Objective: To employ the subtraction technique of 64-slice spiral CT angiography for intra- and extra-cranial arteries imaging, so as to study the managing method and assess the clinical outcome. Methods: The pre-contrast and post-contrast images of 100 patients were obtained by 64-slice spiral CT angiography. A special head holder was used during the scanning to guarantee the accurate overlapping of the pre-contrast and post-contrast images. A reconstructed three-dimensional model of the pre-contrast bone dataset was subtracted from the post-contrast dataset to produce the subtracted images. (1) An experienced operator performed the conventional and subtraction reconstructions; the periods for image generation of both methods were recorded and compared. (2) The quality of the images were evaluated and graded (grade 1-5) by 2 experienced radiologists in a double-blinded manner. Results: (1) The new subtraction technique using 64-slice spiral CT angiography needed significantly less time than the conventional method did (11.01±1.89 min vs 14.30±2.25 min, P<0.01). (2)The correlation coefficient of the results of 2 radiologists was 0.87. The score of image quality by subtraction 64-slice spiral CT angiography was significantly higher than that by the conventional method (4.22±050 vs 2.93±0.36, P<0.05). Conclusion: Subtraction 64-slice spiral CT angiography is easy to use and time saving for intra- and extra-cranial artery imaging; it does not has the difficulty of separating artery from bone and is worth popularizing in clinic.

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion is a common pathological state. Cognitive impairment is its main manifestation in early stage, and it will eventually result in persistent or progressive cognitive impairment and neurological deficits. Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion caused neuronal damage, synapse abnormity, energy impairment and the function defects of central cholinergic system and monoaminergic system are its pathophysiological mechanisms resulting in cognitive impairment.

Glioblastoma is a malignant tumor in central nervous system, which has strong invasion, poor prognosis and short survival time. At present, the main treatment strategy of glioblastoma is surgical excision, supplemented by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, due to incomplete resection and high recurrence rate, it is urgent to find novel therapeutic method for glioblastoma. Photodynamic therapy, as a promising non-surgical treatment, provides a new strategy for postoperative adjuvant therapy of glioblastoma. This review summarizes the mechanism and clinical application of photodynamic therapy mediated by various photosensitizers in glioblastoma, in order to provide help for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Adult ; Faculty ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sampling Studies ; Sleep ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

In order to investigate the effects of TGF-beta1 on the expression of MMP-2, -9 and TIMP-1 in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, the third-sixth passage cultured RPE cells were treated with TGF-beta1 at different concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10 ng/mL), the expression of MMP-2, -9 and TIMP-1 mRNA was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR assays. MMP-2, -9 and TIMP-1 mRNA were expressed in the cultured RPE cells. The values of MMP-2/beta-actin in the cells treated with 0.1, 1.0, 10 ng/mL TGF-beta1 were 1.04 +/- 0.04, 1.07 +/- 0.02 and 1.11 +/- 0.03, respectively, significantly higher than in the control group (0.96 +/- 0.03, P < 0.05-0.01). The expression of MMP-2 mRNA could be up-regulated by TGF-beta1, in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of MMP-9 mRNA in the cultured RPE cells was slightly up-regulated by various TGF-beta1 concentrations treatment. The values of TIMP-1/beta-actin in the cells treated with 0.01 and 0.1 ng/ mL TGF-beta1 were 0.85 +/- 0.01 and 0.97 +/- 0.02 respectively, significantly lower than in the control group (1.07 +/- 0.04, P < 0.01), indicating that the expression of TIMP-1 mRNA was down-regulated by TGF-beta1 at low concentrations. But along with the increase of TGF-beta1 concentrations (1.0 and 10 ng/mL), the expression of TIMP-1 mRNA was slightly up-regulated, not significantly different from that in the control group (P > 0.05). It was concluded that TGF-beta1 might play an important role in the up-regulation of the expression of MMP-2 in RPE cells and result in a directional shift in the balance between MMP and TIMP. This may be facilitated for RPE cells to migrate in the pathogenesis of vitreoretinopathy.

Objective To observe the curative effect of low melocular weight heparin(LMWH) on the hypercoagulability in acute Kawasaki disease(KD).Methods Forty-six patients were diagnosed KD.Twenty-two cases out of all KD patients whose serum concentration of whether platelet(PLT) or fibrinogen(FIB) was significantly increased or who were found thrombus in their coronary artery by ultrasonic Doppler were treated with LMWH by subcutaneous injection once every day for 7-10 days.All the patients were divided into 2 groups accor-ding to whether using LMWH or not:H group(using LMWH) and NH group(no using LMWH).It were detected before and after treatment that included thrombin time(TT),activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT),international normalized ratio(INR),FIB,plasma mucosity,erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),hematocrit(HCT) and situation of haemorrhage.Results 1.Before treatment,PLT and FIB of patients in H group were significantly higher than those in NH group(Pa

Brainstem infarction accounts for about 9% to 21.9% of all cerebral infarctions. This article reviews the etiology of brainstem infarction and its pathogenesis,clinical manifestation,diagnosis,and treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To seek a exact method of age determination. METHODS: This sample consists of 73 male Chinese han individuals whose ages have been known. Eight positions were selected from their radiograms which have been divided into three or six grade and then set up a mathematical model to deduce age by multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The standard deviation of male thyroid cartilage is 1.854 and the multiple correctation coefficient is 0.9971. CONCLUSION The observation proved that age determination by radiographic feature of thyroid cartiage may be suitable for male Chinese han population from 13 to 67 years old.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Aged ; Asian People ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reference Values ; Thyroid Cartilage/diagnostic imaging*

Objective To study the effect of antiapoptosis factors PED/PEA-15 and XIAP on prostate cancer cells(PC-3)apoptosis.Methods The expressions of XIAP and PED/PEA-15 in prostate cancer cells(PC-3)were respectively assayed using the RT-PCR technique.XIAP and PED/ PEA-15 specific siRNA vectors were designed and constructed and then were transiently cotransfected into PC-3 cells under induction of liposome.The effects of siRNA vectors on PED/PEA-15 and XIAP transcription were assayed by RT-PCR technique,and the effect of XIAP and PED/PEA-15 on cancer cell apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry and microscope observation.Results PED/PEA- 15 and XIAP were both highly expressed in PC-3 cells.Enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing confirmed that the PED/PEA-15 and XIAP-specific siRNA expression vectors were constructed successfully.The designed siRNA sequences of PED/PEA-15 and XIAP could specifically inhibit their transcription.The PC-3 cells which were cotransfected with PED/PEA-15 and XIAP- specific siRNA vectors were more sensitive to doxorubicin.The apoptosis rate of cotransfected cells was significantly increased.Conclusions PED/PEA-15 and XIAP might be involved in the development of prostate cancer.

Ten dimeric phthalide racemates (1-10) were isolated from an aqueous extract of the Angelica sinensis root head (Guitou) by separation techniques of column chromatography over macroporous adsorbent resin, MCI resin, silica gel, and Sephadex LH-20, together with preparative thin-layer chromatography and reversed phase HPLC. The racemates were further separated into (+)-/(-)-1-(+)-/(-)-10 with chiral HPLC. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectroscopic data, combined with electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and NMR calculations as well as single crystal X-ray diffractions. Compounds (+)-/(-)-1-(+)-/(-)-10 are either new structure or new natural product, named (+)-/(-)-angelidipthalidic acids A-H [(+)-/(-)-1-(+)-/(-)-8] and (+)-/(-)-angelidipthalidols A and B [(+)-/(-)-9 and (+)-/(-)-10], respectively. Meanwhile, dimeric phthalide mono- and bis-lactone derivatives with 3.3′a,8.6′- and 3.6′,8.3′a-coupling patterns as well as determination of their relative configurations are discussed.