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Objective:To investigate the risk factors of birth weight discordance in dichorionic diamniotic (DCDA) twins.Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed 1 757 cases of DCDA twin pregnancies from 11 Chinese hospitals from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017. Birth weight discordance was defined as ≥ 20% difference between the twins. All cases were divided into two groups: the concordant group ( n=1 520) and discordant group ( n=237). General information was compared and the high-risk factors of birth weight discordance were analyzed. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analysis were used as statistical methods. Results:Compared with the concordant group, the discordant group showed a higher incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [24.5% (58/237) vs 12.8% (194/1 520), χ2=22.882, P<0.05], fetal structural malformations [4.2% (10/237) vs 1.0% (15/1 520), χ2=15.160, P<0.05], fetal distress [6.3% (15/237) vs 1.4% (21/1 520), χ2=22.602, P<0.05], umbilical cord abnormalities [3.8% (9/237) vs 1.2% (18/1 520), χ2=7.607, P<0.05] and abnormal placental cord insertion [3.8% (9/237) vs 1.4% (21/1 520), χ2=34.904, P<0.05], but lower incidence of premature rupture of membranes [11.0% (26/237) vs 16.5% (250/1 520), χ2=4.645, P=0.034]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors of birth weight discordance in DCDA twins were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy ( OR=2.258, 95% CI: 1.620-3.184, P<0.001), fetal structural malformations ( OR=4.268, 95% CI: 1.892-9.631, P<0.001), umbilical cord abnormalities ( OR=2.889, 95% CI: 1.245-6.705, P=0.014) and abnormal placental cord insertion ( OR=2.318, 95% CI: 1.012-5.311, P=0.047). Conclusions:Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, fetal structural malformations, umbilical cord abnormalities and abnormal placental cord insertion may be the risk factors of birth weight discordance in DCDA twins.
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Objective To explore the value of three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) gray scale median (GSM) in quantitative evaluation of the drug treatment of carotid plaques.Methods Eighty-one patients with 93 carotid plaques were enrolled from May 2015 to October 2015.Patients were received 3D-US,3.0T MRI and blood lipid examination including total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride (TG),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) before drug treatment.After atorvastatin therapy with a daily dose of 20mg for 6-12 months,3D-US and blood lipid examination were repeated,and 55 patients were followed successfully with a total of 62 plaques obtained.According to data acquired by MRI and 3D-US before treatment,the patients were divided into low-risk group,medium risk group,and high-risk group.The differences of GSM value and blood lipid levels were compared among groups and the changes of these parameters before and after the treatment in each group were compared.Results There was no significantly difference in serum TC,TG,LDL-C and HDL-C levels among the groups before treatment.After treatment,the serum TC and LDL-C levels were significantly lower than those before(P ＜0.05),the differences of TG and HDL-C levels were not significant,and the LDL-C level in high-risk group was significantly lower than those in other groups(P ＜0.05).The GSM values in of high-risk and medium-risk group were significantly increased after drug treatment than those of before (33.87 ± 6.53 vs 27.50 ± 7.82,47.35 ± 5.42 vs 44.56 ± 4.36,P ＜0.05),and had no significantly change in low risk group(62.01 ± 10.68 vs 63.13 ± 10.41,P ＞0.05).The difference of GSM between before and after treatment in each group was negatively correlated with the difference of LDL-C (r =-0.28,P =0.03).Conclusions Three-Dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) gray scale median (GSM) can be a reliable parameter in clinic quantitative evaluation drug treatment of carotid plaques,and has a better value especially for high-risk and medium-risk plaques.
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Objective To quantitatively evaluate the vulnerability of carotid plaques in patients with acute ischemic cerebral infarction by using Gray-scale median (GSM) based on Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US).Methods Totally 207 patients were examined with carotid plaques in the PLA Army General Hospital from December 2015 to August 2016,including 102 patients with acute cerebralischemic stroke (cerebral infarction group) and 105 patients without cerebral infarction (control group).The Vascular plaque quantification (VPQ) software was applied to acquire GSM value of carotid plaques automatically.Results The GSM value of carotid plaques in cerebral infarction group was significantly lower than that in control group (44.78± 11.58 vs 54.36± 11.99,t=7.70,P ＜ 0.01),and the low density lipoprotein in the cerebral infarction group was significantly higher than that in the control group [(3.51 ± 1.20) mmol/L vs (3.10± 1.07) mmol/L,t=1.58,P ＜ 0.05].There was no significant difference between the two groups in age,gender,body mass index,smoking,drinking,history of diabetes,history of hypertension,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure,triglyceride,total cholesterol,high density lipoprotein,plaque thickness,plaque area stenosis rate and plaque volume (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The GSM value of carotid plaques based on 3D-US-VPQ technology can effectively reflect the vulnerability of carotid plaques,and may be valuable in the risk assessment of carotid plaques.
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Objective To compare the value of color Doppler echocardiography in the diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta (COA) in comparison with CT angiography (CTA). Methods Ninety-two patients with COA were retrospectively analyzed that were confirmed by surgery from January 2009 to September 2013 and diagnosed by color Doppler echocardiography and CTA. Results Among 92 COA patients conifrmed by surgery, 87 patients were diagnosed correctly by echocardiography while 91 patients were diagnosed by CTA, and the accuracy of echocardiography and CTA were 95%(87/92) and 99%(91/92), respectively without significant difference (χ2=1.550, P=0.213). According to surgical findings, there were 222 anatomic abnormalities including 110 intra-cardiac, 13 heart-vessel connection and 99 vessel abnormalities. For 110 intra-cardiac abnormalities, echocardiography detected all abnormalities while CTA found 92 with 18 missed including 11 valve or valve ring lesions, 3 patent foramen ovale, 2 atrial septal defect, 1 ventricular septal defect and 1 endocardial cushion defect. The accuracy of echocardiography for intra-cardiac abnormalities was signiifcantly higher than that of CTA (100%, 110/110 vs 84%, 92/110,χ2=18.801, P=0.000). CTA and echocardiography detected all abnormalities of heart-vessel connection. For 99 vessel abnormalities, CTA showed an accuracy of 98%(97/99) with 2 missed lesions including 1 collateral circulation between the aorta and the pulmonary artery and 1 membranous narrow of the aorta, while echocardiography misdiagnosed 1 COA as interruption of aortic arch and missed 15 lesions, including 4 COA, 3 collateral arteries, 2 patent ductus arteriosus, 2 aberrant right subclavian artery, 2 brachiocephalic vein abnormality, 1 partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage and 1 persistent left superior vena cava. The accuracy of CTA for detection of vessel abnormalities was signiifcantly higher than that of echocardiography (98%, 97/99 vs 84%, 83/99,χ2=11.350, P=0.000). Conclusions Both CTA and echocardiography are effective diagnostic modalities for COA and CTA is superior to echocardiography for detecting vessel anomalies whereas echocardiography is superior to CTA for detecting intra-cardiac abnormalities. The combination of both modalities will provide more accurate information for clinical diagnosis.
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Objective To investigate the value of echocardiography in the diagnosis of interrupted aortic arch (IAA). Methods Forty-three children that diagnosed as IAA by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were reviewed. The results of CTA (CT Angiography) and operation also were compared. Results Among the 43 children, 41 was admitted as IAA by operation and 2 were diagnosed as coarctation of aorta. According to the type of IAA, 25 cases were diagnosed as type A, 13 cases were diagnosed as type B, 3 cases were diagnosed as type C. Thirty-ifve cases were diagnosed by TTE correctly, 3 cases were misdiagnosed by TTE, 4 cases were suspected as IAA by TTE and ifnally conifrmed by operation. The accuracy rate was 81%(35/43). Among the 35 deifnite diagnosed cases, corrected typing cases were 30, the accuracy rate was 86%(30/35). The accuracy rate of type A, B, C were 96%(23/24), 64%(7/11) and 0. According to the results of CTA, 40 cases were diagnosed correctly, 1 case was misdiagnosed. The accuracy rate was 98%(40/41). Among the deifnite diagnosed cases, corrected typing rate was the same with operation result. Conclusions TTE is the ifrst choice for the detection of IAA. During TTE, in case the indistinct display of aortic arch, CTA should be used to improve the accuracy rate of IAA.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of r egional wall motion abnormality(RWMA) on cardiac anatomic structure with coronary artery disease (CAD) and to recognize serious degree of the disease by echocardiography. MethodsA total of 125 cases was observed. There were 63 patients in CAD group (41 cases with general CAD,7 cases with acute myocardial infarction and 15 cases with old myocardial infarction). All the patients had undergone respectively CABG,PTCA and stent,coronary angiography or radionuclide scan for confirmation. There were 62 cases in normal control group. Using 2D echocardiography,stand short and long axis images of left ventricle(LV) were chosen. Displayed RWMA to compose the centripetal disharmonized motion with whole-wall of LV,and the discentripetal contradiction motion. M mode for continuous scan was to detect the typical characterisitic of RWMA. ResultsSingle-occurring RWMA from 43 cases ( 68.2 %) in 63 cases with CAD was displayed, while multiple-occurring RWMA from another 20 cases ( 31.8 %) was displayed(P