The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in evaluating children with exercise induced dyspnoea

Exercise induced dyspnoea (EID) is a common manifestation in children and adolescents. Although EID is commonly attributed to exercise induced bronchoconstriction, several conditions other than asthma can cause EID in otherwise healthy children and adolescents. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) offers a non-invasive comprehensive assessment of the cardiovascular, ventilatory and metabolic responses to exercise and is a powerful diagnostic and prognostic tool. CPET is a reproducible, non-invasive form of testing that allows for comparison against age- and gender-specific norms. CPET can assess the child’s exercise capacity, determine the limiting factors associated with this, and be used to prescribe individualised interventions. EID can occur due to asthma, exercise induced laryngeal obstruction, breathing pattern disorders, chest wall restriction and cardiovascular pathology among other causes. Differentiating between these varied causes is important if effective therapy is to be initiated and quality of life improved in subjects with EID.     

腮腺切除术中沿面神经总干顺行解剖面神经的效果及安全性

目的探讨腮腺切除术中应用沿面神经总干顺行解剖面神经的治疗效果及安全性。方法选取我院2016年2月至2019年3月收治的60例择期行腮腺切除术的患者,随机分为观察组与对照组各30例。对照组沿面神经总干逆行解剖面神经,观察组沿面神经总干顺行解剖面神经,观察两组患者术后1个月面神经功能及术后并发症发生情况。结果术后1个月,两组患者的面神经功能分级比较无统计学差异(P>0.05);观察组的术后并发症发生率为10.00%,明显低于对照组的33.33%(P <0.05)。结论临床行腮腺切除术中,沿面神经总干顺行解剖面神经可降低术后并发症发生率,值得推广。     

Immunotherapy for recurrent pregnancy loss

When immunomodulation is used on an unselected population with recurrent miscarriage (RM), there is no improvement in the live birth rate. However, when the population is selected for a poor prognosis, or immune phenomena, immunotherapy has been shown to be effective. This review discusses four immunomodulatory agents, namely, paternal leukocyte immunization, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), intralipid, and filgrastim. The presence of embryonic aneuploidy may confound the results of treatment, therefore creating an impression of futility when treatment may be highly effective in saving pregnancies that can be saved. Additionally, in an unselected population with RM, there is a relatively good prognosis of 60–80% for a subsequent live birth depending on whether the definition of ≥2 or ≥3 miscarriages is used. Hence, spontaneous prognosis must be taken into account, which has not been the case in previous trials.This review discusses the possible immune-mediated mechanisms of pregnancy loss and the means whereby immunotherapy may modulate these mechanisms.     

脱细胞基质面神经修复材料的制备

目的 制备具有天然神经组织结构的支架,构建组织工程化面神经用于修复面神经损伤。方法 取家兔面神经,改良化学萃取法制备脱细胞神经基质,HE染色形态学观察去细胞及脱髓鞘情况,荧光分光光度计测定支架内细胞经Quant-iT PicoGreen工作液染色后的DNA含量。MTT法检测细胞在支架上的相对生长率从而检测支架的细胞毒性。结果 支架移植体呈圆柱形,弹性与正常神经基本一致,组织观察显示细胞结构未见残余完整细胞及细胞碎片残留,未见神经髓鞘及轴突结构,细胞外基质形成纵向排列结构,结构之间可见空隙。兔脱细胞面神经基质支架内残留的DNA含量较正常兔面神经明显下降(P<0.01)。神经基质供体无细胞毒性。结论 改良化学萃取法可有效去除面神经细胞,天然结构保存完好,细胞毒性低,可作为组织工程化面神经的支架。     

Diagnostic sensitivity of electrophysiology and ultrasonography in ulnar neuropathies of different severity

ObjectiveTo assess the diagnostic performance of electrophysiology and nerve ultrasound in ulnar neuropathies of varying clinical severity in 135 consecutive patients.MethodsClinical severity of ulnar neuropathy was graded on a 4 point scale from very mild (symptoms only) to severe (marked atrophy of intrinsic hand muscles). Sensitivity and localization ability of electrophysiology and nerve ultrasound were assessed for each point of the scale.ResultsUltrasound had higher sensitivity than electrophysiology in clinically very mild (20% and 3% for ultrasound and electrophysiology, respectively) and mild (62% and 47% for ultrasound and electrophysiology, respectively) neuropathies, had greater localizing ability in axonal ulnar neuropathies, and identified nerve hypermobility.Ultrasound nerve cross-sectional area had strong positive correlation with both clinical and electrophysiological severity scores, but with significant overlap across the severity groups.ConclusionThe diagnostic work-up of ulnar neuropathies was improved by using both electrophysiology and ultrasound at all levels of clinical severity. Ultrasound increased the diagnostic yield in very mild and mild neuropathies, localized all the ulnar neuropathies with abnormal non-localizing electrophysiology and identified nerve hypermobility.SignificanceThis is the first detailed analysis of the diagnostic performance of electrophysiology and ultrasound in ulnar neuropathies of varying severity.