CLINICAL STUDY ON TREATMENT OF INFANTILE PRIMARY EPILEPSY WITH ACUPOINT CATGUT-IMPLANTATION THERAPY

Aim: To observe the therapeutic effect of acupoint catgut implantation therapy in the treatment of infantile primary epilepsy. Methods: A total of 63 cases of primary epilepsy children were randomly divided into medication group (n=32) and acupoint catgut implantation group (n=31) and treated respectively with Sodium Valproate 5-10 mg/kg/d and catgut implantation at Changqiang (GV 1), Jiuwei (CV 15), bilateral Xinshu (BL 15) and bilateral Zusanli (ST 36). Results: Following 60 days of treatment, the abnormal changes of electroencephlogram (EEG), the seizure frequency and duration and clinical symptoms were improved apparently in comparison with those of pre treatment, but no significant differences were found between the two groups (P>0.05). There was a significant difference between two groups in the cure rate of the short term effect (P<0.05), with the therapeutic effect of the treatment group being superior to that of medication group. Conclusion: Acupoint catgut implantation therapy has a good therapeutic effect in the treatment of primary infantile epilepsy.

Intermediate-term mortality and incidence of ICD therapy in octogenarians after cardiac resynchronization therapy

Background Clinical outcomes of cardiac resynchronization therapy （CRT） in patients over the age of 80 have not been well de-scribed.MethodsWe retrospectively identified 96 consecutive patients≥ 80 years old who underwent an initial implant or an upgrade to CRT, with or without defibrillator （CRT-Dvs. CRT-P）, at our institution between January 2003 and July 2008. The control cohort consisted of 177 randomly selected patients 〈 80 years old undergoing CRT implant during the same time period. The primary efficacy endpoint was all-cause mortality at 36 months, assessed by Kaplan-Meier time to first event curves.Results In the octogenarian cohort, mean age at CRT implant was 83.1 ± 2.9 yearsvs. 60.1 ± 8.8 years among controls （P 〈 0.001）. Across both groups, 70% were male, mean left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF） was 24.8% ± 14.1% and QRS duration was 154 ± 24.8 ms, without significant differences between groups. Octo-genarians were more likely to have ischemic cardiomyopathy （74%vs. 37%,P 〈 0.001） and more likely to undergo upgrade to CRT instead of an initial implant （42%vs. 19%,P 〈 0.001）. The rate of appropriate defibrillator shocks was lower among octogenarians （14%vs. 27%,P = 0.02） whereas the rate of inappropriate shocks was similar （3%vs. 6%,P = 0.55）. At 36 months, there was no significant difference in the rate of all-cause mortality between octogenarians （11%） and controls （8%,P = 0.381）.ConclusionAppropriately selected octogenarians who are candidates for CRT have similar intermediate-term mortality compared to younger patients receiving CRT.

Results of transvenous lead extraction of coronary sinus leads in patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy

Background The need for transvenous lead extraction procedures of coronary sinus （CS） leads is increasing due to rising numbers of implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy devices during the past decade. Methods From January 2009 to June 2013, 27 CS leads were scheduled for extraction in 27 patients （mean age （63.1±14.6） years）. Indications for lead extraction were infection in 13 and lead dysfunction in 14 cases. Isolated extraction of CS leads was performed in eight, extraction of multiple leads in 19 cases. Among leads with an implant time of 〉12 months （n=19） mean implant duration （MID） was （46.4±15.2） （12-76） months. Groups were formed depending on infectious or non-infectious indications （INF vs. Non-INF）, and the use or non-use of extraction tools （ET1 vs. ET0）. Results Among patients with an implant duration of 〉12 months, complete procedural success was 94.7% and clinical success 100%. Operative mortality was zero. In the INF versus NON-INF groups complete procedural success （100% vs. 91.7%, P=0.43）, mean number of required extraction tools （0.7 （0-2） vs. 0.9 （0-3）, P=0.65） and MID （49.1±15.0 vs. 44.7±15.8, P=0.83） did not differ significantly. Comparing the groups ET1 and ET0 showed no significant differences in complications （n=l vs. n=l, P=-0.81） and MID （47.0±17.5 vs. 45.5±12.6, P=0.71）. Conclusions In specialized centers transvenous lead extraction of coronary sinus leads with a mean implant duration of almost four years can be performed safely and effectively. Neither non-infectious indications nor the use of extraction tools negatively affected the outcome of the procedure.

Antitumor effects of interleukin-18 gene-modified hepatocyte cell line on implanted liver carcinoma

Objective To investigate the antitumor effects of intrasplenically transplanted interleukin-18 (IL-18) gene-modified hepatocytes on murine implanted liver carcinoma. Methods Embryonic murine hepatocyte cell line (BNL-CL2) was transfected with a recombinant adenovirus encoding IL-18 and used as delivery cells for IL-18 gene transfer. Two cell lines,BNL-LacZ and BNL-CL2, were used as controls. One week after intrasplenic injection of C26 cells (colon carcinoma line),tumor-bearing syngeneic mice underwent the intrasplenic transplantation of IL-18 gene-modified hepatocyte cell line and were divided into treatment group (BNL IL-18) and control groups (BNL-LacZ and BNL-CL2 ). Two weeks later,the serum levels of IL-18,interferon-γ (IFN-γ),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) in the implanted liver carcinoma-bearing mice were assayed,the cytotoxicity of murine splenic cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) was measured,and the morphology of the hepatic tumors was studied to evaluate the antitumor effects of the approach. Results In the treatment group,the serum levels of IL-18,IFN-γ,TNF-α and NO increased significantly. The splenic CTL activity increased markedly ( P <0.01) ,accompanied by a substantial decrease in tumor volume and the percentage of tumor area and prolonged survival of liver carcinomo-being mice. Conclusions In vivo IL-18 expression by ex vivo manipulated cells with IL-18 recombinant adenovirus is able to exert potent antitumor effects by inducing a predominantly T-cell-helper type 1 (Th1) immune response. Intrasplenic transplantation of adenovirus-mediated IL-18 gene-modified hepatocytes could be used as a targeting treatment for implanted liver carcinoma.