Objective
To retrospectively analyze the effectiveness of percutaneous anterior odontoid and transarticular screw fixation for type II odontoid fracture treated in the elderly patients.
Methods
Between October 2009 and March 2012, 5 patients with odontoid fracture were treated with anterior triple screws fixation. There were 4 males and 1 female with an average age of 69.4 years (range, 65-74 years). Fracture was caused by falling injury from height in all cases. The average time between injury and operation was 6.8 days (range, 3-12 days). According to Anderson-D’Alonzo classification system, all 5 cases were classified as type II odontoid fractures; 1 case accompanied by anterior arch fracture. Four cases were rated as grade E and 1 case as grade D on the basis of Frankel classification system on nerve function evaluation. Percutaneous anterior odontoid and transarticular screw fixation were used in all cases. The operation time, intra-operative blood loss, X-ray exposure time, and complications were recorded. The X-ray films were taken to observe atlantoaxial stability and implant conditions.
Results
All patients were successfully complete the surgery, and no open operation was needed. The average operation time was 103.6 minutes (range, 93-114 minutes). The average intra-operative blood loss was 5.6 mL (range, 3-10 mL). The average X-ray exposure time was 24.2 seconds (range, 17-32 seconds). Good reduction of atlantoaxial joint and primary healing of incision were obtained in 5 patients. The average follow-up duration was 21.4 months (range, 12-35 months). Transient dysphagia occurred in 3 cases, and was cured after 5 days of expectant treatment. No major complications of carotid artery laceration, spinal cord injury, esophageal perforation, airway obstruction, and implant failure occurred. The X-ray films showed odontoid bony union, atlantoaxial stability and good position of screws. The average time of odontoid fracture union was 7 months (range, 5-10 months). Five patients had normal neurological function (Frankel grade E) at last follow-up. Three patients complained of neck discomfort and movement limitation and had normal daily activities without special therapy; the other 2 patients had no clinical symptom of discomfort.
Conclusion
Percutaneous anterior odontoid and transarticular screw fixation is a safe and effective procedure for treatment of type II odontoid fractures in the elderly patients with minimally invasive surgical advantages.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a multifunctional factor that promotes blood vessel formation and increases vascular permeability. Its abnormal elevation plays a key role in common retinal diseases such as wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Anti-VEGF therapy can inhibit angiogenesis, reduce vascular leakage and edema, thereby delaying disease progression and stabilizing or improving vision. Currently, the clinical application of anti-VEGF drugs has achieved satisfactory therapeutic effects, but there are also issues such as high injection frequency, heavy economy burden, potential systemic side effects, and non-responsiveness. To address these issues, current research and development mainly aim on biosimilars, multi-target drugs, drug delivery systems, oral anti-VEGF drugs, and gene therapy. Some drugs have shown great potential and are expected to turn over a new leaf for anti-VEGF treatment in ophthalmology.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical effect and prognosis of laparoscopic complete mesocolic resection (CME) in the treatment of elderly patients with stage Ⅲ right colon cancer.MethodsClinical data of 280 elderly patients (aged 60 years or older) who underwent stage Ⅲ right hemicolectomy in the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from 2010 to 2015 were collected. Among them, 160 patients underwent laparoscopic CME treatment were set as the observation group, and 120 patients underwent conventional laparotomy were set as the control group. The mean operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative first anal exhaust time, number of lymph nodes dissection, number of positive lymph nodes, length of hospital stay and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. The postoperative local recurrence rate, distant metastasis rate, 3-year cumulative survival rate and postoperative recurrence risk factors were analyzed.ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences between the observation group and the control group in operative time, number of lymph node dissection, number of positive lymph nodes and postoperative distant metastasis rate (P>0.05). The amount of intraoperative blood loss, postoperative anal first exhaust time, days of hospitalization, and postoperative recurrence rate in the observation group were less or shorter or lower than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). The 3-year survival rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (log-rank χ2 =11.865, P=0.001), and the disease free survival in the observation group was also higher than that in the control group (log-rank χ2=7.567, P=0.006). Logistic regression was used to analyze the cases of postoperative recurrence in the two groups, and it was found that the degree of tumor differentiation, vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for postoperative tumor recurrence.ConclusionLaparoscopic CME in the treatment of elderly patients with stage Ⅲ right colon cancer is effective, it is safe and feasible, which can effectively prolong the survival time of patients.
Objectives To systematically review the prevalence of sleep disorders in Chinese elderly population. Methods CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed and Web of Science were searched to collect studies on the prevalence of sleep disorders the Chinese elderly from January 2000 to November 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literatures, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias of the included studies, then meta-analysis was performed by Stata 14.0 software. Results A total of 19 cross-sectional studies were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that, the overall prevalence of sleep disorders was 41.2% (95% CI 36.2% to 46.2%). Male and female prevalence rates were 35.7% and 45.0%, respectively. For individuals aged between 60 to 70, 70 to 80 and above 80, the prevalence rates were 29.9%, 42.0%, 44.2%, respectively. For individuals with primary school education and below, junior/high school education, college degree or above, the prevalence rates were 29.0%, 23.1%, 22.4%, respectively. The prevalence rate of individuals with normal marital status was 31.5%, and those with abnormal marital status (widowed, divorced, single, etc.) was 41.0%. The prevalence rate in individuals with in people with physical illness was 45.7%, and those without physical illness was 32.4%. For the urban population, the prevalence rate was 36.4%, while for the rural population, the prevalence rate was 42%. Conclusions The overall prevalence of sleep disorders in the Chinese elderly is high. The prevalence rate of sleep disorders among gender, age, educational level, marital status, physical illness, and living space is different.
ObjectiveTo assess the effect of surgical treatment or conservative treatment on the clinical outcomes for displaced 3-part or 4-part proximal humeral fractures in elderly patients.
MethodsWe searched CNKI (between January 1979 and April 2014), Wanfang Data (between January 1982 and April 2014), Medline (between January 1946 and April 2014), PubMed (between January 1966 and April 2014), Embase (between January 1974 and April 2014) and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (between January 2005 and April 2014) for randomized controlled trials comparing surgical treatment and conservative treatment for displaced 3-part or 4-part proximal humeral fractures in elderly patients. The data were extracted and a Meta-analysis was made using RevMan 5.2.
ResultsFive randomized controlled trials with a total of 226 patients were accepted in this Meta-analysis. The differences of Constant scores[WMD=0.48, 95%CI (-4.39, 5.35), P=0.85], incidences of avascular necrosisr of the humeral head[RR=0.66, 95%CI (0.37, 1.16), P=0.15], incidences of nonunion[RR=0.56, 95%CI (0.20, 1.58), P=0.27], incidences of osteoarthritis[RR=0.35, 95%CI (0.10, 1.22), P=0.10] between the two groups were not statistically different. The difference of incidences of additional surgery after primary treatment was statistically significant[RR=3.52, 95%CI (1.18, 10.45), P=0.02].
ConclusionThe results does not support the surgical treatment to improve the shoulder function when compared with conservative treatment for treating elderly patients with displaced 3-part or 4-part proximal humeral fractures. But surgical treatment increases the incidence of additional surgery after primary treatment. Considering surgery can increase the trauma and economic burden of patients, so the conservative treatment is suggested.
