OBJECTIVETo assess the efficacy of Yishen Jiejing Decoction (YJD) in treating poststroke shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) patients of yin deficiency yang hyperactivity with blood stasis stagnation collaterals syndrome.

METHODSTotally 60 SHS patients of yin deficiency yang hyperactivity with blood stasis stagnation collaterals syndrome were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group and the control group, 30 cases in each group. Conventional rehabilitation training and therapeutics were applied in all patients. Besides, patients in the treatment group took 50 mL YJD, twice a day. One month without interruption consisted of one course of treatment. The curative effects of each group were evaluated respectively before treatment and at one month after treatment. The neurologic impairment, TCM syndrome, and the improvement of upper limbs movement were assessed by the neurologic impairment integral, scoring for TCM syndrome diagnostics, Fugl-Meyer Assessment (U-FMA). Adverse reactions were observed at the same time.

RESULTSThe effective rate of stroke was 86.67% and the effective rate of SHS was 90.00% in the treatment group, higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Both groups got improvement in neurologic impairment, stroke induced blood stasis syndrome, yin deficiency yang hyperactivity syndrome, and the improvement of upper limbs movement after treatment (all P < 0.05). Besides, all the improvement was obviously superior in the treatment group (P < 0. 05). No adverse reaction occurred during the course of treatment.

CONCLUSIONThe curative effect of YJD combined with conventional rehabilitation training was confirmative and superior to the control group.

Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy ; drug therapy ; etiology ; rehabilitation ; Stroke ; complications ; Treatment Outcome ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy ; Yin-Yang

Objective To study the diagnostic value of calcification in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid lesions. Methods CT images of 318 consecutive patients with pathologically proven thyroid lesions were retrospectively reviewed by two radiologists. The following characteristics of calcification on CT images were evaluated: (1) size (≤2 mm indicating microcalcification and > 2 mm or shelly and irregular shape indicating macrocalcification, and both features indicating mixed calcification), (2) number (single or multiple) and (3)location (internal or edge). χ~2 test was used for statistical analysis. Results Oft he 318 cases, 48 were diagnosed as malignant (papillary carcinoma 26, follicular carcinoma 7, medullary carcinoma 3 and microcarcinoma 12) and 270 were benign (nodular goiter 36, adenoma 170, nodular goiter with adenoma 38 and adenoma with Hashimoto's thyroiditis 26). Calcification was found in 60 cases (18.9%). Among them 21 (papillary carcinoma 12,microcarcinoma 6,follicular carcinoma 2 and medullary carcinoma 1) were malignant(43.8%) and 39(nodular goiter 6, adenoma 13,nodular goiter with adenoma 19 and adenoma with Hashimoto's thyroiditis 1) were benign (14.4%) (P < 0.01). Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing thyroid carcinoma were 43.8% (21/48) and 85.6% (231/270), respectively. Microcalcification was found in 37 cases (malignant 8, benign 29) and macrocalcification was found in 23 cases(malignant 13, benign 10) (P < 0.01) . Sensitivity and specificity of macrecalcification for diagnosing thyroid carcinoma were 61.9% (13/21) and 74.4% (29/39), respectively. Single calcification was found in 31 cases (malignant 13, benign 18) and multiple calcification was found in 29 cases(malignant 8, benign 21) (P >0.05). Internal calcification was found in 15 cases of malignant lesions(71.4%) and 12 of benign lesions(30.8%); Edge calcification was found in 6 cases of malignant and 27 of benign, (P <0.01). Sensitivity and specificity of internal calcification for diagnosing thyroid carcinoma were 71.4% (15/21) and 69.2% (27/39), respectively. Conclusion Internal calcification or(and) macrocalcification of the thyroid lesions may strongly suspect thyroid carcinoma and fine-needle aspiration or surgery should be further performed.

Xiangxi (the western part of Hunan province) Liu's infantile tuina,as one main school of current infantile tuina in China,highlights the compatibility of the specific points of Wujing in children,the idea of treatment by syndrome differentiation,and produces unique efficacy in the treatment of common diseases in children.Exogenous fever in children can be treated with this method with excellent efficacy.Based on the clinical experience and effective cases treated by this tuina school,the authors elaborated the clinical thought and experience from the perspective view of tuina,for the promotion of Xiangxi Liu's infantile tuina in clinic.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a very practical subject, which has its unique theoretical system and clinical characteristics. In the course of clinical practice, the exact clinical efficacy is the key of existence and development. But the existing evaluation system is difficult to objectively evaluate the clinical efficacy of TCM. Therefore, how to objectively evaluate the clinical efficacy and get definitive evidence is the focus of the evaluation of clinical efficacy of TCM. Relative to modern medicine, TCM is more concerned about the changes of feelings and clinical symptoms of the patient in the course of the evolution of the disease. Soft targets mainly used for the evaluation of the clinical efficacy of symptoms and functional activity of the disease. The level in soft targets of processing technology is often used methods in clinical evaluation. But it has often produced the phenomenon which the results of the evaluation is mutual contradiction, which will ultimately affect the effect of evaluation of clinical efficacy of TCM. In order to better evaluate the clinical efficacy of TCM, in the process of adoption of soft targets, it clearly identify it's role, highlighting the characteristics of interventions on disease, and as much as possibly avoid the level in soft targets of processing technology to real assess clinical efficacy of TCM.
Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design ; Treatment Outcome

Adenomatoid Tumor ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adult ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; methods ; Keratins ; metabolism ; Lymphangioma ; pathology ; Uterine Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Vimentin ; metabolism

Objective To observe the expression of Bcl-2,Bax and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in liver of rats with hepatic fibrosis and the effects of transforming growth factor (TGF)-?1 vaccine on them.Methods Thirty healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into 3 groups,named healthy control group(n=10),hepatic fibrosis group(n=10) and TGF-?1 vaccine treated group(n=10).The animal model with hepatic fibrosis was established by injecting solution dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) into abdominal cavity with concentration as 0.5% and dose as 0.2 mL/ 100 g.In TGF-?1 vaccine treated group,every rat was not only injected with DMN but also 150?g TGF-?1 vaccine protein.On the 42nd day,all rats were sacrificed.Then the blood and the liver tis- sues were collected.The expression levels of Bcl-2,Bax and PCNA in liver tissues were detected by S -P immunohistochemistry and observed by routine pathological evaluation.Alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and albumin(Alb) were determined by auto biochemical analytical tool.Serum levels of hyaluronic acid (HA),laminin(LN) were detected by radioimmunoas- say (RIA).Results The expression of Bax,which promoted apoptosis,directly correlated with pathological grade in liver of rats,while the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2/Bax,which protected a gainst apoptosis,inversely correlated with pathological grade in liver of rats.The expression levels of TGF-?1 and Bax in healthy control group were significantly lower than those of fibrosis group,how ever,the expression levels of Bcl-2 were comparable between these two groups.As compared with fi- brosis group,the expression of TGF-?1 was significantly lower while the expression of Bcl-2 was sig nificantly higher in TGF-?1 vaccine treated group.However,the expression of Bax was comparable between these two groups.The expression level of PCNA of fibrosis group was significantly higher than that of healthy control group but dramatically lower than that of TGF-?1 vaccine treated group (Both P

Adult ; Bile Duct Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Cholecystectomy ; methods ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hepatectomy ; methods ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Keratin-19 ; metabolism ; Keratin-7 ; metabolism ; Keratin-8 ; metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; RNA, Viral ; metabolism ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effect of lidamycin (LDM) and rituximab on human B cell lymphoma Ramos cells. Cell proliferation was measured using MTS assay, cell apoptosis was analyzed by Annexin V-FITC/PI assay, the expression of apoptosis related proteins was analyzed by Western blotting, and the in vivo lymphoma inhibition was verified using BALB/c mice inoculated via tail vein using Ramos cells which stably expressed pEGFP-N1 plasmid. The results showed that, after the pretreatment with rituximab for 48 h, rituximab and LDM showed significantly synergistic effects on cell proliferation. Cells in combined treatment group had a higher apoptosis rate than that in LDM treatment group. Compared with the LDM treatment group, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins such as Cleaved caspase-3, Cleaved caspase-7, Cleaved caspase-9 and Cleaved PARP in combined treatment groups increased, and expression of cIAP-2 and Bcl-2 decreased. The result of in vivo experiment showed that, in the combined treatment group, the survival time of BALB/c mice was significantly longer than the mice in control group and LDM treatment group, and the degree of tumor accumulation and metastasis to lymph nodes and spleen was lower.
Aminoglycosides ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 7 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Synergism ; Enediynes ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; metabolism ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rituximab ; pharmacology

Men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) can achieve fertility by testicular sperm extraction (TESE) coupled with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), the key to which is the successful retrieval of sperm from the testis. Although improved testicular sperm extraction techniques have increased the chances of sperm retrieval, to predict preoperatively the success of sperm retrieval from NOA patients remains challenging. A non-invasive diagnostic technique predicting the presence of sperm in the testis would be useful for avoiding possible surgical intervention. At present, some preoperative variables, such as serum FSH, inhibin B level, testis volume, genetic analysis, histopathology on diagnostic biopsy, Raman Spectroscopy, and molecular and protein markers, have provided new insights into the chances of successful sperm retrieval in NOA males. This review aims to evaluate the preoperative factors currently available for predicting the outcomes of sperm retrieval from NOA patients.
Azoospermia ; therapy ; Biomarkers ; Biopsy ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Inhibins ; blood ; Male ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ; Sperm Retrieval ; Spermatozoa ; cytology ; Testis ; cytology

Objective To observe the efficacy of total ankle replacement in treatment of osteoarthritis of ankle joint.Methods Between October 1999 and October 2006,42 patients with ankle osteoarthritis were admitted in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital.All the patients met surgical indications and were performed total ankle replacement with S.T.A.R.system ( Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement) (Waldemar Link,Hamburg,Germany).The pain in patients,motion and function of joint were evaluated pre- and post-operatively according to Kofoed scoring system,and the efficacy was evaluated with the Mayo'evaluation criteria of total ankle replacement.Results According to Kofoed scoring system,the postoperative situation was obviously superior to the preoperative in pain,motion and function of joint(P ＜ 0.05 ),and the excellent and good rate was 90.32％.While,the excellent and good rate was 87.5％with the Mayo' evaluation criteria of total ankle replacement.Conclusion Total ankle replacement,which can relieve pain,restore ankle function and improve ankle activity,provides another effective method for the patients who need ankle arthrodesis.