Epilepsy is a neurological disease with disordered brain network connectivity. It is important to analyze the brain network mechanism of epileptic seizure from the perspective of directed functional connectivity. In this paper, causal brain networks were constructed for different sub-bands of epileptic electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in interictal, preictal and ictal phases by directional transfer function method, and the information transmission pathway and dynamic change process of brain network under different conditions were analyzed. Finally, the dynamic changes of characteristic attributes of brain networks with different rhythms were analyzed. The results show that the topology of brain network changes from stochastic network to rule network during the three stage and the node connections of the whole brain network show a trend of gradual decline. The number of pathway connections between internal nodes of frontal, temporal and occipital regions increase. There are a lot of hub nodes with information outflow in the lesion region. The global efficiency in ictal stage of α, β and γ waves are significantly higher than in the interictal and the preictal stage. The clustering coefficients in preictal stage are higher than in the ictal stage and the clustering coefficients in ictal stage are higher than in the interictal stage. The clustering coefficients of frontal, temporal and parietal lobes are significantly increased. The results of this study indicate that the topological structure and characteristic properties of epileptic causal brain network can reflect the dynamic process of epileptic seizures. In the future, this study has important research value in the localization of epileptic focus and prediction of epileptic seizure.
Humans ; Epilepsy ; Brain ; Seizures ; Electroencephalography ; Occipital Lobe

The minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery developed rapidly in last decades. In order to promote the development of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in China, the Chinese Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Committee (CMICS) has gradually standardized the collection and report of the data of Chinese minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery since its establishment. The total operation volume of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in China has achieved substantial growth with a remarkable popularization of concepts of minimally invasive medicine in 2019. The data of Chinese minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in 2019 was reported as a paper for the first time, which may provide reference to cardiovascular surgeons and related professionals.

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness and safety of transcatheter closure of atrial septum defect(ASD) in adults using echocardiography as the only imaging tool.Methods:From April 2017 to August 2019, 118 patients with congenital atrial septum defect were treated by cardiac surgery in Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University. There were 31 males and 87 females, aged 15-72 years old[mean(40.3±15.3) years old]. 117 cases of atrial septum defect were secondary foramen and 1 case was residual shunt after repair of atrial septum defect by transthoracic echocardiography. The patients with tricuspid insufficiency and pulmonary hypertension were followed up by transesophageal echocardiography.Results:The transcatheter closure of atrial septum defect(ASD) was successfully performed in 114 patients. 3 patients were successfully treated with right fourth intercostal small incision atrial defect occlusion due to the coaxial problem of occlusive device and atrial defect. One patient underwent repair of atrial septum defect during the correction of right ventricular injury. The selected size of occluder ranged from 12 mm to 38 mm. One case of ethmoidal orifice was successfully blocked with double occlusive device. There was no occlusive device displacement, no obvious residual shunt, peripheral vascular injury and other complications occurred in successful occlusive patients. 110 patients were directly transferred back to the general ward after extubation. The postoperative hospital stay was(2.3±1.1) days and the total hospitalization time was(4.5±1.7) days. There were 7 patients with tricuspid regurgitation above mild to moderate before operation, and 6 patients with tricuspid regurgitation decreased to mild regurgitation after occlusion. One month after operation, the pulmonary artery pressure of 51 patients with moderate and severe pulmonary hypertension decreased from(50.4±11.4)mmHg to(38.9±12.9) mmHg( P<0.05). The occlusive device was well fixed and no residual shunt was found. Conclusion:Transesophageal echocardiography guided transcatheter closure of atrial septum defect is not only safe and effective in adult cardiac surgery, but also can avoid radiation and contrast agent injury.

Objective To investigate the short-term efficacy and safety through analyzing the results of 11 cases of video assisted minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Methods Eleven patients who had underwent video assisted minimally invasive cardiac surgery in the second hospital of Anhui medical university from November 2017 to August 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. One patient underwent simple atrial septal defect repair, 6 patients underwent atrial septal defect repair+tricuspid valve repair, 3 patients underwent mitral valve replacement, and 1 patient underwent mitral valve repair + tricuspid valve repair. Results All patients underwent video cardiac surgery without death, with no major bleeding (need secondary thoracotomy to stop bleeding) and no neurological complications. One patient of incision fat liquefaction healed after dressing change. One patient developed lower limb artery stenosis, which was treated conservatively and discharged after hospitalization. Conclusions Video assisted minimally invasive cardiac surgery can be safely applied to simple congenital heart disease and valve surgery as long as patients are strictly screened. Due to the advantages of small trauma, less bleeding, and quick recovery, it is worth promoting.

Objective To observe the recent clinical effect of application of individual open fenestrated stent graft in type A aortic dissection without developing the greater curve of the arch. Method From December 2014 to November 2016,15 patients of type A aortic dissection without developing the greater curve of the arch un-derwent endovascular total arch replacement using individual open fenestrated stent graft in the Anhui Province Hospital.Among them,8 cases were only operated with open fenestrated stent graft in aortic arch, 7 cases with open fenestrated stent graft in aortic arch added 1 or 2 small stent graft.Result There was 1 postoperative death caused by severe low cardiac output. The rest of the patients were successfully discharged from the hospital, without ner-vous system and related complications. Follow-up computerized tomographic angiography showed all implanted stents were wide expansion and in a good position. No endoleaks and thrombus obliterated of the corresponding false lumen was found. Conclusion Individual open fenestrated stent graft is suitable for type A aortic dissection without developed the greater curve of the arch.Its significantly simplify the total arch replacement operation steps, reduce anastomotic and shorten the lower body arrest time. Consequently, reduce the risk of operation difficulty, postoperative blood loss and other viscera damage probability significantly. The early and middle term clinical re-sults is satisfactory.

Objective: To evaluate the impacts of an on-pump beating-heart versus an off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) technique for surgical revascularization on the early clinical outcomes in patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) of 35% or less. Methods: A total of 216 consecutive patients with an echocardiographic estimated EF of 35% or less who underwent non-emergency, primary, isolated CABG from January 2010 to December 2014 at Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University were included in this study and were divided into either an OBCAB group (patients who received on-pump beating-heart CABG surgery, n=88) or an OPCAB group (patients who received off-pump CABG surgery, n=128). The early clinical outcomes were investigated and compared. The outcomes were compared between groups by t-test, χ² test or Fisher′s exact test, when appropriate. Results: No significant differences emerged between the two groups in baseline characteristics of the entire cohort except for more patients with diabetes and a larger left ventricular endo-diastolic diameter in the OBCAB group. Patients in the OBCAB group compared to the OPCAB group had a similar in-hospital mortality (3.4% vs. 4.7%, P= 0.741). Mean EF, as measured preoperatively and early postoperatively (before discharge), significantly improved from (31.0±2.8)% to (35.6±2.9)% (t=10.61, P=0.000) in the OBCAB group and from (31.0±2.9)% to (34.8±3.3)% (t=9.68, P=0.000) in the OPCAB group, respectively. The improvement of mean LVEF in the OBCAB group was significantly higher than that in the OPCAB group ((4.7±0.2)% vs. (3.6±0.3)%, t=29.53, P=0.000). Patients in the OBCAB group compared to the OPCAB group had a significant higher early postoperative EF ((35.6±2.9)% vs.(34.8±3.3)%, t=1.892, P=0.034) but shared a similar baseline EF ((31.0±2.8)% vs. (31.0±2.9)%, t=0.012, P=0.930). Patients in the OBCAB group compared to the OPCAB group received a greater number of grafts and an increased amount of drainage during the first 24 h (3.7±0.8 vs. 2.8±0.6, t=9.442, P=0.000; (715±187) ml vs. (520±148) ml, t=8.544, P=0.000, respectively), without evidence of worse in-hospital mortality or major postoperative morbidity. Conclusion The on-pump beating-heart technique may be an acceptable alternative to the off-pump technique for surgical revascularization in patients with an estimated EF of 35% or less.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics,surgical experience and mid-term outcome of coronary artery bypass graft surgery in patients aged ≤ 40 years.Methods From Jan.,2009 to Dec.,2015,12 patients with median age of (37.9 ± 2.5) years (range 32-40 years,10 males) were diagnosed with coronary artery disease and underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery at Zhongshan Hospital,Fudan University.The clinical characteristics included five cases with hypertension,three cases with diabetes mellitus,four cases with hyperlipemia,eight cases with smoking history,seven cases with myocardial infarction.Six cases had at least one branch totally occluded.Two cases once underwent percutaneous coronary intervention surgery and implanted with five and three stents respectively.The perioperative data and follow-up results were retrospectively analysed.Results There was no in-hospital death and no death during follow-up period.Surgical techniques included bilateral internal mammary arteries combined with radial artery were operated in six cases,bilateral internal mammary arteries combined with great saphenous vein in two cases,left internal mammary arteries combined with great saphenous vein in four cases,off-pump in nine cases and on-pump in three cases.The mean follow-up time was (47.8 ± 24.3) months.During the follow-up one case suffered with saphenous vein graft restenosis 5 years after the surgery and underwent percutaneous coronary intervention.Other cases were all alive and assessed New York Heart Association's function class Ⅰ-Ⅱ.Conclusions Younger patients usually suffer with severe coronary artery disease when diagnosed because they often have excellent compensative capacity and the pathogenesis is concealed.The mid-term results of coronary artery bypass graft surgery in patients aged ≤40 years are satisfactory.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of rectangle advancement flaps used in the reconstruction of skin defects around the Achilles tendon in children.Methods From May 2014 to June 2015,7 children with skin defects around the Achilles tendon were admitted to our trauma center.The areas of skin defect ranged from 3.4 cm × 2.7 cm to 5.5 cm × 4.0 cm.The integrity of Achilles tendon was preserved in 6 cases but the tendon insertion was partly disrupted in one case.The skin defects were reconstructed with self-designed rectangle advancement flaps after debridement.In the one case with the Achilles tendon partly disrupted,the contaminated tendon ends were excised before wound closure.The injured ankles were immobilized in plantar flexion with one 1.5 mm K-wire and plaster splint to decrease the postoperative tension of the flap.Results All the flaps survived completely by primary intention but local infection occurred in 2 wounds which was cured by second intention of dressing change.The follow-up periods ranged from 8 to 12 months (average,11.5 months).The scar around the flap was remarkable in 2 cases,but the flaps in the other cases appeared normal in terms of color and texture.The ankle function was satisfactorily normal in all the cases.Conclusion Our self-designed rectangle advancement flaps provide a simple,safe and reliable way to repair skin defects around the Achilles tendon in children.

Objective To determine whether unilateral-only interictal discharges on pre-surgical scalp EEG or multimodal pre-surgical evaluation are associated with surgical outcomes in patients with MR imaging-negative temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who underwent standard anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). Methods One hundred and seventeen patients with TLE who underwent standard ATL from January 2000 to December 2013 were enrolled. According to the seizures at interictal period, these patients were divided into unilateral-only interictal discharge group (n=54) and bilateral interictal discharge group (n=63). According to the preoperative assessment, these patients were divided into multimodal evaluation group (n=72, two and above evaluation strategies besides electroencephalogram) and single modal evaluation group (n=45, electroencephalogram+one evaluation strategy). Follow-up for 12 months was performed; postsurgical outcomes included excellent outcome, defined as Engel class I, and non-excellent outcome, defined as Engel II-IV. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportion hazards were performed to compare the prognoses of patients from different groups. Results Totally, 73 patients (62.4%) achieved excellent outcome following ATL. In 54 with unilateral-only interictal discharges, 41 had excellent outcome; and in 63 with bilateral interictal discharge group, 32 patients had excellent outcome; significant difference in percentage of excellent outcome was noted between the two groups (P<0.05). Fifty of 72 patients receiving multimodal pre-surgical evaluation achieved excellent outcome, and 25 of 45 receiving single modal evaluation achieved excellent outcome; significant difference in percentage of excellent outcome was noted between the two groups (P<0.05). However, the patients with unilateral-only interictal discharges receiving multimodal pre-surgical assessment did not achieve further excellent outcomes as compared with those receiving single modal evaluation, without significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion Multimodal pre-surgical evaluation is associated with better outcomes following standard ATL in the patients with MR imaging-negative TLE; however, for patients with unilateral-only interictal discharges, multimodal pre-surgical evaluation method may be not essential as compared with single modal pre-surgical evaluation method.

OBJECTIVETo introduce the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3), to China, created ASQ-Chinese (ASQ-C) and carried out studies of its national norm and the psychometrical properties in the children aged 1-66 months in the mainland of China in collaboration with the author of the ASQ System and under the authorizations from its publisher on translation, researches, publication and distribution of the ASQ-3.

METHODThe ASQ-3 questionnaires were translated and adapted into a Simplified Chinese version, the ASQ-C, with six steps such as translation, back-translation and adaptation and so on to ensure consistency with the core of the original document and to have the cultural relevance in China.A stratified cluster sampling method was utilized to recruit children aged 1-66 months with respect to demographic characteristics such as the proportion of population in each administrative region and in urban and rural areas and so on that are representative of 2010 China census data.A sample size of over 200 was collected for each ASQ-C age interval.Children were excluded from the normative sample who (1) are from communities or villages at an elevation of 2 000 m or above and(or) where simplified Chinese is not the official language, or (2) had been diagnosed as having a developmental delay by any authoritative organizations.The national normative sample for the ASQ-C had a total sample size of 4 452, sample size within each age interval ranged from 218 to 227, including 2 230 male cases and 2 222 female cases, 2 236 urban cases and 2 216 rural cases.A convenience sample was recruited from the normative sample to examine inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability in all six administrative regions.Researchers completed the ASQ-C on the same child with their parents for 162 children for inter-rater reliability(the size of each ASQ-C age interval was 5-9); parents of 168 children completed another age-appropriate ASQ-C for test-retest reliability during 10-15 days after they completed the normative ASQ-C(The size of each ASQ-C age interval is 6-10). Another convenience sample was recruited from the follow-up of low birth weight infants for the concurrent validity of the ASQ-C in comparison with the Beijing Gesell.Parents of 198 children completed age-appropriate ASQ-C and professional administered to the children with the Beijing Gesell.In the ASQ-C norm and test-retest reliability, parents completed the age-appropriate ASQ-C, independently or with needed assistance. In inter-rater reliability, researchers completed the same ASQ-C after parents. In validity test, after parents completing age-appropriate ASQ-C, professional tested children with the Beijing Gesell.Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0 software.The mean and standard deviation of the national normative sample were calculated, reliability and validity of the ASQ-C was examined.

RESULTThe demographic characteristics of this Chinese sample match the 2010 China census data on gender, urban or rural location, and family income.All 20 intervals of the ASQ-C were standardized on 21 national normative samples.Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole measure was 0.8.The Pearson correlation coefficient between the ASQ-C total scores of the two raters was 0.8.The Pearson correlation coefficient between the ASQ-C total scores of the two times was 0.8 (all P<0.000 1). The sensitivity of ASQ-C was 87.50% and the specificity of ASQ-C was 84.48%.The percentage of the agreement between the ASQ-C and the Beijing Gesell was 84.74%.

CONCLUSIONThese findings indicate that the ASQ-C is a reliable and valid measure with a representative national sample aged 1-66 months.It can be used to screen and monitor the development of children in the mainland of China.

Beijing ; Child Development ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Language ; Male ; Parents ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Surveys and Questionnaires