Objective To observe the efficacy of combinated inhaled glucocorticosteroid and long- ?2 - agonist for asthmatic children. Methods Forty- seven children with moderate or severe persistent asthma were treated with inhalation of the fluticasone pro-pionate and salmeterol. The PEF value and the mark according the symptom of asthma before and after treatment( week and month respectively) were recorded. At the same time the days of treatment the patient with the short - ?2 - agonist in the first week and the forth week respectively were noted. The subjective feeling and accident of patients also should be paid attention. Results There was significant difference (P

This study was purposed to investigate the angiogenesis-promoting activities of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) modified by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and the underlying mechanisms. The hMSCs were transfected by recombinant adenoviral vector carrying human HGF gene and seeded onto the chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Three days later, the number of blood vessels was counted and their angiogenic response was compared with those of hMSCs of same generation, recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and alpha-MEM as control. The expression levels of bFGF, VEGF, angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were evaluated by RT-PCR assay. The results showed that gene-modified hMSCs exhibited greatest activity to promote angiogenesis while the angiogenic response was nearly same between groups treated by hMSCs and bFGF, all of which were significantly higher than that observed in control (p < 0.01). RT-PCR analysis revealed that hMSCs constitutively expressed multiple angiogenesis-associated growth factors and their levels seemed up-regulated by HGF gene transfer. It is concluded that HGF gene-modified hMSCs show a potent angiogenesis-promoting function and may be useful in the treatment of ischemic disorders.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chick Embryo ; Chickens ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; genetics ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; genetics ; Transfection

Objective To evaluate the application of non-bioartificial liver support system (ALSS) combined with liver transplantation(LT) in treating mid-or end-stage chronic severe hepati- tis.Methods ALSS plus liver transplantation were employed in treating 28 patients with mid-or end- stage chronic severe hepatitis.Clinical data from the patients before and after treatment were collect- ed.The survive rate of ALSS plus LT group were compared with that of medication group 99 cases and medication plus ALSS group 30 cases.The data were analyzed with t test and X~2 test.Results After 57 times ALSS treatment,the serum total bilirubin(TBil),prothromin time(PT),bile acid, blood urea nitrogen(BUN),creatnine(Cr) and ammonia of all the 28 patients got improved(P 0.05).The clinical symptoms and signs of the patients were ameliorated at median 3 d(1～153 d). All patients were bridged to liver transplantation successfully after median 20 d(1～153 d).The 3 and 6 months post-operation survival rate of ALSS plus LT group(71.4%,71.4%) were significantly higher than those in medication group(18.2%,11.1%) and medication plus ALSS group(36.7%, 26.6%)(P

Adult ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Osteoblastoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Patella

Adult ; Aged ; External Fixators ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tibial Fractures ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the epidemiological changes of erectile dysfunction (ED) patients in the past five years.

METHODSIn 2003 and 2008, we conducted two questionnaire investigations on the epidemiological changes of ED outpatients in 11 Chinese cities in such aspects as age, disease course, ED severity, smoking and drinking habits, accompanying hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease (CHD), and sexual intercourse satisfaction.

RESULTSAccording to the valid copies of the questionnaire collected (808 in 2003 and 858 in 2008), the age pattern of the ED patients hardly changed in the past five years, over 60% aged 30 - 50 years. Compared with the results obtained in 2003, the second investigation showed obvious increases in the following numbers of the ED patients: by 13% in those with longer disease courses (5 - 10 yr), from 24.1 to 42.9% in those with moderate ED, from 20.4 to 29.9% in those with severe ED, by at least 10% in those with smoking and drinking habits, from 11.5 to 16.2% in those with hypertension, from 9.4 to 13.5% in those with diabetes, and from 57.6 to 73.3% in those without sexual satisfaction, while the number of those with CHD did not change significantly.

CONCLUSIONIncreased unhealthy living habits and erectile function impairing diseases have added to the incidence and severity of ED. There is still much work to be done in the prevention and early treatment of ED.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Erectile Dysfunction ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; Penile Erection ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the blood supply of low density viable area of primary heptocellular carcinoma after transcatheter hepatic artery chemoembolization using lipiodol (LP-TACE), by helical dual-phase CT scanning and three dimensional CT (3DCT).

METHODSThirty-four patients with primary heptocellular carcinoma after LP-TACE were examined by hepatic helical dual-phase CT. 3DCT model of the maximum intensity projection (MIP), surface shaded display (SSD) reconstruction of the hepatic artery and portal vein were simultaneously done in 5 cases.

RESULTSViable tumor areas of 34 cases of primary heptocellular carcinoma after LP-TACE were divided into four types: peripheral, lateral, central and diffused types. Enhanced tumor vessel or tissue in viable tumor area was found during hepatic dual-phase in 17 cases, during hepatic artery-phase only in 8 and hepatic portal vein-phase only in 3. The viable tumor areas were found to have blood supply from the hepatic vein in 2 cases. The viable tumor area unenhanced during hepatic dual-phase was found in 6 cases. In 5 cases, the relation between the viable tumor area and branches of hepatic artery and portal vein was showed by MIP and SSD of hepatic artery and portal vein.

CONCLUSIONHepatic helical dual-phase CT scan with 3DCT is effective in evaluating the blood supply of viable tumor areas and the therapeutic effect of primary heptocellular carcinoma after LP-TACE.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Catheterization ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Contrast Media ; Female ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Iodized Oil ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

OBJECTIVETo gain a deeper insight into the benefits of oral tadalafil for patients with erectile dysfunction (ED).

METHODSFrom January 2008 to June 2009, we conducted a nationwide survey on the quality of male erectile function among the outpatients under the direction of the Chinese Association of Andrology. A total of 205 ED patients were prescribed oral tadalafil and accomplished a questionnaire investigation after 4 weeks of medication. We compared various parameters of the patients before and after the treatment.

RESULTSFour weeks of oral tadalafil medication achieved a total rate of effectiveness of 85.9% (176/205). The proportion of those with moderate to severe ED was decreased from 67.8% (139/205) before medication to 16.6% (34/205) after it. Those who enjoyed sexual life were increased from 21.5% (44/205) before medication to 84.9% (174/205) after it. Only 1.0% (2/205) of the patients could achieve grade 4 penile hardness before the treatment, as compared with 60.5% (124/205) after it. And the frequency of sexual intercourse was significantly increased, over 4 times in 90.2% (159/205) of the patients.

CONCLUSIONOral tadalafil, with its sure effectiveness on ED, can bring great benefits to the sexual life of ED patients.

Adult ; Carbolines ; therapeutic use ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penile Erection ; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tadalafil ; Treatment Outcome

To study the molecular characteristics of Noroviruses causing outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis in Huzhou. During April 2008 and February 2009, fecal specimens of patients collected from 2 outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis were tested for Norovirus by real-time RT-PCR. Partial sequence of RNA dependent RNA polymerase(RdRp) of the positive samples were amplified by RT-PCR, the PCR products were then purified, sequenced and phylogenetic analysis was conducted. Both genogroup II (GII) and genogroup I (GI) noroviruses were detected in 2 outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that two of the GI norovirus strains isolated from 2008 belonged to genotype GI/2 and one of the GI Norovirus strain isolated from 2009 belonged to genotype GI/3. The other GIIú norovirus strains isolated from 2009 had high nucleotide identity with GIIb genotype that had been reported frequently in European countries during 2000 and 2001 and in Asian countries recently. These results suggested that the epidemic strains of norovirus isolated in Huzhou had a high degree of genetic diversity and prevalent genotypes at different times were also different. To our knowledge this is the first report of detecting GIIb variant in outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis in China.
Acute Disease ; Caliciviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Feces ; virology ; Gastroenteritis ; epidemiology ; virology ; Genotype ; Humans ; Norovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Injections ; Male ; Pneumonia ; drug therapy ; Quinuclidines ; therapeutic use ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; complications