Clinical evaluation of rotational atherectomy combining drug-eluting stents in severe coronary artery calcified lesions / 中国介入心脏病学杂志

Objective Clinical data of patients who received rotational atherectomy (RA) combined with drug-eluting stent implantation (DES) in TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate it's safety,short-term and long-term prognosis.Methods A total of 60 patients who underwent RA were consecutively enrolled in the study in TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital from September 2012 to September 2015.Pre and post procedure coronary angiography and clinical information were collected.Long term outcomes were obtained by outpatient clinical follow-up or telephone interview.We analysed angiographic data.Results Among 60 patients with 65 lesions,RA combined with drug-eluting stent implantation was successful performed in 62(95.3%) lesions and postoperative stenosis degree drop from (90.7±6.2)% to (19.5±6.6)%.4 cases(6.7%)developed complications and were treated accordingly during procedure with satisfactory results.Overall incidence of in-hospital MACCE was 1.7% with one case (1.7%) of myocardial infarction.The mean follow-up time was (23.3±10.6) months.In stent restenosis occurred in 1 case(1.7%) 10 months after operation.Stent thrombosis occurred in 1 case(1.7%) 16 months after operation and myocardial infarction (MI) occurred in 1 case(1.7%) 7 months after operation.One patient died 14 months after operation and another patient died 17 months after operation.Both of them were considered as cardiac death.There was no mortality of other causes recorded.Long-term MACCE was 9.5% and TLR is 5.1%.Conclusions Rotational atherectomy combined with DES implantation in the treatment of severe coronary artery calcification lesions has high success rate, good safety profile and good short and long-term prognosis.

Protective effects and mechanisms of breviscapine on endothelial cells / 中国药科大学学报

This study was to investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of breviscapine on endothelial cells.ox-LDL was used to induce oxidative damage on human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC)for 20 h with or without 4 h pretreatment of various concentrations of breviscapine(10;20;40 μmol/L);then observe the protective effect and mechanism of breviscapine on endothelial cells insulted by ox-LDL.MTT method was used to detect cell viability;flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis and reactive oxygen species;and Western blot and RT-PCR was used to detect cell signaling pathways.The results showed that breviscapine recovered HUVEC cell viability in a dose-dependent manner which inhibited by ox-LDL;and it also protected cell from apoptosis induced by ox-LDL.To explore the mechanisms of breviscapine;reactive oxygen species (ROS)was determined after pretreatment of various concentrations of breviscapine or different durations(2;4;6 h)of brevis-capine.Results showed that breviscapine decreased ROS production in a dose-and time-dependent manner.Fur-thermore;cell signaling pathway analysis showed that breviscapine increased the expression of BCL-2;decreased the expression of BAX and the release of Cytochrome C and cleavage of caspase-3.Breviscapine decreased Keap1 and activated the nuclear import of Nrf2;and subsequently increased the mRNA and protein expression of down-stream antioxidant enzyme as NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1)and glutathione transferase-S-Mu 1(GSTM1);and increasing the activity of NQO1.Besides;breviscapine decreased IKK and IKB;and inhibited nuclear translocation of NF-κB;while increasing the expression of eNOS.This study demonstrated that breviscap-ine has a protective role on ox-LDL-induced endothelial cell injury;which may be related to its antioxidant effects and inhibition of NF-κB activation.

Molecular imaging of plaques in coronary arteries with PET and SPECT / 老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）

Coronary artery disease remains a major cause of mortality. Presence of atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary artery is responsible for lu-men stenosis which is often used as an indicator for determining the severity of coronary artery disease. However, the degree of coronary lumen stenosis is not often related to compromising myocardial blood flow, as most of the cardiac events that are caused by atherosclerotic plaques are the result of vulnerable plaques which are prone to rupture. Thus, identification of vulnerable plaques in coronary arteries has become increas-ingly important to assist identify patients with high cardiovascular risks. Molecular imaging with use of positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has fulfilled this goal by providing functional information about plaque activity which enables accurate assessment of plaque stability. This review article provides an overview of diagnostic applications of molecular imaging tech-niques in the detection of plaques in coronary arteries with PET and SPECT. New radiopharmaceuticals used in the molecular imaging of coro-nary plaques and diagnostic applications of integrated PET/CT and PET/MRI in coronary plaques are also discussed.

The risk factors and clinical follow-up of 236 patients with slow coronary flow / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective To investigate the risk factors of slow coronary flow (SCF) phenomenon; To study the prognosis of SCF patients and analyze the high risk factors of adverse events by follow-up.Methods 17930 patients were analyzed retrospectively who had undergone routine coronary angiography because of suspected coronary artery disease at TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital from January 2006 to December 2010.By Thrombolysis in myocardial infarction Frame Count method,236 patients with normal coronary artery but slow coronary flow were enrolled in the SCF group and 240 patients with normal coronary artery and normal coronary flow (40-50patients per year) were enrolled in the control group.After that,the risk factors leading to SCF were analyzed by the multivariate logistic regression analysis and all patients were followed up from March 2012 to April 2012 to know about the incidence of adverse events (acute coronary syndrome,malignant arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death) and the high risk factors leading to the adverse events.Results (1) Compared to the patients in the control group,the patients in SCF group have higher percentage of male (76.69％ vs.42.08％,P =0.000) 、rate of smokers (58.48％ vs.27.50％,P =0.000) 、BMI (26.78 ±3.75 vs.26.13 ±3.20,P =0.043) 、serum uric acid (344.90 ± 86.18 vs.304.43 ±76.44,P =0.000) 、serum creatinine (68.27 ± 15.10 vs.60.92 ± 13.17,P =0.000)、triglyceride (1.85 ± 1.23 vs.1.65 ± 0.81,P =0.037) but younger age and lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (1.14 ± 0.28 vs.1.19 ± 0.30,P =0.048).(2) By multivariate logistic regression analysis,male,smoking status,hiah BMI and serum uric acid are all independent factors for SCF.(3) The SCF phenomenon noted in lvessel,2 vessels and 3 vessels accounted for 7.29％,26.04％,66.67％,respectively.(4) During the follow-up,2 patients with malignant arrhythmia and 1 patients with ACS were found in SCF group,no sudden cardiac death took place.None of the adverse events happened in the control group.Conclusions Younger male smokers are prone to have SCF,high BMI and serum uric acid are also independent factors for SCF; The SCF phenomenon is most common in three coronary arteries.Both malignant arrhythmia and acute coronary syndrome took place in the SCF group in the follow-up.

Equivalence comparison between domestic and imported clopidogrel for percutaneous coronary interventions in 1 798 cases / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND:A few of studies have showed similar efficacy and safety between domestic clopidogrel (Talcom?) and imported clopidogrel (Plavix?) in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention, but there is lack of large-scale, large sample, and prospective clinical comparative study in China. OBJECTIVE:To compare the efficacy and safety of Talcom?and Plavix?on percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS:Total y 1 798 patients with Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease who received percutaneous coronary interventions were divided to two groups:Talcom?group (n=1 104) and Plavix?group (n=694). 300 mg clopidogrel was administrated oral y before percutaneous coronary intervention fol owed by 75 mg/d clopidogrel sequential y for 1 year. Al the patients were fol owed for 3-28 months to observe the incidence rate of stent thrombosis at acute, subacute, late, and very late stage, major adverse cardiac events of combination end point (including myocardial infarction, cardiac death, and stroke), and correlated adverse reactions, such as bleeding. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There were no significant differences in the incidence of stent thrombosis, target vessel revascularization, cardiac death, bleeding, major bleeding and major adverse cardiac events of combination end point between Talcom?group and Plavix?group. In addition, event-free survival also showed no difference between the two groups. After treatment, white blood cellcount, erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet count were significantly decreased in both the two groups (P<0.05). Hemoglobin level in the Talcom?group was fewer than that in the Plavix?group (P<0.05). The results suggest that effects and safety of Talcom?are similar to those of Plavix?for percutaneous coronary interventions.

Triple anti-platelet therapy protecting acute coronary syndrome patients from complication within 30 days after PCI / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of triple anti-platelet therapy (low-dose tirofiban plus aspirin and clopidogrel) comparing to dual anti-platelet therapy (aspirin and clopidogrel) in preventing stent thrombosis (ST) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) within 30 days after implantation of drug-eluting stent (DES) in ACS patients.Methods A total of 2904 ACS patients treated with DES from March 2004 to November 2010 were enrolled for retrospective study.Of them,1145 patients were treated with dual anti-platelet therapy (DAT) and 1759 patients with triple anti-platelet therapy (TAT).The incidences of ST,MACE (cardiac death,urgent target vessel revasculanization and myocardial infarction) and side effects occurred within 30 days after PCI were compared between two groups by Fisher' s exact test.Results (1)Although there were significant differences in age,the degree of coronary stenosis,the number of smokers,diabetes,hyperlipidemia and coronary diffuse lesion between two groups,but these differences did not impact on the end point events showed by Cox analysis.The rest of the general condition of patients between two groups was no difference.(2) The incidence of ST as primary end point was lower in TAT group than that in DAT group (0.11％ vs.1.05％,P =0.0036),reducing the relative risk by 89.52％.In addition,the incidence of MACT as secondary end point was also lower in TAT group than that in DAT group (0.17％ vs.1.48％,P =0.0005),reducing the relative risk by 88.51％.Among the total,the incidences of cardiac death and urgent target vessel re-vascularization in TAT group were lower than those in DAT group with significant differences.However,there was no difference in the incidence of myocardial infarction between two groups.(3) Both two groups had no severe hemorrhage complication,the incidence of mild hemorrhage was similar in two groups (0.45％ vs.0.35％,P =0.6720).Nesides,the incidence of acute thrombocytopenia between two groups was also similar (0.45％ vs.0.09％,P =0.083).Conclusions The patients with ACS in the TAT group have significant lower incidence of ST and MACE than those in the DAT group within 30 days after PCI.While the risk of bleeding and the incidence of acute thrombocytopenia do not increase.

Coronary computed tomography angiography with prospective electrocardiography triggering: a systematic review of image quality and radiation dose

The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy, image quality and radiation dose of prospective electrocardiography (ECG)-triggered coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We searched databases containing studies of CCTA that used prospective ECG-triggering between 2008 and 2011. The effective dose and image quality reported in each study were analysed and compared between the types of multislice CT scanners. We identified 23 studies through this search, with mean assessable coronary segments and effective dose at 96.8% (95% confidence level [CI] 83%, 100%) and 3.6 mSv (95% CI 2.9, 4.3 mSv), respectively. Both quantitative and qualitative assessments of image quality indicated that image quality was achieved in studies using prospective ECG-triggered CCTA, regardless of the type of CT scanners. The pooled estimates of diagnostic values were more than 90% for patient-, vessel- and segment-based assessments. Prospective ECG-triggered CCTA results in high diagnostic accuracy and image quality, with a significantly low radiation dose.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm: Treatment options, image visualizations and follow-up procedures / 老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a common vascular disease that affects elderly population.Open surgical repair is regarded as the gold standard technique for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm,however,endovaseular aneurysm repair has rapidly expanded since its first introduction in 1990s.As a less invasive technique,endovascular aneurysm repair has been confirmed to be an effective alternative to open surgical repair,especially in patients with co-morbid conditions.Computed tomography (CT) angiography is currently the preferred imaging modality for both preoperative planning and post-operative follow-up.2D CT images are complemented by a number of 3D reconstructions which enhance the diagnostic applications of CT angiography in both planning and follow-up of endovascular repair.CT has the disadvantage of high cummulative radiation dose,of particular concern in younger patients,since patients require regular imaging follow-ups after endovascular repair,thus,exposing patients to repeated radiation exposure for life.There is a trend to change from CT to ultrasound surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair.Medical image visualizations demonstrate excellent morphological assessment of aneurysm and stent-grafts,but fail to provide hemodynamic changes caused by the complex stent-graft device that is implanted into the aorta.This article reviews the treatment options of abdominal aortic aneurysm,various image visualization tools,and follow-up procedures with use of different modalities including both imaging and computational fluid dynamics methods.Future directions to improve treatment outcomes in the follow-up of endovascular aneurysm repair are outlined.

Use of coronary CT angiography in the diagnosis of patients with suspected coronary artery disease: findings and clinical indications / 老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）

Objective To investigate the clinical applications of coronary CT angiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease and identify factors that affect CT findings. Methods Medical records of patients suspected of coronary artery disease over a period of 12 months from a tertiary teaching hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Patient age, sex (male/female), duration of symptoms and abnormal rates of coronary CT angiography scans were analysed to investigate the relationship among these parameters. The patients by age were duration of symptoms was also classified into five groups: less than one week, one week to one month, one to three months, three to six months and more than six months. Results Of the 880 patient records reviewed, 800 met the above study criteria. Five hundred and forty nine patients demonstrated abnormal CT findings (68.6%). There was no significant difference in the percentage of abnormal CT findings based on patient sex and the duration of symptoms (P = 0.14). The abnormal rates of coronary CT angiography, however, increased significantly with increasing age (P < 0.001); with patients over 65 years of age 2.5 times more likely to have an abnormal CT scan relative to a patient under 45 years. A significant difference was found between abnormal coronary CT angiography and the duration of symptoms (P = 0.012). Conclusions Our results indicate coronary CT angiography findings are significantly related to the patient age group and duration of symptoms. Clinical referral for coronary CT angiography of patients with suspected coronary artery disease needs to be justified with regard to the judicious use of this imaging modality.

Use of radiation in medicine in the Asia-Pacific region

Rapid technological developments in medicine have taken place in the Asia-Pacific region over the last decades. Radiology, in particular, has seen enormous growth with the latest medical equipment and practices being commonplace in this region. The use of radiation in medicine must be carefully considered with regard to the potential side effects, such as radiation-induced cancer. There are very limited published papers on the use of radiation in medicine in this region. Hence, in this paper, we present an overview of the use of radiation in medicine in the Asia-Pacific region.

Multislice computed tomography angiography in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease / 老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）

Multislice Cr angiography represents one of the most exciting technological revolutions in cardiac imaging and it has been increasingly used in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.Rapid improvements in multislice CT scanners over the last decade have allowed this technique to become a potentially effective alternative to invasive coronary angiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.High diagnostic value has been achieved with multisfice CT angiography with use of 64-and more slice CT scanners.In addition,multislice CT angiography shows accurate detection and analysis of coronary calcium,characterization of coronary plaques,as well as prediction of the disease progression and major cardiac events.Thus,patients can benefit from multislice CT angiography that provides a rapid and accurate diagnosis while avoiding unnecessary invasive coronary angiography procedures.The aim of this article is present an overview of the clinical applications of multislice CT angiography in coronary artery disease with a focus on the diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery disease;prognostic value of coronary artery disease with regard to the prediction of major cardiac events; detection and quantification of coronary calcium and characterization of coronary plaques.Limitations of multislice Cr angiography in coronary artery disease are also briefly discussed,and future directions are highlighted.

Fenestrated Stent Graft Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Hemodynamic Analysis of the Effect of Fenestrated Stents on the Renal Arteries

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to investigate the hemodynamic effect of fenestrated stents on the renal arteries with using a fluid structure interaction method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two representative patients who each had abdominal aortic aneurysm that was treated with fenestrated stent grafts were selected for the study. 3D realistic aorta models for the main artery branches and aneurysm were generated based on the multislice CT scans from two patients with different aortic geometries. The simulated fenestrated stents were designed and modelled based on the 3D intraluminal appearance, and these were placed inside the renal artery with an intra-aortic protrusion of 5.0-7.0 mm to reflect the actual patients' treatment. The stent wire thickness was simulated with a diameter of 0.4 mm and hemodynamic analysis was performed at different cardiac cycles. RESULTS: Our results showed that the effect of the fenestrated stent wires on the renal blood flow was minimal because the flow velocity was not significantly affected when compared to that calculated at pre-stent graft implantation, and this was despite the presence of recirculation patterns at the proximal part of the renal arteries. The wall pressure was found to be significantly decreased after fenestration, yet no significant change of the wall shear stress was noticed at post-fenestration, although the wall shear stress was shown to decrease slightly at the proximal aneurysm necks. CONCLUSION: Our analysis demonstrates that the hemodynamic effect of fenestrated renal stents on the renal arteries is insignificant. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of different lengths of stent protrusion with variable stent thicknesses on the renal blood flow, and this is valuable for understanding the long-term outcomes of fenestrated repair.

Multislice CT Virtual Intravascular Endoscopy for Assessing Pulmonary Embolisms: a Pictorial Review

Multislice CT has been widely used in clinical practice for diagnosing cardiovascular disease due to its reduced invasiveness and its high spatial and temporal resolution. As a reliable alternative to conventional pulmonary angiography, multislice CT angiography has been recognized as the first line technique for detecting and diagnosing pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism located in the main pulmonary artery, as well as being located in the segmental branches, can be accurately detected with multislice CT imaging, and especially with the use of 16- and 64-slice CT scanners. Visualization of pulmonary embolisms has traditionally been limited to 2D, multiplanar reformation and the 3D external surface visualizations. In this pictorial review, we present our experience of using 3D virtual intravascular endoscopy to characterize and evaluate the intraluminal appearance of pulmonary embolisms in a group of patients who were suspected of having pulmonary embolism and who were undergoing multislice CT angiography. We expect that the research findings from this study will provide insight into the extent of disease and the luminal changes to the pulmonary arteries that are due to the presence of thrombus, and so monitoring of the progress of disease and predicting the treatment outcome can well be achieved.

Multislice CT Angiography of Fenestrated Endovascular Stent Grafting for Treating Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: a Pictorial Review of the 2D/3D Visualizations

Fenestrated endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm has been developed to treat patients with a short or complicated aneurysm neck. Fenestration involves creating an opening in the graft fabric to accommodate the orifice of the vessel that is targeted for preservation. Fixation of the fenestration to the renal arteries and the other visceral arteries can be done by implanting bare or covered stents across the graft-artery ostia interfaces so that a portion of the stent protrudes into the aortic lumen. Accurate alignment of the targeted vessels in a longitudinal aspect is hard to achieve during stent deployment because rotation of the stent graft may take place during delivery from the sheath. Understanding the 3D relationship of the aortic branches and the fenestrated vessel stents following fenestration will aid endovascular specialists to evaluate how the stent graft is situated within the aorta after placement of fenestrations. The aim of this article is to provide the 2D and 3D imaging appearances of the fenestrated endovascular grafts that were implanted in a group of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, based on the multislice CT angiography. The potential applications of each visualization technique were explored and compared with the 2D axial images.

3D Multislice CT Angiography in Post-Aortic Stent Grafting: A Pictorial Essay

Helical CT angiography has been widely used in both pre- and post-aortic stent grafting and it has been confirmed to be the preferred modality when compared to conventional angiography. The recent development of multislice CT (MSCT) has further enhanced the applications of CT angiography for aortic stent grafting. One of the advantages of MSCT angiography over conventional angiography is that the 3D reconstructions, based on the volumetric CT data, provide additional information during follow-up of aortic stent grafting. While endovascular repair has been increasingly used in clinical practice, the use of 3D MSCT imaging in endovascular repair continues to play an important role. In this pictorial essay, we aimed to discuss the diagnostic performance of 3D MSCT angiography in post aortic stent grafting, including the most commonly used surface shaded display, curvilinear reformation, the maximum intensity projection, volume rendering and virtual endoscopy. The advantages and disadvantages of each 3D reconstruction are also explored.