Obiective To observe the value of speckle tracking imaging(STI)in assessing left atrial(LA) function in patients with chronic heart failure(CHF).Methods Twenty-two patients with CHF[LVEF(37.1± 10.5)%]and twenty normal controls[LVEF(61.94±10.68)%]were studied.CHF group was subdevided into patients with normal or abnormal LV filling pressure.Velocity vector imaging(Siemens Medical Solutions)was used to acquire 2-D images at parasternallong axis and apical 4-chamber views.The LA dimension and volume,LV volume and ejection fraction,ratio of mitral valve E wave and mitral annulus velocity e'E/e')were measured. LA tangential and radial velocity(Vt-As,Vr-As)and time to peak velocity(TVt-As,TVr-As)were analysed on Syngo Workplace offline.Results Vt-As and Vr-As of the CHF group were significantly smaller than those of the controls(P＜0.05),and Vr-As was even decreased in patient with elevated LV filling pressure(P＜0.05), however,TVt-AS and TVr-AS didn't show evident impairment in the CHF group(P＞0.05).Vt-As and Vr-AS were closely correlated with LVEF,EDV and ESV(P＜0.05).Vt-As was negtively correlated with LA volume (P＜0.05).Conclusions STI can quickly and accurately assess LA function,and help to recognize patients with elevated LV filling pressure,which is useful in the risk stratification,treatment evaluation and prognosis prediction of CHF patients.

Objective To explore the methods and mesures for the pre-analytical quality control of test specimen and to improve the accuracy and reliability of test results.Methods According to the relevant requirements of IS015189,various measures for the specimen circulation process and collection technology two aspects were taken to control the full links of clinical specimen collection and transport,and the incidence of unqualified specimen before and after the improvements were analyzed.Results After the imple-mentation of the improvement measures,the incidence of unqualified specimens was decreased significantly.Conclusion Implemen-tation of the whole aspect of pre-analytical quality control can effectively improve the quality of specimen in order to improve the test quality.

Objective To evaluate the left ventricular(LV) torsion and rotation in normal subjects using vector velocity imaging.Methods LV basal and apical short-axis images were captured in 10 healthy individuals to estimate LV torsion and rotation using routine 2-dimensional echocardiography and vector velocity imaging. Results As viewed from LV apex,the systolic basal rotation was clockwise (negative value),and apical rotation was counterclockwise (positive Value). The apical peak systolic rotational velocity was significantly higher than the basal [endo:(150±62)°/s vs (114±65)°/s;epi:(81±40)°/s vs (55±28)°s,respectively,P＜0.01]. The peak systolic endocardial rotational velocity and rotation was significantly higher than epicardial rotational velocity and rotation[basal:(-114±65)°/s vs (-55±28)°/s,(-12±6)°vs (-4±1)°;apical:(150±62)°s vs (81±40)°s,(10±4)°vs(6±2)°,respectivelv,P＜0.05]. There were no significant differences in the time to peak systolic rotational velocity/rotation between basal endocardium/epicardium and apical endocardium/epicardium. Conclusions Vector velocity imaging can assess LV torsion and rotation non-invasively,and normal LV has a kind of characteristic motion of torsion.

Objective To evaluate the effects of therapeutic hypothermia on both neurological status and survival rate in patients after cardiac arrest.Methods The data were searched from MEDLINE,PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,Wanfang database,CNKI and CBM.The randomized and controlled trials were selected for evaluating the main outcomes of neurological status and survival rate in patients after cardiac arrest.Meta-analysis was carried out by using Review Manger 5.0 software.The results were expressed in risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes data with 95％ confidence intervals (CI),and P ＜ 0.05 was considered to be significant.Results Eight randomized controlled clinical trials with a total of 1 512 patients met our inclusion criteria.The overall risk ratio of favorable neurological status was 1.34 (95％ CI:1.01-1.78,P ＜0.05) and of survival rate was 1.09 (95％ CI:0.98-1.20,P ＞0.05) with therapeutic hypothermia compared with controls,however,when the applications of conventional cooling trials were analyzed,the risk ratio was 1.51 (95％ CI:1.22-1.87,P ＜0.01) and 1.36 (95％CI:1.13 -1.63,P ＜ 0.01),respectively.Conclusions Patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest had more favorable neurological status compared with the controls.There was no benefit of therapeutic hypothermia to survival rate identified.Compare with conventional cooling methods,the therapeutic hypothermia could improve neurological status and survival rate in patients after cardiac arrest.

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is a chronic non-specific intestinal inflammatory disease,including ulcerative colitis(UC)and Crohn's disease(CD). Changing lifestyle can improve patients'symptoms to a certain extent and enhance the efficacy of drugs. The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise in IBD has been confirmed,but its specific mechanism is not clear. This article reviewed the advances in study on the anti-inflammatory effect of exercise on IBD.

Objective:To establish an HPLC method to simultaneously determine the content of protocatechualdehyde, rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid A in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Methods: The chromatographic column was a Linksil-ODS ( 250 mm × 4. 6 mm,5 μm) column,the mobile phase was 1% acetic acid water solution-acetonitrile (7∶3) with the flow rate of 0. 8 ml·min-1 . The detection wavelength was 280nm , the column temperature was 30℃ and the injection volume was 20 μl. Results: The linear range of protocatechualdehyde, rosmarinicacid and salvianolic acid A was 3-300 μg·ml-1(r>0. 999 0), and the recovery was within the range of 95. 22%-99. 68% with RSD below 2% (n=5). Conclusion:The method is accurate, rapid and reproducible, and can be used to control the quality of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge.

Objective To explore the characteristics and survival of connective tissue disease (CTD) patients with both of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) arnd interstitial lung disease (ILD),and to compare with CTD patients with isolated PAH.Methods All adult CTD patients who visited one of the three referral centers in China with a diagnosis of PAH confirmed by right heart catheterization from July 2006 to May 2011 were enrolled.They were then divided into two groups (ILD with and without-ILD group) based on chest CT and then the comparison of baseline characteristics and survival at the endpoint of follow up were made between the two groups.T test,Mann-Whitney U test,x2 test,Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used for statistical analyses.Results One hundred and twenty-six patients were recruited into the study.Patients with ILD (n=27) were older than those without ILD (n=99).Lung function results including FVC [(75±18)％ vs (83±13)％,t=2.212,P=0.037] and DLCO [(54±22)％ vs (68±20)％,t=2.392,P=0.019] in ILD group were significantly wose than those without-ILD group.Although some important hemodynamic parameters such as mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance were better in the ILD group than the without-ILD group,Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the short term survival of ILD group was significantly worse than that of the without-ILD group (72.7％ versus 94.7％ at 1 year and 63.6％ versus 81.1％ at 3 year,P=0.047).In ILD group,Cox regression analysis showed that SvO2 was the only independent factor for the short term survival [HR=0.19,95％CI (0.04,0.83),P=0.027],and Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients with SvO2＜60％ had significantly lower short term survival than patients with SvO2 ≥60％ (1 and 2 year survival were 60.0％ and 40.0％ versus 92.9％ and 77.4％ respectively,P=0.002).Conclusion Patients with both PAH and ILD is a special subtype in CTD.Although with the superiority of hemodynamics,these patients have significantly worse survival than CTD patients with isolated PAH.Low SvO2 is the independent risk factor for the short term mortality in patients of CTD complicated by both PAH and ILD.More attention should be paid to these patients and the management strategy should be investigated further.

Objective To investigate the effect of Ⅲ-type phosphatidylinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway adjusting autophagy on brain damage mechanism after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and hypothermia treatment.Methods The asphyxia induce cardiac arrest-CPR model was reproduced on healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.Sixty rats after restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) were randomly divided into normothermia group,therapeutic hypothermia group and PI3K inhibitor 3-methyl adenine (3-MA) pretreatment group,differentiated by 24 hours and 48 hours after ROSC.Each group had 10 rats at each time point.The anal temperature in the normothermia group was maintained at (37.0 ± 0.2) ℃,and the rats in the hypothermia group were given cooling treatment immediately after ROSC,and the target rectal temperature was 32-34 ℃.In the 3-MA pretreatment group,10 mmol/L 3-MA 5 μL was injected into the ventricle 20 minutes before asphyxia,and other groups were given the same amount of normal saline.Ten rats without CPR were included in Sham group only received anesthesia and catheterization.The rats were sacrificed at 24 hours and 48 hours after ROSC respectively,and the brain tissues were harvested,the brain water content (BWC) was measured by dry-wet weight method.Western Blot was used to determine the autophagy related proteins Beclin-1 and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3),apoptosis related proteins Bcl-2 and caspase-3,and the Ⅲ-type PI3K pathway proteins Vps34 and Atgl4.Ultrastructural changes in brain tissue were observed with transmission electron microscope.Neurological deficit scores (NDS) was obtained in each group at 48 hours after ROSC.Results Compared with Sham group,the cortex at 24 hours after ROSC in normothermic group showed obvious edema,apeptosis and autophagy began to appear under transmission electron microscope,and the expressions of autophagy,apoptosis and Ⅲ-type PI3K-related proteins in brain tissue were significantly increased in a time-dependent manner,and the neurological function at 48 hours after ROSC was significantly damaged.After hypothermia intervention,brain edema of rats was significantly reduced,no obvious apoptosis was found,but autophagy was increased,the expressions of autophagy-related proteins Vps34,Atg14 and Ⅲ-type PI3K-related proteins Beclin-1 and LC3 at 48 hours after ROSC were further higher than those of normothermic group (Vps34/GAPDH:0.25±0.03 vs.0.15±0.04,Atg14/GAPDH:0.12±0.03 vs.0.05±0.04,Beclin-1/GAPDH:0.060±0.002 vs.0.018±0.002,LC3-Ⅱ/GAPDH:0.160±0.010 vs.0.050± 0.010,all P ＜ 0.05),the expressions of apoptosis related proteins Bcl-2 and caspase-3 were significantly lowered (Bcl-2/GAPDH:0.05±0.03 vs.0.20±0.04,caspase-3/GAPDH:0.050±0.002 vs.0.140±0.015,both P ＜ 0.05),neurological function was significantly improved (NDS:157±85 vs.343± 198,P ＜ 0.05).Pretreatment with 3-MA inhibited the protective effect of hypothermia on brain tissues.The expressions of Vps34,Atg14,Beclin-1 and LC3 in brain tissues at 48 hours after ROSC in 3-MA pretreatment group was significantly lower than those in the hypothennia group (Vps34/GAPDH:0.18±0.03 vs.0.25±0.03,Atg44/GAPDH:0.07±0.04 vs.0.12±0.03,Beclin-1/GAPDH:0.015±0.003 vs.0.060±0.002,LC3-Ⅱ/GAPDH:0.045±0.030 vs.0.160±0.010,all P ＜ 0.05),the expressions of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 were significantly increased (Bcl-2/GAPDH:0.15±0.04 vs.0.05±0.03,caspase-3/GAPDH:0.120±0.015 vs.0.050±0.002,both P ＜ 0.05),and NDS score was significantly increased (341±208 vs.157±85,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Hypothermia treatment reduced brain edema and ameliorated brain function after CPR,which might be related to increase autophagy and inhibit apoptosis adjustment by activating Ⅲ-type PI3K pathway.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy and safety of inhaled iloprost on top of other pulmonary hypertension (PH) specific therapies for patients with PH and severe right heart failure.

METHODSWe consecutively enrolled WHO functional class IV patients with PH and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from January 2011 to January 2013. Inhaled iloprost was administrated to all enrolled patients, oral endothelin antagonist receptors (ERAs) and/or type 5 phosphodiasterase inhibitors (PDE5-I) were also used as basis therapies. The in-hospital outcomes and the changes of right heart functional parameters were observed.

RESULTSTwenty-four patients with PH and 5 patients with CTEPH were enrolled. After a mean treatment duration of (23 ± 13) days, 3 patients dead and significant improvement was observed in the remaining 26 patients. Compared with the baseline, heart rate decreased from (99 ± 14) to (91 ± 12) bpm (P = 0.001), plasma NT-proBNP level decreased from 5 823 (3 029-13 248) to 3 220 (1 678-6 720) ng/L (P < 0.001), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) increased from (1.3 ± 0.4) to (1.4 ± 0.3) cm (P = 0.018), right ventricular diameter decreased (left-to-right diameter from (57 ± 11) to (53 ± 10) mm, P = 0.040, and superoinferior diameter from (69 ± 11) to (64 ± 16) mm, P = 0.027), Tbil also decreased from (41 ± 34) to (26 ± 17) µmol/L (P < 0.001). No severe side effects were observed.

CONCLUSIONThe strategy of inhaled iloprost on top of other PAH-specific target therapy medications is effective and safe for PH patients with severe right heart failure.

Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Iloprost ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Peptide Fragments ; Vasodilator Agents ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Right

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the association between homocysteine level and prethrombotic status and long-term thromboembolic events in patients with primary hypertension.

METHODSResults between 110 hypertensive patients with elevated homocysteine (HCY) level were compared with 110 hypertensive patients with normal HCY level which were enrolled from October 2003 to November 2009. Fibrinogen (FIB), viscosity, thrombomodulin (TM), granule membrane protein (GMP-140), prethrombin F1+2 fragment (F1+2), D-dimer fragment (D-Dimer) and antithrombin III (AT-III) were measured and correlated to HCY and prethrombotic state. The endpoints of the study were arterial and venous thromboembolic events. The variables linked with arterial and venous thromboembolic events were included in Cox proportional hazard models. The event-free survival was illustrated with Kaplan-Meier survival curves and compared by the Log-rank test.

RESULTSThe patients were followed up for 8-122 months (median follow-up time was 85 months). Compared with hypertensive patients with normal HCY, the plasma level of TM ((4.8±1.2) µg/L vs. (4.5±1.0) µg/L, P = 0.045), GMP-140 ((18.8±3.2) µg/L vs. (17.1±4.3) µg/L, P = 0.001), F1+2 ((1.2±0.4) nmol/L vs. (1.0±0.6) nmol/L, P = 0.004) were significantly higher while the plasma level of AT-III ((95.3±10.4) % vs. (98.6±10.6)%, P = 0.021) was significantly lower in hypertensive patients with elevated HCY level. FIB, viscosity of plasma and D-dimer were similar between the two groups. Multiple regression analyses indicated that HCY level was negatively correlated with AT-III (β = -0.199, P = 0.011) and positively correlated with age (β = 0.217, P = 0.04), female gender (β = 5.667, P = 0.001) and TM (β = 2.341, P = 0.003). Cox multivariate analysis revealed that age and HCY level were independent prognostic risk factors of thromboembolic events (OR 1.046, 95% CI 1.013-1.082, OR 1.052, 95% CI 1.027-1.078, respectively) (all P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that there was a significant difference in the event-free survival between the two groups (Log-rank test, P = 0.027).

CONCLUSIONSCompared with normal HCY hypertensive patients, the levels of plasma prothrombin activators such as TM, GMP-140 and F1+2 were significant increased and anti-thrombin factor such as AT-III was significant decreased in hypertensive patients with elevated HCY. Old age and high HCY level were independent prognostic risk factors of thromboembolic events. The event-free survival in hypertensive patients with elevated HCY is lower than in hypertensive patients with normal HCY level.

Case-Control Studies ; Essential Hypertension ; Female ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; P-Selectin ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Regression Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Thromboembolism ; complications