Clinical characteristics of patients with acute pulmonary embolism in high altitude area of Yunnan province in China / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To analyze the clinical features of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE) living in high altitude area of Yunnan province. Methods: This was a cross-sectional retrospective study. APE patients, hospitalized in our hospital between January 2017 and December 2019, were included. The selected patients were divided into low-risk group, medium-risk group and high-risk group according to risk stratification. The clinical data of patients, including demographic data, the main symptoms, risk factors of APE, heart rate and systolic blood pressure and laboratory testing results (D-dimer, cardiac troponin I (cTNI), N terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)) and echocardiography and electrocardiogram examination results, were obtained through the electronic medical record system. The clinical characteristics of selected patients were analyzed. Results: A total of 392 patients, aged (63.5±15.7) years, 224 males (57.14%), were included in this study and there were 59 low-risk, 304 medium-risk and 29 high-risk patients in this cohort. The main clinical manifestations were chest pain (157(40.05%)), dyspnea (107(27.30%)), hemoptysis (55(14.03%)), syncope as the first symptom (20(5.10%)), and only 6 cases (1.53%) presented with the typical "Virchow's triad". Most of the patients were accompanied by atypical chest tightness (223(56.89%)) and cough (208(53.06%)). The main risk factors were venous thrombosis of lower limbs (179(45.66%)), hypertension (138(35.20%)), surgery (63(16.07%)), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (62(15.82%)). There were 57 cases (14.54%) of coronary heart disease, 57 cases (14.54%) of diabetes, 51 cases (13.01%) of cerebral infarction, 47 cases (12.00%) of advanced age, 15 cases (3.83%) of tumor, 7 cases (1.79%) of activity restriction, 6 cases (1.53%) of pregnancy and 4 cases (1.02%) of hormone use in this cohort. The proportion of lower extremity venous thrombosis was significantly higher in low-risk group than in medium-risk group (P<0.01), COPD was more common in high-risk and medium-risk groups than in low-risk group (P<0.01), hypertension was more common in high-risk group than in medium-and low-risk groups (P<0.01). The proportion of advanced age was significantly higher in medium-risk group than in low-risk group (P<0.01). There were no significant differences in RBC and hemoglobin level between low-, medium-and high-risk groups (P>0.05). The level of D-dimer was significantly higher in high-risk group than in medium-and low-risk groups (P<0.05). Levels of NT-proBNP and cTNI were significantly higher in high-risk group than in medium- and low-risk groups (P<0.05). Increased proportion of cTNI and NT-proBNP was significantly higher in high-risk group than in medium- and low-risk groups (P<0.05). There were 105 (26.79%) patients with pulmonary hypertension (PAH). The incidence of PAH was significantly higher in high-risk group than in low-risk group (P<0.01). There were 104 patients (26.53%) with right ventricular enlargement, and the incidence of right ventricular enlargement was significantly higher in high-risk group than in medium-and low-risk groups (P<0.01). Characteristic changes of electrocardiogram in patient with APE were T-wave inversion of limb leads (98(25.00%)), followed by SⅠQⅢTⅢ (83(21.17%)). Conclusions: The main clinical manifestations of APE in Yunnan high altitude area are chest pain and dyspnea, and syncope is the first symptom in some patients, but the typical "Virchow's triad" is rare. The most common risk factors are lower extremity venous thrombosis, hypertension, and COPD. Clinical symptoms, risk factors and laboratory examination results differ among patients with different risk stratification.

Prevalence of Congenital Heart Disease Amongst Schoolchildren in Southwest China

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of congenital heart disease inYunnan, China which has diverse ethnic groups. Methods: This cross-sectional studyenrolled 244,023 children from 2010 to 2015. To diagnose CHD, a conventional physicalexamination was used to screen suspicious cases, which were further confirmed byechocardiography. Results: A total of 1695 children were diagnosed with CHD. Theestimated prevalence was 6.94%. Atrial septal defects were the most common cardiacabnormalities. A higher prevalence of CHD was observed with preterm birth, low birthweight, maternal age ≥35 years, and high-altitude regions. The prevalence also showeddifferences between diverse ethnic groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of CHD in Chinamay have ethnic differences.

The Application of the Technique in the Protection of PCI / 昆明医科大学学报

Objective To explore the treatment of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and to comparatively study on the protection of side support by using the active and passive expansion technique.Method 78 patients with coronary artery disease were protected by using balloon technique, there were two groups: the active expansion group (n=41) and the side support balloon (n=37), the TIMI classification、myocardial perfusion rating (MBG), TIMI myocardial perfusion rating (TMP) and the incidence of marginal vascular interlayer were observed and analyzed. Results After the main support was put in, the proportion of patients with side branches of TIMI、 MBG and TMP was at level 3 and the proportion of patients with active balloon expansion was 93％, the margin expansion group was 84％, the difference was not statistically significant (P＞0.05); the incidence of intersecting vascular interlayer in active dilatation group was 24％, the margin expansion group was 8％, and there were statistical differences (P＜0.05). Conclusions Using the technique of holding balloon to protect the side branches, both the active expansion of the side support balloon and the expansion of the side support balloon can significantly reduce the risk of the main stent placement in the posterior branch of the blood vessel, however the incidence of side branch vascular interlayer was lower.

Retrospective analysis of patients with thrombocytopenia after patent ductus arteriosus interventional occlusion / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the risk factors of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) patients with thrombocytopenia after PDA interventional occlusion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thrombocytopenia occurred in 14 out of 350 patients underwent PDA occlusion. Age, gender, body weight, PDA size, occluder size, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, the dose of heparin, the manufacturer of occluder, residual shunt after operation were analyzed. The recovery time of different grades of thrombocytopenia was observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Multivariate logistic regression showed that the PDA size (OR = 2.238, P < 0.05), the dose of heparin (OR = 3.247, P < 0.05), residual shunt after operation (OR = 1.912, P < 0.01) were the independent risk factors of thrombocytopenia after PDA occlusion. The recovery time of mild thrombocytopenia was (7 ± 2) days without treatment. The recovery time of moderate thrombocytopenia was (12 ± 4) days with glucocorticoids treatment. The recovery time of severe thrombocytopenia was (21 ± 7) days with platelet transfusion.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The occluder size, dose of heparin, residual shunt are the independent risk factors of thrombocytopenia after PDA interventional occlusion. Recover time of thrombocytopenia after PDA interventional occlusion is closely related to the severity of thrombocytopenia.</p>

Application of echocardiography in resynchronization treatment of heart failure patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To review the updated research progress about the application of echocardiography in resynchronization treatment of chronic heart failure patients.</p><p><b>DATA SOURCES</b>The data used in this review were from PubMed, published in English and using the key terms "heart failure", "echocardiography" and "cardiac resynchronization therapy".</p><p><b>STUDY SELECTION</b>Relevant articles were reviewed and selected to address the stated purpose.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Increasing numbers of studies have suggested the importance of echocardiography in resynchronization treatment of chronic heart failure patients. Echocardiography can evaluate atrioventricular, inter- and intra-ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony before cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), as a guidance to assess the optimal left ventricular (LV) pacing location, optimize the atrioventricular and interventricular delays and predict response to CRT.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Echocardiography is both non invasive and easily repeatable, and plays a crucial role in appraisal of heart synchronism, instruction of actuator placement, optimization of the device procedure, and prediction of the response to CRT.</p>