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Objective:To summarize the efficacy of artificial blood vessel bypass grafting in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) complicated with lower extremity malperfusion.Methods:From January 2004 to January 2021, a total of 896 patients with ATAAD underwent surgical operations in Nanjing First Hospital, Among which 75 patients with lower extremity malperfusion was retrospectively analyzed.Results:There were 61 males and 14 females with mean age (50.9±11.3) years old. The cardiopulmonary bypass time (CPB) was (181.9±27.0) min, the cross-clamp time was (125.7±25.0)min, and the lower body circulatory arrest time was (20.4±3.1) min. Fifty-five patients had total aortic arch replacement and 20 cases had hemi-arch replacement surgery. Lower extremity arterial perfusion was restored in 48 patients after dissection surgery. Twenty-six patients underwent dissection surgery concurrently with extra-anatomic bypass grafting. The main postoperative complications were: acute kidney injury in 9 cases, delayed extubation (≥72 h) in 10, pulmonary infection in 13, tracheotomy in 6, paralysis in 1, stroke in 2 and lower limb amputation in 3. ICU stay time was (5.8±4.5) days, in-hospital time was (21.4±13.8) days. Nine patients (12%) died in the whole group: pulmonary infection, respiratory failure in 2 cases, multiple organ failure in 3 cases, iliac artery rupture in 1 case, intestinal necrosis in 1 case, severe cerebral infarction in 1 case, and giving-up in 1 case. A total of 66 patients (88%) were successfully discharged. The follow-up time was (55.8±33.4) months. The results of survival analysis showed that the 5-year survival rate was (96.7±4.2)%, and the 10-year survival rate was (56.4±16.3)%.Conclusion:Extra-anatomic bypass grafting is a feasible method to solve ATAAD complicated with lower extremity malperfusion. It is simple and easy to operate, and the long-term effect is satisfactory.
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Objective:To analyze the status of treatment of aortic diseases in nine centers included in Jiangsu Aortic Registry study.Methods:Medical records of 1 105 patients who underwent surgery for aortic diseases in nine cardiovascular centers in Jiangsu province from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020 were retrospectively collected. According to the types of diseases, they are divided into three categories: Category Ⅰ diseases: aortic diseases requiring only simple open surgery; Category Ⅱ: aortic disease requiring complex open surgery; Category Ⅲ disease: aortic disease requiring interventional or hybrid surgery. The diagnosis and treatment of the three diseases were compared by statistical analysis.Results:Patients aged 50-59 years and 60-69 years were the most in the whole group, accounting for 291(26.3%) and 319 (28.9%), respectively. That is, the age group between 50-69 years was the main age for the incidence of aortic disease, accounting for 55.2% (610/1 105) of the total incidence. The ratio of male to female was 803∶302, and male was 72.7% (803/1 105). The perioperative mortality of patients with type Ⅰ and Ⅲ diseases was lower [1.6%(6/385) and 1.0% (4/330), respectively]. The perioperative mortality of patients with type Ⅱ diseases was significantly increased (15.5% (51/330)) due to their dangerous onset and complicated operation. The highest postoperative complications were infection 11.3% (124/1 105), acute kidney injury 8.6% (95/1 105), and neurological complications 7.0% (77/1 105), respectively.Conclusion:Individualized treatment according to the lesion site, lesion type and scope of involvement of aortic disease can achieve a satisfactory prognosis.
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@#Objective To investigate the relationship between lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) level and in-hospital prognosis in patients with acute type A aortic dissection within 24 hours of admission. Methods Fortysix patients diagnosed with type A aortic dissection were included in our hospital and their Lp-PLA2 levels within 24 hours of admission were measured between January 2017 and June 2019. According to their Lp-PLA2 levels within 24 hours of admission, 23 patients were classified into a high Lp-PLA2 group (Lp-PLA2 > 200 μg/L, 16 males and 7 females at age of 52.0±14.0 years) and 23 patients were into a low Lp-PLA2 group (Lp-PLA2 ≤200 μg/L, 15 males and 8 females at age of 53.0±11.0 years). The relationship between Lp-PLA2 level and clinical outcome was analyzed. Results The incidences of bleeding, hospital infection, multiple organ dysfunction and mortality in the high Lp-PLA2 group were higher than those in the low Lp-PLA2 group (P<0.05). Seven (15.2%) patients died during 3 months of follow-up. The 3-month survival rate of patients with an increase of Lp-PLA2 was significantly lower than that of the patients with normal Lp-PLA2 (P<0.01), which was an independent predictor of adverse outcomes at 3 months of onset (P<0.01). Conclusion Lp-PLA2 may be a predictor of disease progression in the patients with acute type A aortic dissection, and the patients with significantly elevated Lp-PLA2 have a higher 3-month mortality than the patients with normal Lp-PLA2.
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Objective:To analyze the risk factors for postoperative renal replacement therapy(RRT) in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. Develop and validate a prediction model based on the risk factors with the purpose of early intervention.Methods:A retrospective analysis of 215 patients who underwent surgery for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection in our hospital from April 2016 to April 2019 were performed. Clinical variables including age, gender, basal blood pressure, preoperative serum creatinine, intraoperative blood pressure, operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic occlusion time, intraoperative blood transfusion(including autologous blood), intraocular fluid infusion, colloidal fluid infusion, intraoperative urine volume, bleeding volume, total fluid balance, and postoperative blood lactate value were collected and their association with renal replacement therapy were analysed. Clinical variables were screened using lasso regression. Applying the post-filtering variables to construct a predictive model, calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve( AUC) of the predictive model and the sensitivity and specificity under the optimal threshold for model evaluation. Results:In the 215 patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection, 38 patients required renal replacement therapy, accounting for 17.67%. Preoperative serum creatinine, operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic occlusion time, intraoperative blood pressure less than 80mmHg time, intraoperative blood pressure less than 55% of basal blood pressure time, intraoperative blood transfusion, intraoperative crystal fluid dosage, intraoperative urine volume and lactate value after ICU admission were important risk factors for postoperative renal replacement therapy(RRT) in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. The AUC for the predictive model established using these variables was 0.955(95% CI: 0.897-1.000). The specificity under the optimal threshold was 96.1% and the sensitivity was 90.9%. Conclusion:Perioperative clinical variables can predict the possibility of RRT in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection after surgery, which may provide the possibility for early intervention.
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Objective:To summarize the surgical treatment and it’s results of patients with acute type A aortic dissection with cerebral malperfusion.Methods:We collected and analyzed the clinical date of 16 patients, who were hospitalized and underwent operation Between January 2010 to June 2019, presented cerebral malperfusion due to acute type A aortic dissection. All of them showed preoperative newly developed neurologic deficits, left hemiplegia in 8 cases, left paraparesis in 5 cases and right paraparesis in 3 cases.Results:Aortic valve was involved in 5 patients, 2 of whom underwent AVR surgery, 2 cases of CABG and 2 cases of artificial graft bypass were performed at the same time, 1 case underwent left leg amputation postoperatively. Seven patients died after surgery.Conclusion:The results of surgical management of acute type A aortic dissection with cerebral malperfusion demonstrated high hospital mortality, which needs us to restore the cerebral perfusion as soon as possible. The specific method should be decided according to the patients' condition.
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@#Objective To analyze the cause of death in low-risk cardiac surgery patients during postoperative period and discuss the prevention and treatment methods to increase the survival rate. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 132 patients dead after cardiac surgery from January 2014 to December 2018, among whom 35 patients had a EuroSCORE Ⅱ score <4% (low-risk cardiac surgery patients), including 20 males and 15 females aged 62.7±13.4 years. The cause of death in these low-risk patients was analyzed. Results The main causes of death were cardiogenic and brain-derived causes (60.0%), and infections and ogran failure (45.7%). Pulmonary infection and low cardiac output after surgery were the main causes of death. Cerebral infarction, malignant arrhythmia and multiple organ failure were the common causes of death. There were 4 deaths (11.4%) caused by accidents, including gastrointestinal bleeding caused by esophageal ultrasound probe, cough and asphyxia caused by drinking water, postoperative paralytic ileus and multiple perioperative allergic reactions caused by allergic constitution. Conclusion Postoperative treatment and prevention for low-risk cardiac surgery patients should be focused on postoperative infection, and cardiac and brain function protection. Changes in various organ functions need to be closely monitored for preventing organ failure, accidents should be strictly controlled, and more details of intraoperative and postoperative treatment still need to be further improved.
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Objective To compare early outcomes of the minimally invasive aortic valve surgery (MIAVS) through right parasternal mini-thoracotomy with conventional mitral valve surgery (AVS),and evaluate feasibility and safety of MIAVS.Methods From January 2017 to December 2017,60 patients undergoing elective AVS in Nanjing First Hospital were prospectively enrolled in this study.There were 32 male and 28 female patients with their age of 28-72 (46.5 ± 10.2)years.Using a random number table,all the patients were randomly divided into a port-access MIAVS group (MIAVS group,n =20) and a conventional AVS group (conventional group,n =60).MIAVS group patients received port-access cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) establishment via femoral artery,femoral vein and right internal jugular vein cannulation through right the 3rd in tercostal space with 5-6 cm right parasternal incision in length.Special MIAVS operative instruments were used for mitral valve repair or replacement.Conventional group patients received mitral valve repair or replacement under conventional CPB through median sternotomy.Perioperative clinical data,morbidity and mortality were compared between the 2 groups.Results There was no death in-hospital or shortly after discharge in this study.CPB time [(106.0 ± 21.0) minutes vs (73.0 ± 15.0) minutes] and aortic cross-clamping time [(78.0 ± 10.0) minutes vs (47.0 ± 7.0) minutes] of MIAVS group were significantly longer than those of conventional group (P ≤ 0.05).Postoperative mechanical ventilation time [(7.0 ±4.2) hours vs (10.2 ±5.3)hours],length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay [(19.0 ± 4.0) hours vs (27.5 ± 8.0) hours] and postoperative hospital stay [(8.5 ± 2.5) days vs (13.0 ± 3.0) days] of MIAVS group were significantly shorter than those of conventional group (P ≤ 0.05).Chest drainage volume within postoperative 12 hours [(100.0 ±40.0)ml vs (410.0 ±80.0)ml] and the percentage of patients receiving blood transfusion (15.0％ vs 55.0％) of MIAVS group were significantly lower than those of conventional group (P ≤0.05).Patients were followed up for 1-12 months,and the follow-up rate was 96.7％.There was no statistical difference in postoperative morbidity or mortality between the 2 groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Minimally invasive aortic valve surgery through right right parasternal mini-thoracotomy is a safe and feasible procedure for surgical treatment of mitral valve diseases.MIAVS can achieve similar clinical outcomes as conventional AVS,with more quickly recovery and less blood transfusion,and is a good alternative to conventional AVS.
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Objective To investigate the impact of perioperative mild hypothermia on the neurological function and prog-nosis of patients with acute type A aortic dissection. Methods This study enrolled 65 patients with acute aortic dissection un-derwent surgery during the period of February 2017 to February 2018 and randomly divided them into mild hypothermia group and control group. After the process of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest,patients in the mild hypothermia group were re-warmed to 34 ℃ - 35 ℃ and maintained until 24 h after the operation. While,the patients in the control group were rewarmed to 36 ℃ and were treated with routine rewarm therapy. Baseline characteristics were recorded before the operation and neuro-logical and prognosis related indexes were recorded after the operation for all the patients. At the same time,peripheral venous bloods of all the patients were collected preoperatively and at 1、6、 12 and 24 h after the operation. Serum S 100β and neuron-specific enolase(NSE)levels were measured by ELISA kit. Results Compared with the control group,patients in the mild hypothermia group had a significantly shorter recovery time[ 10. 6 h(IQR:7. 6, 19. 1)vs. 25. 8 h(IQR: 13. 3,54. 2),P =0. 007]. At the same time,serum levels of NSE at 1 h and 6 h after operation and serum levels of S 100β levels at 1、6、 12 and 24 h after operation in the mild hypothermia group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P < 0. 05). In addi-tion,the length of stay in the mild hypothermia group was significantly shorter than that in the control group[ 19 days(IQR: 17, 23)vs. 24 days(IQR: 17,28),P = 0. 036]. However,there was no statistically difference in the incidence of delirium and cerebrovascular accidents between the two groups. Conclusion Perioperative mild hypothermia therapy can significantly re-duce brain cell damage in the patients with acute type A aortic dissection and can shorten postoperative recovery time and hospi-talization time,and thus improve the prognosis of patients.
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@#Objective To explore the operability of concomitant ablation for the patients with valvular heart diseases with left atrium bigger than 60 mm. Methods We prospectively included 306 patients with concomitant ablation in our hospital between 2013 and 2015 year. Based on diameter of left atrium measured by intra-operative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), we separated these patients into two groups including a group L (left atrium >60 mm, 93 patients, 55 males and 38 females at age of 57.0±10.1 years) and a group S (left atrium <60 mm, 213 patients, 120 males and 93 females at age of 55.2±9.9 years) and followed them on 4 time points (time on discharge, three months, six months, and one year after surgery). Then, we analyzed the impact of left atrial size on cardioversion outcome of surgical ablation based on the following data. Results The successful rate of the group S and the group L in the 4 time points was 72.8% vs. 75.3%, 74.2% vs. 75.3%, 78.9% vs. 77.4%, and 77.0% vs. 77.4%, respectively . The result of both univariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operation characteristic(ROC) curve analysis showed that there was no statistical difference in cardioversion rates between the group S and the group L. And there was no evident correlation between size of left atrium and ablation failure. Conclusion Patients with left atrium enlarged from 60 mm to 70 mm can achieve the same satisfactory results in cardioversion, and should not be the contraindication of concomitant surgical ablation.
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@#Objective To analyze the clinical effect of partial aortic root remodeling for root reconstruction on Stanford type A aortic dissection. Methods From January 2010 to December 2015, 30 patients (25 males, 5 females) underwent partial aortic root remodeling for root reconstruction on Stanford type A aortic dissection with involvement of aortic root. The range of age was from 27 to 72 years, and the mean age was 51.2±8.0 years. The proximal aortic dissection received partial aortic root remodeling, and the operation procedures included partial aortic root remodeling+ascending aortic replacement in 9 patients, partial aortic root remodeling+ascending aortic replacement+hemi-arch replacement in 6 patients, partial aortic root remodeling+ascending aortic replacement+Sun's procedure in 15 patients. The patients were followed up for 10 to 60 months with a mean of 37.9±3.2 months. Preoperative and postoperative degrees of aortic regurgitation were compared. Results All patients survived from the operation, and one patient died from severe pulmonary infection 15 days after operation. The overall survival rate was 96.7% (29/30). One patient died during the follow-up. Two patients underwent aortic valve replacement in the 12th and 15th postoperative month respectively because of severe aortic regurgitation (AI). Up to the last follow-up, trivial or no aortic regurgitation was demonstrated in 24 patients, but mild aortic regurgitation occurred in 2 patients. Conclusion The surgical treatment for aortic root pathology due to Stanford type A aortic dissection is challenging, and partial aortic root remodeling operations could restore valve durability and function, and obtains the early- and mid-term results.
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Objective@#To summarize the experience of reoperations on patients who had late complications related to previous aortic surgery for Stanford type A dissection.@*Methods@#From August 2008 to October 2016, 14 patients (10 male and 4 female patients) who underwent previous cardiac surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection accepted reoperations on the late complications at Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University. The range of age was from 41 to 76 years, the mean age was (57±12) years. In these patients, first time operations were ascending aorta replacement procedure in 3 patients, ascending aorta combined with partial aortic arch replacement in 4 patients, aortic root replacement (Bentall) associated with Marfan syndrome in 3 patients, aortic valve combined with ascending aorta replacement (Wheat) in 1 patient, ascending aorta combined with Sun′s procedure in 1 patient, Wheat combined with Sun′s procedure in 1 patient, Bentall combined with Sun′s procedure in 1 patient. The interval between two operations averaged 0.3 to 10.0 years with a mean of (4.8±3.1) years. The reasons for reoperations included part anastomotic split, aortic valve insufficiency, false aneurysm formation, enlargement of remant aortal and false cavity. The selection of reoperation included anastomotic repair, aortic valve replacement, total arch replacement and Sun′s procedure.@*Results@#Of the 14 patients, the cardiopulmonary bypass times were 107 to 409 minutes with a mean of (204±51) minutes, cross clamp times were 60 to 212 minutes with a mean of (108±35) minutes, selective cerebral perfusion times were 16 to 38 minutes with a mean of (21±11) minutes. All patients survived from the operation, one patient died from severe pulmonary infection 50 days after operation. Three patients had postoperative complications, including acute renal failure of 2 patients and pulmonary infection of 1 patient, and these patients were recovered after treatment. Thirteen patients were finally recovered from hospital. The patients were followed up for 16 to 45 months, and no aortic rupture, paraplegia and death were observed in the follow-up.@*Conclusions@#Patients for residual aortic dissection after initial operations on Stanford type A aortic dissection should be attached great importance and always need emergency surgery, but the technique is demanding and risk is great for surgeons and patients, which need enough specification and accurate on aortic operation. More importantly, the Sun′s procedure also should be performed on the treatment of residual aortic dissection or distal arch expansion, and obtains the short- and long-term results in the future.
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Objective To compare the effects of moderate and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) during aortic arch surgery in the adult patients,to offer the evidence for the detection of which temperature provides best brain protection in the subjects who accept the great aortic surgery.Methods A total of 109 patients undergoing the surgery of aortic arch were divided into the moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest group and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest group.We recorded the characters of the patients and their cardiopulmonary bypass time,aortic clamping time,cerebral perfusion time and postoperative recovery time,tracheal intubation time,time of intensive care unit (ICU) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction.Results Patients' characteristics were similar in two groups.All the patients were cured.There were no significant differences in aortic clamping time of each group [(111.4 ± 58.4) min vs.(115.9 ± 16.2) min];selective cerebral perfusion time [(27.4 ± 5.9) min vs.(23.5 ±6.1) min] of the moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest group and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest group.There were significant differences in the cardiopulmonary bypass time[(207.4 ± 20.9) min vs.(263.8 ± 22.6) min],the postoperative recovery time [(19.0 ± 11.1) h vs.(36.8 ± 25.3) h],intubation time [(46.4 ± 15.1) h vs.(64.4 ± 6.0)h];length of ICU [(4.7 ± 1.7) d vs.(8.± 2.3) d],and postoperative cognitive dysfunction of the two groups.Conclusion Compared to the deep hypothermic circulatory arrest,the moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest can provide better brain protection and achieve good clinical results.
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Objective To investigate the surgical treatment of coronary malperfusion due to acute type A aortic dissection.Methods The clinical data of 305 consecutive patients with type A aortic dissection, who were hospitalized and underwent operation between 2004 and 2015, were analyzed retrospectively.Among that, there were 37 cases with coronary malperfusion due to aortic dissection.Results The right coronary artery was involved in 33 cases, the left in 2 cases, and both coronary arteries in 2 cases.There were 22 coronary bypass grafting using saphenous vein in 21 patients, including 20 patients with the right coronary bypass grafting and 1 patient with the left.Six patients died postoperatively, with the mortality of 16.22％.Conclusion Acute type A aortic dissection with coronary involvement is associated with high mortality rate, which is necessary to restore the coronary revascularization as soon as we can.The methods to reconstruct the involved coronary is depend on the patients' condition and experience of surgeon.
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Objective This report is to compare the difference outcome between total arch replacement and hemi-arch replacement for Stanford type A aortic dissection.Methods The subjects were 208 consecutive patients,including 121 who received total arch replacement(group A) and 87 who had hemi-arch replacement(group B) for Stanford type A aortic dissection from August 2001 to July 2013 in Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University.The cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time,average cross-clamping time,selective cerebral perfusion(SCP) time,complications,in-hospital mortality and follow-up after surgery were retrospectively compared between the A and B groups.Results The age,sex ratio,preoperative complications do not show a significant difference between the A and B groups.The CPB time [(247.68± 58.65) min vs (212.68±60.75) min,P =0.000],cross-clamping time[(154.85±45.96) min vs(137.83± 38.91) min,P =0.000] and SCP time [(36.98± 10.62) min vs(29.85± 13.46) min,P =0.000] of group A are all longer than group B.The incidence of postoperative complications(14.0％ vs 10.3％,P =0.619) and in-hospital mortality(9.1％ vs 8.0％,P =0.791) between the A and B groups do not have a significant difference.The mean time of follow-up differed significantly between two groups [(21.86± 18.89) months vs(61.23± 38.57) months,P =0.000] and did not differ in the rate of follow-up(94.5％ vs 96.3％,P =0.585).The rate of false lumen thrombosed at the proximal descending aorta showed a significant difference between the twogroups(91.8％ vs 23.8％,P =0.000),but the rate of secondary surgical intervention (0 vs 2.3 ％,P =0.095) and follow-up death (6.4％ vs 6.3 ％,P =0.975) do not.Conclusion For the Stanford type A aortic dissection patients,surgery is the only treatment that can save lives.Total arch replacement need more time in CPB,cross-clamping and SCP,but the complications,in-hospital mortality and follow-up death do not show a significant difference compared with hemi-arch replacement,and higher rate of false lumen thrombosed have been showed in total arch replacement.
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Objective To summanrize the operative method and follow-up data of total aortic arch replacement combined with transaortic stented graft implantation into the descending aorta (Sun's procedure) for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection.Methods Between August 2004 and March 2012,73 patients with acute type A aortic dissection underwent this procedure.60 males and 13 females ranging in age from 26 to 79 years (mean age,49,6 years).Right axillary or femoral artery cannulation was routinely used for cardiopulmonary bypass.Cerebral protection was achieved by bilatero-antegrade or selected hrain perfusion.The stented elephant trunk was implanted throuugh the aortic arch under hypothermic circulatory arrest.The stented elephant trunk was a 10cmlong self expandable graft.Patent false lumina were evaluated using computed tomography 3 months and once each year after discharge to evaluate the postoperative time course of the residual false lumen.Results Mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was (248.1±69.8)min,and selected cerebral perfusion time was (38.2±10.5)min.Hospital morality was 6.85 ％ (5/73).Thrombus obliteration of the residual false lumen in the descending thoracic aorta was observed in 9 1.7％ of the aortic dissections 3 months postoperatively.The mean follow-up time was(36.4 ± 31.6)months (range,2 to91 months).Survival at 1,5,7 years was 97％,87％ and 81％,respectively.Conclusion Total aortic arch replacement combined with transaortic stented paft implantation into the descending aorta is an effective treatment and n more promising choice for acute type A aortic dissection.
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Objective To discuss the value of leukocyte-targeted myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) as a tool in observing the degree of acute rejection after heart transplantation. Methods Abdominal heterotopic cardiac transplantation was performed on 32 rats successfully, among which 8 isografts served as group A, and groups B, C and D involved 8 allografts respectively. The rats in groups B and C were treated with cyclosporine A (CsA) at a high dose (10mg· kg-1 · day-1 ), a low dose (3 mg · kg-1 · day-1 ) from 3rd day before transplantation respectively.The rats in groups A and D were untreated with CsA. MCE was performed during continuous intravenous SonoVue injection postoperatively on the third day after operation. We performed 2 types of MCE: perfusion imaging and leukocyte-targeted imaging. The images were obtained at 20 s and 5 min after injection of contrast agent. The value of the contrast image grayscale (GS) was measured by image analyzer (GS20s, GS5 min). GStarget was calculated as the GS5min minus the GS20s in the same rat.Postmortem histology was performed after observation. The degree of myocardial rejection was determined by HE-stained graft myocardium. Immunohistochemistry was performed to quantify the CD3-positive cells, and correlation analysis was performed between CD3-positive cell count and GS20s,GS5min, GStarget. Results Perfusion imaging showed no significant difference in myocardial GS20s of each group. Leukocyte-Targeted imaging exhibited a clear gradient in these groups (P＜0. 05). There was significant difference in GStarget of each group (P＜0. 001). Postmortem histology showed 0- Ⅰ grade rejection in group A, Ⅰ -Ⅱ grade rejection in group B, Ⅱ-Ⅲ grade rejection in group C, Ⅲ-Ⅳ grade rejection in group D. Immunohistochemistry revealed the CD3-positive cell infiltration was increased in turn from the group A to the group D. There was a significantly positive correlation between the CD3-positive cell count and GStarget ( r = 0. 86, P ＜ 0. 001 ). Conclusion Leukocyte-targeted contrast echocardiography may thus offer a noninvasive and effective ultrasound imaging technique for detecting the degree of acute cardiac transplant rejection.