AIM: To establish the method for quality control of Quzhi Capsules(Radix et Rhizoma Rhei, Semen Cassiae, Herba Artemisiae Scopariae, Rhizoma Atractylodis, etc.). METHODS: Herba Artemisiae and Rhizoma Atractylodis in this medicine were identified by TLC. The content of chrysophanol was determined by HPLC on ODS column. The mobile phase was composed of methanol 0.5% phosphoric acid(85∶15,v∶v) and detection wavelength was at 254nm. RESULTS: The spots on TLC plates were clear without interference in the blank reference. The linearity of HPLC was good( r =0.9999), and the average recovery was 101.00%, RSD =1.3%. CONCLUSION: This method is simple, sensitive and accurate, and available for control of Quzhi Capsules.

Objective To establish a method for the determination of indigo content in Qingxin Sushitie by HPLC. Methods At 30℃, HPLC was performed to determine indigo on ODS column(4.6?250 mm), the mobile phase was composed of methanol-acetonitrile-0.1mol/L ammonium acetate(60: 4: 36), flow rate was 1.0 mL/min; injection volume was 20 ?L and detection wavelength at 280 nm. Results The linearity of indigo was good within 0.44～6.60 ?g/mL (r=0.9991), the average recovery was 103.6% and RSD=1.11%. Conclusion This method is simple, sensitive and accurate, and can be used for quality control of Qingxin Sushitie.

Objective To establish a method for the content determination of ferulic acid in Bogu Pill(BP). Methods Ferulic acid was obtained by ultrasonic extraction at room temperature and detected by HPLC. HPLC was performed with ODS chromatographic column, methanol-acetonitrile-1%acetic acid(15: 15: 70) as mobile phase and detection wavelength at 323 nm. Results The linearity of ferulic acid was in the range of 0.56 ?g～11.20 ?g/mL(r=0.9996), and the average recovery was 100.26%, RSD=1.48%. Conclusion This method was efficient and can be used for the quality control of BP.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of cine three-dimensional (3D) balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) imaging combined with a non-local means (NLM) algorithm for image denoising in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients with rTOF (mean age, 12 years; range, 7–18 years) were enrolled to undergo cardiac cine image acquisition, including two-dimensional (2D) b-SSFP, 3D b-SSFP, and 3D b-SSFP combined with NLM. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) of the two ventricles were measured and indexed by body surface index. Acquisition time and image quality were recorded and compared among the three imaging sequences. Results: 3D b-SSFP with denoising vs. 2D b-SSFP had high correlation coefficients for EDV, ESV, SV, and EF of the left (0.959– 0.991; p < 0.001) as well as right (0.755–0.965; p < 0.001) ventricular metrics. The image acquisition time ± standard deviation (SD) was 25.1 ± 2.4 seconds for 3D b-SSFP compared with 277.6 ± 0.7 seconds for 2D b-SSFP, indicating a significantly shorter time with the 3D than the 2D sequence (p < 0.001). Image quality score was better with 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than with 3D b-SSFP (mean ± SD, 3.8 ± 0.6 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6; p = 0.005). Signal-to-noise ratios for blood and myocardium as well as contrast between blood and myocardium were higher for 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than for 3D b-SSFP (p < 0.05 for all but septal myocardium). Conclusion The 3D b-SSFP sequence can significantly reduce acquisition time compared to the 2D b-SSFP sequence for cine imaging in the evaluation of ventricular function in children with rTOF, and its quality can be further improved by combining it with an NLM denoising method.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of cine three-dimensional (3D) balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) imaging combined with a non-local means (NLM) algorithm for image denoising in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients with rTOF (mean age, 12 years; range, 7–18 years) were enrolled to undergo cardiac cine image acquisition, including two-dimensional (2D) b-SSFP, 3D b-SSFP, and 3D b-SSFP combined with NLM. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) of the two ventricles were measured and indexed by body surface index. Acquisition time and image quality were recorded and compared among the three imaging sequences. Results: 3D b-SSFP with denoising vs. 2D b-SSFP had high correlation coefficients for EDV, ESV, SV, and EF of the left (0.959– 0.991; p < 0.001) as well as right (0.755–0.965; p < 0.001) ventricular metrics. The image acquisition time ± standard deviation (SD) was 25.1 ± 2.4 seconds for 3D b-SSFP compared with 277.6 ± 0.7 seconds for 2D b-SSFP, indicating a significantly shorter time with the 3D than the 2D sequence (p < 0.001). Image quality score was better with 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than with 3D b-SSFP (mean ± SD, 3.8 ± 0.6 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6; p = 0.005). Signal-to-noise ratios for blood and myocardium as well as contrast between blood and myocardium were higher for 3D b-SSFP combined with denoising than for 3D b-SSFP (p < 0.05 for all but septal myocardium). Conclusion The 3D b-SSFP sequence can significantly reduce acquisition time compared to the 2D b-SSFP sequence for cine imaging in the evaluation of ventricular function in children with rTOF, and its quality can be further improved by combining it with an NLM denoising method.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility of cardiac MRI three dimensional (3D) balanced steady state free precession (b-SSFP) cine imaging in evaluating cardiac function in children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).Methods:Thirty children with repaired TOF underwent cardiac MRI examination at Shanghai Children′s Medical Cent er Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, were retrospectively collected from April 2018 to October 2019. From June 2017 to August 2018, 10 healthy children were enrolled. Cardiac images of subjects were obtained using both two dimensional (2D) b-SSFP and 3D b-SSFP cardiac cine MRI and the total acquisition time was recorded. The image quality was scored using a 5-point scale, with a score≥3 as diagnostic image quality. The left and right ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO), and cardiac index (CI) were measured. The left and right ventricle parameters were compared using paired ttest or Wilcoxon test. The Pearson correlation or Spearman correlation analysis were used to evluate the correlation between the parameters measured with the 2 methods. Results:The acquisition time of 2D b-SSFP images was (426.5±13.0) s, and the total time of 3D b-SSFP images was (24.7±2.5) s. The 2D b-SSFP image quality score was better than 3D b-SSFP, and the differences were statistically significant (TOF patients: Z=-3.879, P<0.001; volunteers: Z=-2.646, P=0.003). All 2D and 3D b-SSFP image quality scores were ≥ 3 points, which can be used for clinical diagnosis. There were no statistically significant differences in cardiac function parameters between two series measurements in both TOF patients and volunteers ( P>0.05). For TOF patients, the left ventricular EDV, ESV, SV, EF, CO and right ventricular EDV, ESV, and SV showed highly positive correlation ( r>0.8, P<0.05). For volunteers, the left ventricular EDV, ESV, SV and right ventricular EDV and SV showed highly positive correlation ( r>0.8, P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with the 2D b-SSFP sequence, 3D b-SSFP sequence with fairy good image quality can meet the diagnostic requirement and can accurately measure the cardiac function with shorter acquisition time. The 3D b-SSFP has a good application prospect in pediatric cardiac MRI.

Pulmonary hypertension(PH)is a progressive pulmonary vascular disease that can lead to right heart failure and death.In recent years,the incidence of PH has been increasing year by year and there is a lack of effective treatment.TCM can play an important synergistic role in the treatment of PH.Pulmonary vascular remodeling is a core pathological feature of PH,which is closely related to the physiological structure and pathological changes of the collaterals.Based on the collateral disease theory,this article described the key pathogenesis of PH in TCM and Western medicine,including the lesions of the pulmonary and cardiovascular complexes and pulmonary vascular remodeling,analyzed the physiology of the"collateral-vessel"in PH,sorting out the pathological correlation,and explored TCM targeting pulmonary vascular remodeling in the identification and treatment of PH,so as to provide a new way of thinking for the clinical treatment of PH.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a difficult and critical disease with rapid progression and limited treatment methods in the field of liver disease， and it is urgently needed to make breakthroughs in its pathogenesis. Selection of appropriate prevention and treatment strategies is of great importance in delaying disease progression and reducing the incidence and mortality rates. This article reviews the theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis” and related prevention and treatment strategies for hepatic encephalopathy in traditional Chinese medicine/Zhuang medicine， proposes a new theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis”， analyzes the scientific connotations of “turbid”， “toxin”， and the theory of “turbid toxin pathogenesis”， and constructs the “four-step” prevention and treatment strategies for hepatic encephalopathy， thereby establishing the new clinical prevention and treatment regimen for hepatic encephalopathy represented by “four prescriptions and two techniques” and clarifying the effect mechanism and biological basis of core prescriptions and techniques in the prevention and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy， in order to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy.