Safety and efficacy of acute stent implantation during endovascular treatment for patients with emergent large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis / 中华内科杂志

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of acute stent implantation during endovascular treatment for patients with emergent large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis.Methods:A retrospective analysis was carried out on 46 patients with emergent large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis who received endovascular treatment at the Strategic Support Force Medical Center from January 2015 to August 2022. Twenty-seven patients underwent balloon angioplasty alone and 19 patients underwent acute stent implantation. The baseline characteristics, modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score of the responsible vessels, modified Rankin scale (mRS) score 90 days after operation, incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and mortality of the two groups were evaluated.Results:The proportion of effective recanalization of the offending vessels (mTICI≥2b) in the acute stenting group was slightly higher than that in the balloon angioplasty group (16/19 vs. 81.5%), but the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Besides, there was no significant difference in the median of mRS between the acute stenting group [3.0(0, 4.0)] and the balloon angioplasty group [4.0(1.0, 5.0)] 90 days after operation ( P>0.05). In terms of safety, the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and mortality were comparable between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The effect of acute stent implantation during endovascular treatment for patients with emergent large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis is not inferior to that of balloon angioplasty, and it does not increase the risk of intracranial bleeding complications.

Reflections on development status of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Central Asian countries / 国际中医中药杂志

Central Asia is an important hub connecting the Asian continent and European continent, and one of the key regions for China's foreign exchange and cooperation in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Central Asian countries have relatively backward medical conditions, and TCM has become an important part of local healthcare. Regulations on traditional/complementary and alternative medicine have been issued in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan; acupuncture and moxibustion has been covered by medical insurance in Kyrgyzstan; TCM has existed in other Central Asian countries in form of folk medicine. Central Asian countries are extremely rich in medicinal plant resources, but weak in foundation of pharmaceutical industry. Chinese government has signed cooperation agreements on TCM with many Central Asian countries, and the practical cooperation in the field of traditional medicine have continued to expand. At present, the development of TCM in Central Asian countries still faces problems such as weak foundation for the development and utilization of medicinal materials, shortage of professionals talents in TCM education and small scale of TCM clinics. In view of the above, in order to promote the dissemination and development of TCM in Central Asian countries, it is recommended that relevant units promote the establishment of joint laboratories or research centers of Chinese materia medica; give full play to local resource advantages and promote the development of medicinal plant industry; to strengthen the construction of overseas centers of TCM; actively carry out joint education or further education projects, and cultivate localized senior talents.

The development status and analysis of TCM in Latin America Countries / 国际中医中药杂志

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has become an important part in the healthcare system of Latin American countries, especially the TCM therapy represented by acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupuncture and moxibustion has been included in the medical insurance system of Brazil and Ecuador, and many universities in Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and other countries offer courses related to traditional medicine, including acupuncture and moxibustion courses. Latin American counties are rich in medicinal plant resources. Argentina, Chile, Colombia and other countries have publicized regulations related to the use of herbs.China has signed cooperation agreements on TCM with many Latin American countries and, they have showed desire to strengthen cooperation with China. At present, the development of TCM in Latin American countries faces some problems, such as the scale of TCM clinics is small, the quality of TCM training are unbalanced, and there are many restrictions on TCM products entering the Latin American market. In order to promote cooperation with Latin American countries in TCM and expand its scale and development, it is suggested that China should carry out in-depth cooperation on global public health governance at the national level, plan the layout of overseas centers of TCM in Latin America and promote the construction, while scientific research institutions of TCM should carry out joint research on TCM with Latin American countries, and strengthen cooperation in running schools to standardize TCM education.

Comparison of two health education intervention on tuberculosis prevention in schools / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To compare the effectiveness of Internet plus mode with tradition education mode on tuberculosis prevention in schools,so as to provide the reference for reducing the risk of catching tuberculosis in schools.@*Methods@#Two junior and two senior high schools as well as two universities were selected from Baoding. The two same level schools were randomly divided into the traditional education group and the Internet plus group. All the students received 2-month TB health education intervention. Questionnaire survey was conducted before and after intervention. A total of 2 804 and 2 821 students were investigated before and after intervention respectively.@*Results@#The awareness rate of TB prevention and treatment core knowledge among the traditional education group and the Internet plus group before intervention was 47.5% and 47.8%, respectively (χ2=0.19, P>0.05). After intervention, the percentage of students with positive attitude and behavior regarding TB was 93.0% and 85.1% in the Internet plus group and the traditional model education group, respectively, including willingness to accept TB test (88.6% vs 81.5%), active reporting to school on TB diagnosis (96.4% vs 90.5%), no spitting in public, cover up when sneeze or cough (94.3% vs 90.6%), opening windows for ventilation (98.1% vs 95.7%), and willingness to share knowledge (98.7% vs 96.4%), active prevention of TB (86.3% vs 78.2%)(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Internet plus mode health education intervention shows more effectiveness on tuberculosis health education, compared with traditional health education.

Prognostic analysis of arterial embolectomy of acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism caused by atrial fibrillation / 中国脑血管病杂志

Objective To investigate the related factors of the prognosis of arterial embolectomy of acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism caused by atrial fibrillation.Methods The clinical data of using vein thrombolysis bridging artery embolectomy or arterial embolectomy alone for the treatment of patients with acute cardiogenic cerebral embolism of cerebral large artery occlusion due to atrial fibrillation were analyzed retrospectively.From January 2015 to December 2016,22 consecutive inpatients with cardioembolic cerebral embolism caused by paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation were enrolled,including 10 patients with the 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 0-2 (good recovery group) and 12 patients with mRS scores 3-6 (poor recovery group).The clinical features,imaging data,and treatment of the patients in both groups were compared.The factors such as age,gender,preoperative international standardization ratio (INR),embolism position,whether bridging vein thrombolysis before thrombectomy,National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at the onset,time of onset to reperfusion (TOR),whether using tirofiban,times of thrombectomy,modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (mTICI) blood flow grade,and postoperative intracranial symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage were analyzed.Results There were no significant differences in age,gender,preoperative INR,embolism position,the number of intravenous thrombolysis before thrombectomy,the number of using tirofiban in surgery,the proportion of the above mTICI 2b grade,and the proportion of symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage after surgery of the patients between the two groups (P>0.05).The NIHSS score 15.2±2.0 at the onset in the good recovery group was lower than 22.9±8.4 in the poor recovery group.There was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).The TOR time (307±86 min) in the good recovery group was less than that of the poor recovery group (426±145 min).There was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).Embolectomy was performed 1.5 (0.5,3.0) times in the good recovery group,which was less than the poor recovery group (4.0 [2.0,7.0] times).There was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).Conclusions Shortening the time of reperfusion and reducing the number of embolectomy during operation are the important factors for improving the prognosis of patients when atrial fibrillation causes arterial embolectomy in patients with acute cerebral embolism.However,a study of larger sample is needed for further exploration.

Clinical analysis of difficult intraarterial mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute ischemic stroke / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the causes and strategy of difficult intraarterial mechanical thrombectomy (≥3 times) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 8 cases of AIS with thrombectomy ≥3 times admitted in Department of Neurology, the 306(th) Hospital of People's Liberation Army from June to October in 2015 was analyzed retrospectively. There were 7 male and 1 female patients, aged from 38 to 86 years with an average age of (70±15) years, in which 5 cases were cardiogenic cerebral embolism and 3 cases were large artery atherosclerotic infarction. The National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score (M (QR)) was 16 (12) before procedure and modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI)score were 0 in all the patients. Solitaire AB was used in thrombectomy in the occlusion of the arteries.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The causes of difficult intraarterial thrombectomy included multiple thrombus, tortuosity in vascular paths, guiding catheter being placed below the internal carotid artery siphon leading to weak strength of suction and support of stent, embolus dropping in the thrombectomy and inadequate anesthesia. After successful thrombectomy 3 cases had mTICI score of 2a, 4 cases of 2b, 1 case of 3. The NIHSS score was 5 (24) at 7(th) day after treatment. At the 90-day follow-up 5 patients had good prognosis (modified Rankin score 0 to 2) and 3 had disability (modified Rankin score 3 to 4).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cases of AIS with difficult intraarterial thrombectomy can be treated by improving thrombectomy materials and technique, reasonable anesthesia and perioperative medication in decision-making strategy.</p>

Changes of cognitive impairment and cerebral perfusion in patients with asymptomatic severe unilateral internal carotid stenosis / 中国脑血管病杂志

Objective To investigate the relationship between the evaluation of cerebral perfusion with CT perfusion (CTP)imaging and cognitive impairment in patients with asymptomatic severe internal carotid stenosis. Methods A total of 104 patients with asymptomatic severe unilateral internal carotid artery origin stenosis (the unilateral stenosis rate ≥70% and the contralateral stenosis rate 0. 05). The CTP parameters rMTT,rTTP,rCBV,and rCBF in the non-cognitive impairment group were 1. 074 ± 0. 066,1. 103 ± 0. 032,1. 045 ± 0. 021 and 1. 066 ± 0. 040,respectively;the CTP parameters rMTT,rTTP,rCBV,and rCBF in the cognitive impairment group were 1. 241 ± 0. 169, 1. 328 ± 0. 248,1. 046 ± 0. 030,and 1. 093 ± 0. 058,respectively. The rTTP and rMTT of the cognitive impairment were longer than those of the non-cognitive impairment group. There were significant differences in rTTP and rMTT between the 2 groups (P 0.05). Conclusion Most of the patients with asymptomatic severe internal carotid stenosis has cognitive impairment,and cerebral perfusion caused by stenosis is significantly slower in patients with cognitive impairment than in those with noncognitive impairment.

A novel bone marrow transplantation strategy for donor-specific tolerance induction after heart transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective To investigate a new strategy of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for donor-specific tolerance induction after heart transplantation. Methods Donor bone marrow cells (BMCs)were harvested simultaneously with donor cardiac graft using modified perfusion method (PM) ,then stored in a -80 ℃ refrigerator after filtration and centrifugation. Whole BMCs (IBM-BMT) (monocytes 1.2 ×107/kg,CD34+ cells 2.38× 105/kg) in host iliac bones were injected into the bone marrow cavity 40 days after heart transplantation. Preconditoning regimens that consisted of fludarabine, antithymoctye globin and total lymphoid irradiation were performed 3 days before BMT. Tacrolimus (Tac) was administrated intravenously after BMT or orally in conjunction with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 3 weeks later.Cyclosporine and MMF were orally administrated 6 weeks later. Donor chimerism was detected using short tandem repeats-polymerase chain reaction in monocytes from peripheral blood at the 2nd,4th, 8th or 12th week after BMT or BMCs at the 4th, 8th or 12th week after BMT. Intramyocardium electrocardiography examination or endomyocardial biopsy was performed weekly or monthly respectively. Mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) were performed 3 months after BMT. Results Donor chimerism in monocytes in peripheral blood or BMCs in iliac bones measured at the 1 st,2nd and 3rd month after BMT was 26.3%, 19.1%,4.8% ,and 46.3%, 24.4%, 7.6%, respectively. After 3-month follow-up, there was no rejection confirmed by endomyocardial biopsy or intramyocardium electrocardiography. Echocardiography revealed that the diastolic and systolic function of the cardiac graft was maintained well 3 months after BMT. MLR revealed donor-specific hyporesponsiveness while immunocompetence was preserved to third-party antigens. Conclusion These findings indicate that the two-stage BMT strategy is a safe and feasible method for the induction of donor-specific tolerance via stable mixed chimerism and needs to be further confirmed after a long-term observation.