Objective To investigate the medium- and long-term effects and safty of Pipeline embolization device ( PED) for the treatment of large and giant intracranial anterior circulation aneurysms. Methods From December 2014 to December 2016,the data of 36 consecutive patients with large and giant aneurysm ( 36 large and giant intracranial anterior circulation aneurysms ) treated with PED in Donglei Brain Doctor Group were analyzed retrospectively. The diameter of the aneurysms was 12 -33 mm, (mean16.6±4.5mm),andthenecksizewas4-10mm(mean6.1±1.5mm).Eightaneurysmswere located in the carotid cavernous sinus segment,22 in the ophthalmic artery segment,5 in the internal carotid artery posterior communicating segment, and 1 in the M1 segment of middle cerebral artery. Seven aneurysms were only treated by PED,28 aneurysms were treated by PED in combination with coil embolization,and 1 aneurysm was treated by double PEDs. The modified Rankin scale ( mRS) score was used to evaluate the prognosis of the patients. Results (1) The clinical prognosis of the patients was followed up by telephone and outpatient department for 6-33 months. Twenty-five patients were followed up by DSA,23 aneurysms (92%) were occluded totally (Raymond gradeⅠ) and 2 (8％) were occluded near totally ( Raymond grade Ⅱ) . ( 2 ) Seven patients were treated with PED alone. Four patients were cured totally after 6 months follow-up,1 was occluded subtotally,2 were not cured;6 were cured in the last follow-up (33 months),and the other aneurysm was gradually reduced;17 of 28 patients treated with PED in combination with coils received DSA follow-up. They were followed up for 6-8 months. All the aneurysms were totally occluded ( Raymond grade Ⅰ) . 1 aneurysm was treated by 2 PEDs, DSA revealed micro-aneurysm-like development at 8 months after procedure. The aneurysms were basically occluded after 15-month follow-up. (3) MRI confirmed after operation that 10 patients had asymptomatic scattered spotted ischemic foci,4 had cerebral parenchymal hemorrhage,1 of them died,1 recovered well after treatment (mRS 1),and the other 2 were asymptomatic cerebral hemorrhage. The occupying effect of 24 cases disappeared, 8 had obvious improvement,and 3 did not have any obvious change. Conclusions The occlusion rate of the treatment of large and giant intracranial aneurysms with PED was high. The results of medium-term follow-up showed that the occlusion rate of PED in combination with coils in the treatment of aneurysms was higher than that of PED alone. The long-term follow-up results showed that the occlusion rate of patients treated with PED alone (including one or more) was gradually increased with time. The safety of the surgery needs to be further confirmed by a large sample study.

Objective To provide scientific evidence to identify and confirm severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by laboratory detection.Methods Multiple clinical specimens were collected serially and systematically from the 4 suspected SARS patients, which occurred between Dec.2003 to Jan.2004 in Guangdong Province. The samples were tested by serologic and molecular methods.Results IgM or IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV were detectable after 6—8 days of the onset in four patients. The four-fold or greater rising in antibodies was clearly detected in three of the four patients, while the fourth patient’s seroconversion was from negative to positive. The results analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA), immunoflourescence assay (IFA), and neutralization test were highly correlated. SARS-CoV RNA was just detected in 3 throat swab specimens from case 1 by real-time PCR. M, N and S genes were amplified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from the positive samples. Sequencing results showed that they were SARS-CoV gene segments, and most closely matched SARS-CoV gene sequences were isolated from civet cats in Guangdong Province. Nevertheless, SARS-CoV was not isolated from any samples of the 4 patients.Conclusion Based on these results, the 4 reported cases were laboratorily confirmed as SARS cases.