Correlation between distal radioulnar joint effusion and the integrity of triangular fibrocartilage in healthy young adults / 中华全科医师杂志

Objective:To study the relationship between distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) effusion and the integrity of triangular fibrcarotilage (TFC) in asymptomatic young adults.Methods:Thirty two asymptomatic young adults, 22 males and 10 females with a mean age of 25 year(20-30) were recruited in the study between September 2014 and October 2019. All subjects had no wrist pain, no wrist deformity or wrist mass, and had no history of wrist trauma or surgery. The DRUJ effusion was definedasfluid-like high signal intensityon fatsuppression proton density-weighted MRI.The presence of distal radioulnar joint effusion, the shape of the effusion, and the presence of triangular fibrocartilage abnormalities were documented.Results:Among 32 subjects, 25(78.1%, 15 males and 10 females) presented with distal radioulnar joint effusion on wrist MR images, including linear/tubular in 21 cases(84.0%) and saccular in 4 cases(16.0%).Twenty cases (62.5%) had distal radioulnar joint effusion while the TFC was intact, among whom, the effusion was confined to the proximal side of distal radioulnar jointin 17 cases, and reached the lower surface of TFC in 3 cases. In 5 cases (15.6%) with TFC tear, the effusion reached the lower surface of TFC in 4 cases. There were neutral, positive and negative variations of the ulna in 23, 6 and 3 cases, respectively, among whomthe distal radioulnar effusion was presented in 17, 5, 3 cases, and TFC tear in 1, 4 and 0 cases, respectively.The presence of distal radioulnar effusion was not significantly correlated with genders( P=0.069) or types of ulna variance( P=0.702). Conclusion:The distal radioulnar joint effusion maybe resent in asymptomatic young adults, and it maybe complicated with TFC tear.

Investigation on the optical scan condition for imaging of multi-slice spiral CT liver perfusion in rats / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Multi-slice CT liver perfusion has been widely used in experimental studies of hemodynamic changes in liver lesions, and is usually performed as an adjunct to a conventional CT examination because of its high temporal and spatial resolution, simple protocol, good reproducibility, and ability to measure hemodynamic changes of liver tissues at the capillary level. Experimental rat models, especially those of induced liver cancer, are often used in studies of hemodynamic changes in liver cancer. Carcinogenesis in rats has a similar pathological progression and characteristics resembling those in human liver cancer; as a result, rat models are often used as ideal animal models in the study of human liver cancer. However, liver perfusion imaging in rats is difficult to perform, because rats' livers are so small that different concentrations, flow rates, and dose of contrast agents during the CT perfusion scanning can influence the quality of liver perfusion images in rats. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the optimal scan protocol for the imaging of hepatic perfusion using a deconvolution mathematical method in rats by comparing the results of rats in different injection conditions of the contrast agent, including concentration, rate and time.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Plain CT scan conditions in eighty 2-month-old male Wistar rats were 5.0 mm slice thickness, 5.0 mm interval, 1.0 pitch, 120 kV tube voltage, 60 mA tube current, 512 × 512 matrix, and FOV 9.6 cm. Perfusion scanning was carried out with different concentrations of diatrizoate (19%, 38%, 57%, and 76%), different injection rates (0.3 and 0.5 ml/s), and different injection times (1, 2-3, 4-5, and 6 seconds). The above conditions were randomly matched and adjusted to determine the best perfusion scan protocol. Three-phase contrast-enhanced scanning was performed after CT perfusion. Histological examination of the liver tissues with hematoxylin and eosin stains was done after CT scanning.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When the concentration of the contrast agent was 19% or 38%, no pseudo-color map was created. The viscosity increased when the concentration of the contrast agent was 76%; so it is difficult to inject the contrast agent at such a high concentration. Also no pseudo-color map was generated when the injection time was short (1, 2-3, and 4-5 seconds) or the injection rate was low (0.3 ml/s). The best perfusion images and perfusion parameters were obtained during 50 seconds scanning. Each rat was given an injection of 57% diatrizoate at 0.5 ml/s via the tail vein using a high-pressure syringe for 6 seconds. The perfusion parameters included hepatic blood flow (HBF), hepatic blood volume (HBV), mean transit time (MTT) of the contrast agent, capillary permeability-surface area product (PS), hepatic arterial index (HAI), hepatic artery perfusion (HAP), and hepatic portal perfusion (HPP). All these parameters reflected the perfusion status of liver parenchyma in normal rats. Three phases of enhancement were modified according to the time-density curves (TDCs) of the perfusion imaging: hepatic arterial phase (7 seconds), hepatic portal venous phase (15 seconds), and a delayed phase (23-31 seconds). On examination by microscopy, the liver tissues were pathologically normal.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The appropriate protocol with multi-slice spiral CT liver perfusion reflected normal liver hemodynamics in rats. This study laid a solid foundation for further investigation of the physiological characteristics of liver cancer in a rat model, and was an important supplement to and reference for conventional contrast-enhanced CT scans.</p>

Differences in shapes and properties and microscopic frameworks of wild and cultivated Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae from different regions / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the differences in shapes and properties and the microscopic frameworks of the wild and cultivated Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae from different regions.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The differences in the shapes and properties, the characters of transverse sections, the powder and disintegrated tissue of roots were compared using microscopic measurement and statistics analysis.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The wild Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae had several long cylinder roots with rough flaky squama skin and brown red or wine culour, the cultivated had root of many branch with cling skin and brick-red or chestnut culour. The difference of microscopic histological structure was that the xylem vessel of wild Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae had bunched vessel with the rank form of big diameter alternating with small diameter, and had stone cell on samples from some producing region, the xylem vessel of the cultivated had no bunched vessel and no stone cell with the rank form of tangential radial. Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae cultivated in Sichuan Province is called original-region medicinal materials and named Chuandanshen. Chuandanshen had the differences with the Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix cultivated in other region. The root of Chuandanshen had 1.2 cm diameter, and was bulky and fat with solid fabric and the fracture with brownish yellow color and cutin-alikeness, its xylem vessel of transverse section of root was thin with the rank form of tangential radial, and 19-24 vascular bundle and a few wood fiber.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix of the wild and the cultivated, of the original-region (Chuandanshen) and the other-region, have the differences in the shapes and properties, and the microscopic frameworks. The character can be identified by the differences in the shapes of medicinal materials, and the rank form of vascular bundle of transverse section of root.</p>