Objective To evaluate the CT findings of lymphofollicular thymic hyperplasia in adult myasthenia gravis (MG).Methods The CT findings of thymus area of 134 adult patients with lymphofolficular thymic hyperplasia in MG were reviewed,all of them with surgically and histologically proven diagnosis,and compared with the CT findings of 165 normal subjects.Results In the group of patient,CT showed enlargement of thymus in 31 patients,5 patients had nodule or mass(＜3 cm);thus 36 cases(26.9%)can confirmed diagnose by CT with thymic hyperplasia.CT showed 2 masses(＞3 em) and 9 patients(6.7%)had normal size thymus with soft-tissue density,it can considered with thymic hyperplasia.The spotty or streak shadow showed in other patients,though it could not be certain diagnosed as thymic hyperplasia,but could not be except it.The thymus area tissue complete replacement by fatty density were not found in patient group.The CT findings of patients had marked difference when compared with group of normal subjects(P＜0.01),except the spotty or streak shadows.Conclusion CT scan is an important method in diagnosing thymic lymphofollicular hyperplasia of MG in adult.

Objective To evaluate clinical features,therapeutic effects and outcomes of patients with non-human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)-infected cryptococcal meningitis treated with fluconazole or fluconazole and flucytosine.Methods Twenty-four cases of non-HIV-infected cryptococcal meningitis(fluconazole with or without flucytosine as initial therapy)in Huashan Hospital,Fudan University from 1997 to 2007 were retrospectively reviewed.Clinical manifestations,therapeutic effects and outcomes of the patients were collected.Results Fluconazole was administered with median dosage of 400 mg/d,for a median duration of 20.5 days.After fluconazole initial therapy for 2 weeks,16.7% showed partial response,83.3% showed no response,and the overall response rate was 16.7%.After 10 weeks,33.3% showed partial response,29.2% showed complete response,16.7% showed no response,and the overall response rate was 62.5%.Mortality at week 10 was 20.8%.Twenty-two patients who failed to respond to initial therapy were switched to other antifungal drugs(amphotericin B,amphotericin B colloidal dispersion,itraconazole)or other fluconazole containing combined therapy.Eleven out of the 24 patients died during one-year follow-up,8 of whom died of eryptococcal meningitis,and 3 died of other diseases.Conclusions The initial therapy of fluconazole with or without flucytosine is inefficient,and most of the patients need other antifungal drugs because of initial therapy failure.Therefore,fluconazole might not be appropriate for initial therapy in non-HIV-infected cryptococcal meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Active compression-decompression cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ACD-CPR) has been popular in the treatment of patients with cardiac arrest (CA). However, the effect of ACD-CPR versus conventional standard CPR (S-CRP) is contriversial. This study was to analyze the efficacy and safety of ACD-CPR versus S-CRP in treating CA patients. METHODS: Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials published from January 1990 to March 2011 were searched with the phrase "active compression-decompression cardiopulmonary resuscitation and cardiac arrest" in PubMed, EmBASE, and China Biomedical Document Databases. The Cochrane Library was searched for papers of meta-analysis. Restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rate, survival rate to hospital admission, survival rate at 24 hours, and survival rate to hospital discharge were considered primary outcomes, and complications after CPR were viewed as secondary outcomes. Included studies were critically appraised and estimates of effects were calculated according to the model of fixed or random effects. Inconsistency across the studies was evaluated using the I2 statistic method. Sensitivity analysis was made to determine statistical heterogeneity. RESULTS: Thirteen studies met the criteria for this meta-analysis. The studies included 396 adult CA patients treated by ACD-CPR and 391 patients by S-CRP. Totally 234 CA patients were found out hospitals, while the other 333 CA patients were in hospitals. Two studies were evaluated with high-quality methodology and the rest 11 studies were of poor quality. ROSC rate, survival rate at 24 hours and survival rate to hospital discharge with favorable neurological function indicated that ACD-CPR is superior to S-CRP, with relative risk (RR) values of 1.39 (95% CI 0.99–1.97), 1.94 (95%CI 1.45–2.59) and 2.80 (95% CI 1.60–5.24). No significant differences were found in survival rate to hospital admission and survival rate to hospital discharge for ACD-CPR versus S-CRP with RR values of 1.06 (95% CI 0.76–1.60) and 1.00 (95% CI 0.73–1.38). CONCLUSION: Quality controlled studies confirmed the superiority of ACD-CPR to S-CRP in terms of ROSC rate and survival rate at 24 hours. Compared with S-CRP, ACD-CPR could not improve survival rate to hospital admission or survival rate to hospital discharge.

Objective To investigate the expression of caspase-10 in differentiated thyroid carcinoma and association with its development and metastasis. Methods Thyroid samples from 37 patients in a period from January 2006 to December 2007, with differentiated thyroid carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed for caspase-10 by immunohistocbemistry(streptavidin-perosidase, S-P), compared to control group of 46 cases with nodtdar goiter. The relationship between the expression of caspase-10 and the clinical pathologic characteristics of thyroid carcinoma were also explored simultaneously. Results caspase-10 were observed as brown or yellow particles located in the cytoplasm or cell membrane of nodular goiter but there were no significant evidence for its positive expression in thyroid carcinoma, caspase-10 expression was markedly down-regulated in differentiated thyroid carcinoma(29.73%,11/37) compared with benign nodules(71.74%,33/46, χ2=14.528, P<0.01). The positive expression in 18 cases with lymph node metastasis(11.11%,2/18) was significantly lower than those in 19 patients without lymph node metastasis(47.37%,9/19; χ2=4.210, P<0.01). There was no significant correlation(P> 0.05) between the expression of caspase-10 and the clinical pathologic characteristics including male, age, TNM stage and pathologic type. Conclusion Down-regulation of caspase-10 may play a critical role in carcinogenesis and development of differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

OBJECTIVETo compare the difference between the burn wound and diabetic ulcer wound, and to preliminarily analyze the nonhealing mechanism of diabetic unclear.

METHODSThe tissue of foot ulcer of diabete patients and skin wound tissues from burn patients were harvested. The levels of (FGF)2 and VEGF in the wound tissues were determined after tissue cultivation with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The changes in micro-vascular density (MVD) were examined by immunohistochemistry. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were cultured in medium containing different components, and divided into following groups: A (with treatment of 5 mmol/L glucose for 7 days), B (with treatment of 30 mmol/L glucose for 7 days) and C (with treatment of 30 mmol/L Mannitol for 7 days) groups, then the level of VEGF protein was determined by ELISA.

RESULTSThe levels of FGF2 and VEGF protein in the burn wound were (59 +/- 3) ng/ml and (56 +/- 7) pg/ml, respectively, which were obviously lower than those in diabetic ulcer wound [(89 +/- 6) ng/ml, (108 +/- 5) pg/ml, P < 0.05]. There was also obvious difference in MVD between two kinds of wound (P < 0.05). The level of VEGF protein in both wounds were similar after the addition of FGF2 to the cell culture in vitro, while there were statistically significant difference 2 and 5 days after removal of FGF.

CONCLUSIONThe nonhealing mechanism of diabetic ulcer wound may be related to the inhibition of vacuolation and low expression of factors controlling vessel growth.

Burns ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cells, Cultured ; Diabetic Foot ; pathology ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; metabolism ; Foot Ulcer ; etiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVEChimeric human/bovine immunodeficiency virus (HBIV) cDNA was constructed by replacing HIV tat and LTR with bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) tat and LTR to study the activity of BIV tat and LTR in the chimerae.

METHODSThe target fragments of BIV tat, LTR and HIV gag, pol, env were respectively amplified by using PCR and sequentially inserted into pBluescript SK(+) vector. The chimeric clone was transfected into human MT4 cells. The transcript and gene expression of the HBIV chimeric virus were detected by using RT-PCR and a reverse transcriptase assay, respectively.

RESULTSBIV tat mRNA and HIV gag mRNA were detected. The reverse transcriptase activity of the chimeric virus was analyzed in the fluctuation curve.

CONCLUSIONSIn chimeric HBIV cDNA transfected MT?4 cells, BIV tat and HIV gag were transcripted. The reverse transcriptase of the chimeric virus had biological activity. These data suggest that in MT4 cells, BIV LTR had promoter activity and BIV tat had the function of transactivation in the chimeric virus. The study of the chimeric virus with infectivity is in progress.

AIDS Vaccines ; Animals ; Cattle ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; DNA, Viral ; genetics ; Genes, gag ; genetics ; Genes, pol ; genetics ; Genes, tat ; genetics ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunodeficiency Virus, Bovine ; genetics ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic ; Transcriptional Activation ; Transfection ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVETo investigate the change of bile composition and its role in bile duct injury after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

METHODSRats were randomly divided into 3 groups: group A (sham surgery), group B (OLT with 1 h cold preservation), group C (OLT with 12 h cold preservation). The arterialized rat liver transplantation model with biliary extra-drainage was used in group B and C. Animals were sacrificed at posttransplant 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 day. Routine bile chemistry and pathological assays were performed.

RESULTSCold preservation/reperfusion injury (CPRI) could repress the secretion of bile salts and phospholipid. However, in contrast with a rapid increase of bile salt secretion, the biliary secretion of phospholipid recovered more slowly, leading to an abnormal high bile salts/phospholipid ratio early after transplantation. Further analysis suggested that the secretion of bile salts correlated strongly with biochemical and histopathological signs of bile duct injury.

CONCLUSIONSCPRI can lead to great changes of graft bile composition, which plays a role in the pathogenesis of bile duct injury following liver transplantation.

Animals ; Bile ; metabolism ; Bile Acids and Salts ; metabolism ; Bile Duct Diseases ; etiology ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; pathology ; Cold Ischemia ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo make multi-central clinical evaluation of the massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel for treatment of infantile diarrhea due to spleen deficiency.

METHODSBy using multi-central, randomized and controlled method, 275 cases were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 137) and a control group (n = 138). The observation group were treated by the massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel, and the control group by routine massage therapy in Tuina Science, a teaching material for college and school of TCM. After treatment for 7 days, their therapeutic effects were compared.

RESULTSThe cured rate was 83.2% in the observation group and 69.6% in the control group with a signifi cant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05), the former being better than the latter. The mean cured time was (3.22 +/- 1.04) days in the observation group and (4.20 +/- 1.11) days in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05), the former being shorter than the latter.

CONCLUSIONThe massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel has a definite therapeutic effect on infantile diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, with rapid effect.

Combined Modality Therapy ; Diarrhea, Infantile ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Massage ; Qi ; Splenic Diseases ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of cold preservation and reperfusion injury (CPRI) on the bile salt spectrum in rat orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) model.

METHODSA special analysis method was established to investigate the bile salts in rat by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: group A (control group, n = 6), group B (group with 1 h graft preservation pre-OLT, n = 6) and group C (group with 12 h graft preservation pre-OLT, n = 6). The bile samples of 0 - 14 post-transplantation days were analyzed by RP-HPLC.

RESULTSEleven kinds of bile salts were detected in rat bile. It showed that CPRI could influence the concentration of bile salts significantly in rat model after OLT, the concentration of hydrophobic bile salts (TCA and TCDCA) increased significantly in group B and C. However, the concentration of hydrophilic bile salts (TUDCA and THDCA) just increased in a short-time. The hydrophobicity index (HI) wasn't significantly changed during the first 4 post-transplant days. Thus the HI of bile salts elevated gradually from the 5th day and reached the peak at the 10th day after OLT.

CONCLUSIONThe increase of the proportion of hydrophobic bile salts may be one of the major factors leading to the increase of bile toxicity after OLT.

Animals ; Bile ; metabolism ; Bile Acids and Salts ; secretion ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cryopreservation ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver ; blood supply ; metabolism ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Postoperative Period ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the infection condition of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 and 18 in the squamous cells and columnar cells of patients with common anorecatal lesions.

METHODSInfections of HPV type 16 and 18 were determined with real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR in the wax-embedded surgical specimen of 805 patients with common anorectal diseases.

RESULTSThe overall infection rate among 805 patients with anorecatal lesions was 66.1% (532/805). The infection rate was 82.6% (95/115) in patients with mixed hemorrhoids, 76.5% (88/115) in anal papillary fibromas, 74.8% (86/115) in internal hemorrhoids, 72.2% (83/115) in fistulas, 69.6% (80/115) in external hemorrhoids, 47.8% (55/115) in anal perianal abscesses, and 39.1% (45/115) in anal fissures.

CONCLUSIONInfection rate of HPV type 16, 18 in common anorectal lesions is high.

Human papillomavirus 16 ; Human papillomavirus 18 ; Humans ; Papillomavirus Infections ; Rectal Diseases ; epidemiology