Objective: To explore the impact of echocardiographic parameter of diastolic dysfunction (E/A) on the recurrence of atrial ifbrillation (AF) in patients after catheter ablation.
Methods: We retrospectively studied 277 consecutive AF patients with circumferential pulmonary vein ablation (CPVA) in our hospital. According to E/A ratio, the patients were divided into 3 groups: Normal group, the patients with 0.75< E/A<2, n=203, Mild abnormal group, E/A≤0.75, n=53 and Severe abnormal group, E/A>2, n=21. The late AF recurrent rates were compared among different groups. The patients were divided into another 2 groups upon AF recurrence after CPVA: Recurrent group, n=57 patients with atrial arrhythmia lasted more than 30 seconds at 3 months after CPVA and Non-recurrent group, n=220. The clinical conditions were compared between 2 groups.
Results: The patients were followed-up for (374 ± 276) days. The AF recurrent rate in Severe abnormal group was 33.3%, in Mild abnormal group was 23.5% and in Normal group was 18.5%, P>0.05. The E/A ratio in Recurrent group was 1.22 ± 0.54, in Non-recurrent group was 1.19 ± 0.49, P=0.653. Univariate analysis indicated that the risk factors for AF recurrence included LVEDD and gender, not E/A ratio (P=0.236). Cox multivariate analysis indicated that with adjusted gender, hypertension, diabetes, LVEDD and LVESD, abnormal E/A ratio was the predictor for late AF recurrence (HR 2.29, 95%CI 1.01-5.19, P=0.046). With further adjusted LVEDD and E/A, the severe abnormal E/A ratio was still the predictor for AF recurrence (HR 2.27, 95%CI 1.01-5.12, P=0.047).
Conclusion: E/A ratio was the important predictor for AF recurrence in patients after CPVA.

BACKGROUNDIn China, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease has increased significantly. Many studies shows that the spectrum of kidney disease had changed in recent years. We retrospectively analyzed the pathological types of renal biopsy and its spectrum change at the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army from December 1987 to December 2012, in order to offer new supporting evidences for further specifying the distribution of renal pathological types in China.

METHODSAccording to the "Revised Protocol for the Histological Typing of Glomerulopathy" (WHO, 1995), pathological diagnosis of renal biopsy was classified, detection rate of each pathological type was summarized (i.e., percentage of total renal biopsy cases), study period was divided at an interval of 5 years, and age-stratified distribution change of main pathological types was analyzed.

RESULTSThe proportion of pathological types in 11 618 cases of renal biopsy was as follows: primary glomerulonephritis (PGN, 70.7%), secondary glomerulonephritis (SGN, 20.7%), tubular-interstitial nephropathy (4.0%), hereditary/rare nephropathy (0.3%), end-stage renal disease (0.9%), and unclassified renal disease (3.3%). Among PGN, there was IgA nephropathy (IgAN, 37.0%), membranous nephropathy (MN, 11.8%), mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MsPGN, 8.9%), minimal change disease (MCD, 6.6%), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (3.9%). Among SGN there was lupus nephritis (LN, 5.5%), Henoch-Schönlein purpura glomerulonephritis (5.3%), hepatitis B virus-associated nephritis (HBVAN, 3.03%), diabetic nephropathy (2.2%), and hypertension/malignant hypertension-associated renal damage (1.9%). Pathological data were analyzed from 1987-1992 to 2008-2012 (after age adjustment). Detection rate of IgAN tended to rise (P < 0.001). Detection rates of MN and MCD rose significantly (P < 0.001), but detection rate of MsPGN dropped significantly (P < 0.001). Among SGN, detection rate of HBVAN tended to drop (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONIn China, PGN was the most common glomerulopathy (mostly IgAN), LN was the most common SGN, and detection rate of MN and MCD rose significantly.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy ; methods ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Diseases ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult