Objective: To analyze the current condition and inlfuencing factors for clinical compliance in patients with permanent pacemaker implantation and to improve the follow-up condition in relevant patients. Methods: A total of 817 patients with permanent pacemaker implantation in our hospital from 2006-01 to 2013-01 were retrospectively studied. The clinical compliance condition and inlfuencing factors were accessed for 1 year period. Results: There were 26/817 (3.18%) patients lost contact and 1 patient died. A total of 790 (96.7%) patients finished the followed-up study by 2 groups: Clinical visit group,n=440 (55.70%) and Telephone visit group,n=350 (44.30%). The education level, medical cost, residency, comprehension of arrhythmia and accompany personnel were different between 2 groups,P<0.05. The patients were with high school education or above, reimbursed medical cost, local residency, comprehension of arrhythmia and accompany personnel had the higher clinical visit rate. The overall 1 year occurrence rate of complication was 1.8% without severe event. There were 59.5% of patients optimized the pacemaker parameters during clinical visit. Conclusion: The patients with permanent pacemaker implantation had the lower rate of clinical follow-up visit which should be improved in several issues.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a common complication of infections, burns, traumas, surgeries, poisonings, and post-cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The present study aimed to investigate prognostic value of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood of patients with sepsis. METHODS: Periphery blood from 28 patients diagnosed with sepsis was collected on day 1 and 7 after hospitalization in the ICU of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital between December 2013 to April 2014. The blood was used for analyses of Treg ratio using flow cytometry and for analyses of blood routine test, C-reactive protein (CRP), bilirubin, procalcitonin (PCT), and coagulation. APACHE II and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were also investigated. The results were compared between two outcome groups of survival or death to evaluate prognostic value for sepsis. RESULTS: The patients had an average age of 60.36±15.03 years, APACHE II score 16.68±7.00, and SOFA score 7.18±3.78. Among the 28 patients, 12 had severe trauma (42.9％), 10 had septic shock (35.7％), and 9 (32.2％) died. The median ratio of Tregs was 2.10％ (0.80％, 3.10％) in the survival group vs. 1.80％ (1.15％, 3.65％) in the death group (Z=–0.148, P=0.883) on day 1; however it was significantly changed to 0.90％ (0.30％, 2.80％) vs. 5.70％ (2.60％, 8.30％) (Z=–2.905, P=0.004). CONCLUSION: With better prospects for clinical application, dynamic monitoring of Tregs ratio in peripheral blood has potential value in predicting prognosis of sepsis.

BackgroundPocket hematoma is one of the major complications associated with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) implantation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of body mass index (BMI) on the occurrence of pocket hematoma after CIEDs implantation.MethodsThe study is a retrospective review of 972 patients receiving CIEDs implantation between 2008 and 2012 in a tertiary hospital.ResultsTwenty two patients (2.2%) developed severe pocket hematoma requiring re-intervention. The hematoma rate (4.6%,n = 15) of patients with a BMI of < 23 kg/m2 was significantly higher compared with that of patients with a BMI of≥23 kg/m2 (1.1%, n = 7,P< 0.001). In multivariate regression analysis, a BMI < 23.0 kg/m2 may be associated with the development of severe pocket hema-toma. An increase of 1.0 kg/m2 in BMI was associated with lower incidence of hematoma formation (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.74-0.95;P = 0.006).ConclusionBMI < 23 kg/m2 was associated with a higher incidence of pocket hematoma, requiring re-intervention. The data sup-port that great care must be taken when patients were with a lower BMI received CIEDs implantation.

The efficacy of ~(131)I treatment of hyperthyroidism in children and adolescents was evaluated. Being unsuitable for medical therapy,31 patients (aged 11-18 years) with hyperthyroidism received ~(131)I treatment with a dose of 0.925-3.33 MBq/g of thyroid and were followed-up for 20 to 76 months.Fifteen patients were euthyroid,5 suffered from late-onset hypothyroidism,and 11 were still hyperthyroid,but their symptoms and signs of hyperthyroidism were markedly improved.Of the 18 patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO),8 patients recovered,4 were improved,TAO in 1 patients deteriorated and in S patients remained unchanged.~(131)I is a relative safe and effective treatment for children and adolescents above 10 years old with hyperthyroidism,being unsuitable for medical therapy.

Abstract: To analyze the clinical, therapeutic and laboratory characteristics of disseminated cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans invading the blood stream in patient with liver cirrhosis and splenectomy. A 30-year-old male underwent splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization due to "splenomegaly and hypersplenism" in March in 2016. The patient had intermittent fever after operation for many times, and successively accompanied with back pain, left lower limb abscess and right hip pain. The highest body temperature was 39 ℃. CT and MRI revealed the lung lesion and multiple bone destruction. During that period, the effect of antibiotics was not good. On April 19th, 2017, Gram's stain, India ink stain, API 32C, Vitek 2 Compact, ribosomal ITS and IGS sequence analysis were performed to identify the strain isolated from the pus and blood stream. The serum of the patient was detected for cryptococcal antigen. Antifungal susceptibility test was used to determine drug sensitivity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The Cryptococcus neoformans isolated from fresh pus specimen showed a prominent, thick capsule after India ink stain. The colonies isolated from pus and blood stream were identified Cryptococcus neoformans using API 32C, Vitek 2 Compact, and sequence analysis of rDNA ITS and IGS. Cryptococcal capsule antigen was positive. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of 5-Flucytosine, amphotericin B, fluconazole, itriconazole, voriconazole against the isolate were <4 μg/mL, <0.5 μg/mL, 4 μg/mL, ≤0.25 μg/mL, 0.125 μg/mL respectively. The patient was initially treated with intravenous amphotericin B and flucytosine. After anti-Cryptococcus treatment for two months, the patient clinically improved, and the lesions were reduced on a follow-up CT scan. The patient made a full functional recovery after treatment for six months. Cryptococcosis has hidden onset, atypical clinical symptoms and lack of specificity. Blood stream is the main channel for Cryptococcus to spread and involve many organs of the whole body, including skin, bone and so on. Therefore, early use of blood culture to monitor blood flow dissemination, actively removing the primary focus and cutting off the infection route in time and carrying out effective anti-Cryptococcus treatment are conducive to the patient's early recovery.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of Xuebijing injection(XBJI, traditional Chinese medicine), in inhibiting TLR4--NF-kappaB--IL-1beta pathway of myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation in rats.

METHODSThirty six male SD rats (280 +/- 30) g were randomly divided into six groups (n = 6): normal group (N group), balanced perfusion group (BP group), model group (M group), low dose XBJI group (XBJI(L) group), middle dose XBJI group (XBJI(M) group), high dose XBJI group (XBJI(H) group). By Langendorff isolated heart perfusion device to establish the model of myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation in rats. ELISA was used to detect the concentration of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta); Western blot was used to detect the expression of nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-kappaB p65) protein and toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) protein; and RT-PCR to determine the expression of NF-kappaB p65 mRNA and TLR4 mRNA;To observe microstructure changes of hypoxia/reoxygenation myocardial by light microscopy.

RESULTSCompared with M group, the IL-1beta concentration, NF-kappaB p65 and TLR4 protein,NF-kappaB p65 and TLR4 mRNA of XBJIL group, XBJI(M) group, XBJI(H) group expression decreased in varying degrees,and decreased most obviously all in XBJI(M) group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); Myocardical structural damage was serious in M group, and improved after treatment XBJI, the most obvious was the XBJI(M).

CONCLUSIONDifferent dose of XBJI can inhibit TLR4--NF-kappaB--IL-1beta signal transduction pathway and reduce several inflammatory reaction after myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation injury, the 4 ml/100 ml of XBJI is the best.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Heart ; drug effects ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; drug therapy ; Signal Transduction ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; metabolism ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a member of FGF family. It has been demonstrated that FGF21 is an independent, safe and effective regulator of blood glucose levels in vivo. In order to improve the activity of FGF21, we exchanged the beta10-beta12 domain of the human FGF21 with that of the mouse FGF21 to construct a novel FGF21 gene (named hmFGF21), and then subcloned hmFGF21 gene into the SUMO expression vector to create pSUMO-hmFGF21 and transformed it into E. coli Rosetta for expression of the fusion protein SUMO-hmFGF21. Both in vitro and in vivo glucose regulation activity of hmFGF21 was evaluated. The SDS-PAGE result showed that compared with wild-type hFGF21, the soluble expression of hmFGF21 increased about 2-fold. HmFGF21 was more potent in stimulation of glucose uptake in HepG2 cells in vitro. The results of anti-diabetic effect on db/db mice demonstrated that hmFGF21 had better efficacy on controlling the blood glucose of the db/db diabetic animals than wild-type hFGF21. These results suggest that the biological properties of FGF21 are significantly improved by optimization.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Cysteine Endopeptidases ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; blood ; Endopeptidases ; genetics ; Escherichia coli ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Genetic Vectors ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Hep G2 Cells ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Mutation ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Transformation, Genetic

BACKGROUNDThe aim of this study is to explore the treatment and outcome of epileptogenic temporal lobe cavernous malformations (CMs).

METHODSWe analyzed retrospectively the profiles of 52 patients diagnosed as temporal lobe CMs associated with epilepsy. Among the 52 cases, 11 underwent a direct resection of CM along with the adjacent zone of hemosiderin rim without electrocorticogram (ECoG) monitoring while the other 41 cases had operations under the guidance of ECoG. Forty-six patients were treated by lesionectomy + hemosiderin rim while the other six were treated by lesionectomy + hemosiderin rim along with extended epileptogenic zone resection. The locations of lesions, the duration of illness, the manifestation, the excision ranges and the outcomes of postoperative follow-up were analyzed, respectively.

RESULTSAll of the 52 patients were treated by microsurgery. There was no neurological deficit through the long-term follow-up. Outcomes of seizure control are as follows: 42 patients (80.8%) belong to Engel Class I, 5 patients (9.6%) belong to Engel Class II, 3 patients (5.8%) belong to Engel Class III and 2 patients (3.8%) belong to Engel Class IV.

CONCLUSIONPatients with epilepsy caused by temporal CMs should be treated as early as possible. Resection of the lesion and the surrounding hemosiderin zone is necessary. Moreover, an extended excision of epileptogenic cortex or cerebral lobes is needed to achieve a better prognosis if the ECoG indicates the existence of an extra epilepsy onset origin outside the lesion itself.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; surgery ; Female ; Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Temporal Lobe ; pathology ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) on pneumocyte apoptosis after lung ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

METHODSAdult male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups based upon the intervention (n = 8): control group (C), lung ischemic reperfusion group (LIR), LIR+ IPostC group (IPostC). At the end of the experiment, blood specimens drawn from the arteria carotis were tested for the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and myeloperoxidase (MPO); the pneumocyte apoptosis index (AI) was achieved by tennrminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end abeling (TUNEL); the expression of Bcl-2, Bax protein in lung tissue was accessed by quantitative immunohistochemistry (MHC) and Bcl-2, Bax mRNA by RT-PCR.

RESULTSIPostC could significantly attenuate the MDA level, MPO activity and improve SOD activity in blood serum which was comparable to I/R and significantly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells compared with I/R group, expressed as Al (% total nuclei) from (39.0 +/- 3.46) to (8.0 +/- 0.88) (P < 0.01). The protein and mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and Bax showed that IPO significantly attenuated the ischemia/reperfusion-upregulated expression of Bax protein but improved the expression of Bcl-2 that improved the Bcl-2/Bax ratio (P < 0.01) .

CONCLUSIONIPostC may attenuate pneumocyte apoptosis in LIRI by up-regulating expression of Bcl-2/Bax ratio and by inhibiting oxidant generation and neutrophils filtration.

Alveolar Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Ischemic Postconditioning ; Lung ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lung Injury ; physiopathology ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; physiopathology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDFamilial cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), characterized by hemorrhagic stroke, recurrent headache and epilepsy, are congenital vascular anomalies of the central nervous system. Familial CCMs is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder and three CCM genes have been identified. We report a Chinese family with CCMs and intend to explore clinical, pathological, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and pathogenic gene mutation of this family.

METHODSTotally 25 family members underwent brain MRI examination and clinical check. Two patients with surgical indications had surgical treatment and the specimens were subjected to histopathological and microstructural examination. In addition, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing were performed with genomic DNA extracted from 25 family members' blood samples for mutation detection.

RESULTSBrain MRI identified abnormal results in seven family members. All of them had multiple intracranial lesions and four cases had skin cavernous hemangioma. T2-weighted sequence showed that the lesions were typically characterized by an area of mixed signal intensity. Gradient-echo (GRE) sequence was more sensitive to find micro-cavernous hemangiomas. There was a wide range in the clinical manifestations as well as the age of onset in the family. The youngest patient was an 8-year-old boy with least intracranial lesions. Histopathological and microstructural examination showed that CCMs were typically discrete multi-sublobes of berry-like lesions, with hemorrhage in various stages of illness evolution. They were formed by abnormally enlarged sinusoids and the thin basement membranes. A novel T deletion mutation in exon 14 of CCM1 gene was identified by mutation detection in the seven patients. But unaffected members and healthy controls did not carry this mutation.

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical manifestations were heterogenic within this family. We identified a novel mutation (c.1396delT) was the disease-causing mutation for this family and extended the mutational spectrum of CCMs.

Adult ; Animals ; Female ; Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Humans ; KRIT1 Protein ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics