The preliminary experience of modified percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion under transthoracic echocardiographic guidance without general anesthesia / 中国介入心脏病学杂志

Objective To investigate the feasibility and safety of modified percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (PLAAO) under transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) guidance without general anesthesia instead of transesophageal echocardiographic guidance.Methods A total of 14 patients who met the inclusion criteria underwent modified PLAAO guided by TTE instead of TEE without general anesthesia.Regular clinical follow-up observations of PLAAO-related major adverse events were done in the perioperative period.Results All patients were successfully implanted with left atrial appendage occluder device (Watchman) without device-related serious complications.Immediately occlusion success rate was 100％.No major adverse events occurred during hospitalization and follow-up.The mean operation time was 108 ± 22 min(range 75-150 min)and the mean radiation exposure time was 15.8 ± 7.6 min(range 8-32 min).Conclusion Modified PLAAO guided by TTE instead of TEE without general anesthesia may be safe and effective.This method simplifies the operation process and is favorable for PLAAO application.But this modified PLAAO is still needed to be validated in more patients.

Evaluation of right ventricular regional and global volume and systolic function in patients with right coronary artery disease by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To assess right ventricular (RV) regional and global volume and systolic function in patients with right coronary artery disease by real time three-dimensional echocardiography(RT-3DE).Methods RT-3DE images were acquired in 20 normal controls (Group A),30 patients with right coronary artery stenosis(Group B) and 10 patients with RV myocardial infarction(Group C).Volumetric RT-3DE images were analyzed by use of TomTec software,which provided regional (inflow,body and outflow) and global end diastolic volume(EDV),end systolic volume(ESV),stroke volume(SV) and ejection fraction(EF).RT-3DE quantitative data were analyzed to test repeatability.Results Compared with group A and group B,EDV and ESV of body and global were larger in group C;ESV of inflow and outflow were larger (P ＜0.05).EDV of group C was larger than group B(P ＜0.05).Compared with group A and group B,the EF of inflow,outflow and global in group C were lower(P ＜0.05).The EF of body in group C were lower than group B(P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in regional and global volume and EF between group A and group B(P ＞0.05).The intra-observer and inter-observer's variability was low and consistency was high.Conclusions In patients with RV myocardial infarction,RV regional and global volumes were enlarged and systolic function was impaired.Evaluating right ventricular regional and global volume and function in patients with right coronary artery disease by RT-3DE has high repeatability.

Methodological research in echocardiographic measurements of right ventricular volume:compared with cardiac magnetic resonance / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of methods in echocardiographic measurements of right ventricular (RV) volume.Methods Forty-six healthy volunteers were examined by two dimensional echocardiography (2-DE),real time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) within 24 hours.2 DE adopts three methods to measure RV volume,the first is Simpson,the second is the half ellipsoid method,and the last is biplane area-length method.In RT 3DE,RV volume were calculated respectively by tri-plane method and TomTec 4D RV-function CAP software.In cMRI,RV volume was calculated by Argus software.Right ventricular end diastolic and end-systolic volume (RVEDV,RVESV) were measured respectively.Then the echo measurement were compared to cMRI.Consistency of two methods was evaluated by Bland-Altman analysis.Results ①As compared to cMRI,Simpson,the half ellipsoid method and tri-plane method underestimated RV volume,with statistical significance(P ＜0.05).Biplane area-length method and TomTec 4D RV-Function CAP had no significant statistical difference (P ＞ 0.05).② The result of correlation analysis was as follows:RV volumes from Simpson and tri-plane method had bad correlation with those from cMRI (r =0.3-0.4).RV volumes from TomTec,half ellipsoid method and biplane area length method correlated highly with those from cMRI(r =0.7-0.8).③The Bland-Altman analysis of echo methods with cMRI showed that each measurement by TomTec and biplane area-length method had a smaller limit of the agreement and a smaller difference average.Conclusions Tom-Tec 4D RV-Function CAP in RT-3DE and biplane area length method in 2-DE can measure RV volumes accurately.

Analysis of clinical and imaging features of cardiac amyloidosis: a multicenter study / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To summarize the features of clinical manifestations, laboratory tests and imaging findings of patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 60 CA patients (including 41 male and 19 female patients) from 4 centers admitted between May, 2012 and November, 2013 were included in the study. The demographic data, medical history, clinical manifestations, laboratory test data, ECG, cardiac ultrasound, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging of the patients were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two-thirds of the 60 CA patients, were middle-aged or elderly men, and 47% of the patients had AL-CA. The clinical manifestations included exertional dyspnea (73%), pedal edema (47%), hypotension (47%), and hypertrophy of the tongue (22%); abnormal laboratory test results included albuminuria (53%) and liver (15%) and kidney (28%) dysfunction; blood routine, urine and serum immunoglobulin quantification and immunofixation electrophoresis could help the screening of AL-CA. Kidney (53%) and liver (15%) involvement was common, and 86% of AL-CA patients had kidney involvement. Typical ECG characteristics included poor R wave progression (35%), low voltage in limb leads (33%), and a pseudo infarct Q wave (30%); the latter two were more frequent in AL-CA. The characteristics of ultrasound findings included left ventricle thickening (100%), left atrial enlargement (87%) and enhanced echo of the myocardial granules(92%), and diastolic dysfunction was obvious in all the CA patients regardless of the systolic function. The DT and E/e' of the mitral annulus could be used as an index to evaluate diastolic dysfunction in early stage of the disease. Left ventricular (LV) global subendocardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE, 81%) accompanied by right ventricular (RV) and atrial LGE was the typical characteristic of CMR, and the range of LGE in the RV and the two atria was wider in AL-CA than in non-AL-CA. NT-proBNP (97%) and cardiac troponin (53%) in CA patients were both elevated, which helped in diagnosing and assessing the severity of cardiac involvement, according to which 50% of the patients were found to be at a high risk, 43% at an intermediate risk, and 7% at a low risk.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination of the features of clinical, laboratory tests and imaging findings of CA have important diagnostic and prognostic value for CA.</p>

Effect of electroacupuncture on brain cells apoptosis and nerve function recovery after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate the influence of acpuncture on free calcium in rat brain cells after focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion.Methods 145 adult male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,simple ischemia reperfusion group and acupuncture with ischemia reperfusion group.The middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) rat model was established by the modified Longa occlusion method. ①The part of free calcium in rat brain cells,focal cevebral ischemia model of rats were made by thread locking up the blood vessel for 15 min.30 min later after reperfusion, the Baihui and Shuigou Point in Du meridian were acupunctured electrically 30 min.After 3h, 6h and 12h, the rat was killed and its brain cells were made into single cell suspension,marked by Fluo-3/AM.The fluorescence optical density was recorded by laser confocal microscopy.②The part of nerve functional reconstruction, focal cevebral ischemia model of rats were made by thread locking up the blood vessel for 12 hours.30 min later after reperfusion, the Baihui and Shuigou Point in Du meridian were acupunctured electrically 30 min.After 7 d, 14 d,30 d,60 d and 90 d, the rat was forced to detect it's strength of the dog.Results ①Free calcium in rats of acupuncture therapy group(6h:10.96±1.18;2h:20.9±4.37) was significantly less than that in control group in 6 h and 12 h after reperfusion (6 h: 16.87 ± 3.56,12 h: 34.10 ±1.06)(P<0.05).②The dog in rats of acupuncture therapy group was significantly more than that in control group in 7 d, 14 d after reperfusion (P＜ 0.05 ).No difference of the dog was detected in 30 d ,60 d and 90 d after reperfusion between the two groups.Conclusion Acupunture could decreases the concentration of free calcium and the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA in rat brain cells after focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion, and it can facilitate the recovery of nerve function.

The role and mechanism of Apelin in modulation of pain in rat caudate / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To study the effect and possible mechanism of Apelin in candate on the pain behavior of rat. Methods Tail flick latency(TFL)of rat was taken as pain threshold and radiant heat as nociceptive stimulus. Microinjected Apelin into rat's caudate to observe the effect of Apelin on modulating of pain in CNS and then to study the interaction between Apelin and morphine in modulation of pain.And the contents of cAMP and cGMP in candate tissue and blood plasma were detected.Results Compared with control groups,the pain threshold of rat decreased when Apelin Was injected into caudate alone.Injected 0.5μl Apelin of 10~(-4) moL/L into rat caudate 10 min later,the pain threshold of rat Was reduced(-9.22±1.26)%and 40 min later(-16.95±1.46)%compared with normal saline group(-0.32±1.2)%,(0.17±0.80)%),and it had statistical significance(P<0.01).The contents of cAMP in caudate Was(14.08±2.25)nmol/g and blood plasma(19.94± 4.43)nmol/L compared with normal saline(133.05±20.41)nmol/g,(38.66±6.73)nmol/L,and they had statistical significance(P<0.01).Conclusions Apelin can facilitate the pain behavior of rat induced by radiant heat stimulus and consequently plays a hyperalgesia role in CNS.Apelin may have interaction with morphine and display its hyperalgesia effect through the intracellular second messenger cAMP.

Evaluation of relationship between longitudinal and radial strains of left ventricular in patients with myocardial infarction by speckle tracking imaging / 中华超声影像学杂志

ystolic LS and RS are equal in the indentification of the infarcted segments.