Experience with thoracic endovascular aortic repair applied in treating Stanford type B aortic dissection: An analysis of 98 cases.

BACKGROUND: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has been frequently applied in Stanford type B aortic dissection since thoracic aortic diseases were first treated with artificial vessels. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical value of TEVAR applied in treating Stanford type B aortic dissection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between January 2007 and April 2014, 167 consecutive Stanford type B aortic dissection patients were treated with TEVAR and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: All patients had a successful operation. A total of 98 patients were followed-up and the duration of the follow-up ranged from 3 to 63 months with a mean of 25.6 ±8.4 months. Proximal type I endoleak occurred in 18 patients with an incidence rate of 18.37% and a cuff was deployed in 7 patients, in whom the endoleak disappeared after 3 months. Two patients died in the perioperative period: one died from aortic dissection rupture, while the other died from infectious shock. One patient died from acute myocardial infarction during the follow-up period. Tears occurred in the end piece of stent grafts in 12 patients, and additional TEVAR was performed. One patient had a proximal retrograde type A dissection; the patient was in an acceptable state of health apart from persistent chest and back pain, and is still in follow-up. Spinal cord ischemia, stent displacement and collapse did not occur. CONCLUSIONS: TEVAR is reliable and safe, and it can be widely applied in treating Stanford type B aortic dissection.

IgA nephropathy factors that predict and accelerate progression to end-stage renal disease.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) or Berger's disease is a slowly progressing disease that leads to end-stage renal disease in 50 % of the patients within 25 years of the disease. However, several factors are associated with the accelerated progression of this disease causing early development of end-stage disease. Persistent proteinuria or hematuria, poorly controlled hypertension, elevated serum creatinine and prevalent glomerulosclerosis are some of the risk factors that expedite the deteriorative effects of IgAN. Thus, the progression of the disease can be delayed if the associated risk factors are handled and addressed in the nick of time.

Visual detection of cobalt(II) ion in vitro and tissue with a new type of leaf-like molecular microcrystal.

A novel type of leaf-like poly (p-phenylenediamine) (PpPD) microcrystal was prepared under mild conditions, which was successfully applied to the visual detection of Co(2+)in vitro and in tissue based on the extinction and light scattering features owing to the special etching effect of Co(2+) on the surface of the leaf-like microcrystal.

Selective recognition of thymidine homopolymer (poly T) oligonucleotide with cobalt(II)-4-[(5-chloro-2-pyridyl)azo]-1,3-diaminobenzene complex.

The interactions of cobalt(II)-4-[(5-chloro-2-pyridyl)azo]-1,3-diaminobenzene (5-Cl-PADAB) complex with different kinds of homopolymer oligonucleotides in basic medium were investigated based on the measurements of resonance light scattering, UV-vis, circular dichroism spectra and dark field light-scattering imaging. Experiments showed that only thymidine homopolymer (poly T) oligonucleotides with the length in the range of poly T6 to poly T18 could interact with the Co(II)-5-Cl-PADAB complex in alkaline conditions and cause evident color and spectral change. Thus, the binary complex of Co(II)-5-Cl-PADAB could be employed as a visual probe for selectively recognizing the poly T oligonucleotides.

Telomere DNA conformation change induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles as detected by plasmon resonance light scattering technique.

It has been reported that adsorption of uncoiled DNA (u-DNA) on the surface of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) can prevent the nanoparticle suspensions from aggregation even if in salt medium. Herein we report that quadruplex DNA (q-DNA), which is formed from uncoiled telomere DNA, via intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the presence of potassium ion, cannot keep Au-NPs stable, and the q-DNA/Au-NPs coexisting suspensions display aggregation tendency, giving plasmon resonance light scattering (PRLS) signals of Au-NPs. Mechanism investigations through a single point energy calculation on u- and q-structures of telomere DNA showed that q-DNA, compared with u-DNA, has a much higher surface negative charge density, symmetrical charge distribution and well self-structural stabilization, could not be adsorbed on the surface of Au-NPs.