Computed tomography for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal varices and risk assessment in patients with cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT) for gastroesophageal varices (GEVs) and identify high-risk GEVs in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: A comprehensive search of databases identified 28 studies reporting on CT-based diagnosis for GEVs confirmed via endoscopy. Meta-analyses were conducted to calculate the pooled sensitivity (SEN) and pooled specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Based on the number of patients (or varices), the pooled SEN, SPE, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC of CT-based diagnosis were estimated at 0.91 (0.92), 0.81 (0.45), 4.82 (1.67), 0.11 (0.17), 42.47 (10.26), and 0.93 (0.94), respectively, for any GEV and at 0.89 (0.89), 0.90 (0.79), 8.86 (4.28), 0.12 (0.14), 75.71 (30.19), and 0.95 (0.85), respectively, for high-risk GEVs. Subgroup analyses indicated that CT had a higher diagnostic accuracy for esophageal varices compared with gastric varices (AUC: 0.93 vs. 0.89, P < 0.05), and the 64-slice CT yielded superior SEN compared with 16-slice and <16-slice CT (AUC: 0.97 vs. 0.92 and 0.82, respectively, P < 0.05). Prospective studies demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy than retrospective studies (AUC: 0.95 vs. 0.90, P < 0.05). Regarding variceal size, a cut-off of 3 mm and 5 mm discriminated between low- and high-risk individuals, respectively, with high diagnostic accuracy (AUC: 0.992 vs. 0.997, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: CT demonstrates promising diagnostic accuracy for identifying GEVs and distinguishing high-risk GEVs in patients with cirrhosis. Further research validating optimal variceal size cut-offs is warranted to enhance clinical utility. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Such a high diagnostic accuracy of CT scans for predicting varices is clinically meaningful for patients with cirrhosis accompanied by portal hypertension. If high-risk varices are identified at CT scans, early intervention would be helpful to reduce the risk of variceal bleeding.

Assessment of Left Ventricular Longitudinal Systolic Function Using Global Tissue Motion Annular Displacement in Patients with Chronic Severe Aortic Regurgitation.

Background: In patients with chronic aortic regurgitation (AR), the left ventricle (LV) develops compensatory mechanisms to sustain its function. LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) is a key means to detect subclinical LV dysfunction, even when LV ejection fraction (LVEF) remains within the normal range. Compared to GLS, Tissue motion annular displacement (TMAD) is a simpler strain-based method to assess LV systolic function. This study investigated the correlation among TMAD parameters, LVEF, and GLS, and determined the diagnostic value and threshold of TMAD parameters for left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Methods: A prospective study was conducted at a single center. The case and control groups consisted of patients with chronic severe AR and healthy volunteers, respectively. Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) was used to assess the GLS and TMAD parameters in the apical 4-chamber and apical 2-chamber. Subsets of participants were analyzed for inter- and intra-observer variability and analysis time. A correlation analysis was performed among the TMAD parameters, LVEF, and GLS. Receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curves (AUCs) were used to evaluate the predictive value of the TMAD parameters for LVEF <50% and GLS > -18%. Results: This study involved 96 patients with severe chronic AR and 45 healthy volunteers. Compared to GLS, TMAD demonstrated superior intra- and inter-observer consistency and shorter average analysis time. Biplane global Midpt% showed the highest correlation with GLS and LVEF among all the TMAD parameters, with r values of 0.81 and 0.74, respectively. Furthermore, global Midpt% had AUCs of 0.89 and 0.92 for predicting LVEF< 50% and GLS > -18%, respectively. Conclusion: The TMAD global Midpt% has the potential to replace GLS in clinical practice and find wide applications.

The diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging for differentiating the nature of cardiac masses: A systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac masses are rare, but lead to high risk of stroke and death. Because of the different treatment methods, it is significant for clinicians to differentiate the nature of masses. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has high intrinsic soft-tissue contrast and high spatial and temporal resolution and can provide evidence for differential diagnosis of cardiac masses. However, there is no evidence-based conclusion as to its accuracy. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to perform a systematic review on this issue and provide useful information for clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: We will perform a systematic search in EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PubMed and Web of Science for diagnostic studies using CMR to detect cardiac masses from inception to October, 2019. Two authors will independently screen titles and abstracts for relevance, review full texts for inclusion and conduct detail data extraction. The methodological quality will be assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. If pooling is possible, we will use bivariate model for diagnostic meta-analysis to estimate summary sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of CMR, as well as different sequences of CMR. Estimates of sensitivity and specificity from each study will be plotted in summary receive operating curve space and forest plots will be constructed for visual examination of variation in test accuracy. If enough studies are available, we will conduct sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis. RESULTS: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this will be the first systematic review on the accuracy of CMR in the differential diagnosis of cardiac masses. This study will provide evidence and data to form a comprehensive understanding of the clinical value of CMR for cardiac masses patients. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval and patient consent are not required, as this study is a systematic review. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019137800.

Diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic echocardiography for pulmonary hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Embase, Cochrane Library for clinical trials, PubMed and Web of Science were used to search studies from inception to 19 June, 2019. Studies using both TTE and right heart catheterisation (RHC) to diagnose PH were included. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 27 studies involving 4386 subjects were considered as eligible for analysis. TTE had a pooled sensitivity of 85%, a pooled specificity of 74%, a pooled positive likelihood ratio of 3.2, a pooled negative likelihood ratio of 0.20, a pooled diagnostic OR of 16 and finally an area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88. The subgroup with the shortest time interval between TTE and RHC had the best diagnostic effect, with sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) of 88%, 90% and 0.94, respectively. TTE had lower sensitivity (81%), specificity (61%) and AUC (0.73) in the subgroup of patients with definite lung diseases. Subgroup analysis also showed that different thresholds of TTE resulted in a different diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of PH. CONCLUSION: TTE has a clinical value in diagnosing PH, although it cannot yet replace RHC considered as the gold standard. The accuracy of TTE may be improved by shortening the time interval between TTE and RHC and by developing an appropriate threshold. TTE may not be suitable to assess pulmonary arterial pressure in patients with pulmonary diseases. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42019123289.

Network pharmacology-based identification of major component of Angelica sinensis and its action mechanism for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

Background: To decipher the mechanisms of Angelica sinensis for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using network pharmacology analysis. Methods: Databases were searched for the information on constituents, targets, and diseases. Cytoscape software was used to construct the constituent-target-disease network and screen the major targets, which were annotated with the DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery) tool. The cardioprotective effects of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), a major component of A. sinensis, were validated both in H9c2 cells subjected to simulated ischemia by oxygen and glucose deprivation and in rats with AMI by ligation of the left anterior coronary artery. Results: We identified 228 major targets against AMI injury for A. sinensis, which regulated multiple pathways and hit multiple targets involved in several biological processes. ASP significantly decreased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced cell death both in vitro and in vivo In ischemia injury rats, ASP treatment reduced infarct size and preserved heart function. ASP enhanced activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) activity, which improved ER-protein folding capacity. ASP activated the expression of p-AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC1α). Additionally, ASP attenuated levels of proinflammatory cytokines and maintained a balance in the oxidant/antioxidant levels after AMI. Conclusion:In silico analysis revealed the associations between A. sinensis and AMI through multiple targets and several key signaling pathways. Experimental data indicate that ASP protects the heart against ischemic injury by activating ATF6 to ameliorate the detrimental ER stress. ASP's effects could be mediated via the activation of AMPK-PGC1α pathway.

[Comparison of different modes of using tranexamic acid administration on reducing hidden blood loss in total hip arthroplasty].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of using tranexamic acid in different ways to reduce the hidden blood loss in patients who receiving total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: Totally 68 patients with osteonecrosis of the femeral head treated by total hip arthroplasty in our hospital from February 2010 to July 2015 were randomly divided into the intravenous drip group (group A) and the topical application group (group B). In group A, there were 19 males and 15 females, with an average age of (62.0±6.4) years old, preoperative average hemoglobin was (121.30±8.15) g/L, average Hematocrit was (0.470±0.039) L/L. In group B, there were 18 males and 16 females, with an average age of (64.0±7.5) years old, preoperative average hemoglobin was (125.28±9.37) g/L, average Hematocrit was (0.490±0.041) L/L. The operation incision were performed through the posterolateral approach and the normal operation mode, biological prosthesis was selected. Through different ways the tranexamic acid was used to control of intraoperative and postoperative bleeding. Tranexamic acid was intra articular injection as a dose of 10 mg/kg 10 min to patient before anesthesia in intravenous drip group. In topic group, 3 g of tranexamic acid was dissolved in 120 ml saline and divided into three equal parts, then two pieces of gauze were immersed in 40 ml tranexamic acid solution. One gauze with 40 ml tranexamic acid was used to soak the acetabulum for 5 minutes after the acetabular preparation, another gauze was inserted in the femoral canal for 5 minutes after femoral canal broach preparation. The remaining 40 ml tranexamic acid fluid was injected into the hip joint after fascia closure. Place the drainage tube and clip it for 3 hours. Hemoglobin (Hb) and Hematocrit (Hct) were recorded at 72 hours after operation. The total blood loss, dominant blood loss, and hidden blood loss were calculated. RESULTS: In group A, postoperative hemoglobin difference before and after operation was (32.34±7.42) g/L, total blood loss was (833.6±81.4) ml, the hidden blood loss was (276.3±57.9) ml, red blood cell volume was (10.1±1.4) L/L;In group B, hemoglobin difference before and after operation was (28.2±6.1) g/L, total blood loss was (792.5±61.8) ml, the hidden blood loss was (297.5±50.3) ml, red blood cell volume was (9.2±1.2) L/L. There was no statistical significance about those aspect (P>0.05). Compared of blood coagulation function between two groups, in group A: PT (12.78±2.03) s, APTT (34.27±3.91) s, INR (32.34±7.42); and in group B: PT (13.17±2.19) s, APTT (32.36±3.18) s, INR (28.24±6.14). There was no significant differences also (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with intravenous application, topical application of tranexamic acid could also effectively reduce total blood loss and hidden blood loss, postoperative blood transfusion rate in primary total hip arthroplasty, while does not increase the risk of DVT.