Evaluation of the role of 8-iso-PGF levels at multiple sites during intracranial hemorrhage in pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was planned to explore the role of 8-isomeric-prostaglandinF2α (8-iso-PGF2α) levels at the multiple sites of cerebrospinal fluid in children with intracranial hemorrhage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 90 children with intracranial hemorrhage were admitted to Surgery Intensive Care Unit (SICU) of our hospital from January to December 2013 and were selected as study subjects. They were divided into group A (n=30), group B (n=30) and group C (n=30). The group A was given conventional treatment, the group B was treated with minimally invasive puncture and the group C was treated with cerebrospinal fluid decompression. After 1 d, 2 d, 3 d, and 7 d of hospitalization, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the 8-iso-PGF2α levels in peripheral blood of children in all groups. On the day of admission and 10 d after treatment, 3 groups of children were implemented with brain nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for metabolite analyses. RESULTS: On the day of admission there were no significant differences in the 8-iso-PGF2α levels among group A, B and C. Further, after 1 d, 3 d, 7 d of hospital stay, the 8-iso-PGF2α levels in peripheral blood showed a gradual downward trend, and decline range of the group C was greater than that of group A and B (p < 0.05). After 10 days of treatment, there were significant differences in the bilateral temporal lobe and hippocampal NAA/Creatinine (Cr), Cho/Cr, mI/Cr and NAA/mI among group A, B, and C. The survival rate of group C was higher than that of group A and B (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the prevalence of sequelae was significantly lower than that of group A and B (p < 0.05). The amount of blood loss in children with intracranial hemorrhage was positively correlated with the levels of 8-iso-PGF2α in peripheral blood (r = 0.546, p < 0.05) as observed by Spearman correlation analysis. CONCLUSIONS: 8-iso-PGF2α plays an important role in the pathogenesis of intracranial hemorrhage, and could be utilized as a biomarker of oxidative stress in children with intracranial hemorrhage. Further, cerebrospinal fluid decompression is a better method of treatment for intracranial hemorrhage.

Clinical evaluation of the normalized metal artefact reduction algorithm caused by dental fillings in CT.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a normalized metal artefact reduction (NMAR) algorithm in patients with high-density dental fillings in CT images, and compare the results with weighted filtered back-projection (WFBP) and linear interpolation metal artefact reduction (MARli) algorithms. METHODS: A total of 15 patients who had dental fillings were included in this study. The CT raw data sets were processed on an offline workstation. For each data set, one image series was reconstructed with WFBP, one with MARli and one with NMAR. Two observers qualitatively graded the severity of metal artefacts and their impacts on surrounding and distant soft tissue using a five-point scale. Six regions of interest were selected to measure the CT values and the standard deviation (SD) for quantitatively evaluating the effects of artefact reduction. RESULTS: A total of 217 slices with metal artefacts from 15 patients were included in the qualitative analysis. The average score (mean ± SD) with the WFBP and MARli algorithms was 2.24 ± 1.06 and 2.71 ± 0.73, respectively. Image artefacts were significantly reduced using the NMAR algorithm compared with the other two algorithms, with an average score of 1.70 ± 0.83. The mean CT value in the most hypodense streak artefacts around the metal fillings was significantly improved with both MARli and NMAR. The mean SDs of measured CT values from surrounding or distant soft tissues were lower in NMAR images than in WFBP and MARli images. CONCLUSIONS: The NMAR algorithm can significantly reduce the artefacts caused by dental fillings, compared with the WFBP and linear interpolation algorithms.