ABSTRACT
Objective To analyze the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spinal cord and clinical characteristics in patients with autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy.Methods A total of 1 040 samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera collected in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from March 2013 to June 2018 were tested with tissue-and cell-based assays,and 42 patients were found positive for GFAP-IgG.The clinical data and MRI characteristics of the spinal cord of 19 patients who were positive for GFAP-IgG in CSF with autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy and lesions in the spinal cord were retrospectively reviewed.Results There were 12 females and seven males among the 19 patients,with onset age of (44±17) years.The main manifestations of these patients included limb weakness (14/19),abnormal vision (5/19),headache (4/19),seizure (4/19),dementia (3/19),etc.On MRI of the spinal cord,five patients showed involvement in the cervical cord alone,eight showed involvement in the thoracic cord alone and six had both cervical and thoracic segment involvement.Fifteen patients had longitudinally extensive myelitic abnormalities (≥3 vertebral segments long).Seven enhancement patterns were encountered.Lesions were displayed in the spinal cord and brain in eight patients.Central gray matter involvement in the spinal cord was found in all the 19 patients.Conclusions Autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy more frequently presents in females than in males.MRI of the spinal cord has complex presentations and longitudinally extensive myelitic abnormalities usually.Patients often show central gray matter involvement in the spinal cord.Myelitic abnormalities present more often in thoracic segment than in cervical segment.Abnormalities in lumbar segment are less encountered.
ABSTRACT
Objective Our study aimed to delineate the clinical and radiological features of patients with anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody (MOG-Ab)positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Methods Fifty-seven patients with NMOSD and 29 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were collected. Data on clinical and radiological features of MOG-Ab positive patients with were analyzed retrospectively. Results MOG-Abs were present in 9/57 (15.8%) NMOSD patients and 2/29 (6.9%) MS patients. Both MOG and aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies were positive in one case of NMOSD. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P＞0.05). There were more females than males having MOG-Ab positive NMOSD (females: males=7:1) and the average onset age was 41.4 ± 11.5 years. There was no significant difference in gender and age between MOG-Ab negative and AQP4-Ab positive groups(P＞0.05). The durations of disease were significantly shorter in either MOG-Ab positive NMOSD patients or MOG-Ab negative NMOSD patients than in AQP4-Ab positive group (P<0.05). Recurrence was the main disease pattern of all three groups and the frequency of recurrence was not significant different among three groups (P＞0.05). The incidence of optic neuritis was 62.5% in NMOSD patients with MOG-Ab positive and 43.5% in AQP4-Ab positive NMOSD patients (P＞0.05). There was no significant difference in the morphology and location of brain lesions among the three groups (P＞0.05). MOG-Ab positive NMOSD patients had long segment spinal cord lesions. The median length of the spinal cord lesions in the MOG-Ab positive group was similar to the other two groups (P＞0.05). Conclusions MOG-Ab positive NMOSD patients have higher proportion of females with shorter recurrence course, more likely complicated with optic neuritis. And the radiological features of brain and spinal cord were not specific to patients with AQP4-Ab positive.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the regularities and rules of compound herbal formulae for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods Compound herbal formulae on NAFLD published in journals of CNKI (1979.1-2014.1), VIP (1989.1-2014.1) and CBMdisc (1979.1-2014.1) were analyzed with association rule, frequency analysis and cluster analysis.Results In 107 prescriptions, 179 herbs were involved, and frequency of usage of those herbs was 1499. A cluster analysis was used to analyze 37 herbs with high frequency (≥10) of usage, which were classified into 9 clusters including promoting circulation, clearing heat herb, diuretic herb, food stagnation herb, regulating qi herb, phlegm-resolving herb, qi tonics herb, yin-nourishing herb, qi-activating herb and purgating herb. 30 pairs of herbs and 33 rules for NAFLD were obtained by association rule analysis.Conclusion It was a point of view to understand the regularities and rules of Chinese herb prescription on NAFLD by data mining.
ABSTRACT
Objective To probe into the effects of applying standardized nursing ward round in nursing management.Method The nursing ward round was regularly conducted to analyze and discuss the difficulties in intensive care.Results After formulating the nursing ward round,the qualification rate of the basic nursing,specific nursing,the nursing of critical paitents,nursing records and the patient's satisfaction were higher than those before the use of nursing ward round(P<0.05).Conclusion The standardized nursing ward round may strengthen the training of nurses' core ability and the initiative of studying,reduce medical disputes,and improve the satisfaction of patients together with the quality of nursing.
ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of the serum testosterone/estradiol ratio (T/E2) alteration on sperm defect and fertility. Methods The testosterone, estradiol, FSH, LH, PRL,sperm parameters and sperm morphology of 90 men were analyzed and the T/E2 and multiple anomalies index (MAI) were calculated. The patients were divided into 3 groups; T/E2≤10 (Ⅰ), T/E2＞10 (Ⅱ), and T/E2＞20 (Ⅲ). Results The sperm concentration and motility among the 3 groups were not significantly different (P＞0. 05). The percentages of the sperm whose head, neck and tail were abnormal declined gradually with the increase of the T/E2 in serum. The percentage of sperm head defeet of group Ⅰ was significantly higher than that of group Ⅲ (t=2. 482, P=0. 016) and that of sperm neck defect of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were significantly higher than that of group Ⅲ (t=4.113, 2. 050, P=0.000, 0. 046, respectively). The percentage of sperm tail defect among 3 groups was significantly different (t=2. 722, 3. 996, 3. 110, P=0. 008, 0. 000, 0. 003, respectively). The SDI of group Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of group Ⅰ (t= -2. 293, P= 0. 025). But the TZI increased gradually with the increase of the serum T/E2 and the TZI of groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ were significantly higher than that of group Ⅰ (t=2. 285, 2. 727, P=0. 025, 0. 009, respectively). The percentage of the men in group Ⅰ whose partners became pregnant was 29. 5% and those of groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ were 50% and 42.9%, respectively. Although the percentage among three groups was not different statistically (x2 = 3. 285, 0. 854, 0. 199, P= 0. 070, 0. 355, 0. 655, respectively), the relative risks of groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ were 2.4 and 1.8 times of that of group Ⅰ. There were 25, 15, 7 cases of idiopathic infertility among the 3 groups, respectively. The relative risk of I group was 1.5 and 1.3 times of that of Ⅱ and Ⅲ groups. The correlation analysis showed that the T/E2 in serum had significantly negative correlation with the percent of the sperm head or neck or tail defects (r= -0. 209, -0. 316 and -0. 335,respectively and P= 0. 048, 0. 002 and 0. 001, respectively). Conclusions The decrease of T/E2 in serum was correlative with the decrease of fertility probability, but it did not alter the sperm density and the sperm motility. It showed that the level of the T/E2 in serum was important for spermatogenesis and sperm fertilizing capability.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the changes of the semen quality in uremia patients before renal transplantation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The semen of 24 patients with uremia and 12 normal volunteers was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The semen volume, sperm motility, survival rate, density and morphological normality percentage were (2.5 +/- 0.4) ml, (13.4 +/- 3.9)%, (25.4 +/- 5.6)%, (20.6 +/- 4.5) x 10(6)/ml and (16.8 +/- 2.1)%, respectively, significantly lower than those of the normal group (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Semen qualities were lowered significantly and spermatogenesis severely affected in patients with uremia.</p>
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Case-Control Studies , Semen , Physiology , Sperm Count , Sperm Motility , Spermatogenesis , Physiology , UremiaABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the semen variation of the uremia patients after renal transplantation. Methods The semen samples from 10 uremia patients before (group A) and after (group B) renal transplantation and 12 normal volunteers(group C) were analyzed,and the main semen parameters of the 3 groups were compared. Results The mean sperm motilities of groups A,B and C were (13.8? 2.8 )%、(48.3?7.2)% and (63.8?3.6)%,respectively,the vitalities were (24.2?4.1)%、(76.3?3.9)% and (80.4?2.2)%,and the normal sperm morphologies were (15.6?2.3)%、(17.7?1.9)% and (33.8?3.7)%.The sperm motility and vitality of group B were significantly improved than group A(both P 0.05). Conclusions The successful renal transplantation can improve the semen parameters of the uremia patients.