ABSTRACT
Excessive tortuosity is a notable cause of failed endovascular thrombectomy for acute large-vessel occlusion stroke. Transcervical access (TCA) is a commonly proposed solution for overcoming this difficulty. However, the large-bore catheter usually used in TCA increases the risk of serious local complications. This paper presents a modified technique for TCA that uses a pull-through buddy wire (PTBW) to track a large-bore femoral guiding sheath (GS) into the carotid artery via a small carotid puncture site. The carotid puncture site can be easily managed through gentle manual compression. Two illustrative cases using this technique to deal with a large aortic arch and tortuous left common carotid artery are reported. In both cases, recanalization was achieved after successful GS placement. Using a PTBW is feasible in TCA.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Precartilaginous stem cells exist in articular cartilage, which may become potential seed cells for cartilage tissue engineering. Transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) has positive regulation effect on the proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of precartilagious stem cells. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of TGF-β3 on the chondrogenesis of osteochondroprogenitor cells. METHODS: CD146+chondrocytes were isolated from the patients with advanced osteoarthritis, and were then identified. CD146+chondrocytes were cultured in the normal medium (blank control group), chondrogenic induced medium (control group), chondrogenic induced medium containing 2.5 and 10 μg/L recombinant human TGF-β3, respectively. The immunohistochemistry of collagen Ⅱ and aggrecan was performed, and the related gene expression was tested by real-time quantitative PCR after 4 weeks of culture. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: When chondrogenic differentiation was performed, the number of cell pellets in the 10 μg/L TGF-β3 group was greater than that in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group, and the number of cell pellets in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group was greater than that in the control group. The expression levels of collagen Ⅱ and aggrecan in the 10 μg/L TGF-β3 group was significantly higher than that in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group (P＜ 0.05). The expression levels of collagen Ⅱ and aggrecan in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜ 0.05). Real-time quantitative PCR results showed that the expression levels of collagen Ⅱ and aggrecan mRNA in the 10 μg/L TGF-β3 group were significantly higher than those in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group (P＜ 0.05), but the expression level of SOX-9 showed insignificant difference between two groups (P ＞ 0.05), and the expression level of SOX-9 in the 10 and 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 groups was significantly higher than that in the control group (P＜ 0.05); the expression levels of collagen Ⅱ and aggrecan mRNA in the 2.5 μg/L TGF-β3 group were higher than those in the control group (P＜ 0.05). Our findings suggest that osteochondroprogenitor cells with stem cell characteristics exist in the residual articular cartilage of the patients with advanced osteoarthritis. TGF-β3 has the ability of promoting chondrogenic differentiation of osteochondroprogenitor cells, which may be an ideal cytokine for cartilage tissue engineering.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between the blood oxygenation T₂* values of resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) and tumor stages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 48 ESCC patients and 20 healthy participants who had undergone esophageal T₂*-weighted imaging to obtain T₂* values of the tumors and normal esophagi. ESCC patients underwent surgical resections less than one week after imaging. Statistical analyses were performed to identify the association between T₂* values of ESCCs and tumor stages. RESULTS: One-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls tests revealed that the T₂* value could differentiate stage T1 ESCCs (17.7 ± 3.3 ms) from stage T2 and T3 tumors (24.6 ± 2.7 ms and 27.8 ± 5.6 ms, respectively; all p(s) 0.05) or between N stages (N1 vs. N2 vs. N3: 24.7 ± 6.9 ms vs. 25.4 ± 4.5 ms vs. 26.8 ± 3.9 ms, respectively; all p(s) > 0.05). The former tests illustrated that the T₂* value could differentiate anatomic stages I and II (18.8 ± 4.8 ms and 26.9 ± 5.9 ms, respectively) or stages I and III (27.3 ± 3.6 ms). ROC analysis depicted the same cutoff T₂* value of 21.3 ms for either differentiation. In addition, the Student's t test revealed that the T₂* value could determine grouped T stages (T0 vs. T1–3: 17.0 ± 2.9 ms vs. 25.2 ± 6.2 ms; T0–1 vs. T2–3: 17.3 ± 3.0 ms vs. 27.1 ± 5.3 ms; and T0–2 vs. T3: 18.8 ± 4.2 ms vs. 27.8 ± 5.6 ms, all p(s) < 0.001). ROC analysis indicated that the T₂* value could detect ESCCs (cutoff, 20 ms), and discriminate between stages T0–1 and T2–3 (cutoff, 21.3 ms) and between T0–2 and T3 (cutoff, 20.4 ms). CONCLUSION: The T₂* value can be an additional quantitative indicator for detecting ESCC except for stage T1 cancer, and can preoperatively discriminate between some T stages and between anatomic stages of this tumor.