Objective To review the association between chlamydia pneumoniae (CP) infection and cerebral infarction. Methods We electronically searched MEDLINE, BIOSIS, VIP database, and China Full Text Journal Database from Jan. 1990 through Dec. 2007 to identify case-control studies about the association of CP and cerebral infarction. The quality of the included studies was assessed and the RevMan 4.2 software was used for meta-analyses. Results A total of 22 studies were included. The results of meta-analyses showed: ① When the microimmunofluorescence (MIF) method was used to examine CP antibody in serum, the positive rate of the cerebral infarction group was higher than that of the control group when the positive infection was defined by IgA≥1?16 [n=8, OR=2.18, 95%CI (1.49 to 3.49), Plt;0.0001]; but when positive infection was defined by IgA≥1?32 (n=3), IgG≥1?32 (n=6), or IgG≥1?64 (n=5), there were no significant differences in the positive rate between the two groups [OR (95%CI) were 1.47 (0.97 to 2.24), 1.24 (0.82 to 1.86), and 1.23 (0.98 to 1.55), respectively]; ② When the ELISA method was used to examine CP-IgG antibody in serum, the positive rate of the cerebral infarction group was higher than that of the controlled group [n=8, OR=2.40, 95%CI (1.42 to 4.06), P=0.000 2]. ③ The acute and chronic CP infections were associated with the incidence of cerebral infarction [n=4, OR=7.22, 95%CI (2.68 to 19.49); n=4, OR=4.30, 95%CI (3.40 to 7.40)]. Conclusion ① The association between CP infection and cerebral infarction is determined by the positive criterion. IgA antibody is more sensitive than the IgG antibody. When the positive infection is determined by IgA≥1?16, CP infection is associated with cerebral infarction. ② The results of ELISA for examining CP-IgG support the association between CP infection and cerebral infarction. ③ Both acute and chronic CP infections are associated with cerebral infarction, but these associations needed to be proven by more scientific studies.
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is an age-dependent disease affecting older subjects. CAA is characterized by lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), lobar cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, and cortical superficial siderosis (cSS), which is the main causes of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage in the elderly. If a patient had experienced dementia, psychiatric symptoms, recurrent or multiple lobar hemorrhage, the possibility of CAA should be considered. Epilepsy can be associated with CAA. Literature studies had found that CAA-related inflammation are predisposing factors for the development of epilepsy. It is a unique subtype of CAA, which is a form of inflammation and a rare clinical manifestation of sporadic CAA. CAA-ri is a special type of central nervous system vasculitis. Once CAA patients had exhibited atypical clinical manifestations, such as headache, epilepsy, behavioral changes, focal neurological signs, consciousness impairment combined with asymmetric T2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging high signal lesions, clinicians had to consider it maybe CAA-ri. Although CAA- ri is rare, timely diagnosis is important because once seizure had occured, which may indicated the inflammation in CAA patients may had reached a very serious level. Therefore, timely identification and treatment are particularly important. Literature shows that most patients responded well to immunosuppressants. Because of its uncommon, researches on epilepsy in CAA mainly focused on case reports currently, and there were many controversies about its pathological mechanism, treatment and prognosis. This article mainly reviews the incidence rate , pathological mechanism, treatment and prognosis of epilepsy in CAA.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical characteristics of ophthalmic and cerebral artery occlusion after facial cosmetic injection.MethodsA retrospective case study. Twenty patients (20 eyes) with ophthalmic and cerebral artery occlusion in Department of Ophtalmology, The Fourth Hospital of Xi’an from February 2014 to December 2016 were enrolled in this study. There were 2 males (2 eyes) and 18 females (18 eyes). They aged from 21 to 41 years, with the mean age of 29.8±1.4 years. The disease courses was ranged from 3.5 hours to 21 days, with the mean of 40 hours. Facial cosmetic injections of all patients were performed at out-of-hospital beauty institutions. The visual impairment was associated with eyelid pain 1 to 10 minutes after injection.There were 12 right eyes and 8 left eyes.The injection materials, 18 patients were hyaluronic acid and 2 patients were autologous fat, respectively. At the injection site, 13 patients were sacral, 4 patients were nasal, and 3 patients were frontal. The concentration and dose of the injected filler were not known. All patients underwent vision, slit lamp microscope, fundus color photography, visual field, FFA, OCT, and brain CT, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) examination.ResultsThe visual acuity was ranged from no light perception to 1.0. Among the 20 eyes, 3 eyes (15%) were obstructed by simple ophthalmic artery; 5 eyes (25%) were obstructed by ophthalmic artery combined with cerebral artery; 7 eyes (35%) were obstructed by simple retinal artery occlusion (RAO) alone, which including central RAO (CRAO, 4 eyes), hemi-lateral artery obstruction (1 eye) and branch RAO (2 eyes); 1 eye (5%) was CRAO with ciliary artery branch obstruction; 1 eye (5%) was branch artery occlusion with ischemic optic neuropathy; 2 eyes (10%) were CRAO with nasal dorsal artery occlusion; 1 eye (5%) was CRAO, posterior ciliary artery obstruction and right middle cerebral artery occlusion. Among 20 patients, 4 patients (20%) had eye movement disorder and eyelid skin bun; 2 patients (10%) had facial pain and nasal skin ischemic necrosis. MRA revealed 6 patients (30%) of new intracranial ischemic lesions. Among them, 5 patients of hyaluronic acid injection showed asymptomatic small blood vessel embolization; 1 patient of autologous fat injection showed ophthalmary artery occlusion, cerebral artery occlusion, ipsilateral eye blindness, eye movement disorder and contralateral limb hemiplegia.ConclusionFacial cosmetic injection can cause severe iatrogenic complications such as RAO, ciliary artery occlusion, ischemic optic neuropathy, ophthalmic artery occlusion, and cerebral artery occlusion.
Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of the application of selective cerebral perfusion (SCP) technique in pediatric aortic arch reconstruction, so as to alleviate brain injury during operation. Methods From April 2007 to May 2008, 32 children aged from 8 days to 103 months (14.4±25.4 months) and weighed from 27 kg to 22.0 kg (6.7±4.4 kg) underwent aortic arch reconstruction with selective cerebral perfusion in Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. Twentytwo suffered from aortic coarctationwith intracardiac anomaly, and 10 suffered from interrupted aortic arch with intracardiac anomaly. The arterial cannulation was achieved by placing a flexible wire wound cannula in ascending aorta close to the root part of innominate artery. The rectal temperature was about 1820℃. Then the cannula was moved upward into innominate artery to perform SCP. Results The time of SCP was 17-121 mins（39.6±19.4 mins）, perfusion blood flow maintained in 15-40 ml/(kg·min)［29.7±6.1 ml/(kg·min）］. Four cases died of low cardiac output syndrome or arrhythmia, and no evidence of brain injury was observed. No obvious neurologic complication was observed in 28 survivls. No abnormal electroencephalogram was observed in 25 cases. The results of head Bsonography and brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) were normal in 5 neonates. Conclusion Selective cerebral perfusion is a simple, feasible, safe and effective technique in pediatric aortic arch reconstruction.
Objective To determine the effectiveness of statins in reducing C-reactive protein in patients with cerebral infarction and the potency of C-reactive protein as an indicator for preventing cerebrovascular events. Methods We searched PubMed, EMbase, Central Register of Controlled Trials, CBMdisc and CNKI from the date of establishment through August 2008. Bibliographies of the retrieved articles were also checked. Data was extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently with a designed extraction form. The RevMan 5.0 software was used to carry out meta-analysis. Results Twenty-three randomized trials involving 1946 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed the following: statins reduced C-reactive protein compared to the control group (WMD= –5.79, 95%CI –7.32 to –4.26); statins were associated with a reduction of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) (WMD= –0.21, 95%CI –0.25 to –0.17); atorvastatin greatly reduced C-reactive protein than the simvastatin control group (WMD= –1.78, 95%CI –3.92 to 0.36); statins were associated with a slight improvement in neurological deficit (OR= 2.22, 95%CI 0.94 to 5.21). Conclusion The evidence currently available shows that statins can reduce C-reactive protein and carotid IMT in the patients with cerebral infarction compared to the control group. However, it is not clear whether statins reducing C-reactive protein is correlated to the improvement of neurological deficit and prognosis. Similar trials in future should focus on the relationship between the change of C-reactive protein and clinical outcomes.
Objective To evaluate the relationship between angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism and susceptibility to cerebral hemorrhage among the Han Chinese population. Methods We electronically searched CNKI, CBM, VIP, and Wanfang technological periodical full-text databases from January, 1998 to January, 2009. We identified case-control studies of ACE gene polymorphism and cerebral hemorrhage among the Han Chinese population, and assessed the quality of included studies. The data were quantitatively analyzed by RevMan 4.3 software. Results Meta-analysis results showed that the pooled OR value of cerebral hemorrhage subjects among the Han Chinese population with at least one D allele was 1.42 (95%CI1.13 to1.78). The pooled OR values of cerebral hemorrhage with DD and II genotype were 1.9 (95%CI1.32 to 2.74) and 0.80 (95%CI0.63 to 1.01) respectively. Conclusion ACE gene polymorphism is significantly associated with susceptibility to cerebral hemorrhage in the Han Chinese `population.
Cerebral microinfarcts are presumed to be a manifestation of ischemic cerebral small vessel disease. It is presumed to have close relationship with dementia and cerebrovascular disease. With the advancement of imaging technology, high-resolution MRI has been found to detect microinfarctions in vivo. Current studies have shown that cerebral microinfarctions are not only commonly in individuals with dementia and elderly with normal aging, but also in patients with ischemic stroke. Based on the recently published MRI studies of microinfarcts in ischemic stroke patients, this paper summarizes the detection rate, risk factors, etiology and prognosis of cerebral microinfarcts, and aims to provide new ideas for the formulation of prevention and treatment strategies of cerebral microinfarcts related brain damage in ischemic stroke patients.
Objective To observe the changes of inflammatory cytokines in brain protective methods, study the inflammatory mechanism during cerebral protection tissues in different cerebral Methods Eighteen healthy adult dogs were randomly divided into three groups （6 dogs in each group）： normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass （NCPB group）, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest （DHCA group）, and intermittent selective antegrade cerebral perfusion （ISACP） during DHCA（DHCA＋ISACP group）. After operation the water contents in brain tissue were measured ,the hippocampus were removed, and radio-immunity analysis （RIA） was used to measure the content of interleukin-1β（IL-1β） and tumor necrosis factor-alpha （TNF-α） of the hippocampus tissue. The morphology of the hippocampus were examined by transmission electron （TE） microscopy. Results The contents of IL-1β and TNF-α of DHCA group was higher significantly than those of NCPB group and DHCA＋ISACP group （P〈0.01）, there was no significant difference between NCPB group and DHCA＋ISACP group （P〉0.05）. And the contents of TNF-α and IL-1β were positive linear correlated with degree of edema of brain tissues （r = 0. 987, 0.942; P〈 0.01）. TE examination revealed that the damage of the uhrastructure in the DHCA group was more severe than that in NCPB group and DHCA＋ISACP group. Conclusions This experiment revealed that long duration DHCA can bring some damages to the brain and that ISACP during long-term DHCA has brain protective effects to some extent. IL-1β and TNF-α play an effective role in the brain damage of long-term DHCA.
Objective To assess the effectiveness and safety of sodium ozagrel combined with edaravone for cerebral infarction. Methods Such databases as PubMed (1995 to 2010), EMCC (1995 to 2010), CBM (1995 to 2010), CNKI (1995 to 2010), and VIP (1989 to 2010) were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of odium ozagrel combined with edaravone for cerebral infarction. Then the retrieved studies were screened according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, the data were extracted, the quality of the included studies was evaluated, and meta-analyses were performed by using the Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of 32 RCTs involving 3 059 cases were involved, among which 1 559 cases were in the treatment group and the other 1500 were in the control group. All studies with comparable baseline data reported the application of random methods without explaining the detailed methods, the blinding method and the allocation concealment. The results of meta-analyses indicated that sodium ozagrel combined with edaravone had significant differences in the effective rate for cerebral infarction compared with both single sodium ozagrel (OR=3.51, 95%CI 2.70 to 4.57) and routine treatment (OR=3.77, 95%CI 2.58 to 5.52), and it had significant differences in treating the defect of neurological function compared with both sodium ozagrel (WMD= –4.26, 95%CI –4.97 to –3.55) and routine treatment (WMD= –3.89, 95%CI –4.96 to –2.82). In addition, Sodium ozagrel combined with edaravone was superior to sodium ozagrel (WMD=13.57, 95%CI 9.84 to 17.30) in improving the ability of daily living. Conclusion This systematic review shows that sodium ozagrel combined with edaravone is quite effective in treating cerebral infarction, and it can improve the nerve dysfunction. This conclusion should be treated cautiously for the poor quality and higher possibility of bias in the included studies which may impact on the power of proof, so more double-blind RCTs with high quality are expected to provide high-quality evidence.
Objective To assess the clinical application of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) as the early warning index for cerebral ischemic stroke (CIS). Methods Trials were collected through electronic searches of PubMed, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP (from the date of database establishment to June 2009). We screened the retrieved studies according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluated the quality of the included studies, performed descriptive analysis and meta-analysis with The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2 software. Results A total of 22 studies were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that, there was a significant difference about LPA level in cerebral infarction (CI) group vs. healthy control group (WMD=2.00, 95%CI 1.85 to 2.15), and in transient ischemia attach (TIA) group vs. healthy control group (WMD=2.48, 95%CI 2.18 to 2.78); and a difference was noted about 24 hours LPA level in CI group vs. healthy control group (WMD=2.40, 95%CI 1.81 to 2.99). Conclusions According to the included studies, the contents of LPA is higher in CIS than that in healthy control group. It would be helpful to measure LPA in the TIA period for intervention. However, more high quality trials are expected for further study, in order to prove the value of LPA as early warning index because of the heterogeneity and poor quality of the current included studies.