ObjectiveTo observe the rabbit cardiac siz e and cardiac function change before and after bone-marrow stem transplanting(BMST) by echocardiography.MethodsThirty-four rabbits were divided into 3 groups randomly: group control, group myocardial infarction(MI) and group BMST. The left anterior coronary artery in group MI and group BMST were ligated to produce the myocardial infarction model and injected bone-marrow stem cell to the infracted area in the later group. The size and the systolic function of the heart were measured before and after infarction and transplantation. The left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) and the end-diastolic pressure(LVEDP) were also measured in the 3 groups at the end of experiment. ResultsThe left ventricle diameter of group BMST was smaller than that of the group MI, and the ventricular function increased, and almost reached the normal level. And more, LVSP increased and LVEDP decreased statistically in the group BMST. ConclusionsBone-marrow stem transplantation can release the enlargement of left ventricle and improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction.

Objective To explore the value of quantitive tissue velocity imaging(QTVI) in assessing the systolic myocardial function of adriamycin cardiomyopathy.Methods Conventional echocardiography and QTVI were performed in 7 rabbit models with adriamycin cardiomyopathy and 5 health rabbits as control.The basic segments of interventricular septum of apical 4-chamber view and left ventricular post wall of parastenal left ventricular long axis view were sampled to measure maximal velocity(VIVS,VLVPW),displacement(DIVS,DLVPW),strain rate(SRIVS) and strain(?IVS) in systole.Pre-eject period(PEP) and ratio of pre-eject period and eject time(PEP/ET) were measured with electrocardiography and Doppler spectrums of mitrial and aortic orifices.Results Compared with control,VIVS,DIVS,SRIVS,?IVS and VLVPW,DLVPW decreased(P0.05).Conclusions The indices of QTVI are more sensitive to evaluate systolic function changes than EF,and QTVI may be an optimal method to early diagnose and access of adriamycin cardiomyopathy.

Objective To detect viable myocardium in patients with old myocardial infarction(OMI) by using quantitative tissue velocity imaging(QTVI) in low dose dobutamine stress test(LDDSE).Methods(Twenty-five) patients with OMI were accepted QTVI examination including 2-chamber,4-chamber apical view.QTVI indices included peak velocity in isovolumic contraction(V_(IVC)),peak velocity in systolic(V_S) and time of isovolumic contraction(T_(IVC)).Results Two hundred segments were divided into the normal(group N,72 segments),viable myocardium(group V,77 segments) and non-viable myocardium(group NV,51 segments).At baseline,compared with group N,V_(IVC),V_S of group V and group NV decreased significantly(P

Objective To observe the expression level change of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), and to explore the relationships of VEGF expression with OSAHS, OSAHS related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Methods Polysomnography (PSG) was used to conduct sleep apnea monitoring in 24 OSAHS patients from 6OSAHS popular families and 48 healthy controls with normal physical examination results. The expression of VEGF mRNA was examined by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, meanwhile, the level of VEGF in plasma was measured VEGF mRNA in PBMC were significantly higher in simple OSAHS group [plasma levels: (205.75±2.79) pg/ml; mRNA: 0. 61±0. 02] than in control group [(168.72±4.64) pg/ml; 0. 47±0. 02,cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases group [(288.74 ± 2.73) pg/ml, 1.16 ± 0. 03] than in simple OSAHS group [ ( 205.75 ± 2.79 ) pg/ml, 0. 61 ± 0.02, P ＜ 0. 01]. ( 2 ) There was a positive correlation of the levels of VEGF in plasma and mRNA with AHI as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure in early morning. There was a negative correlation of the level of VEGF in plasma and VEGF mRNA with the lowest saturation of blood oxygen. There was a positive correlation of the level of VEGF mRNA with AHI as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure in early morning.Conclusions The level of VEGF in OSAHS significantly increases, which may play a role in the pathophysiology of OSAHS and OSAHS related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical values of the longitudinal strain delay index(LSDI) and the delay of time in peak anterospetal wall to posterior wall strain(TAS-POST),which are analyzed by speckle tracking imaging,was discussed in the article.Methods The study included 39 patients with acute myocardial infarction,37 patients with coronary heart disease but not acute myocardial infarction which was confirmed by selective coronary angiography and 30 age-gender-related volunteers.Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed to collect dynamic images of left ventricular apical long axis view,two-chamber view,four-chamber view and parasternal short axis mitral view,papillary view and apical view.The time to minimal systolic longitudinal,radial,circumferential strain (Tssl,Tssr and Tssc) were measured from the start point of QRS wave of electrocardiogram.The left ventricular segmental standard deviation (Tssl-SD,Tssr-SD,Tssc-SD) and maximal difference (Tssl-Dif,Tssr-Dif,Tssc-Dif) were calculated.The left ventricular dyssynchrony was defined as TAS-POST≥130 ms and LSDI≥25％.ResultsThe dyssynchrony parameters in the acute myocardial infarction group were significantly increased compared to the control group ( P ＜0.001 or P ＜0.05 ).The parameters in the myocardial ischemia group were also higher than those in the control group ( P ＜0.05).Linear regression showed that LSDI was positive correlated with TAS-POST( r =0.676,P ＜0.05).In acute myocardial infarction group,LSDI was more sensitive in the detection of left ventricular dyssynchrony than TAS-POST ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Left ventricular dyssynchrony can be evaluate accurately by speckle tracking imaging.LSDI and TAS-POST are quantitative parameters for the evaluation of left ventricular dyssynchrony in coronary heart disease.

Objective To assess the left ventricular function of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by speckle tracking imaging (STI).Methods 75 AMI patients who had AMI for the first time and have been treated by primary PCI were enrolled.Dynamic images were acquired before PCI,at 6 months after PCI and analyzed by STI.Dynamic images were analyzed for longitudinal peak systolic strain (LPSS),radial peak systolic strain (RPSS) and circumferential peak systolic strain (CPSS) values by STI.According to the comparison of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) before PCI and 6 months after PCI,patients were divided into left ventricular function improved group (△LVEF≥5％) and not-improved group.Results Compared to non-improved group,LPSS (P ＜0.001),RPSS (P ＜0.05,P ＜0.001) and CPSS (P ＜0.001) of improved group were all higher before and 6 months after PCI.LPSS (r =-0.578,P ＜0.001) and CPSS (r =-0.817,P ＜0.001) before PCI were both closely related to △LVEF.In single parameter mode of ROC curve analysis,the area under the ROC curve (AUC) (0.867),sensitivity (94.7％) and specificity (74.4％) of CPSS are relatively higher than other STI parameters.In multiple parameters united mode of ROC curve analysis,AUC (0.897),sensitivity (94.7％) and specificity (74.4％) of LPSS,RPSS and CPSS united were the highest among all the combinations of all STI parameters.Conclusions Left ventricular function improvement of patients with AMI 6 months after PCI is accurately assessed and predicted by STI.CPSS is a strong predictor for left ventricular function improvement 6 months after PCI of AMI patients among all the STI parameters and is an effective indicator for the assessment of left ventricular function improvement of AMI patients.

Objective To assess left ventricular (LV) untwisting in patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI) in different location by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging(2D-STI),searching for sensitive parameter to evaluate the untwisting motion,to explore the impact of myocardial infarction(MI)location and number of MI segments on left ventricular untwisting movement.Methods Forty-one patient with AMI (AMI Group) were divided into two groups (anterior wall-anteroseptum group and inferior wall-posterior wall group) according to the MI location,and 31 age matched subjects were involved as the control group.Acquire the bull's eyes map of systolic strain (LPSS) values by automated function imaging(AFI)and locate the position and number of segments of MI by it.Access twist at aortic valve closure (AVCtw),twist at mitral valve open (MVOtw),peak twist velocity(PTV),untwisting rate in IVRT (Untw-R),peak untwisting velocity(PUV),time to peak untwisting velocity(TPUV) and half time of untwisting (UHT)with STI.Results Compared with control group,left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF),global LPSS,PUV and Untw-R of AMI group decreased significantly (P ＜0.001),T-PUV (P ＜0.001) and UHT (P =0.028) increased significantly.The number of MI segments correlated with Untw-R (r =-0.420,P =0.006) significantly.There was no significant correlation between number of MI segments and UHT,PUV,TPUV.Untw-R in anterior wall-anteroseptum group were lower than inferior wall-posterior wall group(P =0.022).For PTV,PTW,T-Ptw,PUV,UHT and T-PUV,there was no significant difference between anterior wall-anteroseptum group and inferior wall-posterior wall group.Conclusions LV untwisting motion of AMI patients can be observed by 2D-STI.Untw-R is a sensitive parameter to evaluate the untwisting motion of AMI patients.The untwisting motion of AMI patients decrease significantly,even worse in anterior wall-anteroseptum AMI patients.

Objective To assess left ventricular function early and late improvement of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by speckle tracking imaging (STI).The clinical values of the assessment of STI for the prognosis and heart function improvement of AMI patients treated by PCI were discussed.Methods 73 AMI patients who had AMI for the first time and had been treated by primary PCI from September 2010 to July 2011 and were examined in the follow-ups from December 2010 to February 2012 in our hospital were enrolled.Dynamic images were acquired before PCI,at 3 months and 6 months after PCI and analyzed by STI.Dynamic images were analyzed for longitudinal peak systolic strain (LPSS),radial peak systolic strain (RPSS) and circumferential peak systolic strain (CPSS) values by STI.According to the comparison of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) before PCI and 6 months after PCI,patients were divided into left ventricular function improved group (ΔLVEF6＞5％) and not-improved group.According to the comparison of LVEF before PCI and 3 months after PCI,improved group were divided into left ventricular function early-improved group (ΔLVEF3 ＞5％) and late-improved group.Results The values of all STI parameters before PCI,3 months and 6 months after PCI in improved group were higher than those in not-improved group (P ＜0.001,all).LPSS before PCI and at the follow-ups and RPSS at 3 months after PCI in early-improved group were higher than those in late-improved group (LPSS at 3 months after PCI:P＜0.001;Other parameters:P ＜0.05).There were significant correlations between all STI parameters and both ΔLVEF3 and ΔLVEF6.LPSS before PCI was more closely related to ΔLVEF3 (r =-0.781,P ＜0.001).CPSS at 6 months after PCI was more closely related to ΔLVEF6 (r =-0.834,P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions Early and late function improvement of left ventricle in AMI patients who is treated by PCI are accurately assessed by STI.The precise analyses of longitudinal and circumferential movements in STI are important for clinical diagnosis.

Objective To assess the left ventricular dyssynchrony in coronary artery disease(CAD) without visual segmental wall motion abnormalities using strain delay index (SDI).Methods A total of 135 patients under suspicion of CAD were recruited in this study.Two-dimensional cchocardiography was performed to collect dynamic images of left ventricular apical long axis views,tow-chamber views,four chamber views and parasternal short axis mitral views,papillary views and apical views.The time to minimal systolic longitudinal,radial,circumferential strain (Tssl,Tssr and Tssc) were measured from the start point of QRS wave in electrocardiogram.The left ventricular segmental standard deviation (Tssl-SD,Tssr-SD,Tssc-SD),maximal difference (Tssl-Dif,Tssr-Dif,Tssc-Dif) and longitudinal,radial,circumferential SDI (LSDI,RSDI,CSDI) of 18 left ventricular segments were calculated.Results According to coronary angiography results,patients were divided into three groups:severe stenosis group,mild stenosis group and control group.Compared with the other two groups,SDI and Tssl-SD,Tssl-Dif were decreased in severe stenosis group (P ＜0.001 or P ＜0.05).However,there were not significant differences between the mild stenosis group and the control group except Tssr-SD.The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis demonstrated that LSDI had the highest accuracy and Tssl-SD had the lowest accuracy for detecting severe CAD (areas under the curve were 0.891,0.797,0.666,0.580 and 0.556 respectively).High sensitivity and specificity (80.6％ and 86.7％,respectively) were shown when using-12.67％ as a cutoff point of LSDI to diagnose severe CAD.Conclusions SDI can be helpful for assessing the left ventricular dyssynchrony in patients without visual segmental wall motion abnormalities,and LSDI is the most effective parameter to detecting severe CAD.

Objective To evaluate the function and synchronization in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation(PAF) by two dimensional speckle tracking imaging(2D-STI) measuring the strain of left atrial.Methods Thirty healthy controls and thirty-five patients with PAF were studied.The PAFs were divided into group PAF1 during the diapause and group PAF2 during the stage of attack.From the strain-time curve of 2D-STI workstation,the peak velocity(Vs,Ve and Va),the peak amplitude of longitudinal strain (Ss,Se and Sa) and strain rate (SRs,SRe and SRa) were acquired in the course of systole,the early and the late diastole respectively.The synchronization of left atrial (Ts-SD,Te-SD and Ta-SD) could be gotten from the time to the peak strain.The correlation were analysed between the synchronization indices and the strain rate parameters.Results ①No significant differences were found at the age,heart rate,E/A,IVS,LVEDD and LVEF.Compared with the control group,the LAD increased and DT decreased in PAF1 and PAF2 groups (P ＜0.05).②The peak velocity were slower,the peak strain were shorter and the peak strain rate were lessened in the PAFs than the controls(P ＜0.05),except the SRa(P ＞0.05).③The Ts-SD and Te-SD were much more different during the three groups(P ＜0.05),the PAF2 showed fewer synchronization; the Ta-SD was higher in the PAF1 than the controls(P ＜0.05).④The Ta-SD had a positive correlation with SRa(r =0.61,P ＜0.01).Conclusions The reservoir and conduit function of left atrial are impaired in PAFs during the diapause,the booster pump could recover partially,however,there are dyssynchronization.The booster pump function disappear during the stage of attack and there are worse synchronization.2D-STI may paly important roles in the assessment of function and synchronization of left atrial.