BACKGROUND: Clinical outcomes are poor if patients with acute heart failure (AHF) are discharged with residual congestion in the presence of renal dysfunction. However, there is no single indication to reflect the combined effects of the two related pathophysiological processes. We, therefore, proposed an indicator, congestion and renal index (CRI), and examined the associations between the CRI and one-year outcomes and the incremental prognostic value of CRI compared with the established scoring systems in a multicenter prospective cohort of AHF. METHODS: We enrolled AHF patients and calculated the ratio of thoracic fluid content index divided by estimated glomerular filtration rate before discharge, as CRI. Then we examined the associations between CRI and one-year outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 944 patients were included in the analysis (mean age 63.3 ± 13.8 years, 39.3% women). Compared with patients with CRI ≤ 0.59 mL/min per kΩ, those with CRI > 0.59 mL/min per kΩ had higher risks of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization (HR = 1.56 [1.13-2.15]) and all-cause death or all-cause hospitalization (HR = 1.33 [1.01-1.74]). CRI had an incremental prognostic value compared with the established scoring system. CONCLUSIONS In patients with AHF, CRI is independently associated with the risk of death or hospitalization within one year, and improves the risk stratification of the established risk models.

OBJECTIVE: To derive the Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome classification and subgroup syndrome characteristics of ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: By extracting the CM clinical electronic medical records (EMRs) of 7,170 hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke from 2016 to 2018 at Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Province, China, a patient similarity network (PSN) was constructed based on the symptomatic phenotype of the patients. Thereafter the efficient community detection method BGLL was used to identify subgroups of patients. Finally, subgroups with a large number of cases were selected to analyze the specific manifestations of clinical symptoms and CM syndromes in each subgroup. RESULTS: Seven main subgroups of patients with specific symptom characteristics were identified, including M3, M2, M1, M5, M0, M29 and M4. M3 and M0 subgroups had prominent posterior circulatory symptoms, while M3 was associated with autonomic disorders, and M4 manifested as anxiety; M2 and M4 had motor and motor coordination disorders; M1 had sensory disorders; M5 had more obvious lung infections; M29 had a disorder of consciousness. The specificity of CM syndromes of each subgroup was as follows. M3, M2, M1, M0, M29 and M4 all had the same syndrome as wind phlegm pattern; M3 and M0 both showed hyperactivity of Gan (Liver) yang pattern; M2 and M29 had similar syndromes, which corresponded to intertwined phlegm and blood stasis pattern and phlegm-stasis obstructing meridians pattern, respectively. The manifestations of CM syndromes often appeared in a combination of 2 or more syndrome elements. The most common combination of these 7 subgroups was wind-phlegm. The 7 subgroups of CM syndrome elements were specifically manifested as pathogenic wind, pathogenic phlegm, and deficiency pathogens. CONCLUSIONS There were 7 main symptom similarity-based subgroups in ischemic stroke patients, and their specific characteristics were obvious. The main syndromes were wind phlegm pattern and hyperactivity of Gan yang pattern.
Humans ; Syndrome ; Ischemic Stroke ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Liver ; Phenotype

Background: It remains undetermined whether second-generation drug-eluting stents (G2-DESs) outperform first-generation DESs (G1-DESs) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of G1-DES and G2-DES in ACS patients in a high-volume cardiovascular center. Methods: In 2013, 10,724 consecutive patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in our institution. We included 4037 patients with ACS who underwent exclusively G1-DES or G2-DES implantation (n = 364 and n = 3673, respectively). We used propensity score matching to minimize the imbalance between the G1-DES and G2-DES groups and followed patients for 2 years. The efficacy endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and its components including target vessel-related myocardial infarction (TV-MI), target vessel revascularization/target lesion revascularization (TVR/TLR), and cardiac death. The safety endpoint was stent thrombosis. Continuous variables were compared by Mann-Whitney U-test, and categorical variables were compared using Pearson's Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to compare the event-free survival rates, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess whether stent type was an independent risk factor for the efficacy and safety endpoints. Results: At the 2-year follow-up, the results for MACE and it components, as well as stent thrombosis, were similar for G1-DES and G2-DES (MACE, 5.2% vs. 4.3%, χ = 0.514, P = 0.474; TV-MI, 0.8% vs. 0.4%, P = 0.407; TVR, 4.9% vs. 3.7%, χ = 0.939, P = 0.333; TLR, 3.8% vs. 2.5%, χ = 1.610, P = 0.205; cardiac death, 0.3% vs. 0.5%, P = 0.670; and stent thrombosis, 0.5% vs. 0.4%, P > 0.999). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated similar event-free survival rates between G1-DES and G2-DES after propensity score matching (all: log-rank P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that stent type was not an independent risk factor for the efficacy and safety endpoints (MACE, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.805, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.455-1.424, P = 0.456; TV-MI, HR = 0.500, 95% CI: 0.101-2.475, P = 0.395; TVR, HR = 0.732, 95% CI: 0.403-1.330, P = 0.306; TLR, HR = 0.629, 95% CI: 0.313-1.264, P = 0.193; cardiac death, HR = 1.991, 95% CI: 0.223-17.814, P = 0.538; and stent thrombosis, HR = 0.746, 95% CI: 0.125-4.467, P = 0.749). Conclusion G1-DES and G2-DES have similar efficacy and safety profiles in ACS patients at the 2-year follow-up.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; surgery ; Aged ; Coronary Thrombosis ; surgery ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; surgery ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; methods ; Prospective Studies

BackgroundDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) are common X-linked recessive neuromuscular disorders caused by mutations in dystrophin gene. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (multiplex PCR) and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) are the most common methods for detecting dystrophin gene mutations. This study aimed to contrast the two methods and discern the genetic characterization of patients with DMD/BMD in Eastern China.

MethodsWe collected 121 probands, 64 mothers of probands, and 15 fetuses in our study. The dystrophin gene was detected by multiplex PCR primarily in 28 probands, and MLPA was used in multiplex PCR-negative cases subsequently. The dystrophin gene of the remaining 93 probands and 62 female potential carriers was tested by MLPA directly. In fetuses, multiplex PCR and MLPA were performed on 4 fetuses and 10 fetuses, respectively. In addition, sequencing was also performed in 4 probands with negative MLPA.

ResultsWe found that 61.98% of the subjects had genetic mutations including deletions (50.41%) and duplications (11.57%). There were 43.75% of mothers as carriers of the mutation. In 15 fetuses, 2 out of 7 male fetuses were found to be unhealthy and 2 out of 8 female fetuses were found to be carriers. Exons 3-26 and 45-52 have the maximum frequency in mutation regions. In the frequency of exons individually, exon 47 and exon 50 were the most common in deleted regions and exons 5, 6, and 7 were found most frequently in duplicated regions.

ConclusionsMLPA has better productivity and sensitivity than multiplex PCR. Prenatal diagnosis should be applied in DMD high-risk fetuses to reduce the disease incidence. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of physicians to inform female carriers the importance of prenatal diagnosis.

China ; Dystrophin ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; genetics ; Mutation ; genetics ; Pregnancy ; Sequence Deletion

Objective To explore the characteristics and components of recurrent papillary thyroid cancer in patients with metabolic syndrome .Methods We retrospectively reviewed the information of the patients with recurrent papillary thyroid cancer after initial surgery during January 1st ,2010 and December 31st ,2015 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University .We compared tumor size ,lymph node metastasis ,recurrence time and postoperative invasion rate in metabolic syndrome and non-metabolic syndrome groups . Results Totally 82 patients were included with 34 men and 48 women .There was no significant difference between patients with and those without metabolic syndrome grouped by the classic diagnosis approach .However ,the lymph node metastasis grade of recurrent papillary thyroid cancer patients who also suffered from at least two metabolic disorders ,was lower ,especially in women (P=0 .002) .Moreover ,patients with metabolic disorders had shorter recurrence time (Pdiabetes=0 .034 , Pdyslipidemia =0 .037 , PBMI =0 .004 , PMetS2 =0 .036) .Conclusion Papillary thyroid cancer patients with metabolic disorder ,especially with two or more components of metabolic syndrome and overweight and/or obesity ,may have an increasing risk of recurrence .

Objective To study the inhibitory effect of ursolic acid on the proliferation of human papillary thyroid carcinoma cell line TPC-1 in vitro. Method TPC-1 cells were treated with different concentrations of ursolic acid (control group:0μM, experimental group:3μM , 6μM, 12μM);MTT assay was used to observe the effect of the growth of TPC-1 cells on different concentrations of ursolic acid at the same time;Apoptosis and cell cycle distribution of TPC-1 cells were treated with ursolic acid by flow cytometry;The expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-9 mRNA in TPC-1 cells were treated with ursolic acid by QRT-PCR;The expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-9 protein in TPC-1 cells were treated with ursolic acid by Western blot. Results MTT assay showed that ursolic acid inhibited the proliferation of TPC-1 cells in a concentration and time-dependent manner, and the IC50 at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h was 14.21 μM, 10.56 μM, 10.39 μM; Flow cytometry showed that ursolic acid inhibited the apoptosis of TPC-1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, and the growth of TPC-1 cells was arrested in S phase;QRT-PCR showed that Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-9 mRNA were expressed in the control and experimental groups, ursolic acid inhibited the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA in a concentration-dependent manner and up-regulated the expression of Bax and Caspase-9 mRNA;Western blot results showed that Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-9 were expressed in the control and experimental groups, ursolic acid inhibited the expression of Bcl-2 protein in a concentration-dependent manner and up-regulated the expression of Bax protein and Caspase-9 protein. Conclusion Ursolic acid can significantly inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of human papillary thyroid TPC-1 cells, providing some ideas for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUNDLots of trials demonstrate that second-generation drug-eluting stents (G2-DES), with their improved properties, offer significantly superior efficacy and safety profiles compared to first generation DES (G1-DES) for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to verify the advantage of G2-DES over G1-DES in Chinese patients with stable CAD (SCAD).

METHODSFor this retrospective observational analysis, 2709 SCAD patients with either G1-DES (n = 863) or G2-DES (n = 1846) were enrolled consecutively throughout 2013. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to control differing baseline factors. Two-year outcomes, including major adverse coronary events as well as individual events, including target vessel-related myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization, and cardiogenic death were evaluated.

RESULTSThe incidence of revascularization between G1- and G2-DES showed a trend of significant difference with a threshold P - value (8.6% vs. 6.7%, χ2 = 2.995, P = 0.084). G2-DES significantly improved TLR-free survival compared to G1-DES (96.6% vs. 97.9%, P = 0.049) and revascularization-free survival curve showed a trend of improvement of G2-DES (92.0% vs. 93.8%, P = 0.082). These differences diminished after PSM. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed a trend for G1-associated increase in revascularization (hazard ratio: 1.28, 95% confidence interval: 0.95-1.72, P = 0.099) while no significance was found after PSM. Other endpoints showed no significant differences after multivariate adjustment regardless of PSM.

CONCLUSIONSG1-DES showed the same safety as G2-DES in this large Chinese cohort of real-world patients. However, G2-DES improved TLR-free survival of SCAD patients 2 years after PCI. The advantage was influenced by baseline clinical factors. G1-DES was associated with a trend of increase in revascularization risk and was not an independent predictor of worse medium-term prognosis compared with G2-DES.

BACKGROUNDThe ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients due to stent thrombosis (ST) remain a therapeutic challenge for a clinician. Till date, very few researches have been conducted regarding the safety and effectiveness of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) for STEMI caused by very late ST (VLST). This retrospective study evaluated the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of primary PCI with second-generation DES for STEMI due to VLST compared with primary PCI for STEMI due to de novo lesion.

METHODSBetween January 2007 and December 2013, STEMI patients with primary PCI in Fuwai Hospital had only second-generation DES implanted for de novo lesion (558 patients) and VLST (50 patients) were included in this retrospective study. The primary end points included cardiac death and reinfarction. The secondary end points included cardiac death, reinfarction, and target lesion revascularization. Continuous variables were expressed as mean (standard deviation) or median (interquartile range) and compared by Student's t- test or Mann-Whitney U-test as appropriate. Categorical variables were expressed as counts and percentages, and comparison of these variables was performed with Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. A two-tailed value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all comparisons. Statistical analyses were performed by SAS software (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, USA) for Windows.

RESULTSIn-hospital primary end point and the secondary end point were no significant differences between two groups (P = 1.000 and P = 1.000, respectively). No significant differences between two groups were observed according to the long-term primary end point and the secondary end point. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed no significant difference between the two groups in the primary end point and the secondary end point at 2 years (P = 0.340 and P = 0.243, respectively). According to Cox analysis, female, intra-aortic balloon pump support, and postprocedural thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow 3 were found to be independent predictors for long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSIONPrimary PCI with second-generation DES is a reasonable choice for STEMI patients caused by VLST.

Adult ; Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; surgery ; Paclitaxel ; therapeutic use ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sirolimus ; therapeutic use ; Thrombosis ; surgery ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDPlatelet function tests are widely used in clinical practice to guide personalized antiplatelet therapy. In China, the thromboelastography (TEG) test has been well accepted in clinics, whereas VerifyNow, mainly used for scientific research, has not been used in routine clinical practice. The aim of the current study was to compare these two point-of-care platelet function tests and to analyze the consistency between the two tests for evaluating on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity in Chinese acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODSA total of 184 patients admitted to Fuwai Hospital between August 2014 and May 2015 were enrolled in the study. On-clopidogrel platelet reactivity was assessed 3 days after PCI by TEG and VerifyNow using adenosine diphosphate as an agonist. Based on the previous reports, an inhibition of platelet aggregation (IPA) <30% for TEG or a P2Y12 reaction unit (PRU) >230 for VerifyNow was defined as high on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity (HPR). An IPA >70% or a PRU <178 was defined as low on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity (LPR). Correlation and agreement between the two methods were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient (r) and kappa value (κ), respectively.

RESULTSOur results showed that VerifyNow and TEG had a moderate but significant correlation in evaluating platelet reactivity (r = -0.511). A significant although poor agreement (κ = 0.225) in identifying HPR and a significantly moderate agreement in identifying LPR (κ = 0.412) were observed between TEG and VerifyNow. By using TEG as the reference for comparison, the cutoff values of VerifyNow for the Chinese patients in this study were identified as PRU >205 for HPR and PRU <169 for LPR.

CONCLUSIONSBy comparing VerifyNow to TEG which has been widely used in clinics, VerifyNow could be an attractive alternative to TEG for monitoring on-clopidogrel platelet reactivity in Chinese patients.

Adenosine Diphosphate ; therapeutic use ; Aged ; Aspirin ; therapeutic use ; Blood Platelets ; drug effects ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; methods ; Platelet Aggregation ; drug effects ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Point-of-Care Systems ; Receptors, Purinergic P2Y12 ; metabolism ; Thrombelastography ; Ticlopidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the accuracy of marginal and internal fit of the zirconium copings manufactured by two different computer-aided design(CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing(CAM)system on the implant abutment.

METHODSUsing different scanning mode,five Procera(®) zirconium copings and five Lava zirconium copings were fabricated on the same implant abutment, and then compared with five precious metal copings fabricated by traditional method. Fifteen abutment replica were made with die-stone and the copings were randomly cemented on them, then they were sectioned and invested. The marginal, shoulder, occlusal, and axial fit of each sample was measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

RESULTSThere was no significant difference in marginal and axial fit among the three groups(P>0.05). Significant difference in occlusal fit was found among the three groups(P<0.05): Lava group showed better fit than the others(P<0.05)and Procera(®) group showed better fit than the control(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThese two types of zirconium coping have clinically acceptable marginal and internal fit. The internal fit of zirconium coping may be affected by different manufacturing techniques.

Computer-Aided Design ; Crowns ; Dental Implants ; Oxides ; Zirconium