Plasma lyso-phosphatidylcholine concentration is decreased in cancer patients with weight loss and activated inflammatory status

Background  

It has been observed that ras-transformed cell lines in culture have a higher phosphatidylcholine (PC) biosynthesis rate as well as higher PC-degradation rate (increased PC-turnover) than normal cells. In correspondence to these findings, the concentrations of the PC-degradation product lyso-phosphatidylcholine (LPC) in cancer patients were found to be decreased. Our objective was the systematic investigation of the relationship between LPC and inflammatory and nutritional parameters in cancer patients. Therefore, plasma LPC concentrations were assessed in 59 cancer patients and related to nutritional and inflammatory parameters. To determine LPC in blood plasma we developed and validated a HPTLC method.     

Invasion of the skull base by carcinomas: histopathologically evidenced findings with CT and MRI

The depth and extent of the invasion of the skull base by a tumor are the most critical information for successful en bloc resection of the tumor. The only means available for the evaluation of these factors are CT or MRI images. In order to clarify the ability of these imaging modes to delineate the invasion of the skull base, preoperative images of ten patients who underwent en bloc resection of skull base tumors at Kobe University Hospital were compared with the histopathological findings of the resected specimens. CT proved to be superior to MRI for evaluating bone destruction of the skull base. On the other hand, MRI provided more useful information about intracranial invasion than CT. As a hypertrophic linear shadow on Gd-enhanced MRI represented dural invasion or thickened dura mater adjacent to the tumor, this technique should be taken into consideration to determine the dural resection. We concluded that preoperative evaluation of the depth of skull base invasion by both CT and Gd-enhanced MRI is essential for planning complete tumor resection.     

The indication of surgical treatment of cerebellar hemorrhage]

61 patients with cerebellar hemorrhage were studied. The age at onset ranged from 15 to 84 years with a mean of 57.4 years. 49 cases were treated conservatively and 12 surgically and the mortality rates of the two groups were 32.5% and 25% respectively. Based on this study, it is suggested that the clinical and CT indications of surgical treatment of hematoma are as follows; Severe disturbance of consciousness; Bilateral eyeball fixation; Volume of hematoma over 10 ml; Size of hematoma over 4 cm in diameter; Marked acute obstructive hydrocephalus; Compression of cisterna ambieus and quadrigeminus.     

Point mutation in the parkin gene on patients with Parkinson’s disease

Summary To investigate the distribution of possible novel mutations from parkin gene in variant subset of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in China and explore whether parkin gene plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PD, 70 patients were divided into early-onset group and late-onset group; 70 healthy subjects were included as controls. Genomic DNA from 70 normal controls and from those of PD patients were extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes by using standard procedures. Mutations of parkin gene (exon 1–12) in all the subjects were screened by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and further sequencing was performed in the samples with abnormal SSCP results, in order to confirm the mutation and its location. A new missense mutation Gly284Arg in a patient and 3 abnormal bands in SSCP electrophoresis from samples of another 3 patients were found. All the DNA variants were sourced from the samples of the patients with early-onset PD. It was concluded that Parkin point mutation also partially contributes to the development of early-onset Parkinson’s disease in Chinese. WANG Tao, male, born in 1961, Associate Professor This work was supported by grants from the key program of the special scientific project of Scientific & Technologic Agency of Hubei Province (Serial No. 2001AA308B01) and the Hygienic Research Project of Hygienic Agency of Hubei province (Serial No. WJ 01529).     

带血管蒂岛状筋膜瓣移植治疗晚期类风湿性髋关节炎

目的：阐明带血管蒂岛状筋膜瓣移植治疗晚期类风湿性髋关节炎的疗效。材料和方法：对４２例４８髋晚期类风湿性髋关节炎病人采用以旋股外侧血管降支为蒂的股前外侧筋膜瓣移植行患髋成形术。结果：术后随访４～１０．５年，平均４．５年，髋关节活动范围术前平均１６．５°，术后２２８．６°，按照Ｃｈａｒｎｌｅｙ和吴之康人工髋关节置换术后的疗效评定标准，优良２９髋、很好１３髋、好６髋，尚可、差、很差无。结论：患者年龄在１５～４０岁之间为合适的治疗年龄。与人工髋关节置换术相比，本方法对髋关节正常结构破坏小；一旦手术失败仍可选用其它治疗方法弥补；且并发症少、费用低、远期效果好。     

大剂量地塞米松及SOD在实验性脑损伤中的治疗作用

大剂量地塞米松和ＳＯＤ是外伤性脑继发性损害药物治疗的新方案。本实验在豚鼠局灶性脑损伤模型上试用该两种药物，通过脑含水量、灶周伊文斯兰渗出、血ＣＫ、Ｃａ和ＬＤＨ含室及光镜和电镜病理检查等指标。     

Measuring the Quality of Healthcare

Recently, enormous efforts to measure the quality of healthcare have been made to attain information on ways to improve the quality of healthcare. However, this area of research is still at an early stage of development and more research is required. This article outlines a framework by which the quality of healthcare can be analyzed on the basis of the three quality dimensions introduced by Donabedian. The article then goes on to test the validity of this (theoretical) framework within an empirical analysis.Because of increasing financial shortages within health systems, this article focuses on the treatment of myocardial infarction, which is one of the costliest and most prevalent diseases. This approach establishes a link between medical and economic problems. The variables for structure quality (i.e. number of cardiologists, number of catheterization facilities) were sourced and evaluated from the ‘Herzberichte der Jahrgänge’ (‘heart reports’) compiled by Bruckenberger for the period 1994–2004 for the 16 German federal states. Data from the Federation of Quality Assurance (BQS) were used for the evaluation of process quality (i.e. adequacy of indication for coronary angiography). Finally, administrative data from the German Federal Statistical office for 1994–2004 were used to determine the variables of outcome quality (i.e. standardized mortality rate due to myocardial infarction, potential years of life lost <70 years due to myocardial infarction).Three hypotheses were tested using panel data: (i) a better structure and/or process quality increases the probability of getting a better outcome quality for the clinical picture under observation; (ii) by employing additional input factors (such as additional catheterization facilities), the probability of getting a good outcome quality is increased; and (iii) in addition to structure quality and process quality, factors lying outside of the sphere of influence of the health system have an additional influence on outcome quality (marginal gains would decrease in this case). Three models were used to test these hypotheses using fixed effects estimation.The empirical analysis produced three results. First, the analysis confirms the predicted causality between the different dimensions of quality of care for the German federal states. Notably, the number of catheterization facilities has a highly significant positive influence on the outcome quality. Second, support is found for decreasing marginal gain of inputs. Third, a good structure and a good process quality alone cannot guarantee good outcome quality. However, the analysis also showed that, in addition to healthcare provided, there are other determinants that also affect the outcome quality of healthcare. Further empirical investigation regarding the influence of these factors on the outcome dimension could elaborate on our findings and deliver additional insights.