Analysis of Chinese Medical Syndrome Features of Ischemic Stroke Based on Similarity of Symptoms Subgroup.

OBJECTIVE: To derive the Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome classification and subgroup syndrome characteristics of ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: By extracting the CM clinical electronic medical records (EMRs) of 7,170 hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke from 2016 to 2018 at Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Province, China, a patient similarity network (PSN) was constructed based on the symptomatic phenotype of the patients. Thereafter the efficient community detection method BGLL was used to identify subgroups of patients. Finally, subgroups with a large number of cases were selected to analyze the specific manifestations of clinical symptoms and CM syndromes in each subgroup. RESULTS: Seven main subgroups of patients with specific symptom characteristics were identified, including M3, M2, M1, M5, M0, M29 and M4. M3 and M0 subgroups had prominent posterior circulatory symptoms, while M3 was associated with autonomic disorders, and M4 manifested as anxiety; M2 and M4 had motor and motor coordination disorders; M1 had sensory disorders; M5 had more obvious lung infections; M29 had a disorder of consciousness. The specificity of CM syndromes of each subgroup was as follows. M3, M2, M1, M0, M29 and M4 all had the same syndrome as wind phlegm pattern; M3 and M0 both showed hyperactivity of Gan (Liver) yang pattern; M2 and M29 had similar syndromes, which corresponded to intertwined phlegm and blood stasis pattern and phlegm-stasis obstructing meridians pattern, respectively. The manifestations of CM syndromes often appeared in a combination of 2 or more syndrome elements. The most common combination of these 7 subgroups was wind-phlegm. The 7 subgroups of CM syndrome elements were specifically manifested as pathogenic wind, pathogenic phlegm, and deficiency pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: There were 7 main symptom similarity-based subgroups in ischemic stroke patients, and their specific characteristics were obvious. The main syndromes were wind phlegm pattern and hyperactivity of Gan yang pattern.

Tai Chi for spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity in elderly female patients with non-specific low back pain: A six-week randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Non-specific low back pain (NS-LBP) is a serious public health problem. Tai Chi is promising in reducing the risk of falls and alleviating symptoms in this population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Tai Chi on gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP. METHODS: 20 women (age > 65 yr.) with NS-LBP were randomly assigned to a Tai Chi group (n= 10) or a control group (n= 10). The Tai Chi group practiced Tai Chi exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Each session lasted 60 minutes. Pain, spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity were assessed at 0 and 6 weeks. RESULTS: Compared to the control group at 6 weeks, the Tai Chi group had a significant decrease in VAS (p= 0.027) and stride width (p= 0.019), significant improvement in gait velocity, stride length (p< 0.001). Regarding dynamic balance capacity, the Tai Chi group had significant improvements in anterior (Left: p= 0.001; Right: p= 0.038), postero-lateral (Left: p< 0.001; Right: p= 0.038), and postero-medial (Left: p= 0.015; Right: p= 0.018). CONCLUSION: 6-week Tai Chi can relieve pain and improve gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP, which suggests Tai Chi could be a promising rehabilitation intervention to reduce the risk of falls in this population.

[Study on the change of bladder wall weight pre and after surgery in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes and its clinical significance of ultrasound evaluated bladder wall weight (UEBW) pre and after surgery in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: The clinical data of 63 patients of benign prostatic hyperplasia and 30 of contrast control were studied. The bladder wall weight was calculated by subtracting the volume of sphere represented by the urine volume inside the bladder from the volume of the sphere representing the whole bladder (sphere with a radius = internal radius + bladder wall thickness). Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and bladder function was evaluated by urodynamic studies. Of the 63 patients with BPH, UEBW was (97 +/- 54) g, while the control group was only (41 +/- 14) g. UEBW was found to be significantly correlated with LinPURR grade (R = 0.47, P < 0.01) and positive residual urine volume (R = 0.48, P < 0.01), and it was negatively correlated with Qmax (R = -0.52, P < 0.01) and detrusor contraction strength (presented as WF, R = -0.4, P < 0.05). RESULTS: A significant difference was found between the UEBW pre and after surgery [(99 +/- 50) g vs. (56 +/- 21) g, t = 5.05, P < 0.01)]. UEBW decreased 43.68%, and IPSS score decreased 16.81 point, while Qmax increased 8.38 ml/s. CONCLUSION: As an non-invasive methods, measurement of bladder wall weight appears to be a useful marker in evaluating status before operation and in monitoring the effect of surgery for patients with BPH.