Objective To evaluate the mid-term outcomes of endovascular repair of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm(DTAA) in high-risk patients.Methods Twenty four patients with DTAA received stent-grafts implantation between January 2001 and July 2007 and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.All patients were considered high-risk for open surgical repair due to the location or rupture of the aneurysm,high age and severe comorbidities.Spiral computed tomography angiography and 3-dimentional reconstructions were performed at 1,3,6 and 12 months postoperatively and thereafter every year.Results The primary operational success rate was 100%.There were 2 deaths(8.3%) during perioperative period due to multiorgan failure and acute myocardial infarction respectively.Two(8.3%) patients had severe post-operational complications(1 stroke and 1 acute renal insufficiency).Eleven cases of type Ⅰ(46%) endoleak were detected immediately after the operation and among them,the endoleak disappeared after balloon dilatation in 3 cases while the other 8 patients were treated conservatively.Follow-up of 1 to 60 months(mean 18.6?4.2 months) was completed in 19 patients(79.2%).Stent displacement with type Ⅰ endoleake was found in 1 patient at 4 years after the operation and delayed type Ⅲ endoleak occured in another patient at 2 years post-operation.Both patients received endovacular repair again and the endoleaks were closed successfully.One patient died of colon cancer during the follow up.Complete thrombosis of the thoracic aneurysm sac and no stent migration or endoleak was found on the followup CT at 3 months after the operation in all the patients.The decrease in maximal aneurysm diameter was 0-18 mm(mean 6.3?3.1 mm).The prosthetic vascular grafts implanted in 4 patients with preliminary carotid subclavian bypass surgery were patent during the follow-up period.Conclusion Treatment of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm in high-risk patients with endovascular approach showed acceptable early mortality and morbidity and may be considered as a treatment alternative for carefully selected patients.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the disinfecting effect of electrolyzed-oxiding water(EOW) on dental(instruments) contaminated after clinical operation.METHODS Use K-reamer and high-speed handpiece as objects of test.(K-reamers) were disinfected by EOW and 2% glutaraldehyde for 5min and 10min,respectively.And(handpieces) were disinfected by EOW and autoclave sterilization,respectively.The samples were collected from each(K-reamer) and each handpiece′surface and its water-canal before and after disinfection.The samples were done germiculture.RESULTS Disinfecting K-reamer for 10min,the disinfection rate of two disinfectants(EOW and 2%(glutaraldehyde)) were both 100%.Disinfecting handpiece with EOW(by surface-wiping,immersing and rinsing the water-canal)or autoclaving sterilization,the disinfection rate of EOW and 2%glutaraldehyde were both 100%.(Disinfecting) handpiece with EOW(by surface-wiping,immersing and rinsing the water-canal) or autoclaving(sterilizaion),the bacteria contaminated on handpiece′s surface and in the water-canal could all be killed,while(disinfecting) handpieces with EOW only by surface-wiping,and immersing,in the water-canal there were still a lot of bacteria.CONCLUSIONS The disinfecting effect of EOW is reliable and safe compared with 2%(glutaraldehyde) and autoclave sterilization.

OBJECTIVE: Small diameter vascular grafts (＜ 6 mm) are used predominantly in revascularization and reconstructive procedures. The small diameter vascular grafts already used in our clinical practice include autologous veins or arteries, polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) synthetic vascular grafts. Unfortunately these vascular grafts all have some disadvantages that prohibit their uses. Therefore search for ideal small diameter vascular grafts has become the focus in recent years.DATA SOURCES: A computer-based online search of Pubmed database was undertaken to identify the articles about small diameter vascular grafts published in English between January 1990 and January 2007 with the key words of "prosthetic graft, vascular bypass graft, small diameter vascular graft, tissue engineering".STUDY SELECTION: The data were selected firstly to choose the full-text of articles met the criteria. Inclusion criteria: ① Articles about biological vascular grafts; ②Articles about synthetic vascular grafts; ③Articles about small diameter tissue engineering blood vessels. Exclusion criteria: Repetitive or analogical articles or case reports.DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 113 articles on small diameter vascular grafts were collected and 41 met the inclusive criteria after eliminated the repetitive or similar studies or case reports.DATA SYNTHESIS : Although biological vascular grafts have the outstanding advantages, such as superior long-term patency, relatively resistant to infection, minimal thromboembolism, etc., they also have predominant disadvantages of limited availability, durability and aneurysm formation. Dacron and ePTFE are currently the standard synthetic vascular grafts in the vascular bypass surgery, but their immediate or long-term patency rates are relatively poor due to compliance mismatch, thrombogenicity and poor haemodynamics, especially when they are used in small diameter revascularization and reconstructive procedures. Thus, various modifications have been applied to Dacron and ePTFE grafts to improve their function. In recent two decades, the emergence of tissue-engineering technology has made the development of a novel biologically viable vascular substitute feasible, and it may prove to be the ultimate solution for better small-diameter vascular grafting.CONCLUCTION: So far there is no completely biodegradable small diameter vascular graft suitable for the arterial circulation in humans. Construction of an ideal small-diameter vascular graft will require an interdisciplinary effort requiring critical contributions from biologists, engineers, and clinicians, with strong collaborations among these 3 fields being crucial to success.

Objective To analyze the influence of left atrial dimension (LAD) on the effectiveness of heart valve replacement combined with dipolar radiofrequency ablation in atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods Eighty-one patients with permanent AF and heart valve diseases having undergone surgical treatment were selected. The patients were divided into two groups according to the size of LAD:groupⅠ (45 patients with LAD<60 mm) and group Ⅱ (36 patients with LAD ≥60 mm). All the patients underwent heart valve replacement and douching dipolar radiofrequency ablation, and were given amiodarone therapy after operation. The ultrasonic cardiogram and electrocardiogram after operation were inspected periodically. The changes of cardiac function and electrophysiology activity were observed. The patients were followed up for 12 months. Results The early-stage mortality after operation was 3.7% (3/81), and all of death was caused by postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. Two cases appeared third-degree atrioventricular block after surgery, and they were installed permanent pacemaker. During the follow-up, 1 case died because of sudden cerebrovascular accident. Two cases were loss to follow-up. There was no statistical difference in rate of maintaining sinus rhythm at discharge from hospital between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ: 75.0% (33/44) vs. 73.5% (25/34), P=0.88. But the rates of maintaining sinus rhythm at 3 and 12 months after operation in groupⅠwere significantly higher than those in groupⅡ:81.4% (35/43) vs. 58.8% (20/34) and 88.1% 37/42) vs. 60.6% (20/33), and there were statistical differences ( P=0.029 and 0.006). Conclusions For the patients in permanent AF and heart valves diseases with LAD <60 mm, the dipolar radiofrequency ablation during heart valve replacement has considerably beneficial effects on rate of maintaining sinus rhythm. But for the patients with LAD≥60 mm, the result is not optimistic and has a lower postoperative sinus rhythm restoration rate.

Objective To evaluate diagnostic procedures and clinical outcomes of vascular prosthetic and stent graft infection. Methods Clinical data of 15 cases suffering from vascular graft infection between 1985 and 2005 were retrospectively analyzed. Results The rate of vascular graft infection was 1. 14% among our series of 1316 cases of revascularizations. Vascular graft infection occurred within 4 months after graft implantation in 13 cases (86. 7% ). Graft infection developed after 4 months postoperatively in the other 2 cases ( 13. 3% ). Clinical manifestations included wound infection with vascular graft exposure, inguinal swelling or fistula, fever or sepsis, anastomotic hemorrhage, pulse loss of vascular graft or distal lower extremity and gangrene of distal lower extremity. Surgical treatment included en bloc removal of the infected graft and surrounding infected tissue, drainage and local irrigation with antibiotic solution, graft en bloc removal and primary amputation; Graft en bloc removal, drainage and revascularization with a saphenous vein or a new prosthetic graft; Aggressive debridement and local irrigation with antibiotic solution. Four patients died and the others recovered successfully. Conclusion The infection of a vascular graft is a rare complication in vascular surgery. Early diagnosis and aggressive surgical management can improve its prognosis.

Objective To develop kinesthetic and visual imagery questionnaires applicable to Chinese stroke survivors and evaluate their test-retest reliability,inter-rater reliability and internal consistency.Methods The English version of a kinesthetic and visual imagery questionnaire (KVIQ) was translated into Chinese using wellaccepted questionnaire translation procedures.Thirty stroke survivors were each assessed twice using two versions of the translation (the KVIQ-20 and the KVIQ-10) by two experienced raters with an interval of 7 days between the tests.The test-retest reliability,inter-rater reliability and internal consistency of the visual imagery score (visual imagery subscale),the kinesthetic imagery score (kinesthetic imagery subscale) and the total scores for the KVIQ-20 and KVIQ-10 versions were analyzed.Results The test-retest coefficients,the inter-rater reliability correlation coefficients and Cronbach's alphas for the KVIQ-20 version ranged from 0.879 to 0.945,from 0.894 to 0.936 and from 0.867 to 0.919,respectively.The corresponding measurements for the KVIQ-10 vcrsion were 0.914 to 0.953,0.852 to 0.900 and 0.827 to 0.878.Conclusion Both the KVIQ-20 and KVIQ-10 Chinese instruments have shown good testretest and inter-rater reliability and good internal consistency in assessing stroke survivors.Either is an effective tool for assessing their motor imagery ability.

Objective To assess lipid status of pregnant women with GDM based on the lipid reference intervals for pregnant women .Methods Maternal blood and venous cord blood samples were collected in 81 well-controlled GDM mothers and 86 control subjects .The total cholesterol (CHOL) ,trigalloyl glycerol (TRIG) ,high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) ,low-density lipo-protein cholesterol (LDL) ,apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA) ,apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and lipoprotein (a) levels were measured by auto-matic biochemical analyzer .We used a normal pregnancy specific lipid reference interval (PSR) and normal non-pregnant reference intervals (NPR) respectively to assess the lipid status of pregnant women with GDM .Results Compared with normal control group ,the Apo A ,HDL and LDL levels in GDM group were significantly lower (P<0 .05) .The HDL ,LDL and Lp(a) levels of GDM cord blood were significantly lower (P<0 .05) .The weight of offspring birth of GDM pregnant women with low level HDL was significantly higher (P<0 .05) ,and that of GDM pregnant women with high level LDL offspring birth weight was significantly lower (P<0 .05) .Maternal HDL was not correlated with birth weight (r= -0 .190 ,P=0 .103) .Parent LDH and birth weight was negatively correlated (r= -0 .252 ,P=0 .029) .Conclusion The reference range of normal pregnancy-specific lipid we had estab-lished is more scientific for assessment of blood lipids .

Objective: To study the characteristics of P300 and topographic dist ribution mapping in obsessive-compulsive patients. Methods: The P300 and topog raphic distribution mapping were recorded in 36 patients, using a Bneuro Galileoinstrument. Results: Compared with normal subjects, the wa ve patterns of obsessi ve-compulsive patients were unstable; the frontal wave variation and dissymmetry between the two sides was 63.9%; the N2 and P3 latency was prolonged; the P2 an d P3 amplitude was decreased; the P3 topographic distribution mapping was uneven ly distributed, the normal high amplitude in the parietal region was absent. For the patient group, energy levels below grade 5 in the left brain area, the fron tal area, and for both were 42.3%, 30.3%, 15.15% respectively. Conclu sion: P300 and topographic distribution might be served as an objective index for reflectin g cognitive activity in obsessive-compulsive patients.

Objective To investigate the influencing factors of pain and the changes of vital signs in newborn infants. Methods Forty two newborn infants were rated by the behavioral scale of acute pain in newborn infants. The scores of pain were compared among infants with different gender,gestational age,birth weight,birth age,type of puncture and whether by vaginal birth or not. At the same time,the respiration rate,heart rate,blood pressure and oxygen saturation (SO2)were dynami-cally recorded by the multi-function monitor in the process of puncture. Results The average score of pain was 7.6. There was no significant difference among newborn infants with different gender,gestational age,birth weight and type of puncture(P> 0.05),while significant differences among infants with different birth age and whether by vaginal birth or not (P=0.015 and 0.043 respectively). In the process of puncture,the SO2 was significantly decreased,while the respiration rate,heart rate,sys-tolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly increased. Conclusions Pain is prevalent in newborn infants and accom-panied by obvious changes of vital signs. The means of childbirth and birth age have significant influence on the neonatal pain. It is suggested to pay close attention to the neonatal pain and take effective interventions.

Objective To analyze the diagnostic procedures and treatment strategies in the mycotic aneurysm caused by Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis infection in a single medical center. Methods From January 2000 to December 2008, clinical data of 8 cases with infected aneurysm caused by Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis were analyzed. Results All cases were treated with endovascular stent-graft treatment, including abdominal aortic aneurysm in six cases, thoracic aortic aneurysm in one, and popliteal artery aneurysm in one case. Six bifurcated stent-graft and two tube stent-graft were used. The surgical success rate was 100% with no perioperative or 30-day mortality nor major morbidity. All of the patients recovered uneventfully and were discharged with oral antibacterial agents. During mid-term follow up (range 15-36 months), four patients are alive and well with no signs of persistent or recurrent infection, three cases with recurrent infection were cured by drainage of local abscess and debridement, one case died of rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm. Conclusion Endovascular grafting combined with antibiotic therapy and careful surveillance program represent an alternative to conventional surgery in mycotic aneurysms caused by Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis.