Objective To explore the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma (PPM).Methods Cases of PPM with description of echocardiographic presentations from China mainland were searched from database during 1981 to 2015.Data about the clinical and echocardiographic features of the patients were collected.Results A total of 122 patients were included for analysis.It involved mainly middle-aged [(39.9 ± 14.7)years] and male patients (79,64.8％).The most common echocardiographic demonstration was pericardial effusion (74.6％) with were mostly bloody (97.7％),followed by pericardial masses (36.9％) and pericardial thickening (18.0％).The echocardiographic diagnostic accordance rate was about 26.2％.Conclusions The most common presentation of PPM on echocardiogram is massive pericardial effusion.Echocardiography is of great value in screening and assessment of PPM.The definitive diagnosis is made by histopathological examination.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Yinzhihuang oral liquid in the adjuvant treatment of neo-natal breast-feeding faundice. METHODS:112 newborns with faundice were randomly divided into control group and observation group. Control group stopped breast-feeding for 3 d and given artificial feeding,as well as keeping warm,nutritional support, maintaining water and electrolyte and acid-base balance,blue light irradiation and severe patients were given liver protection,en-zyme inducers;observation group was additionally given Yinzhihuang oral liquid 10 ml,twice a day. The treatment course was 7 d. Clinical efficacy,and serum total bilirubin(TBIL)level before and after treatment,and incidence of adverse reactions in 2 groups were observed. RESULTS:The total effective rate in observation group was significantly higher than control group,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). After treatment,TBIL level in 2 groups was significantly lower than before and gradually de-creased with time,and observation group was lower than control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions of 2 groups was no statistically significant(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Based on the conventional treatment,Yinzhihuang oral liquid can be used in the adjuvant treatment of neonatal breast-feeding faundice,with good efficacy and good safety.

Objective To measure right ventricular longitudinal strain (RVLS) of pulmonary hypertension(PH) patients by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography,and explore its clinical application value on evaluating right ventricular function and hemodynamics in PH.Methods A total of 66 patients diagnosed as PH by right-heart catheterization were divided into Group Ⅰ (WHO FC Ⅰ / Ⅱ) and Group Ⅱ(WHO FC Ⅲ/Ⅳ) according to WHO pulmonary hypertension function classification.The right ventricular function parameters included:global right ventricular longitudinal strain (RVLSglobal),free-wall right ventricular longitudinal strain (RVLSFw),tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE),right ventricular fractional area change (FAC),tissue Doppler-derived tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity (s') and right ventricular index of myocardial performance (RIMP).Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) was calculated through tricuspid regurgitation pressure gradient.Hemodynamic parameters include:mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP),pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR),pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and cardiac index (CI).Results ①Compared with Group Ⅰ,Group Ⅱ presented with higher sPAP (P ＜0.05).There also were significant differences between two groups in RVLSglobal,RVLSFw (P ＜0.01) and conventional right ventricular function parameters:TAPSE,RIMP and s' (P ＜0.05).②mPAP,PVR and CI had significant difference between two groups (P ＜0.01),while PCWP had no significant difference.mPAP and PVR increased more remarkable and CI decreased more significant in Group Ⅱ.③RVLSglobal had positive correlation with mPAP (r =0.646,P =0.000) and PVR (r =0.628,P =0.000) measured by right-heart catheterization;RVLSFW also had positive correlation with mPAP (r =0.652,P =0.000) and PVR (r =0.634,P =0.000).Conclusions Right ventricular longitudinal strain could evaluate the degree of decrease in right ventricular function of PH patients and reflex the change of hemodynamics at the same time,which may offer more reliable information to clinical treatment.

Objective To investigate the long-term safety and efficacy of the domestic biodegradable drug-eluting cor?onary stents (BuMA) in treating coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods Patients (n=440) who received BUMA stents were designated as observation group while patients (n=460) received Resolutestents were designated as control group. The base?line clinical characteristics, extend of pathological change shown by Coronary Arteriography (CAG),the procedure of percu?taneous coronary intervention were similar between these two groups. The patients were followed up for a mean of 24 ± 4 months;the primary endpoint was the occurrence of definite or probable stent thrombosis;secondary endpoint was major ad?verse cardiac events (MACEs) including complex end such as recurrent angina, acute non-fatal myocardial infarction, death, target vessel revascularization (TVR); other endpoints include all- cause mortality, cardiac death, myocardial infarc?tion (MI), target lesion revascularization (TLR), non-target vessel revascularization and stroke. Some patients were lost dur?ing follow up, which include 5 in observation group and 26 in control group. Results Patients in observation groups were in?serted with 615 stents while patients in control group were implanted with 614 stents, both groups with average of implanting 1.41 stent/case. There are no statistical significance differences in the primary endpoint [1.4%(6/435) vs 1.8%(8/434), χ2=0.087], secondary endpoint [12.3%(54/435) vs 10.8%(47/434),χ2=0.524] and other endpoints between the two groups. Con?clusion These data suggest that domestic biodegradable drug-eluting coronary stents (BuMA) are with good long-term safe?ty and efficacy.

Objective To evaluate the application value of cardiopulmonary ultrasound(CPUS) in patients with interstitial lung diseases(ILD).Methods Ninety patients with clinically diagnosed interstitial lung diseases and 30 healthy subjects were included in this study.The conventional echocardiographic parameters and right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RVLS_FW) were measured in all patients and healthy subjects.The degree of pulmonary fibrosis or the disease severity of each ILD patient was scored using a semi-quantitative scoring method.Patients’ pulmonary function parameters and clinical outcome score (GAP score) were recorded.Fourteen patients belong to other types of ILD and 19 patients with incomplete clinical data were unable to perform GAP scoring,finally 57 patients' clinical and ultrasonographic parameters were measured.On the basis of the pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) obtained by Doppler echocardiography,90 patients were divided into two groups:ILD patients with pulmonary hypertension(ILDpH,PASP ≥36 mmHg,1 mmHg =0.133 kPa) and ILD patients without PH (ILDNpH,PASP＜ 36 mmHg).Comparsion between ILDpH,ILDNpH and healthy subjects were then evaluated.According to the GAP score,all cases were divided into three groups:low risk,moderate risk and high risk.Statistical analysis was performed to examine the relationship between CPUS parameters and clinical parameters.Results ①Compared with ILDNpH patients,ILDpH patients had significantly lower right ventricular function,wider basal right ventricular diameter (RVD),proximal right ventricular outflow diameter (DRvor1) and right pulmonary artery diameter (DRPA).Compared with healthy subjects,ILDNpH patients had mildly lower right ventricular function and wider left pulmonary artery diameter (DLPA) and right ventricular outflow tract dimensions at the distal or pulmonic valve (DRvoT2).②A good correlation was found between lung ultrasound (LUS) scores and pulmonary function parameters,especially diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the lung(DLco)(r =-0.68,P ＜0.001).③With the increased risk of patients,the right ventricular function was gradually decreased,DRVOT2,DRPA,DLPA were gradually widened,and the lung ultrasound score was gradually increased.A weak correlation was found between GAP scores with RVLS_FW,LUS scores,DRpA(r =0.44,0.34,0.31,P ＜0.05).Conclusions CPUS parameters are useful in the assessment of interstitial lung disease and could reflect the prognosis of ILD patients to some extent.Therefore,on the basis of GAP scores,addition of RVLS_FW and LUS score will be more helpful to evaluate the prognosis ofILD patients.

Objective To investigate whether lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can induce vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) expression in microglia regulated by hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α). Methods The cultured BV2 cells were divided into four groups:control group, LPS (100 μg/L) simulated group, LPS (100 μg/L)+LPS antagonist (LRS, 200 μg/L) intervened group and LPS (100 μg/L)+HIF-1αinhibitors FM19G11 (10 mmol/L) intervened group. Immunofluorescence staining, Western blotting and ELISA were used to detect the expressions of VEGF and HIF-1α. Results Compared with the control group, the VEGF expression level was obvious high in LPS simulated group (P<0.05). LRS inhibited this effect of LPS (P<0.05). The HIF-1αlevel was increased in LPS simulated group at 8 h post-injury (P<0.05). FM19G11, the inhibitor of HIF-1αreduced the expression of VEGF induced by LPS (P<0.05). Conclusion LPS can up-regulate the expression of VEGF by HIF-1α.

Objective To evaluate the ability of high resolution pleuropulmonary ultrasonography and bedside chest X-ray in identifying different pathologic abnormalities in patients with dyspnea,using thoracic computed tomography (CT) as a gold standard.Methods Bedside pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was performed in 350 dyspneic patients in the emergency department and ICU,111 patients were enrolled in the study with pleuropulmonary ultrasonography,chest X-ray and chest CT examination performed within 24 hours.Pathologic entities were evaluated:pleural effusion,consolidation,atelectasis,pneumothorax,pulmonary interstitial fibrosis,and pulmonary edema.The sensitivity,specificity,negative and positive prediction value of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography and chest X-ray were compared with the corresponding CT scan results.Results Pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was highly concordant with chest X-ray.Overall ultrasonography exhibited higher sensitivity than chest X-ray and CT for pleural effusion.For atelectasis and pulmonary edema,the sensitivity of ultrasonography was up to 100%.In the diagnosis of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis,the sensitivity of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was higher than that of chest X-ray,but the specificity was slightly lower.The sensitivity of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was slightly higher than that of chest X-ray in pneumothorax,and the specificity was coincident with chest X-ray.Although the sensitivity of ultrasonography was slightly lower for consolidation,it was still higher than chest X-ray.The ability of chest X-ray for differentiating pleural effusion from atelectasis or consolidation was worse than that of ultrasonography.Conclusions Our study demonstrates a high concordance between ultrasonography with radiography.The diagnostic performance of bedside pleuropulmonary ultrasonography is better than that of chest X-ray.

Objective To investigate MRI appearances of aquaporin(AQP) and its effect in different brain regions of patients with Parkinson's disease(PD).Methods A prospective study was carried out in 33 PD patients(PD group) and 23 gender-and age-matched healthy controls (control group).Clinical data of PD patients were collected.The aquaporin imaging of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRDWI) with multiple b-values in different brain regions were performed to detect the apparent diffusion coefficient(AQP-ADC) values of aquaporin.The PD patients were assessed and graded by modified Hoehn-Yahr grading,then the AQP-ADC values of control group,mild PD group,moderate and severe PD group were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance.The correlation analysis was carried out to detect the relationship between AQP-ADC values in different brain regions and Hoehn-Yahr grading of PD patients.Results Compared with control group,mild PD group had significantly higher AQP-ADC values in red nucleus(RN) and globus pallidus(GP) ((0.24±0.04) vs (0.21±0.04),(0.21±0.04) vs (0.16±0.04);both P＜0.05);while the AQP-ADC values in RN and GP of moderate and severe PD group were significantly lower than that of mild PD group((0.21±0.02) vs (0.24±0.04),(0.18±0.03) vs (0.21±0.04);both P＜0.05);but there was no significant difference between moderate and severe PD group and control group(P＞0.05);and there was also no significant difference in substantianigra (SN),putamen (Pu) and thalamus (THA) among control group,mild PD group and moderate and severe PD group(P＞0.05).The correlation analysis showed that there were negative correlations between the AQP-ADC values in RN and GP and Hoehn-Yahr grading(r=-0.479 and-0.395,P＜ 0.05),while there was no correlation in SN,Pu and THA (P＞ 0.05).Conclusion The AQPADC values are increased in RN and GP of mild PD patients,and decreased in moderate and severe PD patients,while there is no significant change in SN,Pu and THA of the two groups,suggesting that the expression of AQP in different brain regions may be related to the severity and pathological stage of PD.

Objective To discuss the correlation between right ventricular function and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PASP ) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH)and explore the change of right ventricular function under different degree of PASP.Methods One hundred and thirty-seven CTEPH patients were divided into four groups by PASP:Group Ⅰ (50 mmHg≤PASP<70 mmHg),20 cases;Group Ⅱ (70 mmHg≤PASP<90 mmHg),35 cases;Group Ⅲ,55 cases (90 mmHg ≤ PASP < 1 10 mmHg);Group Ⅳ (PASP ≥ 1 10 mmHg),27 cases.Echocardiographic parameters include:PASP,tricuspid regurgitation area (ATR ),left ventricular transverse diameter (LVTD), right ventricular transverse diameter (RVTD),inner diameter of main pulmonary artery (DMPA ),inner diameter of left arterial branch (DLPA ),inner diameter of right pulmonary arterial branch (DRPA ).Right ventricular function parameters include:tissue Doppler-derived tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity (s'),tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE),RV index of myocardial performance (RIMP)and right ventricular fractional area change (FAC).Results There were significant differences in RVTD, TAPSE,FAC and RIMP in CTEPH patients under different PASP(P <0.05).RV structure and function was significantly correlated with PASP in CTEPH patients.With the elevation of PASP,RV was significantly enlarged and RV function becomes worse.Conclusions Echocardiography may contribute to evaluate RV function in CTEPH patients and provide basis for clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation.

Objective To investigate the correlation between spatial memory and sleep architecture and hippocampal volumes in patients with chronic insomnia disorder.Methods Twenty-two chronic insomnia patients and 17 normal sleepers (controls) were selected to evaluate the subjective insomnia using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the objective insomnia by polysomnography (PSG).The cognitive function was measured by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).Spatial memory and object-memory were measured by Nine-box Maze, and object-recognition memory was detected by picture recognition test.MRI was used to detect hippocampus volumes.Results Compared with controls, a significant reduction in total sleep time (328.3 (310.4, 387.9) min vs 418.0 (375.8, 45.5) min, Z=2.607, P=0.009), sleep efficiency (%) (77.7 (73.1, 84.0) vs 93.0 (87.2, 93.9), Z=3.739,P=0.000), proportion of N3 (%) (5.5 (0.4, 14.4) vs 13.7 (7.7, 18.3), Z=2.664, P=0.008) and proportion of rapid eye movement (REM) (%) (14.4 (10.7, 17.2) vs 17.3 (15.9, 23.3), Z=2.890, P=0.004) was seen in insomnia patients, whereas sleep latency was delayed.The error numbers of spatial working-memory (4.5 (2.0, 7.3) vs 1.0 (0.0, 3.0), Z=3.007, P=0.003) in chronic insomnia patients were more than those in controls.There was no statistically significant difference in object reference memory, spatial reference memory and object recognition in two groups.A significant reduction of the left (2 818.0 (2 534.9, 3 191.8) mm3 vs 3 453.3 (3 081.2, 3 764.4) mm3, Z=3.314, P=0.001), right (2 780.5 (2 451.2, 3 191.8) mm3 vs 3 479.8 (3 024.1, 3 786.7) mm3, Z=3.484,P=0.000) and whole hippocampal volumes (5 561.7 (4 956.6, 6 396.9) mm3 vs 6 898.9 (6 017.1, 7 540.1) mm3, Z=3.455, P=0.001) was seen in chronic insomnia patients compared with controls.The hippocampal volumes were negatively correlated with sleep latency (r=-0.432, P=0.006), but positively correlated with sleep efficiency, proportion of N3 (r=0.323, 0.376;P=0.045, 0.018).There was a negative correlation between the error numbers of spatial working-memory and hippocampal volumes (r=-0.351, P=0.029).The hippocampal volumes were negatively correlated with the duration of disease in chronic insomnia patients (r=-0.734, P<0.01).Conclusion The spatial memory may be associated with decreased proportion of REM and reduced hippocampal volumes in chronic insomnia patients.