AIM: To explore the neuro-ophthalmological characteristics of acute macular neuroretinopathy(AMN)after SARS-CoV-2 infection.METHODS: A total of 8 patients(14 eyes), including 6 females and 2 males, who were diagnosed with AMN in the neuro-ophthalmology department of Xi'an No.1 Hospital(The First Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University)from December 27, 2022 to February 1, 2023 were included in the study. All patients had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection before the disease, and the results of best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), non-contact indirect intraocular pressure measurement, fundus color photography, near infrared(IR), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT), OCT angiography(OCTA), fundus fluorescein angiography(FFA), indocyanine green angiography(ICGA), visual field, visual evoked potential(VEP), and electroretinogram(ERG)were collected. Furthermore, the neuro-opthalmology characteristics of the included patients were analyzed and summarized.RESULTS: The included 8 patients aged from 20 to 43, with an average age of(30±6.63)years old. The patients had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection 3 to 11(mean 5±3.51)d before the disease, and 6 out of 8 patients developed visual symptoms within 5 d of infection with SARS-CoV-2, with manifestated with decreased vision or visual scotoma. The visual acuity varied from 0.08 to 1.0, with visual field defect characterized by central, paracentral or peripheral scotoma. VEP showed prolongation latency of P100 or P2, and ERG revealed impaired function of retinal photoreceptor cell. In the early stage of the disease, the size and shape of early visual acuity, visual field, and extraretinal lesions in patients with AMN associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection may not match, and the lower the visual acuity, the later the VEP peaks.CONCLUSION: The neuro-ophthalmic features of SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated AMN require the attention of clinicians. In addition to multi-mode fundus imaging, clinicians should use a variety of methods to comprehensively evaluate visual function and prognosis of patients.

Objective To explore the clinical application of ultrasound-guided transabdominal villus and amniocentesis in the prenatal diagnosis of thalassemia,and to find a suitable method for the prenatal diagnosis of thalassemia in Qinzhou.Methods A total of 531 high-risk pregnant women with severe or intermediate thalassemia during single pregnancy who were treated in the Department of Medical Genetics and Prenatal Diagnosis,Qinzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital from March 2021 to April 2022 were selected for the study.According to different sampling methods,they were divided into control group(amniocentesis,n=415)and study group(transabdominal villus puncture,n=116).The success rate,complication rate of the two groups were compared.Results The success rate of puncture in the control group was 100％,2 cases were aborted within 2 weeks after surgery,17 cases were diagnosed with severe alpha-thalassemia,10 cases with severe β-thalassemia and 64 cases with intermediate thalassemia,48 cases with moderate and severe thalassemia induced labor.The success rate of puncture in the research group was 100％,10 cases were diagnosed with severe alpha-thalassemia,4 cases with severe β-thalassemia and 17 cases with intermediate thalassemia,and 26 cases with moderate severe thalassemia were induced labor.There was no significant difference in puncture success rate and abortion rate between the two methods(P>0.05).Conclusion Both methods are safe and effective.Transabdominal villus sampling can detect fetal thalassemia in early pregnancy,and it is worth promoting and applying in clinical practice.

Objective:To preliminary investigate the impact of the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment method reform on the diagnosis and treatment of inpatient medical insurance patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), and to propose potential improvement strategies.Methods:A single-center, retrospective study. From October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2022, 44 hospitalized medical insurance patients with acute-phase NMOSD diagnosed and treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University (Xi'an First Hospital) were included in the study. Among them, there were 11 males and 33 females, with an average age of (40.8±20.2) years. According to the implementation time of DRG payment, patients were divided into two groups: group A, which consists of cases one year before the implementation of DRG payment from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, and group B, which consists of cases one year after the implementation of DRG payment from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022, with 20 and 24 cases, respectively. Detailed information such as hospitalization duration, treatment methods, and hospitalization costs of the two groups of patients was collected. Comparative analysis was conducted on hospitalization costs and treatment methods between the two groups. For intergroup comparison, t-test was used for normally distributed data, and Mann-Whitney U test was used for skewed distributed data. Results:Among the 44 patients, 5 cases (5/24, 20.8%) received plasma exchange (PE) treatment, all of whom were in group B. The numbers of patients who received and did not receive intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment were 9 and 11 in group A, respectively, and 7 and 12 in group B (except for 5 cases who received PE treatment), respectively. Compared with group A, there was no significant decrease in hospitalization duration ( t=0.004) and total hospitalization costs ( Z=0.036), as well as costs for western medicine ( Z=0.036), examinations ( Z=0.011), laboratory tests ( Z=0.040), treatments ( Z=0.017), and nursing ( Z=3.131) in group B, and the differences were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). For patients receiving PE treatment, except for the cost of western medicine ( Z=0.062, P=0.804), the other costs ( Z=8.288, 5.013, 11.400, 10.925, 9.126) were significantly higher than those of patients not receiving PE treatment, and the hospitalization duration ( t=20.474) was significantly prolonged, with statistically significant differences ( P<0.05). The total hospitalization costs of patients receiving IVIG treatment were significantly higher than those not receiving IVIG treatment in both group A and group B, with statistically significant differences ( Z=7.690, 10.314; P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of total hospitalization costs between patients receiving IVIG treatment in group A and group B ( Z=0.137, P>0.05). Conclusions:There is no significant decrease in various hospitalization costs of NMOSD medical insurance patients in Xi'an after the implementation of DRG payment, especially for patients receiving PE treatment. It is suggested to optimize the rate stratification of NMOSD patients when implementing DRG payment methods.

Objective:To observe the clinical characteristics and optical coherence tomography (OCT) features of pseudopapilledema (PPE) combined with peripapillary hyper-reflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS) in children.Methods:A retrospective observational study. From October 2019 to May 2021, total 22 eyes from 12 children diagnosed as PPE combined with PHOMS in the Neuro-ophthalmology Department of The First Hospital of Xi’an (Affiliated of The First Hospital of Northwest University) were recruited. Among the children, 6 were male and 6 were female. The average age was (10.6±2.7) years. The average course from disease onset to diagnosis of PPE combined with PHOMS was (8.0±7.5) months. All patients underwent best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), relative afferent papillary defect (RAPD), Ishihara's test, fundus photography, OCT, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), ocular B-mode ultrasound, visual field and patternvisual evoked potential (P-VEP). The clinical and OCT characteristics of the patients were observed.Results:The anterior segments of the patients were normal. The intraocular pressures and Ishihara's test were all normal. All RAPD were negative. Total 22 eyes, BCVA was 1.0 in 21 eyes and one eye was 0.12. The fundus photography revealed blurred optic discs margin, showing mild to moderate edema-like elevation with more prominent in the nasal parts, presenting as a "C" shape halo. No obvious abnormal fluorescence was observed in FAF. The OCT scan of involvement eyes showed an elevated appearance in vary degrees, and the sharply marginated ovoid hyper-reflective mass-like structures which laterally herniated into the peripapillary region under retinal nerve fiber layer and above the Bruch membrane were detected with consecutive nasal enlargement scanning, corresponding to the nasal parts in the fundus photography. The higher degree of elevation, the larger the volume. Macular retina pigment epithelium layer and ganglion cell thickness were normal. Ocular B-mode ultrasound showed that the head of the optic nerve in the posterior wall of the eyeball (in front of the optic disc) was elevated in all affected eyes, and there was no strong signal echo in it. Visual field examination showed physical blind spot enlargement in 3 eyes and visual field defect in 2 eyes. P-VEP examination showed that the peak was slightly delayed in 3 eyes and the amplitude was slightly reduced in 3 eyes.Conclusions:Enlarged nasal optic disc OCT scan can improve the detection rate of PHOMS. PHOMS were detected bilaterally in the cases with binocular PPE while only in the effected eye in the cases of monocular PPE; the higher degree of PPE, the lager volume of PHOMS. PHOMS were could contribute to the diagnosis of PPE in children.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of vascular neuro-ophthalmology in patients with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO).Methods:A single-center, prospective clinical study. From January 2018 to December 2020, 49 eyes of 49 CRAO patients of The Neuro-ophthalmology Department of Xi'an First Hospital were included in the study. Data on patient demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, disease characteristics, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) imaging characteristics of internal carotid arteries, treatment, treatment-related adverse events, and 1-month follow-up vascular events were collected. All patiens were examined by visual acuity, head CT and or magnetic resonance imaging. At the same time, 35 cases of internal carotid artery vascular DSA were examined; 14 cases of head and neck CT angiography were examined. The anatomical variation of the extracranial segment of the internal carotid artery was divided into tortuous, tortuous, and coiled; the aortic arch was divided into type Ⅰ , type Ⅱ , type Ⅲ, and bovine type. Intravenous thrombolysis, arterial thrombolysis, conservative treatment were performed. The follow-up time was1 month after treatment. Functional vision was defined as vision ≥20/100. Vascular events were strokes, cardiovascular events, deaths and neovascular glaucoma during follow-up.Results:Among 49 eyes of 49 cases, 40 eyes were male (81.6%, 40/49), and 9 eyes were female (18.4%, 9/49); the average age was 60.7±12.9 years. There were 33, 17, and 16 cases with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cerebrovascular disease, respectively; 27 and 34 cases had a history of smoking and tooth loss, respectively. Taking antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, antiplatelet aggregation/anticoagulation, and hypolipidemic drugs were 15, 5, 8, and 5 patients, respectively. There were 11 cases of transient amaurosis before the onset, and 17 cases of CRAO after waking up. There were 33 cases (67.3%, 33/49) with infarction of the affected side of the brain tissue. DSA was performed in 35 cases, and the stenosis rate of the internal carotid artery on the affected side was 70%-99% and 100% were 3 (8.6%, 3/35) and 4 (11.4%, 4/35) cases, respectively. The ophthalmic artery on the affected side originated from the external carotid artery in 5 cases (14.3%, 5/35). There were 17 (54.8%, 17/31) and 2 (6.5%, 2/31) cases of tortuousity and kinking in the extracranial segment of the internal carotid artery. There were 15 (42.9%, 15/35), 6(17.1%, 6/35), and 2 (5.7%, 2/35) cases of aortic arch type Ⅱ, type Ⅲ, and bovine type, respectively. Intravenous thrombolysis and arterial thrombolysis were performed in 13 and 29 cases, respectively. Complications occurred in 2 cases during treatment; 3 cases of symptoms fluctuated after treatment, and 10 cases of asymptomatic new infarcts occurred in imaging studies. Forty-eight cases were treated with antiplatelet aggregation/anticoagulation and hypolipidemic treatment. At discharge and 1 month after treatment, the recovery of functional vision was 7 and 17 cases, respectively. One month after treatment, 1 case died because myocardial infarction; 2 cases of neovascular glaucoma occurred.Conclusion:The proportion of CRAO patients with vascular risk factors and internal carotid artery abnormalities on the affected side is relatively high; the prognosis is relatively good after intravenous thrombolysis and/or arterial thrombolysis and secondary stroke prevention.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for poor outcome and recurrence at 1 year after first-ever ischemic stroke in non-diabetic patients.Methods:Using Xi'an Stroke Registry Research Database, the clinical data of patients with non-diabetic first-ever ischemic stroke diagnosed in 4 tertiary A hospitals in Xi'an from January to December 2015 were collected. The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used to evaluate the severity of stroke. Prognosis (functional outcome and recurrence) was followed up at 1 year after diagnosis. Functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin scale. 0-2 was defined as good outcome and >2 as poor outcome. Recurrence was defined as new focal neurological dysfunction caused by cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage events during follow-up and confirmed by cranial CT or MRI. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent influencing factors of clinical outcomes at 1 year. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to identify the independent influencing factors of recurrence within 1 year. Results:A total of 1 214 non-diabetic patients with first-ever ischemic stroke were included. One year follow-up showed that 210 patients (17.3%) had a poor outcome, 88 (7.2%) of them died, and 47 (3.9%) had recurrence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (odds ratio [ OR] 1.065, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 1.042-1.090; P<0.001), atrial fibrillation ( OR 3.170, 95% CI 1.588-6.327; P=0.001), white blood cell count ( OR 1.106, 95% CI 1.006-1.216; P=0 037), baseline NIHSS score ( OR 1.210, 95% CI 1.147-1.277; P<0.001), and stroke associated-pneumonia (SAP; OR 3.677, 95% CI 1.451-9.316; P=0.006) were independently associated with poor outcomes. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that baseline NIHSS score (hazard ratio [ HR] 1.055, 95% CI 1.003-1.109; P=0.036) and SAP ( HR 7.067, 95% CI 3.154-15.836; P<0.001) were independently associated with recurrence. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the 1-year recurrence rate of patients with severe stroke was significantly higher than that of patients with mild to moderate stroke (log-rank test, P<0.001), and the 1-year recurrence rate of patients with SAP was significantly higher than that of patients without SAP (log-rank test, P<0.001). Conclusion:Age, atrial fibrillation, white blood cell count, baseline NIHSS score and SAP are the independent predictors of poor outcomes at 1 year after first-ever ischemic stroke in non-diabetic patients. Baseline NIHSS score and SAP are the independent predictors of recurrence within 1 year after first-ever ischemic stroke in non-diabetic patients.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of oral ginger capsule or ginger powder in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients.Methods:Computers searched Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Wanfang Database, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library about oral chemotherapy in patients with cancer ginger correlation clinical curative effect of nausea and vomiting randomized controlled trial, supplemented by other search methods, the time range was built until July 2019. Quality evaluation and data extraction were performed independently by two investigators, and Meta analysis was performed by RevMan5.3 software.Results:A total of 12 articles and 13 studies were included, with a total of 1 105 patients. Meta-analysis showed that oral ginger capsule or ginger powder reduced the incidence of acute vomiting (risk ratio value was 0.76, 95% confidence interval was 0.59-0.98, P<0.05) and the severity of vomiting (mean difference value was-0.79, 95% confidence interval was-1.36--0.23, P<0.01), including the severity of acute vomiting (mean difference value was-1.39, 95% confidence interval was-2.72--0.06, P<0.05) and the severity of delayed vomiting (mean difference value was-0.46, 95% confidence interval was-0.82--0.10, P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence and severity of acute and delayed nausea ( P>0.05). Conclusions:This study demonstrates that oral ginger capsule or ginger powder is a complementary treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients, and more high-quality studies are needed to validate its clinical efficacy in the future.

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS), a traditional Chinese medicine, is used in clinics for the treatment ofinsomnia in China and other Asian countries. Herein, we described for the first time a comparative pharmacokinetics study of the six major compounds of ZSS in normal control (NC) and para-chlor-ophenylalanine (PCPA)-induced insomnia model (IM) rats that were orally administered the aqueous extract of ZSS. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole orbitrap mass (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of coclaurine, magnoflorine, spinosin, 6'''-feruloylspinosin, jujuboside A (JuA), and jujuboside B (JuB) in ZSS in rat plasma. The established approach was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study. The systemic exposures of spinosin and 6'''-feruloylspinosin were decreased in the IM group compared to the NC group, while plasma clearance (CL) was significantly increased. The Tmax values of JuA and JuB in IM rats were significantly lower than those in NC rats. The T1/2 of JuA in the IM group was significantly accelerated. The pharmacokinetic parameters of coclaurine and magnoflorine were not evidently affected between the two groups. These results indicate that the pathological state of insomnia altered the plasma pharmacokinetics of spinosin, 6'''-feruloylspinosin, JuA, and JuB in the ZSS aqueous extract, providing an experimental basis for the role of ZSS in insomnia treatment. The comparative pharmacokinetics-based UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS using full-scan mode can therefore provide a reliable and suitable means for the screening of potentially effective substances applied as quality markers of ZSS.

BACKGROUND:The knee joint acts as the body’s largest and most complex joint, which is a commonly seen perplex in patients because of synovium and cartilage diseases. Moreover, clinical physicians are often confused on the ultrasonic diagnosis of synovium and cartilage diseases.
OBJECTIVE: To review the ultrasound misdiagnosed cases of knee cartilage and synovial lesions and to summarize the common misconceptions and discrimination methods.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in the ultrasound misdiagnosed cases of knee cartilage and synovial lesions reported from 2002 to 2014, and then the common misconceptions and corresponding identification methods were summarized.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: High-frequency ultrasound is most likely to have six “mistaken ideas” addressing knee cartilage and synovial lesions: (1) cartilage degeneration; (2) synovial calcification; (3) echo intensity from synovial lesions; (4) blood flow in the synovium; (5) synovial effusion; (6) lesions involving intraarticular structures. High-frequency ultrasound runs through dynamical observation and contrast observation of bilateral knee joint lesions, which is a valuable imaging method for diagnosis of cartilage and synovial diseases based on vigilance at the “mistaken ideas” and mastery of the distinguishing ideas and methods.

Objective To analyse effects of zinc on immune function in children with infantile pneumonia .Methods A total of 96 children with infantile pneumonia selected from May to July 2014 were randomly divided into zinc supplementary treatment group and routine treatment group ,with 48 cases in each group .Routine treatment group was given conventional treatment ,while the zinc supplementary treatment group was received conventional treatment combined with zinc supplement .The serum level of zinc and immune function were detected before and after treatment ,respectively .Other 40 healthy infants received physical examination were contemporarily selected as healthy control group .Results Before treatment ,the levels of serum zinc ,IgA ,IgM and IgG ,percentages of CD3+ ,CD4+ cells and the CD4+ /CD8+ ratio in the two groups of children with infantile pneumonia were lower than those in the healthy control group ,while percentage of CD8+ cells was lower than that in the healthy control group ,had statistically significant differences(P<0 .05) .While no statistically significant differences of indicators mentioned above were found between the zinc sup‐plementary treatment group and routine treatment group before treatment(P> 0 .05) .After treatment ,the levels of serum zinc , IgA ,IgM and IgG ,percentages of CD3+ ,CD4+ cells and the CD4+ /CD8+ ratio in the zinc supplementary treatment group were higher than those in the routine treatment group ,and percentage of CD8+ cells was lower than that in the routine treatment group , had statistically significant differences(P<0 .05);while compared with the healthy control group ,levels of serum zinc ,IgA ,IgM , IgG were still lower ,had statistically significant differences(P<0 .05) .After treatment ,levels of serum zinc ,IgA ,IgM ,IgG ,per‐centages of CD3+ ,CD4+ cells and the CD4+ /CD8+ ratio in the routine treatment group were still lower than those in the healthy control group ,and percentage of CD8+ cells was still higher than that in the healthy control group ,had statistically significant differences(P<0 .05) .Conclusion Zinc can effectively improve the immune function of children with infantile pneumonia ,which might shorten treatment time and reduce adverse outcomes .