Acute responses to inhalation of Iloprost in patients with pulmonary hypertension / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Iloprost has been used to test acute pulmonary vasoreactivity in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We aimed to investigate the acute hemodynamic and oxygenation responses and tolerability to 20 µg aerosolized Iloprost in Chinese patients with pulmonary hypertension.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between March 2005 and May 2010, 212 pulmonary hypertension patients inhaled a single dose of 20 µg Iloprost over 10 - 15 minutes for vasoreactivity testing. The acute hemodynamic and oxygenation responses and adverse events were recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Iloprost decreased total pulmonary resistance ((1747 ± 918) dyn×s×cm(-5) vs. (1581 ± 937) dyn×s×cm(-5), P < 0.001), increased stroke volume ((45.0 ± 22.1) ml vs. (47.0 ± 24.2) ml, P = 0.002), and cardiac output ((3.7 ± 1.7) L/ml vs. (3.9 ± 1.9) L/min, P = 0.009). Heart rate and systemic vascular resistance remained stable during inhalation. However, systemic arterial blood oxygen saturation fell slightly ((91.0 ± 6.8)% vs. (90.3 ± 6.7)%, P = 0.002). Pulmonary and systemic arterial blood pressures declined within 1 - 3 minutes after inhalation initiation and reached their lowest levels within 10 - 15 minutes. Idiopathic PAH responded more favorably than pulmonary hypertension due to other causes (P £0.001) and patients with less severe pulmonary hypertension have better responses to Iloprost. No adverse events requiring medical care or leading to termination of inhalation occurred.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Inhalation of 20 µg Iloprost showed potent and selective pulmonary hemodynamic effects and was well tolerated in the Chinese pulmonary hypertension patients. Patients with idiopathic PAH and less severe pulmonary hypertension responded more favorably to inhalation of Iloprost.</p>

Clinical analysis of 150 patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the demographic characteristics and clinical features of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between March 2007 and September 2010, IPAH diagnosis was confirmed by right heart catheterization in 150 adult patients from 31 clinical centers in China. Clinical and hemodynamic data were analyzed and patients were divided into WHO functional class I/II and WHO functional class III/IV group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean age of 150 patients were 36 ± 13 years with female patient/male patient ratio of 2:1, and mean BMI was (21.3 ± 3.5) kg/m(2). Fatigue (n = 123, 82.0%) and dyspnea (n = 112, 74.7%) are the most common symptoms. Accentuated pulmonic second sound (P(2)) was detected in 92.0% (n = 138) of patients during physical examination, which was also the most common sign. About 49.0% (n = 73) patients were WHO functional class I/II patients and 46.0% (n = 68) patients were WHO functional class III/IV patients. Six minutes walking distance (6MWD) and Borg dyspnea score was (337 ± 101) m and 2.0 (2.0, 4.0), respectively. Right ventricular hypertrophy was suggested by ECG in 93.1% (n = 140) patients. Right atrial pressure was (10 ± 6) mm Hg, mean pulmonary artery pressure was (61 ± 16) mm Hg, cardiac index was (2.3 ± 0.8) L×min(-1)×m(-2) and pulmonary vascular resistance (1484 ± 699) dyn×s(-1)×cm(-5) in this cohort. 6 MWD (305 m ± 89 m vs. 377 m ± 88 m) was significantly shorter while Borg dyspnea score [3.0 (3.0, 5.0) vs. 2.0 (2.0, 3.0)] was significantly higher in WHO functional class III/IV patients than in WHO functional class I/II patients. Similarly hemodynamic parameters were also worse in WHO functional class III/IV patients than in WHO functional class I/II patients (all P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients in this cohort affect mostly young adults, dominated by female gender and lower body mass index. Fatigue and dyspnea are the most common symptoms and accentuated pulmonic second sound (P(2)) is the most common sign. IPAH patients are often displaying severe functional and hemodynamic disturbance at first visit to hospitals. Dyspnea and hemodynamic impairment are related to 6MWD and WHO functional class.</p>

Hemodynamic effects and safety of pulmonary angiography in Chinese patients with pulmonary hypertension / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Pulmonary angiography is widely performed in pulmonary hypertension patients, but its immediate effects on right heart hemodynamics and safety are not well known. The objective of this study was to investigate the right heart hemodynamic effects and safety of pulmonary angiography in Chinese patients with pulmonary hypertension.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 2008 and June 2009, pulmonary hypertension patients undergoing pulmonary angiography were consecutively enrolled. Pulmonary angiography was performed during breath-holding after deep breathing. The baseline clinical data, hemodynamic measurements before and after pulmonary angiography and complications occurring within 48 hours after angiography were recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ninety-five patients were included. All received non-ionic contrast medium with a volume of (75.7 ± 29.8) ml. Angiography reduced heart rate in patients with baseline mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 60 mmHg (change of heart rate: (-3.1 ± 7.0) beats/min, P = 0.005), increased mean right atrial pressure, diastolic and end-diastolic right ventricular pressure in patients with baseline mean pulmonary arterial pressure < 60 mmHg (all P < 0.05). Patients with decreased mean pulmonary arterial pressure (change of mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≤ -10 mmHg) had the highest total pulmonary resistance (P = 0.009 vs. no change in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (change of mean pulmonary arterial pressure, -10 mmHg to 10 mmHg); P = 0.03 vs. increased mean pulmonary arterial pressure (change of mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 10 mmHg)) and the lowest cardiac output (P = 0.018 vs. no change in mean pulmonary arterial pressure; P = 0.013 vs. increased mean pulmonary arterial pressure). There were 7 complications (7%), with 6 related to catheter and only 1 directly related to angiography. All complications were mild and no death occurred.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pulmonary angiography has minimal effect on right heart hemodynamics and is safe in pulmonary hypertension patients.</p>

18F-FDG SPECT myocardial imaging of right ventricle in patients with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension / 中华核医学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the value of 18F-FDG SPECT myocardial imaging in evaluating haemodynamic change,treatment outcome and prognosis for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH).MethodsAll 24 patients with IPAH underwent 18 F-FDG SPECT myocardial imaging.Right ventricle/left ventricle (RV/LV)-FDG uptake was calculated by ROI method drawing over the central areas of left and right ventricular free walls.All patients underwent right heart catheterization within 3 days after imaging studies.Mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) were recorded.After six month pharmaceutical treatment,15 IPAH patients were re-examined with 18F-FDG SPECT myocardial imaging followed by repeated right heart catheterization within 3 days.Plasma N-terminal pro-brain naturetic peptide (NT-proBNP) and endothelin-1 ( ET-1 ) were measured in 17 patients using electrochemiluminescent immunoassay and enzyme immunoassay respectively.All patients were followed up for 12 months at least.Correlations between RV/LV-FDG uptake and mPAP and PVR were determined by simple linear regression analysis.Change of RV/LV-FDG before and after treatment was calculated using Student's t-test.Survival in groups with RV/LV FDG uptake ≥ 1.15 and RV/LV-FDG uptake ＜ 1.15 were compared using Log-rank test.ResultsSignificant correlations were found between RV/LV-FDG uptake and mPAP (r =0.562,P ＜ 0.01 ),and between RV/LV-FDG uptake and PVR ( r =0.574,P ＜ 0.01 ).There were no significant correlation between RV/LV-FDG uptake and NT-proBNP( r =0.18 1,P ＞ 0.05 ),but a significant correlation between RV/LV-FDG and ET-1 was observed (r =0.669,P ＜ 0.01 ).The RV/LV-FDG uptake in patients with positive treatment outcome ( n =6) decreased from 1.38 ± 0.52 to 0.92 ±0.26 (t =4.018,P ＜ 0.05) after 6 months treatment.In contrast,no significant change of RV/LV-FDG uptake was seen in those patients (n =9) with negative treatment outcome ( t =1.861,P ＞ 0.05 ).The mean follow-up time was (21 ±8) months.Mean survival time for the patients with RV/LV- FDG uptake ≥ 1.15was 28 months (95％ confidence interval:24-32 months),which was significantly lower than 34 months survival (95％ confidence interval:33-35 months) for the patients with RV/LV-FDG ＜ 1.15 (x2 =3.956,P ＜0.05 ).Conclusions Detection of right ventricle myocardial glucose metabolism level with 18F-FDG SPECT may be a practical method for evaluating haemodynamic change,treatment outcome and prognosis of IPAH.

The prognosis study of 108 idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the characteristics of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and predict the prognosis of IPAH by Echocardiogram and Right Heart Catheterization.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>108 IPAH patients who was diagnosed as IPAH in Fuwai hospital from Jan 2003 to Jun 2007 were retrospectively analyzed and followed up to June 2008, the statistical analysis software was SPSS 13.0.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The mean age of the 108 IPAH patients was (32.5 +/- 12.6) years, the ratio of female and male was 2.86:1, the average time from appearing symptom to diagnosis was (34.9 +/- 36.3) months, the incidence of syncope, hepatomegaly, hemoptysis and Edema of lower extremity was 32.4%, 27.8%, 15.7% and 14.8% respectively. A total of 94 patients (87.0%) were followed up for (27.6 +/- 14.7) months, forty-two patients (38.9%) died of right heart failure, the mean death time was (11.6 +/- 9.4) months after diagnosis, the survival rate of 1, 2 and 3 years was 74%, 58% and 44% respectively. These following variables could predict survival in univariate analysis: Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) (P < 0.01, RR = 0.937), pulse Pressure (PP) (P < 0.01, RR = 0.930), left ventricular End-Diastolic Dimension (LVEDD) (P = 0.004, RR = 0.924), right ventricular End-Diastolic Dimension (RVEDD) (P = 0.029, RR = 1.045), RVEDD/LVEDD (P = 0.003, RR = 3.222), Pulmonary Arterial Systolic Pressure (PASP) measured by echocardiogram (P = 0.002, RR = 1.022), PASP (P = 0.030, RR = 1.026), mean Pulmonary Arterial Pressure (mPAP) (P = 0.031, RR = 1.037) and Pulmonary Vascular Resistance (PVR) measured by right heart catheter (P = 0.019, RR = 1.001). in multivariate analysis, PP (P < 0.01, RR = 0.923), RVEDD/LVEDD (P = 0.006, RR = 3.126) and PASP measured by Echocardiogram (P = 0.002, RR = 1.022), PASP, mPAP, PVR measured by right heart catheter (P = 0.017, RR = 1.001) were predictive.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IPAH was prone to attack young women with a poor prognosis, the diagnosis of IPAH at an early stage was difficult because of nonspecific symptom, syncope, hepatomegaly and Edema of lower extremity can predict the severity of IPAH, PVR measured by right heart catheterization, PP and PASP were independently predictive factors for IPAH.</p>

The relationship between plasma BNP level and the left ventricular dysfunction parameters in patients with acute myocardial infarction and it's value in diagonosing heart failure / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the correlation between plasma BNP level and left ventricular dysfunction parameters in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Plasma BNP level was determined in 230 consecutive inpatients with AMI and 111 normal controls. Patients were grouped according Killip grades, LVEF and LVEDd, respectively. BNP was transformed into lnBNP for the normal distribution. The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to determine the best threshold and criteria for diagnosing heart failure.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After AMI, lnBNP levels increased significantly in proportion with increasing Killip grades (I-III), and decreasing LVEF (all P < 0.05). lnBNP level was significantly higher in LVEDd > 55 mm group than in the LVEDd < 55 mm group (P < 0.01). lnBNP, LVEDd and LVEF all linearly correlated with Killip grades (P < 0.05) and the best correlation was shown between lnBNP and Killip grades (r = 0.53, P < 0.05). lnBNP also positively correlated with LVEDd (r = 0.17, P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with LVEF (r = -0.41, P < 0.01). Among the parameters, lnBNP level presented the largest AUC in their ROC curves (P < 0.01) for diagnosing decompensated heart failure and cardiogenic shock. The sensitivity, specifiticity and accuracy rates for diagnosing decompensated heart failure were 84.9%, 45.0% and 70.0% respectively by lnBNP at the cut point of 140 ng/L. The sensitivity, negative predicting value and accuracy rate for diagnosing cardiac shock were 82.8%, 66.7% and 67.4% respectively by BNP at the cut point of 400 ng/L.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>lnBNP level in hospitalized patients with AMI was positively correlated with Killip grades and LVEDd, negatively correlated with LVEF and could serve as a parameter for diagnosing the decompensated heart failure and excluding the cardiac shock.</p>

Value of radionuclide lung scintigraphy in the diagnosis and quantitative analysis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was to assess the reliability of perfusion/ventilation (Q/V) lung scintigraphy in the diagnosis and quantitative analysis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 78 in-patients with pulmonary hypertension who had no history of congenital heart disease, valvular disease and acute pulmonary embolism were included in this study. All patients underwent Q/V scintigraphy for detecting CTEPH. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of Q/V scintigraphy were defined by comparing with the results of pulmonary angiography. Percentage of Perfusion Defect score (PPDs%) was calculated in patients with CTEPH confirmed by pulmonary angiography. The correlations between PPDs% and mPAP, PPDs% and SPAP were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of a high-probability Q/V scintigraphy interpretation were 96.0%, 81.1% and 86.9%, respectively, compared with 100%, 69.8% and 79.5% for the combination of high- and intermediate- probability Q/V scintigraphy interpretation. PPDs% was significantly correlated with mPAP and SPAP (r = 0.538 for mPAP, P < 0.01 and r = 0.456 for SPAP, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Perfusion/ventilation lung scintigraphy is a valuable technique for diagnosis and quantitative analysis of CTEPH.</p>

Changes of the proportion and mortality of pulmonary thromboembolism in hospitalized patients from 1974 to 2005 / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) has become a common disease that severely endangers people's health. This study analysed the changes in proportion and mortality of PTE in hospitalized patients to provide data for prevention and management of the disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The data of 763 hospitalized patients with PTE from 1974 to 2005 in Fuwai Hospital were analysed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During the 1970s, 0.27% of patients in a cardiovascular hospital had PTE (< 5 cases per year); while so far this century the proportion is 0.94% (48 to 113 per year). The mortality of hospitalized PTE patients fell from 20.00% in the 1970s to 4.10% this century. Prior to 1990, the mortality of hospitalized PTE patients was 12.50%, and in the years after 1990 only 3.40%. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.005). People with this disease were mostly between the ages of 30 and 69 years. Men were most susceptible between the ages of 30 and 69 years, while women between the ages of 40 and 69 years. Men contracted PTE 10 years earlier than women. The mortality of male PTE patients was 4.70%, not significantly different from female patients, 5.06% (0.50 < P < 0.75). There were not any significant differences between the mortality of patients in the different age groups overall (< or = 39, 40 - 49, 50 - 59, and > or = 60 years, P > 0.1). More people contracted the disease in winter than in other seasons (P < 0.05). There was no obvious difference between the mortality in different seasons overall (0.75 < P < 0.90).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PTE is an increasingly significant disease and deserves adequate attention.</p>

Serum B-type natriuretic peptide changes in patients with acute myocardial infarction / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the serum B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) changes post acute myocardial infarction (AMI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The serum BNP level was determined in 230 consecutive patients with AMI admitted to CCU and in 111 normal cases from October 2002 to October 2003 in Fuwai Hospital. The 230 AMI patients were further divided into various subgroups according to first or recurrent AMI, ST elevations myocardial infarction (STEMI) or non-ST elevations myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) group, infarction location, coronary arteries involved, infarction related arteries (IRA), TIMI blood flow of IRA and primary PCI or not. Serum BNP, CK-MB, TnT and heart function were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum BNP level was significantly increased in patients with AMI (553.7 +/- 735.1) ng/L than that in normal subjects [(26.4 +/- 27.4) ng/L, P < 0.05]. LVEF was significantly lower, and LVEDd, BNP and LnBNP were all significantly higher in the first time AMI group compared to recurrent AMI group (all P < 0.001). The BNP level were significantly higher in AMI patients with single or triple coronary arteries stenosis than those without coronary stenosis (P < 0.05), in TIMI blood flow 0 - 1 and 2 groups than in TIMI 3 group (all P < 0.001). The CK-MB and TnT were significantly increased while BNP significantly decreased in the patients underwent primary PCI group compared with patients did not receive PCI therapy (all P < 0.05 - 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum BNP was significantly elevated in patients after AMI but decreased after successful primary PCI in patients with AMI.</p>