Objective To investigate the effects of different puncture levels on bone cement distribution and effectiveness in bilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty for osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures. Methods A clinical data of 274 patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures who met the selection criteria between December 2017 and December 2020 was retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent bilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty. During operation, the final position of the puncture needle tip reached was observed by C-arm X-ray machine. And 118 cases of bilateral puncture needle tips were at the same level (group A); 156 cases of bilateral puncture needle tips were at different levels (group B), of which 87 cases were at the upper 1/3 layer and the lower 1/3 layer respectively (group B1), and 69 cases were at the adjacent levels (group B2). There was no significant difference in gender, age, fracture segment, degree of osteoporosis, disease duration, and preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score, and Oswestry disability index (ODI) between groups A and B and among groups A, B1, and B2 (P>0.05). The operation time, bone cement injection volume, postoperative VAS score, ODI, and bone cement distribution were compared among the groups. Results All operations were successfully completed without pulmonary embolism, needle tract infection, or nerve compression caused by bone cement leakage. There was no significant difference in operation time and bone cement injection volume between groups A and B or among groups A, B1, and B2 (P>0.05). All patients were followed up 3-32 months, with an average of 7.8 months. There was no significant difference in follow-up time between groups A and B and among groups A, B1, and B2 (P>0.05). At 3 days after operation and last follow-up, VAS score and ODI were significantly lower in group B than in group A (P<0.05), in groups B1 and B2 than in group A (P<0.05), and in group B1 than in group B2 (P<0.05). Imaging review showed that the distribution of bone cement in the coronal midline of injured vertebrae was significantly better in group B than in group A (P<0.05), in groups B1 and B2 than in group A (P<0.05), and in group B1 than in group B2 (P<0.05). In group A, 7 cases had postoperative vertebral collapse and 8 cases had other vertebral fractures. In group B, only 1 case had postoperative vertebral collapse during follow-up. ConclusionBilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures can obtain good bone cement distribution and effectiveness when the puncture needle tips locate at different levels during operation. When the puncture needle tips locate at the upper 1/3 layer and the lower 1/3 layer of the vertebral body, respectively, the puncture sites are closer to the upper and lower endplates, and the injected bone cement is easier to connect with the upper and lower endplates.
Objective To observe the fundus characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus with acquired immune deficiency (HIV/AIDS). Methods A total of 1041 HIV/AIDS patients were enrolled in this study. The patients included 882 males (88.70%) and 159 females (11.30%). The patientsprime; ages ranged from 12 to 73 years, with a mean age of 41 years. The median time of HIV/AIDS diagnosis was 12 months, which ranged from one month to 10 years. HIV infection was acquired through sexual contact, intravenous drug use, blood transfusion or mother-to-child transmission in 475 patients (45.63%), 508 patients (48.80%), 44 patients (4.25%) and 14 patients (1.34%), respectively. Ocular examinations (vision acuity, slit lamp microscope and fundus examination) were performed on recruited patients with HIV/AIDS. Additional exams (intraocular pressure, fundus photography and fundus fluorescein angiography) were done if abnormal ocular fundus was found. The ocular manifestations were diagnosed according to clinic reference. Results Ocular manifestations of HIV/AIDS were detected in 247 patients (23.73%). Of 247 patients, the most common ocular manifestation was HIV retinopathy, which was present in 132 patients (53.44%); cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMVR) was second place, affecting 70 participants (28.34%). Clinic findings of HIV retinopathy included retina microaneurysm, hemorrhage along the blood vessel with cotton-wool spots, while irregular dry edge, granular appearing border, were present in CMVR, and the optic nerve may be affected. Fluorescein angiogram of HIV retinopathy demonstrated that hemorrhage was shown as sheltered fluorescence, with b fluorescence without leakage in center of hemorrhage. Fluorescein angiogram of CMVR demonstrated significant hemorrhage appearing as sheltered fluorescence with leakage and/or transparent fluorescence. The optic disk and lesioned area were stained with fluorescence. Conclusions There are various HIV/AIDS related ocular manifestation. HIV retinopathy and CMVR are common ocular manifestations. The main clinical findings of HIV retinopathy are hemorrhage and/or cotton-wool spots, while irregular granular appearing edges and hemorrhage were observed in CMVR.
The effect of relaxation time in hyperbolic heat transfer model on the temperature field of microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation was investigated. And the results were compared with those calculated by Pennes model. A three-dimensional model of microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation was constructed. The relaxation time (τ) was 0, 1, 5, 8, 10, 15 and 20 s, respectively. And the temperature field of myocardial tissue was obtained. The results showed that the highest temperature of the hyperbolic model was 21.8 ℃ lower than that of the Pennes model at the beginning of ablation. With the increase of ablation time, the highest temperature tended to be the same. The lesion dimensions appeared at 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 s, respectively after ablation. Therefore, the influence of hyperbolic model on temperature will decrease with the increase of the ablation time. At the beginning of ablation, the relaxation time will hinder the speed of myocardial thermal diffusion. The larger the relaxation time is, the slower the speed of thermal diffusion is. This study provides a reference for the application of hyperbolic model in microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation.
Heart sound segmentation is a key step before heart sound classification. It refers to the processing of the acquired heart sound signal that separates the cardiac cycle into systolic and diastolic, etc. To solve the accuracy limitation of heart sound segmentation without relying on electrocardiogram, an algorithm based on the duration hidden Markov model (DHMM) was proposed. Firstly, the heart sound samples were positionally labeled. Then autocorrelation estimation method was used to estimate cardiac cycle duration, and Gaussian mixture distribution was used to model the duration of sample-state. Next, the hidden Markov model (HMM) was optimized in the training set and the DHMM was established. Finally, the Viterbi algorithm was used to track back the state of heart sounds to obtain S1, systole, S2 and diastole. 500 heart sound samples were used to test the performance of our algorithm. The average evaluation accuracy score (F1) was 0.933, the average sensitivity was 0.930, and the average accuracy rate was 0.936. Compared with other algorithms, the performance of our algorithm was more superior. It is proved that the algorithm has high robustness and anti-noise performance, which might provide a novel method for the feature extraction and analysis of heart sound signals collected in clinical environments.
ObjectiveStudy how to quantify the bias of each study and how to estimate them. MethodIn the random-effect model, it is commonly assumed that the effect size of each study in meta-analysis follows a skew normal distribution which has different shape parameter. Through introducing a shape parameter to quantify the bias and making use of Markov estimation as well as maximum likelihood estimation to estimate the overall effect size, bias of each study, heterogeneity variance. ResultIn simulation study, the result was closer to the real value when the effect size followed a skew normal distribution with different shape parameter and the impact of heterogeneity of random effects meta-analysis model based on the skew normal distribution with different shape parameter was smaller than it in a random effects metaanalysis model. Moreover, in this specific example, the length of the 95%CI of the overall effect size was shorter compared with the model based on the normal distribution. ConclusionIncorporate the bias of each study into the random effects meta-analysis model and by quantifying the bias of each study we can eliminate the influence of heterogeneity caused by bias on the pooled estimate, which further make the pooled estimate closer to its true value.
ObjectiveTo survey and analyze the trend of congenital heart disease (CHD) of regions distribution and medical payment model in Children's Hospital of Gansu Province over the past 11 years, and to provide evidence for diagnosis and treatment strategies for CHD children. MethodsMedical records of the CHD children hospitalized in the Children's Hospital of Gansu Province from 2001 to 2011 were completely collected. Regional distribution, year and other basic information of them were extracted. Data was then analyzed using the SPSS 16.0 software. ResultsA total of 591 CHD children were included. Most of them came from Middle-Long, accounting for 68.87%; while the number of CHD children in the region of East-Long and He-xi had a tendency of growth by year, with average growth speed of 189.42% and 27.62%, respectively. Most of them came from the region which is economic class Ⅲ, accounting for 35.64% (highest) with average growth speed (203.45%). Most of the treatment costs were self-supported before 2005, and health insurance and other social aids were consistently increasing after 2005. Most of the institutions for initial visit were town-level hospitals, accounting for 55.50%, and with average growth speed of 170.18%. ConclusionThe medical demand of CHD children in less-developed regions in Gansu province increases year by year. Government-guided healthcare system should be established and improved so as to basically guarantee the prevention and treatment of CHD in less-developed regions.
To increase efficiency of automated leucocyte pattern recognition using lower feature dimensions, a novel inter-class distinctive feature selection method for chromatic leucocyte images was proposed based on attribute hierarchical relationship. According to the attribute constraints in formal concept analysis, we established a knowledge representation and discovery method based on the hierarchical optimal diagram by defining attribute value and visual representation of optimized hierarchical relationship. It was applied to human peripheral blood leucocytes classification and 12 distinctive attributes were simplified from 60 inter-class attributes, which contributes significantly to reduced feature dimensions and efficient inter-class feature classification. Compared with the classical experimental data, the inter-class distinctive feature selection method based on hierarchical optimal diagram was proved to be usable and effective for six leucocyte pattern recognition.
ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical characteristics and geographical distribution of Keshan disease in Chongqing city for prevention and disease control. MethodsWe collected the clinical data of patients with Keshan disease from 2008 to 2012 in Liangping, Shizhu, Fengdu and Dianjiang counties as well as Wanzhou district of Chongqing city including the medical history, physical examination, results of laboratory tests to analyze the clinical characteristics and geographical distribution. ResultsFifty-eight patients were included from Liangping (n=21), Shizhu (n=25), Fengdu (n=11) and Dianjiang (n=1). The number of patients with potential and chronic Keshan disease was 16 and 42, respectively. The average age of patients was 54.91±15.53 years. The proportion above age 60 was 32.76% and below age 10 was 3.45%. The patients had main clinical signs as heart enlargement (36.76%), low-weak first heart sound (22.41%), systolic murmur (10.34%), arrhythmia (8.62%), etc. Abnormal ECG detection rate was 98.28%, with common types followed by sinus rhythm (37.93%), complete right bundle branch block (25.86%), ST-T changes (24.14%), left ventricular hypertrophy (15.52%), atrial fibrillation (13.79%), occasional ventricular premature (10.34%), T changes (10.34%), sinus bradycardia (8.62%), and incomplete right bundle branch block (6.90%). X-ray results showed that heart enlargement accounted for 82.76%. The ratios of mild, moderate and significant expansion of the heart were 46.55%, 27.59%, and 8.62%, respectively. ConclusionIn recent years, most patients with Keshan disease in Chongqing are chronic type at older age. The main clinical symptom is heart enlargement with high abnormal ECG detection rate.
The multi-attribute utility function (MAUF) is a commonly used method for measuring health utility, characterized by a solid theoretical foundation and operational feasibility. It contributes to reducing the cognitive burden on respondents, caters to the measurement of utility across multiple dimensions, and represents another most widely applied approach beyond traditional econometrics, warranting exploration and application. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive and systematic research on this method in China, with insufficient practical application experience. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to systematically explore the methodological background of MAUF and the key points of research design for measuring health utility using this method. By drawing on the utility measurement experiences from internationally developed measurement scales such as HUI 1, HUI 2, HUI 3, 15D, AQol-8D, ASUI, HUG-5, TOOL, and ALSUI, it systematically analyzes the critical steps in the practical implementation of the method. It is hoped that this work will comprehensively and clearly elaborate on the practical approaches of MAUF, promote the further development of MAUF in China, and provide methodological references for future studies on health utility measurement based on MAUF.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical characteristics of adult patients with ocular toxoplasmosis (OT).MethodsThis study was a retrospective clinical trial. Among the 83 consecutive OT patients diagnosed in the Zhongshan Eye Center of Sun Yat-Sen University, 14 patients (16.9%, adult group) aged ≥18 years were included in the study from January 2017 to December 2019. A total of 14 OT patients (children group) aged less than 18 years who had consecutive visits from July to December 2019 were selected as controls. All patients underwent BCVA, slit lamp microscope, fundus color photography, and B-mode ultrasound examination. Eighteen cases underwent UBM examination, including 6 and 12 cases in the adult group and child group respectively; 23 cases underwent FFA examination, including 12 and 11 cases in the adult group and child group respectively. Snellen visual acuity chart was used for BCVA examination, which was converted into logMAR visual acuity in statistics. We compared the two groups of patients' residence (urban or rural), history of contact with dogs and cats, main symptoms, reasons for treatment, course of disease, and clinical and imaging characteristics and so on. For measurement data conforming to normal distribution, t-test was performed for comparison between groups; for Skewness distribution measurement data, rank sum test was performed for comparison between groups.ResultsCompared with the adult group and the child group, there was no significant difference in the canine-cat contact history (Z=2.661, P=0.257) and the time from first diagnosis to diagnosis (t=?0.186, P=0.351); compared with the children group and the adult group, the patient's living environment was mainly urban, and the course of disease was significantly shorter (Z=?2.005), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.047). The logMAR BCVA of the adult group and the child group were 0.81±1.08 and 2.08±1.30, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (Z=?2.811, P=0.004); compared with the child group, the adult group had lighter vitreous opacities, but the difference was statistical significance (Z=7.847, P=0.048). FFA examination revealed 20 cases of "fern-like" leakage of retinal capillaries. Among them, the adult group and child group were 10 (83.3%, 10/12) and 10 (90.9%, 10/11) cases respectively.ConclusionsAdult patients account for 16.9% of OT patients. Compared with children, adult patients mostly live in towns or cities, have a short course of disease, good vision at first diagnosis, and mild inflammation or hyperplasia of the vitreous cavity. FFA is helpful for the diagnosis of adult OT.