Analysis on exercise capacity of patients with pneumoconiosis and different degrees of pulmonary dysfunction / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To explore the exercise capacity of patients with occupational pneumoconiosis with varying degrees of pulmonary dysfunction. METHODS: A total of 488 hospitalized occupational pneumoconiosis patients were selected as study subjects using the judgment sampling method and examined for pulmonary function test and cardiopulmonary exercise test(CPET). Among them, 272 patients with normal lung function were assigned as the control group, and 216 patients with abnormal lung function as the case group. The case group was divided into mild, moderate and severe pulmonary dysfunction subgroups according to the forced expiratory volume in one second/predicted value ratio(FEV_1%pred).RESULTS: The FEV_1%pred, maximal voluntary ventilation(MVV), maximum exercise tidal volume(VT_(max)), breathing reserve(BR), maximal Watt(W_(max)), maximum oxygen uptake(VO_(2max)) and anaerobic threshold(AT) in patients of the case group were lower than that in the control group(all P<0.05). The FEV_1%pred, MVV, VT_(max), W_(max), and VO_(2max) in patients in the 3 subgroups of abnormal lung function were decreased(all P<0.05) compared with the control group. The VO_(2max) and AT decreased in the case group with the increase of the degree of pulmonary dysfunction(P<0.05). The FEV1%pred, MVV, maximal exercise minute ventilation and VT_(max) of the study subjects were positively correlated with VO_(2max) and AT(all P<0.01), but the BR had no correlation with VO_(2max) and AT(all P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The more serious the abnormal degree of pulmonary function in the patients with occupational pneumoconiosis, the more obvious the decline of their exercise ability, showing a dose-effect relationship.

Evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders following traumatic brain injury / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Improvement of clinical symptoms following hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders arising from traumatic brain injury was proved by our previous study. This study was aim to obtain the evidence of other changes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three hundred and ten patients with neuropsychiatric disorders arising from traumatic brain injury were treated twice with hyperbaric oxygen. Cerebral single photon emissions computed tomography (SPECT) images and computed tomography scans (CT) before and after hyperbaric oxygen treatment, were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Before treatment, the proportion of abnormal cerebral changes detected by SPECT was 81.3% but only 15.2% by CT. After HBO treatment, 70.3% of SPECT scans showed no abnormalities and these patients were clinically improved. Treatment improved regional cerebral blood flow.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SPECT was much more sensitive than CT in the diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders following hyperbaric oxygen treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders arising from traumatic brain injury.</p>

Cerebral perfusion SPECT imaging for assessment of the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on patients with postbrain injury neural status / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on patients with postbrain injury neural status.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two to 4 courses of HBO therapy and/or medications were used to treat 320 patients who were randomly divided into two groups. Assessment was made with (99m)Tc-ethyl cysteinate dimer ( (99m)Tc-ECD) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was a significant difference between the HBO therapy group and the non-HBO therapy group. HBO therapy was superior to medication treatment alone in the recovery of clinical symptoms, control of epilepsy, and resolution of hydrocephalus (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>HBO therapy has specific curative effects on patients with postbrain injury neural status, and (99m)Tc-ECD SPECT could play an important role in diagnosing postbrain injury neural status and monitoring the therapeutic effects of HBO.</p>