Black-blood Venous Imaging (BBVI): A Contrast-Free and High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Approach for Diagnosing IVCS - a Proof of Concept Study.

BACKGROUND: Iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS) diagnosis heavily relies on an imaging test. However, non-invasive and contrast-free imaging test for the diagnosis of IVCS remains a big challenge. To address this issue, this prospective study aimed to assess the image quality and diagnostic performance of a magnetic resonance imaging technique, black-blood venous imaging (BBVI), in detecting IVCS by comparing it with contrast-enhanced computed tomography venography (CTV) and using invasive digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the reference. METHODS: We enrolled 105 patients, and all patients underwent BBVI, CTV, and DSA examinations. We compared the consistency of CTV and BBVI image quality and their consistency in diagnosing the rate of iliac vein stenosis in IVCS patients. Using the consensus DSA as a reference, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of BBVI and CTV and their diagnostic agreement with DSA were calculated. RESULTS: BBVI demonstrated high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the diagnosis of IVCS, without contrast agents. BBVI and CTV are quite in diagnosis IVCS. Quite SE (67.8% vs 68.3%), SP (94.8% vs 94.8%), PPV (98.0% vs 98.0%), NPV (46.2% vs 46.9%) and ACC (75.3% vs 75.7%) were obtained by BBVI in comparison with CTV. CONCLUSION: BBVI has comparable diagnostic performance with CTV. It may be a viable alternative to CTV techniques in screening the IVCS without contrast agents and free of ionizing radiation.

Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection Patients Who Underwent Sun's Procedure by a Perioperative Nomogram.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in 20-40% of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients undergoing cardiac surgery. A predictive model could be developed to assess the probability of AKI in patients with ATAAD before and after cardiac surgery in a timely manner. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled a total of 224 patients with ATAAD. Patients were subjected to total arch replacement using a tetrafurcate graft with stented elephant trunk implantation according to Sun's procedure. Statistical comparison for the collected data was done with Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test (continuous variables) and χ2 test (categorical variables). The independent predictors were screened by multivariate logistic regression analysis and then incorporated into a nomogram. The reliability of cardiac surgery-associated AKI (CSA-AKI) models was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: This study enrolled 224 ATAAD patients, including 53 patients with AKI and 171 patients without AKI. The incidence of ATAAD-induced AKI in the cohort was 23.66%. The screened predictors for AKI include iliac artery involvement, creatinine, D-dimer, autotransfusion, platelet-rich plasma reinfusion, nasal temperature, red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, drainage, and mechanical ventilation. The calculated AUC values for model 1, model 2, model 3, and model 4 were 0.710, 0.777, 0.827, and 0.848, respectively. Model 4 was optimum for AKI risk scoring compared with model 1, model 2, and model 3. CONCLUSIONS: AKI prediction models were established for ATAAD patients using preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative information. Particularly, model 4 shows superiority in risk prediction for CSA-AKI.

Thrombolytic treatment of prosthetic valve thrombosis: a study using Urokinase.

OBJECTIVE: We analysed the efficacy and safety of thrombolytic therapy with urokinase in patients with prosthetic valve thrombosis. METHODS: Twenty-three patients with valve thrombosis received thrombolytic treatment using urokinase. First, a 250,000 IU intravenous bolus injection was administered as a loading dose, followed by intravenous infusion of 100,000 IU/h for 10 h and anticoagulation with low molecular weight heparin every day. The maximum treatment time was 5 days, i.e., until the transvalvular pressure gradient was normal or close to normal. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was used every 12 h to monitor whether the thrombus was reduced and whether there was haemodynamic improvement. Routine blood tests, the prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR) and complications were observed every day. RESULTS: Sixteen (69.6%) patients were successfully treated with thrombolytic therapy: 2/2 (100%) aortic valves and 14/21 (66.7%) mitral valves. The partial success rate of this study was 13.0% (3/23). Four patients did not show any improvement in haemodynamics. Two cases had slight urine haemorrhage. One patient died of severe cerebral haemorrhage and shock. The overall mortality was 13.0% (3/23), including two patients who died after subsequent surgery. CONCLUSION: Urokinase is more convenient and successful in the treatment of PVT. More experience may make TT the optimal treatment for PVT, especially in high-risk surgical situations.

Vein valve function following pharmacomechanical thrombectomy versus simple catheter-directed thrombolysis for lower extremity deep vein thrombosis: A case control study / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective To compare vein valve function following pharmacomechanical thrombolysis (PMT) with simple catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) for deep vein thrombosis. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of sixty patients who suffered acute lower extremity deep vein thrombsis in our hospital between October 2016 and March 2017. All patients underwent contralateral preprocedural duplex and bilateral postprocedure duplex to access patency and valve function. The patients were divided into three groups including a group A with catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) alone (36 patients with 20 males and 16 females at average age of 56 years), a group B with PMT alone (15 patients with 8 males and 7 females at average age of 55 years), and a group C with PMT combined CDT (9 patients with 4 males and 5 females at average age of 56 years). The valve function was compared among the Group A, Group B and Group C. Results There were 40.0% (24/60) patients with bilateral femoral vein valve reflux, 40.0% (24/60) patients with unilateral femoral vein valve reflux (all in the treated limbs), 20% (12/60) patients had no reflux in both limbs. Of the limbs treated with CDT alone, PMT alone and PMT combined CDT, the rate of valve reflux was 38.9% (14/36), 33.3% (5/15), and 55.6% (5/9) respectively (P=0.077). Conclusion In the patients suffering acute DVT, PMT or PMT combined CDT does not hamper valve function compared with CDT alone.