Objective To investigate CT examination in the evaluation of the percutaneous radio frequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of hepatic carcinoma.Methods 50 cases of hepatic carcinoma (including primary hepatic cancer 36 and hepatic metastases 14) with 76 lesions treated by RFA associated with pre and post procedure data of CT follow up were analyzed retrospectively. CT examinations including plain and contrast enhanced CT scanning were carried out at 1 week and 3 weeks after the RFA, but sometimes with furthermore intermittent scanning at 3～6 months. Results Complete ablation of the tumors occurred in 49 lesions (64.5%) of 35 cases and incomplete ablation of tumors happened in 27 lesions (35.5%) of 18 cases. Among RFA treated 76 lesions, there were 9 with internal hemorrhage, 1 with abscess formation. 3 cases showed intraperitoneal bleeding; 6 cases demonstrated reactive pleural effusion and 1 case revealed with small amount of pneumothorx.Conclusions The contrast enhanced CT scanning provides a great diagnostic value for evaluation of the efficacy of hepatic tumor treated by RFA and also the local recurrence and complications.

Objective To investigate the consistency of M RI detecting posterior ligamentous complex (PLC) injury associated with thoracolumbar factures.Methods MRI data of 170 cases of thoracolumbar fractures were reviewed retrospectively.Each case underwent MRI around one week postinjury.MRI data were analyzed and compared by three physicians respectively to discuss the consistency in MRI detection of PLC injury and the severity of PLC injury.Results Kappa coefficient was 0.846 between observer 1 and 2,0.768 between observer 1 and 3,and 0.793 between observer 2 and 3.Interobserver reliability was high and overall Kappa coefficient was 0.803.Severity of PLC injury was interrelated with spinal cord nerve injury (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Accurate detection of PLC injury in thoracolumbar fractures is beneficial to clear the mechanical stability of the spine.MRI detection of PLC injury is of high consistency and hence deserves wide use.

AIM: The auxology-related indexes are important for tissue construction. In this article, we investigated the incidence of overweight and obesity and their effects on physical functions and qualities of Guangzhou adults in 2005. METHODS: 2 056 adults including 1 027 males and 1 029 females were randomly selected from Guangzhou in 2005 for physical examination. The anthropometric data such as body mass and height were collected to calculate body mass index (BMI). The subjects were divided according to the BMI criteria recommend by Group of China Obesity Task Force, and their physical functions and qualities were analyzed. RESULTS: In 2005, the detection rate of overweight and obesity in adult males were 28.7% and 5.2%, and in females were 18.6% and 5.3%. The values of diastole pressure and systolic pressure were increased with BMI, but the change tendency of step index and vital capacity/body mass was decreased with BMI. The rate of hypertension was increased with BMI, and male subjects had higher rate of hypertension than that of female subjects in all groups. Obese adult had the poorest values in vertical jump and sit-and-reach test. Those people with normal BMI had better balance ability than that of overweight and obese people. CONCLUSION: The rates of overweight and obesity in Guangzhou adult show a high level. The physical functions and qualities may be improved when the body mass increases or decreases in a certain range, but obesity has impact to those values.

Objective To investigate the effects of the interaction between environmental factors and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene polymorphism in Han and Uygur on alcoholics in Xinjiang. Methods The data of childhood abuse and domestic aggressive behaviors were collected from 284 patients with alcohol dependence from Xinjiang using self-made questionnaires, Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) and Barratt Impulsivity Scale-11 (BIS-11). The meth?ods of PCR and DNA sequencing technique were conducted to detect rs1137070 single nucleotide polymorphism loci of MAOA gene. Logistic regression analysis was performed to adjust for interaction effects of gene and childhood abuse on domestic violence. Results The scale evaluation identified 143 patients with and 138 patients without domestic violence. Childhood abuse and gene were both risk factors in domestic violence. The interaction effect of childhood abuse with rs1137070 was significant. the relative excess risk, the interaction attribution ratio and the interaction index were 1.00,0.14 and 1.20, respectively. Conclusions The interactions between genes and environmental risk factors may contribute to the domestic violence in Han and Uygur on alcoholics in Xinjiang.

To improve human cognition of sub-health condition by analyzing current situation of sub-health researches,the authors of this article reviewed the concept of sub-health,etiological factor,epidemiology,diagnostic code and other sides.

OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) 8344 A>G (m.8344A>G) mutation is the common mutation associated with mitochondrial myoclonus epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRF) syndrome. Herein we report a rare case with mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes/MERRF/Leigh (MELAS/MERRF/Leigh) overlap syndrome caused by m.8344A>G mutation. METHODS: The clinical and imaging data of the patient were collected and an open muscle biopsy was carried out. We further employed molecular genetic analyses to detect mtDNA mutation in the proband and his mother. And then a clinical and neuroimaging follow-up was performed. RESULTS: This patient was a 25-year-old male, who developed exercise intolerance since the age of 6. At age 10, he suffered from acute episodes of hemianopia, and cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed occipital stroke-like lesions and cranial magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) revealed a lactate peak corresponding to the lesion. After that the patient presented slowly progressive psychomotor decline. He had myoclonic seizures and cerebellar ataxia since the age of 12. At age 21, he was admitted to our hospital because of confusion and cranial MRI revealed symmetrical lesions in bilateral posterior putamen, thalami and midbrain. Then repeated MRI showed progression of original lesions and new frontal multiple stroke-like lesions. Symptomatic and rehabilitation treatment relieved his condition. Follow-up cranial MRI at age 24 showed the lesions in basal ganglia and thalami diminished, and the midbrain lesions even completely vanished. Muscle pathology indicated the presence of numerous scattered ragged-red fibers (RRF), suggestive of a mitochondrial disorder. Polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) detected the m.8344A>G mutation of the MT-TK gene encoding mitochondrial transfer RNA for lysine in the patient's blood. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of the whole mitochondrial genome identified that the proportion of m.8344A>G was 90%, and no other mtDNA mutation was detected. Sanger sequencing further identified this mutation both in the proband and his mother's blood, although the mutation load was much lower in his mother's blood with approximately 10% heteroplasmy. CONCLUSION The present study is the first to describe a patient with m.8344A>G mutation in association with the MELAS/MERRF/Leigh overlap syndrome, which expands the phenotypic spectrum of the m.8344A>G mutation.
Acidosis, Lactic ; Adult ; Child ; DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics* ; Humans ; Male ; Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathies ; Mutation ; Stroke ; Young Adult

Objective To analyze the economic effects of different rehabilitation patterns for children suffering from cerebral palsy. Methods A total of 153 cerebral palsy patients were divided into a hospital-community-family rehabilitation group(n = 52), a hospital rehabilitation group (n = 50) and a non-intervention control group (n = 51). Those in the first group were provided with a hospital-community-family rehabilitation therapy pattern, those in the sec-ond only hospital rehabilitation and the third no intervention. All the patients were evaluated using the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88) Scale and the Cost Measure Scale at admission, and at the end of the 3rd and 6th months of treatment. Results There were no significant differences in gross motor function among the three groups at admission. At the end of the 3rd month and the 6th month there were significant differences between the children in the hospital-community-family rehabilitation program and those in the hospital rehabilitation program in terms of gross motor function. Their general percentage, monthly percentage and monthly relative percentage results were all significantly different. But there was no significant difference in the non-interventian control group since admission. Every unit of improvement in gross motor function cost $101.87±97.59, $75.11±45.75 in the hospital-community-family reha-bilitation program and $387.21±54.76, $170.31±123.16 in the hospital rehabilitation program at the end of the 3rd and the 6th month respectively. So the cost of the former was only about 30% of the latter. Conclusion Hospital rehabilitation is suitable for the early rehabilitation of cerebral palsy children. Hospital-community-family rehabilitation is better for long-term rehabilitation of cerebral palsy children, and what is more, it can decrease the rehabilitation ther-apy cost substantially. So a hospital-community-family rehabilitation pattern is more compatible with China's national situation.

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and significance of CD28- cells, CD4+ and CD8+T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ). Methods The expression of CD28, CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocytes and inducible co-stimulator(ICOS) in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid in 45 patients with RA were detected by three-color flow cytometry. Independent sample's t test was used for statistical analysis between the two groups. ResultsSynovial fluid CD4+CD28+ICOS+, CD4+CD28- ICOS+ , CD8 + CD28 + , CD8 + CD28 + 1COS+ T lymphocytes were significantly increased than the peripheral blood in RA patients[(36±19)％ vs (15±8)％, t=-4.234, P＜0.01; (2.1±2.2)％ vs (0.6±1.4)％, t=-3.143, P＜0.01; (62±15)％ vs (47±18)％, t=-2.885, P＜0.01; (9±9)％ vs (3±3)％,t=-2.131, P＜0.05], Synovial fluid CD8+CD28-T lymphoc-ytes were significantly reduced than the peripheral blood[(38±15)％ vs (54±18)％, t=2.975, P＜0.01], Synovial fluid CD8+ CD28-ICOS+, CD4+CD28+and CD4+ CD28- T lymphocytes had no significant difference than the peripheral blood (P＞0.05). Compared with peripheral blood in the same patients with RA, CD4+CD28+ ICOS+, CD8+ CD28+ T lymphocyteswere significantly increased[(38±18)％ vs (16±10)％, t=-4.065, P＜0.01 ; (61±16)％ vs (41±21)％, t=-4.065,P＜0.01], CD8+CD28-T was significantly reduced[(39±16)％ vs (59±21)％, t=2.949, P＜0.01]. The level of CD4+ CD28-, CD8+ CD28-, CD28-ICOS+ T lymphocytes in the active and remission patients with RA was not significantly different (P＞0.05). ConclusionSynovial fluid CD28T lymphocyte subsets disturbance and the abnormal expression of ICOS in patients with RA may play important roles in the mechanism of joint damage.

Objective To evaluate the dosage regimen of sulfasalzine combined with recombinant human tumor necrosis factor receptor-Fc fusion protein (rhTNFR) in the induction and maintenance of remission in active ankylosing spondylitis.Methods This study enrolled 100 ankylosing spondylitis patients with disease duration for less than five years who were treated with sulfasalzine and rhTNFR combination therapy.Patients were randomly assigned to three groups six weeks later:patients in the G1 group received sulfasalzine combined with rhTNFR at a 25 mg dosage twice each week.Patients shifted to monotherapy with sulfasalzine six weeks later:patients in G2 group received sulfasalzine combined with rhTNFR at 25 mg dosage per week.Patients were switched to monotherapy of sulfasalzine twelve weeks later:patients in G3 group received sulfasalzine combined with rhTNFR at 25 mg dosage once every ten days.Patients were changed to monotherapy of sulfasalzine seventeen weeks later.The whole treatment lasted for 24 weeks.All participants were followed up at week 0,6,12,18,24 respectively and were evaluated by BASDAI 50.The primary end-point of this study was the percentage of patients achieved BASDAI 50 remission.Data were analyzed with SPSS version 17.0.Independent t-test and x2 test were adopted to analyze data.Results 90％ of patients treated with combination therapy reached BASDAI50 at the 6th week.All patients in the G1 group achieved BASDAI 50 remission at 12th week,but the percentage dropped to 68.7％ at 18th week,which gradually decreased to 37.5％ at the 24th week.In G2 group,93.9％ patients reached BASDAI50,which declined to 81.8％ at the 18th week.The whole number accounted for 60％ at the end point of 24th week.In G3 group,85.7％ patients achieved BASDAI50 at the 12th week,accounted for 74.3％ at 18th week,and declined to 68.6％ at the 24th week.G3 group of patients presented a significantly higher rate than other groups(P＜0.05).Conclusion Sulfasalzine and rhTNFR combination therapy can gain remission in active AS patients after treated for six weeks.Doctors may extend TNF antagonist treatment in order to achieve long-term remission.

A virtual eversion method for human blood vessels is proposed in this paper, based on the virtual eversion methodology along electric field lines, and featured with a reference surface optimization using non-rigid registration. This method has the benefits of easy access with a larger view, and the ability to preserve the vessel's global anatomy and its local spatial relationship with other organs. A CT image dataset of arterial stenosis of lower extremities is tested to implement the virtual eversion experiment, and the results reveal the stenosis of artery clearly, which demonstrates the feasibility of this technique.
Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; methods ; Constriction, Pathologic ; diagnosis ; Humans