Objective To detect the normal value of the fetal middle cerebral artery peak systolic velocity (MCA-PSV) with Doppler ultrasonography, and to investigate the association between MCA-PSV and fetal anemia. Methods Doppler ultrasonography was performed in 535 normal pregnant women from the 14th to the 40th week of gestation. MCA-PSV was measured, and the standard value of the normal fetal MCA-PSV was established. Fetuses with abnormal high MCA-PSV were assessed with a standard of MCA-PSV＞mean vale of gestational weeks+2 standard deviation or 1.5 multiples of mean value of gestational weeks. Results The value of normal fetal MCA-PSV correlated well with the gestational weeks (linear regression equation was: MCA-PSV＝-9.955+1.561×weeks; r＝0.795, P<0.0001). Using 1.5 multiples of the mean of different gestational weeks to diagnose the moderate and severe fetal anemia, 7 fetuses were screened out of 209 of obstetric ultrasonography; 4 of them had MCA-PSV＞1.5 multiples of mean value of gestational weeks and were proved with induced labor. Conclusion The value of 1.5 multiples of mean value of gestational weeks of fetal MCA-PSV in prenatal ultrasonography might be an important clue for the diagnosis of fetal anemia.

Objective To compare success and complication rate of cordocentesis (CC) with intrahepatic umbilical vein sampling (IUVS) under the guidance of ultrasonography in ovine fetus. Methods Twenty near-term singleton pregnant ewes were randomly divided into CC group and IUVS group (each n=10). All of the ewes underwent CC or IUVS in ovine fetus guided with ultrasonography. Success and complication rate of CC and IUVS were calculated. Results Success rates of IUVS on the first, less than 3 times and 5 times attempt was 32.00%, 68.00% and 84.00%, respectively, higher than that of CC (15.00%, 40.00% and 75.00%, respectively, P<0.05). Sever complication rates of IUVS in comparison with CC was not statistically different (P>0.05). Conclusion Fetal IUVS may be a reasonable option to obtain fetal intravascular access and facilitate therapeutic intervention.

Objective To investigate therapeutic effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza on hepatic fibrosis of rats induced by carbon tewachloridean. Methods Rat models of hepatic fibrosis were founded by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride. Salvia miltiorrhiza were given to these rats. Normal group and control group were set for comparison at the same time. Serum levels of ALT, AST, HA, LN, and PC-Ⅲ were detected; HE and Masson staining were conducted in hepatic tissues to observe pathological variations. Results Salvia miltiorrhiza could decrease serum levels of ALT, AST, HA, LN,PC-Ⅲ obviously (P ＜0.01), compared with the control group; Salvia miltiorrhiza could obviously improve pathological variations compared with the control group. Conclusion Salvia miltiorrhiza has therapeutic effect on hepatic fibrosis of rats

Objective To explore the joints and tendons characteristic features of high frequency ultrasound in asymptomatic hyperuricemia(AH) and to assess its value in AH diagnosis.Methods One hundred asymptomatic individuals with hyperuricemia (AH group) and 75 normouricemic subjects (control group) were examined by high frequency and color Doppler ultrasound.The joints,tendons and soft tissue of the knees,ankles and first metatarsal-phalangeal joints in two groups were examined.The correlations of serum urate(SU) level with double contour sign,bone erosion and articular cavity effusion were analysed.Results Hyperechoic deposition on the sulface of the articular hyaline cartilage (double contour sign) were found in the knees (35),ankles (17) and the first metatarsophalangeal joints (MTPJs,48) from the asymptomatic individuals with hyperuricemia,in contrast to none in the control group (P ＜0.05).Similar results were found in two groups of the bone erosion (30,25,20 vs 4,6,3,P ＜0.05),the effusion (28,36,41 vs 6,8,9,P ＜0.05) and the hyperechoic spots (19,18,22 vs 0,0,0,P ＜0.05).Patellar enthesopathy (4.5％ vs 0.6％,P ＜0.05) as well as achilles enthesopathy(8％ vs 0,P ＜0.05) and achilles tophi (6％ vs 0.6％,P ＜ 0.05) were more frequent in asymptomatic hyperuricemic than that of normouricemic individuals.No correlations between SU concentration and the presence of the double contour sign,the bone erosion and effusion were found (P ＞0.05).Conclusions There were some similar specific sonographic findings of gouty arthritis in the asymptomatic individuals with hyperuricemia.Also,these findings support high frequency ultrasound as a useful tool to detect anatomical damage in the joints,synovial tissue and tendons of asymptomatic individuals with hyperuricemia.

Objective To establish the normal data of the fetal thorax,and to evaluate its values in the diagnosis of fetal thorax malformation.Methods Totally 398 normal singleton fetuses at 16 to 36 gestational weeks(GW) were enrolled,2D-US and 3D-US VOCAL technique were used to measure the 2D data and 3D volumes on the transverse section at the level of the four-chamber view,and the correlation among all measurements with GW was analyzed.Thirty fetuses collected randomly were examined to analyze the reliability.Nine fetuses with congenital thoracic dysplasia (CTD) and 10 fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) were assessed and compared with the normal fetuses.Results ① In healthy controls,the fetal thoracic 2D measurements and 3D volumes increased along with the growth of the GW.The regression equations were listed as follows:thoracic transverse diameter (cm) =-0.002 GW2 + 0.301 GW-1.510;thoracic anteroposterior diameter (cm) =0.003GW2 + 0.046GW + 0.666;thoracic area (cm2) =0.071GW2-1.466 GW + 14.728;thoracic circumference (cm) =0.01GW2 + 0.313GW + 3.341;thoracic volume (cm3) =0.285 GW2-7.797GW + 66.592;lung volume (cm3) =0.178 GW2-5.317GW + 45.539;the ratio of lung volume to thoracic volume =0.005GW + 0.396.② The reliabilities of the data obtained by the same/two different operators were good.③ CTD group was obviously lower than the healthy controls in all thoracic measurements (all P ＜0.01).There was no statistical difference in the 2D data between the CDH group and healthy controls (P ＞0.05),while the 3D volumes and the ratio of lung volume to thoracic volume were obviously lower than those in the healthy controls (P ＜0.01).Conclusions 2D-US can evaluate the fetal thoracic development and malformation preliminarily,but 3D-US VOCAL technology plays an important role in distinguishing different types of thoracic malformations.

Purpose It is still undetermined about the application of regular ultrasound (US) combined with ultrasonic elastography (UE) in diagnosing superficial lymph nodes disease.Therefore our aim is to evaluate the value of US combined with UE in diagnosing superficial lymph nodes disease.Materials and Methods The ultrasonography and pathological data of 214 patients (with 266 superficial lymph nodes) were analyzed retrospectively.The US and UE data were compared with the pathologic results.Results The elastic classification of reactive hyperplastic and lymphomatous lymph nodes were no greater than grade 3,respectively;that of malignant metastatic lymph nodes was greater than grade 4.The accuracy of UE or US+UE was higher in diagnosing reactive hyperplastic lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes' nature compared with US (P＜0.05).The sensitivity and accuracy of US+UE in diagnosing malignant superficial lymph nodes were higher than those of US (90.13％ vs.72.37％;86.09％ vs.68.05％,P＜0.05).Compared with UE alone,those of US+UE were also higher (90.13％ vs.77.63％;86.09％ vs.72.56％,P＜0.05).Conclusion The accuracy of differential diagnosis of benign or malignant superficial lymph nodes can be improved by US+UE method.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of NGF on apoptosis of HSC in vitro and explore the possible mechanism.MethodsHSC was incubated with different concentrations of NGF.HSC apoptosis was identified by FCM.The expressions of apoptosis-regulating proteins Caspase-3,p53 and Bcl-2 of HSC after apoptosis induced by NGF were examined by immunohistochemical staining.Expressions of NGF and p75NTR were detected by immunofluorescence.ResultsApoptosis index of HSC was higher than that of control group [(22.36±9.51)％ vs (5.88±1.36)％] after treated with NGF (100 ng/ml) (P＜0.05).After incubating with 100 ng/ml NGF for 24 h,the positive expression rates of p53 and Caspase-3 of HSC increased significantly than those of control group [(78.41±4.00)％ vs (34.96±3.84)％,(39.26±1.57)％ vs (9.27±1.01)％,P ＜0.05].The positive expression rate of Bcl-2 protein of HSC significantly decreased compared with that of control group (18.12±1.38)％ vs (91.53±2.98)％ (P＜0.05).When HSC was stimulated with 100 ng/ml NGF for 24 h,the average optical density of NGF increased significantly than control group (6.53±1.40 vs 1.77±0.17) (P＜0.05),while the expression of p75NTR was not significantly changed (3.52±0.36 vs 4.24±0.38) (P＞0.05).ConclusionsThe mechanism of NGF to induce HSC apoptosis may be associated with the up-regulating expression of Caspase3,P53 and down-regulating expression of Bcl-2 on HSC.NGF could be used as an initiating factor and effect factor to increase the expression of NGF on HSC,but it had no significant effect on p75NTR expression.

Objective To evaluate early skeletal muscle myopathy with contrast‐enhanced ultrasound ( CEUS) in diabetic rabbits . Methods Alloxan ( 100 mg/kg ) was given intravenously to 11 New Zealand w hite rabbits . Another 5 age‐matched normal rabbits were used as controls .CEUS was performed at baseline and 1 ,2 ,3 months after the establishment of diabetes ,respectively . T hen ,skeletal muscle samples were obtained for pathological observation . Additionally ,the diabetic rabbits were divided into 3 groups according to their pathologic findings : mild , moderate , and severe myopathy group . M icro‐perfusion parameters ,including artery‐to‐vein transit time ( A‐VT T ) ,muscle tissue mean transit time ( M‐M T T ) and muscle tissue peak intensity ( M‐PI) were calculated . Results T he diabetic rabbits exhibited a lower body weight increase and a decrease of muscle thickness .Plasma levels of triglyceride ,cholesterol and creatinine were significantly higher in diabetic group than those in control group ( P ＜0 .05) . T he A‐V T T and M‐M T T values of the diabetic rabbits significantly increased over time ( all P ＜ 0 .05 ) ,whereas M‐PI value significantly decreased compared with that in control group ( P ＝ 0 .013 ) . Besides ,the A‐V T T value was significantly higher in severe myopathy group than that in mild group ( P ＝0 .001) . T he M‐M T T values in both moderate and severe groups were significantly higher w hen compared to that in mild group ( all P ＜0 .05) . T he A‐VT T and M‐M T T values were correlated with the severity of diabetic myopathy( e＝0 .898 , P ＜0 .001 ;e＝ 0 .527 , P ＝ 0 .01 ) . Conclusions Diabetic rabbits have defective skeletal muscle micro‐ perfusion in the early stage . CEUS can quantify impaire muscle microcirculation ,and is a valuable tool for assessment of diabetic myopathy .