OBJECTIVETo compare the long-term influence of vertebral fixation through or across the affected vertebra on vertebral morphology.

METHODSClinical data of 48 patients with simple thoracic and lumbar spinal fractures who were admitted between Jan. 2008 and Dec. 2010 were analyzed retrospectively. Among them 36 cases (28 males and 8 females) were fixed through the injured vertebra (group A) and 12 cases (8 males and 4 females) were fixed across the injured vertebra (group B). All patients were followed up for 6-36 months (mean 11.5 months). The vertebral body height, endplate angle and neurofunction were compared between the two groups before surgery, a week after surgery and at the end of the follow-up period.

RESULTSThere was no statistically significant difference in vertebral body height,endplate angle and neurofunction before operation between group A and B (P > 0.05). Vertebral body height and endplate angle improved in both groups a week after operation and at the end of the follow-up period as compared with those before operation (P < 0.05), and the efficacy in group B was significantly better than that in group A (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in neurofunction between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe fixation method through the injured vertebra had a better reduction effect, more stable fixation, and a better long-term effect on vertebral morphology than that across the injured vertebra in the treatment of thoracolumbar vertebral fractures.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; injuries ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fractures ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; pathology ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether intrapericardial urokinase irrigation along with pericardiocentesis could prevent pericardial constriction in patients with infectious exudative pericarditis.

METHODSA total of 94 patients diagnosed as infectious exudative pericarditis (34 patients with purulent pericarditis and 60 with tuberculous pericarditis, the disease courses of all patients were less than 1 month), 44 males and 50 females, aged from 9 to 66 years (mean 45.4 +/- 14.7 years), were consecutively recruited from 1993 to 2002. All individuals were randomly given either intrapericardial urokinase along with conventional treatment in study group, or conventional treatment alone (including pericardiocentesis and drainage) in control group. The dosage of urokinase ranged from 200000 to 600000 U (mean 320000 +/- 70000 U). The immediate effects were detected by pericardiography with sterilized air and diatrizoate meglumine as contrast media. The long-term investigation depended on the telephonic survey and echocardiographic examination. The duration of following-up ranged from 8 to 120 months (mean 56.8 +/- 29.0 months).

RESULTSPercutaneous intrapericardial urokinase irrigation promoted complete drainage of pericardial effusion, significantly reduced the thickness of pericardium (from 3.1 +/- 1.6 mm to 1.6 +/- 1.0 mm in study group, P < 0.001; from 3.4 +/- 1.6 mm to 3.2 +/- 1.8 mm in control group, P > 0.05, respectively), and alleviated the adhesion. Intrapericardial bleeding related to fibrinolysis was found in 6 of 47 patients with non-blood pericardial effusion and no systemic bleeding and severe puncture-related complication was observed. In follow-up, there was no cardiac death, and pericardial constriction events were observed in 9 (19.1%) of study group and 27 (57.4%) of control group. Cox analysis illustrated that urokinase could significantly reduce the occurrence of pericardial constriction (relative hazard coefficient = 0.185, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONThe early employment of intrapericardial fibrinolysis with urokinase and pericardiocentesis appears to be safe and effective in preventing the development of pericardial constriction in patients with infectious exudative pericarditis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pericardiocentesis ; Pericarditis ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Pericarditis, Constrictive ; prevention & control ; Thrombolytic Therapy ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator ; administration & dosage

Objective To explore the influence of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization on short-term prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation Methods From Jan 2006 to Sep 2016 in Ruijin Hospital 21 patients received preoperative hepatic transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) before liver transplantation,the other 30 patients undergoing upfront liver transplantation served as control group.Results No statistical difference was found in the total operation time (401 ± 72) min vs.(377 ± 100) min,blood loss (2 785 ± 25 56) ml vs.(4 199 ± 3 748) ml and length of hospital stay (32-± 16) d vs.(28 ± 17) d between two groups,and the occurrence rate of vascular complications (14.3％ vs.0) or biliary complications (9.5％ vs.6.7％) also showed no difference (P ＞ 0.05).Although more patients were diagnosed with postoperative infection in the observation group (81％ vs.40％) (P ＜ 0.05),there was no statistically significant difference in complication grade and perioperative mortality between two groups (P ＞ 0.05).There's no remarkable difference in the liver function recovery level between two groups in terms of postoperative indexs of liver function such as TBL,ALT,AST,and there was also no statistical difference between two groups in 1-year,2-year and 3-year overall survival (P ＞ 0.05).The waiting time in the study group was significantly longer than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05),and the incidence of postoperative immune dysfunction was lower than that of the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Preoperative TACE does not affect liver function recovery and perioperative safety after liver transplantation.