Objective To detect the value of qualitative and orientating diagnosis in the degeneration stage of cerebral cysticercosis with Gd-DTPA enhanced MR. Methods Sixty-nine cases of cerebral cysticercosis were diagnosed by enhanced MR as degeneration stage, and confirmed by immunological examination and/or by surgery. MR plain scanning was conducted for the same cases. Results The plain scanning showed single or multiple lesions with long T1 and long T2 signals, and the enhanced scanning showed nodular or annular lesions. The diameter of the lesion after enhanced scan was not more than 22mm with an average value of 8.1mm. Some cases showed single lesion on plain scanning but showed multiple lesions after enhanced scan. Conclusion The enhanced MR shows more typical features of the degeneration stage cerebral cysticercosis. It can define the number, position and range of the lesions, and can improve the accuracy of differential diagnosis, and therefore be of importance in formulating treatment scheme and prognosis.

0.05). The rFA2 values were higher and rFA3 were lower in high grade gliomas than that in low grade and had significant difference (respectively t=2.453, P

Objective To study the changes of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of the resting state fMRI in heroin abuser (HD), and discussed its underlying neurophysiological mechanism.Methods The resting state fMRI data of 15 heroin abusers and 15 normal volunteers were analyzed by ALFF.The amplitude of the blood oxygenation level dependent activation of the resting state brain was investigated.The brain structures showing increased and decreased ALFF in TLE patients were demonstrated by comparing to normal subjects with 2-sample t -test with threshold of P＜0.05.Results Compared with normal subjects,the regions showing decreased ALFF in HD patients were distributed in right temporal lobe(45, - 30, -21 ) ,left hippocampus( - 36,- 33, - 6), right thalamus ( 24, - 12,27 ), left posterior cingulum gyrus ( - 15, - 54,24 ), right parietal lobe /precuneus ( 21, - 51,36 ), right inferior parietal lobule ( 21, - 48,78 ) and dorsal lateral aspect of the right frontal lobe(21, - 48,78) ,while ALLF of left(45, - 42,63 ) lateral frontal cortex(0 ,39,72) in HD patients was significantly higher.Conclusion HD shows abnormal brain functional organization in resting state, which may play an important role in the production, maintenance and relapse after withdrawal of heroin abuse.

With a low incidence and a non-specific clinical manifestation, medial medulary infarction (MMI) can often be misdiagnosed or missed diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) played a major role in diagnosing the MMI. This article reviews the epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical and imaging manifestations, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, and prognosis of MMI.

ObjectiveTo study the roles of cytokeratin-19 ( CK-19 ),vimentin,vascular endothelial growth factor-C( VEGF-C ),and cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2 ) played in the occurrence and development of Graves'disease(GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT).Methods57 cases of GD and 58 cases of HT were enrolled in our study.Immunohistochemistry using SP method was carried out for assessment of the expression of CK-19,vimentin,VEGF-C,and COX-2 in the thyroid tissues.Results CK-19,VEGF-C,and COX-2 were expressed in the cytoplasm of thyroid follicular epithelial cells.Vimentin was expressed both in the mesenchyma and in the cytoplasm of thyroid follicular epithelial cells.The positive rates and expression intensities of CK-19 and VEGF-C in HT ( 86.2％,96.6％ ) were significantly higher than those in GD ( 43.9％,56.1％,all P＜0.05 ).The expression intensities of vimentin and COX-2 in GD ( 100.0％,93.1％ ) were similar to those in HT ( 100.0％,91.2 ％ ),while the expression intensity of COX-2 in HT was significantly higher than that in GD( all P＜0.05 ).The positive rates of CK-1 9 were much higher in type Ⅲ ( 81.3％ ) of GD than in type Ⅰ ( 1 5.8％ ) and type Ⅱ ( 40.9％ ) of GD,and also higher in type P( 100％ ) of HT than in type L(66.7％ ) of HT.The positive rates of VEGF-C were much higher in type Ⅲ ( 87.5％ ) of GD than in typeⅠ ( 36.8％ ) and type Ⅱ ( 50.0％,all P ＜ 0.05 ) of GD.ConclusionImmunohistochemical detection of the expression of CK-19,vimentin,VEGF-C,and COX-2 may carry clinical significance in revealing the occurrence and development as well as evaluating the prognosis of Graves'disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Objective To investigate the correlation between 6 common triggers and ischemic stroke.Methods The demographic and clinical data of the consecutive inpatients with acute ischemic stroke were collected.A questionnaire survey of the triggers of the disease was conducted within 4 d after admission.A case cross-over study was used to compare the exposure of the 6 potential triggers (overeating,anger,negative emotion,heavy physical activity,sudden posture changes as response to a startling event,drinking coffee) at 2 h before onset (dangerous period) and at 1 d before onset during the same period (control period),and exposures to potential triggers in patients according to gender,age and etiological subtypes were further analyzed.Results A total of 369 patients were enrolled.They aged 24-93 years old (mean 61.75 ±13.57),220 patients were male (59.6％) and 149 were female (40.4％).A total of 91 patients (24.7％) exposed to at least one of the triggers at 2 h before onset (odds ratio [OR] 6.1,95％ confidence interval [CI] 3.7-9.9);OR for exposure to the sudden posture change in response to a startling event was 12.0 (95％ CI 2.4-59.3),for heavy physical activity 10.7 (95％ CI 4.2-27.6),for anger 8.0 (95％ CI 2.3-27.5),and for negative emotion 4.9 (95％ CI 2.3-10.3).There was no exposure to drinking coffee.There were no significant differences in the exposure to various triggers among the different gender,age,and etiological subtypes.Conclusions Sudden posture changes as response to a startling event,heavy physical activity,anger,and negative emotion are the triggers for ischemic stroke,attention should be paid to the influence of triggers in the prevention of ischemic stroke.

Objective To evaluate the effect of propofol on mitochondrial fission in a rat hippocampal neuron model of hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury.Methods Primarily cultured hippocampal neurons of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n =42 each) using a random number table:control group (group C);vehicle group (group V);H/R group;H/R+propofol group (group H/R+P).In group V,H/R was not produced,the vehicle dimethyl sulfoxide with the final concentration of 0.01％ was added,and the cells were then incubated for 6 h.In group H/R,the hippocampal neurons were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation for 6 h followed by 20 h reoxygenation.In group H/R+P,propofol with the final concentration of 1 μmol/L was added at 6 h of hypoxia.At 20 h of reoxygenation,the cell apoptosis (using flow cytometry),Ca2+ concentrations in cytoplasm (with the laser scanning confocal microscope),calcineurin (CaN) activities (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay),and expression of mitochondrial fission proteins dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and fission 1 (Fis1),and apoptosis-related proteins cytochrome c (Cyt c) and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) (by Western blot) were measured.The apoptotic rate was calculated.Results Compared with group C,the apoptotic rate,Ca2+concentrations,CaN activities,and expression of Drp1,Fis1,Cyt c and AIF were significantly increased in H/R and H/R+P groups (P＜0.05),and no significant changes were found in the parameters mentioned a2+.bove in group V (P＞0.05).Compared with group H/R,the apoptotic rate,Ca+ concentrations,CaN activities,and expression of Drp1,Fis1,Cyt c and AIF were significantly decreased in group H/R+P (P＜0.05).Conclusion Propofol can reduce the H/R injury to rat hippocampal neurons through inhibiting mitochondrial fission.

Objective To explore the abnormalities in the posterior cingulated cortex structure by voxel based morphometry(VBM)and changes of functional connectivity by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)in long-term heroin addictions.Methods High-resolution volumetric T1-weighted images and resting state fMRI examination were performed on 13 long-term heroin addicts and 14 matched healthy volunteers.The T1-weighted images were processed using optimized voxel-based morphometry to investigate abnormalities in the gray matter,at the sarne time,the posterior cingulated cortex was setted as the region-of-interest(ROI)seed,with which a whole-brain voxel temporal correlation in low frequency fMRI fluctuations was calculated,to find changes of the posterior cingulated cortex functional connectivity.Results Compared with the control group,gray matter concentration significantly decreased in the posterior cingnlated cortex,at the same time,the functional connectivity between the left posterior cingulated cortex and the right temporal lobe was increased,but the functional connectivity between the left posterior eingulated cortex and the left thalamus,the left parietal lobe,the left cerebrum were all decreased in heroin addicts.At the same time,the functional connectivity between the fight posterior cingulated cortex and the left thalamus,the left parietal lobe,the left frontal lobe were decreased in heroin addicts(t testing,P<0.01).Conclusion The structure and the functional connectivity in posterior cingulated cortex in long-term heroin addicts are changed,which may affect the dysfunction of the addictive brain and the function of reward mechanism.

Purpose The diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of benign and malignant biliary stricture are significantly different. This study aims to evaluate the quantitative analysis of biliary structures using magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) combined with dynamic contrast enhanced CT (DCE-CT).Materials and Methods The quantitative parameters of MRCP and DCE-CT imaging data from 27 patients with benign biliary stricture (benign group) and 30 patients with malignant biliary stricture (malignant group) were retrospectively analyzed. The wall thickness, stricture length and diameter, proximal ductal dilatation and degree of enhancement in two groups were compared, and its correlation was analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of MRCP and DCE-CT.Results There were significant differences in wall thickness [(3.2±2.0) mmvs (2.1±0.6) mm], stricture length [(15.8±8.1) mmvs (9.5±6.5) mm] and diameter [0 mmvs (2.0±0.9) mm], proximal ductal dilatation and the degree of enhancement [(12.7±3.6) mmvs (9.3±2.7) mm] between the two groups (t=2.825, 3.270, 4.025,P<0.001;Z=-3.909,P<0.001). Multivariable stepwise regression analysis showed that the wall thickness and diameter, and the CT HU in portal venous and equilibrium phases combined with CT plain scanning were significant predictors of malignant biliary strictures (t=-6.424-2.309,P<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, inter-modality agreement and Youden index of MRCP and DCE-CT in diagnosing 57 patients with biliary stricture were 96.67%, 100.00%, 98.25% and 0.97, respectively; with statistical significance in predicting benign and malignant biliary stricture (AUC=0.994,P<0.001).Conclusion Using MRCP and DCE-CT, the wall thickness and diameter of the stricture, and the difference in CT HU in portal venous and equilibrium phases combined with CT plain scanning are valuable in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant biliary stricture.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of plasma lipoprotein phospholipase A2 (Lp -PLA2 )and D -dimer in patients with hypertension complicated with stroke.Methods 70 hypertensive patients with stroke were selected as A group,72 patients with simple hypertension were selected as B group,and 71 healthy sub-jects were selected as C group.The light transmitting method was used to detect serum Lp -PLA2 ,and immunoturbi-dimetry was used to detect plasma D -dimer.The clinical value of the two joint detection and single detection in prediction of hypertension complicated with stroke was analyzed.Results The plasma Lp -PLA2 and D -dimer levels of A group were (471.88 ±181.49)ng/mL,(982.54 ±373.28)μg/mL,which were higher than those of B group[(195.17 ±34.74)ng/mL,(263.57 ±29.70)μg/mL]and C group[(122.94 ±46.25)ng/mL,(96.44 ± 8.49)μg/mL](F =189.7,171.1,all P =0.000).The plasma Lp -PLA2 level of A group was positively correlated with D -dimer(r =0.692,P <0.01).The plasma D -dimer >252g/mL forecast hypertension stroke risk sensitivity was 83.3% and specificity was 98.6%,the plasma Lp -PLA2 >176.36ng/mL forecast hypertension stroke risk sen-sitivity was 92.9% and specificity was 83.1%,and the combined prediction of hypertension stroke risk sensitivity was 87.6%,specificity was 93.5%.Conclusion The plasma levels of Lp -PLA2 and D -dimer are significantly increased in hypertensive patients with stroke,and the combined detection of the two indicators can improve the prediction of stroke risk in patients with hypertension.