Objective To explore the causes of congenital hypothyroidism by single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT) thyroid imaging.Methods Nineteen cases with congenital hypothyroidism were collected,and SPECT thyroid imaging was performed 15 minutes late after injected 99m TcO_ 4- 18.5-37.0 MBq.Results Five cases were found with normal glands,1 case with enlarged thyroid, 2 cases with enlarged thyroid and increased radiation,4 cases with ectopic thyroid,4 with a hypogenetic thyroid,and the last 3 cases showed no thyroid imaging.Conclusions The causes of congenital hypothyroidism can be found by SPECT thyroid imaging,which is important to the diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism combined with detection of T_3,T_4,TSH.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinate acid(DMSA) renal cortical scintigraphy for the identification of distinguishing between upper urinary infection(UUTI) and lower upper urinary infection(LUTI).Methods Two hundred and seventy-five children (111 males,164 females)ranging from 44 days to 15 years old,presented with urinary tract infection underwent 99mTc-DMSA renal cortical scintigraphy.The images were scored as normal (indicating LUTI) and abnormal (indicating acute pyelonephritis or renal scarring).Results Of 275 children with UTI,95 cases had normal images diagnosed as LUTI,41 males,54 females;and 180 cases had abnormal images,70 males,110 females.One hundred and seventy-four cases were diagnosed as acute pyelonephritis,6 cases were diagnosed as renal cortical scars,56 cases were single renal involved and 118 cases were both renal involved,and 22 cases repeatedly underwent renal cortical scanning after therapy.Sixteen of 18 cases with acute pyelonephritis completely recovered normal or obviously ameliorated after 0.5 to 2.0 years,2 cases did not show any improvement after 0.5 to 1.5 years,4 cases with renal scarring,and showed little change on repeated images after 1.0 to 1.5 years.Conclusions The 99mTc-DMSA renal scintigraphy is very useful in differentiating the children with urinary tract infection.It also can be used to determine the extension,degree and nature of UUTI,and might play an important role in the treatment and follow-up observation in children with UUTI.

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Neoplasm Staging ; Radiation Pneumonitis ; etiology ; Radiosurgery ; adverse effects ; methods ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided

Coal Mining ; Humans ; Occupational Diseases ; prevention & control ; Occupational Health ; Tuberculosis ; prevention & control

Objective To understand human rhinovirus (HRV) etiology of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI) in children in Shanghai area and establish a nested reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR) assay.Methods Three hundred and forty-two naso- pharyngeal secretion (NPS) samples from ALRTI cases who were hospitalized were collected during January 2005—December 2005.Nested RT-PCR techniques were used to detect HRV-specific RNA.The PCR products were sequenced and data of nucleotides were analyzed.The proportion of HRV infection in children with ALRTI,the distribution of gender,age and season,and clinical char- acteristics were also investigated.Results Forty-six (13.5%) of 342 samples were HRV positive detected by nested RT-PCR.The sequences of 15 positive samples shared high homology of 83%- 97% with HRV sequence in GenBank.Within the 15 positive samples,nucleotide homology varied from 64.4% to 98.4%,and the ratio of genetic variation was from 1.6% to 48.3%./00.These 15 ampli- cons attribute to the two branches of HRV cladogram.The sequences of 15 amplieons were highly varied,in which single nucleotide mutation and several nearby nueleotides mutations were found. Ribonucleotide deletion and insertion in the nucleotide sequence was also found.HRV positive sam- ples were detected in 33 boys and 13 girls,respectively.The ratio of infection cases between boys and girls was 2.5:1.Of 46 HRV infected cases,27 (58.7%) were less than 12 months of age and 38 (82.6%) were less than 3 years old.HRV infected ALRTI occured all the year round and peaked from March to May.Of the patients whose NPS samples were HRV positive detected by nested RT-PCR,45 patients were diagnosed with bronchopneumonia and 1 was diagnosed with asthmatic bronchitis.Fever of most patients was moderate.The peripheral blood leukocyte counts in thirty-nine (84.8%) patients were less than 10?10~9/L.Neutrophil percentages in thirty-seven (80.4%) patients were less than 0.50.C-reactive protein of thirty-six (78.3%) patients were less than 8 mg/L. All of these features were the characteristics of viral pneumonia.The complications were not common and conditions of most patients were not severe.All the children were cured.Conclusions This nes- ted RT-PCR technique is highly specific,rapid and convenient for the detection of HRV RNA in NPS of patients with ALRTI and the genome of HRV viruses is highly variable.The incidence of HRV infection predominates in children in Shanghai area.ALRTI of HRV is short of specificity and condi- tions of most patients are not severe and their prognoses are fine.

Objective To observe the dynamic changes of high mobility group protein B1 ( HMGB1 )expression in the lung of rats with Vibrio vulnificus sepsis so as to unravel the role of HMGB1 in lung injury.Methods Sixty rats of clean grade were randomly divided into normal control group ( A group, n = 10) and Vibrio vulnificus sepsis group (B group, n =50). Sepsis model was made in rats with subcutaneous injection of Vibrio vulnificus with concentration of 6 × 108 cfu/ml in dose of 0. 1 ml/100 g into left lower limb.The rats of group B were sacrificed 1 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after infection for taking lung tissues to detect the water content of lung and to observe the histopathological changes in lung under light microscope.The expression of HMGB1 mRNA and the level of HMGB1 protein in the lungs were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Data were analysed with ANOVA and LSD method for comparison between groups, and P ＜0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Compared with the group A (0.652±0. 177), the expressions of HMGB1 mRNA in lung of rats of group B were significantly higher in 12 hours (1. 161 ±0.358, P=0.013), 24 hours (1.679 ±0.235, P =0.000) and 48 hours (1.258 ±0.274, P=0.004) and reached the peak in 24 h. Compared with group A (0.594 ±0. 190), the level of HMGB1 protein in rats of group B 6 h after infection ( 1. 408 ± 0. 567, P = 0. 026) was significantly increased (P＜0.05), and it reached peak in 24 h (2.415 ± 1.064, P =0.000) after infection. Compared with group A (0.699 ± 0.054), the lung water contents in rats of group B were significantly increased in 6 h (0.759±0.030, P=0.001), in 12 h (0.767 ±0.023, P =0.000), in 24 h (0.771 ±0.043, P=0.000) and in 48 h (0.789 ±0.137, P=0.000) after infection. Compared with group A, the pathological changes in the lung of rats in group B showed clearly marked pulmonary vascular congestion, interstitial edema and inflammatory cell infiltration, and those changes became more and more serious until alveolar sacs entirely collapsed and the boundaries of the alveolar septa could not be clearly identified in 48 h. Conclusions Vibrio vulnificus sepsis leads to the lung injury of infected rats, and the increase in the expression of HMGB1 mRNA in lung might be one of the mechanisms of lung injury in rats with Vibrio vulnificus sepsis.

Calcinosis ; pathology ; Child ; Humans ; Inhibins ; metabolism ; Male ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism ; Sertoli Cell Tumor ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Testicular Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Vimentin ; metabolism

Adolescent ; Brain Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ependymoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Ganglioglioma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Tubulin ; metabolism ; Vimentin ; metabolism

Objective To evaluate the capacity of atopy patch test in diagnosis of food allergy in children with atopic dermatitis (AD).Methods Egg and milk,as the most common food allergens among Chinese children,were employed in this study.Skin prick test (SPT) and atopy patch test (APT) with fresh egg and milk were carried out in 68 children with AD.Oral food challenges in an open style were performed to confirm the diagnosis of food allergy.Resuits Of these patients,58(85.3%)were sensitive to egg,40(58.8%)to milk and 34(50.0%) to both.Of 98 patients with positive challenge,47 showed late response,10 immediate reactions.and 41 mixed reactions.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value (PPV),negative predictive value (NPV) and the agreement with food challenges in diagnosis of egg/milk allergy were 96.6%/67.5%.90.0%/82.1%,98.2%/84.4%,81.8%/63.9% and 95.6%/73.5%,respectively for APT alone,37.9%/30.0%,100%/89.3%,100%/80.0%,21.7%/47.2% and 47.1%/54.4%,respectively for SPT alone.APT was found to be more sensitive in diagnosis of late-phase reactions than SPT (P<0.01).No significant difference was found in the sensitivity between APT alone and the combination of APT and SPT in parallel algorithm for diagnosis of egg or milk allergy (x2=0.509,0.549,both P>0.05) or in the specificity between APT alone and that in serial algorithm( P=1.000;x2=3.514,P>0.05).Conclusions APT is superior to SPT in diagnosis of late responses to food,and the combination of SPT and APT does not facilitate the diagnosis of food or milk allergy compared with APT alone.