OBJECTIVETo summarize and analyze the cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging features of ameloblastomas for clinical preoperative diagnosis.

METHODSThirty-seven cases with complete data proven by pathology were retrospectively studied for distinct CBCT features.

RESULTSOf the 37 cases, 31 were primary and 6 were recurrent. On CBCT images, the 37 cases were composed of 36 cases (97.3%) of intraosseous lesions (17 cases of multilocular lesions, 17 cases of unilocular lesions, and 2 cases of honeycomb lesion) and 1 case (2.7%) of extraosseous lesion (soft tissue lesion). Of the 17 multilocular cases, 15 (88.2%) showed tongue-shaped crests in lesions. Thirty-four cases (94.4%) showed apparent expansible change toward lip/buccal and (or) palatal/lingual sides ofjaw, with partialcortical erosion.

CONCLUSIONCBCT imaging yields accurate three-dimensional images of lesion shape and structure. Therefore, CBCT can be usedfor the clinical diagnosis and surgical assessment of ameloblastoma.

Ameloblastoma ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Humans ; Jaw Neoplasms ; Retrospective Studies

Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (CEOT) is a rare benign epithelial tumor of odontogenic origin. CEOT is a benign but a locally infiltrative tumor. CEOT has two clinical variants: intraosseous (central) CEOT and extraosseous (peripheral) CEOT. The peripheral type is rare. In this paper, we report two cases of CEOT. The diagnoses of the cases were verified by histopathology. This study aims to explore the clinical and imaging appearances of CEOT and improve the understanding of the disease.
Humans ; Odontogenic Tumors ; Skin Neoplasms

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical oulcomes of aortic valve replacement (AVR) performed with minimally invasive technique.Methods From June 2010 to October 2011,20 cases of minimally invasive AVR were performed.The mean age was (47.60±12.28) ;12 males and 8 females.All patients are ventilated with a double-lumen endotracheal tube,through the 3nd anterior intercostals space with a 5 -6cmskin incision,right femoral artery and vein cannulation are used to establish CPB,direct aortic cross-clamped by Chitwood sliding clamp through the right 4th intercostals space,and completed the aortic valve replacement.Results Mean length of incision was (4.73±0.54)cm.Mean duration of cardiopulmonary bypass was (124±39.83)min,crossclamp time was (97.21±33.17) min.Median intubation time was (13.55±3.87)hours.Median duration of intensive care and postoperative hospital stay was (16.34±3.82)hours and (6.63±1.45) days,respectively.Hospital mortality was 0.There was no perivalvular leakage,Conclusion Minimally invasive aortic replacement with a modified Port-Access approach is feasible,small incisions,more cosmetic,shorter length of bospital stay and less need for blood transfusion are attainable.

OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical and imaging features of cementoblastoma for diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

METHODSClinical and imaging data of 14 cases were selected for this retrospective study.

RESULTSA total of 14 cases of cementoblastoma patients with ages at diagnosis ranging from 11 years to 58 years (mean age, 27.6 years; median age, 21.0 years). The tumor affected 7 patients from each gender. The mandible was the main site of occurrence. The most common complaints were swelling and pain. Radiographic results showed that cementoblastoma typically presented as a well-circumscribed and radiopaque mass confluent with the involved tooth root and surrounded by a thin and uniform radio-lucent border. Tumor parenchyma was generally mixed-density, which could be divided into two types, namely, homogeneous and heterogeneous patterns. Other significant imaging features included the periphery bone of the lesion sclerosis and cortical thickening of the lower edge of the mandible.

CONCLUSIONObvious characteristics are found in the clinical and imaging findings of cementoblastoma. Accurate recognition of this lesion is significant in clinic to avoid misdiagnoses.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cementoma ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Mandible ; Middle Aged ; Pain ; Retrospective Studies ; Tooth Root ; Young Adult

The keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) is a common cystic lesions of jaw, which has a high recurrence rate but rarely undergo malignant transformation. This study reported a patient with primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma developed from KCOT.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; etiology ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Odontogenic Tumors ; complications

OBJECTIVETo investigate the associations of genetic polymorphisms in GSTs genes of the Hakka population of south China with family histories of certain chronic diseases.

METHODSFive hundred and thirty-nine healthy Hakka natives of Meizhou city of Guangdong province in south China were involved. The genotypes of GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1, GSTM3, and GSTA1 were determined using PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The observed polymorphisms were analyzed by Chi-square and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium tests. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associations of the distributions of GST genotypes with family history of certain chronic diseases.

RESULTSThe distributions of polymorphisms in GSTP1, GSTM3, and GSTA1 conformed to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Compared to the Cantonese, the Hakka had a lower distribution of the GSTM3 deletion genotype (3.15% vs. 11.9%). A weak association was observed between the GSTM1 genetic polymorphism and family history of hypertension. Alcohol drinkers had a higher frequency of the null-GSTM1 genotype, while smokers had a higher frequency of a variant GSTP1 genotype.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that the Hakka is a special and distinctive Han Chinese ethnic group with different GSTs genetic polymorphisms. Smoking and drinking might be related to the distribution of GST genotypes.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alcohol Drinking ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; ethnology ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Glutathione Transferase ; genetics ; Humans ; Hypertension ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Smoking ; genetics ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the changes in the expression of large-conductance calcium-activated potassium (BKCa) channels in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons after electrical injury in rats' sciatic nerves and its influence on sensory conduction function.

METHODSOne-hundred and thirty-six adult SD rats were divided into normal control group, sham electrical injury group, and 75, 100, 125 V electrical injury groups according to the random number table, with 8 rats in normal control group and 32 rats in each of the rest 4 groups. Rats in normal control group were routinely fed without any treatment. Blunt dissection of the sciatic nerves of left hind leg of rats was performed in sham electrical injury group, while sciatic nerves of left hind leg of rats in electrical injury groups were electrically injured with corresponding voltage. Eight rats of normal control group fed for one week, and 8 rats from each of the rest four groups on post injury day (PID) 3 and in post injury week (PIW) 1, 2, 3 respectively were collected to detect the paw withdrawal mechanical threshold (PWMT). In addition, rats of 100 V electrical injury group in PIW 1 were collected and intrathecally injected with NS1619 after former PWMT detection, and PWMT was detected per 30 minutes within three hours post injection. The rats in each group at each time point were sacrificed after PWMT detection. The DRG of L4 to L6 segments of spinal cord was sampled to observe the BKCa channels distribution with immunohistochemical staining and to detect the protein and mRNA expressions of BKCa channels with Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction respectively. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance, analysis of variance of factorial design, and SNK test.

RESULTS(1) The PWMT values of rats in 75 and 100 V electrical injury groups on PID 3 and in PIW 1, 2, 3 were (5.8±0.6), (5.0±0.8), (4.2±0.3), (5.9±1.1) g; (5.3±1.3), (5.9±2.0), (4.5±2.7), (4.3±1.3) g, respectively, which were significantly lower than the value (s) in normal control group [(11.2±2.0) g] and sham electrical injury group [respectively (11.3±2.1), (12.0±2.0), (11.1±1.6), (10.3±2.1) g, with P values below 0.05]. The PWMT values of rats in 125 V electrical injury group decreased obviously on PID 3 and in PIW 1 [(6.1±1.6) and (5.7±1.7) g] as compared with the value (s) in normal control group and sham electrical injury group, and they were obviously increased in PIW 2 and 3 [(26.7±3.3) and (21.7±3.4) g] as compared with the value (s) of the rest 4 groups (with P values below 0.05). The PWMT of 100 V electrical injury group in PIW 1 firstly increased and then decreased within three hours post injection, which increased significantly at post injection minutes 30, 60, 90, 120 as compared with that before intervention [respectively (8.5±0.8), (9.7±1.2), (11.0±1.5), (8.6±0.8) g, with P values below 0.05]. (2) The positive expression of BKCa channels in large amount was observed in the cytoplasm and cytomembrane of neurons on the DRG of rats in normal control group and sham electrical injury group at each time point. The positive expression of BKCa channels in the cytoplasm and cytomembrane of neurons on the DRG of rats decreased over time in electrical injury groups, which was most obvious in 125 V electrical injury group. (3) There were no statistically significant differences in the protein expression of BKCa channels in DRG of rats among the five groups on PID 3 (with P values above 0.05). Compared with those in normal control group (0.477±0.027, 0.521±0.034, 0.475±0.022) and sham electrical injury group (0.511±0.025, 0.489±0.025, 0.483±0.032) in PIW 1, 2, 3, the protein expressions of BKCa channels in DRG of rats in 75, 100, 125 V electrical injury groups were decreased significantly (0.274±0.026, 0.202±0.019, 0.285±0.033; 0.253±0.022, 0.233±0.024, 0.203±0.017; 0.092±0.017, 0.095±0.021, 0.087±0.016, with P values below 0.05). The protein expressions of BKCa channels in DRG of rats in 125 V electrical injury group in PIW 1, 2, 3 were obviously lower than those in 75 and 100 V electrical injury groups (with P values below 0.05). (4) The mRNA expression levels of BKCa channels in DRG of rats in 75, 100, 125 V electrical injury groups on PID 3 and in PIW 1, 2, 3 were 0.326±0.021, 0.238±0.019, 0.291±0.022, 0.364±0.018; 0.264±0.020, 0.293±0.017, 0.243±0.023, 0.295±0.021; 0.134±0.023, 0.089±0.017, 0.074±0.018, 0.087±0.020, respectively, significantly decreased as compared with the level (s) in normal control group (0.581±0.051) and sham electrical injury group (0.603±0.045, 0.586±0.032, 0.614±0.045, 0.572±0.038), with P values below 0.05. The mRNA expression levels of BKCa channels in DRG of rats in 125 V electrical injury group at each time point were lower than those in 75 and 100 V electrical injury groups (with P values below 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe electrical injury in sciatic nerves results in reduction of the BKCa channels expression in rat's DRG of corresponding spinal segments, which plays a role in the pathological process of sensory conduction dysfunction.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Electricity ; adverse effects ; Ganglia, Spinal ; metabolism ; Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sciatic Nerve ; injuries

Objective: To investigate the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of nonodontogenic periapical lesions and to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods: A case of a patient with right upper molar pulp with apical penetration and local occlusion admitted to the West China Stomatological Hospital of Sichuan University was retrospectively analyzed, and the curative effect of microapical surgery and pith preservation was also analyzed. Results : The imaging features of tooth 16 showed periradicular radiolucency combined with local radiopaque lesions around the distal buccal apical area. Endodontic microsurgery was performed under local anesthesia. Soft tissue coverage was observed in the distal buccal apical area during the surgery, and no radiopaque tissue was detected. The distal buccal root apex was cut by 3 mm, and mineral trioxide aggregate was used for root-end backfilling. The postoperative pathological results revealed fibrous connective tissue. One-week recall X-ray examination showed tight root-end backfilling and no periradicular radiolucency; an electrical test of pulp vitality showed positive results. The four-year follow-up showed that there was no discoloration in tooth 16 and no significant difference in thermal and electrical tests of pulp vitality compared with control teeth. Combining the clinical manifestations, imaging features, surgical exploration results and pathological reports, the case was most likely to be cemental hypoplasia. Through the literature review, the treatment and healthy pulp preservation of such cases by endodontic microsurgery under the premise of preserving teeth has not been reported. Conclusion For maxillary posterior teeth with periapical lesions but healthy pulp, accurate estimation of pulp status, endodontic microsurgical exploration and application of bioactive materials can achieve vital pulp preservation while removing the lesions.