ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between cerebral microbleeds (CMB), cardiovascular risk factors, and plasma fibrinogen in patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with acute ischemic stroke from June 2008 to March 2009 were enroued prospectively. All patients received cranial magnetic resonance imaging at the first week, and T2(*)-weighted gradient echo MRI sequence was performed to detect CMB. Plasma fibrinogen, uric acid levels and other biochemical parameters were measured on the next day of admission. All data were selected from Nanjing Stroke Registry Program. RESULTS: Among a total 68 patients, 29 (43%) patients had 109 lesions of cerebral microbleeds on gradient-echo MRI. Age, hypertension, fibrinogen and uric acid were significantly associated with the presence of CMB (P = 0.004, 0.024, 0.020, 0.027 respectively). Through a logistic regression analysis, age, hypertension and plasma fibrinogen were significantly associated with the presence of cerebral microbleeds [(P = 0.02, OR = 1.10, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.19; P = 0.003, OR = 9.35, 95%CI 2.17 to 40.23; P = 0.019, OR = 1.01, 95%CI 1.00 to 1.02]. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of CMB in patients with acute ischemic stroke. And it has a strong relationship with high plasma fibrinogen.
Subject(s)
Brain Ischemia/complications , Cerebral Hemorrhage/etiology , Fibrinogen/analysis , Stroke/complications , Aged , Brain/pathology , Brain Ischemia/pathology , Cerebral Hemorrhage/pathology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Prospective Studies , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at different stages on pseudobulbar palsy. Methods Two hundred and forty cases of pseudobulbar palsy were divided into 4 groups according to different courses of disease, i.e. group I, the course within 10 days; group II, between 10-30 days; group III, between 1-3 months; group IV, between 3-6 months. They were treated with acupuncture at Fengchi (GB 20) for 2 courses, and then their therapeutic effects were ohserved. RESULTS: The effective rate was 100.0% in the group I, 96.7% in the group II, 83.3% in the group III and 76.7% in the group IV, with a significant difference among the 4 groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at Fengchi (GB 20) at any stage has therapeutic effect on pseudohulbar paisy, hut the earlier treatments, the better the therapeutic effects.