BACKGROUNDThe blood supply to the eye comes from the retinal central vascular system of the ophthalmic artery and the ciliary vascular system. The ophthalmic artery stems from the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. If occlusion or stenosis occurs in the carotid artery, the blood perfusion to the ophthalmic artery becomes insufficient, leading to signs and symptoms of anterior and posterior ocular ischemia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of ocular ischemic diseases caused by carotid artery stenosis.

METHODSThis study was a retrospective review of 145 patients with carotid artery stenosis. Fifty-eight patients who had symptoms of ocular ischemic disease caused by carotid artery stenosis formed group A and the other 87 patients who only had carotid artery stenosis formed group B. We analyzed the causes and course of disease, and relative risk factors, by comparing the two groups.

RESULTSThe degree of carotid artery stenosis in group A was higher than that in group B. And group A had a greater decrease of ophthalmic artery flow. Male, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking were significantly related to carotid artery stenosis. Amaurosis fugax was the most common ocular symptom in group A. The ocular ischemic diseases mainly included ischemic optic neuropathy, central/branch retinal artery occlusion, ophthalmoplegia externa, and ocular ischemic syndrome.

CONCLUSIONSCarotid artery stenosis correlates with ocular ischemic diseases. Ophthalmologists must observe for ocular symptoms, which were the onset symptoms in some patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carotid Stenosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Eye Diseases ; etiology ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; physiopathology ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; Ischemia ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVE: To establish a fluorescent multiple amplification system of 16S rRNA and Cytb genes located in mitochondrial DNA for species identification. METHODS: A pair of primers of 16S rRNA gene and Cytb gene of the mitochondrial DNA was designed with the software Primer 5.0 to construct a multiple amplification system. The amplified products from human and five species of animals, including cattle, pig, dog, chicken and grass carp were analyzed by 310 Genetic Analyzer. RESULTS: The amplified products of these samples showed two peaks. The common one was 358bp and the specific one different in unique species was between 231bp and 256bp. CONCLUSION The multiplex amplification system can exactly distinguish the species of human from five common animals.
Animals ; Base Sequence ; Carps ; Cattle ; Chickens ; Cytochromes b/genetics* ; DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics* ; Dogs ; Female ; Forensic Genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics* ; Species Specificity ; Swine

Objective To investigate the isolation and culture of the neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the embryonic mouse spinal cord and striatum, and observe the differences in their proliferation and differentiation characteristics in vitro, thereby providing evidences for identifying more suitable seed cells for repainng spinal cord injuries. Methods The spinal cord and striatum of 14-day-old embryonic mice were dissected for primary NSC culture. After 4 passages, the cells were examined for the expression ofnestin, β-tubulin Ⅲ, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and MAG using immunohistochemistry. Results The NSCs derived from the spinal cord and the striatum both possessed in vitro proliferation capacity and expressed nestin antigen. After induced differentiation, the NSCs expressed specific antigens of neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Conclusion Multipotent NSCs can be obtained from embryonic mouse spinal cord and striatum through different in vitro culture methods under different conditions. According to the differenees between the two kinds of NSCs in culture situation and differentiation, the striatum derived NSC is suitable for transplantation to repair spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUNDPrimary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a common cause of irreversible blindness. The variable etiology of POAG poses significant challenges for treatment and rehabilitation. We analyzed a large POAG patient cohort during treatment to reveal possible causes of vision disorder, assess vision-related quality of life (VRQL), and to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitative treatments.

METHODSWe analyzed the visional disturbances in 500 POAG patients (890 eyes) by regular ophthalmic examination and visual field examination using Humphrey 30° perimetry. Appropriate rehabilitative treatments for POAG were prescribed based on results of clinical examination and included correction of ametropia, health education, counseling, and the fitting of typoscopes. VRQL was assessed before and after treatment by a VRQL self-assessment questionnaire.

RESULTSScores on the VRQL self-assessment were significantly lower compared to healthy controls. The primary cause of the vision disturbances was ametropia (97.99%), and 51.61% of the ametropia eyes had not received appropriate correction. The secondary causes of visual impairment were glaucomatous neurodegeneration (26.29%), complicated cataract, or other accompanying eye diseases. The causes of the clinical low vision (44 patients) were glaucomatous neurodegeneration (32 eyes), fundus diseases (23 eyes), keratopathy (11 eyes), and other eye diseases (10 eyes). The VRQL scores of patients improved significantly after rehabilitation and the correction of ametropia (P < 0.01). Twenty-five patients with low vision were provided with typoscopes, and 21 (84%) experienced significant functional recovery, while the remaining low vision patients could see letter lines two or more levels lower (smaller) on visual charts in a near vision test.

CONCLUSIONSVision disorders in POAG patients are common and severe. Appropriate rehabilitation, especially the correction of ametropia, can significantly improve VRQL as revealed by the self-assessment of POAG patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle ; complications ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vision Disorders ; etiology ; rehabilitation

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery. Methods: From December 2011 to December 2015, 152 cases of recurrent thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery were retrospectively analyzed. The overall survival (OS) after treatment failure, clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of different salvage treatments were analyzed. OS was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. Prognostic analysis was performed by using multivariate Cox regression model. Results: The median interval of the first recurrence was 10.6(2.0 to 69.1) months. The median OS after recurrence was 8.0(0.8 to 43.3) months. The 1-, 2-and 3-year OS rates after recurrence were 36.0%, 15.1% and 5.2%, respectively. The median OS of patients with locoregional recurrence alone, distant metastasis alone and locoregional recurrence combined with distant metastasis was 11.3(1.8 to 43.3) months, 6.7(1.2 to 28.6) months and 5.1(0.8 to 22.9) months, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P=0.009), ypTNM stage (P=0.012), comprehensive treatment after recurrence (P=0.000) and locoregional recurrence (P=0.026) were independently correlated with the OS of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions Neoadjuvant therapy, ypTNM stage, recurrence pattern and post-recurrence treatment are the independent risk factors for clinical prognosis of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery. Clinical prognosis of patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy is not satisfactory. After recurrence, combined treatment mode should be adopted according to the site of recurrence and neoadjuvant treatment mode to maximize the benefits of salvage treatment.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of a novel prediction model based on fibrinogen concentration in combination with neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (F-NLR score) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) receiving neoadjuvant therapy and investigate their relationship with pathologic complete response (pCR).Methods Clinical data of 218 eligible ESCC patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University between 2012 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.The cut-off values for fibrinogen and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)were defined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.The effects of different F-NLR scores on survival and pCR were evaluated.The survival rate was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.The relationship among fibrinogen,NLR and pCR was analyzed by using Wilcoxon rank sum test.Results The 3-year overall survival (OS) rates with F-NLR scores of 0,1 and 2 were 72.1％,66.5％ and 50.2％(P=0.010),respectively.The corresponding 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 64.1％,60.2％ and 45.4％ (P=0.012),respectively.The clinical prognosis of patients with an F-NLR score of 2 was significantly worse compared with those of their counterparts with an F-NLR score of 0-1 (P=0.003).Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the F-NLR score (P=0.004) and TNM stage (P=0.000) were the independent prognostic factors.Conclusions The F-NLR score can be used as an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy,which is promising supplement to current TNM staging system,thereby facilitating more accurate risk stratification analysis and achieving individualized multidisciplinary treatment for ESCC patients.

Objective: To compare the effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) on the survival of patients with esophageal cancer. Methods: Clinical data of 275 cases of thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery from December 2011 to December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The data of treatment and follow-up were complete and analyzable. There were 70 cases in the NCRT group and 205 cases in the NCT group. The survival rate was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and statistically compared by log-rank test, and multivariate analysis was performed by Cox regression model. Results: The median follow-up time was 32(3-84) months. The median survival time and recurrence-free survival time was 42(3-84) months and 30(3-84) months, respectively. The overall 3-and 5-year survival rates were 56.8% and 45.9%, respectively, and the 3-and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates were 45.1% and 38.9%, respectively. The median survival time in the NCRT and NCT groups was 46(7-84) and 40(4-74) months, and the median recurrence-free survival time was 31(3-84) and 28(3-69) months, respectively. The 3-and 5-year overall survival of the two groups were 59.1%, 47.1% and 56.3%, 47.5%(P=0.515), and the 3-and 5-year recurrence-free survival were 44.5%, 40.1% and 47%, 39%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the survival between two neoadjuvant therapy modes (P=0.554). Multivariate analysis showed that postoperative pathological TNM staging was an independent factor affecting the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer (P=0.001). Conclusions The survival results of NCRT are similar to those of NCT. Postoperative pathological staging is an independent survival factor.

Objective To evaluate the recurrence pattern and identify the risk factors of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery.Methods Clinical data of 275 patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant therapy combined with surgery from December 2011 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.The follow-up data of the enrolled patients were complete and analyzable.The recurrence pattern,recurrence time,recurrence location and influencing factors after neoadjuvant therapy in combination with surgery were analyzed.The recurrence rate was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method.The multivariate analysis was performed by Cox regression model.Results The median follow-up time was 32 (3-84) months,and the median time of the first recurrence was 10.6(2.0-69.1) months.The 1-,2-and 3-year recurrence rates were 32.0％,45.1％ and 52.3％,respectively.A total of 152 cases (55.3％) had recurrence.Among them,77 cases (50.6％) had local-regional recurrence (LRR),34 cases (23.4％) had distant metastasis (DM),33 cases (21.7％) had LRR+DM and 8 cases (6.0％) had recurrence in unknown site.Among the patients with LRR,lymph node recurrence was the most common (n =98,89.1％).For DM patients,lung metastasis (n =33,49.3％),liver metastasis (n=16,23.9％),bone metastasis (n=14,20.9％) and non-regional lymph node metastasis (n=14,20.9％) were commonly observed.The multivariate analysis showed that postoperative T stage (P=0.008),N stage (P＜0.001) and the number of lymph node dissection (P＜0.001) were the independent risk factors for recurrence after treatment.Conclusions The recurrence rate after neoadjuvant therapy remains relatively high for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,and the regional lymph node is the most common site of recurrence.Postoperative pathological T staging,N staging and the number of lymph node dissection are the independent risk factors for recurrence after treatment.

OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical outcomes between HLA allele matched (HLA-M) and 1 approximately 2 alleles disparity mismatched (HLA-mis) unrelated allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (URD-BMT).

METHODSThirty-nine patients received HLA-M and 21 received HLA-mis URD-BMT for the treatment of acute leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CP) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in our hospital between November 1998 and December 2002. Conditioning regimen was Bu 16 mg/kg plus CTX 120 mg/kg, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), CsA and MTX were given to prevent aGVHD.

RESULTSThirty-eight of the HLA-M group and 18 of the HLA-mis group were engrafted successfully. The median follow-up duration was 11 (2.5 - 52.0) months for HLA-M group and 9 (2 - 46) months for HLA-mis group. The 3-year probabilities of disease-free survival (DFS) for HLA-M and HLA-mis group were (79.2 +/- 7.1)% and (45.8 +/- 15.5)%, respectively (P < 0.05). Grade II - IV aGVHD occurred in 10 (26.3%) patients in HLA-M group and 6 (33.3%) in HLA-mis group, respectively (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONURD-BMT is an effective modality for the treatment of leukemia and MDS. The outcome after URD-BMT can be optimized by matching the HLA-A, B and DR alleles between the donor and recipient.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Alleles ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Child ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Leukemia ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; mortality ; therapy ; Transplantation, Homologous