Cardiomyopathies ; classification ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Biology ; trends

Child, Preschool ; Coronary Aneurysm ; diagnosis ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Immunologic Factors ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Infant ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; classification ; complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Prognosis

Child ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary

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 explore the effect of the ?-blocker —metoprolol on the treatment of vasovagal syncope(VVS) in children.Methods Twenty-nine children with unexplained syncope and positive responses to head-up tilt test(HUT) were included in the study.Sixteen of them took metoprolol(treatment group) and 13 of them took vitamin B or oryzanol (control group) at least 2 weeks and HUT were repeated and syncope episodes were observed.Results In treatment group,9 of 16 patients had no syncope episode while 5 of 16 patients had fewer syncope episodes,1 case had more syncope episodes,and 1 case remained the same.HUT were repeated and 6 of 9 cases had negative outcome.In control group,1 of 13 patients had no syncope episode while 5 of 13 patients had fewer syncope episode,3 cases had more syncope episodes and 4 cases remained the same.HUT were repeated and 3 of 7 cases had ne-(gative) outcome.Conclusion These results indicate that adminstering metoprolol orally may be effective for VVS in children.

Objective To study the impact of capitation payment on obstetric indicators for the maternity insurance of urban workers in Yinchuan city.Methods Collection of indicators on lying-in women hospitalized at the obstetrics departments of designated hospitals in Yinchuan,in the period of 2011 to 2012 when the capitation payment was put in place.Such indicators include the percentage of uterine-incision delivery,diagnostics and therapeutic expenses,drug expenses,and average days of stay,along with mortality of pregnant and lying-in women and that of newborns,which are used as indicators to measure quality of care.Results The capitation payment policy has witnessed drops in the percentage of uterine-incision delivery,cost per inpatient,drug expenses per inpatient and average days of stay among urban workers covered by the insurance.The drops amount to 10％ for cost per inpatient and 45％ for drug expenses per inpatient.The differences found in pregnant and lying-in women are not statistically significant.Conclusion Capitation payment is conducive to dropping the percentage of uterine-incision delivery and medical expenses,and saving medical insurance payment,for the sake of optimal use of healthcare resources.

Humans ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

To study the effect of Gegen Qinlian decoction and its major effective components on five hepatic microsomal CYP450 isozymes in rats. The in vitro hepatic microsomal incubation technique was used to co-culture Gegen Qinlian decoction and its major effective components together with each probe substrate. HPLC-MS/MS was used to establish the analytical method for metabolites of the five isoform probe substrates of CYP450 isozymes, detect the linearity among micoromal protein concentration, incubation time and metabolite formation amount. And HPLC-MS/MS was applied to determine the formation rate (V) of corresponding metabolites (acetaminophen, 4-OH-chlorzoxazone, dextrophan, 6-OH-chlorzoxazone and 6β-hydroxytestosterone) specific probe substrates of the five isoform probe substrates of CYP450 isozymes (phenacetin, polbutamide, dextromethorphan, chlorzoxazone, testosterone), in order to determine the activity of each isozyme. The result showed good linearity among acetaminophen, 4-OH-tolbutamide, dextrophan, 6-OH-chlorzoxazone and 6β-hydroxytestosterone, satisfactory precision, stability and average recovery, suggesting the method was feasible. The optimized in vitro microsomal incubation conditions conformed to the requirements in the guideline of drug-drug interaction. Gegen Qinlian decoction showed different degrees of inhibitor effect on 5 CYP450 isoforms (CYP1A2, CYP2C11, CYP2D2, CYP2E1, CYP3A1/2). Its major effective component berberine could inhibit each CYP450 isoform at high concentrations (except for CYP1A2, CYP3A1/2).
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Isoenzymes ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Liver ; enzymology ; Rats ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

OBJECTIVEThe study was designed to explore the value of the New York University Pediatric Heart Failure Index (NYU PHFI) for diagnosing and grading chronic heart failure in children.

METHODSTotally 105 children with chronic heart failure or structural heart disease but without signs and symptoms of heart failure were enrolled. They were diagnosed using modified Ross score, NYU PHFI and NT-proBNP, respectively. According to modified Ross score as the referent criteria, the diagnostic value of NYU PHFI in quantifying chronic heart failure severity in children was studied. Furthermore, according to the grading of heart failure using modified Ross score, the area under the ROC curves of NYU PHFI was examined, respectively, in order to find out the optimal cut-off point.

RESULTSNYU PHFI score was positively correlated with the modified Ross score (r = 0.909, P = 0.000). According to modified Ross score, NYU PHFI scores in different severity of heart failure in children differed significantly (F = 80.034, P = 0.000). A significantly positive correlation was found between plasma NT-proBNP and modified Ross score, and between NT-proBNP and NYU PHFI score. Correlation coefficients between plasma NT-proBNP and modified Ross score, and between plasma NT-proBNP and NYU PHFI score were 0.752 and 0.918, respectively. The correlation between NYU PHFI and plasma NT-proBNP was superior to that between modified Ross score and plasma NT-proBNP. According to modified Ross scores of 0 - 2 as being without heart failure, 3 - 6 as mild degree of heart failure, 7 - 9 as moderate degree of heart failure and 10 - 12 as severe degree of heart failure, the areas under the ROC curve of the NYU PHFI diagnosing if heart failure was present, differentiating moderate from mild and severe from moderate heart failure were 0.982, 0.942 and 0.918, respectively, and the sum of sensitivity and specificity was favorite when 6, 10 and 13 scores were set as cut-off value diagnosing the presence of heart failure, differentiating moderate from mild, and severe from moderate heart failure, respectively. According to above classification of heart failure based on NYU PHFI score, plasma NT-proBNP concentration was significantly different in different degree of heart failure (F = 53.31, P < 0.001). Plasma NT-proBNP concentration in those without heart failure was significantly lower than that of mild heart failure, and it was also significantly lower in mild heart failure than that of severe heart failure.

CONCLUSIONNYU PHFI was highly valuable for diagnosing chronic heart failure in children and 0 - 6 scores as being without heart failure, 7 - 10 scores as mild degree, 11 - 13 scores as moderate degree and 14 - 30 scores as severe degree of heart failure could be used as the reference criteria of different severities of heart failure.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Failure ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Severity of Illness Index

Objective: To explore the relationship between expression of tumor necrosis factor-α( TNF-α) and electrophysiological heterogeneity in isolated heart tissues and isolated rat ventricular myocytes.The arrhythmogenic mechanisms of TNF-αwere further studied.Methods:Langendorff perfused heart tissues models were used to verify the arrhythmogenic effects of TNF-α.The monophasic action potentials( MAPs) of the endocardium and epicardium from the isolated heart tissues were recorded by elec-trophysiological experiments.The isolated rat ventricular myocytes were obtained by enzymatic dissociation.K+currents(Ito,IK1)were recorded by using whole cell patch clamp technique.Results: Compared to the control group, the difference in MAPD between endocardium and epicardium dramatically increased with TNF-α( P<0.05 ) .TNF-αcould cause MAP duration ( MAPD ) prolongation, and a single dose of TNF-αdifferentially affected the MAPs of endocardium and epicardium of isolated heart tissues.Compared to the control group,the K+currents(Ito,IK1)were dose-dependently decreased with TNF-αin rat ventricular myocytes(P<0.05).However, etanercept had no effects on the MAPD in the absence of TNF-α.Conclusion:TNF-α-induced heterogeneity of MAPD between the endo-cardium and epicardium may provide the substrate for the onset of ventricular arrhythmias during acute myocardial infarction.The effect might be associated with TNF-αcontribute to re-entrant ventricular arrhythmias which resulted from decreased K+currents(Ito,IK1).