Objective To evaluate the prevalence and impact of coronary artery disease (CAD) in aged patients with Stanford type B aortic dissection(AD).Methods From January 2008 to December 2011,CAG was routinely performed before aortography and thoracic aortic repair(TEVAR) to determine the prevalence of concomitant CAD in 200 consecutive Stanford type B AD patients who were older than 50 years.All patients received 1 year follow-up.Adverse events were compared between patients with and without concomitant CAD.Data analysis by SPSS 17.0 statistical software,using Student t test,Chi-square test and Fisher exact test.Results CAG showed 53 patients (26.5％) had CAD.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that male gender(OR =4.415,95％ CI:1.131-17.237,P =0.033) and age (OR =1.061,95％ CI:1.017-1.108,P =0.006) were independent predictors of Stanford type BAD coexisted with CAD.Age was also independent predictor of multi-vessel disease(MVD) and/or left main disease(LMD) (OR =1.096,95％ CI:1.009-1.191,P =0.023).At 30-day follow-up,there was no difference in the incidence of adverse events between patients with and without concomitant CAD.Patients with concomitant CAD showed higher incidence of myocardial infarction[3 (5.66％) vs.0(0),P =0.018] and stroke [4 (7.55 ％) vs.1 (0.68 ％),P =0.018].Conclusion The prevalence of CAD in aged patients with Stanford type BAD is relatively high.Concomitant CAD is associated with higher risk of cardio-cerebrovascular ischemic events while dose not increase the risk of adverse aorta related events.

Objective:To explore the role of cathepsin S(CTSS) in diabetic vascular injury-induced restenosis.Methods:(1) Dendritic cells(DCs) were stimulated with different concentrations of glucose, and CTSS was either knocked down or upregulated in dendritic cells using adenovirus transfection. The mRNA and protein expression levels of CTSS were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot, and the changes of interleukin(IL)-6 levels were assessed using RT-qPCR and ELISA in response to CTSS. (2) The extent of Th17 cell differentiation was evaluated with Flow cytometry when CTSS was downregulated or overexpressed. Levels of ROR-γt, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22, and IL-23 were measured. (3) Streptozomycin(STZ, 60 mg/kg) was injected into the intraperitoneal cavity of rats fasted for 12 h to obtain a diabetic rat model, and the restenosis model was obtained by balloon catheter and carotid guidewire injury, and the differentiation degree of Th17 cells in different groups of rats was compared when CTSS was up-regulated and down-regulated.Results:(1) DC viability decreased when stimulated with 35 mmol/L glucose for 48 hours. Compared to the control group, glucose treatment led to a concentration-dependent increase in CTSS and IL-6 levels in DCs( P<0.05). Inhibition of CTSS reduced IL-6 protein levels, while its overexpression increased IL-6 protein levels( P<0.05). (2) Compared with the control group, CTSS inhibition in DC decreased the percentage of Th17 cells in T cells, with decreased protein levels of ROR-γt, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22, and IL-23, and vice versa ( P<0.050). (3) After carotid artery injury, CTSS expression was increased in perivascular adipose tissue(PVAT) of rats, and levels of ROR-γt, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22, and IL-23 in PVAT were significantly elevated. Down-regulation of CTSS eliminated the glucose-induced enhancement. Conclusion:Inhibition of CTSS in DC reduces Th17 cell differentiation and thereby suppresses restenosis following diabetic vascular injury.

Objective To study the benefit of prophylactic antibiotics (PA) in totally percutaneous aortic endovascular repair (PEVAR) in the catheterization laboratory for reducing stent-graft infection and postimplantation syndrome (PIS). Methods The clinical data were analyzed of patients undergoing thoracic endovascular aortic repairs. The patients were divided into non-PA group and PA group according to the use of prophylactic antibiotics before PEVAR. The diagnosis of infection was made by two senior physicians with reference to Hospital Acquired Infection Diagnostic Criteria Assessment released by the Ministry of Health of China. Results The 95 enrolled patients included 35 with PA and 60 without PA group, who were comparable for baseline characteristics. Infection-related deaths occurred in 1 case in non-PA group and retrograde Stanford type A dissection and death occurred in 1 case in PA group (1.67%vs 2.85%, P=1.00). The PA and non-PA groups showed no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative infection (5%vs 2.86%, P=1.000), hospital stay (9.30±7.21 vs 10.06±5.69, P=0.094), infection-related mortality (1.67% vs 0%, P=1.00), or postoperative fever (70.90% vs 91.43%, P=0.20). The body temperature showed significant variations at different time points after procedure (F=19.831, P<0.001) irrelevant to the use of prophylactic antibiotics (F=0.978, P=0.326). Conclusion The current data do not support the benefit of PA in reducing postoperative infection and PIS in patients undergoing PEVAR, but the patients without PA may have worse clinical outcomes in the event of postoperative infections.

Objective To study the benefit of prophylactic antibiotics (PA) in totally percutaneous aortic endovascular repair (PEVAR) in the catheterization laboratory for reducing stent-graft infection and postimplantation syndrome (PIS). Methods The clinical data were analyzed of patients undergoing thoracic endovascular aortic repairs. The patients were divided into non-PA group and PA group according to the use of prophylactic antibiotics before PEVAR. The diagnosis of infection was made by two senior physicians with reference to Hospital Acquired Infection Diagnostic Criteria Assessment released by the Ministry of Health of China. Results The 95 enrolled patients included 35 with PA and 60 without PA group, who were comparable for baseline characteristics. Infection-related deaths occurred in 1 case in non-PA group and retrograde Stanford type A dissection and death occurred in 1 case in PA group (1.67%vs 2.85%, P=1.00). The PA and non-PA groups showed no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative infection (5%vs 2.86%, P=1.000), hospital stay (9.30±7.21 vs 10.06±5.69, P=0.094), infection-related mortality (1.67% vs 0%, P=1.00), or postoperative fever (70.90% vs 91.43%, P=0.20). The body temperature showed significant variations at different time points after procedure (F=19.831, P<0.001) irrelevant to the use of prophylactic antibiotics (F=0.978, P=0.326). Conclusion The current data do not support the benefit of PA in reducing postoperative infection and PIS in patients undergoing PEVAR, but the patients without PA may have worse clinical outcomes in the event of postoperative infections.

BACKGROUNDThoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is an emerging treatment modality, which has been rapidly embraced by clinicians treating thoracic aortic disease. However, the clinical manifestations of systemic inflammatory response after TEVAR as post-implantation syndrome (PIS) resemble the perioperative infection. This study aimed to evaluate changes and diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) and other traditional inflammatory markers for infections after TEVAR.

METHODSWe conducted a prospective clinical study that enrolled 162 consecutive aortic dissection cases, who underwent TEVAR in our institution between July 2011 and November 2012. The PCT, C-response protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and blood routine examination were monitored before the operation and on days 1, 2, 3 and 5 after the operation. The diagnosis of infection was confirmed by the infection control committee with reference to Hospital Acquired Infection Diagnostic Criteria Assessment, released by the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.

RESULTSPost endovascular repair of thoracic aorta, PCT changes significantly at different time points (χ(2) = 13.225, P = 0.021), without significant difference between the PIS group and the control group (0.24 ± 0.04 vs.0.26 ± 0.10, P = 0.804). PCT values were significantly higher in the first day after TEVAR than the preoperative levels (0.18 ± 0.03 vs. 0.11 ± 0.02, P < 0.001). Compared with PIS patients, the level of PCT, CRP, White blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil (NEU) in the infection patients elevated significantly (relatively χ(2) = 6.062, P = 0.048; χ(2) = 6.081, P = 0.048; χ(2) = 11.030, P = 0.004; χ(2) = 14.632, P = 0.001). According to the ROC analysis, the PCT levels in the first day after TEVAR (AUC = 0.785, P = 0.012) had better predictive values of infection than WBC, NEU CRP and ESR (AUC = 0.720, P = 0.040; AUC = 0.715, P = 0.045; AUC = 0.663, P = 0.274; AUC = 0.502, P = 0.991). The best predictive index was the changes of PCT between preoperative and postoperative (PCT), which possess AUC as 0.803 (P = 0.014). And PCT = 0.055 could be considered as an infection diagnosis cutoff value with a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity 69.0%.

CONCLUSIONSPCT provides better diagnostic value of infection compared with other inflammatory markers. The potential applications of PCT in differential diagnosis of PIS and infection after percutaneous TEVAR deserve further studies.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Calcitonin ; metabolism ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Protein Precursors ; metabolism ; Vascular Surgical Procedures