The present study was undertaken to define whether intracarotid injection of capsaicin induces Fos expression associated with the activation of NOS-containing neurons in brainstem nuclei by combining the immunocytochemical method for Fos with NADPH-d histochemical technique for NOS. The results obtained are as follows: (1) Intracarotid injection of capsaicin caused a significant increase of Fos-like immunoreactive neurons in area postrema (AP), nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), paragigantocellularis lateralis (PGL) and locus coeruleus (LC), without influence upon the neurons of raphe nuclei (RN) and periaqueductal gray (PAG). (2) NO-containing neurons in PGL and NTS and the double-labeled neurons in PGL were also increased significantly following intracarotid injection of capsaicin. Small numbers of NO-containing neurons were found in LC, but there was no change in the number of NO-containing neurons in RN and PAG. No NADPH-d histochemical activity could be found in AP. (3) The above responses to capsaicin were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with either a capsaicin receptor antagonist ruthenium red or a NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801. The above results indicate that intracarotid injection of capsaicin may activate the neurons in brainstem nuclei involved in cardiovascular regulation, and that NO only plays an indirect role in the modulation of the responses of brainstem nuclei to capsaicin. These effects of capsaicin are mediated by capsaicin receptors with involvement of glutamate.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the outcome of radical debridement, reconstruction with bone autograft or allograft and plate internal fixation via the anterior approach for the treatment of cervicothoracic tuberculosis.

METHODSFrom Jun. 2000 to Dec. 2010, 20 patients with cervicothoracic tuberculosis were treated by debridement and bone grafting with internal fixation via the anterior approach. They included 17 males and 3 females who ranged in age from 25 to 46 years (mean 38 years). The course of disease ranged from 3 months to 2 years (mean 12 months). The onset of the disease was chronic in all patients, with main complaints of persistent pain, and cervical stiffness and deformity accompanied with low fever,night sweating and pathologic leanness. Preoperative X-ray, CT or MRI showed that the pathologic change occurred in C7-T1 segment in 10 cases, T1 segment in 6 cases, T1-T3 segment in 3 cases,and T2-T3 segment in 1 case. The Cobb angle ranged from 25 degrees to 60 degrees (mean 35 degrees) before surgery. The Frankel classification was as follows: 2 cases at grade A, 4 cases at grade B, 7 cases at grade C, 2 cases at grade D, and 5 cases at grade E. All the patients underwent a standard cervical approach by combined partial median steotomy and transverse steotomy through the synostosis between the manubrium and body of the sternum to expose the lesion adequately. Radical debridement was performed, and then a tricortical iliac crest bone autograft or allograft was placed and secured by internal fixation to reconstruct the spinal column. The change in Cobb angle and fusion of bone grafting were reexamined by X-ray regularly. The clinical symptoms and neurological function were evaluated according to NDI (neck disability index) score and Frankel classification.

RESULTSThere was no injury to blood vessels, spinal cord or recurrent nerve during surgery. All patients were followed-up from 16 to 39 (mean 25) months. The tuberculosis symptoms disappeared after surgery and there was no tuberculosis recurrence,incision infection, sinus formation and internal fixation failure in any of these patients. ESR re-examination recovered normally. Bony fusion was obtained in all patients and internal fixation position was normal at 3 to 6 month postoperatively. The Cobb angle ranged from 10 degrees to 16 degrees (mean 12 degrees) and NDI was reduced from (48.2 +/- 2.9) to (22.5 +/- 3.1) at the final followed-up. Except for 2 patients at grade A showing no recovery preoperatively, the Frankel classification of the other patients raised 1.5 grade on average at the final followed-up, and the nerve function of the spinal cord recovered at different degrees: 2 at grade A, 1 at grade B, 1 at grade C, 3 at grade D, and 13 at grade E.

CONCLUSIONThe anterior approach can provide direct and safe access to the lesion. The decompression effect of the vertebral canal is significant. The structural iliac crest autograft or allograft and anterior instrumentation could work effectively to stabilize the cervicothoracic junction.

Adult ; Bone Transplantation ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Debridement ; methods ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; surgery ; Tuberculosis, Spinal ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane on the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in LPS-induced rat lung microvascular endothelial cells (RLMVECs).

METHODSCultured LPS-treated RLMVECs were exposed to 0.7, 1.0 or 2.0 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) iosoflurane, sevoflurane or desflurane in 6 h. The protein expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 was determined by Western blot analysis. The expression of ICAM-1 mRNA was detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTIsoflurane at concentration of 1.0 MAC up-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 in LPS-induced RLMVECs (P <0.05); while same concentrations of sevoflurane and desflurane down-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 (P<0.05). Desflurane at concentration of 2.0 MAC up-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 in non-LPS-induced RLMVECs. All the volatile anesthetics down-regulated the expression of VCAM-1 in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONCompared to isoflurane, 1.0 MAC sevoflurane and desflurane down-regulate the expression of ICAM-1, which may be the molecule mechanism of their protective effect in acute lung injury.

Anesthetics, Inhalation ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Endothelium, Vascular ; cytology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Isoflurane ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Lipopolysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Lung ; blood supply ; Methyl Ethers ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the outcome of the children with thoracic spine tuberculosis who underwent radical debridement, reconstruction with bone autograft or allograft and internal fixation via posterior approach.

METHODSFrom June 2005 to December 2010,9 children with thoracic spine tuberculosis underwent radical debridement, reconstruction with bone autograft or allograft and internal fixation via posterior approach including 7 males and 2 females with an average age of 7 years old ranging from 3 to 12 years. The course of the disease ranged from 3 months to 1 year (averaged 6 months). All the patients had continuous thoracic and back pain,intercostal nerve pain and kyphosis deformity, accompanied with low fever,night sweat and pathologic leanness. The predilection sites examined by X-ray, CT or MRI were in T4 to T9 segment. The kyphosis angle ranged from 35 degrees to 72 degrees (averaged 48.2 degrees) before surgery. The ASIA classification was as follows: 2 cases at grade B, 5 at grade C, 2 at grade D. All the patients underwent a standard one-stage operation via posterior approach. Radical debridement was performed, then iliac crest bone autograft or allograft was placed and transpedicular screw system internal fixation was done to reconstruct the spinal column. The change of kyphosis angle and fusion of bone grafting were reexamined by X-ray regularly. The neurological function were evaluated according to ASIA classification.

RESULTSThere was no injury of blood vessel or spinal cord during the surgery. Nine children were followed-up for 16 to 38 months (averaged 24 months). The tuberculosis symptoms disappeared after surgery and there was no tuberculosis recurrence,incision infection, sinus formation and internal fixation failure in any of these chiildren. ESR reexamination recovered normally. Bony fusion was obtained in all patients and internal fixation position was normal 4 to 8 month postoperatively. The kyphosis angle ranged from 12 degrees to 30 degrees (averaged 19.50) at final followed-up. The function of spinal cord improved postoperatively, the function of spinal cord recovered at different degrees: 2 cases at grade C, 2 at grade D, and 5 at grade E.

CONCLUSIONThe one-stage posterior approach can provide direct and safe access to the lesion. The effect of vertebral canal decompression and kyphosis deformity correction were significantly. The structural iliac crest autograft or allograft and posterior transpedicular screw system could work effectively to stabilize the thoracic junction.

Bone Transplantation ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Debridement ; methods ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; surgery ; Tuberculosis, Spinal ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo observe the curative effects and complications of Bryan cervical disc replacement for cervical disc herniation.

METHODSFrom Jannary 2005 to December 2008,39 patients with cervical disc herniation were treated with Bryan cervical disc replacement. There were 20 males and 19 females,with an average age of 47 years old (ranged, 35 to 59). Spinal compression symptom (20 cases) and nerve root symptom (19 cases) were main clinical symptoms. Single level disc was replaced in 35 cases and two-level replaced in 4 cases. Offset and activity of prosthesis,cervical physiological curvature, heterotopic ossification, prosthetic fusion were observed by dynamic X-ray. According to Odom's standard and JOA score,nerve function were evaluated; and depending on NDI standard,clinical symptom and daily function status were recorded.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up from 16 to 36 months with an average of 24 months. Nerve function obviously improved and radiating pain of upper limb completely relieved. No patient with prosthetic anterior-posterior offset more than 2 mm was found. Prosthetic flexion and extention angle was (8.5+-1.8)degrees,left and right flexion range respectively were (3.5+/-1.2)degrees and (3.3+/-1.5)degrees. Cervical physiological curvature improved obviously or recovered normally. Three cases occurred in heterotopic ossification and 2 cases occurred in prosthetic fusion. According to Odom's standard,25 cases got an excellent results,9 good, 5 fair, the rate of excellent and good was 87.2%. JOA score increased from preoperative (8.26+/-1.32) to (15.71+/-1.89) at final follow-up and NDI decreased from preoperative (43.7+/-3.8) to (20.1+/-2.9) at final follow-up.

CONCLUSIONTreatment of cervical disc herniation with Bryan cervical disc replacement can get the good curative effects,which can obtain good nerve functional recovery,cervical stability and activity. Nevertheless,the operation has typical complication such as heterotopic ossification and prosthetic fusion. Thus,it is important in chosing indication and operative procedure.

Adult ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Total Disc Replacement ; adverse effects ; methods

Objective To improve the biological fidelity of the thorax flexible body in the original MADYMO child human model,so as to further study pediatric thorax injuries of child occupant.Methods The finite element model of six-year-old pediatric thorax was built by the method of reverse modeling based on CT images.By replacing the thorax model with flexible body in MADYMO six-year-old human model,an improved human model containing biomechanical thorax model was developed.The model was verified by joint validation of two tests,including Irwin and Mertz's method of scaling channel reported in Kroell's adult chest impact experiment and Ouyang's thoracic impact test on pediatric cadavers.Results The response of this established thorax model was in good agreement with scaling channel method and cadaver test data,and the thorax model was much more accurate than the original flexible body model.The resilience of simulation model was consistent with cadaver test.Conclusions The validity of the model is verified,and the results can be further used for occupant injury analysis in vehicle frontal crash.

OBJECTIVETo investigate and evaluate different surgical methods applied in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

METHODSFifty patients with end-stage liver disease received LDLT in our department between January 1995 and March 2006. The data were analyzed on a retrospective basis. The choice of different surgical methods, strategies applied to ensure the safety of donors and indications of LDLT in the series were reviewed.

RESULTSAll donors recovered uneventfully. Among the 50 patients, 47 recipients presented with end-stage cirrhosis, 3 patients suffered from malignant tumor. To date, 6 recipients died after LDLT, among them, 3 recipients died of the operation and the other 3 recipients died of long-term complications. Resected donor livers included 9 cases of segments V, VI, VII and VIII (not including the middle hepatic veins) and 1 case of segments V, VI, VII and VIII (including the middle hepatic veins), 36 cases of segments II, III and IV (including the middle hepatic veins) and 4 cases of segments II, III, and part of IV (not including middle hepatic veins).

CONCLUSIONSLDLT helps tackle the problem of donor shortage in the world. The process is complicated, and it is very important to choose appropriate surgical methods for the improvement of surgical achievement and donor safety.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Cirrhosis ; surgery ; Liver Neoplasms ; surgery ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Living Donors ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo assess postoperative effects of microelectrode-guided posteroventral pallidotomy (PVP) for Parkinson's disease.

METHODSIntraoperative microelectrode recordings and microstimulation were used to explore the globus pallidus to performance of posteroventral pallidotomy in 48 patients with Parkinson's disease (47 unilateral and 1 bilateral). Assessment was made at baseline preoperatively and at 6 months intervals postoperatively, with unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS).

RESULTSAll patients were significantly improved on the limbs contralateral to the lesion side 6 - 34 months after operation (mean 24 months). The improvement was seen in the 'on' or 'off' state: UPDRS scores with patients on levodopa were improved by an average of 28.7%, while off medication scores showed reductions (47.6%) at 24 months. There were no deaths and no visual complications, but there were 4 patients (8.3%) of a delayed contralateral limbs dystonia after pallidotomy.

CONCLUSIONSThe techniques of microelectrode recording and microstimulation indicate the location of the internal capsule and optic tract, which allow easy identification of these structure and facilitate PVP target in conjunction with radiofrequency microelectrode stimulation.

Adult ; Aged ; Catheter Ablation ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Globus Pallidus ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Microelectrodes ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease ; surgery ; Stereotaxic Techniques ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical features, treatment strategy and risk factors affecting the prognosis of elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) complicated by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the data of elderly patietns (>60 years) with newly diagnosed NSCLC complicated by COPD at the Geriatric Institution of General Hospital of PLA between January, 2000 and June, 2015. The clinical data collected included history of smoking, pulmonary function test results, initial treatments, TNM stage, chief complaints, comorbidities and laboratory tests. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to explore the prognostic factors in these patients.

RESULTSA total of 200 NSCLC patients were reviewed, of which 107 (53.5%) patients had the co-morbidity of COPD as confirmed by spirometry using bronchodilator test. The median survival of the patients with NSCLC complicated by COPD was 45.8 months with 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates of 80.4%, 55.4%, 41.0% and 20.0%, respectively. Stratification analysis showed that patients with COPD Gold grades 1 and 2 had a significant longer median overall survival (51.7 and 43.1 months, respectively) than those with grade 3/4 (16.9 months; P=0.020 and 0.043, respectively). Univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that an older age, a higher Gold grade, advanced disease stage (stages III and IV), squamous cell carcinoma, nonsurgical initial treatment, coughing and an elevated serum CEA level were independent risk factors for shorter survival of the patients.

CONCLUSIONMultiple prognostic factors can affect the outcomes of elderly patients with NSCLC complicated by COPD, and a higher COPD Gold grade that fails to respond to treatment within 3 months is the independent risk factor for survival of the patients.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect on early treatment with vacuum-assisted closure(VAC) to wound healing of acute explosion injury in pigs, and provide a new way for early treatment of battle wounds.

METHODSEight healthy 3-month Landrace pigs of both sexes with the body mass of (50 +/- 5) kg were selected in the study. Sixteen battle wounds were made by explosion of same type detonator (pattern number: 660929F48840-55, included DDNP 0.3 g, RDX 0.7 g) in hibateral skin of buttock of 8 pigs, which were divided into experimental group and control group (pair wounds of left and right). The raw sufaces were thorough debrided at 3 h after exposure, according to the characteristics of treatment on the battlefield, experimental group was treated with VAC under the pressure of (-50 +/- 5) Kpa after debridement and sterilization and control group was treated with routine dry sterile gauze draping. Results of bacteriology (bacterial counts and the proportion of G+ bacteria) and pathology (HE stain and Masson stain) were detected at every wound before and after treatment.

RESULTSAt the 3 days after treatment,the bacterial number in the experimental group was [(7.82 +/- 0.55) x 10(4) ] CFU/g, in control group was [(1.07 +/- 0.14) x 10(6)] CFU/g. There was significant difference between two groups. The proportion of G+ bacteria in experimental group was significantly increased. The raw surface in experimental group was clean with affluent and neoformative granulation tissue, blood vessels and collagen, necrotic tissue decreased obviously by pathological observation.

CONCLUSIONVAC could reduce the quantity of bacteria, improve the proportion of G+ bacteria, and promote the formation of granulation tissue and the healing of wound. The VAC for the treatment of battle wounds has a positive effect.

Animals ; Colony Count, Microbial ; Explosions ; Female ; Male ; Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy ; methods ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; etiology ; microbiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Staining and Labeling ; Swine ; Time Factors