AIM: To analyze the changes of retinal structure and function before and after panretinal photocoagulation(PRP)in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR).METHODS: Prospective study. Totally 98 cases(98 eyes)of PDR patients who underwent PRP in Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2022 to May 2023 were included. Optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)was used to detect central retinal thickness(CRT), central macular thickness(CMT), subfoveal choroidal thickness(SFCT), foveal avascular zone(FAZ), deep vascular complex(DVC)blood flow density, superficial vascular complex(SVC)blood flow density before and at 1 wk, 1 and 3 mo after PRP. During the follow-up, 1 eye underwent vitrectomy, 2 eyes were lost to follow-up, and finally 95 eyes completed 1 a follow-up, with a loss rate of 3%. According to the visual prognosis at 1 a after treatment, the patients were divided into two groups: 73 eyes in good prognosis group and 22 eyes in poor prognosis group(including 9 eyes of visual disability and 13 eyes of visual regression). The changes in retinal structure and function before and after PRP treatment were compared between the two groups of patients, and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and decision curve were used to analyze the predictive value of retinal structure and function for PDR treatment.RESULTS: There were statistical significant differences in PDR staging, CRT, CMT, SFCT, DVC blood flow density, and SVC blood flow density between the two groups of patients before treatment(all P<0.05). At 1 wk, 1 and 3 mo after treatment, the FAZ area of both groups decreased compared to before treatment, while the blood flow density of DVC and SVC increased compared to before treatment(both P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the blood flow density of FAZ, DVC, and SVC between the two groups at 1 wk, 1 and 3 mo after treatment(all P>0.05). The CRT, CMT and SFCT of the two groups at 1 wk after treatment were higher than those before treatment(all P<0.05), but there were no significant differences between the two groups(all P>0.05). The CRT, CMT and SFCT at 1 and 3 mo after treatment were lower than those at 1 wk after treatment and before treatment in both groups. The CRT, CMT and SFCT in the poor prognosis group at 3 mo after treatment were higher than those at 1 mo after treatment, and were higher than those in the good prognosis group(all P<0.05). ROC analysis showed that, at 3 mo after laser treatment in PDR patients, the area under the curve of the CRT, CMT, and SFCT alone or in combination after treatment for 1 a was 0.788, 0.781, 0.783, and 0.902, respectively, and the combined prediction value was better(P<0.05). Decision curve analysis showed that the combined detection of CRT, CMT, and SFCT in PDR patients at 3 mo after treatment can improve the predictive value of visual prognosis.CONCLUSION: The optimal time for retinal structure and function recovery in PDR patients after PRP treatment is between 1 wk and 1 mo. OCTA measurement of CRT, CMT, and SFCT at 3 mo after treatment can predict the visual prognosis during the 1 a treatment period.

Freon is widely used in daily life, which is usually absorbed through the respiratory tract and causes clinical manifestations mainly in the cardiovascular system and neurological damage. Now, we analyze the clinical data, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of two cases of freon poisoning in Affiliated Dongyang People's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University to improve the clinicians' understanding of freon poisoning and to avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.

Freon is widely used in daily life, which is usually absorbed through the respiratory tract and causes clinical manifestations mainly in the cardiovascular system and neurological damage. Now, we analyze the clinical data, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of two cases of freon poisoning in Affiliated Dongyang People's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University to improve the clinicians' understanding of freon poisoning and to avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis are major pathological manifestations observed in left ventricular remodeling induced by angiotensin II (AngII). Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been reported to ameliorate cardiac dysfunction and myocardial fibrosis in myocardial infarction (MI) through mechano-transduction and its downstream pathways. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether LIPUS could exert a protective effect by ameliorating AngII-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis and if so, to further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS: We used AngII to mimic animal and cell culture models of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. LIPUS irradiation was applied in vivo for 20 min every 2 d from one week before mini-pump implantation to four weeks after mini-pump implantation, and in vitro for 20 min on each of two occasions 6 h apart. Cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis levels were then evaluated by echocardiographic, histopathological, and molecular biological methods. RESULTS: Our results showed that LIPUS could ameliorate left ventricular remodeling in vivo and cardiac fibrosis in vitro by reducing AngII-induced release of inflammatory cytokines, but the protective effects on cardiac hypertrophy were limited in vitro. Given that LIPUS increased the expression of caveolin-1 in response to mechanical stimulation, we inhibited caveolin-1 activity with pyrazolopyrimidine 2 (pp2) in vivo and in vitro. LIPUS-induced downregulation of inflammation was reversed and the anti-fibrotic effects of LIPUS were absent. CONCLUSIONS These results indicated that LIPUS could ameliorate AngII-induced cardiac fibrosis by alleviating inflammation via a caveolin-1-dependent pathway, providing new insights for the development of novel therapeutic apparatus in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out prenatal diagnosis for a fetus with Pallister-killian syndrome (PKS). METHODS: The fetus was found to have limb malformations at 23rd gestational week. With informed consent from its parents, amniotic fluid sample was taken from the fetus and subjected to chromosomal karyotyping, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay. RESULTS: G-banding analysis suggested the fetus has a mos47,XY,+mar[55]/46,XY[10] karyotype. CMA analysis of the cultured amniocytes with CytoScan 750K microarray revealed a segmental tetrasomy duplication of 12p13.33p11.1. FISH confirmed a 70% mosaicism of tetrasomy 12p in the metaphase amniocytes with 12pter/12qter probes. CONCLUSION Combined use of G-banding karyotyping, CMA and FISH analysis has enabled diagnosis of PKS in the fetus. Although short limb is a common feature of PKS, unequal femur length has not been reported previously, which has expanded the spectrum of PKS-associated limb abnormalities.
Chromosome Disorders/genetics* ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12/genetics* ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Mosaicism ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis

Objective:To study on the association between vasoactive-inotropic score(VIS) and mortality of total arch replacement in Stanford type A aortic dissection(TAAD) patients.Methods:Data of TAAD patients admitted from January 2018 to November 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 187 patients were finally included in the analysis. 30-day mortality was calculated and the patients were divided into death group(18 cases) and non-death group(169 cases). The VIS at each time point and perioperative indexes of the two groups were compared. The value of VIS in predicting mortality was analyzed.Results:The 30-day mortality was 9.63%(18/187). The operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilator assistance time, the incidence of tracheotomy and major postoperative complications in the death group were significantly higher than those in the non-death group( P<0.05). VIS of death group was significantly higher than that of non-death group( P<0.05). At each time point, the area under ROC curve(AUC) of VIS was greater than 0.500( P<0.05), among which AUC of ICU 48 h VIS was the largest(0.817), and the best cut-off point of ICU 48 h VIS was determined to be 9, sensitivity 61.1%, specificity 92.3%. Logistic regression analysis showed that ICU 48 h VIS was an independent risk factor for predicting the death of total arch replacement in TAAD patients( OR=1.465, 95% CI: 1.194-1.796, P<0.001). Conclusion:When ICU 48 h VIS≥9, the risk of death was increased in patients with total arch replacement of TAAD. VIS may be a useful reference index for predicting the mortality of total arch replacement in TAAD patients in the early postoperative period.

Objective To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis and treatments of heterotopic pregnancy(HP)and demonstrate the outcomes of HP after the surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancies. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 144 cases of HP in Women′s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University from January 2003 to December 2016. Results (1)Clinical features of HP:the average age of patients was(30.8±3.8)years old, body mass index(BMI)was(21.9±2.9)kg/m2, and was diagnosed at(6.5±1.3)weeks gestational age. Four patients(2.8%)were naturally pregnant, 10 patients (6.9%)received ovulation induction, and 130 patients(90.3%)had received infertility treatments. Fifty-one patients(35.4%)had no clinical symptoms, and 93 patients(64.6%)had clinical symptoms included vaginal hemorrhage, abdominal pain and hemorrhagic shock caused by intraperitoneal hemorrhage. The location of ectopic pregnancy was most common in the fallopian tubes(59.0%, 85/144)and the interstitial part (33.3%, 48/144). (2)Ectopic pregnancy treatment of HP: thirteen patients underwent expectation treatment, and the remaining 131 cases underwent surgical treatment, including laparoscopy(n=56), laprotomy(n=52), and fetal reduction (n=23). Among the 131 patients underwent surgery, intrauterine pregnancy were found inevitable abortion in 6 cases preoperatively. The total early abortion rate after surgery was 14.4%(18/125); the second operation rate was 3.1%(4/131).(3)Intrauterine pregnancy outcome of HP:120 intrauterine fetal were survival, the total live birth rate was 83.3%(120/144).One hundred and seven intrauterine fetal were survival after operation and the live birth rate after operation was 85.6%(107/125). Twenty-nine cases were premature delivery and the premature delivery rate was 24.2%(29/120). There was no significant differences between tubal HP and interstitial HP group in the preterm birth rate [25.8%(16/62) vs 26.3% (10/38); χ2=0.003, P>0.05]. Cesarean section rate of delivery in interstitial HP group was significantly higher than that in tubal HP group [97.4%(37/38)vs 59.7%(37/62)], and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=17.400, P<0.05). Conclusions The clinical manifestations of HP are diversified, combining of high risk factors, clinical symptoms and ultrasonography could improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Different method has been used to treat HP, such as laparoscopic or laparotomy and fetal reduction, and there are varying degrees of failure rate and postoperative abortion rate. We should consider carefully to adopt expectant management. Through individualized treatment, most HP could get good perinatal outcomes.

Apoptosis involves multiple signaling pathways. The intrinsic signaling pathway is the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, which is caused by a series of processes. First, the pro-apoptotic factors such as Bax are activated by signaling molecules and transfer to the mitochondrial outer membrane forming protein pores, thus the mitochondrial membrane permeability is affected, and then the downstream caspase-9 is activated and the apoptosis initiation is induced by releasing cytochrome C. In order to explore the apoptosis initiation activated by small molecules, the specific structural changes of Bax in apoptosis were studied. The results showed that there is a hydrophobic pocket structure near the C-terminal S184 of the Bax protein. This structure can be combined with certain small molecular substances specifically remove phosphorylation S184, and regulate Bax protein to promote apoptosis activity. At present, the nuclear magnetic structure of Bax protein has been obtained and the crystal structure has not been revealed. The eutectic structure formed by corresponding with other proteins in the Bcl-2 family has been resolved, which can be used to study the interactions between proteins and to understand the specific structural changes in the formation of heterologous dimers during apoptosis, site changes, etc. In this paper, the Bax protein structure resolved by nuclear magnetic structure was reviewed to learn the change of the sites in the induced apoptosis so as to promote the research on apoptosis initiation.

Objective To compare the effect of clustered acupuncture of the scalp combined with constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) with that of conventional acupuncture of the body points plus conventional rehabilitation intervention after cerebral infarction using blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI).Methods Thirty acute cerebral infarction patients with hemiplegia were equally divided into two groups at random.The test group received the clustered acupuncture of the scalp combined with CIMT,while the control group received the body point acupuncture plus conventional rehabilitation intervention.Before and after two weeks of treatment,blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 T was performed during a passive digital opposition movement.The volume and intensity of the activated areas were compared.Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) was carried out as well.Results The most pronounced activation appeared in the contralateral somatosensory motor cortex for both groups.There was no significant difference in average FMA scores between the two groups before the treatment,but after the treatment the averages were significantly different.An increase in activated volume and intensity in the contralateral SMC was observed in both groups after the treatment,but the test group showed a much larger change in both activated volume and intensity.Conclusion The clustered acupuncture of the scalp combined with CIMT can achieve a more significant improvement in functional recovery after acute cerebral infarction than conventional acupuncture of the body points plus conventional rehabilitation intervention.Such combined therapy is worthy of application in clinical practice.

Objective To discuss the clinical value of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in treatinginternal carotid arteries occlusion.Methods The patient was diagnosed with internal carotid artery occlusionthat was confirmed by CTA.Cerebral perfusion imaging showed that low perfusion area was consistent withischemic symptoms.Guided by IVUS,percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was performed.By usingmicro-catheter coaxial technology,the micro guide wire was inserted in the carotid artery until it passedthrough the obstructed segment;After IVUS examination proved that the micro guide wire was in the truelumen of carotid artery,angiography through micro-catheter was carried out to confirm that the distal arterywas unobstructed;after adjusting the device position the embolism protector was placed.The plaque andlumen condition were assessed with IVUS,which was reevaluated after pre-expansion of balloon.After normaldirection blood flow was regained,the plaque stability was assessed with IVUS virtual organization sequence.Simple balloon dilatation therapy was adopted as the fibrous cap of plaque was in stable condition and thelumen stenosis rate was ＜40％.Results After balloon dilatation,the obstructed artery was reopened and theblood flow regained normal direction.IVUS examination showed that during the whole operation process thefibrous cap of plaque at the narrowed segment remained in stable condition,the lumen stenosis rate was ＜40％.Cerebral perfusion imaging revealed that after the treatment the low perfusion state was markedlyimproved.Conclusion IVUS plays an important guiding role in performing PTA for internal carotid arteryocclusion.This technique can increase the success rate of vascular recanalization and reduce the incidence ofcomplications.