Increased Local Spontaneous Neural Activity in the Left Precuneus Specific to Auditory Verbal Hallucinations of Schizophrenia / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) of schizophrenia have been associated with structural and functional alterations of some brain regions. However, the brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) alterations specific to AVHs of schizophrenia remain unclear. In the current study, we aimed to investigate ReHo alterations specific to schizophrenic AVHs.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-five schizophrenic patients with AVH, 41 schizophrenic patients without AVHs, and fifty healthy subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. ReHo differences across the three groups were tested using a voxel-wise analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the healthy control group, the two schizophrenia groups showed significantly increased ReHo in the right caudate and inferior temporal gyrus and decreased ReHo in the bilateral postcentral gyrus and thalamus and the right inferior occipital gyrus (false discovery rate corrected, P < 0.05). More importantly, the AVH group exhibited significantly increased ReHo in the left precuneus compared with the non-AVH group. However, using correlation analysis, we did not find any correlation between the auditory hallucination rating scale score and the ReHo of brain regions.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Our results suggest that increased ReHo in the left precuneus may be a pathological feature exclusive to schizophrenic AVHs.</p>

Etiological diagnosis and specific treatment of chronic cough in 106 patients / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the etiological diagnosis and efficacy of specific therapy of chronic cough.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 106 patients with chronic cough were diagnosed using a diagnostic protocol based on the Guideline on Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Cough established by China Medical Association, which included history inquiry, physical examination, pulmonary function tests, X-ray or CT of paranasal sinuses or chest, 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring, and sputum cell differentials. The etiological diagnosis was made according to clinical manifestations, examination results, and response to specific therapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cause of chronic cough was confirmed in 101 patients (95.3%). Cough due to a single cause was found in 81 patients (80.2%), and due to multiple causes in 20 patients (19.8%). The causes included cough variant asthma (CVA) in 66 patients (62.3%), postnasal drip syndrome (PNDs) in 15 patients (14.1%), gastroesophageal reflux (GERC) in 11 patients (10.4%), post-infection cough (PIC) in 4 patients (3.8%), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) induction in 3 patients (2.8%), and eosinophilic bronchitis (EB) in 2 patients (1.9%). Five patients (4.7%) had not been definitely diagnosed. After specific therapy based on diagnosis, cough disappeared in 92 patients (91.1%) and alleviated in 9 patients (8.9%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>CVA, PNDs, and GERC are the most common causes of chronic cough. Specific therapy based on definite cause can result in good outcome.</p>