Objective To investigate the diagnosis of hepatic tumors by contrast-enhanced color Doppler ultrasonography. Methods Thirty-two patients with known focal liver lesions(diameter 11-112 mm,mean 43 mm) were studied with color Doppler flow imaging(CDFI) before and after injection of 2.4 ml SonoVue at the concentration of 5 mg/ml. The pathological diagnosis included 13 benign lesions and 19 malignant ones. Analysis was performed on signal intensity of intratumoral vascularity,time of enhancement duration,resistant index and maximum velocity of intratumoral arterial blood flow. The data were compared between benign and malignant lesions. Results Before injection of SonoVue,intratumoral blood flow could be detected among 53.8 %(7/13) benign lesions and 78.9 %(15/19) malignant tumors. However these detection rates went up to 76.9 %(10/13) and 100%(19/19) respectively after administration of SonoVue. Significant difference between benign and malignant tumors was observed in time of enhancement duration. Furthermore RI showed significant difference between benign and malignant lesions.Diagnostic accuracy of hepatic tumors increased from 75.0 %( 24/32 ) to 90.6 %(29/32) after enhancement. Conclusions The clinical results showed the ability of contrast-enhanced CDFI in reflecting the blood supply of the hepatic tumors,demonstrating the high sensitivity and specificity of the technique,which could be of great value to the diagnosis of hepatic tumors.

Adult ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Bone Cysts, Aneurysmal ; pathology ; Bone Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Chondroblastoma ; pathology ; Chondrosarcoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Femur Head ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism

Objective To compare enhancement features of hepatic tumors on SonoVue-enhanced real-time gray-scale ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced helical CT.Methods SonoVue-enhanced real-time gray-scale ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced helical CT were performed on 49 patients with 54 focal liver lesions,including 29 primary liver carcinomas,4 metastatic liver tumors,11 hepatic carvernous hemangiomas,7 focal nodular hyperplasias,2 focal fatty sparing,1 cirrhotic.Results Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and helical CT showed consistent results in demonstrating hemodynamics of hepatic tumors.In the differentiating of malignant tumors and benign tumors,the sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography were(90.9)%(30/33),(90.5)%(19/21) and(90.7)%((49/54)),respectively.Those of contrast-enhanced CT were(90.9)%(30/33),(95.2)%(20/21) and(92.6)%((50/54)),respectively.Conclusions Both of the two imaging methods are valuable for differential diagnosis of liver tumors.

Adult ; Breast ; pathology ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Ultrasonography

Autonomic Nervous System Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Colon ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Enteric Nervous System ; abnormalities ; pathology ; Hirschsprung Disease ; pathology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intestinal Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; metabolism ; S100 Proteins ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in the elderly. Methods The clinical characters of HCM in 70 elderly patients were retrospectively analysed. Results Among the 196 identified HCM patients, 70 were elders. Out of them, 7 patients(10.0%) were suspected as HCM according to the clinical symptoms, 29 patients (41.4%)were suspected as other cardiac diseases, 34 (48.3%) were diagnosed HCM due to other reasons. Among the 70 patients, 12 patients(17.1%) had history of cerebrovascular diseases, 54 (77.1%) manifested symptoms after 45 years of age and 4 (5.7%) showed no obvious symptoms. Among them, 18 patients were examined by UCG for two times and HCM was diagnosed at the second time. Conclusions HCM in the elderly is not an uncommon disease. The onset of cardiac symptoms is relatively late in the elderly HCM and frequently misdiagnosed; cerebrovascular diseases are commonly seen in elderly HCM patients.

Objective To analyze the substitutions at amino acid residues of neuraminidases ( NAs) in influenza B virus strains isolated in Jiangsu province from 2010 to 2012 and to further understand the genetic evolution of NAs in those influenza B virus strains .Methods Forty strains of influenza B virus isolated in Jiangsu province from 2010 to 2012 were screened out for this study .A two-step reverse transcrip-tion PCR ( RT-PCR) was performed to amply the gene fragments encoding the neuraminidases of influenza B virus strains.The PCR products were purified and then sequenced in an ABI 3730XL Genetic Analyzer.The evolutionary characteristics of NA gene were analyzed by using DNAStar , Bioedit, MEGA 5.0 and BEAST 1.8.0 softwares.Results The phylogenetic tree analysis of the NA genes showed that the NAs of 28 Vic-toria strains were derived from the Yamagata lineage .There were reassortments between the Victoria lineage-HA and theYamagata lineage-NA.Some of the strains added a glycosylation site at position 462.No substitu-tion was found in important enzyme active sites and neuraminidase inhibitor resistant sites .The Bayesian MCMC analysis showed that the estimated mean evolutionary rate for NA gene was 1.74×10-3(95%HPD:1.46×10-3-2.06×10-3) substitutions/site/year.The dN/dS ratio (ω), an indicator of selective pressure, was 0.24.Conclusion The important amino acid sites of NA were relatively conservative and the evolution -ary rate for NA gene was low .The dN/dS ratio was less than one , indicating that the NA gene was under pu-rifying selection .

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: Seventy-two PTC cases were divided into 3 groups according to the level of invasion: papillary microcarcinoma group (PMC group), intrathyroid carcinoma group (IPC group), and extrathyroid carcinoma group (EPC group). They were again divided into 2 groups according to lymph node metastasis: lymph node metastasis group and lymph node no-metastasis group. The expressions of VEGF-C, CD105 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) were detected by SP method of immunohistochemical staining. The expression of VEGF-C was analyzed quantitatively by image analysis system, and the PI of VEGF-C (VEGF-C-PI), the number of MVD (microvessel density), and LVD (lymphaticvessel density) were obtained. RESULTS: The VEGF-C-PI of lymph node metastasis group (23.15 +/- 3.75) was higher than that of lymph node non-metastasis group (14.54 +/- 2.93) (P <0.01). MVD was 35.25 +/- 2.06 in the PMC group, 41.75 +/- 5.46 in the IPC group, and 52.58 +/- 4.16 in the EPC group, which showed the elevatory tendency with the increase of invasion (P < 00.5). LVD was 6.00 +/- 0.81 in the PMC group, 13.80 +/- 1.81 in the IPC group, and 19.17 +/- 2.96 in the EPC group, which again showed the elevatory tendency with the increase of invasion (P <0.05). The LVD of lymph node metastasis group (19.56 +/- 2.45) was significantly higher than that of lymph node non-metastasis group (12.48 +/- 2.84) (P < 0.05). VEGF-C was positively correlated with MVD and LVD (r = 0.743, 0.90, P <0.01). CONCLUSION The expressions of VEGF-C and LVD are related to lymph node metastasis of PTC. MVD and LVD are related to the invasion of PTC. VEGF-C may play an important role in the angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.
Adenocarcinoma, Papillary ; blood supply ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphangiogenesis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; metabolism ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; blood supply ; metabolism ; pathology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of the combination of Bushen Xuguan Recipe (BXR) and Ruan-jian Huayu Recipe (RHR) on the matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) expression of rats with endometriosis (EMS), and to study the pathogenesis and mechanism of EMS.

METHODSThe EMS rat model was established. Successfully modeled female SD rats were randomly divided into the combination group (BXR+RHR), the RHR group, and the model group. And a normal control group was set up. After 4 weeks of medicinal treatment, rats were sacrificed in the oestrus cycle. MMP-2 distribution and the staining density in ectopic and eutopic endometrium of the rats were observed under microscope. The MMP-2 expression was determined by immunohistochemical assay (SP method).

RESULTSThe MMP-2 expression in the ectopic endometrial tissues of rats in the model group were significantly higher than that of the normal control group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the MMP-2 expression decreased in the combination group and the RHR group (P<0.05). The therapeutic effect of the combination group was most obvious by observing the distribution of MMP-2 and changes of positive staining.

CONCLUSIONSThe occurrence of EMS was correlated with increased activities of MMP-2. The combination method could inhibit the activities of MMP-2 in the ectopic endometrial tissues of EMS rats more effectively than RHR alone, which might be achieved through improving the endocrine environment, and reducing the "invasion" capability of the ectopic endometrium.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Endometriosis ; metabolism ; Female ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

One hundred and fifty two actinomycetes were isolated from forty two radiation-polluted soil samples,using six different isolation media. Sixty cultures were chosen for 16S rRNA gene sequence and systematic analysis,which based on their morphology and ARDRA. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequences blasting showed that the strains were assigned to 12 recognized genera of actinomycetes,most of them fall within Streptomyces genus and a great deal of strains belonged to rare actinomycetes,which indicated a rich diversity of actinomycetes in the radiation-polluted soil.