Atrial fibrillation (AF) is difficult to cure for its complex etiology and long disease duration. Heart failure, sudden death and stroke are the main causes for consequent high mortality and morbidity. In recent years, minimally invasive surgery has made rapid progress, not only improved treatment efficiency of traditional Cox Maze procedure but also massively reduced surgical injuries, and has become a preferred treatment strategy for lone AF. Minimally invasive surgery and catheter ablation complement each other, and are likely to open up a new prospect of AF treatment.
Pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) is the most common in various types of pulmonary hypertension. Although there are many treatments for pulmonary hypertension, it may be harmful when we adopt treatment without detrimental diagnosis and classification of pulmonary hypertension. Therefore, it is very crucial to have accurate diagnosis and classification of pulmonary hypertension before making treatment decisions. However, there are still some difficulties in the classification of pulmonary hypertension in clinical work. It is a great challenge with limited treatment to solve the PH-LHD which often has complicated pathophysiological mechanisms of precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension. Here, we review the research status of PH-LHD.
Surgical aortic valve replacement is the primary choice for the treatment of aortic valve stenosis. It can significantly improve the quality of life and life expectancy of patients, but some patients have risks such as advanced age and poor general conditions and can not receive open chest surgery. In 2002, a French doctor, Cribier, successfully performed transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) surgery on a patient with aortic stenosis. At present, the safety and effectiveness of TAVI surgery have been confirmed by many studies. However, its complications are also relatively common. This article summarizes the related reports at home and abroad.
Objective To analyze the metabolic characteristics of myocardial infarction (MI) using metabolomics to better understand its pathogenesis and to explore new therapeutic directions for MI. Methods Serum metabolites in ten acute MI mice and five sham-control mice were analyzed by UHPLC-QqQ/MS, and SPSS was used for statistical analysis. MetaboAnalyst 5.0 was used to analyze the metabolic pathways of the differential metabolites and build a metabolic network. Results One hundred and twenty-nine metabolites were detected by UHPLC-QqQ/MS. Significant serum metabolite differences were found between MI mice and normal controls. Fifty out of 129 metabolites in serum were associated with MI. In addition, the most important metabolic pathways were D-glutamate metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate acid metabolism. ConclusionMetabolites in serine-related metabolic pathways reduce in serum in MI. We propose a new therapeutic direction for myocardial protection in MI.
Objective To modify the method for aortic end strengthening in acute type A aortic dissection operation, and investigate its clinical efficacy. Methods We modified the method for aortic end strengthening in acute aortic dissection operation based on ‘Sandwich method’ in the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery of West China Hospital. From January 2006 to December 2008, twentyeight patients with acute type A aortic dissection underwent modified aortic end strengthening operation. We made adventitia turn over and enfold to strengthen the aortic end in 10 cases, and placed stripshaped felt or pericardium belts between dissection (between adventitia and intima)and inner intima and strengthened the aortic end by suture in 18 cases. The hemorrhage of anastomotic stoma and the postoperative early prognosis were observed. Results No bleeding complication was found in all the cases. Two cases died, one died of severe low cardiac output syndrome and another died of multiple organ failure. No nervous system complication was found except that 2 cases had delayed revival. No sternum and surgical incision related complication was found. The rest 26 cases were cured and discharged. Conclusion The modified method for aortic end strengthening can not only strengthen the aortic end but also make people be able to find the petechia of anastomotic stoma clearly, then stitch hemostasia could be done effectively. The method is easy to implement and effective, it should be extend in clinic.