malignant thymona(P

Objective: To study the clinical therapeutic characteristics of myasthenia gravis (MG) with hyperthyroidism and the effects of surgical procedures for the patients. Methods:Subtotal thyroidectomy,thymectomy,and simultaneous subtotal thyroidectomy and thymectomywere performed on eleven patients with MG and hyperthyroidism. These patients were followedup after the operation. Results :The neck incisions were infected in two of seven type Ⅱ b patientsdue to trachestomy and the infected incisions were surgically healed. The MG symptoms of threecases (1 cases in type Ⅱ. and 2 cases in type Ⅱ b) relapsed in 3 to 6 months after subtotal thy-roidectomy. The MG symptoms of 2 cases (1 case in type Ⅱa and 1 case in type Ⅱ b) relapsed in 8to 12 months after thymectomy. Among six patients treated by simultaneous subtotal thyroidecto-my and thymectomy,the MG symptoms relapsed in a type I case 3 months after the operation,remitted in three case (1 case in type Ⅱ, and 2 cases in type Ⅱb) and improved in two type Ⅱ bcases since the operations. Conclusion:The simultaneous subtotal thymectomy and thyroidectomyfor patients with MG and hyperthyroidism might have better effects,although infective opportuni-ty of the neck incisions increased owing to trachestomy. However,the prognostic effects were notvery satisfactory whether simple subtotal thyroidectomy or thymectomy for the patients with MGand hyperthyroidism was performed.

Objective:To study the causes that resulted in delayed surgery for bronchial ruptures and the results.Methods:The cases with the bronchial ruptures by the delayed surgery last decade were retrospectively reviewed.The causes and unsatisfactory results were analysed.Results:The severe complications usually occurred after the delayed surgery and the results were not as satisfactory as those by early surgery.Conclusion:The bronchial ruptures ought to be operated in the early stage after being wounded.

BACKGROUND: Halofuginone has been proved to ameliorate the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.OBJECTIVE: To further verify the protective effect of halofuginone on early osteoarthritis.METHODS: Forty-five healthy male C57BL6J mice were randomly divided into three groups (n=15 per group): the mice in sham operation group were only subjected to right knee capsulotomy; in the other two groups, animal models of osteoarthritis were established by cutting off the right anterior cruciate ligament, followed by treated with distilled water (placebo group) or 0.5 mg/kg halofuginone (halofuginone group) via gavage, once daily beginning at 3 days after modeling. Twenty-eight days after treatment, all mice were sacrificed and the right knee was removed. The morphology and structure of the joint tissue were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and safranin fast green staining; the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) was detected by immunohistochemistry.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The structure of articular cartilage in the sham operation group was normal, the cells arranged in neat rows, and the articular surface was not worn. In the placebo group, the articular cartilage layer became thinner, the cartilage surface was worn and even fragmented, and cells arranged in disorder. In the halofuginone group,the cartilage cell layer was clear and tidy, with regular cell morphology. The hyaline cartilage thickness and hyaline cartilage thickness/calcified cartilage thickness were ranked as follows: sham operation group > halofuginone group >placebo group. The calcified cartilage thickness was the highest in the placebo group, followed by halofuginone group,and lowest in the sham operation group. Osteoarthritis Research Society International scores and TGF-β1 positive cells/chondrocytes in the halofuginone group were significantly lower than those in the placebo group, and all above indices showed significant differences among groups (P < 0.05). These results suggest that halofuginone via gavage can partially prevent articular cartilage degeneration in early osteoarthritis mice probably by downregulating the expression of TGF-β1, thus delaying the progression of osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVETo study the factors affecting the long-term prognosis of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) after thymectomy.

METHODS170 MG patients who had undergone thymectomies were studied retrospectively. Among them, 124 patients received long-term follow-up for more than 40 months postoperatively. The COX regression analysis model was used to analyze the factors that may influence the long-term prognosis. These factors included thymus pathology, patient gender, age, duration of disease at the time of surgery, preoperative Osserman classification and medication.

RESULTSThe research showed that thymus pathology was the single independent factor that affected the postoperative long-term prognosis. The long-term survival rates differed significantly with thymus pathological types: hyperplasia > benign thymoma > atrophy > malignant thymoma (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe different pathological types of the thymus were the important factor affecting long-term survival in MG patients after thymectomy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Atrophy ; etiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myasthenia Gravis ; mortality ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Thymectomy ; adverse effects ; Thymoma ; etiology ; Thymus Gland ; pathology ; surgery ; Time Factors

Objective To study the effect of masked hypertension (MH) and white coat hypertension (WCH) on vascular elasticity and endothelial function in elderly patients.Methods Four hundred and eighty-seven elderly patients who underwent physical examination in our our hospital were divided into normotension group (n=128),WCH group (n=115),MH group (n=112) and hypertension group (n=132) according to their diagnostic office blood pressure and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure.The brachial artery FMD,serum NO and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels,and cfPWV were measured.Results The FMD and serum NO level were significantly lower while the serum ET-1 level and cfPWV were significantly higher in WCH group,MH group and hypertension group than in normotension group (P＜0.05).The FMD and serum NO level were significantly higher while the serum ET-1 and cfPWV were significantly lower in WCH group and MH group than in hypertension group (P＜ 0.05).Multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis showed that WCH,MH and hypertension were the independent influencing factors for FMD,serum NO and ET-1 level and cfPWV with normotension used as reference after adjustment of confounding factors (P＜0.01).Conclusion MH and WCH are the risk factors for the decreased vascular elasticity and endothelial dysfunction in elderly patients.

Objective To study the association between morning surge (MS) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and white matter lesions in elderly essential hypertensive (EH) patients.Methods Three hundred and thirty-seven elderly EH patients from Zhangqiu of Shandong Province were divided into MS group (n=150) and non-MS group (n=187).Their 24 h ambulatory SBP was monitored.Their white matter hyperintensity (WMH) was assessed according to their brain MRI.Results The total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH were significantly higher in MS group than in non-MS group (P＜0.01).The MS of SBP was positively related with the total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH (r=0.561,r=0.563,r=0.283,P＜0.01),and was an independent risk factor for total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH after adjustment for confunders (r=0.479,r=0.486,r=0.208,P＜0.01).Conclusion MS of SBP is an independently risk factor for WMH in elderly EH patients.