OBJECTIVE: To analyze the medical records of poisoned children to provide references for the forensic identification of melamine-tainted milk powder poisoning. METHODS: Medical records of six fatal cases of consuming some brand melamine-tainted milk powder were studied, specifically the poisoning symptoms, medical imaging, blood biochemical tests, treatment and prognosis. RESULTS: The major medical problems of these eight-month sick infants were urinary tract obstruction caused by urinary tract calculi. The poisoned infants developed oliguria, anuria and other symptoms, eventually, acute renal failure or other complications leaded to death. The serum BUN and Cr abnormally increased. CONCLUSION By considering the toxicological effects of melamine, it was concluded that the deaths of these sick infants were related to the melamine poisoning.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Animals ; Fatal Outcome ; Food Contamination ; Forensic Sciences ; Humans ; Infant ; Milk/chemistry* ; Prognosis ; Triazines/poisoning* ; Urinary Calculi

Objective To observe influence of retinoic acid on the lung damage and expression of Connexin26(Cx26) of neonatal rats suffered from hyperoxia.Methods Twenty-four 3-day SD rats were randomly divided into three groups:retinoic acid+ hyperoxia,hyperoxia,air group;rats in the group of hyperoxia were suffered 7 days hyperoxia (the level of oxygen was above 950 mL/L),air group was instead of air.All rats were weighed,value of radical alveolar counts(RAC) and microstructure of the lungs were observed by HE staining under light and electron microscope respectively;and the expression of Cx26 in the lungs was determined by immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with air group,weight,value of RAC were both decreased obviously in hyperoxia,retinoic acid+hyperoxia groups[(13.53?1.27),(13.38?1.29),(17.37?0.89)g,F=30.19 P=0;11.15?1.33,12.49?1.47,13.94?0.98,F=9.59 P=0),while the expression of Cx26 increased [(13.68?1.28)%,(17.82?1.72)%,(19.69?1.77)%,F=29.36 P=0].Conclusion Retinoic acid has a protective effection from damaged lung of neonatal rats suffered from hyperoxia,and it may be related to the alteration of expression of Cx26 protein in the lungs.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Heart Neoplasms ; pathology ; Heart Valves ; pathology ; Humans ; Lymphangioma ; pathology ; Middle Aged

Objective To probe into the value of MR imaging in evaluating the pulmonary artery hemodynamics and pulmonary artery pressure in acute massive pulmonary embolism.Methods MR studies were performed in 21 patients with acute massive pulmonary embolism (diagnosed by contrast enhanced MR pulmonary angiography) and 20 healthy volunteers. The pulmonary artery hemodynamic parameters, such as the diameters of main and right pulmonary artery, peak velocity, average velocity, flow volume, flow patterns, and ejection acceleration time in main pulmonary artery were measured. The findings in patients and volunteers were compared. The hemodynamic parameters in patients were correlated with mean pulmonary artery pressure acquired with right heart catheterization.Results The diameters of main pulmonary artery (2.93 vs 2.52 cm) and right pulmonary artery (2.49 vs 1.92 cm) in patients and volunteers showed significant differences (t=3.55, P

Background Cataract surgery with replacement of the natural lens with an artificial intraocular lens(IOL) has developed into refractive surgery.Visual acuity is not the only evaluation criterion,but more focus has been put into the visual quality postoperatively.Aspherical IOL could improve the visual quality by decreasing the aspherical aberration.Objective This study was to investigate the short-term visual acuity,aberration alteration and clinical application of unsteady aberration aspheric IOL.Methods A retrospective case-controlled study was designed.Forty-two eyes of 30 patients with age-related cataract were included and divided into two groups.Phacoemulsification combined with unsteady aberration aspheric IOL implantation was performed in 21 cataractous eyes of the ZO group,and phacoemulsification combined with spherical IOL implantation in the other 21 eyes of the ADAPT group.Visual acuity,best corrected visual acuity (BCVA),contrast visual acuity,spherical aberration of the whole eye,contrast sensitivity (CS),dare sensitivity,modulation transfer function (MTF) and apparent accommodation were measured three months after surgery.All the parameters were compared between the two groups.The correlation of CS with the root mean square of spherical aberration,root mean square of comatic aberration and age was analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis.Written informed consent was obtained from each patient prior to operation.Results No significant differences were found in unconnected visual acuity,BCVA and spherical degrees between the ZO group and ADAPT group 3 months after surgery(P＞0.05).The CS value in the ZO group was significantly higher than that of the ADAPT group under scotopic background condition with spatial frequencies of 6,12,18 cpd,low glare the spatial frequencies of 6,12 cpd,as well as high glare with 12,18 cpd(P＜0.05).Under a scotopic background with 100％ contrast or a photopic background with 5％ contrast,the contrast visual acuity of the ZO group was significantly higher than that of the ADAPT group (t =20.217,P =0.000 ; t =4.568,P =0.039).At pupil diameters of 3,4 and 5 mm,the Z4 value was significantly lower in the patients of the ZO group than that of the ADAPT group (U =63.000,P =0.000 ; U =52.000,P =0.000 ; U =36.000,P =0.000).However,no significant differences were seen in the Trefoil aberration (Z6)value at 3 mm and 4 mm of pupil diameter(U =204.000,P =0.678;U =215.000,P =0.890) and coma aberration (Z7,Z8) value at 3,4 and 5 mm of pupil diameter between ZO group and ADAPT group(Z7:U=156.000,P =0.159 ; U =196.000,P =0.538 ; U =199.000,P =0.587 ; Z8:U=163.000,P =0.148 ;U=214.000,P =0.870;U =143.000,P =0.061).When the pupil diameter was 5 mm,Z6 value was significantly lower in the patients of the ZO group than that of the ADAPT group (U =4.000,P =0.000).The higher-order aberration MTF was significantly elevated in the ZO group compared with the ADAPT group from 5 through 20 cpd at a pupil diameter of 4 mm (P＜0.05) and 10,20,25,30 cpd at a pupil diameter of 5 mm (P＜0.05).A slightly lower objective accommodation was found in the ZO group compared with the ADAPT group without statistically significant difference(t =0.003,P＞0.05).Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the change in CS was associated with the root mean square of the spherical aberration and IOL type(β=0.544,R2=0.519,P =0.000)rather than with the root mean square of the comatic aberration and age.Conclusions The postoperative visual quality in the unsteady aberration aspheric IOL implanted eye is superior to that in the spherical IOL implanted eye due to a reduction in spherical aberration.

Objective To explore the psychomotor development in 12 month old infants born after in vitro fertilization with a control group of infants concieved naturally.Methods A matched control study was performed on psychomotor development of 12-month-old infants concieved with use of assisted reproductive technology(in vitro fertilization only).The control group was matched according to maternal age,parity,social class and level of parental education.The suitable mothers were invited to participate at the 28th week of gestation and were followed up to delivery.The infants of the two groups were followed up to 12 months old and a formal developmental assessment was done with the Children Development Center of China(CDCC) scales of infant development.Results The incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight and twin pregnancy were significantly higher in the assisted conception group.No statistically significant difference was found in the mental development index and psychomotor development index between assisted conception and control groups.Conclusions The levels of psychomotor development in 12 months old infants born after in vitro fertilization are normal.But as the incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight and multifetation are significantly higher in vitro fertilization group,it need to follow up the ongoing development of these children.

Objective To observe the effect of laser irradiation on the level of histamine (Hm) , 5- hydroxytryptamine(5-HT), interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in serum and β- endorphin (β- EP) in brain tissue in rat model of rheumatoid arthritis. Methods A total of 60 Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups:a normal group, a model group (RA without treatment), a laser + drug treatment group (RA treated by laser and drug) and a drug treatment group (RA treated by drug alone). All the groups, except the normal one, were injected with complete Freund's adjuvant to make animal model of adjuvant arthritis. All the animals were then treated accordingly. The level of Hm, 5-HT, IL-1 and TNFα in serum and β-EP in brain tissue were measured. Results Laser downregulated the content of Hm, 5-HT, IL-1 and TNFα in serum and increased the content of β-EP in brain tissue. Conclusion Laser irradiation is an effective modality for treating the animal model of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective To perform a follow-up study on psychomotor development in children conceived with assisted reproductive technology. Methods A control-matched study was done including 63 infants born after assisted conception (study group)and 65 natural conception infants(control group). The pregnant women agreed to participate in the study when they were at 28 weeks of gestation and were followed-up in a predefine schedule till delivery. The regular developmental assessment was done with the CDCC Scales of Infant Development for the children of two groups till they were 24 months old. Results The mean birth weight and length were lower in the study group than those of the control group. The incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight,and NICU admission were significantly higher in the study group than those of control group. However,these differences were not significant when only singletons were compared between two groups. No statistical differences were found in the mental development index(MDI)and psychomotor development index(PDI)between two groups. Conclusions Psychomotor development of children born after assisted conception is normal at 24 months of age. Since the incidences of preterm birth,low birth weight,and multifetation are significantly higher in children born after assisted conception,their general health and development should be followed up for a longer time.

Objective To explore the dead reasons and related factors of acute leakemia(AL)in children.Methods The clinical data of 42 dead cases of children with AL,who were admitted to Guangzhou Children's Hospital between Jan.1999 and Mar.2007 were reviewed.Nineteen cases were boys,23 cases were girls;the aging from 4 months to 12 years old and 5 months.Of 42 children,21 cases were acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL),18 cases were acute myeloid leukemia(AML),3 cases were unclassified AL.Results Ten out of 12 early-dead cases died of bleeding.Among 30 cases who received chemotherapy,4 cases died of bleeding,others of myelosuppression combined with infection,14 of whom died from sepsis,3 cases with fungal infection,1 case with virus infection,4 cases with unknown pathogens.Sixteen children relapsed among those who got remission,half of them relapsed within 1 year since diagnosed.Treatment-related mortality(TRM)was 90%(27 out of 30 cases).The main causes of TRM were infection and hemorrhage.Hyperleukocytosis and bleeding were 2 risk factors related to early death in new-diagnosed children.Conclusions More emphasizes should be put on bleeding tendency during early treatment in children with AL and treatment of infection complications during induction chemotherapy to reduce TRM.