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Objective: The quantity and quality of publications in critical care medicine from East Asia haven't been reported. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of publications from East Asia
Methods: Articles from China, Japan and South Korea in 2005 to 2014 were retrieved from Web of Science and Pubmed. The number of publications, impact factor, citation, and article types were analyzed
Results: There were 3076 publications from East Asia [1720 from China, 913 from Japan, and 443 from South Korea]. There were a significant decrease in publications from Japan [p = 0.024] and significant increases from China [p = 0.000] and South Korea [p = 0.009]. From 2006, the number of articles from China exceed Japan. China had the highest total impact factor [6618.48] and citation [18416], followed by Japan [4566.03; 15440] and South Korea [1998.19; 5599]. Japan had the highest mean impact factor [5.00] and citations [16.91], followed by South Korea [4.51; 12.64] and China [3.85; 10.71]
Conclusions: China and South Korea`s contributions to critical care medicine had significant increases during the past 10 years, while Japan had a significant decrease. China was the most productive region in East Asia since 2006. Japan had the highest quality research output
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Objective To compare the effects of BOSU ball exercise and treadmill walking on lower limbs function in patients after stroke. Methods 40 patients more than 6 months after stroke were randomly divided into BOSU ball group (n=20) and treadmill group (n=20), who accepted BOSU ball or treadmill exercise on the basis of routine rehabilitation. They were assessed with Berg Balance Scale (BBS), 30-s chair stand (CS-30), sit and reach (SR), 6 minutes walk test (6MWT) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) before and 12 weeks af-ter treatment. Results The scores of all the assessment improved in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and the socres of BBS and MBI im-proved more in the BOSU ball group than in the treadmill group (P<0.05). Conclusion BOSU ball exercise can improve more of the balance and activities of daily living in post-stroke patient than treadmill walking.
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Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of endovascular embolism in treating aneurysms located at the bifurcation of middle cerebral artery. Methods During the period from Jan. 2009 to May 2013 at authors’ hospital, a total of 21 patients with intracranial aneurysms located at the bifurcation of middle cerebral artery were treated with interventional embolization. Of the 21 cases , steel coils were used in 7, stent-assistant embolization was adopted in 12, and dual-microcatheter technique was employed in 2. The results were analyzed. Results Postoperative angiography showed that complete embolization of the aneurysm was achieved in 14 patients, residual neck was detected in 2 patients and subtotal obliteration of the aneurysm was seen in 5 patients. Procedure-related complications occurred in 2 patients, including cerebral bleeding during operation (n = 1) and postoperative small area cerebral infarction. Seventeen patients were followed up for 6 months, and follow-up angiography showed that no recurrence of aneurysm was seen. Conclusion For un-ruptured, or ruptured with no big hematoma, intracranial aneurysms located at the bifurcation of middle cerebral artery, endovascular interventional embolization is the treatment of choice.
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Objective To observe the concentration effects of alcohol in perineurial block on the structure and function of sciatic nerve and it's innervated muscles in rats so as to provide the basis for clinical application of chemical neurolysis.Methods One hundred and fifty female Sprague-Dawley rats were used and randomly assigned into a blank group(BG,n =6),a control group(CG,n =36),a 50％ alcohol group(50G,n =36),a 75％ alcohol group(75G,n =36)and a 99.9％ alcohol group(99.9G,n =36).The CG received physiological saline injection,the 50G,75G,99.9G received corresponding concentrations alcohol perineurial block,respectively.Changes of motor function was assessed,electrophysiological and histomorphological observations of sciatic nerve and its innervated muscles were conducted before and at 24 h,72 h,1 week,4 week,12 week after block.Results(① Hypokinesia and decrease of motor conduction velocity(MCV)were observed at 24 h after block,and peaked at 72 h after block; at 1 week after block,the motor function and MCV improved,the improvement persisted to the 12th week (P ＜ 0.05); but at the 12th week,MCV was still slower than that before block(P ＜ 0.01).②There were significant differences with regard to motot function and MCV of sciatic nerve among 99.9G and the other groups at e ery time point after block(P ＜0.05); ③ Reversible dengeneration of sciatic nerve and hind limb muscle,nonreversible necrosis of muscle occurred more seriously with the increase of alcohol concentration,and the cicatrization in 99.9G was more obvious than that in 50G and 75G at the 12th week; ④Structural lesion of sciatic nerve occurred at 24 h after block and peaked at the 72th h,myelinated axonal sprouts appeared at 1 week after block and persisted to the 12th weck.Conclusions ① The effects of 99.9 ％ alcohol perineural block on the structural lesion,motor function and MCV of sciatic nerve and its related muscle were more obvious than those of 50％ and 75％ alcohol; ② The destructive effect of alcohol block would maintain more than 12 week and neural restoration would maintain more than 12 weeks too.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the levels of IL-18 in the bone marrow of both normal subjects and patients with hematological diseases and to determine the possible significance of IL-18 in pathogenesis of some hematological malignancies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The IL-18 mRNA levels in the bone marrow of 140 patients with hematological diseases and 15 normal donors were determined by the semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Immunohistochemical method was used to detect IL-18 protein in 12 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The possible regulation of IL-18 for proliferation of some leukemia cells was investigated using antisense techniques.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>IL-18 mRNA levels were obviously higher in the patients with leukemia or other malignant hematological diseases (OMHD) than in normal donors. However, no significant difference was found in the level of transcription between patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and normal controls. Immunohistochemical method confirmed the presence of IL-18 protein in 10 out of 12 AML cases with positive transcription. By 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, IL-18 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ASON) clearly inhibited the growth of J6-1 and HL-60 cells (42% and 12% inhibited, respectively) in a dose-dependent manner.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>IL-18 was detected at elevated levels in the bone marrow of patients with some hematological malignancies, and might be involved in the proliferation of certain leukemic cells in vivo through an autocrine mechanism.</p>