Value of cardiac MRI in evaluation of left atrial function in the postoperative tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary stenosis patients / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To explore the value of cardiac MRI (CMRI) in evaluating left atrial function in patients with postoperative tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) and postoperative pulmonary stenosis (rPS).Methods:Totally 67 pediatric patients (49 with rTOF, 18 with rPS) with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) were recruited between January 2019 and October 2021 in Shanghai Children′s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Thirty-three healthy volunteers, matched in gender and age, were included as controls from July 2017 to August 2018. Left atrial EF, strain and strain rate of three phases (reservoir, conduit and pump), left atrial volume (maximum volume index, minimum volume index and pre-atrial contraction volume index) were measured with corresponding cardiac function analysis software. Then, the differences in these parameters were analyzed between the three groups by ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test with post hoc comparison and Bonferroni correction.Results:Compared with controls, patients with rTOF had lower reservoir function parameters (EF, strain and strain rate), conduit EF, conduit strain, and left atrial maximum volume index ( P<0.05), but higher pump EF ( P<0.05). In patients with rPS, only the reservoir strain rate decreased compared with controls ( P<0.05), and the remaining data showed no significant difference ( P>0.05). The reservoir and conduit EF and strain in patients with rPS were higher than those in patients with rTOF ( P<0.05). Conclusions:In patients with rTOF and rPS, left atrial function has changed despite the preservation of left ventricular EF, which may be an early marker of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. In children with rTOF, left atrial reservoir and conduit functions decreased while the pump function increased. The reservoir and pump functions in rPS were better than those in rTOF. In addition, CMRI can detect left atrial dysfunction early before it enlarged.

The hemodynamic effects of ductus arteriosus on modified Blalock-Taussig shunt / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To investigate hemodynamic characteristics of the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (MBTS) with the preservation or ligation of ductus arteriosus (DA) based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD), thus to help preoperative surgery design and postoperative prediction.Methods:A patient with pulmonary atresia and patent ductus arteriosus was included. Patient-specific three-dimensional model was reconstructed and virtual surgeries of shunt insertion and ductus ligation or preservation were performed via computer-aided design (CAD). CFD was utilized to analyze hemodynamic parameters preoperatively and postoperatively based on patient-specific anatomy and physiologic data.Results:The preservation of DA competitively reduced the shunt flow but increased total pulmonary perfusion. The shunt flow and ductal flow collided with each other, causing large and complicated turbulence in pulmonary artery where lower wall shear stress and higher oscillatory shear index were distributed, as well as higher energy loss.Conclusion:The preservation of DA is riskier in hemodynamics which may lead to pulmonary over-perfusion, inadequate systemic perfusion and heavier cardiac burden, thus increasing the risk of heart failure and it seems to bring no benefit in terms of reducing risks of thrombosis.

Feasibility of Three-Dimensional Balanced Steady-State Free Precession Cine Magnetic Resonance Imaging Combined with an Image Denoising Technique to Evaluate Cardiac Function in Children with Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot

Objective@#To investigate the feasibility of cine three-dimensional (3D) balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) imaging combined with a non-local means (NLM) algorithm for image denoising in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF). @*Materials and Methods@#Thirty-five patients with rTOF (mean age, 12 years; range, 7–18 years) were enrolled to undergo cardiac cine image acquisition, including two-dimensional (2D) b-SSFP, 3D b-SSFP, and 3D b-SSFP combined with NLM. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) of the two ventricles were measured and indexed by body surface index. Acquisition time and image quality were recorded and compared among the three imaging sequences. @*Results@#3D b-SSFP with denoising vs. 2D b-SSFP had high correlation coefficients for EDV, ESV, SV, and EF of the left (0.959– 0.991; p < 0.001) as well as right (0.755–0.965; p < 0.001) ventricular metrics. The image acquisition time ± standard deviation (SD) was 25.1 ± 2.4 seconds for 3D b-SSFP compared with 277.6 ± 0.7 seconds for 2D b-SSFP, indicating a significantly shorter time with the 3D than the 2D sequence (p < 0.001). Image quality score was better with 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than with 3D b-SSFP (mean ± SD, 3.8 ± 0.6 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6; p = 0.005). Signal-to-noise ratios for blood and myocardium as well as contrast between blood and myocardium were higher for 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than for 3D b-SSFP (p < 0.05 for all but septal myocardium). @*Conclusion@#The 3D b-SSFP sequence can significantly reduce acquisition time compared to the 2D b-SSFP sequence for cine imaging in the evaluation of ventricular function in children with rTOF, and its quality can be further improved by combining it with an NLM denoising method.

Feasibility of Three-Dimensional Balanced Steady-State Free Precession Cine Magnetic Resonance Imaging Combined with an Image Denoising Technique to Evaluate Cardiac Function in Children with Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot

Objective@#To investigate the feasibility of cine three-dimensional (3D) balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) imaging combined with a non-local means (NLM) algorithm for image denoising in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF). @*Materials and Methods@#Thirty-five patients with rTOF (mean age, 12 years; range, 7–18 years) were enrolled to undergo cardiac cine image acquisition, including two-dimensional (2D) b-SSFP, 3D b-SSFP, and 3D b-SSFP combined with NLM. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) of the two ventricles were measured and indexed by body surface index. Acquisition time and image quality were recorded and compared among the three imaging sequences. @*Results@#3D b-SSFP with denoising vs. 2D b-SSFP had high correlation coefficients for EDV, ESV, SV, and EF of the left (0.959– 0.991; p < 0.001) as well as right (0.755–0.965; p < 0.001) ventricular metrics. The image acquisition time ± standard deviation (SD) was 25.1 ± 2.4 seconds for 3D b-SSFP compared with 277.6 ± 0.7 seconds for 2D b-SSFP, indicating a significantly shorter time with the 3D than the 2D sequence (p < 0.001). Image quality score was better with 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than with 3D b-SSFP (mean ± SD, 3.8 ± 0.6 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6; p = 0.005). Signal-to-noise ratios for blood and myocardium as well as contrast between blood and myocardium were higher for 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than for 3D b-SSFP (p < 0.05 for all but septal myocardium). @*Conclusion@#The 3D b-SSFP sequence can significantly reduce acquisition time compared to the 2D b-SSFP sequence for cine imaging in the evaluation of ventricular function in children with rTOF, and its quality can be further improved by combining it with an NLM denoising method.

Application of three dimensional balanced steady state free precession cine MRI in evaluation of cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility of cardiac MRI three dimensional (3D) balanced steady state free precession (b-SSFP) cine imaging in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).Methods:Thirty children with repaired TOF underwent cardiac MRI examination at Shanghai Children′s Medical Cent er Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, were retrospectively collected from April 2018 to October 2019. From June 2017 to August 2018, 10 healthy children were enrolled. Cardiac images of subjects were obtained using both two dimensional (2D) b-SSFP and 3D b-SSFP cardiac cine MRI and the total acquisition time was recorded. The image quality was scored using a 5-point scale, with a score≥3 as diagnostic image quality. The left and right ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO), and cardiac index (CI) were measured. The left and right ventricle parameters were compared using paired ttest or Wilcoxon test. The Pearson correlation or Spearman correlation analysis were used to evluate the correlation between the parameters measured with the 2 methods. Results:The acquisition time of 2D b-SSFP images was (426.5±13.0) s, and the total time of 3D b-SSFP images was (24.7±2.5) s. The 2D b-SSFP image quality score was better than 3D b-SSFP, and the differences were statistically significant (TOF patients: Z=-3.879, P<0.001; volunteers: Z=-2.646, P=0.003). All 2D and 3D b-SSFP image quality scores were ≥ 3 points, which can be used for clinical diagnosis. There were no statistically significant differences in cardiac function parameters between two series measurements in both TOF patients and volunteers ( P>0.05). For TOF patients, the left ventricular EDV, ESV, SV, EF, CO and right ventricular EDV, ESV, and SV showed highly positive correlation ( r>0.8, P<0.05). For volunteers, the left ventricular EDV, ESV, SV and right ventricular EDV and SV showed highly positive correlation ( r>0.8, P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with the 2D b-SSFP sequence, 3D b-SSFP sequence with fairy good image quality can meet the diagnostic requirement and can accurately measure the cardiac function with shorter acquisition time. The 3D b-SSFP has a good application prospect in pediatric cardiac MRI.

The clinical study of Tongbi capsule combined with acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective To explore the clinical effect of Tongbi capsule combined with acupuncture for the patients with knee osteoarthritis and explore the mechanism of inflammatory response and hemorrheology. Methods According to the random table method, 88 KOA patients in our hospital from February 2016 to January 2017 were divided into the control group and the research group with 44 in each group. Patients in the control group were treated bycelecoxib capsule, while the patients in the research group were treated by Tongbi capsule combined with acupuncture. The treatment courses of two groups were two months. The clinical total effective rate of two groups of patients were compared after treatment. At the same time, the osteoarthritis index visual scale (WOMAC) and morning stiffness, joint tenderness index score were detected and compared after the treatment.The levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay before and after the treatment. The hemorheology indexes were tested by automatic biochemical analyzer. In addition, the incidence of adverse reactions of two groups of patients was observed during treatment. Results The clinical total effective rate of the research group was 93.18％ (41/44), which was significantly higher than the control group72.73％ (32/44), and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=6.510, P=0.011). After treatment, the WOMAC (31.26 ± 6.12 vs. 36.17 ± 7.09, t=-3.477), joint tenderness index (1.75 ± 0.46 vs. 2.11 ± 0.54, t=-3.366) and morning stiffness score (1.62 ± 0.53 vs. 2.14 ± 0.51, t=-4.690) of the research group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The levels of TNF-α (7.36 ± 1.45 pg/ml vs. 8.02 ± 1.54 pg/ml, t=-2.070), IL-1β (27.82 ± 5.22 μg/ml vs. 33.05 ± 5.17 μg/ml, t=-4.722), IL-6 (2.81 ± 0.58 ng/ml vs. 3.34 ± 0.53 ng/ml, t=-4.475) of the research group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The whole blood high shear viscosity (12.09 ± 3.46 mPa?s vs. 14.22 ± 3.51 mPa?s, t=-2.867), whole blood low shear viscosity (2.53 ± 0.68 mPa?s vs. 3.32 ± 0.71 mPa?s, t=-5.330), whole blood viscosity (1.35 ± 0.29 mPa?s vs. 1.60 ± 0.41 mPa?s, t=-3.302), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (7.10 ± 2.06 mm/h vs. 8.02 ± 2.13 mm/h, t=-2.059), fibrinogen (2.71 ± 0.53 g/L vs. 3.42 ± 0.65 g/L, t=-5.615) and erythrocyte deformation index (0.57 ± 0.16 vs. 0.71 ± 0.19, t=-3.739) of the research group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions of control group was 11.37％ (5/44), while the incidence of adverse reactions of resarch group was 6.82％ (3/44), which the difference of the incidence of adverse reactions between two groups showed no statistical significance (χ2=0.550, P=0.458). Conclusions The Tongbi capsule combined with acupuncture can reduce the degree of inflammation, and also improve hemorheology indexes of KOA patients.

Application of 4D flow in diagnosis of pediatric congenital heart disease / 中国医学影像技术

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital malformation.MRI plays an important role in evaluating postoperative cardiac function of CHD.The new technology of 4D flow can be used to encode phase flow coded cine based on 3 vertical dimensions at the same time.Meanwhile,4D flow can perform multi-parameter functional assessments of blood flow vector and peak flow velocity,also can visualize the structure and blood flow of the inner heart and the outer heart.The principle of 4D flow and its application in children with CHD were reviewed in this article.

Expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor in pancreatic duct cancer and its clinical significance / 中华胰腺病杂志

Objective To determine the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and its clinical significance.Methods SP immunohistochemical staining method was used to detect the expression of BDNF in 46 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma,38 cases of benign pancreatic diseases and 20 cases of normal pancreatic tissue.Real time PCR and Western blot was used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels.The relationship between BDNF expression and clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic cancer was determined.Results The positive expression rate of BDNF was 52.2％ (24/46) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma,7.8％ (3/38) in benign pancreatic diseases,and none of the normal pancreatic tissue was BDNF positive.The BDNF protein expression levels in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma,benign pancreatic diseases and normal pancreatic tissue were 0.38± 0.01,0.56± 0.01,0.97± 0.01,respectively,and the BDNF mRNA expression levels were 0.85 ± 0.14,1.67 ± 0.21,3.45 ± 0.67,respectively,and the expression levels in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and benign pancreatic diseases were significantly higher than that in normal pancreatic tissue,while the expression level in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in benign pancreatic diseases (P ＜0.05).Positive BDNF expression was correlated with nerve infiltration and lymph node metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma,but it was not related to age,sex,tumor size,location and differentiated degree (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions BDNF is involved in the development and growth of pancreatic cancer,and it may be related with patient's prognosis.

Progress of neural invasion in pancreatic cancer / 国际外科学杂志

Pancreatic cancer is a kind of highly malignant aggressive cancers.Perinearal growth is one of the importcant biological characteristics of pancreatic cancer.Perineural invasion is an independent prognostic indicator of its prognosis.However,the mechanism has not yet completely clear.The pancreatic cancer perineural invasion mechanism research has been the focus of scholars to discuss,however it' s difficult to break through.Therefore,the discussion pancreatic violation of the peripancreatic neural mechanism for early clinical find,early treatment is essential.The mechanisms of pancreatic cancer research,from all kinds of adhesion molecule to the nerve growth factor,related ligand protein path to susceptibility gene expression,have been reported largely,which helps enhance people' s awareness of peripancreatic neural invasion.At the same time,perineural invasion in the early detection of disease,prolonging survival period and improving the quality of life has important significance.Now the progresses of reviews in recent years are discussed as follows.

Research of screening early diagnostic biomarkers of pancreatic cancer using 2D-DIGE and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis / 国际外科学杂志

Objective A comparative proteomic method was utilized to analyze serum proteins among pancreatic cancer patients,pancreatic benign tumor group,chronic pancreatitis group and normal control group to discover a new potential specific early diagnostic marker.Methods Comparative analysis on the pancreatic peripheral blood protein profiling from 40 pancreatic cancer patients,10 benign tumor patients,10 chronic pancreatitis patients and 40 cancer-free controls from May 2009 to April 2011 was carried out by 2D differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and differentially expressed proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).Results Three differentially expressed proteins,Hemopexin (Hpx),Ficolin 3 (FCN3) and Serum amyloid P-component (SAP) was identified.Those proteins were higher expression in pancreatic cancer group compared with benign tumor group,chronic pancreatitis group and normal control group.Each point in pancreatic cancer expression were 1.57,1.99,1.63 times than normal control expression,respectively (P ＜0.05).Conclusions In this study,the identified proteins,Hpx,FCN3 and SAP may be as potential specific early diagnostic markers of pancreatic carcinoma.2D-DIGE and MALDI-TOF-MS technology in screening specific serum tumor markers of pancreatic cancer has a well repeatability and stability.

Serous cystadenoma of the pancreas: clinicopathologic analysis in 21 cases / 中华胰腺病杂志

Objective To investigate the clinicopathological features of patients with serous cystadenomas of the pancreas (SCAP).Methods The clinical and pathological features of 21 cases of SCAP were retrospectively analyzed.Results The mean age of the 21 cases was 61 years old,male:female ratio was 1∶ 1.33,18 (85.7％) patients presented with abdominal pain,bloating,abdominal mass,weight loss,and 3 (14.3％) patients were found during check-up.The tumors were located in pancreatic head in 9 patients,in pancreatic body and tail in 12 patients.The clinical manifestations were pancreatic cystic lesions.All patients underwent surgery.Histologically,the cyst wall was complete and lined with flat or cuboidal epithelium,cytoplasm was translucent,nucleus were round or oval with similar size,no significant nuclear atypia and mitotic activity was found.The pathologic diagnosis was micro-cyst type in 15 cases,single-cyst type in 6 cases.Immunohistochemistry method showed EMA,CK7,CK19 positive and PAS staining positive.The positive expression rate of Ki 67 was between 1％ and 3％.After follow-up of 19 cases ranging from 3 months to 7 years,no recurrence and metastasis was detected.Conclusions SCAP is seen predominantly in elderly female patients with significant symptoms.A majority of tumors are located in the pancreatic body and tail.SCAP presents with characteristics of pancreatic ductal epithelial,and the prognosis is excellent.

Research progress of proteomics technology in diagnosis of pancreatic cancer / 国际外科学杂志

Pancreatic cancer is a commonly malignant gastrointestinal tumor with an significantly increasing incidence.Those patients without nonspecific symptoms at early stage had mostly lost the opportunity of surgical therapy when pancreatic cancer was detected at advanced stage,and its prognosis is poor.Therefore,it is rather important to improve the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.In recent years,proteomics is developing rapidly.Proteomics technologies have been widely used in clinical research.Using proteomics technology screening pancreatic cancer tumor markers becomes the research focus,thus we try to find a kind of or a group of pancreatic tumor markers,so as to improve the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Screening serum markers of pancreatic cancer by 2D differential gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-MS / 国际外科学杂志

ObjectiveA comparative proteomic method was used to analyse serum proteins between pancreatic cancer patients and control group,and to find a new protential specific marker.MethodsComparative analysis on the pancreatic peripheral blood protein profiling from 40 pancreatic cancer patients,10 chronic pancreatitis patients,10 benign tumor patients and 40 cancer-free controls was carried out by 2D differential gel electrophoresis,and differentially expressed proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry.ResultsTwo differentially expressed proteins:transthyretin and apolipoprotein E were identified.Those proteins were highly expressed in pancreatic carcinoma group compared with normal control group,chronic pancreatitis group and benign tumor group.Conclusion2D differential gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry technology in screening specific serum biomarkers of pancreatic cancer has a well repeatability and stability.The identified protein transthyretin in this study may be as specific serum biomarkers of pancreatic carcinoma.