Metrical analysis of disc-condyle relation with different splint treatment positions in patients with TMJ disc displacement

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effect of bite positions characterizing different splint treatments (anterior repositioning and stabilization splints) on the disc-condyle relation in patients with TMJ disc displacement with reduction (DDwR), using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Material and Methods: 37 patients, with a mean age of 18.8±4.3 years (7 male and 30 females) and diagnosed with DDwR based on the RDC/TMD, were recruited. MRI metrical analysis of the spatial changes of the disc/condyle, as well as their relationships, was done in three positions: maximum intercuspation (Position 1), anterior repositioning splint position (Position 2), and stabilization splint position (Position 3). Disc/condyle coordinate measurements and disc condyle angles were determined and compared. Results: In Position 1, the average disc-condyle angle was 53.4° in the 60 joints with DDwR, while it was −13.3° with Position 2 and 30.1° with Position 3. The frequency of successful "disc recapture" with Position 2 was significantly higher (58/60, 96.7%) than Position 3 (20/60, 33.3%). In Positions 2 and 3, the condyle moved forward and downward while the disc moved backward. The movements were, however, more remarkable with Position 2. Conclusions: Anterior repositioning of the mandible improves the spatial relationship between the disc and condyle in patients with DDwR. In addition to anterior and inferior movement of the condyle, transitory posterior movement of the disc also occurred.

Application of palatal rugae morphology in forensic identification / Aplicación de la morfología de las rugas palatinas en la identificación forense

To investigate the feasibility of application of digital images of the palatal rugae in forensic identification. One hundred patients, consisting of 50 males and 50 females, who received treatment between January 2015 and June 2015 at Shanxi Medical University Stomatological Hospital, China, were included in this study. High-resolution digital image of the palatal rugae was taken from each patient using a digital SLR camera and then processed using a digital image recognition system, including noise reduction, contrast enhancement, image segmentation, feature extraction, edge detection and information matching. Using an MATLAB software system, match results and the time taken by each operator for information matching were recorded. The digital image recognition system assisted in information matching of the palatal rugae. Three oral physicians had a 100% correction rate in information matching. Two other operators failed in formation matching in one or two cases. The time taken by oral physicians for information matching was shorter than that taken by the other two operators. Unique palatal rugae morphology has gradually become a novel marker for forensic identification. Digital images of the palatal rugae morphology contribute to rapider and more accurate forensic identification.

El objetivo fue investigar la viabilidad de la aplicación de imágenes digitales de rugas palatinas para la identificación forense. Se incluyeron 100 pacientes, 50 hombres y 50 mujeres, que recibieron tratamiento entre enero de 2015 y junio de 2015 en el Hospital Odontológico de la Universidad Médica de Shanxi, China. Se tomaron imágenes digitales de alta resolución de las rugas palatinas de cada paciente utilizando una cámara réflex digital y luego se procesaron mediante un sistema de reconocimiento de imagen digital, incluyendo reducción de sonido, mejora del contraste, segmentación de imágenes, extracción de características, detección de márgenes y coincidencia de la información. Mediante el programa MATLAB se registraron los resultados y el tiempo de cada operador para obtener información coincidente, además se utilizó el sistema de reconocimiento de imágenes digitales para hacer coincidirlas con la información de las rugas palatinas. Tres odontólogos informaron una tasa de corrección del 100 % al realizar cruces de información. Otros dos operadores fracasaron en uno o dos casos. El tiempo asignado por los odontólogos para la coincidencia de la información fue menor al de los otros operadores. La morfología especializada de las rugas palatinas se ha convertido gradualmente en un nuevo marcador para la identificación forense. Las imágenes digitales de la morfología de las rugas palatinas contribuyen a una rápida y precisa identificación forense.

Unilateral pedicle screw fixation versus its combination with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation for the treatment of single segmental lower lumbar vertebra diseases / 中国骨伤

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the advantages and disadvantages of unilateral pedicle screw fixation plus lumbar interbody fusion and unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation plus lumbar interbody fusion in treating single segmental lower lumbar vertebra diseases.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-two patients with single segmental lower lumbar vertebra disease who received treatment between January 2008 and June 2009. These patients were consisted of 16 males and 46 females, ranging in age from 27 to 72 years old, with a mean age of 51.6 years old. Among these patients, lumbar degenerative disease had in 22 patients, recurrence of lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in 13 patients, lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion accompany with spinal canal stenosis in 12 patients, massive lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in 5 patients and lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with degree I in 10 patients. The lesions occurred at L3,4 segment in 5 patients, at L4,5 segment in 42 patients, and at L5S1 segment in 15 patients. Thirty patients underwent unilateral pedicle screw fixation (unilateral screw fixation group, group A) and thirty-two patients received unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation (bilateral screw fixation group, group B). Lumbar interbody fusion with intervertebral cages was also performed in all patients. Incision length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative wound drainage were compared between two groups. Loosening or breakage of internal fixations, displacement of intervertebral cages and interbody fusion conditions were observed in each group. Preoperative and postoperative intervertebral height, coronal and sagittal Cobb angle and wound pain at 72 h after operation were compared between two groups. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scoring system was used to evaluate the cinical effects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Neither wound infection, skin necrosis, nerve root or cauda equia injury, nor worsened neurological dysfunction in the lower limb occurred in each group. There were no significant differences in incision length, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative wound drainage between two groups. The operation time in group A was significantly shorter than that of group B (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in visual analogue scale value of the wound pain at postoperative 72 h between two groups (P > 0.05). All patients were followed up for 12-48 months,with a mean of 27.5 months. The intervertebral height of all patients had obviously recovered at 5 days after operation, furthermore, at the final follow-up, it still had well maintained. During follow-up, no pedicle screw and/or translaminar facet screw loosening, displacement or breakage and displacement of intervertebral cages were found. The lumbar interbody fusion rate was 96.7% and 96.9% in group A and group B, respectively, and there was no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05). JOA score of all patients got obviously improved after operation (P < 0.05) and there was no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Both unilateral pedicle screw fixation plus lumbar interbody fusion and unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation plus lumbar interbody fusion have advantages of small incision, minimal invasion, simple operation, reliable stability, high interbody fusion rate,rapid recovery, encouraging clinical effects and less complications. Compared with unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation, the operation of unilateral pedicle screw fixation is simpler and can avoid using special equipments. Therefore, unilateral pedicle screw fixation plus lumbar interbody fusion can be used in treating single-segmental lower lumbar vertebra diseases under the precondition of strictly grasping indications for surgery and improving surgical skills.</p>

Evaluation of the treatment effect of inhalation of different drug on neonatal pneumonia / 中国小儿急救医学

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and its security on different kinds of atomization with mucosolvan and chymotrypsin in treating neonatal pneumonia.Methods Seventy-eight neonates who were diagnosed as neonatal pneumonia were divided into treatment group (n =39) and control group (n =39) by random number table method from Jul 2011 to Aug 2013 in our hospital.The control group was treated with chymotrypsin atomization,and the treatment group was treated with compression atomizing to inhale mucosolvan.The treatment effects of two groups were compared.Results Compared with the control group after treatment for 24 h,48 h,72 h,the treatment group had more significant increasing in PaO2,more decreasing in PaCO2 and more significant improvement in oxygenation index.There were statistical significances between the two groups(P ＜ 0.01).The treatment group spent shorter time in remission of symptoms,disappear of signs and hospital stay than that of the control group(P ＜ 0.05).In the treatment group,25 cases were markedly improved,9 cases were effective,5 cases were invalid.The effective rate was 87.2％.In the control group,14 cases were markedly effective,6 cases were effective,19 cases were invalid.The effective rate was 51.3％.The effective rate was significant difference between the two groups (P ＜ 0.01).The adverse drug reactions were not found in the process of treatment for two groups.Conclusion Mucosolvan atomizing inhalation has a better treatment effect than chymotrypsin.It can shorten the course of treatment,and is worth promoting the application.

Advance of neurogenic erectile dysfunction therapy by stem cells / 法医学杂志

Neurogenic erectile dysfunction (NED) commonly results from erectile nerve damage. Recent researches have focused on the preclinical study of stem cell-based therapies targeted at repairing and protecting nervi erigentes. In this paper, researches of NESCs, MDSCs, ASCs and MSCs in NED are reviewed. Early studies have demonstrated that stem cells and gene modified stem cells were effective to the therapy of ED, even likely to cure ED. Stem cells are expected to be applied in the clinical therapy of NED. Stem cells as a new therapy technique will bring up a new challenge in forensic clinical medicine.

Relationship between apnea and hyperbilirubinemia in premature infants / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the association between hyperbilirubinemia and apnea in premature infants.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Premature infants with apnea and birth weight >1500 g were tested for the heart rate, serum level of bilirubin, saturation of blood oxygen (SO₂) and partial pressure of oxygen (PO₂) before and after treatment, with term infants serving as the control. A comparative analyses of the serum level of bilirubin, SO₂ and PO₂ were carried out in the premature infants with birth weight <1500 g suffering apneic syndrome or not on the first and third days after birth.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the premature and term infants with apnea and birth weight <1500 g, 92.5% and 70.00% showed increased serum level of indirect bilirubin (IBIL), respectively. The infants with birth weight <1500 g who presented the syndrome of apnea on the first day after birth had significantly higher levels of IBIL than those without an apparent syndrome of apnea. A three-day conventional therapy resulted in an obvious improvement of apneic syndrome and lowered bilirubin level.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Increased bilirubin level can be one of the reasons for the development of apnea in premature infants, and therapies for reducing bilirubin level can ameliorate the syndrome of apnea.</p>

MRI study on the surface area of occipital lobe in children with ametropic amblyopia / 眼科

Objective Using MRI techniques and the FreeSurfer software package to research the occipital lobe's surface area in children with ametropic amblyopia.Design Prospective,nonrandomized clinical trial.Participants The amblyopic group included 10 children with ametropic amblyopia.The control group included 10 children with normal sight.Methods The brain MRI scan was per- formed with SIEMENS AVANTO 1.5 Tesla scanner.For the surface area analysis,3-demensional MPRAGE images were analyzed with FreeSurfer software package.Main Outcome Measures Occipital lobe related surface area(cuneus,later occipital,lingual,perical- carine)of bilateral hemisphere.Results No difference was between the ages of the two groups.The surface areas of the lingual,pefical- carine,cuneus of bilateral hemisphere and lateraloccipital on the left hemisphere in amblyopic patients were smaller than those of nor- real children(P