Objective To evaluate the functional recovery of unstable ankle fractures prospectively after early weight-bearing and cast immobilization. Methods From October 2003 to October 2007, 100 patients who had sought medical management in our department for unstable ankle fractures were enrolled in this prospective study. All patients were treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), according to the AO/ASIF principles. They were randomized into 2 even groups, one receiving early weight-bearing and the other cast immobilization. The functional recovery was evaluated in terms of Olernd score, Tegner score, pain intensity[merical rating scale (NRS)], full weight-bearing time, return-to-work time, and hospital stay time. Results Forty-six patients in early weight-bearing group and 45 patients in immobilization group finished follow-ups. There was no difference in Olernd score, Tegner score or NRS between the 2 groups, and all pa-tients got a good Olerud score and returned to work. Total weight-beating time in early weight-beating group was 4 weeks less than in immobilization group. Conclusion Early weight-bearing may be recommended for patients who have got a stable osteosynthesis of their fractured ankles as judged by their responsible surgeons, fine compliance, and a high motivation.

Objective To observe the immunologic function of critically ill newborn and the relative function of nuclear factor kappa B(NF-?B).Methods The critically ill group contained 50 cases,and 25 cases from healthy newborns were used as control group.Blood samples were collected in each case,levels of cytokine interleukin(IL)-4,interferon(IFN)-?,tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-? and NF-?B were detected.Result Compared with control group,NF-?B of the critically ill newborn activated and the cytokine were disorder,and IL-4 and TNF-? increased,but IFN-? decreased.Conclusions Critically ill newborn exist immune functional disorder.Furthermore,NF-?B activation may be involved in the process in infants with critically illness.

Objective To investigate the effects of different types of anesthesia on the incidence rates of low-er respiratory tract infections of elderly patients in orthopedic department.Methods Clinical data from 445 elderly patients in orthopedic department were collected and retrospectively analyzed.We also investigated the relationship be-tween the types of anesthesia and the lower respiratory tract infections.Results The incidence rates of lower respira-tory tract infections were 23.08%in 169 cases,12.14%in 173 cases,and 4.85%in 103 cases after general anesthe-sia with tracheal intubation,intraspinal anesthesia,and nerve blocking anesthesia,respectively.There was statistically significant difference in the infection rates among the three groups (χ2 =13.784,P=0.001).Conclusion Different ways of anesthesia is critically correlated with the incidence of the lower respiratory tract infections in elderly patients.

DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic mechanism and molecular biological basis in tumor suppressor gene silencing.It is now well recognized that solid malignant tumors can release a significant amount of genomic DNA into systemic circulation,and with more than 90％ of this total circulating cell-free DNA derived from tumor tissue,which can reflect the overall cell heterogeneity of the tumor itself.In breast cancer,the presence of abnormally high DNA concentrations in plasma has been reported,and changes in the levels of these circulating DNA associated with tumor burden and progression have been confirmed repeatedly.Accumulating data strongly suggested that DNA methylation patterns found in circulating cell free DNA were similarly with the primary tumor,and could be a useful biomarker in early diagnosis,prognosis assessment,and recurrence monitoring for breast cancer patients.Here,we summarize the latest advances in this research field.

AIM: To optimize the extraction process of the total flavonoids of Pollen typhae. METHODS: The optimum extraction process was selected with the orthogonal design (L 27 (3 13 )), using the contents of typhaneoside and isorhamnetin 3 O neohesperidoside as the evaluating criteria. RESULTS: The significant effects of alcohol concentration, extraction time and extraction times on the extraction of the total flavonoids of Pollen typhae were discovered. CONCLUSION: The optimum extraction process was as follows: Pollen typhae was extracted with 40% alcohol for two times, each with the solvent volume 14 times of the weight of the raw materials and extraction time for 3 h.

Objective To analyze the present situation of the dental instrument cleaning and disinfection in Hainan province and to explore the management mode of dental instrument cleaning and disinfection which is suitable for the provincial situation .Meth-ods By adopting the stratified random sampling method according to the hospital grades ,24 hospitals in Hainan province were per-formed the questionnaire survey on the cleaning mode of oral instruments ,layout of cleaning and disinfection room ,cleaning method and facilities ,protection measures and training of cleaning staff .Results 14 hospitals (58 .33% ) had the sterilization and supply center for conducting the centralized processing on the dental instruments .The tertiary hospitals and the second-grade hospitals had the independent cleaning and disinfection rooms with the rational layout and professional cleaning staff ;the safeguard facilities had the application in place ,the training of the related cleaning and disinfection work and the cleaning process conformed the require-ment of the standards .Among 10 first-grade and below hospitals ,only 1 hospital(10 .00% ) had the rational layout of cleaning and disinfection rooms ;3 hospitals(30 .00% ) had the professional cleaning staff ;the related training of the cleaning staff was not basi-cally carried out and the safeguard was not in place ,most of the cleaning and disinfection instruments and the cleaning process were not in accordance with the requirements .The qualification rates of instruments cleaning and disinfection in different grades of hospi-tals by the ATP bioluminescence assay were 100 .00% ,90 .00% and 80 .00% .Conclusion The existing problems are general and prominent in the hospitals of the first-grade and below .It is suggested that the regionalized disinfection and supply management mode is implemented for maximally realizing the optimized resource configuration in the disinfection and supply center .

Confronted with similar problems and difficulties in mainland,Taiwan reformed its medical education. The reform included setting up flexible program,formulating objective and detailed rotary guide,making the best of the resources,implementing medical humanities education based on the reality and forming unique cultivation system and mode. These measures can be taken as references for medical education reform in mainland.

Objective To study the value of carotid plaque magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pre-operation assessment in the elderly patients with carotid atherosclerosis and explore the possibility of minimizing the contrast weightings to gain sweeptime. Methods Totally 70 elderly patients with cerebral ischemia (average age of 68.8 years) underwent carotid MRI and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) due to the appearance of carotid plaque detected by ultrasound. Carotid plaque MRI was acquired with 3.0T MR scanner and 8 channel surface coil. The standard carotid plague MRI program included pre-and post-contrast T1 weighted imaging (T1WI), T2 weighted imaging, proton density weighted imaging and 3D time of flight MR angiography (3D TOF MRA). All these program were divided into two combinations: the 5-sequence MRI (all the sequences) and 2-sequence MRI (T1WI and TOF MRA). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in coronal and lateral views of carotid artery was performed with GE Advantx LCN+. The software SPSS 13.0 was used to statistically analyze the difference between MRI and DSA, and that of two sequence combinations was used in the detection of luminal stenosis and fibrous cap (FC) rupture. Results Totally 135 arteries were analyzed while 3 arteries in one patient were excluded due to the poor quality image and stent placement. The degree of luminal stenosis were (38.3±31.0)% and (38.5±30.9)%, respectively, detected by the two MRI sequence-combination with no significant difference (t=2.447, P＞0.05) and was (35.1±31.8)% by DSA. There was a good concordance between MRI and DSA in luminal stenosis detection (Kappa value: 0.773). No statistical difference was found between two MR sequence combinations in detecting FC rupture (both in 36 vessels). DSA detected FC rupture of 16 vessels, showing remarkably difference contrast to MRI(χ2=12.0, P＜0.01). Conclusions MRI can accurately detect the luminal stenosis and FC rupture. The short time scanning resulting from sequence optimization could make MRI much more suitable than DSA to do the pre-operation assessment for senile carotid atherosclerotic patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of gynecological malignant tumor related multiple primary malignant neoplasms (MPMN).Methods Apply retrospective and comprehensive analysis to the clinical data of 30 patients with gynecological malignant tumor related MPMN.Results Synchronous MPMN were found in 9 patients.Their average age was 50.2 years old and their median age was 49 years old.The neoplasms were located at ovary,uterus,cervix,breast and intestine.Metachronous MPMN were found in 21 patients.Their average age was 57.7 and their median age was 57 years old.The median interval between the first and the second primary malignant neoplasm was 4.0 years.The neoplasms were located at breast,ovary,uterus,gastrointestinal tract,uterine cervix,lung etc.In 30 cases,26 of them were treated by surgical operation and further adjunctive treatment of chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy was conducted as per the neoplasm staging and its pathological results.The rest 4 patients (first primary malignant neoplasms were excised from 3 of them and another one was not treated by surgical operation) received adjunctive treatment of chemotherapy and (or) radiotherapy.Followed ups,which varied from 6 to 60 months,were made to 29 patients and 20 out of the 29 were alive.5-year survival rate of patients with gynecological malignant tumor related MPMN was 47.8％,2-year survival rate was 73.9％,and 1-year survival rate was 88.6％.Conclusion Pay more attention to the patients with gynecological malignant tumor related MPMN,examine the high-risk patients with malignant tumor comprehensively,identify whether it is recurrence,metastasis or new growth of malignant neoplasm,and further ensure early diagnosis and proper treatment,avoiding misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.

Objective To compare the efficacy of MRI and DSA in assessment of carotid artery stenosis and atherosclerotic plaque.Methods Forty-six patients with carotid plaque detected by ultrasound were enrolled in this study,and 89 carotid arteries were evaluated by MRI and DSA.MRI examination was acquired with 3.0 T MR scanner and 8 channel phase-array surface coil.The MRI sequences consisted of pre-and post-contrast T1WI,T2WI,PDWI,TOF.Anterior-posterior and lateral views of carotid artery were performed on DSA.The degree of carotid artery stenosis was evaluated by the NASCET standard.Fibrous cap rupture,intraplaque hemorrhage,and calcification were also evaluated on MRI and DSA.Statistical comparison was performed with the Kappa value and paired Chi-square test.Results The degree of carotid artery stenosis was 50％ (16％-78％) on MRI and 47％ (7％-73％) on DSA.Two imaging modalities were in good consistency in evaluation of the degree of stenosis ( Kappa =0.882,P ＜ 0.01 ).There was statistical difference in detecting fibrous cap rupture by MRI and DSA (34 vessels vs 10 vessels,respectively,x2 =20.346,P ＜ 0.01 ).Furthermore,thirty-seven vessels with intraplaque hemorrhage and 71 vessels with calcification in the plaque were found on MRI but none on DSA.Conclusion MRI is a reliable tool in assessment of the degree of the carotid stenosis and it is superior to DSA in detecting fibrous cap rupture,intraplaque hemorrhage,and calcification.