OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical outcome of extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy as surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

METHODSTwenty patients with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas were treated by standard pancreatoduodenectomy (standard group) between 1994 and 1997, and 46 patients with the same disease underwent extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy associated with standard pancreatoduodenectomy (radical group) between 1998 and 2002. Clinical and pathological parameters in both groups were reviewed. The postoperative morbidity, mortality, and survival data were compared.

RESULTSThe mean total number of lymph nodes resected was significantly higher in the radical group than in the standard group (P < 0.05). Of the 46 patients in the radical group, 26.09% (12/46) had metastatic adenocarcinoma in the resected retroperitoneal lymph nodes. There was one perioperative death in the standard group and two in the radical group. Postoperative diarrhea and lymphatic leakage were only observed in the radical group. Transfusion requirements and postoperative morbidity did not differ between the two groups. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 63.16%, 31.58%, and 21.05% in the standard group, and 65.91%, 37.71%, and 21.21% in the radical group (P > 0.05). When the subgroups of patients with positive lymph nodes were analyzed, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 41.67%, 16.67%, and 8.33% in the standard group, and 64.52%, 32.26%, and 12.9% in the radical group (P < 0.05). A trend toward a better survival was observed in the first 2 years after operation in the radical group, but with no significant differences 2 years later.

CONCLUSIONThe addition of an extended lymphadenectomy may improve the early survival without increasing the morbidity, but has no significant effect on long-term survival.

Adenocarcinoma ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Postoperative Complications ; Retroperitoneal Space ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUNDNowadays, there is a remarkable rise in resectability rate of periampullary adenocarcinoma and the mortality and morbidity of the pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure have been reduced remarkably, while the 5 year survival rates of patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas are still below 25%. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate the clinical outcome of radical pancreaticoduodenectomy with extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy as a surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

METHODSTwenty cases with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas were treated by standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (removing only the peripancreatic lymph nodes en bloc with the tumour) from 1994 to 1997, and 46 cases with the same disease underwent extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy associated with standard pancreaticoduodenectomy from 1998 to 2002. The patients for whom there were insufficient follow-up data, or who had received postoperative adjuvant therapy, were excluded from the analysis. Clinical and pathological parameters of both groups were reviewed. The postoperative morbidity, mortality and survival data were compared statistically.

RESULTSDemographic and histopathological characteristics were similar in the two groups of patients. Performance of the extended lymphadenectomy lengthened the procedure. The mean total number of lymph nodes resected was significantly higher in the radical group (P < 0.05). Of the 46 cases in the radical group, 26% (12/46) had metastatic adenocarcinoma in the resected retroperitoneal lymph nodes. There was one perioperative death in the standard group, and two in the radical group. Postoperative diarrhoea and lymphatic leakage were only observed in the radical group. Transfusion requirements and postoperative morbidity rates did not differ between the two groups. The 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 63%, 32% and 21% respectively in the standard group, and 66%, 38% and 21% in the radical group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups. When subgroups of node positive patients were analysed, the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 42%, 17% and 8% respectively in the standard group, and 65%, 32% and 16% in the radical group. Better survival was observed in the first 2 years after operation in the radical group, but no survival differences were seen after 2 years post operation.

CONCLUSIONSThe addition of an extended lymphadenectomy to a pancreaticoduodenectomy did not significantly increase morbidity rates, but was associated with an early survival advantage.

Adenocarcinoma ; mortality ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Retroperitoneal Space ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To discuss the solutions of health education of the foreign patients and improve the quality of health education.Methods Effective management to the health training and training of multicultural were performed to improve the ability of communication,the health-training was done according to the different person,different disease and different culture.Results Through health education,the majority of foreign patients achieved our goal of pre-missionary,satisfaction of foreign patient was improved,and the compliance to the treatment and care were improved.Conclusions Effective management is a quality assurance of the health education.Individualized education according to the different conditions and the multi-cultural knowledge were the key to foreign patient in health education and the good communication skill is a prerequisite for health education.

Objective To study the effect ofT-786C polymorphism of endothelial NO synthase gene on cerebral circulation in smokers with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods Three hundred and ninety-four patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage were adopted in our study;smokers and nonsmokers were defined by 200 and 0, respectively, according to the smoking index (quantity of cigarettes per year). Transcranial color-coded Doppler (TCCD) was employed to detect the alterations of flow velocity of cerebral arteries. Genotyping ofT-786C was performed by using a newly developed allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Degree of oxidative stress of these patients were evaluated by measuring the level of F2-isoprostane excretion in the urine. Results The mean flow velocity (Vm) of middle cerebral artery (MCA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) was obviously increased as compared with that of the other normal ones in most of the smokers. The Vm of MCA and ICA in nonsmokers was not obviously different as compared with the normal values. The 3 genotypes ofT-786C in smokers showed significant difference in Vm of MCA and ICA (P＜0.05); the Vm of CC genotype ([60.73±63.58] cm/s) was obviously increased as compared with that of TT ([95.8±53.5] cm/s) and TC ([93.6±51.6] cm/s) genotypes (P＜0.05). The 3 genotypes ofT-786C in nonsmokers did not show significant difference in Vm of MCA and ICA (P＞0.05). The level of F2-isoprostane excretion in smokers was significantly higher than that in nonsmokers (P＜0.05). Conclusion The T-786C polymorphism of endothelial NO synthase gene can increase cerebrovascular Vm by enhancing the cerebrovascular circulation of smokers with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Serum levels of soluble MHC class I-related chain A (sMICA) are related with the prognosis of various types of cancer; however, few studies on the prognostic value of sMICA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been reported. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the relationship between sMICA levels and clinical features of advanced HCC, and we assessed the prognostic value of sMICA in advanced HCC. Furthermore, the relationship of serum sMICA levels and natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) expression on natural killer (NK) cells was also evaluated. We detected sMICA levels in the serum of 60 advanced HCC patients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and measured expression levels of NKG2D on NK cells using flow cytometry. We found that serum sMICA levels in HCC patients were in the range of 0.10-6.21 ng/mL. Chi-square analyses showed that sMICA level was significantly related with only tumor size. Survival analysis showed that a high sMICA level was significantly related with poor prognosis among HCC patients. Multivariate analyses indicated that sMICA was an independent prognostic factor. In addition, the levels of CD56+NKG2D+ NK cells were within the range of 11.2%-55.4%, and correlation analyses indicated that sMICA level was negatively correlated with the level of NKG2D+ NK cells. Our results suggest that serum sMICA levels may be an independent prognostic factor for advanced HCC.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Female ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; blood ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily K ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Staging ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden

OBJECTIVETo study whether endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS) polymorphisms is implicated in the development of cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage.

METHODSThree groups of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage were selected to test this hypothesis, including 98 patients with cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (ASAH), 96 with cerebral vasospasm following traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (TSAH), and 195 patients without cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal or traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage. The parents of 194 patients and 100 control subjects were also examined for transmission disequilibrium test according to a family-based study design to test the associations.

RESULTSWe examined four eNOS gene polymorphisms, and two of these polymorphisms, the T to C substitution in the promoter at position -786 and the a-deletion/b-insertion in intron 4, were found to associate with cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage in the case-control comparisons. For the former polymorphism, the risk of cerebral vasospasm was higher in C allele homozygotes than in the other two genotypes (odds ratio: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.4 to 5.6); for the latter polymorphism, the a-deletion carriers were exposed to a increased risk (odds ratio: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.3 to 4.0) in comparison with the noncarriers. The two polymorphisms were analyzed together as haplotypes in a family-based study using the transmission disequilibrium test. The C/a-deletion haplotype was transmitted from the heterozygous parents to cases of cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage with a significantly higher frequency than expected (P=0.005).

CONCLUSIONThe findings of the case-control and family-based studies clearly demonstrate that DNA sequence differences in eNOS gene influence the risk of cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Risk Factors ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; complications ; enzymology ; genetics ; Vasospasm, Intracranial ; enzymology ; etiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and pathological features and the diagnosis of childhood Alport syndrome (AS).

METHODSA retrospective analysis was performed on clinical data of 91 children with AS.

RESULTSHematuria was observed in all 91 patients, of whom 86 were accompanied with proteinuria. Sixty-one children with X-Linked AS (XL-AS) had positive family history. Renal biopsy was performed on 82 children. Mild to moderate mesangial proliferation was observed in 74 cases. Small amounts of immune complexes deposits in the glomerular mesangial area were observed in 48 cases. Glomerular basement membrane (GBM) attenuation, thickening and layering were observed in 53 cases by electron microscopy (EM). In 63 cases receiving renal tissue type IV collagen α3 and α5 chain immunofluorescence detection, 58 were diagnosed with AS, including 53 cases of XL-AS and 5 cases of autosomal recessive AS. In 91 cases of AS, 58 were diagnosed as AS by renal tissue type IV collagen α3 and α5 chain immunofluorescence, 21 were diagnosed by EM, one was diagnosed by skin biopsy, and 12 were diagnosed by gene detection. Six novel mutations of COL4A5 gene were found. Forty-five cases were misdiagnosed before the diagnosis of AS. Forty-one of the 45 cases received steroids and/or immunosuppressant therapy.

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical manifestations and pathological changes are not specific in children with AS, resulting in a higher rate of misdiagnosis. Typical lesions of GBM under EM are only observed in a part of patients. There is a high novel mutation rate of COL4A5 in the detected AS children.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Collagen Type IV ; genetics ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Glomerular Basement Membrane ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Nephritis, Hereditary ; diagnosis ; genetics ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies

Background Nowadays, there is a remarkable rise in resectability rate of periampullary adenocarcinoma and the mortality and morbidity of the pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure have been reduced remarkably, while the 5 year survival rates of patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas are still below 25%. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate the clinical outcome of radical pancreaticoduodenectomy with extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy as a surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.Methods Twenty cases with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas were treated by standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (removing only the peripancreatic lymph nodes en bloc with the tumour) from 1994 to 1997, and 46 cases with the same disease underwent extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy associated with standard pancreaticoduodenectomy from 1998 to 2002. The patients for whom there were insufficient follow-up data, or who had received postoperative adjuvant therapy, were excluded from the analysis. Clinical and pathological parameters of both groups were reviewed. The postoperative morbidity, mortality and survival data were compared statistically. Results Demographic and histopathological characteristics were similar in the two groups of patients. Performance of the extended lymphadenectomy lengthened the procedure. The mean total number of lymph nodes resected was significantly higher in the radical group (P< 0.05). Of the 46 cases in the radical group, 26% (12/46) had metastatic adenocarcinoma in the resected retroperitoneal lymph nodes. There was one perioperative death in the standard group, and two in the radical group. Postoperative diarrhoea and lymphatic leakage were only observed in the radical group. Transfusion requirements and postoperative morbidity rates did not differ between the two groups. The 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 63%, 32% and 21% respectively in the standard group, and 66%, 38% and 21% in the radical group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups. When subgroups of node positive patients were analysed, the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 42%, 17% and 8% respectively in the standard group, and 65%, 32% and 16% in the radical group. Better survival was observed in the first 2 years after operation in the radical group, but no survival differences were seen after 2 years post operation. Conclusions The addition of an extended lymphadenectomy to a pancreaticoduodenectomy did not significantly increase morbidity rates, but was associated with an early survival advantage.

Objective To evaluate the antibody titer distributions after primary vaccination by different sequential schedules of Sabin strain-based inactivated poliovirus vaccine(sIPV) and bivalent oral attenuated live poliomyelitis vaccine against types 1 and 3 (bOPV) in Drug Candy(DC) form or liquid dosage form. Methods Eligible infants of 2 months old selected in Liuzhou were assigned randomly in a ratio of 1:1:1:1 to 4 groups as following: sIPV+2bOPV(DC), sIPV+2bOPV(liquid), 2sIPV+bOPV(DC), 2sIPV+bOPV(liquid), and were vaccinated at 0, 28, 56 days. Polio neutralizing antibody titers against poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 were tested prior to Dose 1 and at 28 days after Dose 3. Results The antibody titer distribution for type 1 was statistically different between sIPV+2bOPV(DC) and sIPV+2bOPV(liquid) (Z=-2.589, P=0.010) while no significant differences were detected between the two groups for type 2(Z=-0.331, P=0.741) and type 3(Z=-1.556, P=0.120). There were no significant differences between 2sIPV +bOPV(DC) and 2sIPV+bOPV(liquid) for the distributions(All P>0.05) (type 1: Z=-1.249, P=0.212; type 2: Z=-1.658, P=0.097; type 3: Z=-1.436, P=0.151). In the same dosage forms with different sequential schedules, the antibody titer distributions were significantly different between 2 doses sIPV and 1 dose sIPV groups(All P<0.05)(sIPV+2bOPV(liquid) vs 2sIPV+bOPV(liquid): type 1: Z=-2.766, P=0.006; type 2: Z=-9.137, P<0.001; type 3: Z=-5.529, P<0.001. sIPV+2bOPV(DC) vs 2sIPV+bOPV(DC): type 1: Z=-3.748, P<0.001; type 2: Z=-7.660, P<0.001; type 3: Z=-6.030, P<0.001). Conclusions Different dosage forms have similar immune effects, so appropriate dosage forms should be selected for vaccination according to the effectiveness, characteristics of subjects and the population density. In the case of sufficient supply of sIPV, 2 doses sIPV sequential program should be the first choice to complete the primary immunization.

Objective This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between urinary metals copper (Cu), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) and grip strength. Methods We used linear regression models, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the relationship between metals and grip strength.Results In the multimetal linear regression, Cu (β=-2.119), As (β=-1.318), Sr (β=-2.480), Ba (β=0.781), Fe (β= 1.130) and Mn (β=-0.404) were significantly correlated with grip strength (P < 0.05). The results of the quantile g-computation showed that the risk of occurrence of grip strength reduction was -1.007 (95％ confidence interval:-1.362, -0.652; P < 0.001) when each quartile of the mixture of the seven metals was increased. Bayesian kernel function regression model analysis showed that mixtures of the seven metals had a negative overall effect on grip strength, with Cu, As and Sr being negatively associated with grip strength levels. In the total population, potential interactions were observed between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn (Pinteractions of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively).Conclusion In summary, this study suggests that combined exposure to metal mixtures is negatively associated with grip strength. Cu, Sr and As were negatively correlated with grip strength levels, and there were potential interactions between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn.