Objective: To explore the application value and safety of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiogram (LDDSE) in patients of low-flow/low-gradient aortic stenosis combining left ventricular dysfunction with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Methods: A total of 5 eligible consecutive patients with contradiction of routine surgical valve replacement and going to receive TAVR in our hospital from 2013-10 to 2016-07 were enrolled. The mean aortic valvegradient, maximum flow velocity, each stroke volume and ejection fraction were recorded before and during LDDSE examination. The patients having confirmed diagnosis of true severe aortic stenosis with left ventricular contractile reserve received TAVR, for those without left ventricular contractile reserve received drug therapy or TAVR conditionally. The changes of cardiac function and NT-proBNP level were observed after TAVR. Results: All 5 patients showed positive finding in LDDSE; the mean aortic valve gradient ≥40mmHg and stroke volume≥20% implied that the patients had true severe aortic stenosis with left ventricular contractile reserve. No adverse reaction occurred during and after LDDSE. TAVR was performed in 4 patients and 1 was waiting for TAVR or balloon dilatation since temporary lacking of valve. The post-operative cardiac function was improved in all patients and NT-proBNP level was declined continuously. Conclusion: LDDSE examination could be considered in patients of aortic stenosis combining left ventricular dysfunction, low-flow and low-gradient to clarify ventricular contractile reserve and the severity of aortic stenosis. If the patients with ventricular contractile reserve, TAVR was recommended which was the effective treatment for relevant patients.

AIM: To study the time-dependent effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the development of cardiac remodeling in untreated streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rats with acute myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: The left anterior descending coronary arteries were ligated 10 weeks after DM induction without any therapy. Transmission electron microscopy, echocardiography, heart weight to tibial length ratios, histological examination, microarray analysis, and real time-PCR were utilized to monitor the changes up to 56 d. RESULTS: After MI, the diabetic rats experienced lower survival rate compared to non-diabetic animals. The pathophysiologic changes indicated that DM accelerated the cardiac remodeling post-infarction. In primary examination, 164 genes related to cardiac remodeling were found to be candidates for hierarchical analysis, such as leucine-rich PPR-motif containing (interleukin-6 signaling pathway), procollagen type I and III, fibronectin-1, RT1, and TIMP-1, etc. The gene expression profile at 14 d in diabetic rats were comparably similar to both 14 d and 28 d in non-diabetic rats, while such changes at 28 d and 56 d in diabetic rats was also similar to the ones at 56 d in non-diabetic rats. CONCLUSION: The accelerated cardiac remodeling of post-infarction in STZ-induced untreated diabetic rats seems be associated with the different profile of gene expressions.

Objective: To study the aortic root imaging and clinical application in 15 patients with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
Methods: A total of 15 patients with severe aortic valve stenosis received TAVI in our hospital from 2011-03 to 2013-11 were studied. The CT scan and transthoracic echocardiography were conducted to measure the aortic root anatomy and the differences of annulus size between CT and echocardiography were calculated. The prosthetic valves were selected based on CT measurement. The pre-operative accuracy of measurement was evaluated by the follow-up study at 6 months after operation.
Results: The CT measured pre-operative aortic annulus short diameter was (21.5 ± 2.4) mm, long diameter was (27.3 ± 2.7) mm, the average inner diameter was (24.4 ± 2.4) mm, left ventricular out lfow (LVOF) tract long diameter was (28.3 ± 4.5) mm, the average inner diameter of LVOF was (24 ± 3.5), ascending aorta diameter was (35.3 ± 4.4) mm. The Venus Medtech A-Valve implanted in 8 patients with #26 and in 7 patients with #29. The average inner diameter of aortic annulus measured by CT was larger than transthoracic echocardiography, P<0.001. During 6 months follow-up period, no patients had aortic root rupture, coronary obstruction, moderate and severer aortic and peri-aortic regurgitation. There were 4 patients with atrio-ventricular block and received permanent pacemaker implantation.
Conclusion: There is a difference for aortic annulus size by CT and transthoracic echocardiography measurements. CT may presisely assess the aortic root morphology and provide strong support for TAVI.

Objective: To explore the cardiac function and outcomes in patients of aortic stenosis (AS) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) within 6 months in order to provide the guidance for clinical treatment. Methods: A total of 49 consecutive severe AS patients with surgical contradiction or STS high risk score and received successful TAVR in our hospital from 2013-12 to 2015-12 were studied. Echocardiography and blood levels of NT-proBNP were examined at pre- and 1 month, 6 months after TAVR. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), aortic valve mean gradient (MG), peak gradient (PG) and peak velocity (PV) were recorded. Based on pre-operative LVEF, the patients were divided into 2 groups: Cardiac dysfunction group, LVEF<50%,n=15 (30.6%) and Normal cardiac function group, LVEF≥50%, n=34 (69.4%). Post-operative cardiac function and blood levels of NT-proBNP were compared between 2 groups. Results: In all 49 patients, the following parameters were significantly improved within 7 days after TAVR: LVEF (56.0±14.6) % vs (52.5±13.8)%, MG (11±5) mmHg vs (58±18) mmHg, PG (21.7±9.5) mmHg vs (93.0±28.6) mmHg, PV (2.3±0.5) m/s vs (4.8±0.7) m/s, blood NT-proBNP level [1831 (1098-3363)] pg/ml vs [3842 (1763-8664)] pg/ml and aortic valve area (1.57±0.43) cm2 vs (0.58±0.23) cm2 allP<0.05. Within 6 months after TAVR, LVEF was continuously increasing especially in Cardiac dysfunction group; MG, PV and NT-proBNP level were continuously decreasing, NYHA grade was continuously improving, allP<0.05. Conclusion: TAVR was an effective treatment in AS patients with surgical contradiction or STS high risk score; it may continuously improve cardiac function, especially in patients with left heart dysfunction.

Objective To study the possible causes of ST-elevated acute myocardial infarction (STEAMI) occurring one month after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods One hundred and ninety two patients aged from 40-79 years who had a successful previous PCI and also received primary PCI due to STEAMI in this hospitalization were included in this study. The AMI-related lesions and previous angiographic findings such as the number of lesions, the degree of the stenosis, the type of stents and the acute results of last PCI, etc. were recorded in detail. If the AMI-related lesion was localized in-stents or at the edge of stents (distance from the edge ≤5 mm), it was defined aslate thrombosis, otherwise it was regarded as an AMI induced by new-lesion. Results New lesions, as the cause of STEAMI, were found in 144 cases (Group A, 75%), and late thrombosis in 48 patients (Group B, 25%). There was a significant difference in the average time from previous PCI to AMI (30.1±12.4 vs. 20.3±11.9 months) between the two groups. Diabetes mellitus (DM) and drug-eluting stents (DES) utilization were associated with markedly higher morbidity of late thrombosis in adjusted logistic regressionanalysis [hazard ratio (HR) 3.387, 95% CI 1.053-10.898 and HR 5.311, 95% CI 1.066-26.464]. Conclusions STEAMI occurred 1 month after PCI are more likely to be developed from previous insignificant lesions than from late thrombosis in stents. Moreover, DM and DES are associated with a high incidence of late thrombosis, which may indicate that intensive antiplatelet therapy should be considered in diabetic patients receiving PCI.

Objective: To investigate the safety and feasibility of sheathless transfemoral aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Methods: In this prospective study, we enrolled 23 patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) who were inoperable or at high-risk for surgical aortic valve replacement operation in Fuwai hospital From September 2012 to June 2015. Multislice spiral CT and angiography of femoral artery showed that all patients had minimal femoral artery diameters (<6.5 mm) and severe calcification which was not suitable for transfemoral TAVR through sheath. We attempted to apply the sheathless transfemoral TAVR using Venus-A prosthesis without sheath insertion, and procedure related complication during the procedure and hospital stay were observed. Results: The 6 mm×30 mm balloon was used for femoral artery predilation in 1 patient with iliofemoral artery stenosis before delivery system was transported. In the other 22 patients, the delivery system was transported directly. A total of 21 patients finished TAVR with transfemoral sheathless technique. In 2 patients, prosthesis was unable to fully expand after release due to severe valve calcification, and patients received urgent surgical aortic valve replacement. One patient had valve dislocation into the ascending aorta that was not related to the sheathless replacement technique, and delivery system and Venus-A valve were removed after femoral artery was opened surgically, and repeated sheathless TAVR implantation was performed and was successful. Moderate aortic regurgitation occurred in 2 patients immediately after procedure, and trace or mild aortic regurgitation was detected in rest of the patients. One patient had puncture site rupture and bleeding after procedure, and was successfully treated by balloon compression without blood transfusion. Complete atrioventricular block occurred in 3 patients within 24 hours after procedure and lasted after 48-72 hours, permanent pacemakers were implanted in these patients. Conclusion The sheathless transfemoral technique in TAVR is safe and feasible in severe aortic stenosis patients with small access vessel diameter.

OBJECTIVETo explore the procedural feasibility and early clinical outcomes of percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloplasty (PBAV) in patients with severe aortic stenosis, who were considered transiently unsuitable for surgical aortic valve replacement (sAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

METHODSBetween March 2011 and January 2014, datas of 20 patients underwent PBAV in Fuwai Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Mean patients age was (72 ± 8) years.Initial procedural and clinical outcomes were evaluated.

RESULTSPBAV was successfully performed in all cases. Post-procedure, aortic valve area increased from (0.55 ± 0.09) m(2) to (0.77 ± 0.15) m(2)(P < 0.001), left ventricle ejection fraction from (31.7 ± 9.0) % to (39.0 ± 11.0) % (P = 0.018), mean transaortic valve gradient decreased from (49.5 ± 15.0) mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) to (31.7 ± 12.0) mmHg (P < 0.001), and pulmonary artery systolic pressure decreased from (55.1 ± 18.0) mmHg to (38.7 ± 11.0) mmHg (P = 0.025) . There was no significant change in the aortic regurgitation grade (P = 0.854). The most common complications were hypotension (n = 4) and transient left bundle branch block (n = 5). Overall 24-hour and 30-day mortality was 5% (n = 1) and 15% (n = 3), respectively. Within 30 days after PBAV procedure, five patients underwent successful sAVR, one patient underwent TAVR, and five patients awaited TAVR.

CONCLUSIONIn high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis and temporary contraindication to sAVR or TAVR, PBAV can be safely used as a bridging intervention procedure and the short-term procedural and clinic outcomes are satisfactory.

Aorta ; Aortic Valve ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Aortic Valve Stenosis ; therapy ; Heart Valve Prosthesis ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome