Objective To analyze the potential risk factors of infantile spasms (IS) relapse through following up the respondents with IS after different treatment protocols.Methods Sixty-nine cases were collected in the Department of Pediatric Neurology,Jiangxi Children's Hospital from May 2011 to September 2013,who had complete cessation of spasms for at least 28 days or more after the different treatment protocols.The follow-up was performed on these patients until spasms seizure relapse or at least 1 year for those without recurrence.According to the literature review,8 possible risk factors of IS recurrence (gender,age of onset,course of diseases,etiology,high irregular types of electroencephalogram,development quotient,onset time,treatment protocols) were selected,and then Logistic multiple regression was used to analyze the relationship of various potential risk factors with the relapse of spasms.Results (1) The recurrence rate at 6 months and 12 months were 40.6％ (28/69 cases)and 43.5 ％ (30/69 cases),respectively.(2) Among the various potential factors,the age at onset and the time to response were closely related to the IS recurrence.Namely,the non-classic onset(early-onset and late-onset) of IS were more likely to relapse than the classic onset[66.7％ (14/21 cases) vs 33.3％ (16/48 cases),x2 =6.605,P =0.010];the responders beyond 1 week were more likely to relapse than those within 1 week[63.6％ (14/22 cases) vs 34.0％ (16/47 cases),x2 =5.341,P =0.021].There were significant differences between the 2 groups (all P ＜ 0.05).(3) Logistic multiple regression analysis demonstrated that age at onset (Wald =3.603) was most closely related to the relapse of spasms.Conclusions (1) The relapse rate of IS in children was high,and the majority of them relapsed within 6 months.So a long-term,rational and effective clinical management solution should be explored.(2) The age at onset and the time to response are very important risk factors of the IS recurrence,and the former was more significant.So,early diagnosis and early treatment are more likely to improve the efficacy of IS,and reduce the risks of recurrence and improve the prognosis.

Objective By studying the changes of the seizures of infantile spasm(IS)、EEG and HPA axis function before and after the treatment of prednisone,to explore the efficacy of prednisone in treating infan-tile spasm,the role of HPA axis in the pathogenesis of IS,and elucidate the HPA axis mechanism of prednisone in controling seizure.Methods A total of 30 patients with IS (IS group) and 30 cases of healthy infants and young children (control group) were recruited.Number of seizures、EEG、HPA axis function was detected be-fore and after the treatment of prednisone in patients with infantile spasm.Serum cortisol,ACTH were deter-mined by the chemiluminescence analysis,serum CRH was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results serum CRH levels of IS group was significantly higher than normal control group(P<0.05).Serum cortisol,ACTH in IS group were no evidently different compared with control group (P>0.05).The average number of daily ictal clusters and the average daily total seizure number positively correlated with CRH respec-tively.After the application of the prednisolone,seizure of 19 cases of the IS were controlled,11 cases were not controlled,18 cases of hyperarrhythmia were completely remited and 12 cases of hyperarrhythmia were not com-pletely remited.The average number of daily ictal clusters and The average daily total seizure number after treat-ment were significantly lower than before treatment(P<0.05);DQ after treatment was higher than DQ before treatment(P<0.05);The pathogenesis was the main influencing factor of the prednisone treatment effect,the length of the disease,the worse the treatment(P<0.05).CRH、cortisol、ACTH after treatment were significantly lower than before treatment(P<0.05).Conclusion Prednisone can effectively control the onset of infantile spasms,and early treatment is better.IS patient has HPA axis dysfunction,and prednisone can regulate HPA axis dysfunction to control spasm.

Objective To discuss the key points of endovascular therapy for complex subclavian artery occlusive diseases. Methods During the period from January 2012 to December 2013, a total of 92 patients with complex subclavian artery occlusive disease were admitted to Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The features of the lesions, the success rate of endovascular therapy, the use of combined approaches, the relief of symptoms after treatment, etc. were evaluated. Results The complex subclavian artery occlusive diseases could be divided into three types. Type Ⅰ: long segment of the left subclavian artery was occluded; type Ⅱ: ostial stenosis or occlusion of the right subclavian artery; and type Ⅲ: subclavian artery stenosis or occlusion was associated with the ostial disorder of the vertebral artery, or the opening of vertebral artery was affected by the subclavian artery stenosis or occlusion. The technical success rate was 82.6%. Combination use of femoral artery and brachial artery approach was employed in 27.2% of patients, which had improved the technical success rate. After the treatment the symptom improvement rate was 81.6%. Conclusion Upper limb artery approach can improve the re-canalization rate of left subclavian artery with long segment occlusion, and can ensure the accurate positioning of stent at the site of right subclavian artery opening. During the procedure of endovascular intervention for subclavian artery occlusion disease, attention should be paid to the protection of the vertebral artery.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the immunological mechanism of prednisone in the treatment of infantile spasm (IS) by evaluating the immune function of IS children before and after treatment.

METHODSThirty children with IS were enrolled as IS group. Thirty healthy infants who underwent physical examination were enrolled as healthy control group. Fasting venous blood was collected for both groups before and after prednisone treatment. Chemiluminescence was used to measure serum levels of interleukin-1B (IL-1B), interleukin-2R (IL-2R), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Immunoturbidimetric assay was used to measure serum levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Flow cytometry was used to measure the percentages of T lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, and CD8). The clinical outcome and electroencephalographic findings were evaluated for all IS children after prednisone treatment.

RESULTSThe IS group had significantly higher serum levels of IL-2R, IL-8, and TNF-α than the healthy control group before treatment (P<0.05). The mean number of daily ictal clusters was positively correlated with the levels of IL-2R, IL-8, and TNF-α in IS children, the mean number of total daily seizures was positively correlated with IL-8 level, and any two indices out of IL-2R, IL-8, and TNF-α were positively correlated with each other (P<0.05). Among the 30 IS children treated with prednisone, 19 achieved seizure control; electroencephalography showed that 18 children achieved complete remission of hyperarrhythmia. After treatment, the IS group had significant reductions in the numbers of daily ictal clusters and total daily seizures, significant improvement in developmental quotient (P<0.05), and significant reductions in serum levels of IL-2R, L-8, and TNF-α, the percentage of CD4T lymphocytes, and CD4/CD8ratio (P<0.05), as well as a significant increase in the percentage of CD8T lymphocytes (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIS children have immune dysfunction. Prednisone can control seizures in IS children, possibly by regulating and improving immune dysfunction.

CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Cytokines ; blood ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Spasms, Infantile ; drug therapy ; immunology

Antiviral Agents ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Gene Products, pol ; genetics ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Interferons ; administration & dosage ; Lamivudine ; administration & dosage ; Mutation

OBJECTIVETo study the eletrogastrographic pattern in children diagnosed as functional dyspepsia (FD), with or without anorexia, and to investigate whether there is a link between the pattern of eletrogastrographic activity and anorexia.

METHODSThirty-two children with FD and receiving eletrogastrography (EGG) examination were classified to two groups: anorexia group (n=18) and non-anorexia (n=14). EGG was performed for 30 minutes during fasting and for 120 minutes postprandially. EEG variables measured included the percentage of normal gastric rhythm, the percentage of bradygastria and tachygastria, EGG domain frequency and its instability coefficient, and the fed-to-fasting ratio of the EEG domain power.

RESULTSThe percentage of abnormal gastric rhythm before a meal in the anorexia and non-anorexia groups was 77.8% and 78.6 % respectively (P>0.05); and that was 77.8% and 57.1% respectively after a meal (P>0.05). The fasting (31.6% vs 48.9%) and postprandial bradygastria frequencies (33.4 % vs 27.8 %) between the two groups were not significantly different. However, the percentage of tachygastria in the anorexia group was significantly higher than that in the non-anorexia group (fasting: 6.2% vs 0, P<0.01; postprandial: 14.8 % vs 1.9%, P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the instability coefficient of the dominant frequency and the fed-to-fasting ratio of the EEG domain power between the two groups both during fasting and after a meal.

CONCLUSIONSEGG abnormalities were associated with pediatric FD. Tachygastria occurred more often in the anorexia group than in the non-anorexia group.

Adolescent ; Anorexia ; physiopathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Dyspepsia ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Stomach ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVEAn unhealthy food consumption habit attributes to one of the etiology of gastro-esophageal reflux. The purpose of this article was to study the influence of food intake before going to bed on the nighttime gastro-esophageal reflux.

METHODSThirty-eight children with upper gastrointestinal symptoms were divided into two groups on the basis of taking (Group A, n=16) or not taking (Group B, n=22) food (non-stimulating) within 2 hrs before going to bed. All of them underwent 24 hr esophageal pH monitoring. The times of reflux episode, the longest duration of reflux, the times of reflux duration > 5 min, and the percentage of time of pH < 4 were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThere were no significant differences in the parameters of pH monitoring between Groups A and B, with the times of reflux episode of 32 (21.5-43.5) vs 24 (15-37.3) , the longest duration of reflux of 6.6 (2.4-29.8) min vs 4.5 (2.5-13.2) min, the times of reflux episode longer than 5 min of 1.5 (0-3) vs 0 (0-3), and the percentage of time of pH < 4 of 4.3 (2.1-15.0)% vs 4.1 (2.0-7.2)% .

CONCLUSIONSNon-stimulating food intake before going to bed did not adversely affect the nighttime gastro-esophageal reflux.

Adolescent ; Child ; Esophageal pH Monitoring ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Time Factors

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of different doses of prednisone combined with topiramate(TPM) in the treatment of infantile spasms(IS),in order to provide a new choice of the therapy of IS.Methods Fifty-six cases were collected in the Department of Neurology of Jiangxi Children's Hospital from May.2011 to Dec.2012.They were randomly divided into 2 groups:control group and trial group.The patients in control group took prednisone tablet of 1 mg/kg,2 times a day for 2 weeks;and the patients in trial group took prednisone tablet of 10 mg/ d,4 times a day for 2 weeks.In addition,TPM was used in both groups by initial dose 1 mg/(kg · d) or 2 times a day,and then was gradually increased to 3-5 mg/(kg · d) within 2 weeks.For those children in whom the spasms seizure completely ceased after 2 weeks,prednisone was then reduced by degrees to be discontinued for a 7-weeks course(extending to 4 weeks with the initial doses if spasms continued after 2 weeks).All patients underwent the assessment of spasms seizure and a 3-12 h video-electroencephalogram monitoring including wake and sleep states,which were performed before treatment,after 2 weeks and the end of the courses (7 or 9 weeks after treatment),respectively.Meanwhile,the side effects of the drugs during the treatment were recorded.The developmental quotient (DQ) tests of children with complete cessation of spasms more than 6 months were performed before treatment and after 6 months.All patients had been followed up for 2-18 months.Results 1.After 2 weeks of the therapy,the rate of cessation of spasms were 75.00％ (21/28 cases) and 28.57％ (8/28 cases) in the trial group and the control group,respectively,there was significant difference (x2 =12.087,P =0.001).And in the same term,the rate of complete resolution of hypsrrhythmia were 60.71％ (17/28 cases) and 21.43 ％ (6/28 cases),respectively,there was significant difference (x2 =8.928,P =0.003).At the end of treatment,the rate of cessation of spasms were 67.86％ (19/28 cases) and 35.71％ (10/28 cases) in the trial group and control group,respectively,there was significant difference (x2 =5.793,P =0.016).And in the mean time,the rate of complete resolution of hypsrrhythmia were 57.14％ (16/28 cases) and 14.29％ (4/28 cases),respectively,there was significant difference (x2 =11.200,P =0.001).2.Weight gain and increased appetite were the most frequent side effects.The incidence of side effects were 82.14％ (23/28 cases) and 67.86％ (19/28 cases) in the trial group and control group,respectively,there was no significant difference between the 2 groups (x2 =1.524,P =0.217).No death occurred in this clinical trail and no one discontinued the treatment protocol as result of the adverse events.3.The recurrence rate in the trial group and the control group were 31.82％ and 72.73％,respectively.And there was significant difference between the 2 groups (x2 =4.950,P =0.026).In the trial group,there were 9 cases with cessation of spasms more than 6 months,whose average business development values had no significant difference before and after treatment (t =2.271,P =0.053).Conclusion The efficacy of large-dose prednisone combined with TPM for IS was significantly better than that of conventional dose prednisone combined with TPM.

Objective To assess the value of three-dimensional multislice CT angiography (CTA) in evaluating the therapeutic effect of intracranial aneurysm clipping and explore a convenient, safe and reliable method for the postoperative evaluation. Methods Of the 120 patients with intracranial aneurysms hospitalized from January, 2006 to March, 2007 in our hospital, 52 patients were treated with aneurysm clipping using titanium clips. Follow-up study for 2-38 weeks (mean 15±11weeks) was conducted in 20 of the patients with 21 aneurysms (1 patient had multiple aneurysms), including 1 in the anterior cerebral communicating artery, 7 in the posterior cerebral communicating arteries, 2 in the M3 segment of the middle cerebral arteries, 1 in the anterior choroidal artery, and 1 near the AI segment. Three-dimensional multislice CTA was performed in these patients, and the location of clips, patency of the proximal and distal segments of the parent arteries, presence of the remnant necks and domes of the aneurysms were evaluated with maximum intensity projection (MIP) and volume rendering (VR). Results The locations of 20 aneurysm clips were well visualized, and one clip was not clearly shown due to the artifacts of the clip and coils. All the proximal and distal segments of the parent arteries were clearly visualized and the relationship between the clips and the aneurysms was well demonstrated by MIP and VR in CTA. No remnant domes of the clipped aneurysms were found in these patients. Conclusion Three-dimensional multislice CTA provides an important means for postoperative evaluation of intracranial aneurysms treated with titanium clips and have great value in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVETo validate the efficacy of velocity vector imaging (VVI) and quantitative tissue velocity imaging (QTVI) for evaluating left ventricular diastolic function.

METHODSFifty-one patients underwent left heart catheterization were included in this study. Mean of peak early diastolic velocity (Em), EF and the ratio of early (E) to late (A) mitral valve flow velocity (E/A) were measured by echocardiography and the ratio of E to Em (E/Em) was calculated. Left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was measured during catheterization examination.

RESULTSE/Em derived from VVI or QTVI was significantly correlated with LVEDP (r = 0.808, P < 0.01 and r = 0.692, P < 0.01, respectively) and the correlation coefficient between VVI and LVEDP was significantly higher than that between QTVI and LVEDP (Z = 2.246, P = 0.025). Em derived from VVI and QTVI also negatively correlated with LVEDP (r = -0.740, P < 0.01 and r = -0.567, P < 0.01) and the correlation coefficient between VVI and LVEDP was significantly higher than that between QTVI and LVEDP (Z = 2.595, P = 0.009). However, there was no correlation between E/A and LVEDP (r = 0.117, P = 0.415).

CONCLUSIONE/Em and Em derived from VVI and QTVI are valuable parameters for evaluating LV diastolic function.

Blood Flow Velocity ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Diastole ; physiology ; Echocardiography ; methods ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; diagnostic imaging ; physiology ; Reproducibility of Results ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology