Objective To investigate the value of different imageology methods in the diagnosis of acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE).Methods 22 cases diagnosed acute PTE in the last two years were retrospectively analysed，including 4 cases diagnosed by clinical signs and symptoms who did not perform further examinations due to severity of the disease (2 cases confirmed by autopsy)，18 cases diagnosed by either two methods of computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA)，ultrasound，radioisotope scanning of lung and pulmonary arteriography.The diagnostic positive rate of different methods were measured.Results 15 of the 18 subjects were performed CTPA，with a positive rate of 80.0% (12/15).Nuclide detection was performed in 14 cases，in which 5 cases were performed simple pulmonary infusion scanning，9 cases by lung ventilation/perfusion scanning，resulted in a positive rate of 92.9% (13/14).10 cases were performed nuclide phlebography on the low extremity simultaneously，deep phlebothrombosis was found in 5 subjects，and unnormal formation of collateral circulation，blocked blood circulation，stenosis of lumens，and valve disfunction et al were found in other 5 cases.16 cases were performed heart color ultrasound detection，in which 2 were found normal，one was directly found thrombus，and the other 8 cases were found indirect manifestations of acute PTE，including right ventricular enlargement，pulmonary artery hypertension，tricuspid backstreaming et al，with a diagnosing rate of 56% (9/16).Deep phlebothrombosis was found in 6 of the 10 cases who were performed color Doppler ultrasonography on the lower extremity，and one was found with valve function impaired.Conclusions CTPA possesses high positive rate in diagnosing acute PTE with promptness，convenience and reliability，thus can be taken as the front-line detection device.Radioisotope scanning of lung associated with same-time phlebography on the low extremity also has fairly high positive rate to diagnosing acute PTE and make it easy.
Objective To explore the feasibility of children age dependent chest tube voltage settings for optimizing radiation dose and image quality in digital radiography (DR). Methods Children aged 0 to 14 who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from January, 2008 to December, 2010, were divided into the following 5 age groups: 0~, 1~, 3~, 7~, and 11~14-year-old, and each group was then randomly assigned to the optimization and control groups to take DR by computer. DR in automatic exposure control with different tube voltage depending on children age; the control group: DR in automatic exposure control with conventional fixed tube voltage. The dose area product (DAP) was adopted for the measurement of radiation dose, while the visual grading analysis score (VGAS) was for image quality. Then SPSS 17.0 was applied for statistical analysis. Results A total of 2 450 children were initially included. Finally there were 2 415 children included in the anteroposterior chest image in this study, and the other 35 children were excluded for their anatomical characteristics could not be showed due to serious primary diseases. There were 1 202 patients in the optimization group and 1 213 patients in the controlled group. The mean DAP in the optimization group was lower than that in the control group with a significant difference (t= –4.967, P=0.008). The mean VGAS in the optimization group was higher than that in the control group with a significant difference (t= 23.738, P=0.000). Conclusion Children age dependent tube voltage settings can effectively reduce radiation dose and improve image quality at the same time.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of 3-(5'-hydroxymethyl-2'-furyl)-1-benzylindazole (YC-1), a hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) inhibitor, on hypoxia induced rat pulmonary arterial adventitial fibroblasts (AFs) proliferation and collagen synthesis, and explore the molecular mechanism.MethodsUnder hypoxic condition, rat AFs were cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum in vitro. The cells were divided into five groups, ie. a normoxia group, a hypoxia group and three hypoxia+YC-1 groups (treated with YC-1 at concentration of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 mmol/L, respectively). The cells proliferation was determined by MTT method. Collagen synthesis of AFs was measured by 3H-proline incorporation assay. The expression of HIF-1α in AFs in different conditions was measured by Western blot, and the mRNA expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) was measured by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction.ResultsThe proliferation rate and the incorporation data of 3H-proline in the hypoxia group were significantly increased as compared with those in the control group (both P<0.01). YC-1 significantly reduced the proliferation rate and incorporation data of3H-proline induced by hypoxia in a dose-dependent manner. YC-1 could also down-regulate the expressions of HIF-1α and TGF-β1 mRNA significantly (both P<0.01). Compared with the hypoxia group, the expressions of HIF-1α and TGF-β1 mRNA decreased respectively by 65% and 61% in the hypoxia+YC-1 (0.1 mmol/L) group (bothP<0.01).ConclusionsYC-1 can inhibit hypoxia-induced AFs proliferation and collagen synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanism may relate to YC-1’s inhibitory effect on expressions of HIF-1α and TGF-β1 mRNA.