Objective To investigate the clinical therapeutic effects of two types of vaginoplasty. Methods From January 1996 to March 2005, 63 patients wih the congenital absence of the vagina were treated by two types of vaginoplasty. Of the 63 patients, 37 underwent vaginoplasty using the amnion and 26 underwent an improved laparoscopic Vecchitti operation. The durations ofthe operation and hospitalization, as well as the blood loss were compared between the two types of vaginoplasty. The vaginal moulds were improved during the operations. Results According to the follow-up for 2 months to 4 years in the 35 patients. Compared with vaginoplasty using the amnion, vaginoplasty by an improved laparoscopic Vecchitti operation had advantages of significantly shorter surgical duration, shorter hospitalization, and less blood loss (Plt;0.05). After the operations, the artificial vagina of all the 63 patients could hold a speculum and the mucosa appeared so soft and smooth with normal lubrication. The married patients were satisfied with the intercourse. However, after vaginoplasty using the amnion, an infection of the amnion occurred in 3 patients, scar contracture in 2 patients, one of whom underwent scar incision 13 months after operation with a success; but the other refuse to accept another operation. But the improved laparoscopic Vecchitti operation achieved a success in the patients without any infectionor scar contracture, according to the 2 month-2.5 years follow-up. Conclusion The improved laparoscopic Vecchitti operation is a preferred procedure of constructing a vagina for the patients suffering from the congenital absence of the vagina.
Objective To evaluate the use value of the perineal H-shaped incision in laparoscopic peritoneum vaginoplasty. Methods Between January 2005 and July 2011, 29 cases of congenital absence of vagina underwent laparoscopic peritoneum vaginoplasty. There were 2 married cases and 27 unmarried cases, with a mean age of 22.7 years (range, 20-30 years). The patients had no vagina mouth or had a shallow depression. B ultrasound showed normal bilateral ovarian and no uterine or primordial uterus in the pelvic cavity. H-shaped incision was made between urethra and rectum for peritoneum vaginoplasty. Results All operations were successfully completed. The mean operation time was 130.5 minutes, and the mean blood loss was 73.5 mL. Primary healing of incision was achieved in all patients and no complication occurred. All the patients were followed up 1-2 years (mean, 1.5 years). At 3 months after operation, the mean length of neovagina was 9.5 cm (range, 8.2-10.5 cm); the neovagina could hold 2 fingers and the mucosa appeared so soft and smooth with normal lubrication; vaginal exfoliate cell maturation index was 50.5% ± 9.3% ; and the mean urethra-vaginal orifices spacing was 1.0 cm (range, 0.8-1.2 cm). At 1 year after operation, the mean length of the neovagina was 9.3 cm (range, 7.2-10.0 cm); the neovagina could hold 2 fingers; the vaginal exfoliate cell maturation index was 58.6% ± 8.1%; the mean urethra-vaginal orifices spacing was 1.1 cm (range, 0.9-1.3 cm). The rate of sexual satisfaction was 95%. Conclusion Use of the H-shaped incision in laparoscopic peritoneum vaginoplasty is a preferred way to reconstruct vagina for simple operation and good effectiveness.
Objective To investigate the antihypertensive effects of continuous airway positive pressure( CPAP) plus antihypertensive drugs on patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome ( OSAHS) and hypertension.Methods 82 OSAHS patients with hypertension were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into a CPAP treatment group( 44 patients, treated with antihypertensive drugs and CPAP) , and a control group( 38 patients, treated with antihypertensive drugs only) . All the patients were performed polysomnography and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring before and 12 weeks after the treatment. Results After 12 weeks treatment, except the systolic pressure in night time( nSBP) , all the parameters of 24-hour blood monitoring improved better in the CPAP group than in the control group( all P lt; 0. 05) . The blood pressure dropped to normal in 75. 0% ( 33/44) CPAP patients and in 52. 6% ( 20 /38) control patients. In the CPAP group, 8( 18. 2% ) cases were withdrawn from antihypertensive drugs, 13( 29. 5% )cases required single agents, and 9( 20. 5% ) cases required three agents to achieve blood pressure control.But in the control group, all the patients needed two or more antihypertensive agents, in which 23( 60. 6% )patients needed three agents to achieve blood pressure control. After the treatment, the patients with dipping pattern blood pressure increased from10 to 29( 22. 7% -65. 9% , P lt;0. 05) in the CPAP group, and from10to 14( 26. 3% -36. 8%, P gt;0. 05) in the control group. Conclusions Combination therapy with CPAP and antihypertensive drugs controls blood pressure better than antihypertensive medication only for OSAHS patients with hypertension with fewer types of antihypertensive agents or even withdrawal from antihypertensive medication in some patients.
Objective To analyze the clinical features of patients with acute pulmonary embolism ( APE) with normal blood pressure and right ventricular dysfunction. Methods 130 hospitalized patients with normotensive APE between January 2009 and January 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography to determine if they were complicated with RVD. The clinical features, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment were analyzed and compared between the normotensive APE patients with or without RVD. Results 41 normotensive APE patients with RVD were as RVD group, and other 89 patients without RVD were as non-RVD group. The incidences of syncope ( 34.1% vs. 7.8% ) , tachycardia( 41.4% vs. 21.3% ) , P2 hyperthyroidism( 46.3% vs. 25.8% ) , jugular vein filling ( 12.1% vs. 1.1% ) , and cyanosis ( 26.8% vs. 8.9% ) were all significantly higher in the RVD group than those in the non-RVD group ( P lt; 0.05) . Computed tomography pulmonary angiography ( CTPA) revealed that the incidences of thromboembolism involving proximal pulmonary artery ( 58. 3% vs. 8. 3% ) and thromboembolism involving lobar pulmonary ( 77.8% vs.51.2% ) were also higher in the RVD group ( P lt; 0.001, P = 0.025 ) . In the RVD group, the patients were assigned to received thrombolysis plus anticoagulation therapy, or anticoagulation therapy alone. The clinical indicators ( heart rate, PaCO2 , AaDO2 , SPAP, TRPG) were all statistically improved after thrombolysis or anticoagulation treatment ( P lt;0.001) . But compared with the patients who underwent anticoagulation therapy alone, the cost of treatment and the incidence of minor bleeding were significantly higher, and the levels of AaDO2 , SPAP and TRPG were statistically lower in the patients with thrombolysis plus anticoagulation therapy. Conclusions For APE patients with central pulmonary embolism demonstrated by CTPA, syncope, and tachycardia, transthoracic echocardiograph should be performed as early as possible to confirm RVD diagnosis. For normotensive APE patients with RVD, anticoagulant treatment can achieve higher efficacy of costeffectiveness ratio.
ObjectiveTo investigate the difference in fibrinogen and D-dimer (D-D) level among pulmonary embolism patients with different risk stratification. MethodsSixty pulmonary embolism patients admitted during January 2013 and January 2014 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed.The general clinical data were gathered, and the patients were divided into a high-risk group (n=19), a moderate-risk group (n=21), and a low-risk group (n=20) according to the 2008 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism.Fourteen patients admitted simultaneously with dyspnea and chest pain without pulmonary embolism were randomly recruited as a control group.The plasma levels of fibrinogen and D-D were detected and compared between these groups. ResultsIn the pulmonary embolism patients, there were no significant statistical differences in general data between the patients with different risk degree.With the risk degree increased, the level of fibrinogen decreased and the level of D-D increased (P < 0.05).Compared with the pulmonary embolism patients, the level of fibrinogen was higher and the level of D-D was lower in the control group(P < 0.05).The level of fibrinogen was negatively correlated with the level of D-D with a correlation coefficient of-0.805. ConclusionsElevated fibrinogen is one of high risk factors of the pulmonary embolism. With the occurrence of pulmonary embolism, the level of fibrinogen becomes lower, suggesting the potential of fibrinogen as a indicator for pulmonary embolism diagnosis and risk stratification.
Objective To investigate the value of procalcitonin (PCT) at admission for severity stratificaton and prognosis prediction of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and assess the ability of the combination of PCT and the validated pneumonia risk scores (PSI and CURB-65) for predicting 30-day mortality. Methods A retrospective study was performed in 150 hospitalized CAP patients admitted in the Department of Respiratory Medicine of General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University between March 2015 and March 2016. The primary end point for this study was mortality within 30 days. Sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive and negative predictive value (PPV, NPV) of PCT for assessing mortality was calculated and compared to validated pneumonia risk scores. Results In the 150 CAP patients enrolled, there were 77 males and 73 females with an average age of 58.4±16.3 years. Twelve (8%) patients died within 30 days. The non-survivors had significantly higher median PCT level (4.25 ng/mlvs. 0.24 ng/ml) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level (14.60 mg/dlvs. 5.10 mg/dl) compared with the survivors. The median PCT level was significantly higher in the patients with more severe disease assessed by two risk scoring systems. Combination of PCT with risk scores can improve prognostic value for predicting 30-day mortality of CAP. Conclusions The level of PCT at admission is more useful than the traditional biomarkers for the severity stratification and prognosis prediction of CAP. It can well determine patients at low risk of mortality from CAP. There is no advantage of PCT compared to PSI or CURB-65, so we recommend combination of PCT to risk sores to predict 30-day mortality of CAP.
Objective To discuss the correlation between immune status and clinical characteristics in pulmonary cryptococcosis. Methods The clinical data of 32 non-AIDS patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis, diagnosed from August 2001 to October 2017 in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. The enrolled patients were divided into an immune-competent group with 13 cases and an immune-suppressed group with 19 cases. The clinical characteristics were compared between the two groups with different immune status. Results All 32 patients were treated for clinical symptoms. The main symptoms were cough, expectoration, fever, chest tightness, chest pain, and hemoptysis. There were no statistical differences between the two groups. The computed tomography of chest showed that there were 2 patients (6.3%) involving upper lung in the immune-competent group, and 5 patients (15.6%) in the immune-suppressed group. There were 9 patients (28.1%) involving lower lung in the immune-competent group, and 12 patients (37.5%) in the immune-suppressed group. There were 10 patients (31.3%) with nodular masses of lesions in the immune-competent group and none in the immune-suppressed group. There was 1 patient with infiltrating in the immune-competent group and 8 patients in the immune-suppressed group. There were 2 patients with mixed types of lesions in the immune-competent group and 11 patients in the immune-suppressed group. Five patients were complicated with cryptococcal meningitis, and 2 patients with eosinophilia. Conclusions The clinical characteristics of the patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis are not specific in difference immune status. The chest CT shows that the lesions of immune-competent patients are mainly nodular masses type, while lesions of immune-suppressed patients are mainly infiltrating shadow and mixed shadow. The treatment should be chose according to immune status.