Objective To evaluate the safety,effectiveness,and middle or long-term efficacy of endovascular stenting of internal carotid artery stenosis at the cavernous segment. Methods Thirty-two patients underwent endovascular stenting at the cavernous segment of internal carotid artery from January 2012 to February 2015 were enrolled retrospectively. Angioplasty and stenting were conducted using Apollo or Winspan stent system. The improvement of internal carotid artery cavernous segment stenosis and perioperative safety and the results of the medium and long-term follow-up of the 2 kinds of stents were observed. Results All the 32 patients achieved technical success. The symptoms of cerebral ischemia of the patients were relieved significantly. The length of the stenosis at cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery was 4 to 13 mm (mean,7. 2 ±2. 9 mm). The stenosis rate from 82 ± 7% before treatment decreased to the 24 ± 7% . One patient had perioperative complication (4. 7%),26 of them were followed up with DSA,and 6 were lost to follow-up. The follow-up period ranged from 7 to 29 months (mean,16 ± 7 months). During the follow-up period,1 patient had intracerebral hemorrhage,1 had cerebral infarction,and none of them died. Four patients had in-stent restenosis,three of them used Winspan stents, and 1 used Apollo stents. Conclusion The patients should be screened strictly,particularly paying attention to the length of lesions. Endovascular stent angioplasty for the treatment of internal carotid artery cavernous segment stenosis is a safe and effective method.

Objective To summarize the evaluation standard of cardiac death organ donation from Chinese first category donor heart application and experience of donor heart function maintenance.Method From Jan.2013 to Jan.2015,donor hearts for heart transplantation were obtained in 18 cases of Chinese first category cardiac death organ donors from 109 cases of organ donation donors through rigorous assessment and effective donor heart function maintenance.The diagnosis of brain death was based on the diagnosis of brain death criteria (adult) by the neurological department of internal medicine,department of neurosurgery,and intensive care unit with brain death qualification.Organ donation work followed the basic principles of voluntary,free,fair,equitable and technical access.Result Eighteen case of heart transplantations were all operated with double lumen venous anastornosis.The cold ischemia time was (125.5+ 18.7) min (61-60 min),and cardiopulmonary bypass time was (130.4+ 12.5) min (99-193 min).In 18 heart transplantations,16 cases survived,and 2 eases died of acute right heart failure.During the follow-u period,the quality of life in the survival recipients was satisfactory.Conclusion Using cardiac death organ donation from Chinese first category donor heart transplantation has achieved good results.The accurate assessment of donor hearts and effective donor heart function maintenance are the key factors to guarantee the success of heart transplantation.

Objective:To evaluate the safety and feasibility of endovascular recanalization for non-acute internal carotid artery occlusion (NA-ICAO), and to propose a new angiographic classification.Methods:From April 2015 to October 2019, 95 consecutive patients with symptomatic NA-ICAO who received endovascular recanalization were retrospectively analyzed in Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University. All the patients were divided into four groups according to DSA: type Ⅰ, petrous segments were distally reconstituted by collateral vessels; type Ⅱ, cavernous segments were distally reconstituted by collateral vessels; type Ⅲ, ophthalmic segments were distally reconstituted by collateral vessels; type Ⅳ, communicating segments were distally reconstituted by collateral vessels. Study data including clinical characteristics, surgical details, lesion classification, recanalization rate and perioperative complications. For the counting data, the χ 2 test was used to compare between groups. For the quantitative data, the ANOVA was used for the normal distribution data, otherwise the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used. The primary safety outcome was any stroke or death within 30 days. Results:Among the 95 patients, 67 (70.53%) had successful recanalization. The recanalization rates of type Ⅰ－Ⅳ were 92.31% (36/39), 81.82% (18/22), 47.83% (11/23) and 18.18% (2/11) respectively (χ2=29.557, P<0.001). And the complication rates of the four types were 5.13% (2/39), 13.64% (3/22), 21.74% (5/23) and 9.10% (1/11) respectively. The incidence of perioperative ischemic stroke was 2.11% (2/95). No other serious stroke and death occurred. Conclusions:Endovascular recanalization may be feasible and safe for carefully selected patients with NA-ICAO and therefore represents an alternative treatment. The patients with type Ⅰ and Ⅱ lesions had higher recanalization rates, while the patients with type Ⅳ lesions had significantly lower recalculation rate. The new angiographic classification is conducive to the selection of suitable patients and difficulty in grading.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture for adhesion-stage shoulder periarthritis.

METHODSOne hundred and fifty-seven cases of shoulder periarthritis were randomly divided into an abdominal acupuncture group (79 cases) and a body acupuncture group (78 cases). The abdominal acupuncture was applied at Zhongwan (CV 12), Shangqu (KI 17) and Huaroumen (ST 24) in the abdominal acupuncture group while conventional acupuncture was applied at Jianyu (LI 15), Jianliao (TE 14) and Jianzhen (SI 9) in the body acupuncture group. The treatment was given three times a week for both groups and ten times made an observation course. Before and after treatment, visual analogue scale (VAS) was adopted for pain assessment and functional activity score (Mallet score) was used for shoulder joint function assessment for all the patients. Also the efficacy of both groups was compared.

RESULTSThe total effective rate in the abdominal acupuncture group was 92.4% (73/79), which was superior to 71.8% (56/78) in the body acupuncture group. The score of VAS after the treatment was 2.58 +/- 1.64 in the abdominal acupuncture group while 3.12 +/- 1.93 in the body acupuncture group, which had no statistical significance between each other (P > 0.05). The functional activity score after the treatment was 8.34 +/- 3.02 in the abdominal acupuncture group while 7.49 +/- 3.36 in the body acupuncture group, which had no statistical significance between each other (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe abdominal acupuncture is an ideal treatment for adhesion-stage shoulder periarthritis, which has better total efficacy than conventional acupuncture. It achieves the same effect in relieving pain and improving functional activity as conventional acupuncture, but also has an advantage at fast selection of acupoint and less discomfort of needling sensation.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Periarthritis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Shoulder ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND: The vascularity of the peri-implant tissue is a very important parameter in establishment and maintenance of a healthy tissue after dental implant insertion. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the vascularity of the peri-implant mucosa between flap and flapless implant surgeries by using a canine mandible model. STUDY DESIGN: In six mongrel dogs, bilateral, edentulated, flat alveolar ridges were created in the mandible. After 3 months of healing, two implants were placed in each side by either the flap or flapless procedures. After another healing period of 3 months, biopsies were obtained, prepared for light microscopy and exposed to morphometric measurements. RESULTS: The supracrestal connective tissue lateral to the implant was found to be more richly vascularized in the flapless group than in the flap group. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the flapless procedure may have an effect on increasing the vascularity of the peri-implant mucosa.
Animals ; Biopsy ; Blood Vessels ; Connective Tissue ; Dental Implants ; Dogs ; Light ; Mandible ; Microscopy ; Mucous Membrane

OBJECTIVETo investigate the influence of stromal cells on the Kallikrein 7 (KLK7) expression of epithelial cells in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSWe constructed a stromal-epithelial co-culture model after separating the two types of cells from BPH tissues and identifying them by cell morphology and chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA). The expression of KLK7 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in the epithelial cells with or without the stromal cells, and that of the KLK7 protein (hK7) determined by Western blot.

RESULTSStromal and epithelial cells were successfully separated and identified, and a stromal-epithelial co-culture model successfully established. RT-PCR showed that the mRNA expression of the KLK7 gene was higher in the epithelial cells co-cultured with stromal cells than in the epithelial cells alone, and the gray value of KLK7 to GAPDH was 1.41 +/- 0.041 in the former and 1.78 +/- 0.10 in the latter (P < 0.01). The results of Western blot were consistent with those of RT-PCR.

CONCLUSIONStromal cells can suppress the expression of the KLK7 gene in the epithelial cells in BPH. KLK7 may be involved in the change of epithelial cells stimulated by stromal cells.

Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Kallikreins ; metabolism ; Male ; Prostate ; metabolism ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; metabolism ; pathology ; Stromal Cells ; metabolism

Objective:To compare the safety and therapeutic effect of bridging therapy versus direct endovascular treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke(AIS)aged 80 years and over, who received the therapy within 4.5 h of onset.Methods:A total of 89 AIS patients aged 80 years and over receiving the endovascular therapy at our hospital from January 2016 to June 2019 were studied with versus without intravenous thrombolysis before endovascular therapy(the former as bridging therapy group, n=49; the latter as the direct endovascular treatment group, n=40). Baseline information including gender, the modified Rankin scale(mRS)score, medical history, smoking history, preoperative national institute of health stroke scale(NIHSS)score were collected.Clinical data related to the operation including the times from onset to hospital, door-to-puncture and door-to-recanalization, complications(symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage, mortality)and mRS at 90 d after treatment were compared between the two groups.Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether or not bridging therapy with intravenous thrombolysis was a prognostic factor.Results:There was no significant difference in baseline information between the two groups( P>0.05). The times from onset to hospital, door-to-puncture, door-to-recanalization had no significant difference between the two groups( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage and mortality within 90 d between the two groups(26.5% or 13 cases vs. 17.5% or 7 cases, 14.3% or 7 cases vs.7.5% or 3 cases, χ2=1.031 and 1.017, P=0.310 and 0.313). With different clinical outcomes as dependent variables, after adjusting factors such as gender, admission NIHSS and medical history, Logistic regression analysis showed that the bridging therapy with intravenous thrombolysis was not a prognostic factor( OR=0.795, 95% CI: 0.280~2.258, P=0.666). Conclusions:The bridging therapy is as safe and effective as the direct intravascular therapy for AIS patients aged 80 and over within 4.5 hours of onset.The intravenous thrombolysis should be given as soon as possible within time window.

Objective To evaluate the safety and therapeutic effects of stent retriever-based thrombectomy (SRT) on acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in patients aged 80 years and older.Methods A cohort of 157 AIS patients hospitalized in Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Tiantan Hospital were selected for SRT from January 2016 to May 2017.Based on the age,all patients were divided into two groups:groups aged ＜ 80 years and ≥ 80 years.Baseline information including gender,the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score,past medical history,smoking history,preoperative National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS),the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Scores (ASPECTS),intravenous thrombolysis and clinical outcomes were compared between two groups.The informations related to the operation,including time from onset to hospital,door-to-needle puncture time,door-to-recanalization time,SRT complications (symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage,mortality) and good outcome,were compared between two groups.Logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether the age of 80 years and over was a risk factor for adverse prognosis after SRT.Results There were 130 patients in the group ＜ 80 years of age,and 27 patients in the group ≥80 years.No significant differences were found in baseline information between the two groups (all P＞ 0.05).In addition,there were no significant differences in the proportions of the operative information,complications of SRT and the good outcome (all P＞0.05).Furthermore,advanced age (≥80 years) was not a risk factor for adverse outcome after SRT (OR =0.738,95％ CI:0.300-1.813).Conclusions Stent retriever-based thrombectomy is safe and beneficial for patients with acute ischemic stroke,even in patients aged 80 years and over.

Objective: To investigate the potential function and related mechanism of microRNA-223 (miRNA-223) in the podocyte pyroptosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated glomerulonephritis induced by HBV X protein (HBx). Methods: HBx-overexpressing lentivirus was transfected into human renal podocytes to mimic the pathogenesis of HBV-GN. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting experiments were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of pyroptosis-related proteins [nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) and caspase-1], and inflammatory factors (interleukin-1β and interleukin-18), respectively.TUNEL staining and flow cytometry were used to detect the number of pyroptosis cells. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of podocytes biomarkers desmin and nephrin; Hoechst 33342 staining was used to observe the morphological and quantitative changes of podocyte nuclei. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure caspase-1 activity. The dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the downstream target of miRNA-223. Podocytes were divided into the following nine groups: control group (no special treatment), empty plasmid group (transfected with empty plasmid), HBx overexpression group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 mimic group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus and miRNA-223 mimic), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 inhibitor group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus and miRNA-223 inhibitor), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 mimic+NLRP3 group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus, miRNA-223 mimic and NLRP3 overexpression plasmid), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 mimic+ NLRP3 siRNA group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus, miRNA-223 mimic and NLRP3 siRNA), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 inhibitor+NLRP3 group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus, miRNA-223 inhibitor and NLRP3 overexpression plasmid), HBx overexpression+miRNA-223 inhibitor+NLRP3 siRNA group (transfected with HBx overexpression lentivirus, miRNA-223 inhibitor and NLRP3 siRNA). Results: miRNA-223 was down-regulated in HBx overexpression group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). TUNEL and immunofluorescence staining showed that NLRP3 knockdown attenuated podocyte injury and pyroptosis induced by HBx overexpression (P < 0.05). Dual luciferase reporter gene assay demonstrated that NLRP3 was one of the downstream targets of miRNA-223. Rescue experiments revealed that NLRP3 overexpression weakened the protective effect of miRNA-223 in podocyte injury (P < 0.05). The addition of miRNA-223 mimic and NLRP3 siRNA decreased the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and cytokines, and reduced the number of pyroptosis cells induced by HBx overexpression (all P < 0.05); The addition of miRNA-223 inhibitor and NLRP3 overexpression plasmid significantly increased the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and cytokines, caspase-1 activity, and the number of pyroptosis cells (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: HBx may promote podocyte pyroptosis of HBV-GN via downregulating miRNA-223 targeting NLRP3 inflammasome, suggesting that miRNA-223 is expected to be a potential target for the treatment of HBV-GN.
Humans ; Inflammasomes/metabolism* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Pyroptosis ; Podocytes/metabolism* ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics* ; Caspase 1/metabolism* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Carrier Proteins/metabolism* ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Glomerulonephritis/metabolism* ; RNA, Small Interfering

OBJECTIVETo assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses regarding acupuncture intervention for stroke and the primary studies within them.

METHODSTwo researchers searched PubMed, Cumulative index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, Cochrane, Allied and Complementary Medicine, Ovid Medline, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Traditional Chinese Medical Database to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses about acupuncture for stroke published from the inception to December 2016. Review characteristics and the criteria for assessing the primary studies within reviews were extracted. The methodological quality of the reviews was assessed using adapted Oxman and Guyatt Scale. The methodological quality of primary studies was also assessed.

RESULTSThirty-two eligible reviews were identified, 15 in English and 17 in Chinese. The English reviews were scored higher than the Chinese reviews (P=0.025), especially in criteria for avoiding bias and the scope of search. All reviews used the quality criteria to evaluate the methodological quality of primary studies, but some criteria were not comprehensive. The primary studies, in particular the Chinese reviews, had problems with randomization, allocation concealment, blinding, dropouts and withdrawals, intent-to-treat analysis and adverse events.

CONCLUSIONSImportant methodological flaws were found in Chinese systematic reviews and primary studies. It was necessary to improve the methodological quality and reporting quality of both the systematic reviews published in China and primary studies on acupuncture for stroke.