Enamel pearl is an ectopic enamel, which usually occurs in the root bifurcate or approaching enamel-cementum site of the first maxillary molar. A case of multiple enamel pearls on the left maxillary third molar is reported in this paper, and relevant literature was reviewed.
Dental Cementum ; Dental Enamel ; abnormalities ; Humans ; Molar ; Molar, Third ; Tooth Root

The currently used heart valve prosthesis are still far from the ideal one in anticoagulation and longevity. The construction of tissue engineering heart valve leaflets are carried out recently. This article reviews the progress of tissue engineering heart valve leaflets in implanting materials, seeded cells, animal experiment and basic research. It also discusses the benefits and feasibility of tissue engineering heart valve leaflets.

Objective:To study the clinical effect of corticosteroids (C S) with small dosage in the recurrence control of pemphigus. Methods: 25 cases of pemphigus were diagnosed by clinical and pathological examinati on.They were treated with CS at 60-80 mg/d in acute stage for symptom control.Th en,the dosage of CS was decreased by 5 mg in each following 2 weeks untill it re ached 2.5 mg/2 d. The treatment of 2.5 mg/2 d was continued for 1 year and was a ssisted with tripterygium polyglycoside, compound thalidomide, compound cyclopho sphamide (compounded with total saponins of ginseng), dapsone, and/or some kidne y-supplementing herbs. The patients were followed-up for 9~16 years.Re sults:No recurrence was observed in 16 cases(64%).Recurrence was found i n 9 cases(36%),among them 7(28%) were with light symptom and 2(8%) severe. Sever e side-effect was not found in all cases. Conclusion:The recurr ence of pemphigus may be controlled without severe side-effect by long-term us e of small dosage of CS assisted with proper immuno-inhibitors, immuno-regulat ors and/or some kidney-supplementing herbs.

Forms and Records Control ; methods ; Humans ; Pathology, Clinical ; methods

Objective To compare the biomechanical properties between the two-level fixation by im- plantation of pedicle-screws into the adjacent upper and lower vertebrae of the fractured vertebra and the three-level fixation by implantation of pedicle screws into the fractured vertebra and its adjacent upper and lower vertebrae in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures.Methods Eight fresh frozen calf spines were used in this study.Each specimen was tested in four models:intact model as the control,L1 burst fracture model,two-level fixation model, and three-level fixation model.The L1 burst fracture model was created on a biaxial material testing machine (MTS858 Bionix test system,America).During the experiment,the flexion,extension,bilateral bending and axial rotation loadings were applied to the specimens and the range of motion(ROM)was measured with a three-dimensional laser analysis apparatus and the stiffness was calculated subsequently.One-way statistical analysis was used.Results The ROMs under six different loadings in the fracture model became larger obviously(P＜0.05)and the stiffness decreased(P＜0.05).The ROMs in both fixation models were smaller than those in the other models(P＜0.01)and the stiffness increased distinctly(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in ROMs and stiffness between the two-level fixation and three-level fixation models(P＞0.05).Conclusion Two-level fixation provides similar biomechanical stability as three-level fixation does in the reconstruction of unstable thoracolumbar fractures.

BACKGROUND:Hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactic acid composite can wel improve the brittleness and mechanical properties of the hydroxyapatite. OBJECTIVE:To study the biocompatibility of hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactic acid composite biomaterials with periodontal ligament cels. METHODS:Passage 4 human periodontal ligament cels at a density of 5×109/L were cultured with hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactic acid composite as experimental group, and human periodontal ligament cels cultured alone as control group. Cel proliferation was detected within 7 days of culture; alkaline phosphatase activity was detected at 24, 48 and 72 hours of culture; and type I colagen expression was detected at 72 hours of culture. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There was no significant difference in the absorbance value of cels between the two groups at 1-7 days of culture. The alkaline phosphatase activity of cels at 48 and 72 hours was significantly higher than that at 24 hours (P < 0.05) in the two groups, but there was no difference between the two groups. The expression of type I colagen had no difference between the two groups. These findings indicate that the hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactic acid composite biomaterial has good cel compatibility.

There existed animal ethical issues in the process of functional experiment including poor breeding environment before animal experiment, insufficient prepare before class, not standard experimental operation, less attention paid to the study of anesthesia, disposal on animals after the experiment. Based on the analysis of these issues and combined with the thought of respect for animals′rights and attention to animal welfare, the authors put forward suggestions from the aspects including the schools′active attention and support, curriculum, standardizing the experimental design and operation steps, improving the animal experiment teachers′ethical consciousness, cul-tivating the students′experimental animal ethical consciousness. In addition, this paper put forward the thinking of further strengthening education:the domestic medical colleges generally need to strengthen medical ethics educa-tion, and should adopt various forms to cultivate medical students′medical ethics quality of treasuring life.

Objective To analyse the clinical characteristics,treatments and prognosis of the chemotheray-induced lung injury in malignant hematological diseases patients.Methods 26 malignant hematological diseasespatients with chemotheray-induced lung injury were collected.The clinical characteristics,chemotherapy regimen,treatments and prognosis of the patiants were retrospectively analyzed.Results Among 26 patients,10 patients were male and 16 patients were famale.The dignosis were nonHodgkin's lymphoma (16 cases),leukemia (9 cases) and multiple myeloma (1 case).The chemotherapy regimens inducing lung injure probably were R-CHOP,R-BEACOP and BEACOP in lymphoma,while they were HA,AA,DA and IA in leukemia.The symptoms of lung injury in these patients were fever,cough,hemoptysis,dyspnea,fatigue,or asymptomatic radiological examination revealed.Pulmonary diffuse infiltration and shadows were showed in CT scan.21 cases were cured by hormone therapy,5 cases died of lung injury,2 cases died of tumor recurrence after lung injury cured.There was no effect on the quality of life in most cured patients.Conclusion The lung injury induced by chemotherapy has no specific clinical characteristics and diagnostic criteria,and it could progress rapidly to cause death.But early dignosis and early hormonal treatment can obtain good therapeutic effect.The occurrence regularity and clinical characteristics should be studied furtherly.

Objective To identify novel mutations in the GATA6 gene associated with congenital atrial septal defects (ASD).Methods This was a case-control study.A cohort of 220 unrelated Han-race patients with congenital ASD and 200 unrelated ethnically matched healthy individuals used as controls,who were admitted to Tongji University Affiliated Tongji Hospital from January,2007 to October,2011,were recruited.The peripheral venous blood samples from the participants were prepared.All the coding exons and their flanking sequences of the GATA6 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced using the di-deoxynucleotide chain termination technique.The acquired sequences were aligned with the sequences derived from GenBank by BLAST to identify the sequence variations.The software ClustalW was used to analyze the conservation of the altered amino acids.Results Three novel heterozygous missense GATA6 mutations,c.250G ＞A (p.A84T),c.649G ＞C (p.G217R) and c.1270A ＞C (p.S424R),were identified in 3 of 220 ASD patients,respectively.None of the three mutations was detected in 200 healthy control individuals.A cross-species alignment of GATA6 encoded protein sequences showed that the mutated amino acids were relatively conserved evolutionarily.Conclusion The identification of novel GATA6 mutations associated with ASD contributes to the reveal of the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of ASD.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Female ; Fingers ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuralgia ; therapy ; Young Adult