Background: To investigate the relation between serum leptin levels and cerebral infarction (CI) by meta-analysis.Materials and Methods: Scientific literature databases were searched for studies published in Chinese and English. After retrievingrelevant articles through database searches and screening using predefined selection criteria, high-quality studies related to our researchtopic were selected for inclusion in this meta-analysis. All statistical analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 2.0(CMA 2.0, Biostat Inc., Englewood, New Jersey, USA).Results: The study results revealed that serum leptin levels were significantlyhigher in CI patients as compared to normal controls. The outcomes of subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested that the serum leptinlevels in CI patients were significantly higher than normal controls in both Asian and Caucasian populations. Further, subgroupanalysis based on the detection method indicated that the serum leptin levels in CI patients were significantly higher compared withnormal controls when measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) but enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) -based measurementsdid not show such statistically significant differences.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis results suggest that serum leptin levels in CIpatients may be closely correlated with CI risks.

Background: Cerebral stroke, known as one of the most common causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The frequency of stroke is rising by ageing the population and placed a significant concern for public health. However, modifying risk factors contributing to stroke may decrease the burden of the disease. This study aimed to examine the association of life stressors and personality types with stroke. Method: The participants were a convenient clinical sample of 100 patients with ischemic stroke and 100 individuals without stroke. The Paykel life event questionnaire and Friedman and Rosenman personality type questionnaire were used to evaluate life stressor and personality characteristics, respectively. Results: Among the different types of stressor subgroups, mean prevalence score of total life stressors, psycho-social stressors, frustration-despair stressors and mental-physical stressors were significantly higher in patients (p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.001, and p<0.001 respectively). The prevalence of type A personality in stroke patients and control groups were 52 and 45 %, respectively (p = 0.322). Severity scores of stressors were often higher in cerebral infarction patients with type A personality. Conclusion: There is an association between higher psychological stressors and stroke, and people with type A personality in both groups experienced more stress than type B. It suggests that cerebral infarction patients with type A personality have a higher level of stress in response to life events which could be considered as a modifiable factor.

Background: Acute cerebral infarction (ACI) is a common cerebrovascular disease that seriously endangers human health. It is very important to carry out disease assessments to rescue patients who may suffer from preventable death. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the predictive value of concomitant disease scoring for the prognosis of patients with ACI. Methods: This is a respective observational study. A total of 399 patients with ACI from the Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology, who met the inclusion criteria, were enrolled in the present study. The concomitant disease score was assessed within 24 hours after admission, and the risk degree of death was analyzed. Then, the goodness of fit test and validity analysis were carried out, and the best survival/death cut-off value was determined. Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the concomitant disease score was 0. 700, the distinctiveness was relatively good, and the prediction cut-off value was 10 points. Furthermore, the mortality rate of patients with a higher score was significantly higher compared to patients with a lower score. Conclusions: The concomitant disease score has good predictive value for the prognosis of ACI patients, and is an ideal system for evaluating the condition of cerebral infarction.

Background: Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a congenital heart defect. Due to the narrowing of the descending aorta, blood flow mainly reduces after the stenosis, and CoA can occur at any region in the thoracic and abdominal aorta. Cardiac surgeons and cardiologists are familiar with postoperative complications of CoA,however, there are also some other complications that have not been reported to date. Case Presentation: The present study investigated three cases of CoA undergoing reconstructive surgery. Nevertheless, a couple of days after the surgery, they manifested symptoms suspected of cerebral infarction. Ischemic infarction was observed after performing brain computed tomography. Additionally, we discuss possible pathophysiology and reasons that can lead to this problem. Conclusions: In this case report, we presented three cases of CoA patients who underwent reconstructive surgery and manifested cerebral infarction as an adverse effect of the reconstructive surgery.

Background: We aimed to explore the effect of comprehensive cerebral protection on cerebral oxygen me-tabolism and vascular endothelial function in elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods: A total of 168 elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction treated in The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, China from January 2016 to January 2018 were selected. The patients were divided into a control group and an observation group using random number method, n=84. Patients in the observa-tion group were given comprehensive cerebral protection treatment, and patients in the control group were treated with conventional standardized treatments. The changes of cerebral oxygen metabolism, hemorheology and vascular endothelial function before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. Results: After treatment, oxygen content in arteries and internal jugular veins (Da-vO2), ofoxygen uptake frac-tion (OEF), Oxygen saturation (SpO2), nitric oxide (NO) were increased in both groups in comparison to be-fore treatment, jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjvO2), brain oxygen uptake rate (ERO2), endothelin (ET), intracranial pressure (ICP), whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, reduced viscosity of whole blood, and hematocrit were decreased. However, the changes in the observation group were larger than those in the con-trol group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0. 05). Conclusion: The treatment of cerebral infarction in elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction can effec-tively improve the cerebral oxygen metabolism and vascular endothelial function and improve the blood rheol-ogy, which has important clinical value.