The cupping spot is considered as one kind of skin change due to cupping treatment. With literature regarding cupping spot, the influencing factors and value of cupping spot in clinical diagnosis and treatment were analyzed, which could make a further exploration on the action mechanism of cupping treatment. The literature showed that the formation of cupping spot was related with cupping temperature, pressure, cup-retaining time, cupping area, individual difference and health condition, etc; cupping spot had the ability to assist diagnosis, prevent disease, cure disease and evaluate clinical efficacy. Previous studies on cupping spot have already made some progress, and played a positive significance on finding cupping rule and studying its mechanism. However, the research for this area is still in the primary stage, which needed deeper study to reveal scientific connotations of cupping spot.
Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Humans ; Skin ; anatomy & histology ; blood supply

OBJECTIVETo determine if multi-detector CT (MDCT) characterization of plaque is correlated with the classification of acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODSAltogether 1900 patients were examined by MDCT from December 2007 to May 2009, of whom 95 patients fulfilled the criteria of ACS. Those patients were divided into the discrete plaque group ( n=61) and diffuse plaque group ( n=34) based on the findings in MDCT. The clinical diagnosis of ACS and CT results were analyzed, including segment stenosis score, segment involvement score, 3-vessel plaque score, left main score, calcification score, and remodeling index. The incidences of major adverse cardiac events in follow-up period were also recorded.

RESULTSThe patients of the diffuse plaque group were older than those of the discrete plaque group ( Pü0.0001). The diffuse plaque group presented more cases of hypertension, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, and heart failure than discrete plaque group (all P<0.05). All the 5 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were found in discrete plaque group. The segment stenosis score of the discrete plaque group was lower than that of the diffuse plaque group(5.15±3.55 vs. 14.91±5.37, Pü0.001). The other four scores demonstrated significant inter-group difference as well (all P<0.05). The remodeling index of thediscrete plaque group was higher (1.12±0.16 vs.0.97±0.20, Pü0.05). Follow-up data showed that major adverse cardiac events occurred more frequently in diffuse plaque group than in discrete group (29.41% vs. 11.48%, P=0.0288).

CONCLUSIONSCharacteristics of discrete and diffuse plaques may be significantly different among different classes of ACS. The diffuse plaque may present higher risk, correlated to higher mortality. The diagnosis of discrete and diffuse plaques by MDCT would provide a new insight into the prognosis and treatment of ACS.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; classification ; Adult ; Aged ; Coronary Artery Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

OBJECTIVETo discuss the change of blood supply pattern in visceral arteries of Stanford B dissection. The visceral arteries include celiac trunk (CA), superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and renal artery (RA).

METHODSBy retrospectively analysing the clinical data of 52 cases with Stanford B dissection, the blood supply pattern of visceral arteries was confirmed by aortography and the changes before and after endovascular repair were compared.

RESULTSAfter repair: the stenosis lesions disappeared in 7 cases supported by true channel completely but one. Twenty-two visceral arteries supported by true and false channel simultaneously recovered true channel chiefly but one. One recovered true channel chiefly and one had no change in 2 visceral arteries supported by false channel completely. Four recovered true channel chiefly and one had no change in 5 visceral arteries without blood support. 88.9% blood support got better and 11.1% blood support had no change in 36 damaged visceral arteries after endovascular repair.

CONCLUSIONBlood support from true and false channel simultaneously is the chief pattern in the injured visceral arteries before repair; Endovascular repair technique is benefit to recovering the blood support of true channel.

Adult ; Aged ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Aortic Aneurysm ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Celiac Artery ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior ; physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Regional Blood Flow ; Renal Artery ; physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo establish a simple, rapid, inexpensive and sensitive method for detecting hot region for mutations in exon 7 of PAH gene.

METHODSHigh-resolution melting (HRM) technology was used to detect a c.728G>A mutation in exon 7 in 88 patients with classical type phenylketonuria. Suspected mutations were validated by direct DNA sequencing.

RESULTSThe results detected by HRM are in good agreement with the results obtained by direct sequencing.

CONCLUSIONHRM analysis is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and sensitive method for detecting hot mutational region in exon 7 of PAH gene.

Base Sequence ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Exons ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mutation ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Nucleic Acid Denaturation ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Transition Temperature

OBJECTIVETo study the mutations in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene (PAH) in Shanxi population.

METHODSThe mutations in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 and flanking sequences of PAH gene were detected by PCR-DNA sequencing, in 59 patients with phynelketonuria(PKU) and 100 healthy children from Shanxi province.

RESULTSBy sequence analysis, three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Q232Q (CAA>CAG), V245V (GTG>GTA) and L385L (CTG>CTC) were detected in both the patients and healthy children, with the frequencies of nt 696, 735 and 1155 of the PAH cDNA up to 96.2%, 76.1% and 7.6% in patients respectively, and 97.0%, 77.3% and 8.3% respectively in the healthy controls. In addition, 72 different mutations accounting for 61.0% of mutant alleles were identified in the patients only. In exon 3, R111X, H64>TfsX9 and S70 del were found accounting for 5.1%, 0.8% and 0.8%; EX6-96A>G in exon 6 was found accounting for 10.2%. In exon 7, R243Q was the highest incidence accounting for 12.7%, followed by Ivs7+2 T>A(5.1%) and T278I(2.5%); the lowest incidences were G247V, R252Q, L255S, R261Q and E280K accounting for 0.8 %, respectively. In exon 11, Y356X (5.9%) and V399V (5.1%) were found; in exon 12, R413P and A434D were found accounting for 5.9% and 2.5%. In total, 9 missense mutations, 3 splice site mutations, 2 nonsense mutations and 2 deletions were included in 16 kinds of different mutations.

CONCLUSIONThe mutation characteristics and distribution in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the PAH gene have been identified, and it suggested that the EX6-96A>G and R243Q were the hot spots of PAH gene mutations in Shanxi PKU population.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mutation ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; enzymology ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics

Objective:To investigate the impact of the CD4+CD25nt/hiCD127lo regulatory T cell subset frequency on the immune status and disease progression of Chinese HIV-1 infected individuals.Methods:83 untreated HIV-infected individuals and 312 healthy control individuals of four distinct age groups were enrolled in the research. The CD4+ T cell absolute counts, phenotypes and frequency determination of CD4+CD25nt/hiCD127lo Regulatory T cell subsets was performed on freshly obtained whole blood samples by 3-color immune staining flow cytometry. The HIV-1 specific cellular immune function was test at single cell level by ELISpot. The corresponding plasma viral load was determined by NASBA.Results:The frequency of peripheral CD4+CD25nt/hiCD127lo regulatory T cells of HIV infected individuals in distinct disease progression status was dissimilar in China , and significantly increased in contrast to the healthy controls(P

Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are characterized by abnormal deposition of alpha-synuclein aggregates in many regions of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Accumulating evidence suggests that the alpha-synuclein pathology initiates in a few discrete regions and spreads to larger areas in the nervous system. Recent pathological studies of PD patients have raised the possibility that the enteric nervous system is one of the initial sites of alpha-synuclein aggregation and propagation. Here, we evaluated the induction and propagation of alpha-synuclein aggregates in the enteric nervous system of the A53T alpha-synuclein transgenic mice after injection of human brain tissue extracts into the gastric walls of the mice. Western analysis of the brain extracts showed that the DLB extract contained detergent-stable alpha-synuclein aggregates, but the normal brain extract did not. Injection of the DLB extract resulted in an increased deposition of alpha-synuclein in the myenteric neurons, in which alpha-synuclein formed punctate aggregates over time up to 4 months. In these mice, inflammatory responses were increased transiently at early time points. None of these changes were observed in the A53T mice injected with saline or the normal brain extract, nor were these found in the wild type mice injected with the DLB extract. These results demonstrate that pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates present in the brain of DLB patient can induce the aggregation of endogenous alpha-synuclein in the myenteric neurons in A53T mice, suggesting the transmission of synucleinopathy lesions in the enteric nervous system.
alpha-Synuclein ; Animals ; Brain ; Dementia ; Enteric Nervous System ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lewy Bodies ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Nervous System ; Neurons ; Parkinson Disease ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Tissue Extracts

OBJECTIVETo investigate the treatments of left subclavian artery (LSA) in endovascular repair (EVR) of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and thoracic aortic dissection (TAD).

METHODSIn 54 TAD or TAA cases, all of the proximal landing zone (PLZ) were less than 15 mm and only the LSA was needed to be treated in EVR, the following methods and techniques were used in the treatments of LSA: complete cover, partial cover, endovascular reconstruction following complete cover, surgical reconstruction before complete cover.

RESULTSDSA was used to evaluate the condition of cerebral circulation in all cases. Forty left subclavian arteries were covered completely. Ten were covered completely after right subclavian artery (RSA)-LSA or left common carotid artery (LCCA)-LSA bypass. PTA and stent in LSA was done in 3 cases. In 1 case, LSA was covered completely first, and then the graft was punctured and bare stent was fixed after inflation by cutting balloon. All of the ancillary techniques were enforced successfully. No severe complications were found in brain and upper extremity. The proximal endoleak rate was 17% (9/54). In the 40 cases whose LSA were not reconstructed, the primary left subclavian steal syndrome (LSSS) happened in 8 cases (20%) and the primary average systolic pressure of left brachial artery was 63 +/- 24 mm Hg.

CONCLUSIONSEVR can be enforced safely and efficiently in TAA and TAD with short PLZ by some ancillary endovascular or surgical techniques. The methods to treat the LSA depend on the condition of the cerebral circulation.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; surgery ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Subclavian Artery ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo discuss the safety, feasibility, efficacy and problem of endovascular repair (EVR) for ruptured aortic aneurysm (RAA).

METHODSFourteen patients with RAA were obtained diagnosis and anatomic data of proximal and distal neck through magnetic resonance imaging and CT. The patients with hypotension were accepted anti-shock treatment. Stent-grafts were deployed in proper position of RAA under X-ray fluoroscopic.

RESULTSThe time from rupture to operation was 50 min to 21 d. Three cases had plenty of blood in left pleural cavity and 2 cases were done under bleeding shock condition. Five cases with RAA were fixed by bifurcated stent-grafts and others by straight stent-grafts. Follow-up term was 1 month to 38 months. One with ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm died 4 h later after operation, another one died of left thoracic cavity infection 9 months later, and others lived well without complication.

CONCLUSIONThe EVR is a safe, efficient and feasible method. It will be a potential alternative to treat RAA in future, but more suitable for RAA with better proximal and distal landing zones.

Adult ; Aged ; Aortic Rupture ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo discuss the safety, feasibility, efficacy and problems of endovascular repair for aortic dissection.

METHODSFrom June, 1998 to Dec, 2004, 178 aortic dissections were treated by stent-grafts, including 76 acute cases and 102 chronic cases, 19 cases with Stanford A and 159 cases with Stanford B. Under local or general anesthesia, every stent-graft was deployed at the proper position of first tear entry through femoral artery under X-ray fluoroscopic. The changes of hemodynamic in true and false lumen, visceral and limbs blood supply were investigated after operation.

RESULTS10 cases combined with left common carotid artery or left subclavian artery or hepatic artery and superior mesenteric artery bypass. 36 left subclavian arteries were covered simultaneously without bypass and the average blood pressure of left brachial artery was (61.6 +/- 23.7) mm Hg. The stent-grafts were deployed above thoracic 8 in 159 cases and below thoracic 8 in 19 cases. This group included 3.4% 30-day death rate, 12.9% endoleak rate after deployment, and without misplace of stent grafts, migration, rupture, conversion to open surgery and paraplegia complication. The average operation time 1.5 h (0.5-4.3 h), blood loss 140 ml (30-500 ml), movement recover time 1.8 d (0.5-21.0 d), food recover time 1.5 d (0.5-9.0 d). The true lumen blood supply in most of damaged visceral arteries were improved. Follow up between 1 month to 76 months, the endoleak rate was 6.4% one month later.

CONCLUSIONThe endovascular repair is a safe, efficacy and feasible method to aortic dissection. The long term results keep in follow up.

Adult ; Aged ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; surgery ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; surgery ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation ; methods ; Catheterization, Peripheral ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome