Objective To discuss the preliminary experience of transcatheter aortic valve implatantion in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis. Methods The baseline characteristics, hemodynamic changes and clinical outcomes of the patients received TAVI in our institution were analyzed. Results A total of 36 patients underwent TAVI between April 2012 and March 2014. The mean age was (73.4±8.7) years and 24 (66.7%) of them were men. The mean logistic EuroSCORE was (20.6±9.9)%. 25(70%) patients had bicuspid aortic valves. TAVI was successful in 35 patients (97.2%) and valve-in-valve implantation was required in 4 (11.1%) of them. After the procedure, the mean aortic-valve gradient reduced to (10.5±5.7) mmHg. In 2 patients (5.6%), there was marginal moderate periprosthetic leak. At 30 days, the survival rate was 97.2%. Two patients (5.6%) developed who later showed fuel recovery, without significant sequela. Permanent pacemakers were implanted in 10 patients (27.8%) due to the onset of third-degree atrioventricular block after TAVI. To date, the median follow-up duration has exceeded 323 days. 2 patients died of cancer on 374 days and 680 days after TAVI, respectively. Conclusions TAVI is feasible, safe and effective in treating severe stenosis of bicuspid as well as tricuspid aortic valve in selected Chinese patients unsuitable for surgery.

The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of visfatin on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes were exposed to visfatin at different concentrations for different periods of time, and the markers of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy were detected. Moreover, pravastatin, the inhibitor of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) or thapsigargin, an ERS agonist was used respectively to pre-treat the cells before visfatin stimulation. F-actin staining was performed to measure the cell surface change. The mRNA expressions of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and ERS markers including glucose-regulated protein 78(GRP78), C/EPB homologous protein (CHOP) and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) were assessed by real time RT-PCR. The change of protein level of GRP78 and CHOP was detected by Western blot. The experimental data demonstrated that exposure to 100 or 150 ng/mL concentrations of visfatin for 24 h, or 100 ng/mL of visfatin for 24 or 48 h, significantly increased the expression of markers for cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Visfatin stimulation provoked ERS in H9c2 cells. Furthermore, pre-treatment with pravastatin partially inhibited the visfatin-induced mRNA expression of ANP and BNP in H9c2 cells, whereas thapsigargin promoted the visfatin-induced expression of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy markers. The results suggest that visfatin might induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy via ERS -dependent pathways.
Actins ; Activating Transcription Factor 6 ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cell Line ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Hypertrophy ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; metabolism ; Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Transcription Factor CHOP ; metabolism

Objective To explore the feasibility of biplane-transesophageal echocardiography (Bip-TEE) in measuring the aortic annulus dimension (AAD).Methods Totally 24 patients underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) were collected,and their AAD was measured by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2D-TTE),two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D-TEE),Bip-TEE and three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) respectively.These four methods were compared with each other.The correlation between 3D-TEE measures and other three methods were analyzed.Results The AAD measured by 2D-TTE,2DTEE,Bip-TEE and 3D-TEE were (22.02±2.21)mm,(23.34±2.34)mm,(23.89±2.37)mm,(24.21±2.78)mm,respectively.The differences among 4 groups was significant (F=3.88,P=0.01).No statistically significant differences were found between Bip-TEE and 3D-TEE,2D-TEE and 3DTEE,Bip TEE and 2D-TEE (all P＞0.05).There were significant differences between 2D-TTE and 2D-TEE,2D-TTE and Bip-TEE,2D-TTE and 3D-TEE (all P＜0.05).The AAD measured by 3D-TEE were positively correlated with that of 2D-TTE,2D-TEE,Bip-TE (r=0.79,0.88,0.94,all P＜0.05).Conclusion Bip-TEE is a feasible method to measure the AAD rapidly and can provide reliable measurements for the prosthetic valve size in TAVI.