BACKGROUND: Ligamentum flavum hypertrophy is one important cause of spinal stenosis. Ligamentum flavum thickness of more than 4 mm measured on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging is considered hypertrophy, but causes of hypertrophy and distribution characteristics remain poorly understood. Previous studies showed that the ligamentum flavum thickness at the segments L2/3, L3/4, L4/5 and L5/S1 was positively correlated with age.It remains unclear whether ligamentum flavum thickness is associated with nationality, sex and obesity. OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the risk factors for ligamentum flavum hypertrophy in lumbar spinal stenosis patients from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, single-center, case analysis at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University, China. We collected lumbar CT imaging data of 104 patients diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University from May 2012 to May 2016. The primary outcome was the ligamentum flavum thickness of patients with different nationalities, sexes, heights, ages, and weights. The secondary outcomes were the morphology of lumbar vertebrae in patients with different nationalities, sexes, heights, ages, and weights; the correlation of nationality, sex, height, age, and weight with ligamentum flavum thickness; results of multiple linear regression analysis of relevant factors for ligamentum flavum hypertrophy. This trial has been registered at clinical Trials.gov (indentifier: NCT03057353). This protocol has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Xinjiang Medical University and will be performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, formulated by the World Medical Association. Signed informed consent regarding trial procedure and treatment will be obtained from each participant.DISCUSSION: This study will determine the variations in the ligamentum flavum thickness of lumbar spinal stenosis patients of different nationalities, sexes, heights, ages, and weights in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by measuring the ligamentum flavum thickness using CT, and analyzing risk factors for ligamentum flavum hypertrophy; the findings will provide quantitative reference data for preventing lumbar spinal stenosis induced by ligamentum flavum hypertrophy in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

BACKGROUND: Whether horizontal and vertical impacts cause craniocerebral injury of the same degree, and whether serum myelin basic protein (MBP) changes is associated with the direction of impact have been scarcely addressed in previous studies.OBJECTIVE: To observe the change in the serum MBP levels and morphological changes of the brain tissue rabbits with craniocerebral injury resulting from impacts from different directions.DESIGN: A randomized controlled experiment.SETTING: Department of Neurosurgery of a hospital affiliated to a medical university.MATERIALS: This study was conducted in the Central Laboratory of Shenyang Medical College between October 2003 and January 2004. Totally 30 healthy rabbits of either sex were randomly divided into two equal groups to receive vertical and horizontal impact on the head.METHODS: All the rabbits were anesthetized and fixed in prone position onto a table equipped with a device for inducing impact on the head from different directions. Venous blood of 1 mL was taken from the edge of the ear of each rabbit for detecting MBP before injury. The rabbits in vertical impact group received the impact of a hammer falling directly on the parietal bone of the skull. In the horizontal group, the rabbits were subjected to horizontal impact on the lateral side of the skull. Forty-eight hours after the injury, venous blood were again taken for MBP measurement. The rabbits were then killed for pathological examination of the brain.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in serum MBP and pathomorphology of the brain tissues in the two groups after the impact.RESULTS: ① According to intention to treat analysis, all the 30 animals were involved in the experiment. There was no significant difference in serum MBP levels between the two groups before the impact, nor 48 hours after the impact( P ＞ 0.05). In the vertical impact group, serum MBP levels before the impact was( 1.68 ± 0. 86) μg/L, which was significantly lower than that after the impact[ (5.25 ± 1.96) μg/L, t = 3. 226, P ＜ 0. 05]. ② In the horizontal strike group, serum MBP also significantly increased from the level of( 1.70 ± 0.91 ) μg/L before impact to(5.73 ± 2.07) μg/L after that( t = 3. 080, P ＜ 0.05) . ③ After the impact, vasodilation and congestion in the cortex near the midline of the bilateral parietal region and edema in the deep layer of the white matter were observed in the vertical impact group, along with significant enlargement of the extravascular and extracellular space. In the horizontal group, similar changes except those near the midline of the bilateral parietal region took place after the impact; the same pathological changes were also observed in the basal plane, with nearly identical pathological changes in the deep layer of the white matter.CONCLUSION: Vertical and horizontal impacts can both result in almost identical brain injuries demonstrated by similar changes in serum MBP and the pathomorphology of the brain tissues after the impacts.

BACKGROUND:Traumatic or iatrogenic dural defects can cause persistent cerebrospinal fluid leakage, even progressing to life-threatening purulent meningitis. In patients with meningitis combined with cerebrospinal fluid leakage, most antibiotics are unable to enter the cerebrospinal fluid, as the cerebrospinal fluid is a good medium for bacteria and there is the presence of blood-brain barrier. So meningitis presents with acute onset, rapid development and infection difficult to control. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the outcome of continuous lumbar subarachnoid drainage plus intrathecal administration of antibiotics for postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage combined with meningitis after biomaterial repair of dural defects. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out to review the 12 cases of cerebrospinal fluid leakage combined with meningitis among 126 of 2 266 cases who developed cerebrospinal fluid leakage (5.56%) undergoing spinal surgery from June 2008 to June 2013. During the operation, dural defects were directly sutured or repaired with autologous fascial sheet. Al cases underwent thorough debridement and intravenous injection of sensitive antibiotics folowed by continuous lumbar drainage and intrathecal administration of sensitive antibiotics (usualy vancomycin), and then the incision was closed at stage I. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The cerebrospinal fluid leakage was found in the 12 cases at 24-72 hours after surgery, averagely 48 hours; the infection was found at 812 days days after surgery, averagely 9.5 days. Headache and fever were significantly relieved at the 2nd day of intrathecal administration of antibiotics, and intracranial infection disappeared at 7-14 days after continuous lumbar drainage. Biochemical test of the cerebrospinal fluid and routine examination were done thrice, and the results were al normal. No bacterial growth was found in bacterial culture test, and the drainage tube was removed. There was no intraspinal infection, intracranial hypotension headache and hernia caused by the drainage tube. These findings indicate that autologous fascia repair combined with continuous lumbar subarachnoid drainage plus intrathecal administration of antibiotics is an effective method in the treatment of cerebrospinal fluid leakage with meningitis.

BACKGROUND:Spinal canal decompression reduction fixation combined with bone graft fusion has been extensively applied in the clinic. Bilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion and unilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion are main methods to treat degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis and lumbar spondylolisthesis. OBJECTIVE:To compare early clinical therapeutic effects of bilateral and unilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion in elderly patients with spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis. METHODS:A total of 60 elderly patients with spinal stenosis with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis were selected, including 37 males and 23 females, at the age of 60 to 78 years old. They were divided into two groups, and subjected to decompression of spinal canal. In the treatment group (n=30), patients received unilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion. In the control group (n=30), patients received bilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion. After treatment, they were folowed up for 1 year. The recovery of joint function was assessed using Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores in both groups. Simultaneously, complications were recorded. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores were 25.7±1.9 and 25.8±1.8 in the treatment and control groups, respectively, and no significant difference was found between groups. In the treatment group, three cases affected lower limb numbness and two cases suffered from dural tear, with the incidence of complication of 17%. In the control group, three cases affected lower limb numbness and three cases suffered from dural tear, with the incidence of complication of 20%; no significant difference was detected between the two groups. No adverse reaction related to bone graft was found in the two groups. These results confirm that bilateral or unilateral pedicle screw assisted interbody fusion in treatment of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis obtained good therapeutic effects.

Objective To investigate the effect of simple vertebral canal decompression for treating degree 1 senile degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis .Methods 62 cases of degree 1 senile degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis from January 1998 to January 2012 were retrospectively analyzed .The patients were surgically treated by simple vertebral canal decompression and included 20 males and 42 females ,aged from 65-82 years(mean 68 years) ,with the disease history of 2-7 years(average 3 .3 years) .The clini-cal effects in average postoperative 2 years and 8 .2 years were evaluated by Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores (JOA ) and Visual Analogue Scale/Score(VAS) .Results The preoperative JOA score was 9 .7 in average and the JOA scores in average post-operative 2 years and 8 .2 years were 11 .7 and 12 .8 respectively(P<0 .05);the preoperative VAS score averaged 7 .8 ,which after operation were 2 .3 and 2 .6 respectively(P<0 .05) .Complications were observed in 16 cases .4 cases accepted reoperation .Conclu-sion In the basis of the actively controlling other organ systems diseases in perioperative period ,simple vertebral canal decompression is an effective method for treating degenerative vertebral canal spondylolisthesis and can obtain the satisfactory therapeutic effect .

Objective: To investigate the effects of oral Lactobacillus Plantarum supplementation on apoptosis of liver and tight junction of hepatocytes in an experimental model of obstructive jaundice.Methods: Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham-operated;bile duct ligation;bile duct ligation +LP(0.2 g/5 mL/day);bile internal drainage;bile internal drainage+LP.Hepatocyte apoptosis was quantitated using TUNEL assay.Transmission electron microscopy,RT-PCR and Western blot were used to observe tight junction associated proteins.Results: Compared to the sham-operated,a significant increase in apoptosis(P

Objective: To explore the value of radiomics features and machine learning models based on T1WI and IDEAL-T2WI in differential diagnosis of parotid gland pleomorphic adenoma (PA) from adenolymphoma (AL). Methods: Clinical and imaging data of 58 patients with parotid tumors, including 33 with PA and 25 with AL were retrospectively analyzed. Axial T1WI and IDEAL-T2WI were manually segmented, and radiomics features were extracted using the radcloud software. Effective radiomics features were selected with the variance threshold method, SelectKBest and Lasso algorithm. The machine learning models were established by using random forest and Logistic regression algorithm, and the ROC curves were drawn to analyze the diagnostic performance. The ability of T1WI, IDEAL-T2WI and image combination in diagnosis of PA from AL were analyzed. Results: T1WI, IDEAL-T2WI and IDEAL-T2WI combined with T1WI obtained 6, 9 and 12 effective features. The random forest model based on IDEAL-T2WI combined with T1WI sequences had the highest diagnostic performance, with AUC of 0.87 (95%CI[0.59,1.00]) and accuracy of 0.83. Conclusion: Radiomics features and machine learning models based on T1WI and IDEAL-T2WI can provide important references for differentiation of PA and AL.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of prenatal ultrasound for fetal structural abnormalities.Methods The clinical data of 3 101 fetus with structural malformations, diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound and confi rmed after induced labor, and 856 cases of missed diagnosis were analyzed. All these data were collected in Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Tangshan City from January 2010 to June 2014. The types and number of fetal structural abnormalities were recorded. The rates of detection and missed diagnosis for the fetal structural abnormalities were calculated and the reasons for missed diagnosis were analyzed.ResultsA total of 3101 cases (4 171 positions) were diagnosed as fetal structural abnormalities by prenatal ultrasound. The detection rate was 11.51‰ (3 101/269 501). There were 856 cases (947 positions) of fetal structural abnormalities were missed, and the missed diagnosis rate was 3.18‰ (856/269 501). The incidence of fetal structural abmormalities was 14.68‰ (3 957/269 501). In terms of anatomy systems, the top five were cardiovascular system abnormalities (851 cases), the central nervous system abnormalities (691 cases), facial abnormalities (562 cases), urinary system abnormalities (476 cases), and respiratory system abnormalities (134 cases). In terms of single abnormalities, the top five were cleft lip and palate (549 cases), ventricular septal defect (519 cases), hydronephrosis (331 cases), spina bifi da (212 cases), and atrial-ventricular septal defect (163 cases). The top five of missed deformities were polydactylia/symphysodactylia (285 cases), ear deformities (108 cases), hypospadias (93 cases), foot abnormalities (92cases), and ventricular septal defect (52 cases).Conclusions There is a high detection rate for fetal structural abnormalities with prenatal ultrasound. Prenatal ultrasound is an indispensable means for the diagnosis of fetal malformation, but it also has some limitations. There is a high rate of missed diagnosis for polydactylia/symphysodactylia, microtia, and hypospadias.

Background Graft rejection is a primary cause of corneal transplantation failure,especially in high-risk keratoplasty.How to extend the survival time of graft is a problem to be solved.Objective This study was to investigate the influence of immune tolerance on high-risk rat keratoplasty induced by donor bone marrowderived immature dendritic cells (imDCs) transfected by chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) recombinant adenovirus (Ad).Methods Bone marrow-derived imDCs were isolated and cultured from femur marrow of one male Wistar donor rat.The cells were transfected using recombinant Ad vector with rat CCR7 gene and resuspended in 500 μl PBS containing 1％ fetal bovine serum with the cells 1 × 107.High-risk corneal transplantaion models were established using monolateral corneal alkali-burn method in 60 SD rat recipients, and then allograft keratoplasty was performed with the 30 Wistar rats as donors.The models were randomized into the PBS group,imDCs group,imDCs with blank Ad vector group and imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group following the corresponding solution injection via caudal vein on preoperative day 7 and postoperative day 3 respectively.The survival time of graft was evaluated under the slit lamp microscope once per day.On the 14th day after operation, corneal sections were prepared from 6 eyes of each group for the pathological examination,and the relative expression levels of T helper cell 1 (Th1)-related factors,interleukin-2 (IL-2) mRNA and interferon-γ(IFN-γ) mRNA,as well as Th2-related factors, IL-4 mRNA and IL-10 mRNA, were detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR).The use and care of animals complied with the ARVO statement Results The mean survival time of grafts was (10.44±1.88) , (16.00±2.18) , (15.11±2.03) and(23.67±2.83) days in the PBS group,imDCs group,imDCs with blank Ad group and imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group, respectively, with a significant difference among the 4 groups (F =53.005, P =0.000).Compared with the PBS group, the mean survival time of grafts was considerably extended in the imDCs group,imDCs with blank Ad group and imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group (t=5.220,4.385,12.423 ,all at P=0.000) ,and a remarkble prolongation of graft survival duration was seen in the imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group in comparison with the imDCs group and the imDCs with blank Ad group (t =7.204,8.039,both at P=0.000).The relative expression levels of IFN-γ mRNA and IL-2 mRNA in the grafts were significantly lower,but the relative expression levels of IL-4 mRNA and IL-10 mRNA were significantly higher in the imDCs group,imDCs with blank Ad group and the imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group than those in the PBS group (all at P＜0.05).Compared with the imDCs group and the imDCs with blank Ad group, the relative expression levels of IFN-γ mRNA and IL-2 mRNA in the grafts were remarkably delined,but the relative expression levels of IL-4 mRNA and IL-10 mRNA were remarkably elevated in the imDCs with Ad-CCR7 group (all at P =0.000).Conclusions Application of imDCs transfected with CCR7 recombinant Ad via vena caudalis can prolong the survival time of grafts after keratoplasty of SD rats probably by affecting the balance of Th1/Th2 cytokines.

Objective To discuss the levels of evidence provided by different study designs.Methods Websites of N Engl J Med, JAMA, Lancet, and BMJ were accessed to identify research articles (systematic review and meta-analysis included) published in 2009. A standardized data collection form was established using Epidata 3. 1 software to extract the "title", "country of lead author", "clinical problem" (such as treatment, diagnosis, etc. ) and "study design" of eligible studies. Descriptive statistics was conducted with SPSS 13.0. Results Over all, 844 studies were included, among which 35.7% were RCT,9. 4% systematic review and Meta-analysis, and 54. 9% other types of studies. Regarding clinical problems,34. 2%, 19. 7%, 13.7%, 6. 0% and 5. 1% of the included researches addressed the issues of treatment,etiology/risk factors, prevention, disease frequency and prognosis, respectively. The study designs that were most frequently adopted to explore these problems were RCT (70.6%), cohort study (44. 6% ), RCT (68. 1% ), cross-sectional study ( 56. 9% ), and cohort study ( 93.0% ), respectively. Conclusions High-level evidence does not come exclusively from RCT and systematic review, as each type of study may have its unique value in health related research. The clinical problem of interest, the previous work that has been done to approach the same issue, as well as other factors should be taken into account when deciding whether the selected study design is appropriate.