The available data indicate that physiotherapy intervention may have benefits in AD. However, current data are not definitive; more carefully designed and conducted observational studies are needed to definitively establish that whether physiotherapy intervention can effectively alleviate symptoms of AD.

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For patients with acute DeBakey type I dissection without an intimal tear in the arch, hemiarch replacement with stented elephant trunk implantation was easily performed, with satisfactory early and midterm outcomes. For these selective patients, total arch replacement with the stented elephant trunk technique did not improve the late surgical results further.

Pharmacological preconditioning reduces myocardial infarct size in ischaemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury. Dexmedetomidine, a selective α -adrenoceptor agonist, has a proven cardioprotective effect when administered prior to I-R, although the underlying mechanisms for this effect are not fully understood. We evaluated whether dexmedetomidine preconditioning could induce a myocardio-protective effect against I-R injury by inhibiting associated inflammatory processes through downregulation of the high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)-toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signalling pathway. Seventy rats were randomly assigned to seven groups: a control and six test groups, involving I-R for 30 and 120 minutes, respectively, in isolated rat hearts and different pretreatment protocols with dexmedetomidine (10 nmol/L) as well as yohimbine (1 μmol/L) and recombinant HMGB1 peptide (rHMGB1; 20 μg/L), alone or in combination with dexmedetomidine. Cardiac function was recorded; myocardial HMGB1, TLR4, and NF-κB activities and levels of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured as were lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) in coronary outflow. Dexmedetomidine preconditioning significantly improved cardiac function (P<.05), downregulated the expression of HMGB1-TLR4-NF-κB, reduced levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in isolated ventricles during I-R injury, and significantly reduced CK and LDH levels in coronary outflow (P<.05). All of these effects were partially reversed by yohimbine (P<.05) or rHMGB1 (P<.05). Dexmedetomidine preconditioning alleviated myocardial I-R injury in rats through inhibition of inflammatory processes associated with downregulation of the HMGB1-TLR4-NF-κB signalling pathway via activation at α -adrenergic receptors.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cognitive impairment and increased risks of dementia. However, the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on cognitive function in patients with OSA is still controversial. Objective: To evaluate the cognitive effects of CPAP treatment on OSA. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials (RCT) in the corresponding fields. Results: Totally 14 studies and 1,926 participants were included in our meta-analysis. Standardized mean difference (SMD) or weighted mean difference (WMD) were calculated for subjective sleepiness and cognitive domains including attention and speed of information processing, executive function, and memory. Individual cognitive scale and subgroup analyses according to OSA severity, length of trial, and RCT design type were further conducted. Significant treatment effect on attention and speed of information processing was only observed in severe OSA patients (SMD, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.31; p = 0.025; I 2 = 0%). Conclusions: Therefore, our meta-analysis indicates that CPAP treatment can partially improve cognitive impairment in the population of severe OSA.