Enamel pearl is an ectopic enamel, which usually occurs in the root bifurcate or approaching enamel-cementum site of the first maxillary molar. A case of multiple enamel pearls on the left maxillary third molar is reported in this paper, and relevant literature was reviewed.
Dental Cementum ; Dental Enamel ; abnormalities ; Humans ; Molar ; Molar, Third ; Tooth Root

Objective To assess the quality of iodized salt and investigate the urinary iodine level of pupils and women after implementation of universal salt iodization in Shijiazhuang city. Methods Between 2004 and 2008, nine salt samples were randomly collected from wholesale enterprises of 5 different directions of east,south, west, north and center in Shijiazhuang city every month. Meanwhile, eight salt samples, four urine samples of women, were randomly collected in each of the 8 households of 210 villages selected from 23 counties. Between 2004 and 2008, twenty urine samples of 8 - 10 year old pupils were collected in each of 160 schools from the 23 counties. Direct titration method was used for salt iodine determination, iodine concentration in urine was detected by the method of ammonium persulfate digestion-As3+-Ce4 + catalytic spectrophotometry. Results At wholesale level, the qualified rate of iodized salt was above 99%. At household level, the consuming rate of iodized salt was above 95%, and the rate of consuming non-iodized salt was less than 5%. The rate of qualified iodized salt was above 90% in every year except 2004(87.10%), and the rate of consuming qualified iodized salt was above 90% in those years except 2004(83.08%). Urinary median iodine level of both the pupils and the women was higher than 100 μg/L, and the rate of urinary iodine level that less than 50 μg/L was below 10%. Conclusions The quality assessment of iodized salt from wholesale companies and related indices of urinary iodine level of pupils, women and household iodized salt have already reached the national standard for eliminating iodine deficiency disorders.

Objective To study the value of endoscopic management of thyroid disease through periareola approach. Methods From Nov. 2008 to Feb. 2010, 20 cases were treated by endoscopic throidectomy using bilateral areola three-hole method. The chest skin and platysma were separated and CO2 (6 - 8mmHg pressure)was inflowed to establish the operative space. Thyroid tissues were cut and separated by harmonic scaple. Recurrent laryngeal nerve, superior laryngeal nerve and parathyroid gland were preserved. Results Operations were successfully completed using endoscope, among which there were 1 case of thyroid cyst resection, 5 cases of thyroid adenoma resection, 8 cases of thyroid unilateral partial resection, 3 cases of thyroid bilateral partial resection and 3 cases of thyroid sub-total resection. The average operation time was (100. 0 ± 30. 5) min. Blood loss was (70. 0 ± 15. 0) ml. 1 case of neck skin burns and 3 cases of subcutaneous hydrops appeared. No convertion occured. Conclusion Endoscopic thyroidectomy through periareolar approach is a safe minimal invasive surgical procedure with excellent cosmetic results.

Objective To study the expression and significance of P53 and nm23 in colorectal adenocarcinoma.Methods The expression of P53 and nm23 was examined by immunohistochemical technique in 83 cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma.Results In colorectal adenocarcinoma,the positive intensities of P53 and nm23 was associated with tumour depth,histological grade,lymph node metastasis diseases and distant metastasis disease(P0.05).Conclusion P53 and nm23 may play an important role in the development and metastasis of colorectal adenocarcinoma.It is an useful marker for predictinng the prognosis of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Human genne myo-inositol monophosphatase 2(IMPA2) was recently a novel and promising gen that was associated with disease,especially in mental and neuro diseases.Its locus is in chromosome 18p11 2,about 15 kb.It encodes IMPA2 enzyme.IMPA2 enzyme as a mainly and catalytic inositol plays an important role in cell signaling system.The mechanism of action of IMPA2 gene is still unclear.But in basic research on genetic structure and IMPA2 product,the biochemical functions and crystal structure have gradually been recognized;In the clinical application,the association with disease has been detected in manic depression,schizophrenia and febrile seizuers.IMPA2 even has been a susceptible gene to certain diseases.IMPA2 has increasingly been the hotspot in gene research.

Objective To compare clinical effect of unipolar versus bipolar radiofrequency ablation in treating atrial fibrillation (AF) in elderly patients and discuss the correlated risk factors.Methods From October 2008 to December 2013,a total of 50 elderly patients with organic heart disease and AF underwent radiofrequency ablation surgery.All patients were divided into 2 groups of unipolar (group A,n=20) and bipolar (group B,n=30 patients) radiofrequency ablations.The variations of electrocardiogram (ECG) and ultrasonic cardiogram (UCG) in patients were collected and the complications and the NYHA class of the patients were recorded at 3,6 and 12 months after surgery.The total 43 elderly patients were divided into sinus group and non-sinus group according to their ECG at 12 months after surgery.Results The recovery rates of sinus rhythm at 3,6 and 12 months after surgery were 73.7％(14/19),66.7％(12/18) and 61.1％ (11/18)respectively in group A and 82.8％(24/29),85.2％(23/27)and 88.0％(22/25) respectively in group B.Two groups of the recovery rate of sinus rhythm had a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P＜0.05) at 12 months after surgery.The complication rate in group A was higher than in group B [55.0％ (11 cases) vs.26.7％ (8 cases),P＜0.05].Preoperative history of AF and left atrial diameter were the influencing factors for the sinus rhythm recovery rates (P＜0.05).Conclusions Bipolar radiofrequency ablation for AF is safe and has less complications and high success rate of restoring sinus rhythm.The patients with long preoperative history of AF and left atrium distension have a low success rate of restoring sinus rhythm with a high recurrence rate.

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of valproic acid ( VPA) on radiosensitivity to MCF7 breast cancer cells. METHODS MCF7 cells were pretreated with VPA 0.5 and 1 mmol.L-1 for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h respectively, irradiated with 8 Gy lR, and at 6 h post-lR, the γ-H2 AX foci formation in MCF7 cells was tested by immunofluorescence assay. MCF7 cells were pretreated with VPA 0.5 and 1 mmol.L-1 for 72 h, irradiated with 4 Gy lR, and at 48 h post-lR, the cell survival rate was detected by MTT assay. MCF7 cells were pretreated with VPA 0.5 mmol.L-1 for 24 h, and then irradiated according to the amount of cells: 2 Gy (500 and 1000 cells per plate), 4 Gy (2000 and 4000 cells per plate), 6 Gy (8000 and 16000 cells per plate), and the cloning efficiency was calculated. MCF7 cells were pretreated with VPA 0.5 and 1 mmol.L-1 for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h respectively and the cell cycle profile was analyzed via flow cytometry. RESULTS After treatment with VPA alone for 24 h, MCF7 cells showed a significant increase in the amount of γ-H2 AX foci formation ( P < 0. 01). lt was also found that VPA increased lR-induced γ-H2 AX foci formation, which obviously prolonged the pretreatment time of VPA(P<0.01) in a time-dependent manner(r=0.98, P<0.05). VPA 0.5 and 1 mmol.L-1 had the same effect on γ-H2 AX foci formation. Furthermore, VPA was able to cause a significant decrease in lR-induced clonogenic survival but an increase in lR-induced cytotoxicity by MTT assay. Also, VPA alone decreased the plating efficiency of MCF7 cells. However, the cycle profile of MCF7 cells treated with both VPA 0.5 and 1 mmol.L-1 was not changed. CONCLUSION Without affecting the cell cycle profile, both the safe and critical dose of VPA used in clinical epilepsy treatment can significantly increase the accumulation of DNA double strand breaks in the cells and sensitize the cells to lR treatment, suggesting that VPA can induce radio-sensitization of breast cancer cells.

Objective To generalize a valuable classification of mandibular condyle fractures and explore proper measures for such kind of fractures so as to provide reference for clinical treatment. Methods The data of 304 cases with 358 mandibular condyle fractures were analyzed retrospectively. After one year of the initial treatment, X-ray inspection was employed to get the information including mouth opening, pattern of mouth opening, occlusion, facial symmetry and healing condition of mandibular condyles. Results According to classification of position,displacement and age (PDA), 180 mandibular condyle fractures belonged to type Ⅰ, 96 to type Ⅱ and 82 to type Ⅲ, which coincided with the different fractures treated surgically or nonsurgically. All surgical and nonsurgical treatments got satisfactory outcome. Conclusion The classification of PDA is effective in guiding the treatment choice for mandibular condyle fractures. Both surgical and nonsurgical treatment can obtain effective results for corresponding case.

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the levels of serum miR-21 and miR-34a in patients with advanced gastric cancer before and after Folfox chemotherapy and its relationship with chemotherapy efficacy.Methods Forty-five patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent Folfox chemotherapy were enrolled from May 2015 to October 2015.The levels of miR-21 and miR-34a were analyzed by Real-time PCR before and after chemotherapy.The relationship between miR-21 and miR-34a levels and chemotherapy efficacy was analyzed.The predictive values of miR-21 and miR-34a on the efficacy of chemotherapy were evaluated by the receiver operating curve(ROC).Results After chemotherapy,6 cases(13.33%)were relieved,10 cases(22.22%)were stable disease(SD),29 cases(64.44%)were disease progress(PD),the objective response rate(ORR)was 13.33%,the disease control rate(DCR)was 35.56%,the median survival time was 8.1 months.The level of miR-21 was down-regulated and up-regulation for miR-34a after chemotherapy.They were statistically significant(P<0.05).The level of miR-21 in the chemotherapy group was lower than that in the ineffective group,and the level of miR-34a was higher than that of the ineffective group(P<0.05).MiR-21 was negatively correlated with the efficacy of chemotherapy(rs=-0.431,P<0.05),while miR-34a was positively correlated with it(rs=0.504,P<0.05).The median survival time was 7.6 months for low-level patients with miR-21 and 6.0 months for high-level patients.The median survival time of miR-34a patients was 5.5 months,compared with 8.3 months for high-level patients,with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05).The Log-Rank test showed that the median survival of patients with low miR-21 was higher than that of patients with high miR-21(P<0.05).The median survival of patients with high miR-34a was higher than that of patients with low miR-34a(P<0.05).The miR-21 combined with miR-34a in predicting chemotherapy efficacy under the curve(AUC)was 0.865,the sensitivity was 80.9% and the specificity was 89.8%.Conclusion miR-21 and miR-34a are correlated with chemotherapy efficacy median survival time of patients with advanced gastric cancer.