Objective To study the clinical significance of fecal smear examination on diagnosing intestinal flora imbalance in infantile diarrhea.Methods A sterile cotton swab was used to spread a layer of fresh feces quantum satis from a sterile container on a clean slide;the smear was fixed and stained with Gram′s methods after it was air-dried,then the specimen was observed with a microscopy(field lens 100 ? eye lens 10) and recorded.Results In the acute diarrhea group(40 cases),the distribution feature of 3 floras on the fecal smears:≥50% Gram-negative bacilli in 6 cases(15%),≥50% Gram-positive cocci in 30 cases(75%) and ≥68% Gram-positive bacilli in 4 cases(10%).In the delayed and chronic diarrhea group(62 cases),the distribution feature of 3 floras on the fecal smears:≥50% Gram-negative bacilli in 7 cases(11.29%),≥50% Gram-positive cocci in 44 cases(70.97%) and ≥68% Gram-positive bacilli in 6 cases(9.68%).In the normal control group(32 cases),the distribution feature of 3 floras on the fecal smears:≥50% Gram-negative bacilli in 1 case(3.13%),≥50% Gram-positive cocci in 1 case(3.13%),and ≥68% Gram-positive bacilli in 17 cases(53.13%).For the distribution of 3 floras in the 3 groups,chi-squared test was performed,and the results showed that the difference was significant in Gram-positive cocci(?~2=47.76 P0.05).Conclusions Acute,delayed or chronic diarrhea can lead to flora imbalance.In order to timely and rapidly know the flora imbalance in children with diarrhea,clinically the simple,easily operated and practical smear staining method shall be widely applied.

Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) is a particular form of oral leukoplakia clinically characterized by chronic proliferation, multiple occurrence, and intractability. It is seen mostly among elderly women and often involves bucca, palate, gingiva and tongue. Its canceration rate is very high. This article reports a case of a middle-aged woman with progressive PVL which became focally malignant who complained about buccal and palatal exophytic white patches, and discusses the possible pathogenic mechanism, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis of PVL and differentiation between PVL and other types of oral leukoplakia by way of reviewing relevant literature.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Female ; Gingiva ; Humans ; Leukoplakia, Oral ; Middle Aged ; Tongue

Hot-melt extrusion was applied to prepare mesoporous silica/ethylcellulose mini-matrix for sustained release, and fenofibrate was used as a model drug, ethylcellulose and xanthan gum were chosen as sustained-release agent and releasing moderator, respectively. This novel matrix obtained the controlled release ability by combining mesoporous silica drug delivery system and hot-melt extrusion technology. And mesoporous silica particle (SBA-15) was chosen as drug carrier to increase the dissolution rate of fenofibrate in this martix. Scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, small angle X-ray powder diffraction and N2 adsorption-desorption were introduced to determine the particle morphology, particle size and pore structure of the synthesized SBA-15. The results showed that SBA-15 had a very high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area, a narrow pore size distribution, large pore volume and a ordered two-dimensional hexagonal structure of p6mm symmetry. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray powder diffraction results demonstrated that fenofibrate dispersed in an amorphous state inside the pores of the mesoporous silica which contributed to the improvement in the dissolution rate. The drug release of mini-matrices was influenced by ethylcellulose viscosity grades and xanthan gum concentration, which increased with the increasing of xanthan gum concentration and decreasing of ethylcellulose viscosity. Mini-matrix containing 22% xanthan gum exhibited a good sustained release performance, and the drug release behavior followed the first-order kinetics.
Adsorption ; Calorimetry, Differential Scanning ; Cellulose ; analogs & derivatives ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Carriers ; chemistry ; Particle Size ; Porosity ; Powder Diffraction ; Powders ; Silicon Dioxide ; Solubility ; X-Ray Diffraction

OBJECTIVETo study the clinic application of compound flap pedicled with arterial arch of palpebral margin in repairing severe full defect of eyelid.

METHODSAccording to eyelid structure and the defect size, the two compound flaps were designed beside the defect based on the arterial arch of the palpebral margin. If the defective area was too large, the lateral compound flap may be extended to lower or upper eyelid 0.5 cm away from the outer canthus, then cut and propelled the two compound flaps to repair the full eyelid defect.

RESULTS20 cases had been cured with this method since 1998. In this cases, 4 cases were basal cell carcinoma of eyelid, 2 cases were squamous carcinoma, 3 angiomas, 6 chromatophore nexuses, 3 traumatic defects, 2 congenital defects. The largest length of eyelid full defect was 1.7 cm and the smallest was 0.8 cm. 6 cases were upper eyelid defect and 14 cases were lower eyelid defect. All the compound flaps survived completely without any complications. All cases obtained satisfactory results functionally and esthetically.

CONCLUSIONSRepairing full eyelid defect with the compound eyelid flap is the same kind tissue repairing. It can not only provide enough tissues to primary repair large full defect of the upper or lower eyelid to restore normal anatomical structure and appearance of the eyelid, but also is easy to be operated without severe secondary deformities. The arterial arch of the palpebral margin is constant and the blood supply of the compound flap is reliable. It is an ideal method of repairing the eyelid defect.

Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eyelids ; blood supply ; transplantation ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ophthalmic Artery ; transplantation ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Surgical Flaps

OBJECTIVETo study the status of growth and development and the relationship between growth disorders and iron overload in children with beta-thalassemia major.

METHODSFifty children with beta-thalassemia major and who received blood transfusion therapy regularly (age: 9 months-17 years) were enrolled. They were subjected to a thorough history taking, clinical examinations, and laboratory examinations, including complete blood count, alanine transferasa (ALT) and serum ferritin. The physical growth parameters, such as height and weight, were compared with the reference values of Chinese children.

RESULTSTwenty-four patients (48%) were of short stature with height under the 3th percentile. Among them, 15 cases presented with their height and weight both under the 3th percentile. Spontaneous sex development was seen in 7 cases out of 21 over 10-year-old patients. No sex development was found in 4 out of 8 patients who were over 14 years old. The patients with a height under the 10th percentile (n=31) had higher serum ferritin levels (8239.2+/-5865.5 mg/L vs 5028.1+/-3885.7 mg/L; P<0.05) and lower hemoglobin levels (68.2+/-12.3 g/L vs 79.7+/-14.5 g/L; P<0.05) as well as hepatomegaly when compared with those patients with a height over the 10th percentile (n=19). Serum ferritin levels in 20 patients with a weight under the 10th percentile were significantly higher than those in 30 patients with a height over the 10th percentile (9165.5+/-6042.5 mg/L vs 5567.3+/-4447.3 mg/L; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSShort stature, low weight and sex development delay are common in children with beta-thalassemia major. This may be related to iron overload.

Adolescent ; Blood Transfusion ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Growth Disorders ; etiology ; Humans ; Infant ; Iron Overload ; complications ; Male ; Sexual Maturation ; Young Adult ; beta-Thalassemia ; complications ; therapy

OBJECTIVEThe beta-thalassemia major is a common hereditary hematology disease in southern China. The combination of blood transfusion and iron chelation is now the reference treatment. The allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative therapy for beta-thalassemia major. In this study the investigators observed and evaluated the effects of umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) for patients with beta-thalassemia major.

METHODSTwelve cases of beta-thalassemia major aged from 1.3 to 8.3 years (8 male and 4 female) received UCBT. Eleven of the twelve donors were siblings and one was unrelative. Eight patients received no antigen and four patients received two antigen disparate grafts. According to the Pesaro's classification for thalassemia, 10 patients were at grade I or II, and 2 were at grade III. The HLA-identical patients accepted the conditioning regimen consisting of busulfan, cyclophosphamide and antithymocyteglobulin. The HLA-mismatched patients accepted the conditioning regimen consisting of hypertransfusions, continuous iv desferrioxamine, hydroxyurea, fludarabine, busulfan, cyclophosphamide and antithymocyteglobulin. The harvest stem cells contained 3.63 - 16.0 x 10(7)/kg of nucleated cells, 0.11 - 1.03 x 10(6)/kg of CD(34)(+) cells and 0.17 - 1.18 x 10(5)/kg of colony-forming-unit-granulocyte macrophages. Cyclosporine alone or in combination with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was given for acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) prophylaxis.

RESULTSOf the 12 patients, 10 were engrafted. Ten patients had neutrophil recovery (> 0.5 x 10(9)/L) and seven patients had platelet recovery (> 50 x 10(9)/L). The median time was 18.1 and 57.3 days, respectively. Seven patients had disease-free survival (DFS) at a median follow up of 23 months (range 4 - 63 months). Three patients had rejection and autologous hematopoitic reconstitution. Two patients were not engrafted. One patient acquired severe aplastic anemia, another patient died of severe infection. The incidences of grade I and grade II aGVHD were 60% (6/10) and 40% (4/10), respectively. There were no long-term complications in the disease free survivors.

CONCLUSIONSGrade I-II beta-thalassemia major patients receiving sibling UCBT had high DFS. UCBT is an effective way to treat beta-thalassemia major.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; epidemiology ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; beta-Thalassemia ; mortality ; therapy

BACKGROUNDFor esthetic consideration, dentin color post core materials were normally used for all-ceramic crown restorations. However, in some cases, clinicians have to consider combining a full ceramic crown with a metal post core. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to test the esthetical possibility of applying cast metal post core in a full ceramic crown restoration.

METHODSThe color of full ceramic crowns on gold and Nickel-Chrome post cores was compared with the color of the same crowns on tooth colored post cores. Different try-in pastes were used to imitate the influence of a composite cementation on the color of different restorative combinations. The majority of patients could not detect any color difference less than DeltaE 1.8 between the two ceramic samples. So, DeltaE 1.8 was taken as the objective evaluative criterion for the evaluation of color matching and patients' satisfaction.

RESULTSWhen the Empress 2 crown was combined with the gold alloy post core, the color of the resulting material was similar to that of a glass fiber reinforced resin post core (DeltaE = 0.3). The gold alloy post core and the try-in paste did not show a perceptible color change in the full ceramic crowns, which indicated that the color of the crowns might not be susceptible to change between lab and clinic as well as during the process of composite cementation. Without an opaque covering the Ni-Cr post core would cause an unacceptable color effect on the crown (DeltaE = 2.0), but with opaque covering, the color effect became more clinically satisfactory (DeltaE = 1.8).

CONCLUSIONSIt may be possible to apply a gold alloy post core in the Empress 2 full ceramic crown restoration when necessary. If a non-extractible Ni-Cr post core exists in the root canal, it might be possible to restore the tooth with an Empress 2 crown after covering the labial surface of the core with one layer of opaque resin cement.

Ceramics ; Color ; Crowns ; Humans ; Post and Core Technique

OBJECTIVERecent studies have shown that cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 play important roles in myocardial injury or dysfunction. Transcription nuclear factor (NF-kappa B) have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cytokines in response to cellular defense. The authors observed the activity of NF-kappa B and cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6 mRNA expression in myocardium to further investigate the mechanism of myocardial injury caused by infectious pneumonia. The therapeutic effect of exogenous adenosine was also studied by observing the influence on NF-kappa B and cytokines.

METHODSThirty rats were divided into three experimental groups at random, each group had 10 rats. The model of pneumonia was induced by the injection of Staphylococcus aureus into the trachea of rats. Adenosine-treated rats were given daily slow intravenous injection of adenosine at a dose of 150 microg/kg.min for 3 days from the second day. All rats were killed on the fifth day. Myocardial tissues were preserved in liquid nitrogen for examination. Pathological examination of myocardium was done and TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). NF-kappa B activity was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA).

RESULTS(1) The myocardium in pneumonia group showed significant pathological lesion when compared with control group (P < 0.01). The pathological lesion of myocardium in adenosine-treated group significantly decreased when compared to pneumonia group (P < 0.05). (2) Significant increase of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was observed in myocardium of pneumonic rats when compared with control group (2.27 +/- 0.27 vs. 1.05 +/- 0.16; 1.89 +/- 0.31 vs. 1.12 +/- 0.25: P < 0.01, respectively). NF-kappa B activity of myocardium in pneumonia group was significantly higher than that in control group (13,033 +/- 1286 vs. 383 +/- 15: P < 0.01). (3) TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in adenosine-treated group when compared with pneumonia group (1.25 +/- 0.18 vs. 2.27; 1.31 +/- 0.25 vs. 1.89 +/- 0.31, P < 0.01, respectively). Comparing to that in pneumonia group, NF-kappa B activity of myocardium in adenosine-treated group was significantly decreased (4 487 +/- 562 vs. 13033 +/- 1286, P < 0.01), but it was still significantly higher than that in control group (4487 +/- 562 vs.383 +/- 15, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIncreased activity of NF-kappa B and subsequent upregulation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression probably play a pivotal role in the mechanism of myocardial injury in rats with pneumonia. Exogenous adenosine can inhibit inflammatory change by lowering NF-kappa B activity and subsequent down-regulation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 expression. Our findings provide novel therapeutic evidence of adenosine in myocardial injury induced by pneumonia in clinic.

Adenosine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Cytokines ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Female ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Pneumonia, Staphylococcal ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the influence of cord blood total nucleated cell (TNC) dose on the efficacy of cord blood transplantation in children.

METHODSThirty-four children with hematological disease received cord blood transplantation. They were assigned to 3 groups according to the infused TNC dose: TNC>10 x 10(7)/kg (n=7), 10 x10(7)/kg>TNC> or =7 x 10(7)/kg (n=9) and TNC<7 x 10(7)/kg (n=18). The rates of graft and rejection of hematopoietic stem cells and the efficacy of transplantation were examined in the three groups.

RESULTSAll 7 children in the group infused with TNC >10 x 10(7)/kg got a long-term stable engraftment. The median time of absolute neutrophil count >0.5 x 10(9)/L was 14.8 days (range 12-20 days) and platelets >50 x10(9)/L was 52.3 days (range 26-86 days). They survived in a disease-free state. Of the 9 children in the group infused with TNC between 10 x 10(7)/kg and 7 x 10(7)/kg, 7 got engraftment. The median time of absolute neutrophil count >0.5 x 10(9)/L was 16.4 days (range 11-30 days) and platelets >50 x 10(9)/L was 63.7 days (range 34-140 days). Four children got a long-term stable engraftment and survived in a disease-free state. Two children with beta-thalassemia major had secondary rejection after engraftment and autologous hematopoitic recovery. One child died after engraftment and one child died in the early period after transplantation. Of the 18 children in the group infused with TNC<7 x 10(7)/kg, 16 children got engraftment. The median time of absolute neutrophil count >0.5 x 10(9)/L was 19.5 days (range 10-29 days) and platelets >50 x 10(9)/L was 70.1 days (range 41-116 days). Eight children had a long-term stable engraftment and survived in a disease-free state. Two children with beta-thalassemia major had secondary rejection after engraftment and autologous hematopoitic recovery. Six children died after engraftment. Two children had graft failure.

CONCLUSIONSTNC dose is an important influencing factor for hematopoietic stem cell engraftment in cord blood transplantation. An increased TNC dose may improve the success of cord blood transplantation.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Graft Rejection ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the therapeutic effect of embolization combined with endovascular stenting in the for treatment of intracranial pseudoaneurysms.

METHODSSeventeen patients with intracranial pseudoaneurysms received endovascular treatment with coil placement, NBCA glue embolization and endovascular stenting, and the therapeutic effect was evaluated according to the findings in immediate postoperative and follow-up angiography.

RESULTSFatal aneurysm rupture occurred in 1 case during embolization, and the surgical procedures were carried out smoothly in the remaining 16 cases. The aneurysm cavity dense coil packing ratio was 50% in coil embolization group and 42.9% in stent-assisted coil embolization group. In the follow-up for 3 months to 2 years, 2 patients in coil embolization group experienced pseudoaneurysm recurrence and were managed successfully with additional embolization with coils and stent. Aneurysms were not found postoperatively in stent-assisted coil embolization group.

CONCLUSIONEmbolization combined with endovascular stenting is a safe and effective treatment of intracranial pseudoaneurysms with minimized risk of recurrence.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aneurysm, False ; therapy ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult