OBJECTIVETo investigate the precise locations of the blood vessels and nerves surrounding the seminal vesicles (SV) in men and provide some anatomical evidence for SV-related minimally invasive surgery.

METHODSWe observed the courses and distribution of the blood vessels and nerves surrounding SVs and obtained the data for positioning the SV neuroplexes in 20 male pelvises.

RESULTSOne branch of the neuroplexes was distributed to the SVs bilaterally with the neurovascular bundles, (2.85 ± 0.18) cm from the median sulcus of the prostate (MSP), while another branch ran through the Denonvillier fascia behind the SV, (0.81 ± 0.06) cm from the MSP. The arterial SVs (ASV) originated from the inferior vesical artery and fell into 4 types, 55% going directly to the SVs as one branch, 15% running between the SV and the ampulla of the deferent duct as another branch, 25% downward as 2 branches to the SV and between the SV and the ampulla of the deferent duct respectively, and 5% as the other ASVs. The shortest distance from the ASV through the prostatic neuroplexus to the posterior SV was (1.08 ± 0.09) cm.

CONCLUSIONIn SV resection, neuroplexus injury can be reduced with a bilateral distance of < 2.85 cm and a posterior distance of < 0.81 cm from the MSP, and so can bleeding by vascular ligation between the SV and the ampulla of the deferent duct.

Biopsy ; Humans ; Male ; Prostate ; blood supply ; innervation ; Seminal Vesicles ; blood supply ; innervation ; Vas Deferens ; blood supply ; innervation

Objective:To investigate the feasibility and safety of endovascular repair for traumatic thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm.Methods:From Oct 2015 to Oct 2018, the clinical and followup data of 7 patients diagnosed as traumatic thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm in Fuwai Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were analyzed retrospectively.Results:The patients average age was (51.2±11.0) years old. All patients underwent surgery in the hybrid operating room under general anesthesia. Two did thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), three did TEVAR combined with chimney technique to reconstruct the left subclavian artery, and 1 had TEVAR combined with fenestration to reconstruct the left subclavian artery. One did TEVAR with left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery bypass. The mean operative time was (90.1±27.4) min, the mean postoperative hospital stay was (8.9±3.7) d, and the mean postoperative follow-up time was 42.4 months. All the patients received CTA reexamination of the aorta after 1, 6, 12 months and yearly thereafter. TypeⅠendoleak was found in one patient with chimney technique to reconstruct of left subclavian artery after operation. CT showed that the type Ⅰ endoleak disappeared 6 months after operation. There was no death, paraplegia or stroke during the perioperative period and follow-up period, and there was no aortic related reintervention.Conclusion:TEVAR is a safe and effective method for the treatment of traumatic pseudoaneurysm of thoracic aorta, and the early and mid-term results were satisfactory.

Objective:At present, the postgraduate education of emergency medicine in China mainly relies on the internal medicine system and lacks specialty pertinence. The purpose of this study is to establish a compulsory curriculum system for professional postgraduates of emergency medicine.Methods:Modified Delphi method was used to subscribe questionnaires to experts, and the contents were mainly about medical education management and research of emergency in the affiliated teaching hospitals of Peking University. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used for double entry of questionnaire contents, and SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistics.Results:The panel was consisted of 14 experts in total and two rounds of Delphi questionnaires were completed. The response rate of the two rounds were both 100%. The authority coefficient of experts was > 0.9 and the average score of each evaluation index was 4.07-5.00 points. The coefficient of variation of each index was 0-0.22 and the Kendall coefficient of concordance was 0.07-0.10.Conclusion:As a result, a comprehensive emergency professional postgraduate curriculum system has been established.

OBJECTIVETo understand the epidemiological, clinical and etiological characteristics of an Echovirus type 6 meningitis outbreak in Jinzhai county, Liu'an city in Anhui, and to find out the proper way in controlling the aseptic meningitis outbreak.

METHODSA surveillance system for aseptic meningitis was established in Jinzhai to confirm the case definition. Stool or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from some cases were collected for entero-viruses isolation and identification. Case-control study was conducted. The case group involved patients while the controls would include: patients' classmate with same gender and the age difference was not over one year. Neutralization antibody in serum specimens were collected and tested in cases and in healthy people.

RESULTS105 cases were distributed in 17 of the 30 towns in Jinzhai county while 41.0% of the cases were in Banzhuyuan town with an incidence rate of 203/10(5). Cases were clustered by school and classroom with age ranging from 3 to 15 years old and the highest as 10.9/10(5) in the 6 to 10 group. The incidence in males was 24.2/10(5) compared to 8.4/10(5) in females. The main clinic characteristics of cases were: fever, headache and vomiting. Echovirus type 6 from 25 of the 72 CSF samples (35%) was isolated. When comparing the cases group with control group, the OR of drinking home-made beverages was 4.1 (95% CI: 1.4-12.0), especially the beverages sacked by plastic bag: 3.3 (95% CI: 1.3-8.8). 6 out of 7 workers engaging in producing home-made beverages were detected to have carried Echovirus type 6 from their stool specimens. The Echovirus type 6 neutralization antibody positive rate in cases (73.5%) was significantly higher than that in 100 healthy people (46.0%) (X2 = 12. 526, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONThis episode of meningitis outbreak was caused by Echovirus type 6. The proportion of drinking home-made beverages, especially the beverages sacked by plastic bag in cases group was higher than in control group.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Echovirus 6, Human ; pathogenicity ; Echovirus Infections ; epidemiology ; etiology ; pathology ; virology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Meningitis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; pathology ; virology ; Prejudice

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVERadioresistant cells in esophageal cancer is one of the important reasons for the local failure of radiotherapy. In recent years, some researchers used gene chip technology to screen the differentially expressed genes between parental and radioresistant human esophageal cancer cells. But there were some problems in these studies, for example comparing cells at only one time interval, and genetic background not matching. In this study, we selected 3 different pairs of parental and radioresistant human esophageal cancer cells, and compared the gene expression profiles by cDNA microarray at 3 time intervals to identify and analyze the differentially expressed genes between parental and radioresistant human esophageal cancer cells.

METHODSWe compared the gene expression profiles between parental cells (TE13, Seg-1, Kyse170) and radioresistant cells (TE13R, Seg-1R, Kyse170R) before, and at 8 h and 24 h after irradiation with a cDNA microarray consisting of 48 000 genes (Human Genome). We identified differentially expressed genes by Pathway and GO analyses, and verified the differentially expressed genes LEF1 and CTNNB1 by RT-PCR.

RESULTSA total of 460, 451, and 397 differentially expressed genes were found before, and at 8 h and 24 h after irradiation. After Pathway and GO analyses, 14 differentially expressed genes, participating in cell growth, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, gene repair and signal transmission, were selected to further research. LEF1 and CTNNB1 were verified by RT-PCR, and the results were consistent with those of cDNA microarray.

CONCLUSIONSThe WNT signal pathway may be an important pathway participating in the formation of radioresistance of esophageal cancer cells. LEF1 and CTNNB1 may be the important genes causing the esophageal cancer cell radioresistance.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; radiation effects ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1 ; metabolism ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Radiation Tolerance ; Transcriptome ; Wnt Signaling Pathway ; radiation effects ; beta Catenin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effect of the Chinese medicine Yangjing Decoction on idiopathic asthenospermia.

METHODSThis study included 62 patients with idiopathic asthenospermia diagnosed with the computer-assisted semen analysis system and other methods based on the WHO guidelines. The patients were equally randomized to a trial and a control group, the former treated with Yangjing Decoction at the dose of 400 ml bid, and the latter with Yougui Capsules tid, both for a course of 6 months. Then we analyzed the changes in sperm concentration and percentage of grade a + b sperm in the patients, as well as the pregnancy in their wives.

RESULTSCompared with the controls, the patients of the trial group showed a significantly elevated percentage of grade a + b sperm after 6 months medication (P < 0.01), though no statistically significant differences were observed in sperm concentration (P > 0.05). The total rate of effectiveness was 87.09% and 7 pregnancies were achieved in the trial group, as compared with 66.74% and 3 pregnancies in the controls (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONYangjing Decoction can significantly improve sperm vitality, and has a desirable effect on idiopathic asthenospermia.

Adult ; Asthenozoospermia ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oligospermia ; drug therapy ; Phytotherapy ; Pregnancy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study in vitro anti-tumor activity of phaseoloideside E (PE) with human hepatoma HepG2 cells as the objective.

METHODMTT assay was adopted to detect the cytotoxic effect of PE of different concentrations on HepG2 cells after being processed for 48 h. Changes in morphology of PE-processed cells were observed under an optical microscope and fluorescence microscope. DNA agrose gel electrophoresis was used to detect the DNA ladder, an important characteristic of cell apoptosis. The expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 were determined by western blot assay.

RESULTPE dramatically repressed the viability of HepG2 cells. Typical morphological changes of apoptosis had been detected by both direct microscopic observation and Hoechst 33,258 staining. Typical DNA Ladder was also observed by agarose gel electrophoresis in the administration group, but it did not exist in the control group. Western blot showed that the expression of Bax was up-regulated and Bcl-2 was down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONAbove data demonstrates that PE can induce apoptosis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells, and indicate that PE-induced expression level changes of Bax and Bcl2 may be related to the apoptosis-induction effect.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relation between changes in serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, especially in relation to metastasis.

METHODSSerum VEGF expression level, measured by quatitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, R&D system), was measured before, 3 days and 4 weeks after TACE in 30 patients with HCC. The development of metastasis was evaluated at the end of the third month after TACE.

RESULTS1. The serum VEGF level in 30 patients was 154.47 +/- 90.17 pg/ml, 2. Post-TACE total serum VEGF level increased as compared with their basal level in 30 patients (P < 0.05) and serum VEGF level had a tendency to increase in patients with heterogeneous uptake of iodized oil and portal vein thrombosis. During the follow-up of 1 - 2 years, metastatic foci were found in 74% (20) patients with SVEGF increase, while none of the patients showing SVEGF decrease developed metastasis.

CONCLUSIONSerum VEGF expression increase is associated with the development of metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma after TACE.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; pathology ; therapy ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood

BACKGROUNDIt has been stated that preoperative pulmonary function tests are essential to assess the surgical risk in patients with scoliosis. Arterial blood gas tests have also been used to evaluate pulmonary function before scoliotic surgery. However, few studies have been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of preoperative arterial blood gas tests in the surgical treatment of scoliosis with moderate or severe pulmonary dysfunction.

METHODSThis study involved scoliotic patients with moderate or severe pulmonary dysfunction (forced vital capacity < 60%) who underwent surgical treatment between January 2002 and April 2010. A total of 73 scoliotic patients (23 males and 50 females) with moderate or severe pulmonary dysfunction were included. The average age of the patients was 16.53 years (ranged 10 - 44). The demographic distribution, medical records, and radiographs of all patients were collected. All patients received arterial blood gas tests and pulmonary function tests before surgery. The arterial blood gas tests included five parameters: partial pressure of arterial oxygen, partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide, alveolar-arterial oxygen tension gradient, pH, and standard bases excess. The pulmonary function tests included three parameters: forced expiratory volume in 1 second ratio, forced vital capacity ratio, and peak expiratory flow ratio. All five parameters of the arterial blood gas tests were compared between the two groups with or without postoperative pulmonary complications by variance analysis. Similarly, all three parameters of the pulmonary function tests were compared.

RESULTSThe average coronal Cobb angle before surgery was 97.42° (range, 50° - 180°). A total of 15 (20.5%) patients had postoperative pulmonary complications, including hypoxemia in 5 cases (33.3%), increased requirement for postoperative ventilatory support in 4 (26.7%), pneumonia in 2 (13.3%), atelectasis in 2 (13.3%), pneumothorax in 1 (6.7%), and hydrothorax in 1 (6.7%). No significant differences in demographic characteristics or perioperative factors (P > 0.05) existed between the two groups with or without postoperative pulmonary complications. According to the variance analysis, there were no statistically significant differences in any parameter of the arterial blood gas tests between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONSNo significant correlation between the results of the preoperative arterial blood gas tests and postoperative pulmonary complications existed in scoliotic patients with moderate or severe pulmonary dysfunction. However, the postoperative complications tended to increase with the decrease of partial pressure of arterial oxygen in the arterial blood gas tests.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; physiology ; Humans ; Lung ; physiology ; Male ; Oxygen ; blood ; Postoperative Complications ; Preoperative Care ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Scoliosis ; surgery ; Vital Capacity ; physiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo conduct a meta-analysis of the effect of levosimendan on B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and evaluate the therapeutic effect of levosimendan on advanced heart failure.

METHODSA meta-analysis was performed on the selected data to analyze the effect of levosimendan on BNP levels.

RESULTSLevosimendan decreased BNP by a mean of 337.66 [95%CI (-296.30, -379.02)] pg/ml 24 h after the administration, and by 259.92 [95%CI (-195.76, -324.08)] pg/ml at 48 h, and by 123.09 [95%CI(-53.32,-195.86)] pg/ml at 1 week. Levosimendan resulted in improvements of the cardiac function by about 29%, 22%, and 10% at 24 h, 48 h and 1 week after the administration.

CONCLUSIONLevosimendan produces favorable effects on the cardiac functions and BNP levels.

Cardiotonic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Heart Failure ; blood ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Hydrazones ; therapeutic use ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; blood ; Pyridazines ; therapeutic use