Respecting Symptoms in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Management: A Case of Symptomatic Necrotizing Granulomatous Aortitis

A 41-year-old woman presented with chest pain of unclear etiology in the setting of a mildly dilated ascending aorta. Computed tomography angiography showed an aorta with an irregular contour and an aneurysm of 4.5 cm. There was no radiographic evidence of rupture or dissection. The patient was taken to the operating room and was found to have severe aortitis with marked localized wall thinning at imminent risk of aortic rupture. Aortic pathology demonstrated necrotizing granulomas of noninfectious etiology. This case illustrates the importance of respecting symptoms in surgical decision making for thoracic aortic aneurysms that may not meet standard interventional criteria.     

Age-related changes in mouse taste bud morphology, hormone expression, and taste responsivity

Normal aging is a complex process that affects every organ system in the body, including the taste system. Thus, we investigated the effects of the normal aging process on taste bud morphology, function, and taste responsivity in male mice at 2, 10, and 18 months of age. The 18-month-old animals demonstrated a significant reduction in taste bud size and number of taste cells per bud compared with the 2- and 10-month-old animals. The 18-month-old animals exhibited a significant reduction of protein gene product 9.5 and sonic hedgehog immunoreactivity (taste cell markers). The number of taste cells expressing the sweet taste receptor subunit, T1R3, and the sweet taste modulating hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1, were reduced in the 18-month-old mice. Concordant with taste cell alterations, the 18-month-old animals demonstrated reduced sweet taste responsivity compared with the younger animals and the other major taste modalities (salty, sour, and bitter) remained intact.     

The economic burden of hypertension in rural south‐west China

Objective To estimate the economic burden of hypertension in a given year in rural Yunnan Province of China, including direct, indirect and intangible costs. Methods A prevalence‐based cost‐of‐illness method was used to estimate the economic burden of hypertension. Data on participants’ demographic characteristics, inpatient hospitalisation expenditures, outpatient visit expenditures, self‐medication costs and indirect costs related to hypertension were collected from a cross‐sectional health examination and questionnaire survey, involving 9396 consenting individuals aged ≥18 years and 3500 households. Blood pressure (BP) levels were determined from the average of three BP measurements. Years of life lost (YLL) because of hypertension was estimated using medical death certificates. Results The overall prevalence of and YLL/1000 population because of hypertension was 24.8% and 1.5 years for the survey population, respectively. Mean unit direct medical costs, direct non‐medical costs, morbidity costs, mortality costs, intangible costs and cost of illness were estimated to be $467.2, $20.1, $23.5, $8265.1, $417.4 and $9393.3, respectively. The total cost of hypertension was estimated to be $231.7 million. Direct costs represented the largest component of economic cost of hypertension. On average, males had higher overall direct, indirect and intangible costs of hypertension than females. Both indirect and intangible costs decreased with age, whereas direct costs increased with age. The incidence of household catastrophic health payment and household impoverishment because of hypertension was 8.9% and 4.1%, respectively. Conclusions Hypertension inflicts a considerable economic burden upon individual households and society as a whole in Yunnan Province, China.     

跨上皮角膜胶原交联手术治疗进展期圆锥角膜的疗效

目的:分析跨上皮角膜胶原交联手术治疗进展期圆锥角膜后1a的疗效并讨论其临床意义。方法:收集2017-01/2018-12于我院进行快速跨上皮角膜胶原交联手术的进展期圆锥角膜患者45例48眼,术后随访1a,分析手术前后视力、角膜最薄点厚度、角膜内皮细胞计数、角膜交联线深度、角膜前表面曲率Km值及角膜生物力学参数等变化情况。结果:与术前比较,本组患者术后裸眼视力明显改善(P<0.05),但最佳矫正视力、角膜最薄点厚度和角膜内皮细胞计数均无明显变化(P>0.05),术后6mo,1a角膜前表面曲率Km值(48.54±2.57、48.77±2.29D)均显著下降,角膜生物力学参数第1次压平宽度(1.52±0.21、1.57±0.22mm)均显著降低(P<0.05),第2次压平速度绝对值(0.82±0.09、0.82±0.18m/s)均显著增加(P<0.05)。结论:快速跨上皮角膜胶原交联手术治疗进展期圆锥角膜对裸眼视力有明显改善,术后角膜生物力学也有改善,但最佳矫正视力改善不明显。     

HMGA1在葡萄膜黑色素瘤中的表达及对细胞增殖和侵袭的影响

目的：探讨高迁移率族蛋白A1(HMGA1)蛋白在葡萄膜黑色素瘤(UM)组织中的表达,以及抑制该基因表达对细胞增殖和侵袭的影响。

方法：选取2014-02/2019-08在我院接受手术治疗的UM患者53例53眼,同期留取因外伤摘除眼球的正常葡萄膜组织34例34眼。采用免疫组织化学法检测组织中HMGA1蛋白表达。将体外培养的人UM细胞系M23分为HMGA1下调组、阴性对照组和空白组,分别转染HMGA1干扰序列、阴性对照序列和不作任何处理,采用实时荧光定量PCR术检测HMGA1 mRNA表达,CCK-8法检测细胞增殖能力,Transwell法检测细胞迁移和侵袭能力。

结果：UM组织中HMGA1蛋白阳性表达率为77%,高于正常葡萄膜组织中的29%(P<0.001); 与未发生巩膜浸润、未累及睫状体和未发生眼外生长相比,HMGA1蛋白在发生巩膜浸润、累及睫状体和发生眼外生长的组织中阳性表达率升高(均P<0.05)。与阴性对照组和空白组相比,HMGA1 mRNA在HMGA1下调组细胞中相对表达量降低,且HMGA1下调组细胞培养24、48、72、96h时吸光度OD值降低,迁移细胞数和侵袭细胞数均明显减少(均P<0.05)。

结论：UM组织中HMGA1蛋白阳性表达率升高,下调M23细胞中HMGA1表达可减少细胞增殖,抑制细胞迁移和侵袭。