Objective To compare the value of 18 F-labeled deoxyglucose (FDG) PET or PET-CT with MRI in detecting local residue or recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy, by performing a meta-analysis of relevant trials.Methods A literature search was performed to English original articles about FDG PET or PET-CT and MRI in Medline, Embase and the Cochrane database from January 1995 to August 2009.The reference standard was histopathologic analysis and/or close clinical and imaging follow-up.Two reviewers searched articles and extracted data independently.Sensitivity, specificity,summary receiver operating characteristic curves (SROC), and the Q index for FDG PET or PET-CT and MRI were pooled, respectively.Results Seventeen studies about FDG PET or PET-CT and 10 studies about MRI were included in this meta-analysis.The pooled sensitivity of FDG PET or PET-CT and MRI were 0.935(95% CI= 0.901 -0.964) and 0.792 (95% CI= 0.731 -0.844), separately.The pooled specificity were 0.924 (95 % CI= 0.898 - 0.945) and 0.787 (95 % GI= 0.746 - 0.825), separately.Area under SROC curves of PET-CT or PET (0.966) was significantly larger than that of MRI (0.852) (z =2.29, P < 0.05).The Q * index estimates for PET-CT or PET (0.914) were significantly higher than for MRI (0.783)(z=2.94,P<0.05).Conclusions FDG-PET/PET-CT has higher accuracy than MRI in diagnosing local residue or recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy.

Objective: To investigate the relationship of nm23 and VEGF expression with hilar lymph node micrometastasis and the prognosis of stage Ⅰ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Immunohisto-chemistry was used to detect nm23 and VEGF protein expression in primary cancer tissue and cytokeratins in 86 hilar lymph nodes from 40 patients with stage Ⅰ NSCLC. Kaplan-meier method and Log rank test were used to analyze the 5-year survival. Results: The rate of positive hilar lymph node micrometastasis was 12.5% for stage Ⅰ NSCLC. Lymph node micrometastasis was not statistically correlated with gender, age, histologic type, differentiation, primary tumor size or VEGF protein expression (P>0.05). But it was reversely associated with nm23 protein expression in primary cancer tissue of NSCLC (P<0.05). The 5-year overall survival of pa-tients with well-differentiated NSCLC, positive nm23 expression and negative lymph node micrometastasis was better than those with moderately and poorly differentiated NSCLC, negative nm23 expression and posi-tive lymph node micrometastasis (P<0.05). Lymph node micrometastasis and nm23 protein expression were identified as two independent prognostic factors for stage Ⅰ NSCLC by univariate Cox regression analysis.Conclusion: nm23 protein expression in pdmary cancer tissue of stage Ⅰ NSCLC is closely associated with hi-lar lymph node micrometastasis, nm23 protein and hilar lymph node micrometastasis are two independent prognostic factors for stage Ⅰ NSCLC. Patients with nm23 protein deletion and positive lymph node microme-tastasis have a poor prognosis.

Thirty seven patients with venous thromboembolic disease in puerperium were admitted to hospital from January 2005 to December 2008; the clinical data of patients were retrospectively analyzed.The average age of patients was (33 ± 6)years (21 -42 years); the average onset time was ( 10 ± 6) d( 1 -50 d) after delivery.Seven patients had vaginal birth and 30 by cesarean section.The risk factors included pregnancy,cesarean section,age,infection,thrombophilia.All were diagnosed by ultrasonography and treated by anticoagulant,antiplatelet and thrombolytic therapy in the acute phase,followed by wearing elastic compressive stockings for more than 2 years.Pulmonary embolism was diagnosed in 8 patients by CT angiography,in 7 of whom inferior vena cava filter was administrated emergently.The patients were followed up for (29 ± 10)months ( 12 -60 months); during the follow-up 3 developed deep vein post-thrombosis syndrome,while others kept in good condition.The results indicate that initial anticoagulant,antiplatelet and thrombolytic therapy followed by elastic compressive stockings administration is effective for venous thromboembolic disease during puerperium.

Objective To evaluate endoluminal repair and preoperative management for acute Standford type B aortic dissection complicating massive hydrothorax. Methods The clinical data of 27 patients (23 males, 4 females) hospitalized from January 2003 to December 2008 were analysed retrospectively. The average age was 47 ±9 years (35 ～70). Eleven patients had bilateral huge hydrothorax (40. 7% ) , while 13 had left hydrothorax (48. 1% ) and 3 had right hydrothorax (11. 1% ) only, and in 2 of them with additional pericardial effusion (7.4% ). SaO2 was below 90% in all cases. All patients underwent emergency endovascular repair. For control of massive hydrothorax found by CT or chest fluoroscopy, puncture drainage or tube drainage were administrated postoperatively. Results All the 27 operations were successful, and there was no perioperative mortality. Three type Ⅰ and one type Ⅳ endoleaks occurred but disappeared in one month. Hydrothorax disappeared 28 days to 3 months postoperatively in all patients, of which 5 cases had puncture drainage (18.5%) and 1 case had tube drainage ( 3. 7% ). Mean follow-up was 30 ± 20 m ( 6 ～ 78 m ) after endovascular management. Complications included pleural thickening (6 of 27, 22. 2% ) , pulmonary atelectasis (2 of 27, 7. 4% ) , and lung consolidation combined with chest dent (2 of 27, 7. 4% ). Conclusions Emergency endovascular therapy is safe and effective for acute Stanford type B aortic dissection with massive hydrothorax. Drainage of hydrothorax after stent-graft deployment is a must for the patient suffering from severe respiratory failure.

Insulin is the most common medicine used for diabetic patients, unfortunately, its effective time is short, even the long-acting insulin cannot obtain a satisfactory effect. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is a recently discovered glucose mediator and expected to be a potential anti-diabetic drug that does not rely on insulin. In this study, db/db mice were used as the type 2 diabetic model to examine whether mFGF-21 has the long-term blood lowering effect on the animal model. The results showed that mFGF-21 could stably maintain the blood glucose at normal level for a long-term in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of mFGF-21 once a day with three doses (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg x kg(-1)) could maintain blood glucose of the model animals at normal level for at least 24 h. Administration of mFGF-21 every two days with the same doses could maintain blood glucose of the model animals at normal level for at least 48 h, although it took longer time for blood glucose to reach to normal level depending on doses used (twenty injections for 0.125 mg x kg(-1) and 0.25 mg x kg(-1) doses, ten injections for 0.5 mg x kg(-1) dose). Surprisingly, the blood glucose of the treated model animals still maintained at normal level for 24 h after the experiment terminated. Glycosylated hemoglobin level of the animals treated with mFGF-21, which represented long-term glucose status, decreased significantly compared to the control group and the insulin group. The results suggest that FGF-21 has potential to become a long-acting and potent anti-diabetic drug.

Objective To analyse the management of splanchnic artery aneurysms by open surgery and endoluminal therapy. Methods The clinical data of 10 splanchnic artery aneurysm patients (four male, six female) hospitalised from January 2002 were analysed retrospectively. The average age was (56 ± 13) years (28 - 74). Surgical or endoluminal treatment for six cases of splenic artery aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms were applied, among which multiple splenic artery aneurysms was found in one, and aberrant aneurysms at the proximal section of the splenic artery originating from a spleno-mesenteric trunk was found in three, splenic artery pseudoaneurysm in one and single aneurysm with normal splenic artery in anatomy in one. Besides, there were two superior mesenteric artery aneurysm, one of tuberculous celiac artery pseudoaneurysm and one renal artery aneurysm. Results The tuberculous celiac artery pseudoaneurysm was successfully managed by deploying a stent-graft endoluminally. One case was converted to open surgery after the splenic artery aneurysm was only paitially covered by a stent-graft. The other 8 cases were successfully treated by open surgery. All of the operations are successful. All patients were followed up from three months to six years, during which no death or other severe complications occurs. Conclusions The splanchnic artery varies from one to another anatomically. Preoperative CT scan or digital substraction angiology are helpful for the diagnosis of the splanchnic arterial aneurysms and choosing an appropriate management. Conventional open surgery is effective and reliable, while endoluminal therapy is a minimally invasive alternative.

Objective To investigate the differentially expressed genes of primary esophageal squamous cell carci-noma and of normal esophageal mucosa. Methods LCM-GMA-cDNA microarray was used to detect the mRNA from both the primary carcinoma and the corresponding esophageal epithelium in 15 cases of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). After high-stringent washing, the cDNA microarray was scanned for the fluores-cent signals. Results Among the 886 target genes, 34 genes had significant difference in Ⅰ / Ⅱ and Ⅲ/Ⅳ group. Cell cycle regulators possibly promoting the growth of tumor cells were highly expressed in the early stages of ESCC, whereas adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix-related molecules possibly promoting invasiveness increased in the later stages. Conclusion More than one gene contributed to esophageal cancer. The profiles of gene expression will bring us chance to understanding the molecular mechanism of tumor progression and to support clinical treat-ment.

AIM:To study the effect of p21-activated protein kinase 2 (PAK2) knockdown by RNA interfer-ence on the proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer cells .METHODS:The short hairpin RNA ( shRNA) targe-ting PAK2 gene was designed and used for packing lentivirus in 293T cells.Human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were infected by the virus particles and PAK2 knockdown stable cell line was established by puromycin selection .The knockdown effi-ciency was assessed by Western blotting .The proliferation ability of MCF-7 cells was evaluated by CellTiter 96 AQueous and anchorage-independent growth assays .The cell apoptosis induced by staurosporine was detected by flow cytometry . RESULTS:The protein level of PAK2 was significantly suppressed after silencing of PAK2 gene in MCF-7 cells ( P<0.01).Furthermore, knockdown of PAK2 caused remarkable inhibition of the cell proliferation and colony formation (P<0.01).Staurosporine induced more apoptosis in the PAK2 knockdown cells compared with the control cells (P<0.01). CONCLUSION:Knockdown of PAK2 inhibits the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and increases the sensitivity of chemothera-peutic drug-induced cell apoptosis , suggesting that PAK2 might be a new therapeutic target in breast cancer treatment .

Objective To evaluate long-term outcome of simultaneous kissing sirolimus-eluting stent (SKS) technique versus single sirolimus-eluting stent (SSS) technique for percutaneous treatment of true coronary bifurcation lesions in large-size vessels.Methods This randomized study assigned 190 patients with a coronary bifurcation lesion to simultaneous kissing stenting (SKS) in both main and side branches and 190 patients to main vessel stenting only (SSS).The endpoints included restenosis,death,non-fatal myocardial infarction,target-lesion revascularization (TLR),stent thrombosis,success rate of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and the operation duration.Results During 1-year follow-up,the SKS group and the SSS group had similar incidences of overall re stenosis [30 ( 15.8 ％ ) vs.24 ( 15.2 ％ ),x2=0.000,P＜0.05],mainbranch restenosis [20 ( 10.5％ ) vs.16 ( 10.1％ ),x2=0.003,P ＞ 0.05];side-branch restenosis [13 ( 6.8％ )vs.23 ( 14.6％ );x2=4.73,P＜0.05];death [2 ( 1.1％ ) vs.1 ( 0.6％ ),x2=0.026,P ＞ 0.05],non-fatal myocardial infarction [4 (2.1％ ) vs.2 ( 1.3％ ),x2=0.034,P ＞ 0.05],TLR [23 ( 12.1％ ) vs.20 ( 12.7％ ),x2=0.000,P ＞ 0.05] and stent thrombosis [4 (2.1％ ) vs.2 ( 1.3 ％ ),x2=0.034,P ＞ 0.05] and a shorter operation duration[(20 ± 8) min vs.(45 ± 9) min,t=1.98,P＜0.05] than the SSS group.Conclusion For true coronary bifurcation lesions in large-size vessels,SKS and SSS have similar long-term outcomes.The SKS group has a higher success rate of PCI and shorter operation duration.

The differentially expressed genes between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with or without lymphatic metastasis were investigated by gene chip, and the lymphatic metastasis-associated genes were screened out. Expression array was used to detect the mRNA from both the primary carcinoma and the corresponding esophageal epithelium in 15 cases of human ESCC. The lymphatic metastasis-associated genes were screened by bioinformatics between ESCC with or without lymphatic metastasis. The results showed that 43 (4.85 %) genes significantly differed between the ESCC with and without lymphatic metastasis (P<0.05), of which 18 (2.03 %)were upregulated and 25 (2.82 %) down-regulated. The up-regulated genes were involved in cell adhesion molecules and cell membrane receptors and the down-regulated genes were mostly cell cycle regulators and intracellular signaling molecules. It was suggested that lymphatic metastasis-associated genes were screened by gene chip, which was helpful to understand the molecular mechanism of ESCC lymphatic metastasis and lymphatic metastasis-associated genes might be used as diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for lymphatic metastasis.