OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy among acupuncture based on "jin" theory, regular acupuncture and western medication.

METHODSA total of 95 cases, by using incomplete randomization method, were divided into a "jin" theory acupuncture group (32 cases), a regular acupuncture group (31 cases) and a medication group (32 cases). Patients in the "jin" theory acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture based on "jin" theory which included the "gather" and "knot" points on the affected side: positive reacted points, Fengchi (GB 20), Tianrong (SI 17), Tianyou (TE16) and Yiming (EX-HN14) as the main acupoints, while the Ermen (TE 21), Tinggong (SI 19) and Tinghui (GB 2) and zhigou (TE 6) as the auxiliary acpoints; the treatment was given once a day. Patients in the regular acupuncture group were treated with regular acupuncture at Tinggong (SI 19), Tin- ghui (GB 2) and Ermen (TE 21) and other matched acupoints based on syndrome differentiation, once a day. Pa- tients in the medication group were treated with oral administration of betahistine mesylate, three times a day. Ten days of treatment were taken as one session in three groups, and totally 2 sessions were given. Visual analogue scale (VAS), tinnitus handicap inventory (THD), and tinnitus severity assessment scale (TSIS) were evaluated before and after treatment; also the clinical efficacy was compared among three groups.

RESULTSThere are 5 drop-out cases du- ring the study. After the treatment, the VAS, THI and TSIS were improved in three groups (all P < 0.05); the VAS, THI and TSIS in the "jin" theory acupuncture group were lower than those in the regular acupuncture group and medication group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The total effective rate was 90.0% (27/30), 80.0% (24/30) and 63.3% (19/30), which was higher in the "jin" theory acupuncture group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe acupuncture based on "jin" theory is superior to regular acupuncture and western medication for cervical tinnitus.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck Pain ; complications ; Tinnitus ; etiology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To propose a modified graph cut algorithm under the elliptical shape constraint to segment the ultrasonogram of cervical lymph nodes. Methods Since cervical lymph nodes were usually oval-shaped, the prior of the elliptical shape information, which was expressed as a distance function, was used to constrain the cut cost of the graph cut algorithm. The initially segmented contour was fitted with an ellipse to get the constraint. Then a certain segmentation was obtained by minimizing the cut cost function constrained with the elliptical prior. This procedure was iterated until it to be convergent. Results Under the same user input, this algorithm successfully segmented nodes on the low contrast ultrasonograms, while the traditional graph cut approach failed. For 20 ultrasonograms, with the average minimum Euclidean distance (AMINDIST) measure and the Hausdorff distance measure, these two distances between contours manually delineated by the radiologist and those segmented by this algorithm were far less than the distances resulted from the traditional graph cut algorithm. Conclusion It is indicated that utilizing the elliptical shape constraint prior can obviously improve the graph cut algorithm for segmenting cervical nodes on ultrasonograms.

Objective To propose prevention and management of vascular crisis according to cause analysis, and improve the survival rate of digital replantation. Methods The vascular crisis of 132 digits of 98 cases were observed during intraoperative. The replantation was performed under different time and different conditions. The causes of vascular crisis, and propose effective prevention and management of vascular crisis were restrospective analysis. Results From March 2006 to June 2007, 35 amputated digits occurred vascular crisis during intraoperative, 19 amputated digits occurred during postoperative. After using warm physiological saline and injecting the papaverine partly, we proceed operations research with regard to the non-catabatic amputated digits. As result 58 digits survived, the achievement ratio was 89.2%. From July 2007 to March 2009, 10 amputated digits occurred vascular crisis during intraoperative,5 amputated digits occurred during postoperative. After non-surgical treatment, we performed operations research regard to the non-catabatic amputated digits. After blood supply recover, we imbed PCA pump into flex tendinous sheath to avoid the occurrence of vascular crisis postoperative. As result 66 digits survived, the achievement ratio was 98.5%. postoperative 9 cases out of fullow-up, 89 cases follow up ranged from 6 to 8 months. Recovery of the hand function was good. Conclusion Good and adequate anesthetic and an appropriate ambient temperature during operation are important factors to prevent occurrence of vascular crisis in digital replantation. Paying enough attention to these factors can effectively improve the survival rate of replantatian.

Objective To promote preventive and therapeutic measures for osteoporosis by investigating the prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) in connective tissue disease patients who were taking corticosteroid and identify the associated risk factors of osteoporosis.Methods Thirty-eight female patients who had connective tissue diseases and were taking corticosteroid in PU MCH rheumatology outpatient clinic were studied and followed up from Oct 2006 to April 2007.Lumber spine and right femoral bone mineral density were determined bv dual energy X ray absortiometry (DEXA).Clinical information was obtained from a questionnaire of history and medical records.Duration and accumulative dosage of glucocorticoid intaking.menopause time were obtained retrospectively.Correlation analysis between BMD and clinical information was conducted.Results ① In 38 patients,23 (61%) patients showed a normal BMD,10 (26%) were osteopenia,3 (8%) were iu the osteoporotic range,while 2 patienLs (53%) had fragile fracture.② Compared with patients with normal BMD,subjects with low BMD had significantly older age,longer period after menopause and higher accumulated dose of corticosteroids.③ Postmenopausal women had significantly lower BMD in lumber and hip than premenopausal women.④ Either of vertebral and right hip BMD correlated negatively with the accumulated dosage of cortieosteroids by simple linear regression.⑤ The correlation between BMD and accumulated dosage of corticosteroids improved after correcting for the effect of age by partial correlation analysis (Pearson partial vertebral r=-0.8,P=0.009;right hip r=-0.3,P=0.010).⑥ A stepwise multivariate linear regression model was constructed to explore the relationship between the different clinicsl factors studied and a low BMD.Two statistically significant variables were menopause status (P=0.0000) and a higher steroid accumulated dosage (P=0.008).Conclusion Low BMD is common in connective tissue disease patients receiving corticosteroid.Risk factors for low BMD are postmenopause.duration and the accumulated dosage of glucocorticosteroid.The high prevalence of low BMD implies that more attention should be paid to the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and fractures in connective tissue disease patients who are taking corticosteroids.

Prognosis and treatment of primary Sj?gren′s syndrome with renal tubular acidosis

Gout ; therapy ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine

Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

Objective To study the clinical manifestation,treatment and prognosis of patients with primary Sjgren′s syndrome and renal tubular acidosis.Methods Sixty patients who were diagnosed as pSS complicated with RTA during the last 13 years were retrospectively analyzed and followed up for 7 5 years on average.Results Distal renal tubular acidosis ( n =53,83 3%) was much more frequeut than the proximal one ( n =7,11 7%).Hypokalemic paralysis,diabetes insipitus,and calcification of the renal tissue appeared in 49 patients (92 4%).Glomerular lesions were found in 12 of the 15 patients who underwent kidney biopsy.Renal insufficiency was developed subsequently in 4 out of 5 patients with glomerular sclerosis.Abnormal serum creatinine was detected in 11 patients (18 3%),and in 7 of them it persisted 11 5 years on average after the onset of RTA.Two of them died from renal failure and 1 received hemodialysis.Hypergammaglobulinemia was more obvious in the patients with renal insufficiency than those without ( P

Objective Apuinic/apyrimidic endonuclease/redox effector factor-1(APE1/Ref-1,abbreviated as APE1) is a major member of the base excision repair(BER) pathway involved in oxidative DNA damage repair.To knock down APE1 gene expression in HOS cells with pSilence APE1,and explore its effect in combination with 252Cf neutron ray radiotherapy.Methods The constructed APE1 siRNA expression vector pSilence APE1 was transfected into HOS cells by SuperFect Transfection liposome,and it was used to knock down the expression of APE1.The HOS cells and transfected HOS cells were respectively irradiated by 252Cf neutron ray,then the cell survival(D0),DNA single strand breaks(SSB) and cell apoptosis were determined by clone formation assay,alkaline comet assay and flow cytometer.Results The cell-survival curve was plotted by clone formation assay,the D0 value was 2.80 vs.1.89 and Dq value was 2.66 vs.2.00 for the control and transfected HOS cells,respectively,after being irradiated by 252Cf neutron ray.The tail moments at 2,5 and 10 Gy were 6.664?0.648 vs.7.997?0.542,20.322?1.433 vs.25.238?1.185 and 33.909?1.245 vs.39.191?1.052,respectively,for the control and transfected HOS cells,and the cell apoptosis rate at 2,5 and 10 Gy was 4.00 vs.5.68,5.91 vs.7.55 and 9.63 vs.13.51,respectively,for the control and transfected HOS cells.All these findings showed significant difference between the two groups(P

Objective To investigate the influence of retinoic acid (RA) in differentiation,maturation and function of intestinal dendritic cells (DC),and probe into the effect of Vitamin A (VA) on intestinal mucosal immunity and pathway. Method Rat intestinal mucosa was cultured in vitro,supplemented with all-trans RA and/or retinoid acid receptor ? (RAR?) antagonist (Ro 41-5253). After cultured for 24h and 48h,the surface markers OX62、OX6 and CD86 on DCs were detected by flow cytometry,to observe the effect of RA on differentiation and maturation of DC. The cytokines and RAR? were measured in mRNA levels by RT-PCR to analyze the influence of RA on mucosal immunity and the pathway. Results RA promoted the maturation of DC in mucosa cultured in vitro,and up-regulated RAR? mRNA levels,the changes were marked at 24h. Moreover,when RA was present in the culture,IL-12 and IFN-? (Th1 cytokine) mRNA were reduced,and IL-10 was increased significantly compared with control . However,the actions of RA above can be inversed by Ro 41-5253. Conclusion The modulation of RA on DC could be one of the important mechanisms that VA influences intestinal mucosal immunity. RAR? participates in the regulation of RA on DC.