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Objective:To investigate the feasibility of movement posture and electromyography based upper-limb motor function assessment system in the assessment of upper-limb motor function for stroke patients. Methods:From January, 2018 to March, 2019, ten stroke patients were recruited from Nanjing Tongren Hospital. According to the predesigned rehabilitation movements, movement posture and surface electromyography data during rehabilitation movement implementation were collected, and the upper-limb motor function of stroke patients were evaluated using movement posture and electromyography based upper-limb motor function assessment system. Further comparisons were also made with single movement posture or electromyography based assessment system. Meanwhile, the validity of the proposed assessment system was verified. All the patients were assessed with Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremities (FMA-UE). Results:Positive correlations were shown between movement posture and electromyography based upper-limb motor function assessment system and scores of FMA-UE (r = 0.891, P = 0.001), and better validities were achieved than single movement posture (r = 0.758, P = 0.011) or electromyography (r = 0.697, P = 0.025) based assessment. Conclusion:Movement posture and electromyography based upper-limb motor function assessment system can effectively evaluate the upper-limb motor function of stroke patients.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the effect of a liquid embolic agent 2-poly-hydroxyethyl -methacrylate (2-P-HEMA) for renal artery embolization in rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The precipitation time of different concentrations (2%, 3.5%, 5%, 6.5%, 8% and 9.5%) of 2-P-HEMA dissolved in different solutions (ethanol, ethanol/iobitridol, and ethanol/Bi2O3) were determined in flowing water. The mixtures of 2-P-HEMA (2%, 5%, and 8%) with ethanol/ Bi2O3 were injected into the renal arteries of the rabbits, and the artery-embolizing effects were assessed using angiography at 2 and 12 weeks after the injection, with also macroscopic and microscopic examination of the embolized kidneys.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mixtures of 2-P-HEMA and ethanol formed flocculent precipitation a few seconds after injection into flowing water, and the precipitation time showed no significant variations with the concentration of 2-P-HEMA in the mixture. Low and moderate concentrations of 2-P-HEMA could pass through the microcatheter smoothly with little injection resistance, and resulted in complete occlusion of the renal arteries without adhesion to the microcatheter. Angiography at 2 and 12 weeks detected no recanalization of the occluded renal arteries. Macroscopically, the lumen of the renal arteries was found to be occluded by the embolic agents, and deep penetration of the embolic agents into the glomerular arteries was observed microscopically. The mixture containing high-concentration 2-P-HEMA was difficult to deliver through the microcatheter due to high injection resistance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>2-P-HEMA can be rapidly precipitated after injection into flowing water, and allows complete embolization of the renal arteries of rabbits at proper concentrations, suggesting its great potential as an endovascular liquid embolic agent.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Male , Rabbits , Embolization, Therapeutic , Methods , Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate , Radiography , Random Allocation , Renal Artery , Diagnostic Imaging , PathologyABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the long-term effect of sodium glycididazole (CMNa) as a hypoxic radiosensitizer on the radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between May 1999 and May 2002, 211 patients with pathologically confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomized into group-A treated by radiotherapy plus CMNa or group-B by radiotherapy alone. The staging was determined according to 92' Fuzhou staging systerm. The type, procession and dosage of radiotherapy were identical in both groups. The early adverse effect grade was assessed based on the CTC2.0 criteria and the late adverse effects were evaluated according to the RTOG/EORTC criteria. The median follow-up time was 52 months. All the data was analyzed by the SPSS 13.0 software. Characteristics and adverse events of these patients were compared between the two groups using t-test and the Wilcoxin rank sum test. Time-to-event curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic parameters were analyzed using univariate analysis and the Cox multivariate regression analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clinical data of the two groups were comparable. The 3-year survival was 88.4% in group-A, while 75.2% in group-B, with a statistically significant difference between two groups (P = 0.010). Univariate analysis showed that the 3-year survival was statistically correlated with N-staging ((N0-1, 86.9%, N2-3 73.8%, P < 0.001), T-staging (T1-2 85.6%, T3-4 79.3%, P = 0.014), TNM staging (P = 0.039), and whether using CMNa or not during rediotherapy (Group-A 88.4%, Group-B 75.2%, P = 0.010). The 5-year recurrence-free survival, 5-year metastasis-free survival and 5-year overall survival were 75.8%, 74.9% and 77.7% in Group-A, while 63.0%, 63.0% and 62.4% in Group-B with a statistically significant difference between two groups (0.013, 0.022 and 0.010, respectively). If stratified in the subgroups, the overall survival of stage III - IV patients was statistically different between group A and B (P = 0.009), however, not of stage I - II patients (P = 0.502). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that the independent prognostic parameters for survival were N-stage (RR = 3.288) , T-stage (RR = 2.147) and use of CMNa during rediotherapy (RR = 0.407). However, there was no statistically significant difference between two groups in acute or late adverse effects on nervous system or heart, which suggested that use of CMNa during radiotherapy would not aggravate the toxicity caused by radiotherapy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sodium glycididazole is well tolerable effective as a hypoxic radiosensitizer, which can improve the efficacy of radiotherapy and the long-term result of nasopharyngeal carcinom a patients, especially for the stage III - IV patients.</p>