Supplementingand activating blood circulation method to treat vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia with posterior circulatory watershed infarction: a case report of two patients.

Vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD), a rare posterior circulation vascular variant disease, is an important risk factor for many acute cerebrovascular diseases. An insufficient understanding of VBD often leads to misdiagnose. Two cases of VBD that were initially diagnosed as posterior circulation watershed infarction are reported here. Absence of common causes of stroke including hypoperfusion, blood system diseases, carotid and aortic dissection, and eosinophil elevation, the symptoms of the 2 patients met the diagnostic criteria of VBD. Both patients displayed symptoms that were in line with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome pattern of "deficiency and blood stasis". Accordingly, they were comprehensively treated with Supplementingand activating blood circulation method. The clinical manifestations of the 2 patients were remarkably improved and no recurrence of watershed infarction was found in a 1-year follow-up. A detailed medical history and laboratory examination are capable of improving diagnostic accuracy of VBD. TCM treatment based on syndrome identification might be a promising candidate for VBD management.

Effect of PTS on praxiology, pathomorphology and serum IL-6 in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion / 中华中医药杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of PTS on the related pathophysiological changes and serum IL-6 level at different time points after the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rat’s brain.Methods:The model of focal cerebral ischemia of rat was established by the suture-occluded method.The effect of PTS on the behavioral disturbance,the pathological change of ischemia tissue and the level of serum IL-6 at different time points(3d,7d,28d) after MCAO and cerebral ischemia in rats were studied.ResultsAfter MCAO,different degrees of motion disturbances were observed in all rats.The infarct spot can be observed in all groups except the normal.The nerve cell necrosis can be found in all rats after 24 hour of MCAO.The result showed that PTS could improve the degree of motion disturbance,reduce the infarct spot obviously;after MCAO,the serum IL-6 were increased obviously but could be reduced by PTS.Conclusion:PTS can protect the neurons,reduce and eliminate the infiammatory reaction of cerebral ischemia cascade reaction effectively,which may relate to its inhibiting effect on cell factors such as IL-6 production after cerebral ischemia.