Objective To investigate the causes of success or failure of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery(NOTES)in animals.Methods Data were collected from animal studies of NOTES carried out between August 2007 and September 2009.The studies were divided into acute phase and survival phase.In the studies,simple NOTES and laparoscopic-assisted NOTES were performed on female miniswines or adult mongrel dogs.Diagnostic abdominal exploration,liver biopsy,cholecystectomy,tubal ligation,oophorectomy,gastrojejunal anastomosis,and splenectomy were made in the animals.The intra-and post-operative complications and technical difficulties were recorded during the procedures.Results Totally 37 miniswines and 16 mongrel dogs were enrolled in the studies of NOTES procedures(91 procedures),including 22 acute experiments and 31 survival experiments.Simple NOTES was conducted through the transgastric route in 25 cases,transcolonic route in 8 cases,and combinations of transgastric and transcolonic routes in 16 cases,and combinations of transgastric and transvaginal routes in 6.In Laparoscopic-assisted cases,36 animals were treated via the transgastric route by traditional(26 cases)or single-port transumbilical laparoscopy(10 cases).Diagnostic exploration was carried out in 33 cases,liver biopsy was done in 11 cases,tubal ligation was made in 11,and oophorectomy was performed on 6;the procedures were all completed in these cases showing a success rate of 100%.Cholecystectomy was completed in 27 cases with a success rate of 44.4%(12/27).One case of splenectomy,and two cases of gastrojejunal anastomosis failed.The totally complication rate in the studies were 39.6%(21/53).The complications included perforation(8 cases),organ injury(5 cases),bleeding(4 cases),infection(3 cases)and pneumoperitoneum with hypertonia(1 case).Conclusions NOTES is feasible,safe and effective in diagnostic abdominal exploration and simple abdominal surgeries,but does not suit difficult abdominal surgeries.By using laparoscopy,the technique may be further developed and used in the future.

Objective To investigate the feasibility and safety of trans-gastric route combined with trans-colonic or trans-vaginal route endoscopic salpingectomy and liver biopsy, as methods of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). Methods Endoscopic salpingectomy and liver biopsy were per-formed in 4 female porcine models, in 2 of which the procedure was achieved via trans-gastric and trans-co-Ionic route (Group A), while in other 2 was via trans-gastric and trans-vaginal route (Group B). The ani-mals were sacrificed after the procedure and the related complications were observed. Results Abdominal cavity exploration, salpingectomy and liver biopsy could be performed successfully through two combined routes. Perforation of adjacent colon was found in 1 animal with the trans-colonic route NOTES. Conclusion NOTES via trans-gastric and trans-colonic routes or via trans-gastric and trans-vaginal for salpingectomy and liver biopsy are both feasible, while trans-vaginal route seems to be safer than trans-colunic route.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association between peripheral blood dendritic cells subtype distribution and plasma monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) concentration in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHODSSixty consecutive CHD patients admitted in our department during the period from November, 2010 to December, 2011 were enrolled, including 10 with stable angina pectoris (SAP), 25 with unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and 25 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with 28 healthy volunteers as normal controls. All the subjects underwent routine tests and coronary angiography. The percentages of peripheral blood myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasma cell-like dendritic cells (pDCs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by flow cytometry, and plasma MCP-1 levels were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTSThe percentage and absolute quantity of mDCs and pDCs were significantly lower in AMI and UAP groups than in the normal control and SAP groups (P<0.001). In the CHD patients, the plasma MCP-1 level was significantly higher than that in the normal control group (P<0.001) with an inverse correlation with the percentage of peripheral mDCs.

CONCLUSIONMCP-1 may promote the migration of mDCs into atherosclerotic plaques and mediate the local immune and inflammatory responses to aggravate plaque instability in CHD patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Chemokine CCL2 ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged