The continuous left ventricle blood pressure prediction based on selected heart sound features was realized in this study. The experiments were carried out on three beagle dogs and the variations of cardiac hemodynamics were induced by various dose of epinephrine. The phonocardiogram, electrocardiogram and blood pressures in left ventricle were synchronously acquired. We obtained 28 valid recordings in this study. An artificial neural network was trained with the selected feature to predict left ventricular blood pressure and this trained network made a good performance. The results showed that the absolute average error was 7.3 mm Hg even though the blood pressures had a large range of fluctuation. The average correlation coefficient between the predicted and the measured blood pressure was 0.92. These results showed that the method in this paper was helpful to monitor left ventricular hemodynamics non-invasively and continuously.
目的 總結甲狀腺功能亢進性肝功能損害 （ HLI ） 的臨床特點和治療方案。 方法 對2008年1月－2010年12月診治的49例HLI患者臨床資料進行回顧性總結分析，據其治療方案的不同分抗甲狀腺治療組和單純保肝治療組，比較二組患者治療后肝功能恢復情況。 結果 所有患者入院時均存在不明原因肝功能不全，而后明確為HLI。其中女29例（59.2%），男20例（40.8%），年齡10～70歲，平均45歲。 癥狀主要表現為體重下降（65.3%），心悸（51.1%），怕熱多汗（49.0%）， 厭油納差、食欲減退 （44.9%）。主要體征包括甲狀腺腫大（36.7%），雙下肢水腫（24.5%），心界擴大（16.3%），皮膚鞏膜黃染（14.3%），肝脾腫大（12.2%）等。肝功能檢驗異常主要表現為谷丙轉氨酶升高（68.9％），谷草轉氨酶升高（57.8％）為主，其次是谷氨酰轉移酶（69.4%）、直接膽紅素（59.2%）、總膽紅素（44.9%）、堿性磷酸酶（42.9%）、乳酸脫氫酶（26.5%）升高，以及白蛋白（32.7%）下降。死亡3例，病死率6.1%。采用Wilcoxon秩和檢驗結果提示抗甲狀腺治療組的總膽紅素和直接膽紅素低于單純保肝治療組，組間差異有統計學意義（P＜0.05）。 結論 此類患者可同時具備甲狀腺功能亢進和肝功能不全的臨床表現，肝功能常表現為淤膽型肝炎。HLI總體預后較好，抗甲狀腺治療是該病的關鍵。
Since the emergence of novel coronavirus pneumonia in late 2019, it has quickly spread to many countries and regions around the world, causing a significant impact on human beings and society, posing a great threat to the global public health system. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was highly infectious, and some complications emerged rapidly in some patients, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, and multiple organ failure. The virus could trigger a series of immune responses, which might lead to excessive immune activation, thereby bringing about the immune system imbalance of the body. Up to now, there was no specific antiviral drug, and we conjectured that immunomodulatory therapy might play an essential part in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as adjuvant therapy. Therefore, we analyzed the possible mechanism of immune imbalance caused by the new coronavirus, and summarized the immunotherapeutic means of COVID-19 based on the mechanisms, to provide some reference for follow-up research and clinical prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Drugs may induce hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBV-R). Here we have reviewed the definition and harm of HBV-R, the risk drugs and their underlying mechanism, the influence factors, as well as the early intervention measures. It is shown that multiple drugs, including chemotherapy drugs, immunotherapy drugs, directly acting antivirals, cell therapy, etc., can induce HBV-R by affecting host immunity or directly activating HBV transcription factors. HBV-R could cause severe liver damage, even interruption of treatment of original diseases, affecting the prognosis of patients. Through precisely identifying risk drugs, monitoring the influence factors, and prescribing preventive anti-HBV regimen if necessary, the incidence of HBV-R can be significantly reduced. It is also suggested that clinical physicians should not only pay attention to the early identification and intervention of HBV-R, but also further study the mechanism of HBV-R in depth, especially the underlying mechanism between host, HBV and risk factors. This will help to promote the discovery of more valuable markers for risk prediction and targets for early intervention, and to further reduce the risk of HBV-R and improve the prognosis of patients.
Objective To analyze longitudinal motion of infarcted myocardium and ischemic myocardium with a new echocardiographic technology of velocity vector imaging (VVI), and to assess its accuracy. Methods From December2007 to January 2008, 6 patients suffered acute anterior myocardial infarction (MI group), 9 patients had myocardial ischemia (over 70% stenosis of anterior descending branch, MS group) and 16 healthy subjects (control group) were included. The long axis view and 2-chambers view of left ventricle at the apex of heart were acquired with Siemens Sequoia 512 ultrasound system. The longitudinal velocity, displacement, strain and strain rate were analyzed with off-l ine Syngo US workplace software. Results In normal myocardial group, longitudinal peak systol ic velocity (Vs) and peak displacement (D) decreased progressively from base level to apex level in anterior wall and anterior septum (P lt; 0.05), while peak strain (S) and peak systol ic strain rate (SRs) kept the same in three levels (P gt; 0.05). S and SRs significantly decreased in all segments of infarcted myocardium (P lt; 0.05), compared with normal and ischemic myocardium. In ischemic myocardium, only base and middle segmental S of anterior wall decreased (P lt; 0.05). A myocardial S lower than —6.94% in at least one ventricular segment showed best sensitivity (100%) and specificity (100%) for detecting an infarcted left ventricle. A myocardial SRs lower than —0.81% at least in one ventricular segment showed 100% sensitivity and 80% specificity, and lower than —0.46% showed 83% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Conclusion VVI is a useful tool for assessing myocardial regional function. Especially, S and SRs are useful predictors of the presence of regional dysfunction in infarcted myocardium.
The infection of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can result in severe consequences, including chronic hepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer. Effective antiviral treatment has the potential to slow down the progression of the disease. HBV serum biomarkers play a crucial role in the dynamic management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. However, the conventional hepatitis B virus markers, such as hepatitis B serologic testing and HBV DNA, are insufficient to meet the clinical requirements. This review provided a comprehensive overview of the current research on the quantification of HBsAg and anti-HBc, HBV RNA and HBV core-associated antigen, which summarized the crucial role these markers play in the administration of antiviral medications, predicting the efficacy of treatment and anticipating the likelihood of virologic rebound following drug cessation, as well as assessing disease progression in CHB patients.
Objective To report the preliminary results of intraoperative saline-irrigated radiofrequency modified maze procedure for chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) in mitral valve diseases. Methods From May 2003 to April 2004 forty-one patients underwent intraoperative saline-irrigated modified maze procedure. The patients included 13 male and 28 female. Their age ranged from 27-65 years (46±10 years). The duration of AF varied from 5 months to 15 years (4.5±3.6 years).The left atrial diameter varied from 37-93 mm (54±11mm). There were mitral stenosis 20, mitral regurgitation 1 and mitral stenosis with regurgitation 20 cases. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was established as usual. Ablation lines were made with Cardioblate (Medtronic, 25-30 W, 180-240ml/h). Having finished right-sided maze procedure, the aorta was cross-clamped and cold crystalloid or blood cardioplegia were used for myocardial protection. Left atrial incision was performed through the interatrial groove. The ablation lines were created to encircle the orifices of the left and right pulmonary veins respectively. The ablation lines were also performed from the left encircling line to the posterior mitral valvular annulus and to the orifice of left atrial appendage respectively. A ablation line was used to connect left and right pulmonary veins circumferential line. Concomitant procedures were performed (there were double valve replacement 10 cases, mitral valve replacement 31 cases, tricuspid annuloplasty 6 cases, removing the left atrial thrombi 6 cases). Results CPB time varied from 71-160 min (105±24 min) and cross-clamping time varied from 32-106 min (62±20 min). The ablation time varied from 4-22 min (11±4 min). One patient died during hospitalization and the death was caused by acute mechanic valve obstruction. During follow-up at discharge and 3 months 35% patients (14/40) were free of AF and the others were not. But at 6 months 67% patients (10/15) were free of AF. Conclusion The intraoperative saline-irrigated radiofrequency modified maze procedure is comparatively simpler and its efficacy is satisfactory.
Abstract: Objective To summarize the experiences of radiofrequency modified maze procedure for atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with mitral valve diseases. Methods From May 2003 to December 2008, 122 patients, including 31 males and 91 females, with permanent AF underwent radiofrequency modified maze procedure as a combined operation with mitral valve replacement. Their age ranged from 23 to 65 years old (47±10 years). The duration of AF varied from 0.5 to 32.0 years (6.5±5.7 years). There were 57 cases of stenosis, 7 cases of regurgitation and 58 cases of both stenosis and regurgitation. Ablation lines were made with Cardioblate (Medtronic, monopolar, 25.30 W, 180.240 ml/h). After rightsided maze procedure was finished, aorta was crossclamped and cold crystalloid or blood cardioplegia were delivered for myocardial protection. Left atrial incision was performed through the interatrial groove or interatrial septum. The ablation lines were created to encircle the orifices of the left and right pulmonary veins respectively. The ablation lines were also performed from the left encircling line to the posterior mitral valve annulus and to the orifice of left atrial appendage respectively. An ablation line was used to connect the circumferential line of left and right pulmonary veins. The left atrial appendage was tied and concomitant operations were performed. Amiodarone was given to the patients after operation and regular follow-up was done. Results There were four perioperative deaths including 2 cases of multiple organ failure, 1 case of mechanic valve obstruction and 1 sudden death. Follow-up was done to 115 patients for 1.5-7.0 years (4.8±2.6 years) with three cases lost. During the followup period, four patients died, including 3 sudden deaths and 1 case of prosthetic obstruction. Eightyseven patients (78.4%, 87/111) recovered to sinus rhythm; 22 patients still had AF; 1 patient had atrial flutter; and 1 patient required a permanent pacemaker one year after the operation. Diameter of left atrium after operation (0.5-7.0 years) was decreased compared with that before operation（44.90±7.50 mm vs. 54.30±10.80 mm，t＝10.641，P＝0.000）. Conclution Radiofrequency modified maze procedure for AF in patients with mitral valve disease is relatively safe. But heart rhythm instability, tachyarrhythmia and recurrent AF are not rare for those patients. Therefore, the surgical indication of AF should be individualized.
In order to provide more standardized guidance for the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China and to achieve the World Health Organization’s goal of “eliminating viral hepatitis as public health threats by the year 2030”, the Hepatology and Infectious Diseases Societies of the Chinese Medical Association organized experts to update the guideline for the prevention and treatment of CHB, emphasizing more extensive screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers in the general population and more active antiviral treatment for HBV-infected patients. This article introduced and studied the key update points of the new guideline.
This study aims to clarify host factors of IFN treatment in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by screening the differentially expressed genes of IFN pathway CHB patients with different response to interferon (IFN) therapy. Three cases were randomly selected in IFN-responding CHB patients (Rs), non-responding CHB patients (NRs) and healthy participants, respectively. The human type I IFN response RT2 profiler PCR array was used to detect the expression levels of IFN-related genes in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy participants and CHB patients before and after Peg-IFN-α 2a treatment. The results showed that more differentially expressed genes appeared in Rs group than NRs group after IFN treatment. Comparing with healthy participants, IFNG, IL7R, IRF1, and IRF8 were downregulated in both Rs and NRs group before IFN treatment; CXCL10, IFIT1, and IFITM1 were upregulated in the Rs; IL13RA1 and IFI35 were upregulated in the NRs, while IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1, and ADAR were downregulated. The expression of IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 was downregulated by 4.09 (t = 10.58, P < 0.001), 5.59 (t = 3.37, P = 0.028) and 10.83 (t = 2.8, P = 0.049) fold in the Rs group compared with the NRs group, respectively. In conclusion, IFN-response-related gene array is able to evaluate IFN treatment response by detecting IFN-related genes levels in PBMC. High expression of CXCL10, IFIT1 and IFITM1 before treatment may suggest satisfied IFN efficacy, while high expression of IL13RA1, IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 molecules and low expression of IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1 and ADAR molecules may be associated with poor IFN efficacy.