Efficacy of radiology of the esophagus for evaluation of dysphagia

The efficacy of radiology in evaluating dysphagia was studied in 86 patients by comparison to endoscopic findings. In the 66 patients with endoscopic abnormalities radiology was correct in 54, for a sensitivity of 82%. Sensitivity of radiology improved to 95% if mild esophagitis was excluded. In the 20 patients with normal endoscopy, radiology was normal in 18 (90%). Thus radiology proved to be a reliable means of evaluating the esophagus in patients with dysphagia.     

Zinc, calcium, and magnesium metabolism: effects on plasmacytomas in Balb/c mice

The effects of different amounts of dietary zinc on the Zn absorption rate and on Zn, calcium and magnesium concentrations in tissues of MOPC 104E tumor-bearing Balb/c mice were determined. The Zn absorption rate was inversely related to the amounts of Zn in their diets and was lower than that of nontumor-bearing control mice fed a laboratory mice chow. Zn concentrations of tumor-bearing mice were also low compared with control mice but tumor Zn concentrations, regardless of the concentrations of Zn in the diets, were higher than those of normal tissues of the host other than the pancreas. Ca concentrations in tumor and tissues of tumor-bearing mice were higher than in control animals but Mg concentrations in tissues of tumor-bearing mice appeared to be similar to those of control mice. Results suggest that tumor-bearing mice have a lower intestinal Zn absorption capacity and a higher Zn uptake rate causing other tissues to become hypozincemic and hypercalcemic.     

Isolation of a rat S100 alpha cDNA and distribution of its mRNA in rat tissues.

In order to clarify the reported discrepancies in S100 alpha protein and mRNA distribution in rat tissues, a rat S100 alpha cDNA has been isolated and this species homologous probe along with a rat S100 beta cDNA probe has been used to examine S100 mRNA expression in rat tissues. Although the rat S100 alpha cDNA was missing approximately 30 nucleotides of coding sequence, only 4 conservative changes in amino acid sequence were observed when the deduced amino acid sequence was compared to the bovine S100 alpha amino acid sequence. Thus, S100 alpha proteins, like S100 beta proteins, are highly conserved among species. All nineteen of the tissues examined (including cerebrum and cerebellum) contained S100 alpha mRNA. In addition, S100 beta mRNA was detected in thirteen of the nineteen tissues examined. These results are in agreement with previous protein distribution studies and further demonstrate that S100 proteins are not brain-specific and are expressed in a large number of tissues. Although S100 alpha and S100 beta mRNAs were detected in rat tissues which had previously been reported to contain S100 alpha and S100 beta protein, a direct correlation between the protein and mRNA levels were not observed, suggesting that different mechanisms regulate S100 expression in various tissues. S100 alpha exhibited a single similar size mRNA species (0.5 Kb) in all tissues examined, as did S100 beta (1.5 Kb), suggesting that the individual S100 proteins are expressed as single mRNA and protein products in rat tissues.     

Good titles makes good articles: designing of English titles for medical papers.]

Based on the experience of the author and an intensive study of the titles of English medical papers written by authors in English-speaking countries, the characteristics and styles of the titles were expounded with well-selected examples. The paper also introduces some practical skills to write good English titles and enumerates some frequently used structures and expressions, which might be helpful for potential Chinese contributors to medical journals.     

保留肾单位手术治疗早期小肾癌21例临床分析

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effects of nephron-sparing surgery in patients with early-stage small renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: Nephron-sparing surgery was performed in 21 patients with renal cell carcinoma including 1 with solitary kidney, 3 with unilateral tumor and contralateral renal compromise, and 17 with unilateral tumor and normal contralateral kidney. The diameter of the tumors ranged from 1.5 to 6.0 cm, with a mean of 2.8 cm. The tumor diameter in 17 patients with normal contralateral kidney was less than 4 cm (mean 2.5 cm) and the average diameter in 4 patients with contralateral renal compromise was 4.2 cm. Sixteen cases were in stage T(1), 4 in stage T(2), and 1 in stage T(3). Of the 21 patients, 4 underwent tumor enucleation, 10 polar nephrectomy and 7 wedge resection. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for an average of 40.8 months (7 to 66 months). One patient suffered a right lung and mediastinum metastasis 3 years after the surgery later and 1 with chronic glomerulonephritis required dialysis 27 months after the operation. No surgical complication or local recurrence were found in other patients. CONCLUSION: As a safe and effective therapy for early-stage small renal cell carcinoma, nephron-sparing surgery can be considered as the gold-standard therapy for patients with lesions less than 4 cm in T(1) and T(2) stages of localized unilateral tumor with normal contralateral kidney.     

外伤性延迟性脾破裂的诊断和治疗（附21例报告）

目的探讨外伤性延迟性脾破裂的发病规律、临床特点、诊断和治疗方法。方法结合国内外资料及本组病例进行回顾性分析。结果明确诊断16例，误诊为肝破裂2例，宫外孕破裂2例，脾肿瘤1例。21例均手术治疗，行脾切除14例，其中保留副脾2例；脾切除加自体脾组织网膜内移植术3例；脾缝合修补术3例；脾部分切除术1例。死亡1例，原因有就诊晚、失血性休克。结论本病由于腹腔内出血与受伤时间间隔长，容易误诊。诊断除依靠病史、临床表现外，应及时进行腹腔穿刺、B超及CT检查。治疗以脾切除为主，可根据病情、脾破裂的程度以及是否有合并伤等情况采取保脾手术。     

从产业组织学角度看中国医疗广告

随着医疗卫生体制改革的全面推行,医疗行业竞争日趋激烈,众多医院采取不同的策略组合以提高其核心竞争力,而广告正是其主要的营销策略之一.本文在对医疗广告特性、类别、作用进行分析的基础上,从产业组织学角度阐述了医疗广告与医疗市场结构、市场效益的关系,提出了中国医疗广告的发展趋势.     

Controlled release of lidocaine hydrochloride from the surfactant-doped hybrid xerogels.

We investigate the controlled release of lidocaine hydrochloride from the doped silica-based xerogels. In the xerogel preparation, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), and propyltriethoxysilane (PTES) are used as precursors, and a nonionic surfactant Igepal CO 720 is used as a dopant. The experimental results suggest that the release of lidocaine hydrochloride can be easily controlled by partially substituting TEOS with the organosilanes, and/or by adding the dopant. Adding the organosilane precursors lowers the release of both the drug and the surfactant in the order of TEOS, MTES/TEOS, and PTES/TEOS xerogels. The release from the PTES/TEOS xerogels is much lower than that from the other xerogels. The release of lidocaine hydrochloride is obviously suppressed by the addition of Igepal CO 720, while the release of Igepal CO 720 is slightly promoted by the addition of the drug. The overall release process is found to be diffusion-controlled, and the release behaviors can be well explained by considering the effects of the textual properties of the xerogels and the interactions among the drug, the surfactant, and the xerogel matrices.     

对加强药品配送机构监督管理的思考

国家食品药品监督管理局在《关于全面开展加强农村药品监督网络建设促进农村药品供应网络建设工作的指导意见》中明确指出：“为配合药品配送、连锁进县到乡，各省（区、市）食品药品监督部门可以进行建立区域性药品配送站的研究和指导。在进行研究和探索过程中，鼓励将基层的药品批发企业改组成区域性药品配送站”。     

Laparoscopic Local Resection Based on Sentinel Node Evaluation for Early Gastric Cancer: A Preliminary Report

We previously reported that lymphatic mapping using isosulfan blue can be used to identify sentinel nodes (SNs). This study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of using the SN technique in treating early gastric cancer and to explore its usefulness for minimal invasive surgery. Twenty-three patients with early gastric cancer who underwent SN biopsy were retrospectively evaluated. Based on SN evaluation, individualized surgery was performed in five patients with T1N0M0 gastric cancer. When pathological examination of frozen sections revealed metastasis in SNs, we performed a standard D2 gastrectomy. Laparoscopic local resection was applied when the SN biopsy was negative. Our results showed that the success rate with SN biopsy in early gastric cancer was 100%, as were the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. All five patients with early gastric cancer had SNs negative for metastases both by frozen section and by postoperative pathology. Thus, all these patients underwent laparoscopic local resection without extended lymphadenectomy. We conclude that SN biopsy is a useful tool to individualize the operative procedure, and laparoscopic local resection can be safely performed using SN guidance in selected patients with early gastric cancer.