The paper introduces Professor XU Yunxiang's experience in treatment of tic disorder with Xu's manual flying needling therapy by both hands. This therapy is characterized by the integration of yinyang regulation and the painless technique of manual flying needling. It is especially applicable to pediatric encephalopathy. Professor XU Yunxiang believes that tic disorder is related to the liver hyperactivity and spleen weakness, and the imbalance in the sea of marrow in pathogenesis. The treatment should focus on inhibiting the wood, supporting the earth, eliminating the wind and regulating the mind. The acupoints are specially selected on the head and from the back-shu points, the front-mu points and the affected meridians. The needling technique is featured by "flying for calming down the mind, manipulating with both hands simultaneously, combining the back-shu points and the front-mu points, inducing the sensation transmission, obtaining the reinforcing and reducing with both hands and removing the needles for tranquilizing the mind". This therapy is aimed at regulating the mind, qi and body movement. It increases the efficiency of acupuncture, reduces needling pain, strengthens needling sensation and improves children's compliance.
Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Tic Disorders/physiopathology*

OBJECTIVETo examine the relationship between tic symptom severity and amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) brain functioning of the first-episode Tourette syndrome through resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

METHODSixteen subjects were all recruited from the outpatient department of pediatrics, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University and were all first-episode Tourette syndrome patients [male: 13, female: 3; age: 6-16 years; mean age: (11.00 ± 2.92) years]; mean education time: (5.06 ± 2.86) years; course: 14-104 months; mean (48.44 ± 25.00) months; scores of YGTSS at baseline: tic severity score: 37.88 ± 5.39; global damage score: 25.63 ± 12.63. All the subjects experienced resting-state fMRI scans and ALFF were calculated in three frequency ranges: 0.01-0.1 Hz, 0.01-0.027 Hz and 0.027-0.073 Hz. First-episode Tourette syndrome patients and 16 gender, age, and education-matched normal controls experienced resting-state fMRI scans. Correlation analysis was performed in between the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the severity of tic symptom. P < 0.05 and k value ≥ 10 were considered to be of significance.

RESULTIn tic symptom patients, tic severity (total tic scores of YGTSS) was positively correlated with the ALFF values in the orbital part of left superior frontal gyrus (0.01-0.1 Hz:r = 0.83,0.027-0.073 Hz:r = 0.91, P < 0.05, respectively), right middle frontal gyrus (0.01-0.027 Hz:r = 0.85,0.027-0.073 Hz:r = 0.57, P < 0.05, respectively ) and orbital part of left middle frontal gyrus (0.01-0.027 Hz:r = 0.64, P < 0.05). Tic severity was negatively correlated with the ALFF values in the right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex (0.01-0.1 Hz:r = -0.65,0.01-0.027 Hz:r = -0.69, P < 0.05, respectively ) and the left calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex (0.027-0.073 Hz:r = -0.81, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTic symptom severity of the first-episode Tourette syndrome is associated with abnormal brain activity patterns of specific brain areas.

Adolescent ; Brain ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Cortex ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Child ; Female ; Frontal Lobe ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Parietal Lobe ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Rest ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tic Disorders ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Tourette Syndrome ; pathology ; physiopathology