Port-wine stains(PWS)are a common congenital capillary malformation. The lesions of PWS appear to gradually darken in color and thicken with age, and even progress into nodules in late stage. Based on the principles of selective photothermolysis, pulsed dye laser (PDL)has become a standard treatment for PWS. However, for some intractable PWS, single PDL treatment shows unsatisfactory and even no effects. Considering this state, the authors summarize multiple treatment strategies for intractable PWS with thick or nodular lesions, providing a reference for their treatment.

Aged ; Esophagus ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; diagnosis ; Hoarseness ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Male

· AlM: To study the effect of bone mesenchymal stem cells ( BMSCs ) and chondroitinaseABC ( ChABC ) on photoreceptor apoptosis in the retina of sodium iodate-induced rats.
·METHODS:Forty Sprague Dawley rats ( SD rats) were intraperitoneally injected with NalO3 (30g/L, 100mg/kg) to establish the retinal degeneration models ( postnatal 28d).These rats were devided into 4 groups.Group A was not injected, group B was injected with BMSCs, group C was injected with BMSCs and ChABC, and group D was injected with phosphate buffer saline ( PBS).After 28d, subretinal injection were applied. Hematoxyln - eosinstaining ( HE ) , tunel and immunohistochemistry were performed at 21d after subretinal injection.
· RESULTS: Photoreceptor number and photoreceptor apoptosis rate of B and C groups were more than those of A and D groups, and there was significant difference statistically ( P <0.05 ) . Photoreceptor number and photoreceptor apoptosis rate of group B were compared with those of group C, and there was no statistical significance between B and C groups ( P>0.05 ) .Glial fibrillary acidic protein ( GFAP) was expressed by BMSCs after intraocular injection.
· CONCLUSlON: BMSCs and ChABC injected into subretinal space may alleviate photoreceptor apoptosis so as to protect retinal photoreceptor cells in degenerated rats.

Objective To explore the therapeutic effects of Montelukast for bronchial asthma combined with allergic rhinitis(AR) in children.Methods Ninety asthmatic children with AR rhinitis were randomly divided into group A,group B and control group.The children in control group were treated only with Symbicort Turbuhaler.In addition to inhalation of Symbicort Turbuhaler,the children in group A were given Montelukast 5 mg/d orally,while the children in group B were given Budesonide Nasal Spray 64 ?g/d.All the children were observed for 6 months.Daytime and night asthma symptom scores,rhinitis symptom scores,the number of days with or without acute asthma symptoms were recorded every 4 weeks.FEV1%,as one of the lung function parameters,was also recorded in the pre-treatment and 8th week,24th week after the treatment.Results After the treatment,the daytime and night asthma symptom scores and rhinitis symptom scores of group A and group B were significantly reduced(group A:F=3.45,3.35 Pa0.05).However,there was better improvement of FEV1%,more days without symptoms and fewer acute asthma attacks in group A than those in group B (t=3.83,3.76,4.26 Pa

Objective To observe the effect of gheocorticoid by oral medication or intrathoracic iniection on the expression of IL-6,IL-8 and sIL-2R in gerum and pleural fluid in patients of tuberculous pleurisy.Methods Twenty tuberculous pleurisy patients were treated with ghcocortieoid by oral medication (oral group)and 20 cases by intrathoracic injection(injection group).ELISA wag employed to detect the levels of IL-6,IL-8 and sIL-2R in serum and pleural fluid before treatment and 3,6 and 9 days after treatment.Results The levels of serum IL-6 and IL-8 decreased and sIL-2R increased obviously in injection group at 3,6 and 9 days after treatment(P＜0.01).Meanwhile the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in pleural fluid decreased and sIL-2R increased obviously(P＜0.01).The levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were significantly lower and the levels of aIL-2R were significantly higher in injection group than those in oral group(P＜0.01).One month after treatment,the rate of complete absorpion of pleural fluid was higher in injection group(80%)than thatin oral group(45%),the rate of pachynsis pleurae was lower in injection group(10%)than that in oral group(40%),P＜0.05.Conclusions Intrathoracic injection of ghcocorticoid shows stronger suppression of cellular immune function in cavum pleurae and weaker suppression of the general immune sysmm than oral medication.Intrathoracic injection of glucocorticoid can increase the therapeutic effect and decrease side effect in tuberculous pleurisy.

BackgroundIn an ideal eye there would be no light scattering at all,but the eye media is not optically ideal.Intraocular straylight causes a veil of light and reduction in the contrast of the retinal image and thus decrease the quality of vision.ObjectiveThe present study was to investigate the repeatability and reproducibility of C-Quant straylight meter( Oculus,Germany)in measuring retinal straylight of myopia and post-laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK) corneas.MethodsThis is a prospective research.The consecutive 35 eyes of 21 myopic patients and 34 eyes of 22 patients who received LASIK were included in this trail.Retinal straylight was measured for 7 times at a period of time and analyzed quantificational to evaluate the repeatability of measurement.Thirty-eight eyes of 19 patients were measured again at 3-7 days for 3 times at a period of time to assess the reproducibility of C-Quant straylight meter.The mean standard difference (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) were used as the credibility evaluation.This clinical study complied with Helsinki Declaration and the informed consent was obtained prior to the medical procedure.ResultsThe straylight Log(s) of 7 times measurement were all less than 0.95.The mean Log(s) were 0.92±0.12 and 0.93±0.17 respectively in myopia group and post-LASIK group,without statistically significant differences among 7 times measurement( F=0.335,P=0.812;F=1.000,P=0.409).The mean SD for the 7 times measurement was 0.07 Log units.SD and CV increased with the number of measurements.The differences of mean SD and CV between 3 times result and 6 times result were significant different (t =-2.080,P =0.045;t =-2.190,P =0.035 ).No difference was found between different time periods( t =-0.531,P=0.598 ).The difference of the results between two measurements from the same patient was 0.013.ConclusionsC-Quant is a noncontact,noninvade,rapid and convenient method for the measurement of straylight in myopia and post-LASIK eyes due to the high repeatability and reproducibility.

Humans ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; utilization

BACKGROUND:celltherapy by the implantation of autologous bone marrow cells has been used for the treatment of ischemic heart diseases in clinical trials for decade. However, as the outcomes of celltransplantation obviously vary among patients, it is essential to identify the risk factors that may influence the level and function of progenitor cells in bone marrow, in order to identify the patients who would benefit the most from this treatment. OBJECTIVE:To observe the impact of perioperative cardiovascular risk factors on number and function of bone marrow progenitor cells from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.
METHODS:We col ected clinical and laboratory data from 44 patients scheduled to undergo sternotomy for coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. Bone marrow was aspirated from the sternum during the operation and bone marrow mononuclear cells were isolated by density centrifugation with Ficol lymphoprep and then detected using trypan blue exclusion method. Levels of progenitor cells in bone marrow were evaluated using flow cytometry. Function of bone marrow progenitor cells were assessed by clonogenic and migration assays.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:We assessed the number of bone marrow mononuclear cells out of 20 mL bone marrow in duplicate samples from patients with coronary heart disease scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting that was (10-89)×106 cells with over 95%activity. A negative correlation was observed between the number of bone marrow mononuclear cells and the age (n=44, r=-0.788, P=0.001). Levels of CD34+, CD133+, and CD34+CD133+cells in bone marrow mononuclear cells was (0.94±0.39)%, (0.46±0.28)%, and (0.53±0.26)%. Levels of CD34+cells and CD133+cells in patients with diabetes were significantly lower than those in patients without diabetes. Female, advanced age and poor heart function were related with reduced colony-forming ability of progenitor cells. A positive correlation was observed between level of CD34+cells and migration ability of bone marrow mononuclear cells. The results show that by density gradient centrifugation, we can harvest a sufficient number of bone marrow mononuclear cells in the treatment for ischemic heart disease. Age, gender, diabetes, heart function are correlated with bone marrow mononuclear cellnumber and functions.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease and its involvement area in colon is influenced by a complex network of gene interactions.We analyzed the weighted gene co-expression networks in microarray dataset from colonic mucosa of patients with UC and identified one gene co-expression module that was highly associated with the progression of involved area in UC colon (Pearson coefficient=0.81,P＜0.0001).In total,523 hub genes in this module were found to be involved in immune system process after enrichment analysis in Gene Ontology.By the STRING and Cytoscape analysis,we observed that interleukin-8 (IL-8) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were centered in the network of hub genes.We then detected the expression of IL-8 and MMP-9 in mucosa from left-sided colon of patients using quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence assay respectively.Both quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence assay revealed the expression levels of IL-8 and MMP-9 were significantly different among the healthy controls,left-sided colitis group and pancolitis group (P＜0.05).IL-8 and MMP-9 were detected with an enhanced expression in pancolitis as compared with left-sided colitis and healthy controls,respectively (P＜0.05).This study demonstrates that immune system process is indispensable in the progression of disease in colon,and identifies that IL-8 and MMP-9 play potential critical roles for the progression.

Background lnterleuldn-18(IL- 18) plays a key role in the development,progression and outcome of coronary artery disease and its complications.However,its variability relation to the characterization of atherosclerotic plaque and percutaneous coronary intervention are still unknown.Methods Fifty four patients with coronary artery disease [22 patients with stable angina (SA) and 32 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)] were enrolled in this study.All patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).The stability of the plaques at the criminal vessels was assessed with analogical IVUS.Serum IL-18 levels were measured at the time points of 5 rain before PCI,and Oh,6h,24h and lmonth after PCI in all patients.Results ACS group consisted mainly of lipidic unstable plaques while SA group of fibrous stable plaques.Moreover,compared with those in SA group,eccentricity index (EI) and remodeling index (RI) were significantly higher in ACS group.Positive remodeling was seen in ACS group while negative or no remodeling in SA group.Further,serum IL-18 levels were significantly elevated in patients with ACS than those in SA group before PCI,increased at Oh,6h,24h after PCI (P＜0.05)and were not significant different at 1 month after PCI from those before PCI.Conclusions There is significant difference in the composition and structural characteristics of atherosclerotic plaques between ACS and UA groups.PCI triggersd and enhances the inflammatory response in a short time.Serum levels of IL- 18 are the predictors of progression of unstable plaque in atherosclerosis.Post-operative complications of PCI might be reduced by inhibiting IL- 18.(J Geriatr Cardiol 2008;5:21-24)