[Clinical application of transbronchial cryotherapy in the diagnosis and treatment of tracheobronchial tuberculosis in children].

Objective: To explore the clinical utility of bronchoscopy and transbronchial cryotherapy in children with tracheobronchial tuberculosis (TBTB). Methods: Retrospective study was conducted to collect the clinical data of 10 hospitalized children who underwent bronchoscopy and were diagnosed as TBTB and in the Department of Pediatrics of Peking University First Hospital and the Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2011 to October 2019. The clinical characteristics of TBTB in children, and the efficacy and safety of bronchoscopy and transbronchial cryotherapy were summarized through descriptive analysis. Results: The onset age of 10 children (6 males and 4 females) ranged from 1-14 years. The clinical manifestations included fever (8/10), cough (7/10) and hemoptysis (2/10). Purified protein derivative test and interferon-γ release assay were performed in 9 and 10 patients respectively, the results were all positive. Chest CT examination was performed in all patients, and 8 patients had hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. All patients underwent pediatric bronchoscopy in time, in 9 patients bronchus was found to be blocked in varying degrees by granulation tissue and caseous necrosis and in the remaining patient, obvious congestion and edema in bronchial mucosa. The bronchoscopic manifestations included 8 cases of lymph node fistula type, 1 case of granulation proliferative type and 1 case of inflammatory infiltration type. Pathological biopsies were performed in 7 cases, the findings were consistent with the pathological characteristics of tuberculosis. Nine patients were treated by pediatric bronchoscopic intervention, with 8 transbronchial cryotherapy by flexible bronchoscopy, and among them, 2 patients were treated by simultaneous rigid bronchoscopy. After 1-3 times of transbronchial cryotherapy, the blocked bronchial lumina in 8 cases were all recanalized, and the curative effect was significant without any serious complications. Conclusions: Bronchoscopy plays an important role in the diagnosis of TBTB in children and is helpful for its classification. Also, transbronchial cryotherapy has good efficacy and safety for TBTB in children, especially for the granuloproliferative type or lymph node fistula type.

Treatment of advanced breast cancer with chinese medicinal herbs of Fei decoction: a case report.

A 46-year-old female underwent surgery for cancer of the right breast mammary (T3N2M0) in Sep 2010. Following post surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy of CAF regimens (cyclophosphamide+adriamycin+fluorouracil) was administered. Two years later, multiple pulmonary and skeletal metastatic lesions had been found by CT (computerized tomography) and ECT (emission computed tomograph) imaging. She received the treatment of second-line chemotherapy regimens of GP (cisplatin + gemcitabine). In the meantime, we administered Chinese traditional herb drugs (Fei Decoction, mixed a variety of effective herbal components) to help her recover from the poor condition. After taking the Chinese herbs for 2 months, the tumour marker (CEA, CA15-3) dramatically decreased, resulting in the normal range. Both lung and bone metastatic sites reduced according to CT and ECT imaging, and the patient felt free from the complaint of pulmonary and cardiac discomfort. Over time, the quality of life has been greatly improved, we have managed to prolong the PFS (progression-free-survival) and TTP (time-to-progression) from the onset to date. CTM (Chinese traditional medicine) considers human body as a dynamic platform in which all organs are correlative and bind each other. Relationship between heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney is like an interlink between mother and son, and runs in cycle as a circle. In the course of this combined treatment, we showed that Chinese herbal medicine played an important role in the therapy of breast cancer. Chinese herbs might be an additional choice with their better benefits and tolerability in the treatment of recurrent breast cancer.

Serial evaluation of high-resolution CT findings in patients with pneumonia in novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to review the changes in the serial high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings from patients with novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) infection. METHODS: HRCT findings of 70 patients with presumed or laboratory-confirmed novel S-OIV infection were reviewed. The pattern (consolidation, ground glass, fibrosis and air trapping), distribution and extent of abnormality of the lesions on the HRCT were evaluated at different time points. To assess changes that occurred over time, the CT scans in 56 patients were examined in sequence. RESULTS: The most common CT findings in patients with S-OIV infection are ground-glass opacities with or without consolidation at the first week. The abnormalities peaked at the second week and resolved after that time, which resulted in substantial reduced residual disease at 4 weeks or later. The development of fibrosis was noted in the first week and peaked at the third week of illness (34.7%), then decreased slowly after that time. The mean time of air trapping being noted after the onset of symptoms was 55.5 ± 20.6 days. Comparing the findings of initial CT, most results (96.4%) of follow-up chest CT findings showed improvement (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The abnormalities of ground-glass opacities and/or consolidation on initial CT scans tended to resolve to fibrosis, which then resolved completely or displayed substantially reduced residual disease. HRCT may show more changes in disease progression and play an important role in the evaluation of severe S-OIV.

Identification of a novel plant virus promoter using a potyvirus infectious clone.

A putative promoter from the strawberry vein banding caulimovirus (SVBV) genome was identified by its ability to drive infection with full-length cDNA of the zucchini yellow mosaic RNA potyvirus (ZYMV). A high rate of infection was obtained with the cDNA under control of the SVBV promoter using particle bombardment technology. The SVBV promoter shows 60% homology to the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter in the domain spanning the conserved motifs of CCACT (at -83) and the TATA box (at -31), to the transcription start. The 3'-end one-third of the putative promoter (328 bp) was sufficient to invoke full infectivity with the ZYMV clone, and drove transient reporter gene expression in Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae transformed with a binary plant transformation vector. Stable expression of a reporter gene (GUS) under control of the truncated SVBV promoter was shown in transformed tobacco shoots in roots, leaves and stems.

[Gastric eosinophilic granuloma: a report of 23 cases].

Twenty-three cases of gastric eosinophilic granuloma were presented with three major complications including gastric ulcers in 22 cases (95.6%), gastric bleedings in 19 cases (82.6%), and fungus infections in 16 cases (69.6%). The relationship between gastric eosinophilic granuloma and fungus infection was discussed, and it was the authors' belief that fungus infection may play a role in the development of the ulcer and cause bleeding. The authors put forward several diagnostic main points and believe that surgery should be the first choice of therapy.