Objective:To establish normal reference value ranges for dynamic balance function parameters in healthy Chinese adults aged 20-69 years. Methods:A total of 100 healthy subjects were selected and evenly divided into five age groups: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60-69 years, with equal gender distribution in each group. Balance function was assessed using the EquiTest system （NeuroCom）, with following tests performed Sensory Organization Test （SOT）, Motor Control Test （MCT）, Adaptation Test （ADT）, and Limits of Stability （LOS） test. All parameters were statistically analyzed and expressed as ±S. Results:The normal reference ranges for SOT, MCT, ADT, and LOS parameters were established for each age group. Multiple balance function parameters demonstrated a gradual decline with advancing age, with more pronounced deterioration observed after the age of 60. Specific findings included decreased vestibular ratio and reduced visual preference in SOT, as well as prolonged reaction time, impaired directional control, and reduced maximum excursion in the backward direction during LOS testing. Conclusion:This study is the first to establish age-specific reference ranges for dynamic balance function parameters in a healthy Chinese population aged 20-69 years, providing localized and objective criteria for the assessment of balance function and supporting clinical diagnosis of balance-related disorders in China.
Humans ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Postural Balance/physiology* ; Reference Values ; Aged ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Healthy Volunteers

Objective:To evaluate the effect of an electronic balance aid in balance rehabilitation training for patients with acute peripheral vestibular injury by comparing the outcomes of medication-only treatment and medication combined with vestibular rehabilitation using an electronic balance aid.Methods:This was a randomized controlled trial. The study subjects included 98 patients (40 males and 58 females, aged 25-69 years) diagnosed with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) with vertigo or vestibular neuritis, who were treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of Tianjin First Central Hospital from November 2022 to November 2023. All patients were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group at a 1∶1 ratio using the sealed envelope method. Control group (conventional drug treatment): Patients received medication treatment for 2 weeks, including betahistine mesilate tablets, vitamin B1 tablets, methylcobalamin tablets, ginkgo biloba tablets, diphenhydramine hydrochloride injection (within 3 days of onset), metoclopramide hydrochloride injection, and glucocorticoids. Experimental group (conventional drug treatment+device training): On the basis of the same medication treatment as the control group, patients received vestibular rehabilitation training using an electronic balance aid (20 minutes per session, once a day,≥5 days per week, for a total of 2 weeks). SPSS software was used to compare the total scores of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), the total scores of the Sensory Organization Test (SOT), and sensory analysis indicators between the two groups before and after treatment.Results:After treatment, vertigo symptoms significantly improved in both groups. DHI: The total DHI score in the control group decreased from 77.9±1.8 before treatment to 20.2±2.3 after treatment ( P<0.001). In the experimental group, the total DHI score decreased from 73.5±2.1 before treatment to 8.6±0.9 after treatment ( P<0.001). The difference in total DHI scores between the two groups after treatment was statistically significant, with the experimental group showing a lower score ( t=-4.616, P<0.001). The improvement in DHI scores was also more pronounced in the experimental group compared to the control group ( t=2.004, P=0.048). SOT: The total SOT score in the control group increased from 52.90±0.95 before treatment to 73.3±1.1 after treatment ( P<0.001). In the experimental group, the total SOT score increased from 54.9±0.8 before treatment to 83.5±0.9 after treatment ( P<0.001). The difference in total SOT scores between the two groups after treatment was statistically significant, with the experimental group showing a higher score ( t=7.104, P<0.001). The improvement in SOT scores was also more pronounced in the experimental group compared to the control group ( t=6.532, P<0.001). Sensory Analysis Indicators Proprioception (SOM): In the experimental group, the proprioception score significantly increased after treatment compared with before treatment ( t=-2.338, P=0.029), while, there was no statistically significant difference in the proprioception score of the control group before and after treatment ( P=0.537). Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in visual, vestibular, or visual dependence scores between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the visual, vestibular, and visual dependence scores of both groups significantly increased compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05); moreover, the post-treatment visual, vestibular, and visual dependence scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with medication-only treatment, the combination of an electronic balance aid and medication for the treatment and rehabilitation training of patients with acute peripheral vestibular injury can significantly improve the therapeutic effect in the short term.

A 65-year-old male was admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The patient had intermittent fever for 2 months with a maximum body temperature of 39.3 ℃ and elevated serum creatinine levels for 1 week. He had no other suggestive symptoms or positive signs. Laboratory test results suggested acute kidney injury and a sharp elevation in serum lactic dehydrogenase levels. Abdominal enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed multiple low-density lesions, and further biopsy pathology demonstrated chronic inflammation. Thereafter, positron emission tomography (PET)/CT showed abnormally elevated uptake value for the bones throughout the entire body, in addition to the liver and brain. Repeated bone marrow biopsy finally confirmed metastatic bone cancer, which possibly originated from the kidney according to immunohistochemical staining. In this rare case of fever of unknown origin, the primary lesion was a renal tumor with bone, liver, and brain metastases. Enhanced CT and PET/CT provided negative results, and the diagnosis was eventually confirmed by repeated bone marrow pathology.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of an electronic balance aid in balance rehabilitation training for patients with acute peripheral vestibular injury by comparing the outcomes of medication-only treatment and medication combined with vestibular rehabilitation using an electronic balance aid.Methods:This was a randomized controlled trial. The study subjects included 98 patients (40 males and 58 females, aged 25-69 years) diagnosed with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) with vertigo or vestibular neuritis, who were treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of Tianjin First Central Hospital from November 2022 to November 2023. All patients were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group at a 1∶1 ratio using the sealed envelope method. Control group (conventional drug treatment): Patients received medication treatment for 2 weeks, including betahistine mesilate tablets, vitamin B1 tablets, methylcobalamin tablets, ginkgo biloba tablets, diphenhydramine hydrochloride injection (within 3 days of onset), metoclopramide hydrochloride injection, and glucocorticoids. Experimental group (conventional drug treatment+device training): On the basis of the same medication treatment as the control group, patients received vestibular rehabilitation training using an electronic balance aid (20 minutes per session, once a day,≥5 days per week, for a total of 2 weeks). SPSS software was used to compare the total scores of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), the total scores of the Sensory Organization Test (SOT), and sensory analysis indicators between the two groups before and after treatment.Results:After treatment, vertigo symptoms significantly improved in both groups. DHI: The total DHI score in the control group decreased from 77.9±1.8 before treatment to 20.2±2.3 after treatment ( P<0.001). In the experimental group, the total DHI score decreased from 73.5±2.1 before treatment to 8.6±0.9 after treatment ( P<0.001). The difference in total DHI scores between the two groups after treatment was statistically significant, with the experimental group showing a lower score ( t=-4.616, P<0.001). The improvement in DHI scores was also more pronounced in the experimental group compared to the control group ( t=2.004, P=0.048). SOT: The total SOT score in the control group increased from 52.90±0.95 before treatment to 73.3±1.1 after treatment ( P<0.001). In the experimental group, the total SOT score increased from 54.9±0.8 before treatment to 83.5±0.9 after treatment ( P<0.001). The difference in total SOT scores between the two groups after treatment was statistically significant, with the experimental group showing a higher score ( t=7.104, P<0.001). The improvement in SOT scores was also more pronounced in the experimental group compared to the control group ( t=6.532, P<0.001). Sensory Analysis Indicators Proprioception (SOM): In the experimental group, the proprioception score significantly increased after treatment compared with before treatment ( t=-2.338, P=0.029), while, there was no statistically significant difference in the proprioception score of the control group before and after treatment ( P=0.537). Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in visual, vestibular, or visual dependence scores between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the visual, vestibular, and visual dependence scores of both groups significantly increased compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05); moreover, the post-treatment visual, vestibular, and visual dependence scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with medication-only treatment, the combination of an electronic balance aid and medication for the treatment and rehabilitation training of patients with acute peripheral vestibular injury can significantly improve the therapeutic effect in the short term.

A 65-year-old male was admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The patient had intermittent fever for 2 months with a maximum body temperature of 39.3 ℃ and elevated serum creatinine levels for 1 week. He had no other suggestive symptoms or positive signs. Laboratory test results suggested acute kidney injury and a sharp elevation in serum lactic dehydrogenase levels. Abdominal enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed multiple low-density lesions, and further biopsy pathology demonstrated chronic inflammation. Thereafter, positron emission tomography (PET)/CT showed abnormally elevated uptake value for the bones throughout the entire body, in addition to the liver and brain. Repeated bone marrow biopsy finally confirmed metastatic bone cancer, which possibly originated from the kidney according to immunohistochemical staining. In this rare case of fever of unknown origin, the primary lesion was a renal tumor with bone, liver, and brain metastases. Enhanced CT and PET/CT provided negative results, and the diagnosis was eventually confirmed by repeated bone marrow pathology.

Objective:To evaluate pulmonary hypertension (PH) in Chinese people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) receiving long-term anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and those who had not received ART for HIV infection, and to analyze the risk factors for PH in HIV infected individuals, so as to provide evidence for the monitoring and management of cardiovascular diseases in people living with HIV in China.Methods:HIV infected individuals who received long-term ART were from the NCT04463810 study cohort. In addition, using propensity score matching method, gender matched HIV infected individuals who had not received ART were selected as controls from the NCT00872417 and NCT01844297 studies. This study was a retrospective and observational clinical study. Basic data, clinical visit and cardiac Doppler ultrasonography data were collected to analyze the prevalence of PH and risk factors for PH in people living with HIV. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.Results:Among the 318 HIV infected individuals, 159 underwent long-term ART and 159 did not receive ART, which were divided into long-term ART group and ART-na?ve group, respectively. Among 318 HIV infected individuals, 30 cases (9.4%) experienced PH, including 23 cases (7.2%) with critical PH, six cases (1.9%) with mild PH, one case (0.3%) with moderate PH, and there was no severe PH. The prevalence of PH in the long-term ART group was 5.0%(8/159), which was lower than that in the ART-na?ve group (13.8%, 22/159). The difference was statistically significant ( χ2=7.21, P=0.012). Multivariate analysis showed that older age (odds ratio ( OR)=1.064, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.019 to 1.111, P=0.016) and unsuppressed HIV status ( OR=2.660, 95% CI 1.041 to 6.797, P=0.041) were independent risk factors for PH of people living with HIV. Conclusions:The prevalence of PH in people living with HIV with long-term ART is lower than that of ART-na?ve people living with HIV. Older age and unsuppressed HIV status are independent risk factors for PH in people living with HIV. Cardiac Doppler ultrasonography is helpful for the early screening of PH in people living with HIV. ART should be actively performed to reduce the incidence of PH in people living with HIV.

Objective:To investigate the classification of head shaking nystagmus（HSN） and its clinical value in vestibular peripheral diseases. Methods:Clinical data of 198 patients with peripheral vestibular disorders presenting with HSN were retrospectively analyzed. Video Nystagmograph（VNG） was applied to detect spontaneous nystagmus（SN）, HSN, and Caloric Test（CT）. The intensity and direction of SN and HSN as well as the unilateral weakness（UW） and direction preponderance（DP） values in caloric test was analyzed in patients. Results:Among the 198 patients with vestibular peripheral disease, there were 105 males and 93 females, with an average age of（49.1±14.4） years （range: 14-87 years）. One hundred and thirty seven patients were diagnosed as Vestibular Neuritis（VN）, 12 as Meniere's Disease（MD）, 41 as sudden deafness（SD） and 8 as Hunt's syndrome accompanied by vertigo. Among them, there were 116 patients in the acute phase, including 68 cases（58.6%） with decreased HSN, 4 cases（3.4%） with increased HSN, 5 cases（4.3%） with biphasic HSN, 38 cases（32.8%） with unchanged HSN, and 1 case（0.9%） with perverted HSN. There were 82 cases in the non-acute phase, 51 cases（62.2%） with decreased HSN, 3 cases（3.6%） with increased HSN, 9 cases（11.0%） with biphasic HSN, and 19 cases（23.2%） with unchanged HSN. In biphasic HSN, the intensity of phase I nystagmus was usually greater than that of phase II, and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.01）. There was no correlation between HSN type and course of disease or DP value. The intensity of HSN was negatively correlated with the course of disease（r=-0.320, P<0.001） and positively correlated with DP value（r=0.364, P<0.001）, respectively. The intensity of unchanged nystagmus and spontaneous nystagmus were（8.0±5.7） °/s and（8.5±6.4）°/s, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the intensity of nystagmus before and after shaking the head. Conclusion:HSN can be classified into five types and could be regarded as a potential SN within a specific frequency range （mid-frequency）. Similarly, SN could also be considered as a common sign of unilateral vestibular impairment at different frequencies. HSN intensity can reflect the dynamic process of vestibular compensation, and is valuable for assessing the frequency of damage in peripheral vestibular diseases and monitoring the progress of vestibular rehabilitation.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Vestibular Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Nystagmus, Pathologic/diagnosis* ; Vertigo/diagnosis* ; Electronystagmography ; Vestibular Diseases/diagnosis*

Objective:To explore the risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and influencing factors in human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients with long-term combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART).Methods:The baseline data from the multi-center prospective cohort of HIV/AIDS patients who received long-term cART from 2018 to 2020 were collected. cART-naive HIV/AIDS patients were matched by age and gender using the propensity score matching (PSM) as controls. Data collection adverse events of anti-human immunodeficiency virus drugs reduced model (D: A: D[R]) score, Framingham risk score (FRS) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score were used to assess the 10-year CVD risk in patients with long-term cART treatment and in cART-naive patients. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors related to high 10-year CVD risk.Results:A total of 301 HIV/AIDS patients received long-term cART and 300 cART-naive HIV/AIDS patients were included, with an average age of 39.8 years old. There were 490 male accounting for 81.5%. Based on the D: A: D [R] score, 4.3%(13/301) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥10%, and 6.3%(19/300) of patients in the cART-naive group. Based on the FRS, 13.4%(36/269) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥10%, and 10.6%(28/264) in the cART-naive group. Based on the ASCVD risk score, 10.4%(14/135) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥7.5%, and 13.8%(17/123) in the cART-naive group. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of high 10-years CVD risk between the long-term cART group and the cART-naive group assessed by any of risk equations (all P>0.050). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥10% assessed by D: A: D[R] model were age≥50 years, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and CD4 + T lymphocyte count <200×10 6 cells/L (adjusted odds ratio ( AOR)=697.48, 4 622.28, 23.11, 25.95, 27.72 and 18.25, respectively, all P<0.010). The risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥10% assessed by FRS were age≥50 years, male, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia ( AOR=53.51, 4.52, 36.93, 36.77, 6.15 and 3.84, respectively, all P<0.050). The risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥7.5% assessed by ASCVD risk score were age≥50 years, male, smoking, hypertension, diabetes ( AOR=18.48, 14.11, 14.81, 13.42 and 12.41, respectively, all P<0.050). Conclusions:Long-term cART has no significant effect on the 10-year CVD risk in HIV/AIDS patients. Higher CVD risk in HIV/AIDS patients are mainly associated with CD4 + T lymphocyte counts<200×10 6 cells/L and traditional CVD risk factors, including age≥50 years old, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and influencing factors of long-term prognosis of tuberculous meningitis(TBM), and to provide a recommendation for treatment and early intervention of TBM.Methods:Clinical data of TBM patients were retrospectively collected at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2014 to December 2021. Patients who were followed-up more than one year were divided into two groups according to modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Risk factors associated with long-term prognosis were analyze by conditional logistic stepwise regression.Results:A total of 60 subjects were enrolled including 33 (55%) males and 27 (45%) females with age 15-79 (44.5±19.8) years. There were 30 cases (50%) complicated with encephalitis, 21 cases (35%) with miliary tuberculosis. The diagnosis was microbiologically confirmed in 22 patients (36.7%), including 5 cases (22.7%, 5/22) by acid-fast staining, 8 cases (36.4%, 8/22) by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture, and 20 cases (90.9%, 20/22) by molecular biology. The median follow-up period was 52(43, 66 ) months in 55 cases surviving more than one year. Among them, 40 cases (72.7%) were in favorable group (mRS 0-2) and 15 cases (27.3%) were in unfavorable group (mRS 3-6) with poor prognosis. The mortality rate was 20% (11/55). Elderly ( OR=1.06, P=0.048 ) , hyponatremia( OR=0.81, P=0.020), high protein level in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ( OR=3.32, P=0.033), cerebral infarction( OR=10.50, P=0.040) and hydrocephalus( OR=8.51, P=0.049) were associated with poor prognosis in TBM patients. Conclusions:The mortality rate is high in patients with TBM. Molecular biology tests improves the sensitivity and shorten the diagnosis time of TBM. Elderly, hyponatremia, high protein level in CSF, cerebral infarction and hydrocephalus are independent risk factors of long-term survival in TBM patients.