The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between the protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and lymph node metastasis (LNM) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).VEGF-related articles that had been published until August 2016 were searched from the PubMed,EMBASE,and MEDLINE to identify the risk factors of LNM in PTC.RevMan 5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis.Finally,9 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in our meta-analysis.LNM was found to be present in 176 of 318 patients (57.8％) with high VEGF expression and in 71 of 159 patients (47.0％) with low VEGF expression.The overall OR was 2.81 (95％ confidence interval,1.49-5.29).LNM occurred more frequently in patients with high VEGF expression than in those with low VEGF expression (P=0.001).Heterogeneity was markedly decreased in the subgroup analyses of LNM in terms of the patients' country of origin and the detection methods.Our meta-analysis concluded that the VEGF protein expression is associated with LNM in PTC.

Objective To explore the expression of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) on peripheral-blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) and their correlation with myocardial perfusion in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM).Methods The expression of TLR4 and TNF-α mRNA on PBMCs were examined by SYBR GreenⅠreal-time quantitative reverse transcription ploymerse chain reaction (RT-PCR), the levels of TLR4 and TNF-α were examined by flow cytometric analysis and enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) on DCM group (n=20) , Type 2 diabetic group (n=22) and control group (n=20). Myocardial perfusion was visualized by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Results The expressions of TLR4 and TNF-α mRNA/protein on PBMCs in DCM group were significantly higher than in Type 2 diabetic group, and higher in Type 2 diabetic group than in control groups(P<0.05); summed stress score (SSS)and summed rest score (SRS) of myocardial perfusion in DCM group were significantly higher than in Type 2 diabetic group, and higher in Type 2 diabetic group than in control groups(P<0.01).The expression of TLR4, TNF-α was positively correlated with SSS (r=0.75,P<0.05;r=0.931,P<0.005) and SRS(r=0.78,P<0.005; r=0.789,P<0.005). SSS and SRS in DCM group were also positively correlated with soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) (r=0.728,P<0.005; r=0.738,P<0.005) but there was no correlation between SSS and SRS and brain natriuretic peptide, LVEF, E/A, HbA1c, FBG, FIN and LDL-C (P>0.05).Conclusion The increased expression of TLR4 and TNF-α mRNA/protein on PBMCs and increased serum sVCAM-1 is linked with reduced myocardial perfusion in DCM group. TLR4 and TNF-α may thus play a critical role in the myocardial perfusion inflammation injury in these patients.

Objective To investigate the intima-media thickness and cardiac remodeling in patients with prehypertension and impaired glucose tolerance.Method Three-hundred patients were divided into four groups:normal control ( NC,n = 61 ),prehypertension ( PH,n = 83 ),impaired glucose tolerance ( IGT,n = 91 ),prehypertension and impaired glucose tolerance ( PH + IGT,n = 65 ).Intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured by doppler ultrasonography.Left ventricle mess (LVMI),midwall fractional shortening (mFS),peakE/peakA ( E/A ) were measured by echocardiography.Results ( 1 ) IMT was significantly increased in PH,IGT and PH + IGT groups than in NC group [ (0.7 ± 0.1 ) mm,(0.7 ± 0.1 )mm and( 1.0 ±0.1 ) mm vs.(0.6 ±0.1 ) mm,all P ＜0.01 ],which was significantly high in PH + IGT group than in PH or IGT group.Regression analysis demonstrated that high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP),2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2hPBG),systolic pressure (SBP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were independent predictors to increased IMT.(2) LVMI was higher in PH and PH + IGT groups than in NC group [ (97.0 ± 3.3 ) g/m2,(97.1 ± 2.8 ) g/m2 vs.( 87.0 ± 2.0) g/m2,( 87.9 ± 1.5 ) g/m2,all P ＜ 0.01 ],and positively related with SBP,DBP.( 3 ) mFS was lower in PH and PH + IGT groups [(14.0±0.8)％,(14.0±0.8)％ vs.(18.3±1.0)％,(18.2±0.5)％,P＜0.01],negatively related with SBP and DBP.E/A was similar among groups and lower E/A was associated with higher SBP.Conclusion Vascular and left ventricular structure remodeling and systolic dysfunction could be detected in prehypertension patients.Impaired glucose tolerance could enhance vascular remodeling in prehypertension patients.

Objective:To observe the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM)on pacing parameters and postoperative com-plications in patients With implantation of permanent artificial cardiac pacemaker.Methods:A total of 80 patients With sick sinus syndrome,Who received implantation of permanent artificial cardiac pacemaker from Jun 2008 to Jun 2011,Were enrolled.According to complicated With DM or not,they Were divided into DM group (n=40)and non-DM control group (n=40).Pacing parameters and postoperative complications Were compared betWeen tWo groups.Results:There Were no significant difference in atrial and ventricular pacing threshold,sensing and of pace-maker impedance in baseline betWeen tWo groups (P>0.05).All parameters of pacemaker increased in tWo groups after implantation 12 months;compared With non-DM control group,there Were significant increase in pacing threshold [atrial:(0.59±0.23)V vs.(0.67±0.25)V,ventricular:(0.47±0.28)V vs.(0.54±0.35)V],sens-ing [atrial:(2.33±1.16)mV vs.(2.92±1.36)mV,ventricular:(12.21±4.82)mV vs.(12.77±5.36)mV], impedance [atrial:(537.12±115.32)Ωvs.(662.48±235.26)Ω,ventricular:(602.48±222.46)Ωvs.(762.41± 235.38)Ω]of pacemaker in DM group,P<0.05 or <0.01;and incidence rate of postoperative complications (12.5%)in DM group Was significantly higher than that of non-DM control group (5%),P<0.05.Conclusion:Electrocardiographic reconstruction is more severe in SSS patients complicated DM,in these patients postoperative complication incidence significantly elevates.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of compositive chest physiotherapy for the prevention of atelectasis after thoracotomy in the elderly patients.Methods Sixty-eight elderly patients after thoracotomy were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental group adopted compositive chest physiotherapy(n = 35), the control group were given the traditional chest physiotherapy(n = 33).The factors considered included the action abide by doctor,the effect of expectoration, the improvement difference of PaO2 ,PaCO2 , SaO2 by blood gas analysis, the incidence of atelectasis.Results There were significant differences in the action abide by doctor and the effect of expectoration. After intervention, the improvement difference of PaO2 ,PaCO2 and SaO2 were significant higher than that of the control group(P <0.05); The rates of atelectasis were 5.71% (2 cases) and 27.27% (9 cases) in experimental group and control group respectively (P < 0.05).Conclusions Compositive chest physiotherapy is superior to traditional physiotherapy for elderly patients in pedoperation, which can clear sputum more effectively, improve blood oxygen partial pressure and lung expansion, also can prevent pest-operative atelectasis more effectively in the elderly patients.

OBJECTIVETo determine the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and explore the relations between SDB and left ventricular function.

METHODSBy means of polysomnography, 56 elderly patients with CHF were divided into non-SDB, mild SDB, moderate SDB, and severe SDB groups, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measure by (99)Tc equilibrium radionuclide angiography.

RESULTSIn the 56 elderly patients with CHF, 38 (67.9%) had SDB, including 12 (21.4%) mild SDB, 14 (25.0%) moderate SDB, and 12 (21.4%) severe SDB patients. Thirty (53.6%) of the 56 patients with CHF had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 4 (7.1%) had central sleep apnea and 22 (39.2%) had mixed sleep apnea. The moderate and severe SDB groups had lower minimum arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation during sleep than the non-SDB groups, and the apnea-hyponea index was closely related to LVEF (r=-0.74, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of SDB, predominantly OSA, is high in elderly patients with CHF. Moderate and severe SDB might affect the left ventricular function in these patients, who require polysomnography monitoring.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Failure ; complications ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; complications ; epidemiology ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo study long-term effect on renal function exposed to environmental cadmium.

METHODSStratified random sampling and cluster sampling method of epidemiological investigations were carried out in northern Guangdong province between April, 2011 and August, 2012. A total of 167 residents who lived in high cadmium exposure area for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in exposed group. Moreover, A total of 145 residents who had similar living and economic conditions and lived in local for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in control group. We used health questionnaires and medical examinations in order to acquire their health status. Home-harvested rice and vegetables were collected using quartering method for detection of cadmium level. Urine specimens of residents were collected for detection of cadmium level and creatinine as well as renal dysfunction biomarkers, namely, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamidase (NAG), β2-microglobulin (β2-MG), and retinol binding protein(RBP), respectively. The analysis of spearman rank correlation and multiple regression were used to investigate the relationships between age, urinary cadmium levels and renal injury biomarkers.

RESULTSThe cadmium levels in rice and vegetables of exposed group were 0.75 and 0.10 mg/kg, both were significantly higher than 0.07 and 0.01 mg/kg in the control group (Z values were -6.32 and -7.84, all P values < 0.001). The urinary cadmium level of exposed group was 8.29 µg/g · cr, which was higher than that of the control group 2.03 µg/g · cr with significant difference (Z value was -11.39, P < 0.001). After stratified the total population by age, the urinary cadmium level in 40-49 years, 50-59 years and ≥ 60 years subgroups were 7.22, 8.71, and 13.10 µg/g · cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.80, 2.04, and 2.05 µg/g · cr in the control group (Z values were -5.22, -7.41, and -7.14, all P values < 0.001). After stratified the total population by gender, the urinary cadmium level of male and female were 5.12 and 12.36 µg/g · cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.79 and 2.16 µg/g · cr in the control group (Z values were -7.68 and -9.03, all P values < 0.001). Comparing the differences of renal dysfunction biomarkers (NAG, β2-MG, RBP) between two groups. The level of urinary β2-MG and RBP of exposed group were 0.21 and 0.04 µg/g · cr, which were higher than 0.05 and 0.00 µg/g · cr of the control group with significant difference (Z value was -7.08 and -9.65, all P values < 0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that NAG, β2-MG and RBP were positively correlated with urinary cadmium and age, the correlation coefficients were 0.57, 0.49, 0.21 and 0.22, 0.26, 0.23 respectively (all P values < 0.001). After adjusting the effect of age, it was appeared that urinary cadmium levels contributed most to the alteration of NAG, β2-MG and RBP, the standardized regression coefficients were 0.57, 0.49 and 0.20 (all P values < 0.001), and suggested that the cadmium body burden was one of the most important factors for renal dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONResidents, who had cadmium contaminated rice and vegetables for a long time, would take the risk of increasing body burden of cadmium and urinary early biomarkers of renal tubular injury that referred to occurrence of renal dysfunction.

Adult ; Aged ; Cadmium ; Creatinine ; Environmental Exposure ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Oryza ; Risk ; Time ; Vegetables

Objective To study long-term effect on renal function exposed to environmental cadmium. Methods Stratified random sampling and cluster sampling method of epidemiological investigations were carried out in northern Guangdong province between April, 2011 and August, 2012 . A total of 167 residents who lived in high cadmium exposure area for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in exposed group. Moreover, A total of 145 residents who had similar living and economic conditions and lived in local for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in control group. We used health questionnaires and medical examinations in order to acquire their health status. Home-harvested rice and vegetables were collected using quartering method for detection of cadmium level . Urine specimens of residents were collected for detection of cadmium level and creatinine as well as renal dysfunction biomarkers, namely, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamidase(NAG), β2-microglobulin(β2-MG), and retinol binding protein(RBP), respectively. The analysis of spearman rank correlation and multiple regression were used to investigate the relationships between age, urinary cadmium levels and renal injury biomarkers. Results The cadmium levels in rice and vegetables of exposed group were 0.75 and 0.10 mg/kg, both were significantly higher than 0.07 and 0.01 mg/kg in the control group (Z values were-6.32 and-7.84, all P values<0.001). The urinary cadmium level of exposed group was 8.29μg/g·cr, which was higher than that of the control group 2.03μg/g·cr with significant difference(Z value was-11.39, P<0.001). After stratified the total population by age, the urinary cadmium level in 40-49 years, 50-59 years and≥60 years subgroups were 7.22, 8.71, and 13.10μg/g·cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.80, 2.04, and 2.05μg/g·cr in the control group (Z values were-5.22,-7.41, and-7.14, all P values<0.001). After stratified the total population by gender , the urinary cadmium level of male and female were 5.12 and 12.36μg/g · cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.79 and 2.16 μg/g · cr in the control group (Z values were-7.68 and-9.03, all P values<0.001). Comparing the differences of renal dysfunction biomarkers (NAG, β2-MG, RBP) between two groups. The level of urinaryβ2-MG and RBP of exposed group were 0.21 and 0.04μg/g · cr, which were higher than 0.05 and 0.00 μg/g · cr of the control group with significant difference(Z value was-7.08 and-9.65, all P values<0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that NAG,β2-MG and RBP were positively correlated with urinary cadmium and age, the correlation coefficients were 0.57,0.49,0.21and 0.22, 0.26, 0.23 respectively (all P values<0.001). After adjusting the effect of age, it was appeared that urinary cadmium levels contributed most to the alteration of NAG, β2-MG and RBP, the standardized regression coefficients were 0.57, 0.49 and 0.20 (all P values<0.001), and suggested that the cadmium body burden was one of the most important factors for renal dysfunction. Conclusion Residents, who had cadmium contaminated rice and vegetables for a long time, would take the risk of increasing body burden of cadmium and urinary early biomarkers of renal tubular injury that referred to occurrence of renal dysfunction.

Objective To study long-term effect on renal function exposed to environmental cadmium. Methods Stratified random sampling and cluster sampling method of epidemiological investigations were carried out in northern Guangdong province between April, 2011 and August, 2012 . A total of 167 residents who lived in high cadmium exposure area for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in exposed group. Moreover, A total of 145 residents who had similar living and economic conditions and lived in local for more than 15 years, aged above 40 were selected in control group. We used health questionnaires and medical examinations in order to acquire their health status. Home-harvested rice and vegetables were collected using quartering method for detection of cadmium level . Urine specimens of residents were collected for detection of cadmium level and creatinine as well as renal dysfunction biomarkers, namely, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamidase(NAG), β2-microglobulin(β2-MG), and retinol binding protein(RBP), respectively. The analysis of spearman rank correlation and multiple regression were used to investigate the relationships between age, urinary cadmium levels and renal injury biomarkers. Results The cadmium levels in rice and vegetables of exposed group were 0.75 and 0.10 mg/kg, both were significantly higher than 0.07 and 0.01 mg/kg in the control group (Z values were-6.32 and-7.84, all P values<0.001). The urinary cadmium level of exposed group was 8.29μg/g·cr, which was higher than that of the control group 2.03μg/g·cr with significant difference(Z value was-11.39, P<0.001). After stratified the total population by age, the urinary cadmium level in 40-49 years, 50-59 years and≥60 years subgroups were 7.22, 8.71, and 13.10μg/g·cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.80, 2.04, and 2.05μg/g·cr in the control group (Z values were-5.22,-7.41, and-7.14, all P values<0.001). After stratified the total population by gender , the urinary cadmium level of male and female were 5.12 and 12.36μg/g · cr, which both were significantly higher than 1.79 and 2.16 μg/g · cr in the control group (Z values were-7.68 and-9.03, all P values<0.001). Comparing the differences of renal dysfunction biomarkers (NAG, β2-MG, RBP) between two groups. The level of urinaryβ2-MG and RBP of exposed group were 0.21 and 0.04μg/g · cr, which were higher than 0.05 and 0.00 μg/g · cr of the control group with significant difference(Z value was-7.08 and-9.65, all P values<0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that NAG,β2-MG and RBP were positively correlated with urinary cadmium and age, the correlation coefficients were 0.57,0.49,0.21and 0.22, 0.26, 0.23 respectively (all P values<0.001). After adjusting the effect of age, it was appeared that urinary cadmium levels contributed most to the alteration of NAG, β2-MG and RBP, the standardized regression coefficients were 0.57, 0.49 and 0.20 (all P values<0.001), and suggested that the cadmium body burden was one of the most important factors for renal dysfunction. Conclusion Residents, who had cadmium contaminated rice and vegetables for a long time, would take the risk of increasing body burden of cadmium and urinary early biomarkers of renal tubular injury that referred to occurrence of renal dysfunction.

BACKGROUNDThe percutaneous transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) is increasingly a widespread alternative to surgical closure. The aim of this study was to assess long-term results of percutaneous closure of secundum-type atrial septal defect (ASDII).

METHODSBetween January 2001 and December 2005, 61 patients underwent a successful percutaneous closure of ASDII; including 25 male and 36 female. All were included in the patient study and were followed up to monitor by electrocardiogram and echocardiography, at intervals of 3 days, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 5 years after operation.

RESULTSThree days after percutaneous transcatheter septal closure (PTSC), the right atrium diameter, right ventricular end-diastolic left-right diameter and right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV) decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Right ventricular end-diastolic anteroposterior diameter (RVEDD), right ventricular end-systolic volume (RVESV) and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) also decreased (P < 0.01). During the period from 3 to 6 months, the size of the right atrium and right ventricle returned to normal range. Three days after PTSC, the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular-systolic volume (LVSV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were significantly increased (P < 0.05). At 1 year, the size of the left atrium, left ventricle and left cardiac function returned to normal range (P < 0.01). There were no deaths or significant complications during the study. At five year follow-up, all defects were completely closed and remained closed thereafter.

CONCLUSIONTranscatheter closure of ASDII effectively eliminated the abnormal shunt and, subsequently improved the dimensions of each chamber and cardiac function.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult