Ultrasound-guided anhydrous ethanol and microwave ablation for functional parathyroid cyst: a case report / 南方医科大学学报

We report a case of functional parathyroid cyst treated by ultrasound-guided anhydrous ethanol sclerotherapy and microwave ablation. The 63-year-old female patient was diagnosed to have functional parathyroid cyst with hypercalcemia, high PTH and cystic space-occupying lesions in the neck by ultrasound, radionuclide scanning and PTH measurement of the cystic fluid. The patient refused to receive cyst resection, and anhydrous ethanol sclerotherapy with microwave ablation was performed under ultrasound guidance. The procedure was completed smoothly without any complications either during or after the operation. Follow-up examination of the patient at 18 months after the operation showed a significant reduction of the mass and normal blood calcium and iPTH levels, demonstrating a clinical cure of the patient. Ablative treatment of functional parathyroid cyst has not been documented so far. This approach provides a minimally invasive treatment modality for such cases where surgical resection is not an option, but its efficacy and safety need to be evaluated in more cases with longer follow-up time.

Exendin-4 alleviates oxidative stress and liver fibrosis by activating Nrf2/HO-1 in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of exendin-4 on hepatic lipid metabolism, fibrosis and oxidative stress in mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes and explore the underlying mechanisms.@*METHODS@#C57BL/6J mice were fed with high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 weeks and received intraperitoneal injections of 120 mg/kg STZ to induce diabetes. After successful modeling, the mice were randomized into diabetic control group and exendin-4 treatment group (DM+E4), and in the latter group, the mice were given a daily dose of 1 nmol/kg of exendin-4 for 8 weeks. The changes in the body weight (BW) and random blood glucose (RBG) in the mice were recorded. The mRNA expressions of the genes related with liver lipid metabolism, fibrosis and oxidative stress were analyzed using RT-PCR, and the structural changes of the liver tissues were observed with HE, Sirius red and oil red O staining; the expressions of TGF-β1, Nrf2 and HO-1 proteins in the liver tissues were detected using Western blotting.@*RESULTS@#The diabetic mice showed significantly higher RBG levels and BW with obvious lipid deposition, fibrosis and oxidative stress in the liver as compared with the normal control mice ( < 0.001). Exendin-4 treatment of the diabetic mice did not significantly lessened liver lipid deposition but obviously reduced the levels of RBG and TG ( < 0.05), lowered the expression levels of liver fibrosis-related genes TGF-β, -SMA and Col-Ⅰ ( < 0.05), increased the expression levels of the antioxidant genes Nrf2, HO-1 and GPX4 ( < 0.01), and enhanced the protein expressions of Nrf2 and HO-1 in the liver tissues ( < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Exendin-4 improves liver fibrosis and oxidative stress in diabetic mice by activating Nrf2/HO-1 pathway without significantly reducing liver lipid deposition.

Clinical characteristics and treatment of esophageal injury caused by button battery in children / 中国内镜杂志

Objective To study the clinical characteristics and treatment of esophageal injury caused by button battery foreign bodies in children, then improve the diagnosis and management level of this hazardous problem of children. Methods 15 patients with esophageal injury caused by button battery foreign bodies were retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis. Results 12 button battery foreign bodies were removed successfully with rigid esophagoscope, 3 with electronic gastroscope. 12 cases occurred serious esophageal lesions, 10 patients were fully recovered after nasal feeding, anti-inflammatory and supporting therapy. Serious complication such as esophageal perforation occurred in 2 cases, one of them occurred tracheo-esophageal fistula. Conclusion Button battery embedded in the esophagus is easy to cause serious esophagus injury, early detection is the key of the management, and its prompt removal is mandatory. Button battery have a distinctive appearance on radiography, chest radiographs can be used as the first choice of diagnosis. The reasonable treatment can obtain better curative results and avoid serious complications according to the course of the disease and esophageal damage degree. Physicians must recognize the hazardous potential and serious implications such as esophageal perforation and tracheo-esophageal fistula.

Effect of Three-dimensional Echocardiography for Evaluating Right Atrial Function in Patients After Atria Sepal Defect Closure / 中国循环杂志

Objective: To explore the effect of three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) for evaluating right atrial function in patients after atrial septal defect (ASD) closure. Methods: Our research included 2 group: ASD group,n=50 patients with successful ASD closure and Control group, n=30 normal subjects from physical examination. RT-3DE was conducted at pre-operation and at 3 days, 1 month, 3 months post-operation; the volume of right atrium before contraction (Vpre), minimum volume of the right atrium (Vmin), maximum volume of the right atrium (Vmax), total emptying volume of right atrium (Vt), total emptying volume fraction of right atrium (Ft), active emptying volume fraction (Fa) and passive emptying volume fraction (Fp) were measured and compared between 2 groups at pre- and post-operation respectively. Results: At pre-operation, compared with Control group, ASD group had increased Vmax, Vmin, Vpre, Vt, and Fa, while decreased Ft and Fp, allP0.05. Conclusion: ADS patients had abnormal volume and function in right atrium, the abnormalities could be improved at 3 days after ASD closure and could be recovered to normal level at 3 months after operation. RT-3DE has the important role for evaluating right atrial volume and function in patients after ASD closure.