Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an age-related neurodegenerative eye disease characterized by degeneration and progressive death of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor cells. In recent years, as a new treatment for AMD, stem cell therapy has attracted wide attention in the field of AMD, and has become a current research hotspot. Although stem cell therapy carries risks such as increased incidence of cancer and immune rejection, it significantly promotes damaged photoreceptor cells and retinal cells by differentiating into RPE cells and other retinal cell types, as well as secreting neurotrophic factors and extracellular vesicles. In particular, the development of embryonic stem cell-derived RPE cells, its cryopreservation technology and the advancement of plasmid, adeno-associated virus, Sendai virus and other delivery technologies have laid a solid foundation for stem cell therapy of AMD. As a new method to prevent retinal damage and photoreceptor degeneration, stem cell neuroprotective therapy has shown great potential, and with the continuous maturity and improvement of these technologies, stem cell therapy is expected to provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of AMD in the future.
Erythropoietin （EPO） is known as a classical hematopoietic growth factor, which has been used to treat anemia caused by different reasons. In recent years, EPO＇s non-hematopoietic biological effects have gradually become a focus. Among these effects, EPO＇s tissue protection is most attractive and EPO has been proved to protect many different tissues and organs. Myocardial protection has always been the important and key topic in the field of cardiovascular diseases. Reports about EPO＇s myocardial protective effects have been published in the recent two years, which direct the research about myocardial protection with new ideas. In this article, the discoveries and unsolved problems associated with EPO＇s myocardial protection were reviewed.
Objective To investigate the value of systemic-normothermic/cardiac-hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass（CPB）on operation of congenital heart disease. Methods Thirty patients of congenital heart disease were randomly divided into two groups, the normothermia group（n=15）and hypothermia group（n=15）. The changes of CPB time, aortic cross-clamp time,operation time and postoperative drainage and the value of blood cell were observed. Results The duration of CPB （37. 5 ±11. 6rain vs. 51. 6± 12. 0 min, P〈0. 05） and operation time （2.2± 0.6h vs. 2. 7±0. 5h, P〈0. 01） in normothermia group were shorter than those of hypothermia group statistically, the differences of postoperative drainage and the value of blood cells between two groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion The use of systemic-normothermic/cardiac-hypothermic CPB on operation of congenital heart disease shows that the time of operation is shorter remarkly , and it could be clinically used safely.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effective protective measures to ensure sufficient blood supply to the jejunal segment in reconstruction of esophagus. METHODS: According to evidence based on medicine, we analyzed retrospectively 69 patients (48 cicatricial stenosis due to chemical burn, 21 defects due to excision of esophagus cancer), whose esophagus were reconstructed with free jejunal graft(in 28 cases) and with pedicle jejunal graft (in 41 cases) from 1980 to 2001. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 1-21 years. Of 43 patients treated before 1996, 5 complicated by anastomotic leakage, 1 by strangulated intestinal obstruction; of 26 patients treated after 1996 (6 with free jejunal graft, 20 with pedicle jejunal graft), only one case complicated by anastomotic leakage. CONCLUSION: The preservative measures for good blood supply to the jejunal segment include the following aspects: (1) complete marginal vascular arcade without tension in the mesojejunum; (2) vessel anastomosis smooth; (3) 4-finger width pathway of jejunum; (4) the stable arterial blood pressure (more than 8 kPa); (5) a single-row anastomosis; and (6) the comprehensive preoperative management.
To valuate cerebral protection by retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) via superior vena cava,the study results for the last ten years have been reviewed.RCP is regarded as an assistant method in deep hypothermic circulatory arrest(DHCA) in that it provides partial brain blood flow,maintains a low brain temperature,optimizes cerebral metabolic function during DHCA by supplying oxygen and some nutrient and removal of catabolic products;it also reduces the incidence of cerebral embolization by flushing out air...
The apical displacement of tricuspid valve leaflets complicated with significantly enlarged, thin and fibrotic wall of the right ventricle is prone to dysfunction of right heart. Therefore, the myocardial protection for the right ventricle is important. Based on the pathological changes, an algorithm of perioperative myocardial protection strategy is summarized. Firstly, we should clearly know that the right ventricular myocardium with severe lesions is much different from the unimpaired myocardium, because it is now on the margin of failure; secondly, right heart protection should be regarded as a systematic project, which runs through preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative periods, and requires close collaboration among surgeons, perfusionists, anesthesiologists and ICU physicians. In this article, we try to introduce the systematic project of the right heart protection, in order to improve the outcome of this population.
Perineal care is a classic topic for obstetrics. After thousands of years of practice, we have accumulated some experience and meanwhile, we are also taking some attempts. The effectiveness and reliability of these methods need evaluation. Nowadays, the best evidence comes from randomized controlled trials (RCT) and systematic reviews (SR). We searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2007), MEDLINE (Jan. 1980 to May 2007) databases and CBM-disc (Jan. 1980 to May 2007) to obtain current best evidence for perineal care.