阿尔茨海默病患者脑白质损害与认知功能的关系

目的用磁共振扩散张量成像(DTI)研究阿尔茨海默病(AD)患者脑白质损害的特点及其与认知功能改变的相关性。方法对16例AD患者和12名年龄及性别相当的健康老年人行DTI、T1液体衰减反转恢复序列(FLAIR)及T2-FLAIR检查,测量胼胝体膝部和压部、内囊前肢和后肢、额颞顶枕叶白质的部分各向异性分数值(FA)和平均弥散度(MD),分析FA、MD值与简易精神状态量表(MMSE)评分之间的相关关系。结果AD患者胼胝体压部、额叶、顶叶、颞叶FA值分别为0.602±0.043、0.270±0.034、0.294±0.043、0.302±0.032,与健康老人组相比显著下降(P<0.05),且与MMSE评分呈正相关关系,而内囊前后肢、枕叶、胼胝体膝部的FA值则无明显变化(P>0.05);胼胝体压部、顶叶白质的MD值分别为(0.918±0.029)、(0.826±0.015)×10-9m2/s,与健康老人组相比显著升高(P<0.01),且与MMSE评分呈负相关,而内囊前后肢、额叶、颞叶、枕叶和胼胝体膝部的MD值则无明显变化(P>0.05)。结论AD患者表现为脑白质的选择性损害,且损害程度与认知功能密切相关;这种选择性损害反映了AD病理机制中皮质-皮质及皮质-皮质下联系的丢失;DTI技术可以用来监测疾病的进展情况及评价AD治疗药物的临床疗效。     

慢性肾衰竭急性加重的临床特征及相关因素分析

目的：探讨慢性肾衰竭（CRF）急性加重因素及其治疗措施对预后的影响。方法：对2001年1月～2005年6月住院治疗的CRF急性加重患者42例，按其加重原因、基础疾病、治疗方式和疗效进行回顾性总结。结果：CRF急性加重因素依次为各种感染（45．2％）、原发病加重（19．0％）、高血压未控制（14．3％）、水电解质紊乱（11．9％）、肾毒性药物（11．9％）、心功能不全（9．5％）、尿路梗阻（4．8％）、血高粘滞状态（2．4%），7例同时存在≥2种上述病因（16．7％）。CRF急性加重原发病以慢性肾小球肾炎（52．4％）和糖尿病肾病（11．9％）为主。积极治疗后肾功能恢复达到或接近原来水平者40例，死亡2例，死亡2例的年龄均在60岁以上。结论：对于CRF肾功能急剧恶化的患者，应积极寻找其加重因素，并采取非透析和透析相结合治疗，改善肾功能，降低病死率，延长患者生命。     

Outcomes at 3 years of a prospective pilot study of Campath-1H and sirolimus immunosuppression for renal transplantation

Campath-1H (alemtuzumab) induction was used for renal transplantation in combination with sirolimus as immunosuppression. We previously reported a high (28%) rate of early rejection with this regimen, and now report 3-year outcomes. Twenty-nine patients were recipients of either deceased donor or non-HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) identical living donor primary renal allografts. Clinical parameters including infection, malignancy, kidney function, and kidney histology were followed prospectively for 3 years. Three-year cumulative graft and patient survival were 96% and 100%, respectively. Twenty patients were maintained on steroid-free immunosuppressive regimens, and 15 patients were maintained on monotherapy for immunosuppression (12 on sirolimus). No serious infectious complications were observed and two patients developed basal cell skin cancer. The 3-year results of our initial pilot study demonstrate good graft (96%) and patient (100%) outcomes. Campath-1H induction has yielded a high proportion of patients maintained on immunosuppressive monotherapy (57%) without serious infectious- and no malignancy-related complications. The reported regimen yielded novel insights into both Campath-1H and sirolimus therapy in renal transplantation. Because of the higher incidence of early rejection, we recommend a modified strategy of immunosuppression including a brief course of a calcineurin inhibitor.     

Risks of androgen therapy

Elderly men with clinical and laboratory evidence of androgen deficiency are eligible for testosterone treatment.

With proper monitoring this is acceptably safe.

In the first year of testosterone treatment there should be a digital rectal examination of the prostate and measurement of prostate specific antigen every three months, thereafter yearly.

The rate of increase of prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels is more significant than its absolute values.

Levels of haemoglobin and the haematocrit should be monitored.     

良性阵发性位置性眩晕的自我治疗

目的比较改良的Epley耳石复位法（MEP）和改良的Semont耳石复位法（MSM）用于后半规管良性阵发性位置性眩晕（PC-BPPV）自我治疗的疗效。方法对2001年7月至2003年6月间的70例PC-BPPV患者分别使用MEP和MSM法进行自身治疗，1周后比较两组缓解率和治疗的副作用。结果MEP组中95％（n=37）患者完全缓解，而MSM组仅为58％（n=33，P〈0．001）。MSM组中，治疗的失败与动作执行的不准确密切相关。两组治疗有关的副作用差异无统计学意义。结论MEP比MSM能更有效的缓解PC-BPPV，MEP应为患者自身治疗的首选方法。     

Efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.

The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines (HMs), as a monotherapy or adjunct therapy, compared to placebo or conventional approaches in the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials from both conventional and alternative medicine sources. Outcome measures were overall improvement, quality of life, reduction of levodopa dose, and adverse events. Nine studies were included, each testing a different HM. Six of the trials had limited internal validity due to major flaws in design, including the lack of proper randomization; insufficient blinding; unclear inclusive criteria in terms of diagnostic criteria, baseline staging, and duration of disease; lack of proper sample size calculation; and insufficient data analysis. Imbalances in gender and ethnicity among the patients in the included trials were observed. No major adverse events emerged, and no specific pattern was detected from the trials describing such data. In addition to major methodological defects, heterogeneity in (1) HM tested, (2) control treatment, and (3) outcome measure hindered in-depth data analysis and synthesis. Current evidence is insufficient to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various HMs. Further studies with improved trial design and reporting, with assessment on cost-effectiveness, quality of life, and qualitative data are warranted.     

Fetal neural grafts for Huntington's disease: a prospective view.

Intrastriatal transplantation of striatal neuroblasts from human fetuses is a promising approach for treatment of Huntington's disease, on the basis of many experimental animal studies and, most recently, pilot clinical trials. Technically, several issues remain to be resolved (e.g., the precise site of dissection of the fetal tissue; the number and location of the fetal striatal implants; or the use of immunosuppressive therapy), and await larger-scale trials and purposely designed protocols. Further clinical data must also be obtained, and preliminary promising results must be replicated in a patient group large enough to provide conclusive results. It is important to establish (1) the amount of clinical benefit provided to the patient by the grafted cells; (2) the anticipated duration of clinical benefits; and (3) the secondary rate of decline after the benefit of the graft has been overbalanced. Evaluation of these parameters will require very long-term follow-up of the patients involved, over several years after grafting, before the technique can eventually be proposed widely to patients.     

Differential role for the striatum and cerebellum in response to novel movements using a motor learning paradigm.

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the role of the striatum and cerebellum in the adaptation to a novel movement within a sequence of practiced movements using a motor learning paradigm. The performance of patients in the early or advanced stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) and of patients with damage to the cerebellum (CE) was compared, respectively to a group of aged and young matched controls on an adapted version of the Mirror-Tracing Test. In this task, subjects were required to trace a series of complex figures in two conditions: (1) a Practiced condition, in which the figures were composed of the juxtaposition of three simple designs that were extensively practiced before; and (2) a Mixed condition in which triads were created by replacing the last simple figure of the triads in the Practiced condition by a new simple figure that had never been traced individually before. Results showed that all clinical groups were slower than controls at tracing the Practiced triads. Most interestingly, however, only patients in the advanced stages of PD showed increased completion time to trace the triads in the Mixed condition. This suggests that a bilateral striatal dysfunction affects the ability to adapt to a novel motion within a sequence of practiced movements. Although exploratory, these results support a functional dissociation between the striatum and cerebellum in acquiring visuomotor skilled behaviors.     

高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查价值

目的：探讨高分辨率CT（HRCT）对颞部疾病的检查价值。方法：对43例颞部疾病患者行常规CT和高分辨率CT（HRCT）检查所获图像对比分析，并讨论HRCT的检查技术和图像后处理。结果：HRCT对病变的显示率及病变引起骨质破坏的程度，病变边缘，轮廓的显示均明显优于常规CT，尤其能清楚显示常规CT难以显示的中耳及内耳的细微结构，结论：高分辨率CT是颞部疾病的首选检查方法，使用高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查给临床提供更多，更准确的诊断信息。     

非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病患者血清唾液酸的改变

测定20例NIDDM伴有心脑血管病变的患者、20例单纯NIDDM患者的血清唾液酸（SA）水平，并与20例正常人进行比较。结果发现所有NIDDM患者的血清SA水平均显著增高（P＜0．01），其中伴有心脑血管疾病患者的血清SA水平显著高于单纯NIDDM患者（P＜0．05），同时血清SA水平与血清胰岛素及C肽水平、收好压之间存在相关。提示血清SA水平与NIDDM患者的心脑血管疾病关系密切，可能是心脑血管并发症发生的一个危险因素。