ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors for atherosclerosis （AS） in rheumatoid arthritis （RA） patients and its correlation with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted， enrolling 16,082 RA patients from 122 medical centers nationwide. Patient demographics， disease assessment data including disease activity （DAS-28）， tender joint count （TJC）， swollen joint count （SJC）， patient's global assessment （PGA）， evaluator's global assessment （EGA）， and visual analogue scale （VAS）， major clinical symptoms including insomnia， loss of appetite， irritability， and fatigue， and laboratory indicators including blood routine， inflammatory markers， liver and kidney function， metabolic indices， and coagulation markers were collected through questionnaire. Based on the four examinations in TCM， patients were classified into eight TCM syndromes， which were wind-damp obstruction， cold-damp obstruction， damp-heat obstruction， phlegm-stasis obstruction， blood stasis obstructing the collaterals， qi-blood deficiency， liver-kidney insufficiency， and qi-yin deficiency. Patients who experienced AS events were included in the event group （564 cases）， while those without AS events were included in the non-event group （15,518 cases）. Intergroup difference tests were used to screen potential risk factors， and binary logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the correlation between TCM syndromes and rheumatoid arthritis with atherosclerosis （RA-AS）. ResultsCompared to the non-event group， patients in the event group had longer disease duration， higher body weight， and older age （P＜0.05）， and showed significantly higher DAS28， TJC， SJC， PGA， EGA， VAS， ESR， low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C）， triglycerides （TG）， total cholesterol （TC）， and D-dimer levels， and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C）， with more severe symptoms of insomnia， irritability， and fatigue （P＜0.05）. Damp-heat obstruction syndrome was the most prevalent in both groups， with a higher proportion in the event group （393/564， 69.68%） than in the non-event group （4578/15,518， 29.50%） showing significant difference （P＜0.05）. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients with damp-heat obstruction syndrome had a 5.326-fold higher risk of developing RA-AS compared to those without this syndrome （OR=5.326， 95%CI 4.517 to 7.089， P＜0.001）. ConclusionThe occurrence of RA-AS is associated with TCM syndromes， disease activity， inflammatory markers and lipid metabolic indices， and damp-heat obstruction syndrome is an independent risk factor for RA-AS.

Objective:To investigate the metal artifact reduction effect of orthopedic metal artifact reduction (O-MAR) techonology and its improvement effect on the image quality in CT examination in the patients with arthroplasty, and to elaborate the significance of the technology in clinical diagnosis and treatment of arthroplasty.Methods:The CT data of 20patients with hip or knee prostheses was collected.There were two tube voltages in each group of CT data:120and 140Kev.There were also two groups of CT data in each tube voltage group:nonO-MAR group and O-MAR group;there were four subgroups of CT data of each case:120 Kev/-O-MAR, 120Kev/+O-MAR, 140Kev/-O-MAR, 140Kev/+O-MAR.After data collection, Mimics software was applied to conduct three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction for purpose of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of CT data.Qualitative analysis mainly included the grade of severity of metal artifact and quality of data.Quantitative analysis included the volume of metal artifact, the average CT value and standard deviation (SD) in region of interest (ROI) .ROI 1and ROI 2were chosen at the location of beam hardening artifact (radial high-density metal artifact) and photon starvation artifact (band low-density metal artifact) , respectively.Results:According to the result of3D measurement, the volumes of artifact had no significant difference between 120 Kev/-O-MAR group and140Kev/-O-MAR group (P=0.062) , but there were siginificant differences in the volumes of artifact between other groups (P＜0.05) ;O-MAR technology decreased the volume of beam-hardening artifact obviously (P＜0.05) .According to the results of two-dimensional (2D) measurement, there was no significant difference in the average CT values in ROI 2between 120Kev/-O-MAR group and 140Kev/-O-MAR group (P=0.069) , but there were significant differences in the average CT values between other groups (P＜0.05) ;O-MAR technology decreased the high-density beam-hardening metal artifact and the low-density photon-starvation metal artifact in 2D measurement.Conclusion:O-MAR technology could significantly reduce the CT metal artifact of hip and knee prostheses and increase the clinical value of CT data.

OBJECTIVETo study the long-term curative effects of suture plus proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) and suture plus triad-therapy (omeprazole, amoxycillin and flagyl taken orally) for the treatment of duodenal ulcer with acute perforation.

METHODSThree hundred and twenty-nine patients with duodenal ulcer and acute perforation were treated with 2 different methods, respectively. Method A was suture plus PGV (group A, 153 cases), and method B was suture plus triad-therapy (group B, 176 cases). Follow-up was made by means of correspondence, outpatient reexamination and cooperation with local hospitals in 5 to 8 years after operation. The contents of follow-up included symptom acquisition (such as upper abdominal pain or distention, pyrosis, belch, acid regurgitation, vomiting, diarrhea and conditions of living or working), gastroscopy and Helicobacter pylori (HP) detection. The curative effects were evaluated by the Visick scale.

RESULTSThree hundred and one patients were followed up (group A 142 and group B 159). According to the Visick scale, 97 (68.3%), 19 (13.4%), 13 (9.15%) and 13 (9.15%) patients in group A, and 31 (19.5%), 28 (17.6%), 24 (15.1%) and 76 (47.8%) in group B were classified as Visick I, II, III and IV respectively (Z = -9.818, P < 0.01). As for HP detection, there were 130 (91.5%) patients in group A and 94 (59.1%) in group B (chi(2) = 41.438, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe long-term curative effects of suture plus PGV were superior to those of suture plus triad-therapy for duodenal ulcer with acute perforation although HP positive rate was higher in group A than in group B. HP infection is one of the etiological factors of duodenal ulcer. The increased excitability of the vagus nerve remains to play an important role in duodenal ulcer.

Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Amoxicillin ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Duodenal Ulcer ; drug therapy ; etiology ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Metronidazole ; administration & dosage ; Middle Aged ; Omeprazole ; administration & dosage ; Peptic Ulcer Perforation ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Suture Techniques ; Vagotomy, Proximal Gastric ; methods

Objective To raise level of surgical therapy for patients with traumatic hepatic break.Methods We retrospective analyzed 210 cases of traumatic hepatic break at admission from Sep 1987 to Jan 2001.Result Among 198 patients comprehensive operation,182 were cured, the cure rate was 92%.12 patients were all cured by conservative treatment.Severe shock and the main reasons of death were severe traumatic complications.Conclusions Comprehensive operation can greatly improve the succesful rate and reduce the complication,strictly grasping the indication of conservative treatment can greatly improve the cure rate,we consider that the debridement plus packing with the big omentam,selective ligation of hepatic artery and debriding hepatectomy are mainly procedures for the treatment of the patients with tramatic hepatic rupture.

Objective To explore indications of the conservative therapy an early operative treatment for severe acute pancreatitis and researching comprehensive therapeutic rule.Methods Retrospective analyze the clinical feature and the result as making a diagnosis and giving treatment of 82 cases of SAP admitted from Aug.1986 to dec.2000.Results Among them,28 cases underwent conservative treatment,with the cure rate of 85.7%,54 cases underwent conservative treatment,with the cure rate of 81.5%,the total cure rate was 82.9%.Conclusions The conservative therapy or early operation of SAP is determined by the patients' clinica feature,while the supportive conservative therapy being on,we should carefully observe the changes of the patient's condition and the response to therapy,when once surgical indication being discovered,early operation should be performed ,the emergency surgery should be performed as soon as possible for the biliary obstruction of SAP.