Objective To evaluate the changes of cerebral glucose metabolism before and after carotid artery stenting (CAS) in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis.Methods Eleven patients,admitted to and performed CAS in our hospital from March 2010 to December 2010,were enrolled.The patients received PET-CT examination before and 3 months after CAS (tracking by 18F-FDG).The max standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of each artery supplement area was recorded by region of interest (ROI) method.The metabolism of affected carotid artery area was compared before and after CAS,and the affected carotid area and the unaffected one.Results The SUVmax before CAS in the affected carotid area (4.99±0.96) was significantly lower than that of the unaffected one (5.67±1.27,P＜0.05); follow-up SUVmax in the affected carotid area (5.83 ±1.10) was significantly increased as compared with that before CAS (P＜0.05); follow-up SUVmax in the affected carotid area showed no significant difference as compared with that in the unaffected one after CAS (5.85±1.08,P＞0.05).Conclusion The cerebral glucose metabolism of the affected carotid area decreases significantly,which could be improved after CAS.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the functions of differentially expressed genes between abdominal aortic aneurysm and normal aortic tissue by cDNA microarray.

METHODSTotal RNAs were respectively isolated from the normal aorta and aortic aneurysm, purified into mRNAs by oligotex. Subsequently they were reverse-transcribed into cDNAs incorporated with fluorescent dUTP to make hybridization probes, which were hybridized as the cDNA microarray for scanning of fluorescent signals and differentially expressed genes between the normal aortic and aortic aneurysm by using GenePix Pro 3.0 software.

RESULTSA total of 18 differentially expressed genes were detected, accounting for 0.44% of total genes. Among these genes, 11 were related to cell cycle and the remaining 7 to cell apoptosis. The number of upregulated genes in the aortic aneurysm was 9 (mean ratio: 3.860) and that of the downregulated 9 (mean Ratio: 0.294). Bio-informative analysis showed that these 18 genes might influence the growth and apoptosis of smooth muscle cells in abdominal aortic aneurysms.

CONCLUSIONSDuring the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms, modulations of multi-gene expression would undergo various changes. Cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes were related to the growth and apoptosis of smooth muscle cells in abdominal aortic aneurysms. Further research into these genes will clarify the mechanisms of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; genetics ; pathology ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Cell Cycle ; genetics ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; metabolism ; pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

Objective To investigate the association between heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene rs2071746 polymorphism and long-term clinical outcome in patients with ischemic stroke.Methods Between July 2015 and June 2017,consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to the Department of Neurology,the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were enrolled prospectively.TOAST classification was performed for all patients.Genotyping of the HO-1 gene rs2071746 polymorphism was performed using a modified multiplex ligase detection reaction technique.The patients were followed up.The primary endpoint events included ischemic stroke,vascular death,and myocardial infarction.Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the independent influencing factors for primary endpoint events.Results A total of 1 698 patients with successful genotyping and follow-up information were enrolled.Genotyping showed that the frequency of rs2071746 A allelewas 44.91％.They were followed up for 15.21 ± 7.39 months,and 168 patients (9.89％) had primary endpoint events.The incidence of primary endpoint events in A allele carriers was significantly lower than that in non-A allele carriers (8.80％ vs.12.40％;P =0.018).Multivariate Cox proportional risk regression model showed that after adjusting for age,gender,hypertension,diabetes mellitus,smoking,alcohol consumption,and genotype,A allele was an independent protective factor for primary endpoint events in patients with acute ischemic stroke (hazard risk [HR] 0.693,95％ confidence interval [CI]0.506-0.949;P=0.022).Subgroup analysis showed that carrying the A allele was an independent protective factor for primary endpoint events in patients with large atherosclerotic stroke (HR 0.651,95％ CI 0.425-0.997;P=0.048),while rs2071746 polymorphism was not associated with long-term outcome in other etiological subtypes.Conclusion The HO-1 gene rs2071746 A allele may be a protective factor for the long-term outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke and large atherosclerotic stroke.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors of early neurological deterioration (END) in patients with minor ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO) and the impact of rescue endovascular thromboectomy (REVT) on clinical outcomes of patients with END at discharge.Methods:Consecutive patients with acute minor ischemic stroke caused by LVO within 24 h of onset in the Third Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University from January 2021 to March 2023 were retrospectively enrolled. Minor ischemic stroke was defined as baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≤5 at admission. END was defined as an increase of ≥4 in the NIHSS score within 24 h after the best medical management. The modified Rankin Scale was used to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with END at discharge. 0-2 was defined as a good outcome. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent risk factors for END and the impact of REVT on clinical outcomes in patients with END. Results:A total of 75 patients with minor ischemic stroke caused by LVO were included, of which 31 (41.3%) developed END and 13 (41.9%) underwent REVT after END. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that internal carotid artery occlusion was an independent risk factor for END (odds ratio 4.304, 95% confidence interval 1.213-15.270; P=0.024), and REVT was an independent protective factor for good outcomes in patients with END (odds ratio 0.068, 95% confidence interval 0.006-0.774; P=0.030). Conclusions:The incidence of END is higher in patients with minor ischemic stroke caused by LVO, and internal carotid artery occlusion is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of END. Providing REVT after END may improve the clinical outcomes of patients with END at discharge.

Objective To study the value of expanded-National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (e-NIHSS) in evaluating the neurological signs of medullary infarction.Methods One hundred and thirteen patients with primary medullary infarction proved by magnetic resonance imaging were enrolled and divided into medial medullary infarction (MMI) group (n=41) and lateral medullary infarction (LMI) group (n=72).Risk factors of stroke and neurological signs evaluated by NIHSS and e-NIHSS were recorded and compared between the two groups.Results The age and prevalence of diabetes in MMI group were significantly older/higher than those in LMI group (P＜0.05).The major neurological signs of MMI were limb weakness (95.12％),dysphagia (36.59％),facial plasy (34.15％) and dysarthria (31.71％).And the major neurological signs of LMI were dysphagia (63.89％),truncal ataxia (54.17％),sensory dysfunction (50.00％) and dysarthia (48.61％).All the patients had significantly higher e-NIHSS scores than NIHSS scores (5.40±2.74 vs.2.96±2.22,P=0.000),which was similar in MMI group (e-NIHSS:5.34±3.20 vs.NIHSS:4.07±2.55,P=0.000) and in LMI group (e-NIHSS:5.43±2.47 vs.NIHSS:2.33±1.74,P=0.000).The e-NIHSS scores increased 2.57±1.99 than NIHSS scores in all the patients,which were 1.63±2.25 in MMI group and 3.10±1.62 in LMI higher than NIHSS scores;the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion The e-NIHSS could improve the sensitivity of NIHSS in evaluating the neurological signs of medullary infarction,which is better in evaluating LMI than in evaluating MMI.

Objective:To construct and validate a predictive model for the occurrence of malignant cerebral edema(MCE)in the elderly with acute large hemispheric infarction(LHI)of the anterior cerebral artery.Methods:Clinical, laboratory and imaging data of 301 elderly patients with acute LHI of the anterior cerebral artery admitted to the Department of Neurology of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 2018 and April 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients were divided into a modeling group(211 cases)and a validation group(90 cases)by the simple random sampling method with a ratio of 7∶3.According to the occurrence of MCE, univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were performed with data from the modeling group to screen for independent predictors of the development of MCE.Nomograms were created and internally validated using R software.Additionally, external validation was performed with data from the validation group, and the performance of the model was assessed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves, calibration plots, and clinical decision curve analysis(DCA), respectively.Results:The MCE incidence and baseline data between the modeling and validation groups were not statistically significantly different and were actually comparable.Multivariate Logistic analysis in the modeling group showed that a history of atrial fibrillation( OR=3.459, 95% CI: 1.202-9.955, P=0.021), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ(APACHE Ⅱ)score( OR=1.202, 95% CI: 1.052-1.373, P=0.007), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)score( OR=1.163, 95% CI: 1.039-1.3013, P=0.008), Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score(ASPECTS)( OR=0.782, 95% CI: 0.639-0.958, P=0.018), and collateral score(CS)( OR=0.414, 95% CI: 0.221-0.777, P=0.006)were independent predictors of the occurrence of MCE in the elderly patients with LHI.Based on the nomogram model constructed using the independent predictors, the ROC value for the risk of developing MCE was 0.912(95% CI: 0.867-0.957)in the modeling group and 0.957(95% CI: 0.902-0.997)in the validation group.The predicted probabilities from the nomograms in the modeling and validation groups were close to the actual probabilities, indicating good calibration.The DCA curves in the validation group showed that the predictive model had good clinical utility. Conclusions:The nomogram model established in this study exhibits good discrimination and calibration for the prediction of MCE, and has some predictive value.

Cerebral Hemorrhage ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Thrombolytic Therapy