This study described the radiological features on echocardiography and MRI specific to cardiac amyloidosis confirmed on biopsy. Eleven cases of biopsy-proven cardiac amyloidosis were retrospectively reviewed in this study. All patients underwent biopsy, cardiac MRI and echocardiography. The main echocardiography and MRI findings were as follows: diffuse ventricular and septum wall thickening, atrial enlargement, pericardial effusion, restricted left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function, characteristic granular sparkling of myocardium. MRI revealed a characteristic pattern of global subendocardial late enhancement, extending in varying degrees into the neighboring myocardium. The findings agreed with the infiltration distribution of amyloid protein. Typical abnormalities seen on echocardiography and MRI should have important diagnostic and prognostic value of cardiac amyloidosis. MRI should be considered in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis if echocardiographic features are suspicious.

Objective To assess the values of MRI and echocardiography for the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Methods Eleven cases with CA proved pathologically performed MRI and echocardiography, the findings were analyzed retrospectively. Results The characteristic features of cardiac amyloidosis on MRI and echocardiography were:diffuse slight myocardial thickening of the left ventricular wall and interventricular septum (11 cases ), slight myocardial thickening of the interatrial septum (5 cases), increased left ventricular mass (7 cases), enlarged left atrium ( 7 cases), impaired ventricular systolic and diastolic function (10 cases ), pleural and pericardial effusions (11 and 9 cases ).Echocardiography showed that myocardium was hyperechoic and presented as ground glass with some spotty hyperechoes in 6 cases. MRI revealed a distinct diffuse delayed enhancement of subendocardial and entire myocardium in 8 cases. Conclusion Doppler echocardiography is the first-choice imaging technique and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging can provide more information for the diagnosis of CA.

This study described the radiological features on echocardiography and MRI specific to cardiac amyloidosis confirmed on biopsy.Eleven cases of biopsy-proven cardiac amyloidosis were retrospectively reviewed in this study.All patients underwent biopsy,cardiac MRI and echocardiography.The main echocardiography and MRI findings were as follows: diffuse ventricular and septum wall thickening,atrial enlargement,pericardial effusion,restricted left ventricular(LV)systolic and diastolic function,characteristic granular sparkling of myocardium.MRI revealed a characteristic pattern of global subendocardial late enhancement,extending in varying degrees into the neighboring myocardium.The findings agreed with the infiltration distribution of amyloid protein.Typical abnormalities seen on echocardiography and MRI should have important diagnostic and prognostic value of cardiac amyloidosis.MRI should be considered in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis if echocardiographic features are suspicious.

Objective:To compare the image quality of turbo gradient and spin echo-BLADE diffusion weighted imaging (TGSE-BLADE-DWI) with that of readout segmentation of long variable echo-trains (RESOLVE) at the sellar region.Methods:From September 15 th, 2019 to February 15 th, 2020, 38 patients with suspected sellar abnormalities were enrolled prospectively to perform RESOLVE and TGSE-BLADE-DWI at a 3.0 T MR scanner in Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Totally, 32 patients were identified with sellar lesions. The DWI images were evaluated subjectively and objectively. Two experienced radiologists scored images of the two DWI methods for anatomical structures (including the internal carotid arteries, optic chiasm, pituitary stalk and pituitary gland), lesion conspicuity, susceptibility artifacts, geometric distortions and overall image quality using a five-point scale respectively. Objective parameters on the images of the two DWI methods were analyzed, including lesion size, signal to noise ratio (SNR) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). The consistency of subjective scores of two radiologists was tested by Kappa test. Paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Kappa statistics were used for statistical evaluation. Results:TGSE-BLADE-DWI performed significantly better than RESOLVE in depicting the sellar anatomical structures, lesion conspicuity, geometric distortion and overall image quality (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in SNR, maximum longitudinal diameter of lesions and ADC of lesions between the two DWI methods(all P>0.05). The maximum transverse diameter measured by TGSE-BLADE-DWI was significantly smaller than that of RESOLVE ( Z=3.31, P=0.001). Conclusions:Compared with RESOLVE, TGSE-BLADE-DWI is superior in depicting the anatomical structures, decreasing susceptibility artifacts and geometric distortions at the sellar region and effectively improves the image quality of DWI, which has great value in clinical applications.

Objective::Astragali Radix is an important medicinal and edible herb. To achieve standardized cultivation of Astragali Radix and improve cultivation results, Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus was cultivated with a row spacing of 30 cm and different plant spacing (8, 10, 12, 14, 16 cm) in a test base of Longxi County, Gansu Province. Method::The growth and development dynamics of green strains and the yield and quality of medicinal materials were measured, and the comprehensive evaluation of membership function was used to determine the rational transplanting density and explore the standard production technology of A. membranaceus var. mongholicus. Result::The transplanting topping had a significant effect on the growth and development of A. membranaceus var. mongholicus under the condition of the row spacing of 30 cm. With the increase of topping, the biomass of astragalus on the ground decreased, and the ratio of root to shoot increased, but the yield of medicinal material per unit area decreased. The appearance traits were improved as the transplant density decreased. Under the row spacing of 14 cm, the content of astragaloside and calycosin-7-glucoside were the highest. Under the row spacing of 8-16 cm, the content of root extract of Astragali Radix was better than the Chinese Pharmacopoeia standard. The comprehensive evaluation index of each plant spacing treatment was 14 cm>16 cm>10 cm>8 cm>12 cm in turn. Conclusion::Combined with the comprehensive evaluation of yield and economic benefit, the optimal transplanting plant spacing and row spacing were 30 cm×14 cm (with the density of 238 100 strains/hm²). Under this density, A. membranaceus var. mongholicus grows vigorously, with thick stems, big root crowns, a high yield and high quality.