Cardiomyopathies ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Humans

Cardiomyopathies ; pathology ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the echocardiographic diagnosis for ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) in foetus and to analyze the pathologic features of NCCM.
 METHODS: A total of 9 patients with fetal NCCM were examined by prenatal echocardiography from 2004 to 2013, which was compared with postnatal echocardiography or autopsy to analyze the fetal characteristic of myocardial ultrastructure.
 RESULTS: The results of echocardiography displayed an excessive muscle trabecular meshwork and muscle trabecular crypt, and the ventricular myocardium and non-compaction/compaction ratio was ≥2.0. Among the 9 fetuses of NCCM, 6 fetuses were involved in left ventricle, 2 in both left and right ventricles and 1 in right ventricle. Two fetuses were confirmed by postnatal echocardiography, the remaining 7 patients were chosen to terminate their pregnancies, which were confirmed by autopsy later. Muscle biopsies revealed the abnormal myocardial mitochondria, sarcomeres and myocardial fibrosis.
 CONCLUSION It is feasible to accurately diagnose NCCM by prenatal echocardiography. Fetal NCCM most often involves the left ventricle, but it can involve the right ventricle or both, too. The myocardial ultrastructure of fetal NCCM possesses certain unique characteristics, such as the low maturation of the mitochondria, sarcomeres and myocardial fibers.
Cardiomyopathies ; diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Fetus ; Heart Ventricles ; pathology ; Humans ; Myocardium ; pathology

Angina Pectoris ; complications ; Cardiomyopathies ; complications ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged

Acute Disease ; Aged ; Cardiomyopathies ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; China ; Female ; Humans

Cardiomyopathies ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Echocardiography ; Heart Ventricles ; pathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Young Adult

Cardiomyopathies ; congenital ; Heart Ventricles ; pathology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Myocardium ; pathology

Noncompaction of ventricular myocardium (NVM) is a rare cardiomyopathy. For the past few years, there have been more clinical reports and related scientific researches on NVM. It is one of the hottest topics in the field of clinical cardiovascular science. NVM is rare, but usually leads to fatal results, such as sudden unexpected death. Most forensic medical examiners in China have not recognized the importance of this disease. There are no good forensic pathological methods yet to identify this disease. Furthermore, NVM is easily to be confused with other types of heart diseases. As a result, we should be very careful about NVM, and understand the importance of making right diagnosis of NVM. This review focuses on NVM's pathological features, clinical diagnostic methods, and differential diagnosis from other cardiac disease. The key points on how to make right forensic pathological diagnosis of NVM have also been summarized.
Cardiomyopathies/pathology* ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Forensic Pathology ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans

Acute Kidney Injury ; physiopathology ; Adolescent ; Cardiomyopathies ; pathology ; Crush Syndrome ; physiopathology ; Earthquakes ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo examine the prevalence and characteristics of aortic arch calcification (AAC) in residents aged 50 or over in Guangzhou, China.

METHODSFace-to-face interview, physical examination and laboratory tests were conducted on 10 413 Chinese adults aged 50 or over. Posterior-anterior plain chest X-ray radiographs were obtained from 10 305 subjects using a Toshiba KSO-15R machine. The radiographs were reviewed together by two radiologists while 300 radiographs were independently gone through by two radiologists to assess the agreement with Kappa coefficient method.

RESULTSThe rate of agreement on Diagnosis for the two radiologists was 85.0% and Kappa coefficient was 0.68, with P < 0.001 which showed a moderate agreement between the two radiologists. Among the 10 305 subjects, there were 3064 men and 7349 women, with their mean age (+/- standard deviation) as 64.0 +/- 6.0 and 66.2 +/- 5.8, respectively. Most of them had educational level of middle school or below, and most of their occupations were factory or agricultural workers. The prevalence of AAC was 40.6%. Women showed significantly higher prevalence rate than men (41.4% versus 38.6%, P < 0.001) and the prevalence of AAC increased significantly with age. Subjects with primary educational level or below had the highest prevalence of AAC. There was no significant association found between occupation and AAC prevalence. 98.7% of the subjects with AAC occurred in aortic arch. Most AAC had a length of 10 mm or longer and a width from 1-4 mm, which indicated the severity of AAC among the subjects.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of AAC among Guangzhou Biobank Cohort was about 40.6%, higher than those reported in foreign studies, while most of the lesions were quite serious.

Aged ; Aorta, Thoracic ; pathology ; Calcinosis ; epidemiology ; Cardiomyopathies ; epidemiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence