Partial HELLP syndrome with unilateral exudative retinal detachment treated conservatively

Peripartum vision loss, an uncommon, often reversible complication of pregnancy usually occurs in the setting of pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. The HELLP syndrome is characterized by hypertension, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets. This is a rare case of unilateral exudative retinal detachment associated with the Partial HELLP syndrome that occurred after delivery in a 23-year-old Indian woman. The retinal detachment subsequently reattached with good visual improvement under conservative treatment. This case highlights the importance of early intervention by the ophthalmologist when pregnant women complain about visual symptoms.     

Guidelines for selecting among different types of bootstraps

ABSTRACT

Background: The bootstrap has become very popular in health economics. Its success lies in the ease of estimating sampling distribution, standard error and confidence intervals with few or no assumptions about the distribution of the underlying population.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is three-fold: (1) to provide an overview of four common bootstrap techniques for readers who have little or no statistical background; (2) to suggest a guideline for selecting the most applicable bootstrap technique for your data; and (3) to connect guidelines with a real world example, to illustrate how different bootstraps behave in one model, or in different models.

Results: The assumptions of homoscedasticity and normality are key to selecting the best bootstrapping technique. These assumptions should be tested before applying any bootstrapping technique. If homoscedasticity and normality hold, then parametric bootstrapping is consistent and efficient. Paired and wild bootstrapping are consistent under heteroscedasticity and non-normality assumptions.

Conclusion: Selecting the correct type of bootstrapping is crucial for arriving at efficient estimators. Our example illustrates that if we selected an inconsistent bootstrapping technique, results could be misleading. An insignificant effect of controller treatment on total health expenditures among asthma patients would have been found significant and negative by an improperly chosen bootstrapping technique, regardless of the type of model chosen.     

Improved postural control in response to a 4-week balance training with partially unloaded bodyweight

Balance training (BT) is successfully implemented in therapy as a countermeasure against postural dysfunctions. However, patients suffering from motor impairments may not be able to perform balance rehabilitation with full body load. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether partial unloading leads to the same functional and neuromuscular adaptations. The impact on postural control of a 4-week BT intervention has been compared between full and partial body load.32 subjects were randomly assigned to a CON (conventional BT) or a PART group (partially unloaded BT). BT comprised balance exercises addressing dynamic stabilization in mono- and bipedal stance. Before and after training, centre of pressure (COP) displacement and electromyographic activity of selected muscles were monitored during different balance tasks. Co-contraction index (CCI) of soleus (SOL)/tibialis (TA) was calculated. SOL H-reflexes were elicited to evaluate changes in the excitability of the spinal reflex circuitry.Adaptations in response to the training were in a similar extent for both groups: (i) after the intervention, the COP displacement was reduced (P < 0.05). This reduction was accompanied by (ii) a decreased CCI of SOL/TA (P < 0.05) and (iii) a decrease in H-reflex amplitude (P < 0.05).BT under partial unloading led to reduced COP displacements comparable to conventional BT indicating improved balance control. Moreover, decreased co-contraction of antagonistic muscles and reduced spinal excitability of the SOL motoneuron pool point towards changed postural control strategies generally observed after full body load training. Thus, BT considering partial unloading is an appropriate alternative for patients unable to conduct BT under full body load.     

Pravastatin restored the infarct size-limiting effect of ischemic preconditioning blunted by hypercholesterolemia in the rabbit model of myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVES

We tested to find out whether pravastatin restores the infarct size (IS)-limiting effect of ischemic preconditioning (IP) and if it has any effect on the IP-induced activation of adenosine producing enzyme ecto-5′-nucleotidase which plays a key role in the IP-induced cardioprotection.

BACKGROUND

The IS-limiting effect of IP is blunted by hypercholesterolemia. Recently, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are shown to have direct cytoprotective effects.

METHODS

Rabbits were fed with a normal or cholesterol (1%) added diet with or without pravastatin (5 mg/kg/day) treatment. Infarct size was measured after 30 min occlusion and 3 h reperfusion of circumflex coronary artery with or without the IP procedure (5 min occlusion and 10 min reperfusion). Additionally, ecto-5′-nucleotidase activities of ischemic and nonischemic myocardium were measured immediately after IP procedure.

RESULTS

This dose of pravastatin did not normalize the increased level of serum cholesterol. The IS-limiting effect of preceding IP (IS reduced from 36.7% to 9.6%, p < 0.001) was abolished by hypercholesterolemia (from 46.1% to 31.3%, p = NS) and restored by pravastatin treatment (from 35.2% to 9.4%, p < 0.001). Pravastatin treatment did not affect IS or the effect of IP under normocholesterolemia. The activation of ecto-5′-nucleotidase presented as the activity ratio of ischemic to nonischemic myocardium (3.1-fold in normocholesterolemia) was blunted by hypercholesterolemia (1.8-fold, p < 0.05) and restored by pravastatin treatment (2.9-fold).

CONCLUSIONS

Pravastatin, at the dose serum cholesterol was not normalized, restored the IS-limiting effect of IP and IP-induced ecto-5′-nucleotidase activation, which were both blunted by hypercholesterolemia. The activation of ecto-5′-nucleotidase may be worth further investigation as a possible mechanism for the hypercholesterolemia-induced retardation and pravastatin-mediated restoration of the cardioprotective effect of IP.     

卡马西平与托吡酯在针对部分性癫痫患者的有效性及安全性分析

目的 分析卡马西平与托吡酯在针对部分性癫痫患者的有效性及安全性.方法 搜集2009年2月至2013年3月于我院住院治疗的部分性癫痫患者72例,随机将患者分为联合治疗组(36例)和卡马西平组(36例),观察分析联合治疗组和卡马西平组用药后3个月、6个月部分性癫痫发作率、发作频率,用药后6个月的临床疗效,用药后6个月脑电图随访及不良反应.结果 联合治疗组治疗后3个月发作率为33.33％,发作频率为(2.57±2.09)次;联合治疗组治疗后6个月发作率为22.22％,发作频率为(2.21±1.73)次.卡马西平组治疗后3个月发作率为47.22％,发作频率为(3.69±2.73)次;卡马西平组治疗后6个月发作率为33.33％,发作频率为(3.52±2.27)次.联合治疗组治疗后3个月及6个月的部分性癫痫发作率及发作频率均显著低于卡马西平组(P＜0.05).联合治疗组用药6个月后治疗有效率为86.11％;卡马西平组治疗6个月后治疗有效率为72.22％,联合治疗组用药6个月后治疗有效率显著高于卡马西平组(P＜0.05).联合治疗组痫样放电改善率为80.00％,卡马西平组痫样放电改善率为69.56％,联合治疗组痫样放电改善率高于卡马西平组(P＜0.05).联合治疗组不良反应发生率为16.67％,卡马西平组不良反应发生率为13.89％,两组患者不良反应发生率差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).结论 卡马西平联合应用托吡酯能够有效地治疗部分性癫痫,且安全性较高.     

一种改进的基于DFT-MMSE的信道估计方法

传统的DFT-LS算法在最小二乘(LS)估计的基础上对循环前缀以外的信道冲击响应置零,在性能优于最小二乘(LS)的同时,降低了估计算法的计算复杂度。理想的最小均方差(MMSE)算法与其相比,计算复杂度大,但是性能优于DFT-LS。本文在传统DFT-MMSE估计算法基础上提出了一种新的方法,针对传统DFT-MMSE算法只对循环前缀以外的信道冲击响应做置零处理的问题,对循环前缀以内的信道冲击响应设定阈值门限,有效滤除部分循环前缀以内的噪声。理论分析与仿真结果表明,本文方法的性能优于传统的DFT-MMSE估计算法,劣于理想情况下的MMSE估计算法;计算复杂度低于传统的DFT-MMSE估计算法和理想情况下的MMSE估计算法。     

保留子宫血管部分子宫切除术与次全子宫切除术疗效比较

目的：探讨保留子宫血管治疗功能失调性子宫出血(功血)及多发性子宫肌瘤的临床价值。方法行保留子宫动脉上行支的子宫部分切除术患者34例为观察组,同期行次全子宫切除术患者97例为对照组。观察两组疗效。结果两组手术时间、出血量、肠功能恢复时间、复发率比较,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。手术前后比较,对照组雌二醇(E2)、孕酮(P)、卵泡刺激素(FSH)、黄体生成素(LH)水平差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),观察组差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。两组更年期症状差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。结论保留子宫动脉上行支的子宫部分切除术优于传统次全子宫切除术,值得临床推广。     

部分脾栓塞缓解门脉高压脾亢及胃底食管静脉曲张

目的 探讨部分脾动脉栓塞对缓解门脉高压并脾亢及胃底食管静脉曲张的临床疗效。方法 采用Seldinger技术经股动脉穿刺插管，超选择性脾动脉栓塞治疗肝硬化门脉高压并脾亢及胃底食管静脉曲张46例。观察治疗前后门脉压力，血液白细胞、血小板计数，肝功能及胃底食管静脉曲张的变化情况，判断其治疗效果。结果 栓塞范围为40％～90％，术后患者门脉压力明显降低，肝功能GPT下降，外周血象明显改善，血液白细胞和血小板计数升高，胃底食管静脉曲张得到缓解，上消化道再出血间期延长。无严重的并发症发生。结论 部分脾栓塞治疗肝硬化门脉高压并脾功能亢进是一种安全、有效的方法。既可以降低门脉压力，又可以减轻脾功能亢进，缓解胃底食管静脉曲张。