Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of esketamine combined with different doses of remimazolam for induction of general anesthesia in pediatric patients.Methods:One hundred and sixty pediatric patients of either sex, aged 3-6 yr, of American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification Ⅰ or Ⅱ, with body mass index of 13-20 kg/m 2, undergoing elective general anesthesia under a laryngeal mask, were divided into 4 groups ( n=40 each) by the random number table method: esketamine combined with propofol group (KP group) and esketamine combined with different doses of remimazolam group (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 mg/kg) groups (KR1 group, KR2 group, KR3 group). Esketamine 0.8 mg/kg was intravenously injected in the preanesthesia room. After entering the operating room, propofol 2.5 mg/kg was intravenously injected in KP group, and remimazolam 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mg/kg were intravenously injected in KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups, respectively. When the child lost consciousness and the Modified Observer′s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale score<1, sufentanil and mevacurium were intravenously injected. When the Modified Observer′s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale score≥1, rescue sedation was performed, and 3 min later the laryngeal mask airway was inserted. The onset time of sedation, response to laryngeal mask airway placement, rescue sedation, hypotension, tachycardia, bradycardia, bucking, hiccup, injection pain and apnea were recorded, and the increase rate of perfusion index (PI) was calculated. Results:No response to laryngeal mask implantation occurred in the four groups. Compared with KP group, the onset time of sedation was significantly prolonged, the incidence of hypotension, bradycardia, injection pain and apnea was decreased, the incidence of tachycardia was increased, and the increase rate of PI was decreased in KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups, and the rate of rescue sedation and incidence of bucking were increased in KR1 and KR2 groups ( P<0.05). Compared with KR1 group, the onset time of sedation was significantly shortened in KR2 group and KR3 group, and the rate of rescue sedation and incidence of bucking were decreased in KR3 group ( P<0.05). Compared with KR2 group, the onset time of sedation was significantly shortened, and the rate of rescue sedation was decreased in KR3 group ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the increase rate of PI, hypotension, bradycardia, tachycardia, injection pain and apnea among KR1, KR2 and KR3 groups ( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of hiccup among the four groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Esketamine 0.8 mg/kg combined with remimazolam 0.4 mg/kg can be safely and effectively used for anesthesia induction and has milder inhibition of respiration and circulation as compared with esketamine combined with propofol in pediatric patients.

Objective:To evaluate the accuracy of continuous photoplethysmography algorithms for atrial fibrillation diagnosis and atrial fibrillation burden evaluation via wearable devices.Methods:This study was a self-controlled prospective cohort study. A total of 254 consecutive inpatients were recruited from the Department of Cardiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University from September 2022 to November 2022. All participants were required to wear two devices at the same time: (1) an electrocardiogram (ECG) watch for acquisition of photoplethysmography (watch-recorded-photoplethysmography, W-PPG) and electrocardiogram (watch-recorded-electrocardiogram, W-ECG); (2) an ECG patch for acquisition of electrocardiogram (patch-recorded-electrocardiogram, P-ECG). The results were measured in 30 s data segments and individual participants, separately, which were calculated for sensitivity and specificity by comparing them with the results of expert-read ECG according to the receiver operating characteristic curve. Four groups were separated according to the proportion of the atrial fibrillation burden, and the difference of atrial fibrillation burden from algorithm and expert-read ECG was calculated.Results:All 254 subjects completed the study. The mean age of participants was (63.04±11.04) years old, 99 (38.98%) of them were female, and 97 (38.19%) patients had persistent atrial fibrillation. Expert-read ECG results were taken as standard criteria in all calculations. The P-ECG algorithm had a sensitivity of 94.86% (95% CI: 94.81%-94.91%) and a specificity of 99.30% (95% CI: 99.28%-99.31%) when measured in data segments. The W-PPG algorithm had a sensitivity of 96.07% (95% CI: 95.97%-96.18%) and a specificity of 98.62% (95% CI: 98.59%-98.65%). When measured in terms of individual participants, the P-ECG algorithm had a sensitivity of 92.55% (95% CI: 87.57%-95.71%) and a specificity of 96.39% (95% CI: 93.45%-98.09%), while the W-PPG algorithm had a sensitivity of 93.71% (95% CI: 88.75%-96.67%) and a specificity of 89.62% (95% CI: 85.61%-92.65%). When measured in terms of a single acquisition of W-ECG records, the W-ECG algorithm had a sensitivity of 92.04% (95% CI: 88.14%-94.78%) and a specificity of 96.19% (95% CI: 94.35%-97.47%). For atrial fibrillation burden assessment, the difference between the W-PPG analysis results and the expert-read ECG results was less than 2% in all burden distribution intervals. Conclusions:Continuous photoplethysmography algorithm applied to wearable devices to detect atrial fibrillation is a feasible strategy. Taking expert-read ECG results as standard, continuous monitoring of PPG by a smartwatch is highly accurate for atrial fibrillation diagnosis and can also be used to effectively complete atrial fibrillation burden assessment.

Objective:To explore the role of mechanical hemodynamic support (MHS) in mapping and catheter ablation of patients with hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT), report single-center experience in a cohort of consecutive patients receiving VT ablation during MHS therapy, and provide evidence-based medical evidence for clinical practice.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients with hemodynamically unstable VT who underwent catheter ablation with MHS at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University between August 2021 and December 2023 were included. Patients were divided into rescue group and preventive group according to the purpose of treatment. Their demographic data, periprocedural details, and clinical outcomes were collected and analyzed.Results:A total of 15 patients with hemodynamically unstable VT were included (8 patients in the rescue group and 7 patients in the preventive group). The acute procedure was successful in all patients. One patient in the rescue group had surgical left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, remaining 14 patients received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for circulation support. ECMO decannulation was performed in 12 patients due to clinical and hemodynamic stability, of which 6 patients were decannulation immediately after surgery and the remaining patients were decannulation at 2.0 (2.5) d after surgery. Two patients in the rescue group died during the index admission due to refractory heart failure and cerebral hemorrhage. During a median follow-up of 30 d (1 d to 12 months), one patient with LVAD had one episode of ventricular fibrillation at 6 months after discharge, and no further episodes of ventricular fibrillation and/or VT occurred after treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs. No malignant ventricular arrhythmia occurred in the remaining 12 patients who were followed up.Conclusions:MHS contributes to the successful completion of mapping and catheter ablation in patients with hemodynamically unstable VT, providing desirable hemodynamic status for emergency and elective conditions.

Background::Oral anti-coagulants (OAC) are the intervention for the prevention of stroke, which consistently improve clinical outcomes and survival among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The main purpose of this study is to identify problems in OAC utilization among hospitalized patients with AF in China.Methods::Using data from the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Atrial Fibrillation (CCC-AF) registry, guideline-recommended OAC use in eligible patients was assessed.Results::A total of 52,530 patients with non-valvular AF were enrolled from February 2015 to December 2019, of whom 38,203 were at a high risk of stroke, 9717 were at a moderate risk, and 4610 were at a low risk. On admission, only 20.0% (6075/30,420) of patients with a diagnosed AF and a high risk of stroke were taking OAC. The use of pre-hospital OAC on admission was associated with a lower risk of new-onset ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack among the diagnosed AF population (adjusted odds ratio: 0.54, 95% confidence interval: 0.43–0.68; P <0.001). At discharge, the prescription rate of OAC was 45.2% (16,757/37,087) in eligible patients with high stroke risk and 60.7% (2778/4578) in eligible patients with low stroke risk. OAC utilization in patients with high stroke risk on admission or at discharge both increased largely over time (all P <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that OAC utilization at discharge was positively associated with in-hospital rhythm control strategies, including catheter ablation (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 11.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 10.04–13.47; P <0.001), electronic cardioversion (adjusted OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.65–3.51; P <0.001), and anti-arrhythmic drug use (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.38–1.53; P <0.001). Conclusions::In hospitals participated in the CCC-AF project, >70% of AF patients were at a high risk of stroke. Although poor performance on guideline-recommended OAC use was found in this study, over time the CCC-AF project has made progress in stroke prevention in the Chinese AF population.Registration::ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02309398.

This study aimed to observe the protective effect of momordicine I, a triterpenoid compound extracted from momordica charantia L., on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced hypertrophy in rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes and investigate its potential mechanism. Treatment with 10 μM ISO induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy as evidenced by increased cell surface area and protein content as well as pronounced upregulation of fetal genes including atrial natriuretic peptide, β-myosin heavy chain, and α-skeletal actin; however, those responses were markedly attenuated by treatment with 12.5 μg/ml momordicine I. Transcriptome experiment results showed that there were 381 and 447 differentially expressed genes expressed in comparisons of model/control and momordicine I intervention/model, respectively. GO enrichment analysis suggested that the anti-cardiomyocyte hypertrophic effect of momordicine I may be mainly associated with the regulation of metabolic processes. Based on our transcriptome experiment results as well as literature reports, we selected glycerophospholipid metabolizing enzymes group VI phospholipase A 2 (PLA2G6) and diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGK-ζ) as targets to further explore the potential mechanism through which momordicine I inhibited ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.Our results demonstrated that momordicine I inhibited ISO-induced upregulations of mRNA levels and protein expressions of PLA2G6 and DGK-ζ. Collectively, momordicine I alleviated ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, which may be related to its inhibition of the expression of glycerophospholipid metabolizing enzymes PLA2G6 and DGK-ζ.

BACKGROUND: The age, biomarkers, and clinical history (ABC)-atrial fibrillation (AF)-Stroke score have been proposed to refine stroke risk stratification, beyond what clinical risk scores such as the CHA2DS2-VASc score can offer. This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with thromboembolism and evaluate the performance of the ABC-AF-Stroke score in predicting thromboembolism in non-anticoagulated AF patients following successful ablations. METHODS: A total of 2692 patients who underwent successful ablations with discontinued anticoagulation after a 3-month blanking period in the Chinese Atrial Fibrillation Registry (CAFR) between 2013 and 2019 were included. Cox regression analysis was conducted to present the association of risk factors with thromboembolism risk. The ABC-AF-Stroke score was evaluated in terms of discrimination, including concordance index (C-index), net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), clinical utilization by decision curve analysis (DCA), and calibration by comparing the predicted risk with the observed annualized event rate. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 3.5 years, 64 patients experienced thromboembolism events. Age, prior history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (cTnT-hs), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were independently associated with thromboembolism risk. The ABC-AF-Stroke score performed statistically significantly better than the CHA2DS2-VASc score in terms of C-index (0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.74 vs. 0.60, 95% CI: 0.52-0.67, P = 0.030) and reclassification capacity. The DCA implied that the ABC-AF-Stroke score could identify more thromboembolism events without increasing the false positive rate compared to the CHA2DS2-VASc score. The calibration curve showed that the ABC-AF-Stroke score was well calibrated in this population. CONCLUSIONS In this real-world study enrolling non-anticoagulated AF patients following successful ablations, age, prior history of stroke/TIA, level of NT-proBNP, and cTnT-hs were independently associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. The ABC-AF-Stroke score was well-calibrated and statistically significantly outperformed the CHA2DS2-VASc score in predicting thromboembolism risk.
Humans ; Anticoagulants/therapeutic use* ; Atrial Fibrillation/complications* ; East Asian People ; Ischemic Attack, Transient ; Registries ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Stroke/etiology* ; Thromboembolism/etiology* ; Troponin T

ObjectiveTo predict the potential targets and possible related signaling pathways of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma against bladder cancer （BC） based on network pharmacology and verify the potential molecular mechanism through in vitro cell experiment. MethodActive components of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP） and BC-related targets were searched from GeneCards and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM）. Via Venny2.1， the potential targets of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma against BC were screened out and the Venn diagram was plotted. Protein-protein interaction （PPI） network was constructed by STRING， followed by Gene Ontology （GO） term enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Gnomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment with DAVID. Cell Counting Kit-8 （CCK-8） assay was employed to detect the inhibitory effect of tanshinone Ⅱ_A （Tan Ⅱ_A）， cryptotanshinone （CPT）， and luteolin （LUT） at different concentration （0， 1， 2， 4， 8， 16， 32 μmol·L^-1） on the proliferation of BC T24 and 5637 cells， propidium iodide （PI） staining to analyze the apoptosis of 5637 cells induced by Tan Ⅱ_A， CPT， and LUT （0， 4， 8 μmol·L^-1）， and Western blotting to detect the regulatory effect of Tan Ⅱ_A （0， 4， 8， 16 μmol·L^-1） on the expression of key target proteins. ResultA total of 65 active components and 39 anti-BC targets of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were screened out. The anti-BC targets were mainly involved in the KEGG pathways of neuron-ligand-receptor interaction， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway， epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR） tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance， and hypoxia inducible factor （HIF）-1 signaling pathway. As for the CCK-8 assay， compared with the blank group， Tan Ⅱ_A， CPT， and LUT significantly inhibited the proliferation of T24 and 5637 cells， particularly the 5637 cells. The half maximal inhibitory concentration （IC₅₀） of Tan Ⅱ_A on 5637 cells was significantly lower than that of CPT and LUT. Moreover， compared with the blank group， Tan Ⅱ_A， CPT， and LUT all induced the apoptosis of 5637 cells， and the effect followed the order of Tan Ⅱ_A>CPT>LUT （P<0.05）. Western blot showed that Tan Ⅱ_A significantly reduced the expression of EGFR， p-PI3K， and p-Akt in 5637 cells in a concentration-dependent manner compared with the blank group （P<0.05）. ConclusionSalviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma exerts therapeutic effect on BC through multiple components， multiple targets， and multiple pathways. The mechanism is the likelihood that it down-regulates the expression of EGFR， p-PI3K， and p-Akt proteins， thus further inhibits cell proliferation， and induces apoptosis.

The gummy smile means excessive gingival display, which impairs patients’ appearance, psychological status, and social relationships. With the development of orthodontics, orthognathics, periodontics, and plastic surgeries, the treatment of the gummy smile turned into comprehensive multidisciplinary approaches. The etiology and recently developed approaches will be reviewed in this article.

The gummy smile means excessive gingival display, which impairs patients’ appearance, psychological status, and social relationships. With the development of orthodontics, orthognathics, periodontics, and plastic surgeries, the treatment of the gummy smile turned into comprehensive multidisciplinary approaches. The etiology and recently developed approaches will be reviewed in this article.

The gummy smile means excessive gingival display, which impairs patients’ appearance, psychological status, and social relationships. With the development of orthodontics, orthognathics, periodontics, and plastic surgeries, the treatment of the gummy smile turned into comprehensive multidisciplinary approaches. The etiology and recently developed approaches will be reviewed in this article.