0.05),but there were statistically difference within E15,E19,P2,P10(Pa

Objective To characterize the systolic torsion in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by velocity vector imaging(VVI).Methods Eighty-seven subjects were studied using VVI:27 patients with DCM and 60 healthy control subjects.Left ventricular short-axis acoustic images were acquired at base and apex levels.The rotation angle and rotation velocity of endocardium and epicardium were measured.Results LVEF of DCM group was significantly lower than that of control group ( P＜0.01).The basal and apical rotation angle, rotation velocity were significantly lower in DCM group.The endocardial and epicardial rotation angle, rotation velocity were also significantly lower in DCM group than those in control group (P＜0.01).Conclusions VVI is a rapid and noninvasive tool to quantitatively assess cardiac torsional deformation in DCM patients,which providing another useful modality for evaluating cardiac function.

Objective To investigate strain and strain rate of right ventricular(RV)based on twodimensional image by velocity vector imaging in normal subjects.Methods Thirty-two healthy adults were rolled in this study.Echocardiographic images in 4 chamber view were analyzed by conventional manual tracing for volumes and ejection fractions,which were also measured by velocity vector imaging.Myocardial velocity,strain rate,and strain were determined at the basal,mid,and apical segments of the RV free wall and ventricular septum by velocity vector imaging.Results RV ejection fractions obtained with manual tracing correlated strongly with the same indexes obtained by velocity vector imaging method in all subjects(r=0.91,P＜0.01).The strain and strain rate value of middle segment and basal segment in RV free wall were higher than those of apical segment.There were same trend in ventricular septal.The strain and strain rate of middle segment and basal segment in RV free wall were higher than those of homologous segments in ventricular septal,but the indexes of apical segment in free wail and septal had no difference.The strain and strain rate in RV were not correlated with age.Conclusions Velocity vector imaging could accurately and quantitatively assess the strain and strain rate of RV.

Child ; Humans ; Proteomics ; methods

Adult ; Amniotic Fluid ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Objective To analyze the clinical and ultrasonic features of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid(PSCCT)and diagnostic value of ultrasonography (US) in PSCCT in order to improve the cognition of PSCCT.Methods The clinical data and ultrasonic characters of 5 patients with PSCCT confirmed by pathology post surgery were retrospectively reviewed.Results The average age of the 5 patients was 62 years (range from 46 to 79).All of 5 patients with PSCCT were presented with a painless neck mass in clinical palpation examination.Of them,2 patients had different degrees of difficulty in breathing and swallowing,2 patients had hoarseness.Four of 5 patients had died after surgery with average survival time of 9.5 months.On US,the size of lesions was large(a maximum diameter of 2.9-5.5 cm),all of 5 lesions appeared as single solid mixed-echogenicity mass including irregular lamellate marked hypoechoic region,with irregular margin and undefined boundary.Of them,2 lesions presented with lobulated,only 1 lesion exhibited microcalcification and another 4 lesions had no calcification,3 lesions exhibited a? sign of breakthrough thyroid envelope.Color Doppler flow imaging showed few blood flow (3/5) and moderate blood flow (2/5),a higher vascular resistance spectrum was detected in 4 lesions (RI 0.72-0.88).Three patients exhibited suspicious cervical lymph nodes.Conclusions The characteristic ultrasonic appearance combined with the clinical features enables a confident preoperative diagnosis of PSCCT.

Objective To investigate the value of perfusion CT in the evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma.Methods Sixty-seven patients with Ib2-IIb squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix underwent CT perfusion imaging before neoadjuvant chemotherapy to measure blood flow (BF),blood volume (BV),peak time (MTT),permeability sur-face (PMB),perfusion time to peak (TTP)and MIP(HU);and underwent routine enhancement CT after the two course of neoadju-vant chemotherapy treatment to measure tumor size,and evaluate the therapeutic effect.Results Among 67 patients,48 patents were effective (2 completely remission and 46 partial remission),and 1 9 patients were ineffective (1 5 stable and 4 progressed),with the overall response rate of 71.6%.The differences of PMB and BV value between effective and ineffective group were statistically significant before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P <0.001).The BF,MTT,TTP value were no significant difference between effec-tive and ineffective group before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P >0.05).The BV and PMB value were relatively higher in the patients with effective chemotherapy.Conclusion CT perfusion imaging could measure the BV and PMB value of the tumor before neoadju-vant chemotherapy to provide the basis for treatment selection.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effectiveness of transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy (TUSV) combined with finasteride in the treatment of recurrent hemospermia.

METHODSThis study included 32 patients with recurrent hematospermia, with the disease course of 3 months to 4 years. After administration of finasteride at 5 mg/d for 2 weeks, the patients underwent TUSV for both exploration of the causes and treatment, followed by medication with finasteride at the same dose for another 2 weeks. Postoperative follow-up was conducted for observation of the outcomes and complications.

RESULTSTUSV was successfully accomplished in all the 32 cases, which revealed 16 cases of seminal vesiculitis, 10 seminal calculi, 1 seminal vesicle cyst, 2 seminal vesicle polyps, and 3 seminal vesicle abscess. The operative time was 20 to 51 (31.0 +/- 5.2) minutes. Postoperative complications included 1 case of acute epididymitis and 3 cases of breast discomfort within the first 4 weeks. No incontinence, urethral stricture, rectal injury, retrograde ejaculation, and sexual dysfunction occurred postoperatively. All the patients but 1 were followed up for 6 months to 2 years. Twenty-nine of the cases were cured, and 2 experienced recurrence.

CONCLUSIONTransurethral seminal vesiculoscopy combined with finasteride is safe and effective for the treatment of recurrent hemospermia.

Adult ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Finasteride ; therapeutic use ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemospermia ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy and safety of Reinhartdt and sea cucumber capsule (RSC) combined with donepezil in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its effect on thyroid function axis.

METHODSSixty-eight patients were randomly assigned to the RSC group, the Donepezil group and the combined treatment group, who were treated for 3 and 6 months with RSC, Donepezil and RSC combined with Donepezil, respectively. The curative effect was evaluated by scoring according to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), ADAS-Cog and ADL chart, and the level of thyroid hormones, including TSH, FT3, FT4, TT3 and TT4, were measured with radioimmunoassay before treatment, 3 and 6 months after treatment respectively.

RESULTSAs compared with the baseline, MMSE score increased, ADAS-Cog score and ADL score decreased significantly in all the three groups after 3 months and 6 months of treatment (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), but the improvement in the combined treatment group was more significant than that in the other two groups (P < 0.01). After 6 months of treatment, the levels of FT3 and FT4 in the combined treatment group were significantly changed (P < 0.01), but no significant change in all the thyroid hormones was found in the other two groups. No obvious adverse reaction occurred in all the three groups.

CONCLUSIONRSC combined with Donepezil in treating AD is effective and safe with no evident adverse reaction, better than single drug treatment, which may be through influencing the metabolism of thyroid hormones to improve the cognition function of AD patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Animals ; Capsules ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Indans ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Nootropic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Piperidines ; therapeutic use ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry ; Thyroid Hormones ; blood

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of shikonin for inducing the apoptosis of human promyelocytic leukemia cell HL-60.

METHODSThe effects of shikonin on the HL-60 cell proliferation were detected using MTT. The apoptosis rate was analyzed by Annexin-V/PI double staining. The expression level of the bcl-2 gene was detected using semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), thus analyzing the correlation between the bcl-2 expression level and the apoptosis of HL-60.

RESULTSShikonin could inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 cells with the concentration range of 1-8 microg/mL in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Two microg/mL shikonin could induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells in a time-dependent manner. The expression level of bcl-2 was obviously down-regulated at 2 microg/mL shikonin.

CONCLUSIONSShikonin could induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells. Its mechanism was correlated with down-regulation of the expression level of bcl-2.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Naphthoquinones ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism