Changes of disc status in adult patients with condylar head fracture who did or did not undergo disc anchoring operation

Purpose

Views on treatment procedures for condylar head fractures (CHFs) are far from reaching a consensus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in disc status for anteromedial disc displacement with anchorage (AMDDwA) and without anchorage (AMDDwoA — just suturing to the adjacent TMJ soft tissue) in adult CHFs, to get a better understanding of this very complex process and to show that rigid disc anchorage is an essential technique for the treatment of CHF during the open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF).

周易卦象思维对中医学的影响

中国历来就有"医易同源"的说法,易理对历代医家的理论和临床实践产生了深远的影响,卦象作为易学的重要内容,对中医学也产生了多方面的影响.比如用卦象解释中医运气学说、生理病理、脏腑、病因病机、治法治则,用卦象来解释方剂的组方用药法则,用卦象指导针灸取穴等,通过研究卦象,对中医学上存在的一些悬而未决的理论问题可以得到合理的解释,不论是从文化现象还是从临床实践的角度,都有必要了解这些理论.     

母婴分离动物研究及其进展

早年养育环境及生活经历对个体成年后的影响日益受到重视,大量证据表明生命早期的逆境或不良应激事件会影响到人和动物长期的认知、心理和行为,也会增加个体成年后患精神疾病的风险.近年来,研究者运用母婴分离动物模型来探讨早期负性事件相关的子代成年后心身疾病的发病机制.本文将对母婴分离动物模型的研究方法及母婴分离所致成年后异常认知和行为的潜在机制进行阐述.     

燃煤污染型砷中毒皮肤病变调查

目的探讨燃煤污染型砷中毒皮肤病变临床特征。方法选择国家认定的燃煤污染型砷中毒地区紫阳县蒿坪镇、平利县八仙镇,按《地方性砷中毒病区划分和临床诊断暂行规定》进行流行病学调查,对阳性病例皮肤体征进行统计分析。结果241例砷中毒患者中有不同程度手脚皲裂139例(57.68%),皮肤过度角化94例(39.00%),色素脱失84例(34.85%),色素沉着14例(5.80%)。结论燃煤污染型砷中毒患者皮肤病变以皲裂、角化人数最多,脱色次之,色沉最少;皮肤损害从皲裂角化开始,随后出现脱色和色沉。     

Rationale and design of the PREDICT (Plaque Registration and Evaluation Detected In Computed Tomography) registry

BackgroundAt least two-thirds of cases of acute coronary syndrome are caused by disruption of an atherosclerotic plaque. The natural history of individual plaques is unknown and needs to be established.ObjectivesThe Plaque Registration and Evaluation Detected In Computed Tomography (PREDICT) registry is a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal, observational registry. This registry was designed to examine the relationships among coronary CT angiography (CTA) findings and clinical findings, mortality, and morbidity. The relationships among progression of coronary atherosclerosis, including changes in plaque characteristics on coronary CTA, and serum lipid levels and modification of coronary risk factors will also be evaluated.MethodsFrom October 2009 to December 2012, 3015 patients who underwent coronary CTA in 29 centers in Japan were enrolled. These patients were followed for 2 years. The primary end points were considered as all-cause mortality and major cardiac events, including cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and unstable angina that required hospitalization. The secondary end points were heart failure that required administration of diuretics, target vessel revascularization, cerebral infarction, peripheral arterial disease, and invasive coronary angiography. Blood pressure, serum lipid, and C-reactive protein levels and all cardiovascular events were recorded at 1 and 2 years. If the initial coronary CTA showed any stenosis or plaques, follow-up coronary CTA was scheduled at 2 years to determine changes in coronary lesions, including changes in plaque characteristics.ConclusionAnalysis of the PREDICT registry data will clarify the relationships between coronary CTA findings and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in a collaborative multicenter fashion. This trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT 00991835.     

The Effectiveness of a Calcium Sodium Phosphosilicate Desensitizer in Reducing Cervical Dentin Hypersensitivity

BackgroundNovaMin (NovaMin Technology, Alachua, Fla.) was introduced into the dental market as a desensitizer in December 2004. However, to the authors' knowledge, no researchers yet have evaluated the effectiveness of 100 percent NovaMin powder with NovaMin-containing toothpaste in reducing dentin hypersensitivity compared with the effectiveness of NovaMin-containing toothpaste only and a desensitizing toothpaste containing potassium nitrate as a control.MethodsThe authors divided 60 participants randomly into three groups: NovaMin powder with NovaMin-containing toothpaste (group 1), a placebo powder with NovaMin-containing toothpaste (group 2) and a placebo powder with the control toothpaste (group 3). The authors used tactile and cold stimuli and a visual analog scale to evaluate participants' pain at baseline, immediately after powder application and at one week, two weeks and four weeks after powder application. They analyzed data by using Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-group comparison. They used Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests for between-group comparison. They considered P < .05 to be statistically significant.ResultsGroups 1 and 2 showed significant hypersensitivity reduction over baseline at all time points. Group 3 showed significant hypersensitivity reduction at one week onward. Group 1 showed significant improvement compared with groups 2 and 3, except for response to tactile stimulus at four weeks with group 2. Between groups 2 and 3, there were significant differences at two and four weeks.Conclusions and Clinical ImplicationsThe use of NovaMin powder and NovaMin-containing toothpaste for hypersensitivity reduction is more effective than the use of a desensitizing toothpaste containing potassium nitrate and fluoride.     

腰椎终板Modic改变的研究进展

椎间盘退变是导致下腰痛的常见原因,与之密切相关的椎体终板改变也逐渐受到重视.在MRI T1和T2的和加权像上,退变的椎体终板主要表现为终板与终板下骨相对于正常终板的信号改变,同时当终板异常改变时与对应的推间盘退变也有较高的相关性.现就其国内外关于腰椎终板Modic改变的相关研究从以下:Modic改变的发病机制、影像学检查、治疗等几方面进行一综述.     

蛲虫感染变化情况及其原因分析

蛲虫是人体常见的肠道寄生虫之一,感染率曾居高不下,极大的危害了广大人民群众,尤其是少年儿童的身体健康。伴随我国经济高速发展,人们物质文化水平的提高,蛲虫的感染情况也出现了一些新变化,本文就近年来蛲虫感染的变化情况进行综述。     

Age-Specific Changes in the Prevalence of Best-Corrected Visual Impairment in an Italian Population

Purpose: To investigate changes in the prevalence of visual impairment in an Italian population from 1988 to 2000. Methods: Standardized ophthalmologic examinations were administered to citizens of Ponza, Italy aged 40–87 years in 1988 and 2000. Visual Acuity (VA) was measured using a standard logarithmic chart. Visual fields (VF) were tested in all subjects with diagnosed or suspected glaucoma or hereditary degenerative retinopathy. Visual impairment was classified as blindness (VA > 1.3 LogMAR or VF < 10° around central fixation) or low vision (VA > 0.5 to 1.3 LogMAR or VF < 20° to 10°) according to WHO criteria. Results: The prevalence of binocular total visual impairments decreased significantly among 64–75 year-olds (from 6.7% to 2.6%, p = 0.045), and almost significantly among 40–51 year-olds (from 2.4%, 95% CI 1.1–5.3, to 0.0%, 95% CI 0.0–1.3). By 2000, visual impairment was no longer significantly associated with female gender, and age 64–75 years; the mean age of subjects with vision-impairing cataract, diabetic retinopathy, or age-related macular degeneration had risen significantly. Conclusions: A decline in the prevalence of visual impairment, particularly in cataract-associated visual impairment was found in the middle-aged groups. The progression of age-related eye diseases seems to have slowed in this population possibly due to improvements in the life expectancy and socio-economic conditions.     

Cough motor mechanisms

Cough is a defensive airway mechanisms which involves the sequential activation of several laryngeal and respiratory muscles in the generation of the typical four-phase motor pattern. Activation of such muscles can be considered to represent the "primary" cough motor mechanism, and its functional significance, although complex, appears to be fairly well established. Nonetheless, the outflows of cough are numerous, and may additionally involve the reflex or mechanical activation of other respiratory and non-respiratory motor systems. These additional, or "secondary", outflows of cough can mainly be regarded as being involved in either enhancing the defensive function of cough, or opposing the possible noxious effects exerted by the mechanical stresses of coughing. In addition, both the primary and secondary cough motor mechanisms are known to play multiple functional roles, thus considerably complicating the cough panorama. Finally, some of the secondary cough motor responses, such as the changes in the pattern of breathing, seem to be devoid of any favourable action and their functional meaning, if any, is not fully understood. Although it is well known that all patterns of cough can be produced voluntarily, the extent to which also volitional cough is accompanied by an array of motor responses similar to that of reflex cough remains to be elucidated.