Microbubble contrast agents for ultrasound (US) have been developed and clinically applied in recent years. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been widely used in the imaging of liver and other organs such as kidney, pancreases, spleen, prostate, ovarian, uterus as well as abdominal trauma, showing promising values in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of various diseases. This article reviews the recent development and future protential clinical applications of CEUS.
Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Humans ; Microbubbles ; Ultrasonography ; methods

Animals ; Hedgehog Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Signal Transduction

Acute Disease ; Animals ; Dimethoate ; analogs & derivatives ; poisoning ; Disease Models, Animal ; Male ; Mice ; Muscle Weakness ; chemically induced ; pathology ; Muscles ; pathology

The treatment plan of facial neuritis in Evidence-based Guidelines of Clinical Practice in Acupuncture and Moxibustion (2011 edition) is discussed, and case information of facial neuritis during the recent five years in department of acupuncture and moxibustion, PLA General Hospital, is retrospectively analyzed. In accordance with anatomy of the facial nerve to form the acupuncture prescription, the detailed diagnosis and treatment method for facial neuritis are introduced. The advantages of the diagnosis and treatment method for facial neuritis are summarized, hoping to establish a more comprehensive, standardized and unified treatment plan.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; standards ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; standards ; Facial Nerve ; anatomy & histology ; Facial Nerve Diseases ; therapy ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; standards ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

Pancreatic cancer has a bad curative effect because of low rate of early diagnosis.Plasma cancer marker becomes the most ideal screening method for the special advantages.With the development of proteomics,many new plasma cancer markers,such as apolipoprotei A-Ⅱ,apolipoprotei C-Ⅰ,MBL2、ML-CK2,REG4 and so on,have been detected.The article describes the research progress of plasma tumor marker.

[Objective]To compare two preparing procedures for larger chemically acellular nerve allografts (CANA). [Methods]The sciatic nerves of pigs were exposed by a muscle-splitting incision and were isolated free of the underlying fascia. The 60-mm-long segments of the nerve were obtained. They were treated according to the following decellularization processes.In group I,the nerve segments were treated with 7% Triton-100 solution and 7% sodium deoxycholate for two times.In group II,another protocol was created with the detergents Triton X-200,sulfobetaine-16,and sulfobetaine-10 for two times. The degrees of decellularization,activity of laminin,degrees of demyelination,and integrity of the nerve fiber tube were observed under microscope and were assessed by a scoring system.[Results]In both experimental groups the activity of laminin was present and the degrees of decellularization were complete. As for the demyelization of the nerve segments,the myelin sheath in Group II was partially preserved,but it completely disappeared in Group Ⅰ. The structure of the nerve fiber tube in Groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were not as integral as that in the normal group.[Conclusion]It may be a better method for the larger CANA,to be treated with TritonX-100 and sodium deoxycholate during the decellularization procedure.

Objective To observe inhibitory effect of recombinant human endostatin on the proliferation of vascular tumor endothelial cells and to investigate its possible mechanism.Methods Hemangioma endothelial cells were cultured in vitro and different concentrations of endostatin on hemangioma endothelial cell proliferation inhibition were detected by MTT method.Effect of recombinant human endostatin on endothelial cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry.The expression of VEGF, KDR mRNA in hemangioma endothelial cell were detected by Real-time RT PCR. Results Recombinant human endostatin concentrations in 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after three period during which the hemangioma endothelial cells inhibited significantly( P <0.01 ) , and there was a clear dose dependence, IC50 was 355 μg/mL.Recombinant human vascular endostatin ( 250 μg/mL ) intervented for 24 hours, the proportion of cells in G0/G1 phase(94.23 ±1.66)%, compared with control group (90.63 ±1.14)%, had significantly difference (P<0.05).Compared with the control group, the difference of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was statistically significant (P<0.05) as well as Flk-1 (P <0.05).Conclusion Recombinant human endostatin does not only have inhibitory effect of hemangioma endothelial cell cycle, but also can inhibit the expression of VEGF and FLK-1.

17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) is a heat shock protein 90 ( HSP90) inhibitor. It is capable of target-inhibiting tumor-derived HSP90, leading to the depletion of on-cogenic client proteins which play key roles in several signal transduction pathways. Then cell growth and differetiation are inhibited. 17-AAG results in cytostasis and apoptosis. A lot of trials have indicated that 17-AAG is a selective target drug for cancer therapy. It can efficiently inhibit multiple signal transduction pathways involved in tumor cell proliferation and survival. Clinical phaseⅠand phaseⅡtrials have shown that 17-AAG has good pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic profile. Moreover, it can combine with radiation and the traditional chemotherapeutics and increase the therapeutic efficacy.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of a new-type moxibustion box in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.Methods Sixty patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 30 cases each. The treatment group received nape-eight-needle acupuncture plus new-type moxibustion box therapy and the control group, nape-eight-needle acupuncture plus conventional moxibustion box therapy. After 10 treatments, the NPQ score, the symptom and sign score and the VAS score were recorded in the two groups and the clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total effective rate was 100.0% in the treatment group versus 83.3% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the NPQ score, the symptom and sign score and the VAS score in the two groups (P<0.01,P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the NPQ score, the symptom and sign score and the VAS score between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05).ConclusionNape-eight-needle acupuncture plus a new-type moxibustion box is an effective way to treat cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.

Objective To investigate ultrasonographic features of primary and metastatic ovarian yolk sac tumors.Methods Ultrasonographic features of 19 primary lesions and 33 metastatic lesions in 35 patients were retrospectively analyzed.Results Primary tumors were sized (14.6±3.6)cm in maximum diameter,manifesting as cysti-solid masses.Solid components of primary tumors were mainly hypoechoic or isoechoic(16/19)with rich blood supplies.Thirty-three metastatic lesions were located in pelvoceliac cavity(26/33) and liver parenchyma(7/33),sized (9.4±4.5)cm,(9.2±4.9)cm and (5.6±1.6)cm in maximum diameter respectively.Metastatic lesions in pelvoceliac lesions mainly demonstrated as hypoechoic masses(21/26), however lesions in the liver were mainly hyperechoic(5/7).Anechoic regions could be found in 9/26 of the pelvoceliac lesions.Blood supply was found less rich in metastatic masses than that in primary ones.Elevated serum level of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) was observed in all patients; ranging from 217 to 211 682 μg/L.Conclusions Primary and metastatic lesions of ovarian yolk sac tumor have obvious ultrasonographic characteristics.Combined with serum AFP level,the accuracy of diagnosis could be improved.