No abstract available.

Objective To assess hemodynamics of pulmonary arterial flow and to count the pulmonary artery diastolic pressure (PADP) by analysis using velocity study of main pulmonary with phase-contrast MR imaging. Methods The diameter、velocity and the maximal retrograde velocity of main pulmonary artery in 45 patients were measured with phase-contrast MR imaging and compared with cardiac catheterization. The accuracy and specificity of PADP measured with phase-contrast MR imaging were evaluated by relativity and regression analysis. Results The PADP measured with phase-contrast MR imaging was (4.82?1.24) mm Hg and that measured with right cardiac catheterization was (4.52?2.00) mm Hg in 40 patients with pulmonary regurgitation. With good correlation the correlation coefficient was 0.94(P

Objective To study the alexithymia and personality characteristics in patients with somatoform disorders.Methods Totally 60 patients with somatoform disorders and 60 normal controls were tested with Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).Results The patients with somatization disorders showed alexithymia and personality base.The total and factor scores of TAS of study group((86.20 ± 11.15),(21.12 ± 3.28),(26.08 ± 3.86),(18.21 ± 4.69),(23.44 ±5.60)) were higher than controlled group((65.00 ± 10.12),(12.43 ±5.18),(15.64 ±5.57),(15.56 ±3.16),(18.71 ±4.30)) with significant difference (t =2.11-6.22,P =0.000-0.042).The MMPI scale scores of Hs (hypochondriasis),D (depression),Hy(hysteria),Men-Nancy(Mf),paranoid(Pa),psychotic(Pt) were higher in patients with somatoform disorders ((72.79 ± 10.50),(68.46 ± 13.63),(79.03 ± 12.12),(51.72 ± 7.74),(57.98 ± 10.60),(54.98 ±8.83)) than those in normal controls ((51.66 ± 10.11),(47.96 ±9.42),(51.47± 11.90),(43.66 ±8.77),(47.67 ± 6.69),(47.48 ±8.67)) with significant difference (t =2.56-6.86,P =0.000-0.015),especially the scale scores of Hy and Hs were the most significantly among those (T ＞ 70).There was close correlation between personality traits and alexithymia.Factor Ⅰ was positively related to depression,paranoid and psychotic,the relevancy was 0.454(P =0.023),0.405 (P=0.044),0.477 (P=0.016) respectively,besides Factor Ⅱ was also positively related to depression,and the relevancy was 0.437(P=0.029).Conclusion Patients with somatoform disorders have the alexithymia and the personality characteristics,and there are close relationship between them.

Perinatal transmission of Human immunodeficiency virus(HIV),also called mother-to-child transmission(MTCT),accounts for 90% of infections in infants worldwide and occurs in 30%-45% of children born to untreated HIV-1 infected mothers.Among HIV-1 infected mothers,some viruses are transmitted from mothers to their infants while others are not.The relationship between virologic properties and the pathogenesis caused by HIV-1 remains unclear.Previous studies have demonstrated that one obvious source of selective pressure in the perinatal transmission of HIV-1 is maternal neutralizing antibodies.Recent studies have shown that viruses which are successfully transmitted to the child have growth advantages over those not transmitted,when those two viruses are grown together.Furthermore,the higher fitness is determined by the gp120 protein of the virus envelope.This suggests that the selective transmission of viruses with higher fitness occurred exclusively,regardless of transmission routes.There are many factors contributing to the selective transmission and HIV replicative fitness is an important one that should not be neglected.This review summarizes current knowledge of the role of HIV replicative fitness in HIV MTCT transmission and the determinants of viral fitness upon MTCT.

Neonatal infective endocarditis is fatal and rare disease but recently there is a trend of an increase in incidence even without congenital heart disease when there are high risk as prematurity, central vein catheterization and neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Symchych reported that in about 3% of autopsy cases of an year, the findings of infective endocarditis were noted. In Korea, there was a case report but it was case of a premature infant who had umbilical vein catheterization and respiratory ventilator treatment. We experienced a case of neonatal infective endocarditis in a female infant who was delivered at 34 weeks gestational age without receiving central vein catheterization or neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Although she received intensive antibiotic therapy for staphylococcus cultured in blood, she died necessarily. We reported a case of neonatal infective endocarditis without cardiac anomaly with brief review of related literature.
Autopsy ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Endocarditis* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Korea ; Rare Diseases ; Staphylococcus ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Umbilical Veins ; Veins ; Ventilators, Mechanical

No abstract available in English.

Objective To assess the effectiveness of the quotient of serum sodium to urinary sodium divided by (serum potassium) 2 to urinary potassium (SUSPPUP) in screening for primary aldosteronism (PA).Methods Among 952 patients with hypertension who had renin activity,aldosterone measurements and concomitant serum and urinary biochemistry data,204 patients were diagnosed as cases of PA and 261 as cases of essential hypertension.Diagnosis of PA was made in accordance with established laboratory criteria including renin activity and aldosterone,plasma aldosterone concentration/plasma renin activity (ARR),and saline loading test.The SUSPPUP ratio with the ARR were compared in two groups.Results The area under the curve of SUSPPUP and ARR was 0.797 and 0.796 respectively according to receiver operating characteristic curve,optimal cutoff of SUSPPUP was 1.0,the sensitivity and specificity of SUSPPUP was 98.9％ and 81％ respectively.Conclusions The SUSPPUP ratio is an inexpensive and rapid tool to assess the extent of mineralocorticoid excess,therefore,SUSPPUP ratio can be applied to screen PA in hypertensive patients.

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and medicine for the treatment of chronic pharyngitis. Methods Sixty chronic pharyngitis patients were randomized into treatment group and control group, 30 cases in each group. The treatment group was treated with acupuncture mainly on acupoints of Zhaohai(KI6), Lieque(L7), Tiantu(CV22) , Lianquan(CV23), Tianrong(SI17) , Hegu(LI), Yuji (LU10) for nourishing yin to reduce fire and clearing throat. The supplementary acupoints were selected according to the symptoms and physical signs. Acupuncture was performed once a day and 6 times a week. The control group received western medical therapy including pharyngeal application with 1% iodine glycerin preparation and oral use of Cydiodine tablets, 3 times per day. Four weeks constituted one treatment course and the treatment for the two groups covered 2 courses. After treatment, the therapeutic effect was evaluated. The scores of the signs and s ymptoms as well as scores of chronic pharyngitis syndrome discomfort rating questionnaire(CPSDQ) evaluated by visual anal og scale(VAS) were observed. Results (1) The overall effective rate of the treatment group was 93.3%, higher than that of the control group(73.3%), and the inter-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). (2) After treatment, scores of the signs and symptoms and VAS for CPSDQ scores in the two groups were reduced as compared with those before treatment(all P<0.05 or P<0.01 ) .The improvement of the scores in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group(all P<0.05 or P<0.01).(3) During the treatment , needling-induced mild pain and bleeding occurred in the treatment group. No acupuncture syncope, stuck needles or allergic and toxic-side effect was shown in the two groups. Conclusion Acupuncture therapy can obviously relieve the symptoms, signs and discomfort in the patients with chronic pharyngitis, and the curative effect is superior to the drugs.

Alzheimer′s disease ( AD) is a type of neurodegener-ative disease. Recent studies indicate that neuronal degeneration and loss triggered by tau, APP and Aβare the probable risks for AD. Neurofibrillary tangles are formed after tau truncated by ac-tivated caspases and subsequently induced tau aggregates, which causes neuronal degeneration and loss. In addition, caspases are crucial components in the biological functioning in the apoptosis pathways. Apoptosis pathway involves activation of upstream ini-tiator caspase-8 and downstream executor caspase-3/-6/-7. After the actions of β- and γ-secretase, APP transforms into sAPPβand Aβ40/42 . Aggregated Aβ42 can activate apoptosis pathway through DR4/5 interaction. C-APP is truncated into C31 frag-ments by caspases and cell apoptosis is facilitated. N-APP, a product of sAPPβhydrolysis, can promote the abnormal develop-ment of neurons mediated by DR6. Caspase activates γ-secre-tase-activating protein to regulate activity ofγ-secretase, and the production of C31 and Aβ40/42 , which, then, causes the occur-rence of AD. This brief review summarizes the specific roles of caspases and the concerning apoptosis pathways on the mecha-nisms of neuronal degeneration and loss, and how they impact the occurrence of AD in the hope of uncovering additional poten-tial therapeutic targets that can be employed in drug development and clinical therapy for AD.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of the extract of ginkgo biloba(EGb)on the spiralganglion neuron(SGNs)in cochlea tissues on the hearing loss induced by noise in rats.Methods Thirty-six healthy animals were randomly divided into three groups:the normal control group(n=12).the noise exposured group(n =12)and the EGb treamment group(n=12).The control group received no noise and no medications.The other two groups were exposed to the noise of 110 dB SPL for consecutively 10 days,6 hours per day.The treatment group rats were injected with 10 ml/d EGb while the other two groups with 0.9%saline of the same amount.The experiment lasted for ten days.The rats were measured by auditory brainsterm response(ABR)before and after niose exposure.The ultrastructural changes of SGNs were detected by tranismision electron microscpoe(TEM) and the contents of malondiadehyde(MDA) and activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD)were also measured.Results Hearing were signifcantlly decreased in the experimental group.Nevertheless,EGb relatively reduced the contents of MDA while increased the activities of SOD.Conclusion EGb seems to be able to moderately pretect SGNs and to play a preventive and remedial role in noise-induced hearing loss.