiography(CTA) in 128-slice DSCT with low tube voltage and low dosage contrast media in children with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Methods Forty patients with TOF were randomly divided into group A and group B by random number table method, patients in group A received a conventional scan with 80 kVp and contrast media of 1.2 ml/kg, patients in group B, 70 kVp and contrast media of 1.0 ml/kg were used. The injection time of the two groups were both fixed for 12 s. CT attenuation, image noise and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ascending aorta, the main pulmonary artery, left ventricle and right ventricle were quantified. Radiation dose and volume of the contrast medium were recorded. Subjective image quality was assessed by two radiologists in consensus. The Student's t test was performed to analyse the differences between the two groups regarding CT attenuation, image noise, SNR, radiation dose and volume of the contrast medium. The image quality scores between the two groups were compared by using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results No significant difference was found in the attenuation, noise, SNR between the two groups in the same evaluated anatomic regions and no significant difference was found in the image quality. Effective dose (ED) was(0.17±0.05),(0.13±0.04)mSv respectively, there was significant reduction in group B than that in group A (t=2.48, P=0.019). The consumed iodine amount was(10.00±1.84),(8.29± 1.45) ml respectively, there was significant reduction between the two groups (t=2.89, P=0.007). Conclusions In children with TOF, the cardiovascular CTA with diagnostic quality can be adequately acquired with low tube voltage (70 kVp) and low concentration contrast media (1.0 ml/kg), there is significant reduction in radiation dose and contrast medium amount.

Objective To explore the optimal reconstruction windows in patients with heart rate (HR) over 91 (beats per minute) bpm, and to explore the feasibility of prospective ECG-gated DSCT coronary angiography.Methods Two hundred and thirty-two patients[body mass index (BMI):23-25 kg/m2, with stable HR, and average HR ≥91 bpm]with suspected or known coronary artery disease underwent retrospective ECG-gated DSCT coronary angiography.They were divided into 3 groups (A-C) according to the average HR of scanning.Images were reconstructed from 29% to 80% of the R-R interval in 3% increments.Two independent readers assessed the overall image quality by a five-point scale and determined the optimal reconstruction windows of each coronary segment and the ranges.Coronary arteries were segmented according to the guideline of the American Heart Association (AHA).The degree of interobserver agreement was determined by Kappa statistics.Results Three thousand three hundred and fortythree segments were considered to have diagnostic image quality in 232 patients.The ranges of optimal reconstruction windows of images were concentrated on 81%-61% and 51%-31%.In group A(91-95 bpm), there were 1183 segments in 83 patients, and the according proportions were 5.49%, 94.51%,respectively; In group B(96-100 bpm), there were 986 segments in 68 patients, and the according proportions were 0.20%, 99.80%, respectively; In group C(≥ 101 bpm), there were 1174 segments in 81 patients, and the according proportions were 0.17%, 99.83%, respectively.The optimal construction windows in 3274 segments out of 3343 segments in 232 patients were concentrated in 41%, ranged from 51%-31%.The image quality assessment in 3343 segments in 232 patients have a high inter-observe agreement (Kappa=0.883,P <0.05).Conclusion The optimal reconstruction windows of patients with stable HR(≥91 bpm) was concentrated in 41%, ranged from 51%-31%.When nothing except the window of data acquisition is considered, the prospective ECC,-gated DSCT coronary angingraphy can be used in patients with stable HR(≥91 bpm).

Objective To explore the clinical application of dual-soure CT(DSCT) in coronary artery.Methods 51 patients suspected with coronary artery disease underwent both DSCT coronary arteriography and selective coronary angiography(CAG), the DSCTA results were compared with that of CAG.Results DSCT coronary arteriography in 51 patients at any heart rate was successful.Coronary artery branches and part sub-branches were clearly displayed by DSCT angiography.Stenosis or obstruction of 166 coronary artery branchs in 51 patients were showed ,of them,150 branches were confirmed by CAG. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of DSCTA were 100%, 90%, 90.4%, 100% and 94.8% respectively.Conclusion DSCT is a valuable method in detecting the diseases of coronary artery with lower dose. The accuracy of the DSCT is approximate to the CAG.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) injections originated in China and have been extensively used in clinic. However, some events the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been reported, among which, hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) are the main ADRs of TCM injections. To solve the ADRs of TCM injections will be the key to proceed of the modernization of TCM. This paper reviewed the current situation and causes of the ADRs of TCM injections. On the basis of primary findings obtained from the project granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, two pivotal technologies of the safety evaluation of TCM injections were introduced, which are anaphylactoid reaction ussessment and metabonomics for TCM injections. It is expected to provide some new ideas for the breakthrough of the safety evaluation of TCM injections.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Injections ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; methods ; Metabolomics ; methods

Objective To explore the clinical value of prospective electrocardiography-triggering high-pitch spiral acquisition by dual-source CT (HP mode ) in children with congenital heart diseases (CHD).MethodsThirty-six patients ( mean age:0.67 years,range:1 month to 2 years and 6 months; 25 males;mean weight:7.7 kg)underwent prospective ECG-triggering high-pitch spiral acquisition.The dose length product (DLP) was recorded to calculate effective dose ( ED ).Two experienced radiologists made diagnosis and assessed the overall image quality by a five-point scale independently.The consistency of their judgment was determined by Kappa statistics.Surgeries were performed in 29 patients,and conventional cardiac angiography(CCA) was performed in 7 patients.The accuracy,sensitivity and specificity of HP mode were calculated based on the surgical or CCA findings.ResultsThe DLP was (5.12 ± 1.64) mGy.cm with a range of 2.4 mGy · cm to 9.2 mGy · cm and ED was (0.125 ± 0.027 ) mSv ranging from 0.078 mSv to 0.179 mSv.The average subjective image quality score was 4.2 ± 0.7.All images were diagnosable.Two radiologists made good agreement ( K =0.774,P ＜ 0.05 ).The accuracy,sensitivity and specificity of HP mode were 98.9％,94.2％ and 99.8％,respectively.ConclusionLow radiation dose with the accurate diagnosis of anomalies makes HP mode a new choice for children with CHD.

Objective To explore the application of low-dose prospective ECG-triggering dualsource CT (DSCT) angiography in infants and children with Kawasaki disease (KD).MethodsNineteen children diagnosed of Kawasaki disease underwent low-dose prospective ECG- triggering DSCT angiography (DSCTA) with free breathing and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE).The overall imaging quality was graded on a five-point scale. Interobserver agreement in subjective image quality grading was assessed by Kappa statistics.The location,number and size of the aneurysms and dilations were recorded and compared with those of TTE.Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the agreement on measurements between DSCTA and TTE.The average effective dose of DSCTA in all 19 children was calculated.ResultsDSCTA was performed successfully in all 19 children.A total of 91.5 ％ (226/247) segments permitted visualization with diagnostic image quality. Fifteen patients were diagnosed with coronary artery lesions. A total of 28 aneurysms and 15 arterial aneurysmal dilations were detected by DSCTA,while 19 aneurysms and 13 arterial aneurysmal dilations were found by TTE.TTE failed to detect 9 aneurysms (2 in the distal right coronary artery,2 in the posterior descending artery,1 in the middle of left anterior descending artery,1 in the middle of left circumflex artery,2 in the distal of LCX and 1 in the obtuse marginal branch)and 2 arterial aneurysmal dilations (1 at the diagonal branch and 1 at obtuse marginal branch). The concordance of DSCTA and TTE in measurement of diameter and length of these aneurysms and aneurysmal dilatations are good (0.63 ± 0.20) and (0.58 ± 0.20) cm vs ( 1.49 ± 0.83 ) and ( 1.22 ± 0.66) cm ( r =0.989 and 0.965,P ＜ 0.05 ).There was a good agreement on overall image quality ( Kappa =0.87 ). The mean effective dose was(0.24 ± 0.08) mSv.ConclusionProspective ECG-triggering DSCTA with very low effective radiation dose is safe,reliable and more sensitive than TTE on diagnosing of coronary artery lesions,especially in the distal lesions,in infants and children with KD.

Objective To explore the clinical value of dual-energy CT angiography (DE-CTA) in the diagnosis of carotid cavernous fistula. Methods Fourteen patients suspected of carotid cavernous fistula underwent DE-CTA between Dec. 2008 and Feb. 2010. Image post-processing of DE-CTA was performed with the dedicated software to obtain bone-removal and non bone-removal images. Four experienced radiologists evaluated image quality of DE-CTA, the number, location and size of fistulae and dilation of cerebral veins. The bone-removal and non bone-removal images were compared for displaying of fistulae and other related lesions. Kappa test was used to test the consistency of image quality evaluation between two radiologists. The sizes of fistulae were measured with bone-removal DE-CTA images and non bone-removal DE-CTA images respectively and their results were compared by using student's t-test and the correlation test. Results Twenty-eight intracranial internal carotid arteries of 14 patients showed acceptable image quality. Fourteen cases were diagnosed as carotid cavernous fistula with both bone-removal and non boneremoval DE-CTA images. Two patients presented with bilateral lesions, while 7 patients presented with left lesions and 5 patients had right lesions. Totally, sixteen fistulae lesions were detected in 14 patients. The mean size of fistulae was (0. 36 ±0. 10) mm by bone-removal images, whereas (0. 35 ±0. 11 ) mm by non bone-removal images. There was no significant difference between the two methods ( t = 0. 29, P ＞ 0. 05 ),and good correlation was found between the two methods ( r = 0. 97, P ＜0.05). Thirteen dilated cerebral veins in 8 cases were found by bone-removal images versus 9 dilated cerebral veins in 6 cases by non boneremoval images. Conclusions Image post-processing of DE-CTA is a simple and useful method to identify carotid cavernous fistula. DE-CTA is also useful for therapeutic planning.

Objective To evaluate feasibility and time efficiency of dual-source flash post-processing software (Bone Reading)for reconstruction of bronchial artery.Methods The imaging data of 70 patients with suspected bronchial artery dilatation who underwent bronchial artery-CTA were evaluated by 2 independent radiologists.First,the related contents of bronchial artery such as origination,number, type,route and lumen diameter were evaluated by multiple planar reconstruction (MPR),maximum intensity projection (MIP)and volume rendering technique (VRT).The results and process time were recorded.After a month,the post-processing software(Bone Reading)was used to evaluate the same contents.Results There was very good correlation between both readers for both reading methods without significant differences.There was significant difference of process time between with regular method and with Bone Reading (P<0.05)for both readers.Process time could be decreased by approximately 35%.Conclusion The application of CT software (Bone Reading)is feasible in the CTA of bronchial artery.This method may gain a significant time saving in comparison to regular method.