Exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training for balance and lower limb function in sub-acute stroke patients: a pilot, randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: This pilot study aimed to investigate the effects of REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training on the balance and lower limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke. METHODS: This was a pilot, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Twenty-four patients with sub-acute stroke (with the course of disease ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months) were randomized into two groups, including a robot group and a control group. Patients in control group received upright bed rehabilitation (n = 12) and those in robot group received exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training (n = 12). The frequency of training in both groups was once a day (60 min each) for 5 days a week for a total of 4 weeks. Besides, the two groups were evaluated before, 2 weeks after and 4 weeks after the intervention, respectively. The primary assessment index was the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), whereas the secondary assessment indexes included the Fugl-Meyer Lower Extremity Motor Function Scale (FMA-LE), the Posture Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS), the Activities of Daily Living Scale (Modified Barthel Index, MBI), the Tecnobody Balance Tester, and lower extremity muscle surface electromyography (sEMG). RESULTS: The robot group showed significant improvements (P < 0.05) in the primary efficacy index BBS, as well as the secondary efficacy indexes PASS, FMA-LE, MBI, Tecnobody Balance Tester, and sEMG of the lower limb muscles. Besides, there were a significant differences in BBS, PASS, static eye-opening area or dynamic stability limit evaluation indexes between the robotic and control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of the REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke. According to our results, the REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot demonstrated superior potential efficacy in promoting the early recovery of balance and motor functions in patients with sub-acute stroke. Future large-scale randomized controlled studies and follow-up assessments are needed to validate the current findings. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn/index.html.Unique identifier: ChiCTR2300068398.

Protective effect of pilose antler peptide on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury through Nrf-2/OH-1/NF-κB pathway.

The purpose of the current study was to detect the effect of pilose antler peptide (PAP) on cerebral ischemia and explore its potential mechanism. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed to investigate the effects of PAP on cerebral ischemia. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham group, model(I/R) group, I/R+Clopidogrel group, I/R+PAP (50mg/kg) group, I/R+PAP (100mg/kg) group. The results showed that PAP significantly reduced brain infarct size, inhibited cerebral edema, decreased th eneurological deficits. Treatment with PA reduced the contents of malondialdehyde(MDA) and restore the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) in serum and brains. Lig also could effectively decrease the levels of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum and brain tissues of the MCAO rats. Western blot results demonstrated that PAP up-regulated the expressions of Nrf-2 and HO-1, also blocked the phosphorylations of IκB kinases(IKK)α, IKKß, inhibitor of NF-κB(IκB)α, nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB) p65 in I/R-induced brains. Our findings suggested that PAP effectively attenuated the I/R-induced cerebral ischemia through Nrf-2/HO-1/NF-κB pathway.

Contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasound for prediction of prostate cancer aggressiveness: The role of normal peripheral zone time-intensity curves.

To assess the role of time-intensity curves (TICs) of the normal peripheral zone (PZ) in the identification of biopsy-proven prostate nodules using contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasound (CETRUS). This study included 132 patients with 134 prostate PZ nodules. Arrival time (AT), peak intensity (PI), mean transit time (MTT), area under the curve (AUC), time from peak to one half (TPH), wash in slope (WIS) and time to peak (TTP) were analyzed using multivariate linear logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to assess whether combining nodule TICs with normal PZ TICs improved the prediction of prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness. The PI, AUC (p < 0.001 for both), MTT and TPH (p = 0.011 and 0.040 respectively) values of the malignant nodules were significantly higher than those of the benign nodules. Incorporating the PI and AUC values (both, p < 0.001) of the normal PZ TIC, but not the MTT and TPH values (p = 0.076 and 0.159 respectively), significantly improved the AUC for prediction of malignancy (PI: 0.784-0.923; AUC: 0.758-0.891) and assessment of cancer aggressiveness (p < 0.001). Thus, all these findings indicate that incorporating normal PZ TICs with nodule TICs in CETRUS readings can improve the diagnostic accuracy for PCa and cancer aggressiveness assessment.

[Treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia with radiofrequency thermocoagulation: report of 648 consecutive cases].

PURPOSE: To analyze the clinical efficacy of radiofrequency thermocoagulation in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia, and discuss the method, skill of radiofrequency thermocoagulation and complications. METHODS: 648 patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia , who were treated by radiofrequency thermocoagulation via foramen infraorbitale approach, lateral approach, anterior approach and other approach from July 2001 to March 2011 in our hospital, were observed and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: After the first treatment of the 648 patients, the rate of pain control was 98.3% via foramen infraorbitale approach, 91.0% via lateral approach and 95.5% via former approach. The overall response rate was 96.0%. 395 patients were followed up from 6 months to 2 years. The recurrent rate within one year was 9.6%, 20.5% within two years. Good response was achieved after re-treatment with radiofrequency thermocoagulation in recurrent patients. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical efficacy of radiofrequency thermocoagulation in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia is good and reliable. The operation is simple, the indication is wide, and the complication is fewer. CT location can improve the accuracy of puncture, and reduce complications.

[Clinical study of cancellous iliac bone graft in cleft alveolar repair].

PURPOSE: To analyze the factors affecting the effect of cleft alveolar repair. METHODS: 21 patients with alveolar cleft who were treated in our hospital between 2003-2007 were included in this study. The factors that affected the cleft alveolar repair such as patient's age, cleft type, surgical method, source of bone were analyzed accordingly. RESULTS: (1) The surgical success rate was 95.24%, the clinical success rate was 90.48%; (2) The effect of bone graft correlated with the patient's age;(3) Surgical success rate of unilateral alveolar cleft was higher than that of bilateral alveolar cleft. CONCLUSIONS: (1) The younger patients, the greater chance of success in bone graft. Patients aged 9-11 years are appropriate candidates for the surgery , when the canine is erupting; (2) Iliac bone is a good source for bone graft; (3)Good bone bed and tight tension-free suture are the key to surgical success.

[Clinical study on the treatment of recurrent aphthous ulcer with zhong tong'an combined with dexamethasone].

100 cases of recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU) were randomly divided into two groups, 55 cases in the experimental group who were given traditional Chinese medicine Zhong tong'an capsules combined with dexamethasone tablets, while 45 cases in the control group who were given dexamethasone tablets alone. The course of treatment was 9 days, and follow up period was 6 months. The overall effective rates were 94.45% and 77.78% in the experimental group and the control group respectively. There was significant difference between the two groups in the treatment outcome (P < 0.05).

[Treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia with radiofrequency thermogangliocoagulation: Report of 152 consecutive cases].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical results of primary trigeminal neuralgia treated by RFT and investigate the methods to manage complications. METHODS: 152 cases of primary trigeminal neuralgia were collected from 2001 to 2004, a retrospective study was undertaken to analyze the clinical characters such as effective rate, ineffective rate and the rate of complications of patients treated with RFT. RESULTS: The average age of the 152 cases was 48.9 years old, the rate of male to female was 1:1.3. The effective rate of primary trigeminal neuralgia treated with RFT was 94.1%, the ineffective rate was 2.6%;another 3.3% cases gave up or altered to other methods, the rate of complications was 15.8%. CONCLUSIONS: RFT is an effective method to treat primary trigeminal neuralgia with few severe complications and low mortality rate, which can save the sense of touch partly. Recurrent cases can be retreated with RFT.

[The expression of Maspin and VEGF gene in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its significance].

PURPOSE: To study the expression of Maspin(marray serine proteinase inhibitor) and VEGF(vascular endothelial growth factor) gene in oral squamous cell cancers(OSCC) and the relationship between Maspin and VEGF. METHODS: mRNA expression of Maspin and VEGF gene was investigated by RT-PCR in every samples of 18 OSCC cases. F test and Person test were used for data analysis. RESULTS: mRNA expression of Maspin gene increased gradually in OSCC, paratumor and normal epithelium(P<0.01); mRNA expression of VEGF gene decreased gradually in OSCC,paratumor and normal epithelium(P<0.01); The expression of Maspin and VEGF gene was negatively correlated in OSCC(P<0.01) ; The expression of Maspin gene was negatively associated but VEGF gene was positively associated with lymph node metastasis in OSCC(P<0.05); The expression of Maspin and VEGF gene had no relation with the histological grade or tumor size in OSCC. CONCLUSION: Maspin and VEGF gene may play an important role in the development of OSCC and Maspin gene may down-regulate the expression of VEGF gene.