Objective To improve the recognition of intramedullary spinal abscess by a case of congenital dermal sinus with intramedullary spinal abscess and reduco the incidence of congenital dermal sinus with intramedullary spinal abscess.Methods Clinical,laboratory data and image of a confirmed case about one infant of congenital dermal sinus with multiple intramedullary spinal abscess were investigated,the related literature was reviewed.Results In this case,when the infant with congential dermal sinus had infection,he failed to gain antibiotic therapy, timely surgical treatment,his infection had diffused, and multiple intramedullary spinal abscess flared up.Conclusions Intramedullary spinal abscess is a rare disease.If treatment is delayed, the prognosis is poor and the mortality rate is high.MRI is the ideal investigation for diagnosis.Intramedullary spinal abscess can happen subsequent to congenital dermal sinus with infection, and cause neurological sequela. So an infant with congenital dermal sinus should be offered to avoid complication caused by infection.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between clinical characteristics and prognosis of neonatal cerebral infarction and to draw attention to the disease to improve the long-term outcome through early diagnosis and intervention.

METHODSThe clinical characteristics of 6 confirmed cases were summarized. Perinatal conditions and other factors were analyzed for possible causes of the disease. The survived patients were followed-up for 6-8 months.

RESULTSThe authors diagnosed 6 cases of neonatal cerebral infarction in one year, which accounted for 0.6% (6/969) of all the in-patients in the same time period. Among them 3 cases were confirmed as cerebrovascular malformations by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), In 1 case the infarction was due to severe bilateral intraventricular hemorrhage, and in another case the disease was related to comprehensive factors such as prematurity, maternal pregnancy induced hypertension and respiratory failure secondary to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and in 1 case the cause was undetermined. Four out of the 6 patients presented with varied forms of convulsions, which became the second leading cause for all the neonatal convulsive events (20%). None of the patients had localized neurological signs in the early course except for abnormal muscular tone of some extent. Cerebral ultrasound scanning in 5 out of 6 cases showed positive results. The diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) was highly valuable for early confirmative diagnosis. Only one case was found normal within one year of follow-up and all the other 5 cases had unfavorable prognoses of varied severity.

CONCLUSIONNeonatal cerebral infarction is not a rare condition and should be considered as one of the important causes for neonatal convulsion. Imaging study is the main technique for diagnosis. The prognoses were poor for those cases for whom early diagnosis and treatment can not be made or those with widespread cerebral lesions.

Brain ; blood supply ; pathology ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; complications ; Cerebral Infarction ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Male ; Prognosis ; Seizures ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between STXBP1 gene mutations and refractory seizures with unknown causes in newborns.

METHODSThe coding region of STXBP1 gene was detected using direct Sanger sequencing in 11 newborns with refractory seizures of unknown causes.

RESULTSSTXBP1 gene mutation was found in 1 out of 11 patients. It was a missense mutation: c.1439C>T (p.P480L).

CONCLUSIONSSTXBP1 gene mutation can be found in neonatal refractory seizures of unknown causes, suggesting a new approach of further research of this disease.

Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Munc18 Proteins ; genetics ; Mutation ; Seizures ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo compare the differences in cerebral oxygenation responses between the infants born preterm and full-term infants and to evaluate the early cognitive ability of infants born preterm.

METHODSCerebral oxygenation after light stimulation was detected by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in preterm infants at 3 or 6 months corrected gestational age (GA). The results were compared with those of age-matched infants born at term.

RESULTSThe start and peak response time of cerebral oxygenation occurring after light stimulation in preterm infants at 3 months corrected GA was 17.2 +/- 5.2 and 38.4 +/- 9.6 seconds respectively, which were significantly longer than in age-matched term infants (13.1 +/- 2.7 and 28.9 +/- 5.0 seconds respectively) (P < 0.05). The maximum response value of hemoglobin, oxyhemoglobin and regional oxygen saturation of the preterm infants at 3 months corrected GA was (1.2 +/- 0.5)%, (1.5 +/- 0.6)%, and (1.3 +/- 0.4)% respectively , which were significantly lower than that of the term infants [(2.3 +/- 0.3)%, (2.8 +/- 0.3)% and (2.4 +/- 0.5)% respectively] (P < 0.05). Cerebral oxygenation responses to light stimulation in preterm infants examined at 6 months corrected GA were not significantly different from age-matched term infants.

CONCLUSIONSCerebral oxygenation responses to light stimulation in infants born preterm at 3 months corrected GA are not as good as age-matched term infants, but were close to the level of age-matched term infants at 6 months corrected GA. This suggests that the early cognitive ability of preterm infants before 3 months corrected GA might fall behind age-matched term infants.

Brain ; metabolism ; Cognition ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Oxygen ; metabolism ; Photic Stimulation ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical manifestations, imaging characteristics as well as prognosis of neonatal polycythemia complicated with brain damage.

METHODSOne hundred and sixteen in-patients with neonatal polycythemia admitted to our hospital during January 2003 to October 2005 were analyzed. Their clinical manifestations were observed. Craniocerebral ultrasonic examination (2D, 3D), CT and MRI were employed to dynamically observe the craniocerebral imaging variances as well as the cerebral hemodynamic variations and near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) was adopted to test the cerebral oxygenation. Twenty-two cases with moderate or severe disease were followed up for 3 to 12 months.

RESULTSOut of the 116 polycythemic neonates, 53 cases had brain damages, of whom 31 had mild, 14 had moderate, and 8 had severe damages. Cranial imaging alterations were mostly ischemic injuries of various areas of different severity. The severity of brain damage was closely related to the duration of polycythemia, oxygen saturation of cerebral tissues as well as cerebral hemodynamic abnormalities. Brain injury was likely to occur in those whose polycythemia persisted for more than three days. The regional saturation of oxygen (rSO(2)) in mild brain injury cases was found to be 52.1%, while it was 47.1% in moderate and severe brain injury cases. Compared to the 58% as found in non-brain injury cases, the variance was found to be statistically significant (F = 104.466, P < 0.01). Among the cases with brain injury, cerebral hemodynamics displayed a slowdown in the blood flow velocity in the cerebral anterior artery and medium artery during the systolic phase and/or the diastolic phase. The abnormality ratio was closely related to the severity of brain injury. Through the chi(2) test the variance was proved to be statistically highly significant (chi(2) = 18.889, P < 0.01), however it was not correlated with the increase of the initial levels of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT) (P > 0.05). During the follow up, neurological developmental abnormalities of various severity were found to exist in the cases with moderate (5/12) and severe disease (7/8), while cerebral palsy or epilepsy was not yet found.

CONCLUSIONNeonatal polycythemia might tend to bring about a reduction in the perfusion of cerebral blood flow and damaged cerebral oxygenation metabolism which in turn might lead to cerebral ischemic injury, which in some of the moderate and severe cases might lead to long-term neurological complications. Imaging investigations especially craniocerebral ultrasonic examination could be the practical means for the early diagnosis and evaluation of prognosis.

Brain ; pathology ; Brain Damage, Chronic ; complications ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Newborn, Diseases ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Polycythemia ; complications ; Skull ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography

Objective To investigate the effect of microplastic(MPs)exposure on learning and memory in mice,and its mechanism by observing the protein expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)/tyrosine receptor kinase B(TrkB)/N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subtype 2B(NR2B)signaling pathway and neurogenesis.Methods Forty male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group(Ctrl)and microplastics exposure group(MPs).Mice in MPs group were treated with 0.3 mg/(kg·d)microplastics,administered by gavage at a volume of 200 μl for 30 consecutive days.Morris water maze test was used to evaluate the spatial learning and memory ability of mice.Western blotting was used to detect the protein levels of BDNF,TrkB and NR2B in hippocampus of mice.Immunofluorescent staining was used to observe the number of doublecortin(DCX)and neuronal nuclei antigen(NeuN)positive cells in the hippocampus of mice to evaluate hippocampal neurogenesis.Results Compared with the control group,the ability of learning and memory decreased significantly in MPs group mice(P＜0.01).The expression levels of BDNF,TrkB and NR2B in the hippocampus of MPs group mice were significantly lower than those of control group(P＜0.05).The number of DCX and NeuN positive cells in the hippocampus of MPs group was significantly lower than that of control group(P＜0.01).Conclusion MPs exposure induces learning and memory impairment which may be related to inhibiting BDNF/TrkB/NR2B signaling pathway and reducing hippocampal neurogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors from a coal mining accident after 2 and 10 months and factors related to PTSD. METHODS: To estimate the prevalence of PTSD, 104 miners were surveyed through the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). Forty survivors including 24 severe PTSD patients and 24 non-PTSD subjects were evaluated thoroughly. RESULTS: The current prevalence rate among survivors from the coal mining accident at 2 months was 50%. There were significant differences in PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression, personality, and memory performance between the PTSD patients and non-PTSD controls. State anxiety, time to renew the work, depression, neuroticism, and the place they were staying, and length of service were predictors of PTSD. After 10 months of the accident, 30.6% survivors still met the criterion of PTSD. Compared with 2 months after the accident, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and memory performance improved clearly, while the depressive symptoms had no significant difference. The state anxiety, time to renew the work, positive coping, emotional balance, and length of service were the factors of PTSD symptom healing. CONCLUSION The current prevalence of PTSD among survivors from coal mining accident is high. The mining accident has great influence on victims, and psychological or medication interventions are necessary. There are lots of risk factors for the prevalence of PTSD, such as state anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and shorter duration of service. Positive coping may be a beneficial factor for PTSD recovery.
Accidents, Occupational ; Adult ; Anxiety ; epidemiology ; psychology ; China ; epidemiology ; Coal Mining ; Depressive Disorder ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Survivors

OBJECTIVETo study the retinal ultrastructure of streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and the intervention effect of Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides (LBP).

METHODSThe STZ-induced diabetic SD rat model was established. LBP was given to those in the treatment group by gastrogavage. Changes of body weight, blood glucose, and retinal ultrastructure at 24-week were observed.

RESULTSEarly retinal changes covered mitochondrion changes, cell degeneration and apoptosis of retinal neurons and neuroglia cells in the diabetic rats. No change of body weight or blood glucose was observed between the LBP group and the diabetic model group (P > 0.05). The ultrastructural changes were obviously relieved by LBP, and limited to the inner nuclear layer.

CONCLUSIONSLBP could obviously relieve pathological changes of mitochondrion, hinder neural cell apoptosis. Its effect might not be achieved by lowering blood glucose. It was expected to be used in preventing and treating early diabetic retinal neuropathy.

Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; pathology ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; pathology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Retina ; drug effects ; ultrastructure

Objective To study the optimal waist circumference (WC) cut-off values for identifying metabolic risk factors in middle-aged and elderly subjects in Shandong Province of China.
Methods A total of 2 873 men and 5 559 women were included in this cross-sectional study. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was diagnosed according to the definition of Chinese Diabetes Society in 2004. The relation between WC and MetS was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The optimal WC cut-off values were identified using the area under the ROC curve and the different diagnostic criteria for central obesity were compared.
Results The WC was the risk factor for MetS independent of BMI, blood glucose, blood lipid, and blood pressure. The optimal WC cut-off value was 83.8 cm and 91.1 cm for identifying MetS in women and men, respectively. Compared with 80 cm and 85 cm for women and men, 85 cm and 90 cm had a higher Youden index for identifying all metabolic risk factors and MetS in women and men.
Conclusion The appropriate WC cut-off value is 85 cm and 90 cm for identifying central obesity and MetS in women and men in Shandong Province of China.