Objective To examine the relative effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and ultrasound therapy (US) on managing heel pain. Methods Thirty seven patients were divided into 3 groups, two treatment groups (groups 1 and 2) and one control group (group 3).Group 1 received ESWT once a week for 3 consecutive weeks.Parameters were set at a frequency of 4Hz with a total of 1000 impulses, intensity at 0.23 to 0.37mJ/mm 2. Group 2 received continuous ultrasound therapy for 5 minutes in each session, three times a week for three consecutive weeks. Parameters were set at 1MHz, intensity level at 1W/mm 2. Group 3 was the control group and no treatment was given during the study period.The intensity of morning pain on weight bearing, pain triggered by prolonged walking/standing, pain on tension and palpation tests were assessed by use of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before and after each treatment session, including the follow up session.In addition, Mayo Clinical Scoring System (MCSS) was used to evaluate the treatment outcomes. Results After 3 weeks of treatment plus 3 weeks follow up,outcome measures had shown statistical significant difference on the intensity of pain on tension test( P =0.037),the intensity of pain on palpation test ( P =0.019) and the maximum duration of prolonged walking or standing ( P =0.002). Conclusion ESWT is more effective and efficient for managing heel pain than ultrasound therapy.

Guidelines as Topic ; Humans ; Medical Oncology ; standards ; Neoplasms

Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Rectal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Reoperation

Retinopathy of prematurity( ROP),a leading cause of childhood visual impairment,is a vascular proliferative retinopathy in premature infants. Although the hallmark of ROP is abnormal retinal vasculature, a growing body of research in animals and observations in patients support a critical role for the neural retina in the ROP disease process. ROP can affect the foundation of the retina and optical nerve during the development duration in childhood, presenting with abnormalities in electroretinogram and multifocal electroretinogram. In addition,it was found that ROP has different degrees of influence on the development of the dioptric system ,which will result in refractive error as the child progress to adulthood. The relationship of the electrophysiology features or refractive abnormality and ROP was summarized in this article.

Purpose:To study the therapeutic effects of beta-ultrasound guided percutaneous alternating cryogenic- heating therapy(ACHT) through liver puncture combined with other regional therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods:68 patients with advanced hepatocelluar carcinomas were divided into 4 groups.Group A,17 patients are treated with ACHT plus transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization(TACE).Group B,16 patients were treated with ACHT plus intravenous chemotherapy;GroupC,19 patients were treated with TACE only;GroupD,16 patients were treated with in- travenous chemotherapy only.Results:In ACHT+TACE group,the rate of complete response(CR) plus partial response (PR) was 88.2%,the 0.5-,1-year survival rates were 94.1%,94.1%,the rate of AFP decreased was 84.6%.In ACHT+ ICT group,the rate of complete response(CR) plus partial response(PR) was 87.5%,the 0.5-,1-year survival rates were 87.5%,68.8%,the rate of AFP decreased was 78.6%.In the TACE group,the rate of complete response(CR) plus par- tial response(PR) was 57.6%,the 0.5-,1-year survival rates were78.9%,42.1%,the rate of AFP decreased was 69.2%. In ICT group,the rate of complete response(CR) plus partial response(PR) was 25.0%,the 0.5-,1-year survival rates were 50.0%,18.8%,the rate of AFP decreased was 41.7%.For CR+PR,ACHT+TACE group and ACHT+ICT group were significantly higher than TACE group and ICT group,but significant changes between ACHT+TACE group and ACHT +ICT group were not found.For survival rates,ACHT+TACE group was significantly higher than the other 3 groups, ACHT+ICT group was significantly higher than ICT group.There were no serious side effects after chemotherapy except that 5 patients' leucocytes decreased to degree Ⅲ.The postoperative complications after ACHT included bleeding,hemoglo- binuria and reactive thoracic,which disappeared after short term treated.Conclusions:Alternating cryogenic-heating therapy (ACHT) through liver puncture combined with other regional therapy is effective in treating advanced hepatocellular carci- noma and its side effects and postoperative complications are mild.

Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Liver ; pathology

Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hemophilia A ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Rituximab

Acoustic Stimulation ; Animals ; Auditory Perception ; physiology ; Behavior, Animal ; physiology ; Noise ; adverse effects ; Rabbits ; Sound ; Swine

Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; complications ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; complications ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Humans

Objective To determine the intra-and inter-tester reliability of a dynamometer in assessment of knee joint position senses (JPS).Methods Sixteen healthy volunteers (intra-rater N =6,inter-rater N =10) were examined with regard to intra-and inter-tester reliability of knee JPS by using Biodex System 3 dynamometer,measured by passive replication test,with subjects passively returning to the initial positions at 30°,45° and 60° knee flexion.The absolute error (AE) angle was recorded.Both intra-and inter-tester reliability studies involved two testers.Results The intra-tester reliability of the AE were moderate reliable at 30°,45°and 60° knee flexion,and the values of intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were 0.728,0.780 and 0.807,respectively.The values of Pearson's correlation coefficients for inter-tester reliability were 0.676,0.610 and 0.705,respectively (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference between the AE values of dominance and non-dominant knees,test and retest,and in the AE values of 30°,45°and 60° knee flexion (P ＞ 0.05).The 95％ confidence upper limits of all subjects' AE values were less than 3°.Conclusion The major findings of this study suggest that the test-retest reliability of the knee JPS were moderate using Biodex System 3 dynamometer,and selecting a target angle of passive replication test can achieve the same purpose in 30° to 60°knee flexion.The clinical significance should be taken into consideration when the AE changes were greater than 3 degrees.