Objective:To evaluate the characteristics of carotid plaque and the immediate outcomes after carotid artery stenting (CAS) in diabetic and non-diabetic patients by optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods:Patients underwent CAS and OCT before and after operation in the Department of Neurology, Jinling Hospital from January 2014 to March 2019 were enrolled retrospectively. The clinical features, the characteristics of carotid plaque on OCT and the immediate outcomes after CAS were compared between diabetic group and non-diabetic group. The risk factors of stent malapposition were analyzed.Results:A total of 46 patients were enrolled. Their age was 64.02±8.32 years and 41 were males (89.1%). There were 20 patients (43.5%) in the diabetes group and 26 (56.5%) in the non-diabetes group. The proportions of atherosclerotic plaque with thin fibrous cap (40.0% vs. 7.7%; χ2=5.166, P=0.023), plaque rupture (55.0% vs. 23.1%; χ2=4.945, P=0.026) and macrophage infiltration (60.0% vs. 30.8%; χ2=3.930, P=0.047) in the diabetic group were significantly higher than those in the non-diabetic group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that older age (odds ratio [ OR] 1.208, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 1.033-1.413; P=0.018), coronary heart disease ( OR 15.953, 95% CI 1.142-222.952; P=0.040), alcohol consumption ( OR 6.192, 95% CI 1.098-34.923; P=0.039) and lower systolic blood pressure ( OR 0.944, 95% CI 0.894-0.997; P=0.037) were independently associated with stent malaposition. Conclusion:Compared with the non-diabetic patients, carotid plaque in diabetic patients may be more unstable. Older age, coronary heart disease, alcohol consumption and lower systolic blood pressure were associated with stent malaposition after carotid stenting. OCT can reveal the characteristics of carotid plaque and the immediate outcomes after CAS, which can provide strong evidence for treatment decision.

Objective:To investigate the status of height and weight of 3-18-year-old children and adolescents in urban China, and to provide a basis for establishing puberty phase specific curves for age-specific height and age-specific weight.Methods:A cross-sectional survey of 218 185 children and adolescents aged 3-18 years in urban China was conducted by using the method of stratified random cluster sampling from January 2017 to December 2019. The sampling areas included 12 provinces municipalities in China and autonomous regions in total. Data were collected on weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference and secondary sexual characteristics. The generalized additive model for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS) was employed to establish percentile reference values and growth curves of height and weight for boys and girls aged 3-18 years. Wilcoxon rank sum test was applied to compare the P 50 value of height and weight between children of each Tanner stage and children of the same age ignoring the different puberty phase. Results:The 3rd, 50th, and 97th percentile curves for height and weight for age were developed for boys and girls aged 3-18 years. The 3rd, 50th, and 97th percentile curves for age-specific height and age-specific weight for each puberty phase were developed for boys and girls. Compared with all children ignoring the different puberty phase, boys aged 9 and over and girls aged 7 and over who are at Tanner stage 1 showed shorter height and lighter weight than those of the same age group (all P<0.01), the difference ranges of height at P 50 are -4.0 to -0.6 cm for boys, and -4.4 to 0.5 cm for girls; the difference ranges of weight are -4.8 to 0.4 kg for boys, and -4.0 to -0.3 kg for girls; children at Tanner stage 2 & 3 initially were taller and heavier than those of the same age group; and later grew shorter and lighter than those of the same age group, the two sets of curves cross over; boys aged 16 and under and girl aged under 14 who are at Tanner stage 4 were taller and heavier than those of the same age group (all P<0.01), the difference ranges of height at P 50 are 0.2 to 10.0 cm for boys, and 0.2 to 9.4 cm for girls; the difference ranges of weight at P 50 are 0.7 to 10.9 kg for boys, and 1.0 to 11.2 kg for girls, and the differences showed narrowing trend with age. Conclusion:The puberty phase specific growth curves of age-specific height and age-specific weight for boys and girls aged 3-18 years are established, it is useful for clinical work to evaluate physical development of children at different puberty phases.

Inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiological process of ischemic stroke.This article elaborates the inflammatory response process after ischemic stroke in order to improve the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of ischemic stroke.

Objective To investigate the effect of butylphthalide and sodium chloride injection on patients who received endovascular treatment for acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusive stroke.Methods A total of 173 patients were identified from February 2015 to December 2017 in the Department of Neurology of Jingling Hospital in this retrospective observational study.Propensity score-matching analysis was performed to balance differences in baseline characteristics between patients who received butylphthalide injection (butylphthalide group) and those who did not (control group).The modified Rankin Scale scores at 90 days were compared between the butylphthalide and control groups.Results A total of 144 patients who received endovascular treatment for acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusive stroke were finally analyzed,54 cases in the butylphthalide group and 90 cases in the control group.The proportion of good functional outcome at 90 days in the butylphthalide group was higher than that in the control group (63.0％ (34/54) vs 44.4％ (40/90);x2=4.633,P=0.031).Thirty-six pairs were matched successfully by the propensity score matching,36 patients in the butylphthalide group and 36 in the control group.There was no statistically significant difference in the 90-day functional outcome between the two groups (66.7％ (24/36) vs 44.4％ (16/36);x2=3.600,P=0.058).One hundred and fifteen patients were recanalized,47 cases in the butylphthalide group and 68 cases in the control group,and after the propensity score matching,30 pairs were analyzed.The proportion of good functional outcome at 90 days in the butylphthalide group was higher than that in the control group (73.3％ (22/30) vs 46.7％ (14/30);x2=4.444,P=0.035).Conclusion After propensity score-matching,butylphthalide and sodium chloride injection could improve 90-day functional outcome in patients with acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusive stroke and obtained recanalization by endovascular treatment while could not before propensity score-matching.

Objective To investigate the differential effect of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at admission on large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) and small vessel occlusion (SVO) in patients with minor stroke.Methods Patients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke registered in Nanjing Stroke Registration System were enrolled retrospectively.Minor stroke was defined as the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≤3.Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the independent relationship between NLR and LAA.Results A total of 417 patients with minor stroke were included,of which 242 were in a LAA group and 175 were in a SVO group.Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in leukocyte count,neutrophil count,lymphocyte count,NLR,glycosylated hemoglobin,highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol,onset to treatment time,and onset to NLR detection time between the patients of the LAA group and the SVO group (all P ＞0.05).Binary logistic regression analysis suggested that after adjusting for sex and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol,NLR (with the highest quartile as a reference,the first quartile:odds ratio [OR] 0.207,95％ confidence interval [CI]0.089-0.482;P ＞ 0.001;the second quartile:OR 0.277,95％ CI 0.122-0.625,P=0.002;the third quartile:OR 0.456,95％ CI 0.197-1.057;P =0.067),onset to NLR detection time (OR 1.216,95％ CI 1.038-1.424;P =0.015),and glycosylated hemoglobin (OR 1.414,95％ CI 1.142-0.751;P=0.002) were independently associated with LAA.The area under the ROC curve of NLR predicting the LAA was 0.611 in patients admitted within 7 d after onset,and was 0.673 in patients admitted within 24 h after onset.Conclusions The increased NLR was independently associated with the LAA in patients with minor stroke.Early NLR value may have higher predictive value for LAA.

Objective To investigate the capillary index score (CIS) and clinical outcome after endovascular treatment in patients with anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods From March 2014 to March 2017,patients with anterior circulation AIS received endovascular treatment in Jinling Hospital and Wuhu Yijishan Hospital were enrolled retrospectively. The data of intraoperative digital subtraction angiography were collected and CIS was calculated. They were divided into either a poor CIS group (score 0-1) or a good CIS group (scores 2-3). Univariate analysis was used to compare the baseline data, clinical data, and outcomes between the 2 groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the correlation between CIS and symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH), death, and functional outcome at 90 d after endovascular treatment(modified Rankin Scale score 0 to 2 was defined as good outcome). Results A total of 157 patients were enrolled, including 91 (58.0％) had poor CIS and 66 (42.0％) had good CIS.Age(P=0.020),baseline systolic pressure(P=0.014),baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (P=0.011), early infarct size (P<0.001), as well as the proportions of internal carotid artery occlusion(P<0.001)and embolectomy >3 times(P=0.042)of the poor CIS group were significantly higher than those of the good CIS group.The vascular successful recanalization rate(P<0.001) and good outcome rate (P<0.001) at 90 d in the good CIS group were significantly higher than those in the poor CIS group, while the incidence of sICH (P=0.002) and mortality (P<0.001) were significantly lower than those of the poor CIS group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CIS were significantly correlated with the functional outcome at 90 d (odd ratio [OR] 0.581, 95％ confidence interval[CI]0.419-0.805;P=0.001)and the risk of sICH at 72 h(OR 0.611,95％ CI 0.407-0.919; P=0.018) after endovascular treatment in patients with anterior circulation AIS,but it did not have a significant correlation with the risk of death (OR 0.783, 95％ CI 0.492-1.246; P=0.301). Conclusions CIS was significantly correlated with the clinical outcome in patients with anterior circulation AIS after endovascular treatment. It can be used as a tool to select patients for endovascular treatment.

Intravascular optical coherence tomography is a novel imaging modality using optical principle.It has very high resolution and can clearly reveal the structure of vascular wall.It is of great significance in identifying carotid plaques,thrombosis,and stent malapposition.This article reviews the application of intravascular optical coherence tomography in carotid artery atherosclerosis.

As an emerging intravascular imaging technology, intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been recognized for its clinical application value in the continuous exploration of the past decade. With its high resolution, OCT can clearly display the subtle morphological features of arterial stenosis lesions, help select treatment options, guide stent placement, and evaluate stent-vessel relationship and neo-intimal coverage after stent implantation for timely detecting early and late complications after stent placement. In recent years, a series of studies have also explored the value of OCT in the evaluation of cerebral angiography and intracranial and extracranial artery stent placement. We made a review of this topic.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of yoga practice guided by Ziwuliuzhu (midnight-noon ebb-flow) theory on improving the symptoms of kidney deficiency. Methods A single-blind controlled clinical trial was carried out in 21 kidney deficiency patients. The patients were divided into two groups, 10 cases in the treatment group and 11 in the control group. During the experiment, one case of the control group dropped out. The patients in the treatment group took yogo practice ( including yin yogo and flow yogo) at Beijing time 18∶25-19∶25, a period of Youshi for kidney meridian in Guangzhou area, and the patients in the control group took the same yogo practice at Beijing time 10∶00-11∶00. The practice lasted one month. Results ( 1) The total effective rate of treatment group was 80.0% and that of control group was 60.0%, the difference being insignificant between the two trail groups ( P>0.05). ( 2) After practice, kidney-yin deficiency symptoms of aching and weakness of waist and knees, feverish sensation over five centers, and kidney-yang deficiency symptoms of aching and weakness of waist and knees, and short breath were much relieved in the treatment group ( P<0.05). In the control group, only frequent nocturia was much relieved ( P<0.05). The differences of kidney deficiency symptom relief were insignificant between the two groups ( P>0.05). ( 3) No obvious adverse reaction was found in the two groups during practice. Conclusion Compared with other period, yogo practice ( practice position for stimulating kidney meridian) at Youshi period shows better effectiveness on kidney deficiency symptoms, but there are insignificant differences of the effectiveness of yoga practice guided by Ziwuliuzhu theory on improving the symptoms of kidney deficiency.