Laser speckle contrast imaging to predict the effect of temporary spinal cord stimulation in postherpetic neuralgia patients: A prospective observational study

Temporary spinal cord stimulation(tSCS)can effectively reduce the pain and severity of postherpetic neuralgia(PHN).However,there are no effective and objective methods for predicting the effects of tSCS on PHN.Laser speckle contrast imaging(LSCI)is frequently used in neurology to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment.To assess the accuracy of LSCI in predicting the impact of tSCS on PHN,14 adult patients receiving tSCS treatments for spinal nerve-innervated(C6-T2)PHN participated in this observational study.Visual analog scale(VAS)assessments and LSCI bloodflow images of the-ngers were recorded after the tSCS procedure.The results showed that the VAS scores of all patients decreased signi-cantly.Moreover,the bloodflow index(BFI)values were signi-cantly higher than they were before the procedure.Increased bloodflow and pain alleviation were positively correlated.The-ndings indicated that spinal nerve PHN(C6-T2)was signi-cantly reduced by tSCS.Pain alleviation by tSCS was positively correlated with increased bloodflow in the hand.The effect of tSCS on PHN may thus be predicted using an independent and consistent indicator such as LSCI.

The Contrast Study on Serum Collagen Metabolism between Essential Hypertension and Normal Control

Objectives To investigate serum concentration of procollagen type Icarboxyterminal peptide (PⅠP), type Ⅲ aminopeptide (PⅢP) and type Icollagen telopeptide (ICTP) in essential hypertension (EH). Methods Serum levels of PⅠP, PⅢP and ICTP in 42 EH patients and 30 healthy control were measured by radioimmunoassays. Results In EH patients, serum concentration of PⅠP, PⅢP was significantly higher than that in 30 healthy control. Although EH patients did tend to exhibit a higher serum ICTP concentration than normal control subjects, the difference was not statistically significant. EH patients with left ventricular hypertrophy exhibited higher values of PⅠP (P < 0. 05) and lower values of ICTP (P < 0. 05) than EH patients without left ventricular hypertrophy. No significant difference was noted between the serum PⅢP of the EH patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy (P > 0.05 ). Conclusions The results suggest that PⅠP and PⅢP are sensitive serum markers of myocardial collagen synthesis. Myocardial fibrosis may be due to the excessive synthesis and insufficient degradation of collagen. PⅠP, PⅢP and ICTP may be indirect markers of myocardial fibrosis.

Proportion of Uterine Malignant Tumors in Patients with Laparoscopic Myomectomy： A National Multicenter Study in China

Background： The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that the use of morcellation may cause fibroids or pelvic dissemination and metastasis of uterine sarcoma; therefore, the use of morcellation is limited in the USA. A large sample study is necessary to assess the proportion of uterine malignant tumors found in patients with laparoscopic myomectomy. Methods： A national multicenter study was performed in China. From 2002 to 2014, 33,723 cases were retrospectively selected. We calculated the prevalence and recorded the clinical characteristics of the patients with malignancy after morcellation application. A total of 62 cases were finally pathologically confirmed as malignant postoperatively. Additionally, the medical records of the 62 patients were analyzed in details. Results： The proportion of postoperative malignancy after morcellation application was 0.18% （62/33,723） for patients who underwent laparoscopic myomectomy. Nearly 62.9% （39/62） of patients had demonstrated blood flow signals in the uterine fibroids before surgery. And, 23 （37.1%） patients showed rapid growth at the final preoperative ultrasound. With respect to the pathological types, 38 （61.3%） patients had detectable endometrial stromal sarcoma, 13 （21.0%） had detectable uterine leiomyosarcoma, only 3 （3.2%） had detectable carcinosarcoma, and 5 （8.1%） patients with leiomyoma had an undetermined malignant potential. Conclusions： The proportion of malignancy is low after using moreellation in patients who undergo laparoscopie myomectomy. Patients with fast-growing uterine fibroids and abnormal ultrasonic tumor blood flow should be considered for malignant potential, and morcellation should be avoided.