Objective To investigate the clinical features of subarachnoid hemorrhagic moyamoya disease and the therapeutic effect of encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis (EDAS). Methods The clinical and imaging data of 38 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhagic moyamoya disease admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery,the 307th Hospital of PLA from January 2002 to April 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. Thirty-five patients underwent unilateral or bilateral EDAS (64-sides underwent EDAS,4 patients with aneurysms underwent endovascular embolization first),and 3 patients did not undergo any surgery. Results (1)Subarachnoid hemorrhagic moyamoya disease accounted for 10. 8%(38/353)of all the hemorrhagic moyamoya disease admitted in hospital over the same period,including 37 adults and 1 child. The male to female ratio was 1∶3. 22 (9/29),and the age of onset was 12 to 59 years. The mean age of patients was 39 ± 11 years. Four patients were combined with aneurysms. There were no significant differences in the distribution of Suzuki stage,anterior choroidal artery dilatation and posterior communicating artery dilatation in the remaining 34 patients without aneurysms between the bleeding sides and non-bleeding sides (P>0.05). (2 ) The patients were followed up for 13 -125 months (mean 51 ± 27 months ),two patients had rebleeding,one of them was intraventricular hemorrhage,the other was parenchymal hemorrhage. The postoperative modified Rankin score (mRS)was significantly lower in 35 patients whom were treated with EDAS. Compared with before surgery,there was significant difference (P<0. 05). The re-examination of positron emission tomography (PET)for 16 patients at 3 to 19 months after surgery showed that among the 23 surgically treated hemispheres,the cerebral metabolisms of 17 hemispheres were improved after surgery, and 6 did not have any change after surgery. The re-examination of whole brain digital subtraction angiography (DSA)at 5 to 30 months after surgery in 13 patients showed that revascularizations in 19 of 23 surgical hemispheres were effective. Conclusion Subarachnoid hemorrhagic moyamoya disease often occurs in adults,and women are more common. EDAS can achieve good revascularization effect and improve brain metabolism of patients,and thus relieve the symptoms of cerebral ischemia.

Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history, unique system and perfect technology, which has been used to prevent or treat a variety of diseases in the form of compound medicine. Recently, some of the active ingredients from Chinese medicine were found to have self-assembly properties, mainly through non-covalent interactions, including π-π stacking, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bond and coordination interactions, etc. Carrier-free nanoparticles based on self-assembly of active ingredients from Chinese medicine could not only improve the solubility of insoluble active ingredients, but also the bioavailability. As nanocarriers, the natural active ingredients could exert synergistic therapeutic effects. The strategy of self-assembly without carrier is safer and almost non-toxic compared to the commonly used nanocarriers. In addition, some ingredients from Chinese medicine could coordinate with metal ions to form stable nanoparticles, which could be applied to photothermal therapy. In this paper, we summarized and analyzed the recent achievements of carrier-free nanoparticles based on self-assembly of active ingredients from Chinese medicine, and briefly outlined the future development of this kind of nanomedicine.

OBJECTIVEHigh short-term successful rate was reported for catheter ablation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), we analyzed the long-term outcome (success rate, anticoagulation therapy and embolism event, anti-arrhythmic therapy and death post procedure) of catheter ablation for paroxysmal AF in this study.

METHODSFrom January 2000 to December 2004, 106 consecutive patients with drug-refractory paroxysmal AF underwent catheter ablation and were followed-up for (60.7 + or - 11.8) months. Segmental pulmonary vein isolation (SPVI) was routinely performed by radiofrequency energy under the guidance of circular mapping catheter. The patients were followed up with 24 h-holter, ECG, telephone or letter. Data on recurrence of AF, the anticoagulation medication and the incidence of embolism, anti-arrhythmic therapy were obtained.

RESULTSThere were 9 patients lost to follow up. In the remaining 97 patients [65 males, (54.8 + or - 11.2) years old], 3 cases died from cancer, sinus rhythm was maintained in 68 patients (Group S, 72.3%) and AF recurrence evidenced in 26 patients (Group R, 27.7%). In Group S, 56 patients (82.4%) discontinued anticoagulation medication, and 12 patients continued to take aspirin. There was no embolism event in Group S during follow-up. In Group R, 1 patient continued to take warfarin; 11 patients continued to take aspirin and 2 patients suffered from cerebral embolism. Anticoagulation medication was discontinued in 14 patients (53.8%) and 1 patient suffered form cerebral embolism. The incidence of embolism event in Group R is significantly higher than in Group S (P < 0.01). More patients discontinued anti-arrhythmic medication in Group S than in Group R (80.9% vs. 56.0%, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCatheter ablation is associated with satisfactory long-term success rate, reduced anti-arrhythmia medication, improved quality of life in patients with paroxysmal AF.

Adult ; Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation ; therapy ; Catheter Ablation ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the perinatal management and outcome of different types of fetal arrhythmia.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was conducted among the fetuses with arrhythmia identified by M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography in a single institution between October 2003 and December 2010.

RESULTSA total of 130 fetuses were found to have fetal arrhythmia. The most common arrhythmia during pregnancy was extrasystole (n=59), followed by bradycardia (n=23), tachycardia (n=16), atrial flutter (AF, n=3), atrioventricular block (AVB, n=12) and other arrhythmia (n=17). The overall incidence of cardiac anomalies (commonly fetal bradycardia) was 9.2% in these cases. The prognosis of arrhythmia differed significantly between cases of different classifications. The type of fetal arrhythmia (P=0.024), presence of congenital heart defect (CHD, P=0.000) and fetal hydrops (P=0.008) were significant risk factors associated with termination of pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONFetal arrhythmias without CHD or hydrops under close monitoring often have good clinical outcome, while fetal bradycardia is associated with a high mortality rate. CHD and the presence of fetal hydrops are significant risk factors for pregnancy termination.

Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; classification ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Fetal Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Young Adult

Objective To preliminarily explore the clinical features,treatment,and outcomes of moyamoya disease in the elderly.Methods The clinical data of the elderly patients with moyamoya disease (aged ＞ 60 years) admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery,the 307th Hospital of PLA from May 2007 to July 2016 were collected retrospectively.Their clinical features,imaging features,and surgical outcomes were analyzed.Results A total of 68 patients were enrolled,including 35 females (51.47％) and 33 males (48.53％).The ratio of male to female was 1:1.06.The age at the time of diagnosis of moyamoya disease was 62.82 ±3.08 years.Fifty-two patients (76.5％) had vascular risk factors.The most common clinical manifestation was cerebral ischemia (n =61,89.7％).Thirty of them (44.1％) presented as transient ischemic attack.The Suzuki staging of most patients was 4-6 (71.6％),12 patients (17.6％) complicated with posterior cerebral artery stenosis or occlusion.Thirty-one patients were treated with encephalo-duroarterio-synangiosis (EDAS).Among them,17 patients underwent bilateral surgery and 14 underwent unilateral surgery.The incidence of perioperative infarction or hemorrhage was 5.6％ (2 patients developed cerebral infarction and 1 patient developed cerebral hemorrhage);37 patients received conservative treatment.During the follow-up period,5 patients developed cerebral infarction (1 in the surgical treatment group and 4 in the conservative treatment group);there was no significant difference between the 2 groups.There were no significant differences in age,sex,vascular risk factor,clinical symptoms,and preoperative modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores between the 2 groups.Cerebral angiography was performed 6-9 months after operation in the surgical treatment group.A total of 24 cerebral hemispheres were evaluated by Matsushima typing,of which 17 (70.8％) were excellent.During the follow-up period,the proportion of patients with clinical outcome excellent (the mRS score was 0) (Z =-5.268,P ＜ 0.00l) and clinical improvement (the mRS score was improved ≥ 1 compared to the baseline) (Z =-3.780,P ＜ 0.001) were significantly higher than the conservative treatment group.Conclusions The clinical symptoms of old patients with moyamoya disease were mainly cerebral ischemia.Most of them had vascular risk factors,and the imaging manifestations showed higher Suzuki staging.The perioperative risk of EDAS in the old patients with moyamoya disease was lower.It might be an effective method to prevent clinical symptoms progress and improve the outcomes.

Objective:To investigate the effect of aspirin on the outcomes in adult patients with ischemic moyamoya disease treated with encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS).Methods:Adult patients with ischemic moyamoya disease treated EDAS in the Department of Neurosurgery, the Fifth Medical Center, PLA General Hospital from January 2015 to September 2018 were enrolled retrospectively. The control group only received EDAS treatment, and the aspirin group received EDAS and aspirin antiplatelet treatment. The data of the both groups were analyzed retrospectively and the effective rate of operation, the incidence of perioperative intracerebral hemorrhage, the incidence of recurrent cerebrovascular events at 6 months after operation and the improvement rate of the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score were compared.Results:A total of 120 adult patients with ischemic moyamoya disease were enrolled, including 60 in the aspirin group and 60 in the control group. EDAS was performed on 107 cerebral hemispheres in both groups. The operative effective rate in the aspirin group was significantly higher than that in the control group (82.24% vs. 65.42%; χ2=7.836, P=0.005). There was no perioperative cerebral hemorrhage event in the aspirin group and the control group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of cerebral infarction within 6 months after operation, but the incidence of transient ischemic attack in the aspirin group was significantly lower than that in the control group (15% vs. 40%; χ2=9.404, P=0.002). In addition, the improvement rate of mRS score in the aspirin group at 6 months after operation was significantly higher than that in the control group (85% vs. 63.33%; χ2=7.350, P=0.007). Conclusions:The combination of EDAS and aspirin can effectively improve the outcomes of adult patients with ischemic moyamoya disease without increasing the risk of perioperative intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between RNF213 gene p. R4810K polymorphism and posterior cerebral artery involvement in Chinese children with familial moyamoya disease.Methods:Children with familial moyamoya disease admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, the Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from August 2004 to June 2018 were enrolled, and they were divided into posterior cerebral artery involved group and posterior cerebral artery uninvolved group. RNF213 gene p. R4810K single nucleotide polymorphism was detected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent risk factors for posterior cerebral artery involvement. Results:A total of 65 children with familial moyamoya disease were enrolled. Their age was 6.98±4.46 years and 37 (56.9%) were male. The first symptom of 55 children (84.6%) was cerebral ischemia, and 37 (56.9%) involved posterior cerebral artery. There were 3 (4.6%) children with p. R4810K AA genotype, 26 (40.0%) with GA genotype, and 36 (55.4%) with GG genotype. The p. R4810K genotype distribution in the posterior cerebral artery involved group was statistically different from that in the uninvolved group (GA+ AA genotype: 56.8% vs. 28.6%; χ2=5.124, P=0.024), and there were no statistical difference in gender, age, first symptom, and genetic pattern. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting the first onset age and gender, p. R4810K G>A mutation was the only independent risk factor for posterior cerebral artery involvement (odds ratio 3.240, 95% confidence interval 1.082-9.705; P=0.020). Conclusion:The p. R4810K polymorphism of RNF213 gene is associated with posterior cerebral artery involvement in Chinese children with familial moyamoya disease.

OBJECTIVEThe outcome of atrial fibrillation patients with genetic mutations post ablation was not well evaluated.

METHODS AND RESULTSThree atrial fibrillation patients with evidence of mutations in KCNA5 and NPPA post successful circumferential pulmonary vein ablation were included. Mutation in KCNA5 was found in one male patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. He was free of atrial fibrillation post ablation after 46 months follow-up. Mutations in NPPA were found in two male patients with persistent atrial fibrillation and they were free from atrial fibrillation after 64 months and 38 months follow-up post circumferential pulmonary vein ablation, roof line and mitral isthmus line ablation.

CONCLUSIONSatisfactory long term results are observed in atrial fibrillation patients with KCNA5 and NPPA mutations post circumferential pulmonary vein ablation.

Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation ; genetics ; surgery ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; genetics ; Catheter Ablation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kv1.5 Potassium Channel ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the value of prenatal ultrasound in the diagnosis of fetal malformations.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 993 cases of neonates and induced babies with malformations who were labored in our hospital from January 1999 to October 2006.

RESULTSThe incidence rate of fetal malformation was 22.5 per thousand in our study group. The detection rate of prenatal ultrasound was 79.02% (1 062/1 344), among which the detection rate of the severe malformations (87.58%, 860/982) were significantly higher than that of the minor malformations (55.80%, 202/362) (P < 0.005). The false negative rate was high for the extremity malformations (39.46%) and facial malformations (31.91%), especially the acrosclerodermas, simple cleft palates, and ear deformities.

CONCLUSIONPrenatal ultrasound is sensitive for fetal severe malformations, while the detection rate is low for fetal minor malformations.

Congenital Abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; False Negative Reactions ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Objective We conducted an epidemiologic investigation to determine the source of infection on an avian influenza (H5N1) case who returned from Guangzhou,in Hong Kong.Methods Data related to epidemiologic investigation,medical observation on close contacts,Syndromic Surveillance on poultry salesmen,emergency monitoring,detection of the samples,source tracing on potential Avian influenza virus (H5,H7,H9) infected people,situation on environment pollution by avian influenza virus in the markets etc.were gathered.The determination of infection source was through comparing the different genes between the case and positive environmental samples.Results The infected case witnessed the procedure of how a live duck was killed,in market A in Guangzhou during May 17th to 19th.The case was diagnosed as respiratory tract infection in 2 Third-grade-Class A hospitals in Guangzhou on May 23th and 24th.The diagnosis was made as Avian influenza cases on May 26th after going back to Hong Kong.23 close contacts and 34 markets poultry salesmen did not show any ILI related symptoms.However,2 poultry salesmen from the markets nearby the place where the Avian influenza case stayed,were detected having positive H9 avian influenza antibody,with the H9 positive rate as 6.06％ (2/33).Among the environmental samples in the 2 markets nearby home of the patient,chopping block was found to have carried H5,with positive rate as 9.8％(5/51) while poultry cage was found to carry H9,with the positive rate as 2.0％(1/51).A H5 positive sample was found with clade 2.3.2.1,same to the case,from a chopping block at the market B where the sources of poultry was the same as market A.Conclusion The source of infection seemed to come from the markets in Guangzhou,that calling for the strengthening of poultry market management,for avian influenza prevention.History related to contact of poultry should be gathered when a diagnosis of respiratory tract infection was made.Timely sampling and testing should be made to improve the sensitivity of diagnosis.