Preparation and in vitro study on diffusion of capsaicin cubosome / 中国中药杂志

This study was to investigate the permeability and absorbability of capsaicin cubosome across abdominal skin of the SD rats in vitro. Diffusion of capsaicin cubosome and cream was performed with the modified Franz diffusion cell technique. The capsaicin cubosome showed no enhancement of skin permeation within 24 hours. However, the deposition amounts of capsaicin in the rat skin in the cubosome group was markedly higher than those in the commercial cream group (P < 0.01). Cubosome showed excellent characetristic of skin-targed which could be a good carrier for the local transdermal drug delivery system.

Evaluation of the role of combined TES-MEP and CSEP monitoring during the spinal surgery / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate of the role of transcranial electrical stimulation motor evoked potential (TES-MEP) in combination with cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP) monitoring during the spinal surgery.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>TES-MEP on bilateral anterior tibial muscle and flexor hallucal brevis and CSEP on bilateral posterior tibial nerve were observed simultaneously on 293 patients during spinal surgery from July 2006 to April 2009. Intravenous anesthesia was employed in all the patients, a part of which were added low dose of sevoflurane or muscle relaxant. The results of TES-MEP, CSEP and combined monitoring were analyzed statistically. Pre-operative and post-operative motor and sensory functions of spinal cord were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Success rate of TES-MEP, CSEP and combined monitoring was 90.8%, 96.9% and 100% respectively. For the judgment of motor function of spinal cord, the sensitivity of TES-MEP and CSEP was 100% and 89.3% respectively and the specificity of 98.4% and 96.9%. The Youden index of the two methods was 0.984 and 0.862. For sensory function, the sensitivity of them was 76.7% and 93.3% respectively and the specificity of 98.7% and 98.0%. The Youden index was 0.754 and 0.913. The sensitivity of combined monitoring was 100%, with the specificity of 96.9%. The Youden index was 0.969.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The precision of monitoring motor function of spinal cord with TES-MEP is higher than that with CSEP, however, for sensory function, CSEP is more precise. The sensitivity and precision of combined monitoring for spinal cord function were apparently better than that of unitary TES-MEP or CSEP. The combined TES-MEP and CSEP monitoring is a relatively ideal method.</p>

Predictive value of three surgical scoring systems for estimation of life expectancy in patients with extradural spinal metastasis / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the predictive values of Tokuhashi score, revised Tokuhashi score and Tomita score systems for life expectancy and treatment options in patients with spinal metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From February 1996 to January 2009, spinal operations in 104 cases with spinal metastasis were performed in our hospital. There were 65 males and 39 females, with an average of 53.4 years (median 52.5 years). To calculate AUC (area under the curve) values of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves of three scores, and to analyze the accuracy of prediction of life expectancy. To compare the actual survival time with the expected survival time of the three scores by Kaplan-Meier method. Spearman correlation analysis was performed between the survival time and three scoring systems.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All cases were followed-up with an average duration of 10.9 months, and 77 patients died. AUC analysis of ROC curves showed that the difference of the accuracy of the three scores was not significant. AUC in all groups of Tokuhashi Score was low, with a poor diagnostic accuracy. In the "died within 3 months" and "died within 6 months" groups of revised Tokuhashi score, the accuracy was low, while high in the other two groups. The AUC values of Tomita score in "died within 6 months" and "died within 24 months" were high, with a great diagnostic accuracy while the other two groups were low with a low diagnostic accuracy. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the actual survival time in all three scores was not entirely consistent with the expected survival time. Tokuhashi score and revised score were positively correlated with the survival time while that of Tomita score was negative.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>All the three prognosis scores in patients with spinal metastasis were closely related with survival time. The combination of Tokuhashi score and Tomita score may be applied to better predict postoperative survival prognosis and guide the surgical options for patients with spinal metastasis.</p>

Evaluation of the early outcomes of mini-open lumbar microdiscectomy / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To evaluate the early outcomes of mini-open lumbar microdiscectomy. Methods There were 38 cases in each group of mini-open lumbar mierodiscectomy and conventional discecto- my.Operating time,blood loss,time of leaving the bed and length of hospital stay were compared in two groups.MacNab criteria were used to evaluate the outcomes.Results To compare the conventional discec- tomy group,microdiscectomy group spent similar operating time,but had less blood loss(P