Objective To evaluate MRI in diagnosing brachial plexus preganglionic injury.Methods Twenty cases with brachial plexus preganglionic injury underwent M R scanning before operation.MR imaging was obtained by GE Signa EXCITE 1.5 T scanner.The scanning sequences included SE T1 WI,FSE T2 WI,T2 WI STIR and 3D Fast imaging employing steady state with phase cycled(3D-FIESTA-c).All the patients had exploration of the supraclavicular plexus and electrophysiology examination. And the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of MRI in diagnosing preganglionic brachial plexus iniury were calculated with the standards of surgical and EMG results.Results Among the 73 pairs of i,jured roots.MR imaging detected the abnormalities in 63 pairs.The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of MRI in diagnosing preganglionic brachial plexus injury were 86.5/(83/96),86.3/(63/73).87.0/(20/23),respectively.The direct signs of brachial plexus preganglionic injury included (1) lack or mutilation of netwe root in 54 pairs (85.7/),(2)coarsening,bending,stiff course and unable to be traced to the intervertebral foramen continuously in 9 pairs (14.3/).The indirect signs included (1)cystic cerebrospinal fluid gathering in the vertebral canal,posttraumatic spinal meningocele in 46 pairs (73.0/),(2)abnormal shape of nerve sleeve in 13 pairs(20.6/),(3)displacement and deformity of spinal cord in 50 pairs(79.4/),(4)abnormal signal of paravertebral muscles in 1 9 patients.Conclusion MRI can distinctly show the nerve rootlets within the vertebral canal,so it is helpful in making a correct diagnosis of brachial plexus preganglionic injuries.

Objective To study the variable number tandem repeats(VNTR)polymorphism in intron 4 of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase(eNos)gene and its relationship with plasma NO in patents with PAH of COPD.Methods The VNTR polymorphism in intron 4of the eNos genes of PAH COPD and healthy control were detected by PCR.The plasma level of NO3-/NO2-was measured by spectrophotometer,which was used as an index of NO synthesis.Data were analyzed according to the different genotype and allelic gene frequency.Results The COPD PAH group significant higher frequency of VNTR 4a allele and 4a/4b allele and 4a/4b+4a/4a genotype than those of the control(P=0.027,P

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of plasma exchange (PE) versus double plasma molecular adsorption system combined with PE (DPMAS+PE) in the treatment of toxic hepatic failure. Methods: A total of 67 patients with toxic hepatic failure who were admitted during the same period of time were divided into PE group, DPMAS+ PE group, and control group. The 22 patients in the PE group were treated with PE alone, and the 24 patients in the DPMAS+PE group were given DPMAS combined with PE. The clinical out-come was compared between the three groups. Results: Both treatment groups had significantly higher clinical response rate and 24-week survival rate than the control group. After treatment, both treatment groups had significant reductions in the serum levels of total bilirubin (TBil) , direct bilirubin (DBil) , alanine aminotransfer-ase (ALT) , and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) , and the PE group had significant reductions in the albumin (Alb) level and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (P<0.05) ; the DPMAS+PE group showed no sig-nificant changes in the Alb level and APTT (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in TBil, DBil, ALT, and AST between the two treatment groups after treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the PE group had significantly higher Alb level and APTT than the DPMAS + PE group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, both treatment groups had significant reductions in TBil, DBil, ALT and AST after treatment (P<0.05). Conclusion The two artificial liver support techniques can significantly improve patients' liver function and in-crease their survival rate, and the combined artificial liver support technique can reduce the amount of plasma used.

Objective:To investigate the expression of fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) and related inflammatory factors in the serum of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods:A case control study was conducted. The patients with AECOPD admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from November 2016 to January 2020 were enrolled. The patients were divided into mild group [forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio (FEV1/FVC) < 0.70, FEV1 percentage in predicted value (FEV1%) ≥ 80%], moderate group (FEV1/FVC < 0.70, 50% ≤ FEV1% < 80%), and severe group (FEV1/FVC < 0.70, 30% ≤ FEV1% < 50%) based on their lung function test results, with 20 patients in each group, and 20 patients with normal pulmonary function who underwent elective non-thoracic surgery such as gastrointestinal surgery and orthopedics surgery in the same period were selected as controls. The demographic data, FEV1/FVC, FEV1%, FVC, maximum mid-expiratory flow percentage in predicted value (MMEF%), 6-minute walking test (6MWT), and St George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score were recorded respectively. Serum levels of FGF7, interleukins (IL-6, IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between TNF-α and lung function.Results:Compared with the normal pulmonary function group, the levels of FEV1/FVC, FEV1%, MMEF% and 6MWT in the mild, moderate and severe groups were significantly decreased, and the SGRQ scores were increased, the indicators continued to deteriorate with the aggravation of the disease, the statistical differences were found between severe group and normal pulmonary function group [FEV1/FVC: 0.39±0.09 vs. 0.81±0.04, FEV1%: (38.80±6.28)% vs. (109.58±13.80)%, MMEF%: (0.34±0.14)% vs. (2.69±0.99)%, 6MWT (m): 279.00±41.61 vs. 402.85±53.97, SGRQ scores: 34.95±6.71 vs. 2.60±2.06, all P < 0.05]. Compared with the normal pulmonary function group, the levels of FGF7 in the mild, moderate and severe groups were significantly lowered (ng/L: 6.31±2.65, 6.10±1.39, 6.64±1.77 vs. 8.29±3.51, all P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found among the mild, moderate and severe groups (all P > 0.05). Compared with the normal pulmonary function group, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly increased in the mild, moderate and severe groups, and TNF-α increased with the aggravation of the disease, the statistical difference was found between severe group and normal pulmonary function group (ng/L: 7.42±2.28 vs. 3.83±0.92, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in IL-1β level between the normal pulmonary function group and the mild, moderate, severe groups. Correlation analysis showed that TNF-α was negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC and FEV1% ( r values were -0.350 and -0.527, respectively, both P < 0.01). Conclusion:In AECOPD patients, serum FGF7 was decreased, while IL-6 and TNF-α were increased; however, with the aggravation of the disease, there was no significant change in the level of FGF7 in the peripheral blood, but the TNF-α level might be increased, accompanied by severe damage of small airway function.

Objective To compare and analyze the accuracy and safety of robot-assisted and conventional freehand open approach in pedicle screw fixation using meta-analysis.Methods PubMed,Embase,Cochrane,China Biology Medicine,Wanfang and CNKI databases were searched by computer retrieval to identify the relevant literatures published before December1,2016.The qualified literatures were selected according to the preestablished the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria,and processed for data extraction and quality evaluation.The RevMan 5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis.The relative risk (RR) and 95％ confidence interval (CI) were adopted to represent the effect differences in the dichotomous variable data.The effect difference of continuous variable data was represented by mean difference (MD) or standardized mean difference (SMD).When P＜0.05 and 95％ CI does not contain the value of 1,the difference was considered statistically significant.Results A total of 266 patients were enrolled,including 138 cases of robot-assisted group and 128 cases of conventional freehand open group,in which 1 200 screws were implanted,including 608 screws by robot-assisted system and 592 screws by conventional freehand open approach.The Gertzbein-Robbins grading criteria (grade A to C) were used.The results showed that there was no significant difference in the accuracy of pedicle screw fixation between the robotic-assisted and conventional freehand open approach according to the grading criteria,i.e.grades A (RR =1.07,95％CI:0.82,1.39,I2=46％,P=0.62),grades B (RR=l.56,95％CI:0.86,2.82,I2=0％,P=0.14) and grades C (RR=0.91,95％CI:0.32,2.55,I2=0％,P=0.85).For the two groups,the difference was no statistically significance in the complication rate (RR=0.33,95％CI:0.05,2.17,I2=0％,P=0.25),and in the revision rate (RR=0.53,95％CI:0.10,2.90,I2=0％,P=0.47).The difference was statistically significance in the overall surgical time (MD=20.90,95％CI:5.54,36.26,I2=15％,P=0.008),and in the exposure time (MD=-1.19,95％CI:-1.63,-0.75,I2=15％,P＜0.000 01).The difference was no statistically significance in the distance between screws and facet joint surfaces (SMD=-1.15,95％CI:0.79,1.51,I2=16％,P＜0.000 01).Conclusions Compared with the conventional freehand open approach,the current evidence cannot confirm that the robot-assisted system has significant advantages in the surgical accuracy of pedicle screw fixation and complication rate.The spinal surgical robot-assisted system,as a new technology,has considerable potential for further development and application in spinal surgery.

Several antigen epitopes were designed according to the sequences of Swine influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) genes and lined with the interval. The gene was amplified by PCR and sub cloned into pET30a (+) vector. The fusion protein was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) by induced with IPTG and purified by affinity chromatography. The molecular weight of the protein was about 20 kD in SDS-PAGE. Immunological activity of the fusion protein was analyzed by Western blot. The results showed that the fusion protein could interact with anti-His antibody and the rabbit antiserum against SIV. The immunized mouse can produced antibodies against the target peptide and HI antibody against SIV H1N1 or H3N2. This study provides a new vaccine candidate for SIV.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Antigens, Viral ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Base Sequence ; Epitopes ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hemagglutinins ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunization ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; genetics ; immunology ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype ; genetics ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Random Allocation ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the germline mutations of the CHD7 gene and their roles in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).

METHODSGenomic DNAs extracted from peripheral blood were subjected to screen mutations in CHD7 gene by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) followed by DNA sequencing of aberrant peaks in 67 CHD patients and 100 healthy control. Case-control study and bioinformatic analysis were utilized to explore the potential functional roles of the variations detected.

RESULTSSeven kinds of single nucleotide substitution were detected in the CHD patients in different introns of the CHD7 gene. Among them, IVS11+ 127A to G and IVS12+ 21T to G were rare variations and the allele frequencies of both were 0.0075; while IVS2+ 34G to A, IVS4+ 39G to A, IVS12-5T to C and IVS16+ 51C to A were the single nucleotide polymorphisms and the allele frequency was 0.2635, 0.2156, 0.1505 and 0.3636 respectively. The frequency of IVS12-5T to C in the CHD group was significantly lower than that in the control group (5.42%versus 9.57%, P< 0.05). The variant of IVS14-35C to G was only detected in patients with CHD. Bioinformatic analysis showed that IVS12-5T to C might increase exon splicing ability comparing with the wild-type sequence.

CONCLUSIONThe CHD7 gene mutation may not be the main reason for sporadic congenital heart disease, whereas the single nucleotide polymorphism of IVS12-5T to C might play a protective role in the onset of this disease.

Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Helicases ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Heart Diseases ; congenital ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Objective:To explore the timing of sequential noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) following endotracheal intubation mechanical ventilation (ETI-MV) in aged patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP).Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted. The SCAP patients aged ≥ 75 years old admitted to respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from July 2017 to August 2019 were enrolled. SCAP was diagnosed according to the criteria of Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in adults in China (2016) published by Chinese Thoracic Society. ETI-MV was initially performed as respiratory support after RICU admission. Sequential NIPPV was performed immediately following extubation when the patients exhibited pulmonary infection abated (PIA) window. The gender, age, underlying diseases, and body temperature, heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), oxygenation index (PaO 2/FiO 2) after RICU admission, as well as acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) score, improved pneumonia score of British Thoracic Society (confusion, uremia, respiratory, blood pressure, age 65 years, CURB-65), and pneumonia severity index (PSI) score within 24 hours after RICU admission were recorded. The duration and times of ETI, the incidences of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and aspiration, the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), the length of RICU and hospital stay and RICU prognosis were also recorded. The patients were divided into the ETI ≤ 7 days group and the ETI > 7 days group according to the duration of ETI, and the clinical data were compared between the two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors of aged patients with SCAP whose ETI was more than 7 days, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of risk factors. Results:Fifty aged patients with SCAP were enrolled, with 24 patients in the ETI ≤ 7 days group and 26 in the ETI > 7 days group. Univariate analysis showed that compared with the patients with ETI ≤ 7 days, the incidences of concurrent cerebrovascular diseases [46.2% (12/26) vs. 16.7% (4/24)], VAP [61.5% (16/26) vs. 16.7% (4/24)] and aspiration [69.2% (18/26) vs. 25.0% (6/24)] were significantly increased in patients with ETI > 7 days (all P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that VAP and aspiration were independent risk factors of ETI > 7 days in the aged SCAP patients [VAP: odds ratio ( OR) = 4.852, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.076-21.877, P = 0.040; aspiration: OR = 5.903, 95% CI was 1.474-23.635, P = 0.012]. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under ROC curve (AUC) of VAP for predicting ETI > 7 days in aged patients with SCAP was 0.724, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and Youden index were 61.54%, 83.33%, 80.00%, 66.67%, 3.69, 0.46 and 0.45, respectively. Similarly, the AUC of aspiration was 0.721, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, PLR, NLR and Youden index were 69.23%, 75.00%, 75.00%, 69.23%, 2.77, 0.41 and 0.44, respectively. Analysis of prognostic indicators showed that compared with patients with ETI ≤ 7 days, the reintubation rate and RICU mortality were significantly increased in patients with ETI > 7 days [53.8% (14/26) vs. 4.2% (1/24), 38.5% (10/26) vs. 12.5% (3/24), both P < 0.05]. Moreover, the patients with ETI > 7 days had significantly prolonged total duration of MV, the length of RICU stay and total hospital stay as compared with the patients with ETI ≤ 7 days [total duration of MV (days): 23.8±11.8 vs. 11.3±3.1, length of RICU stay (days): 30.6±14.1 vs. 16.0±5.1, total length of hospital stay (days): 33.0±14.9 vs. 20.2±6.1, all P < 0.01]. Conclusions:Sequential NIPPV performed immediately following extubation within 7 days in the aged SCAP patients might reduce the mortality and shorten the duration of MV. The prolonged ETI duration because of the VAP or aspiration would lead to a reduced function of sequential NIPPV and an increased mortality of the aged patients with SCAP.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the diagnostic yield of bronchoscopic rapid on-site evaluation (B-ROSE) in patients with severe invasive bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (IBPA) and provide evidence for starting antifungal treatment before microbiological results were available. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted to select patients with severe pneumonia suspected of IBPA admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from June 2014 to June 2022, and those who were primarily infected with other pathogens (such as bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis) at admission were excluded. Whether the antifungal treatment was initiated or not on the basis of the bedside B-ROSE, the B-ROSE was administered as soon as possible within 24 hours after admission to RICU. The current international definition of invasive aspergillosis was used as the gold diagnostic standard, the diagnostic accordance rate, the sensitivity and specificity of B-ROSE were calculated respectively, and the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was also plotted, to evaluate the predictive value in diagnosing IBPA. RESULTS: A total of 176 patients with severe pneumonia suspected of IBPA were included in the study. According to international diagnostic standards, there were 81 cases of IBPA and 95 cases of non-IBPA. According to the early diagnosis of B-ROSE, there were 89 cases of IBPA and 87 cases of non-IBPA. The diagnostic accordance rate of B-ROSE was 84.09% (148/176), the area under the ROC curve for B-ROSE in diagnosing severe IBPA was 0.844, the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.782-0.905, the sensitivity was 87.65%, the specificity was 81.05%, the positive predictive value was 79.78%, the negative predictive value was 88.51%, the rate of underdiagnosis was 12.35% (10/81), and the rate of misdiagnosis was 18.95% (18/95). Compared with the true negative group, the proportion of long-term (≥ 14 days) use of glucocorticoid [70.0% (7/10) vs. 9.1% (7/77), P < 0.01] and the proportion of cases with diabetes [40.0% (4/10) vs. 10.4% (8/77), P < 0.05] were significantly higher in the false negative group (underdiagnosis group). However, B-ROSE of both groups showed mucosal bleeding, congestion and edema [100.0% (10/10) vs. 94.8% (73/77), P > 0.05], indicating that acute mucosal inflammation was non-characteristic. Compared with the true positive group, the proportion of long-term (≥ 14 days) use of glucocorticoid in the false positive group (misdiagnosis group) was significantly reduced [33.3% (6/18) vs. 60.6% (43/71), P < 0.05]. The B-ROSE results showed the proportion of cases with mucosal white spots, black plaques and pseudomembrane was significantly reduced [16.7% (3/18) vs. 52.1% (37/71), P < 0.01] in the misdiagnosed group, which suggest that cases of long-term use of glucocorticoid and cases with B-ROSE showing mucosal white spots, black plaques and pseudomembrane were less likely to be misdiagnosed. The main diseases that were easily misdiagnosed as IBPA included pulmonary tuberculosis (38.9%, 7/18), inflammatory lung adenocarcinoma (27.8%, 5/18) and pulmonary vasculitis (16.7%, 3/18). CONCLUSIONS Before obtaining microbiological evidence, B-ROSE can assist in decision-making of early anti-aspergillus treatment for severe IBPA. This method is prompt, simple, and has high accuracy and reliability. If B-ROSE lacks characteristic manifestations, especially for severe pneumonia in patients with long-term use of glucocorticoid or diabetes, attention should be paid to the underdiagnosis of IBPA. Diseases such as lung tuberculosis, inflammatory lung adenocarcinoma and lung vasculitis should be vigilant against misdiagnosis as IBPA.
Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Antifungal Agents ; Glucocorticoids ; Rapid On-site Evaluation ; Reproducibility of Results ; Pulmonary Aspergillosis ; Pneumonia ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Adenocarcinoma of Lung ; Vasculitis ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To explore the efficacy and case selection of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by viral pneumonia.Methods:These patients who were continuously admitted in the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from December 2017 to June 2019 and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. All subjects accepted NIPPV as the initial intervention and they were divided into the NIPPV failure group and NIPPV success group according to the requirement of endotracheal intubation (ETI). Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to identify the risk factors for NIPPV failure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was plotted to evaluate the predictive value of risk factors for NIPPV failure in these patients.Results:Forty-three patients were studied in this experiment. The success rate of NIPPV was 62.8% (27/43), and the failure rate was 37.2% (16/43). Compared with the NIPPV success group, the incidence of nosocomial infection [44% (7/16) vs 0 (0/27), χ 2 =11.082, P<0.05] and mortality rate [50% (8/16) vs 7% (2/27), χ 2 =7.965, P<0.05] were significantly increased in the NIPPV failure group. The univariate analysis indicated that the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHEⅡ) score, the ratio of early concurrent bacterial or fungal infections, and the proportion of patients with insufficient NIPPV at the early 72 h were significantly higher in the NIPPV failure group (all P<0.05). Meanwhile, multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that the baseline APACHEⅡ score ( OR=1.941, 95% CI:1.159-3.249, P=0.012), the rate of early concurrent bacterial or fungal infections ( OR=8.602, 95% CI:1.267-58.416, P=0.028), and insufficient use of NIPPV at the early 72 h ( OR=10.06, 95% CI:1.592-63.527, P=0.014) were independent risk factors associated with NIPPV failure. The ROC curve showed the area under curve (AUC), the sensitivity, and the specificity was 0.748, 62.5%, and 74.1% respectively, which demonstrates that that APACHE Ⅱ score at admission was the most predictive factor of NIPPV failure. For the observed indicator without enough NIPPV treatment within 72 h, the AUC, the sensitivity, and the specificity was 0.714, 68.8%, and 74.1%, respectively. And for the observed indicator with concurrent bacterial or fungal infections, the AUC, the sensitivity and the specificity is 0.707, 56.3% and 85.2%, respectively. Conclusions:Early use of enough NIPPV in patients with ARDS caused by viral pneumonia can significantly decrease ETI and mortality rates. However, NIPPV should not be conducted in patients suffered from severe ARDS or early concurrent bacterial or fungal infections.