Electrocardiography ; methods ; Heart Conduction System ; physiopathology ; Heart Diseases ; diagnosis ; Humans

Objective To compare the efficacy of retroperitoneal laparoscopy with open pyeloplasty for ureteropelvic junction obstruction(UPJO).Methods Retroperitoneal laparoscopy was performed under general anesthesia with the patients placed in lateral position.Three trocars were inserted at the midaxillary line above the iliac crest,and the pre- and post-axillary lines beneath the 12th rib.A fourth port was placed at the preaxillary line above the iliac crest.Over the medial margin of the psoas major,Gerota’s fascia was opened to expose the ureter.And then,the tissues around the ureter were cut to show the lower pole of the kidney.Afterwards,the redundant renal pelvis and the strictured segment of the ureter were resected,pelvi-ureteric anastomosis was completed with absorbable sutures,and a double-J stent was inserted.Open pyeloplasty was also carried out under general anesthesia with the patients in lateral position.An incision was made beneath the 12th rib to expose the ureteropelvic junction,and then the renal pelvis was cut at 2 cm away from the renal parenchyma,and the strictured segment of the ureter was resected.Double-J stent was indwelled after pelvi-ureteric anastomosis.The patient was placed in a lateral position under general anesthesia or epidural anesthesia.Subcostal incision was made.The lower pole of the kidney,the dilated renal pelvis and the upper ureter were mobilized in front of the psoas major.Cut the pelvis 2 cm away from the parenchyma and the PUJ was dismembered.The pelvi-ureteric anastomosis was completed with absorbable sutures and then a D-J stent was inserted.Results Compared with the open surgery group,the laparoscopy group experienced significantly longer operation time [(156.9?69.2) min vs(111.9?78.1) min,t=2.514,P=0.014],but less blood loss [mean:35(20-70)ml vs 110(60-175)ml,t=7.502,P=0.000],and shorter analgesic treatment and postoperative hospital stay [(0.7?0.3) d and(8.5?6.1) d vs(1.3?0.5) d and(15.5?10.8) d;t=-5.842,and -3.193;P=0.000 was found and 0.002].No significant difference in the occurrence of postoperative complications and hydronephrosis between the 2 groups was found [laparoscopy vs open surgery:urinary leakage:3 cases vs 3 cases,?2=0.000,P=1.000;incisional infection:0 vs 1,?2=0.000,P=1.000;and recurrence of UPJO:1 vs 0,?2=0.000,P=1.000;hydronephrosis:?2=5.192,P=0.182].Conclusions The efficacy of retroperitoneal laparoscopic pyeloplasty is comparable to open surgery.The procedure results in less blood loss and quicker recovery.

This study was to investigate the influnce of 4 weeks of living high-training low on exercise performance of rowers. Twenty rowers were divided into two groups: ten subjects spent 8-10h per night in a tabernacle simulated at an altitude of 2500m in normobaric hypoxia; 10 control subjects slept at near sea level. During the 4-week periods, all rowers were trained at the same relative or at the same intensity of work in normoxia state. The red cell volume (RCV) , haemoglobin mass (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT) were measured before test, 15th and 30th day of study,and measurements were done on a rowing ergometer at sea-level, which included an ergometer test at 4 mmol/L lactate anaerobic threshold and performance in exercise tasks of 2km, 5km, and a Wingate Anaerobic Test before test and 30th day of study. The results showed that adaptation to simulated moderate altitude can stimulate red cell production sufficiently: increase in red cell volume (RCV) , haemoglobin mass (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct). And there were significant increases in all important parameters at 4 mmol/L lactate anaerobic threshold as well as performance of 5km, while the performance of 2km showed no significant improvement, the mean values of both mean power per kilogram body weight and peak power per kilogram body weight were not increased significantly. In the control group, there were no significant changes in the all abovementioned parameters. The results of this study indicate that living high-training low can improve the aerobic energy-supply systems. We conclude that 4-week of living high and training low can improve sea level endurance performance in rowers.

Objective To explore the feasibility and value of low dose CT scan for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.Methods 150 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis underwent three doses CT scan (standard dose:150 mA;low-dose:15 mA and 30 mA) using GE dual slices helical CT.Besides the different tube current,other scan parameters including tube voltage,scan cycle,pitch,and collimation were the same in three dose groups.The scanned extent was from apexes to bases of lung.Image quality in standard group was compared with that in other two low dose groups and analyzed statistically by three radiologists.Results CT characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis could be detected efficiently using low dose CT scan(30 mA) program,which was no significant as compared with the CT image using standard CT sose(P＞0.05).Howere,CT scan at 15 mA obviously affected on the diagnosis for both active and inactive pulmonary tuberculosis,the difference was significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion Low dose CT scan can replace totally the standard dose CT scan in diagnosing pulmonary tubercrulosis.

The establishment of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is considered as one of the most important progresses in science and technology nowadays. In recent years, the iPS cells have been used in the construction of cellular model for hereditary heart disease, and the successful treatment in animal model of myocardial infarction, which brings a bright future for exploring the pathogenesis and therapy of hereditary heart disease.

OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to evaluate the morphometric changes in the alveolar bone of the maxillary and mandibular anterior regions after retraction in adolescents.

METHODSThe sample size comprised 30 adolescent patients with class 1 bimaxillary protrusion (12 males and 18 females, age: 12-18 years old) and were treated by extracting four first pre-molars. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed 1 month before and 1 month after the retraction. For each maxillary and mandibular anterior tooth, the labial and palatal alveolar plates at cervical 1/3, middle 1/3, and apical 1/3 levels for bone thickness changes during the retraction of the maxillary and mandibular anterior regions were checked. The movements of cervical 1/3, middle 1/3, and apical 1/3 levels of the maxillary central incisor were measured. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 16.0.

RESULTSFor the adolescents, alveolar bone thickness increased on the labial side and decreased on the palatal side. The alveolar bone thicknesses of cervical 1/3 and middle 1/3 of maxillary central incisor, cervical 1/3 and apical 1/3 of maxillary lateral incisor, middle 1/3 of mandibular central incisor, apical 1/3 of mandibular lateral incisor, and middle 1/3 and apical 1/3 of mandibular canine all increased after retraction. By contrast, the alveolar bone thickness of the apical 1/3 of maxillary canine and the cervical 1/3 of mandibular canine decreased after retraction. No statistically significant difference was observed in other region.

CONCLUSIONDuring retraction, a controlled tipping movement occur in adolescents. After retraction, the alveolar bone thickness of the labial side increase, whereas that of the palatal side decrease. Moreover, the thicknesses of major areas in the alveolar bone significantly increase.

Adolescent ; Child ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Cuspid ; Female ; Humans ; Incisor ; Male ; Maxilla ; Molar ; Palate ; Tooth Movement Techniques

Anemia, Aplastic ; diagnosis ; Consensus ; Humans

Objective To explore the effects of early glucocorticoids (GC) therapy on the outcome of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Methods The clinical data of all ARDS patients admitted from January 2008 to December 2011 in Chengdu Military General Hospital of Chinese PLA were retrospectively analyzed. The adult patients whose diagnosis was in accord to the Berlin ARDS diagnostic criteria published in 2012 were enrolled, and based on whether using glucocorticoid or not, they were divided into GC group and non-GC group. All the patients in GC group received low dosage of intravenous GC within 48 hours after the onset of ARDS, including different kinds of GC, methylprednisolone, dexamethasone and hydrocortisone (hydrocortisone dosage < 5 mg·kg-1·d-1, the dosage of former two kinds of GC being converted to that of hydrocortisone), and the therapeutic course of the two groups was 7 to 21 days. The patients in non-GC group received no GC therapy after the occurrence of ARDS. The duration of mechanical ventilation, the length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and totally in hospital, medical cost and 28-day survival rate were compared between the two groups. Results One hundred and seventeen patients with ARDS were collected, including 56 cases (47.86%) in GC group and 61 cases (52.14%) in non-GC group. The duration of mechanical ventilation in GC group was significantly shorter than that in non-GC group [days:0 (0, 2.50) vs. 2.00 (0, 2.50), Z=2.015, P=0.044]. The 28-day survival rate in GC group was significantly higher than that in non-GC group [71.43%(40/56) vs. 50.82%(31/61),χ2=5.198, P=0.023]. There were no significant differences in the length of ICU stay [days:7.50 (2.00, 11.00) vs. 4.00 (1.00, 9.00), Z=1.879, P=0.060] and stay totally in hospital [days:16.00 (10.00, 27.75) vs. 15.00 (7.00, 28.00), Z=0.592, P=0.552] between GC group and non-GC group. However, the medical cost in non-GC group was significant lower than that in GC group [10 thousand Chinese yuan:3.15 (1.51, 5.78) vs. 4.39 (1.66, 10.88), Z=2.204, P=0.028]. Conclusion The early GC therapy may improve the outcome of patients with ARDS, especially beneficial to the 28-day survival rate.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence of different hemoperfusion (HP) intensity on 7-day and 28-day mortality for patients with paraquat (PQ) poisoning, and examine the factors that may affect the decision of the clinicians to prescribe a high intensity HP.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The patients admitted to the department of critical care medicine of Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University with the diagnosis of PQ poisoning from August 2012 to August 2014, fulfilling the following criteria were enrolled in the study: older than 18 years, interval from ingestion PQ to hospital admission shorter than 12 hours, and receiving HP treatment within 24 hours, and expecting surviving time exceeding 24 hours after admission, and data of the patients available for at least 28 days after admission. Depending on the intensity of HP, patients were assigned to either lower intensity HP group (LHP, defined as receiving HP for less than 4 hours, 2 columns) or higher intensity HP group (HHP, defined as receiving HP longer than 6 hours, 3 columns). Patients' data were retrieved from hospital's electronic database after hospital admission, and the results at 7th day and 28th day were recorded. Multiple logistic regression model was used to determine factors with which the clinician decided to choose the intensity of HP for the patients, and Cox regression model was used to evaluate 7-day and 28-day mortality.Results Data of 60 patients was finally available for this study. LHP group consisted of 28 patients, with a 7-day mortality of 53.6%(15 patients) and 28-day mortality of 64.3% (28 patients); 32 patients were assigned to HHP group with 7-day mortality of 43.8% (14 patients) and 28-day mortality of 62.5% (20 patients). Twenty-eight patients constituted as the HHP group, with higher PQ concentration in plasma, higher incidence of respiratory alkalosis and acute kidney injury (AKI), and higher level of lactate (Lac) compared with LHP group. However, a lower 7-day mortality was observed in the HHP group. Multiple logistic regression model indicated that at admission, interval from ingestion PQ to hospital admission longer than 4 hours [odds ratio (OR) = 1.461, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.132-1.435,P< 0.001], younger than 50 years old (40-49 years old:OR = 1.397, 95%CI = 1.251-1.703,P = 0.002;< 40 years old:OR = 1.701, 95%CI = 1.253-1.836,P< 0.001), PQ plasma concentration≥ 2 mg/L (OR = 3.140, 95%CI = 1.511-3.091,P< 0.001), white blood cell (WBC)> 10×109/L (OR = 1.222, 95%CI = 1.032-1.275, P = 0.018), Lac> 2.0 mmol/L (OR = 2.392, 95%CI = 2.090-2.734,P< 0.001), AKI on admission (stage 2:OR = 2.350, 95%CI = 2.160-3.910,P< 0.001; stage 3:OR = 2.821, 95%CI = 1.932-3.651,P< 0.001), accompanying hypoxia (OR = 2.420, 95%CI = 2.131-2.662,P = 0.003) were more likely to receive higher intensity of HP. Furthermore when compared with patients survived for 28 days, patients who were older, with higher levels of PQ concentration at admission or after 4 hours of HP, accompanied by AKI, increased serum creatinine (SCr), WBC, Lac, and acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) score, lower arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and lower pH value were more likely to die. After adjusted for con-variables in COX regression model, HHP was associated with lower 7-day mortality after admission [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.843, 95%CI = 0.732-0.971, P = 0.032], but devoid of lowering effect on 28-day mortality rate (HR = 0.930, 95%CI = 0.632-1.411,P = 0.423). In addition, age> 50 years old (HR = 1.282, 95%CI = 1.050-1.530,P = 0.043), PQ concentration increased by 1 mg/L (HR = 2.521, 95%CI = 2.371-3.825,P = 0.012), AKI on admission (HR = 3.850, 95%CI = 2.071-5.391,P< 0.001), WBC>10×109/L (HR = 1.932, 95%CI = 1.782-2.171,P = 0.006), Lac> 2.0 mmol/L (HR = 2.981, 95%CI =2.210-3.792,P = 0.002), and PaCO2< 35 mmHg (HR = 1.772, 95%CI = 1.483-2.516,P = 0.008; 1 mmHg =0.133 kPa) were independent risk factors for 28-day mortality.Conclusions Though HHP was helpful in lowering mortality rate in patients with PQ poisoning within 7 days, it did not influence on 28-day mortality. Clinicians' decisions on HP intensity need further investigation, and more perfect clinical evaluation system is required for reasonable use of expensive medical resources such as HP.

Objective To study the expression of skin aspartic protease (SASPase) in lesions of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) and its role in the pathogenesis of CLE.Methods Skin samples were resected from the lesions and normal skin of 9 patients with CLE,including 3 cases of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE),4 cases of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and 2 cases of acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (ACLE).Keratinocytes were isolated from the tissue samples and cultured in serum-free medium.Total proteins were extracted from the keratinocytes and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.ImageMaster 2D analysis software was used to assess differentially expressed proteins in keratinocytes between the lesional and normal skin,which were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).The expression levels of SASPase were further determined by Western blot.The data were analyzed statistically by Student's t test.Results Keratinocytes were isolated from the tissue samples and successfully cultured in vitro.Two-dimensional electrophoresis profiles of proteins from the keratinocytes were obtained with high resolution and reproducibility,and the average matching protein spots were about 1200 with the matching rate higher than 80％.As Western blot showed,the relative expression level of SASPase was 0.463 ± 0.018 in keratinocytes from the lesional skin,and 0.145 ± 0.011 in those from the normal skin (P ＜ 0.05).The Western blot results were consistent with those of two-dimensional electrophoresis.Conclusion The initiation and progression of CLE seem to be associated with the abnormal activation and overexpression of SASPase.