Probable etiology of mild encephalopathy with reversible isolated lesions in the corpus callosum in children: A review of 20 cases from northern China

Objective:To explore the etiological spectrum of solitary corpus callosum lesions in children. Methods:Retrospective analysis ofclinical features, laboratory findings and brain MRI of 20 children with isolated corpus callosum lesions and treated in Taiyuan, northern China. Results:The average age of onset was 3.64±3.25 years old. The main clinical symptoms were seizures (13 cases, 65%), fever (10 cases, 50%), gastrointestinal symptoms with vomiting or diarrhea (10 cases, 50%), neck stiffness (5 cases, 25%), altered states of consciousness (4 cases, 20%). Brain MRI showed the splenium lesion to be oval in shape. Repeat MRI showed reversal of the lesion after a mean of 29.5 days. Though the patients were suspected to have probable viral encephalitis, no etiology was found in 15 cases. There was associated gastroenteritis in 5 patients, and rotavirus confirmed in stool in 4 patients. Close to half the patients had hyponatremia. None of the patient had had persistent neurobehavioural symptoms on follow-up at 12-14 months. Conclusions:This study from northern China confirmed that isolated solitary corpus callosum lesion is benign

BK virus and renal transplantation / 中国医学科学院学报

BK virus (BKV) is a subtype of papovaviridae. The latent and asymptomatic infection of BKV is common among healthy people. The incidence of BKV re-activation in renal transplant recipients ranges 10%-68%. About 1%-7% of renal transplant recipients will suffer from BKV-associated nephropathy (BKVAN), and half of them will experience graft failure. This paper summarizes the re-activation mechanism of BKV as well as the risk factors, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of BKVAN.

Pericytes are correlated with the permeability of rat corneal neovascular vessels induced by alkali burn / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Corneal neovascular leakage can lead to edema and secondary scarring. Previous studies have shown that pericytes play a key role in maturation of angiogenesis. The present studies investigate the relationship between vascular permeability and pericyte coverage of endothelial cells in rat corneal neovascular induced by alkali burns.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Corneal neovascular vessels induced by alkali burns was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats. Corneas were excised on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days after cauterization. The vascular permeability rate was measured by the Evans blue method. The microvessel pericyte coverage index (MPI) was applied to quantify the pericyte coverage through double immunofluorescent staining of frozen sections of corneas with CD31 as the endothelial and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) as the pericyte markers. The correlation between permeability rate and MPI was analyzed. Pericyte coverage was confirmed ultrastructually using transmission electron microscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The vascular permeability rate was (1.14 +/- 0.17), (0.24 +/- 0.08), (0.29 +/- 0.16), (0.14 +/- 0.10), (0.09 +/- 0.06) and (0.05 +/- 0.04) microg x ml(-1) x mm(-2) respectively on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days after cauterization. The MPI was 0, 16.07%, 11.95%, 43.84%, 73.97% and 86.21% respectively at the above mentioned time points. The correlation coefficient between MPI and the permeability rate was -0.943 (P = 0.005).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Pericyte recruitment was significantly correlated with the permeability of corneal neovascularization induced by alkali burns in rats. Therapeutic strategies aiming at anti-leakage should be most effective if they promote pericytes proliferation in the course of corneal neovascularization.</p>