Abstract: The amniotic fluidderived stem cells (AFSC) possess considerable advantageous characteristics including high proliferation potential, easy availability, low immunogenicity and oncogenicity，and accordance with medical ethnics. Moreover, they do not require the sacrifice of human embryos for their isolation and the cells can differentiate into all three kinds of germs. Accordingly，they initiate a new and very promising field in stem cell research and they will be a potential source of stem cells for therapies related to regeneration medicine of cardiovascular diseases. The research about the AFSC utilization in cardiovascular diseases is just started. Though there were some exciting breakthroughs, there still remain many challenges. In the article，we will discuss AFSC characteristics, influence of amniotic fluid harvesting time on stem cells, isolation and purification, emphasizing mainly on the potential of AFSC differentiation into cardiovascular cells, current situation and problems in this field.
The minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery developed rapidly in last decades. In order to promote the development of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in China, the Chinese Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Committee (CMICS) has gradually standardized the collection and report of the data of Chinese minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery since its establishment. The total operation volume of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in China has achieved substantial growth with a remarkable popularization of concepts of minimally invasive medicine in 2019. The data of Chinese minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery in 2019 was reported as a paper for the first time, which may provide reference to cardiovascular surgeons and related professionals.
ObjectiveTo analyze the papers in cardiovascular surgery field indexed by SCI-Expended between 2008 year and 2012 year from the authors in Chinese Mainland.
MethodsWe searched Web of Science database(2008-2012)on-line and collected the papers on cardiovascular surgery written by the authors in Chinese Mainland. The data of publication time, type of article, journal name, and author name were recorded.
ResultsA total of 427 papers in cardio-vascular surgery field were published from Chinese Mainland including 401 original articles, 10 conference papers, and 16 reviews. Although the number of papers has been increasing since 2008 year, the increase slowed down recently. Most of those authors came from few heart centers in Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai. Most of these papers were published in 7 journals in cardiovascular surgery field with low impact factor.
ConclusionThe authors in Chinese Mainland in cardiovascular field should design more scientific research and improve academic level of paper with high quote rate.
It has been found that the incidence of cardiovascular disease in patients with lower limb amputation is significantly higher than that in normal people, and the risk of developing coronary atherosclerosis is much higher than that in other high-risk groups. Numerous studies have confirmed that high systolic and diastolic blood pressures are potential risk factors for coronary artery disease, and it has been demonstrated that the ascending aortic pressure during diastole increases after amputation. However, the relationship between lower limb amputation and coronary atherosclerosis has not been fully explained from the perspective of hemodynamic environment. Therefore, in this study, a centralized parameter model of the human cardiovascular system and a three-dimensional model of the left coronary artery were established to investigate the effect of amputation on the hemodynamic environment of the coronary artery. The results showed that the abnormal hemodynamic environment induced by amputation, characterized by factors such as increased diastolic pressure in the ascending aorta, led to a significant expansion of the low wall shear stress (WSS) region on the outer lateral aspect of the left coronary artery bifurcation during diastole. The maximum observed increase in the area of low WSS reached up to 50.5%. This abnormal hemodynamic environment elevates the risk of plaque formation in the left coronary artery. Moreover, the more severe the lower limb atrophy, the greater the risk of coronary atherosclerosis in amputees. This study preliminarily reveals the effect of lower limb amputation on the hemodynamic environment of the left coronary artery.
ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of impaired glucose regulation (IGR) and IGR combined with cardiovascular risk factors in rural areas of Chengdu City.
MethodsFrom February to October 2010, we randomly sampled 1 016 patients in a rural community 100 kilometers away from the city center as the study subjects. The investigation was carried out by using questionnaire survey, physical examination and laboratory tests. The standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test was used.
ResultsA total of 1 016 subjects were investigated, among whom there were 431 males and 585 females with an average age of 56 years old. Of these subjects, 333 were diagnosed to have IGR with a rate of 32.77% (333/1 016). The age-adjusted standardized prevalence of pre-diabetes in rural areas in Chengdu was 32.52% (336/1 016), and the male and female prevalence were respectively 30.63% (132/431) and 34.36% (201/585) without significant difference (χ2=1.569，P=0.210). Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was the most common type of glycometabolism abnormality. Women had a significantly higher prevalence of IGT than men. In IGR population, major cardiovascular risk factors were overweight and obesity (40.8%), high low density lipoprotein cholesterol (38.4%), high triglyceride (30.3%), hypertension (23.7%), smoking (24.3%), and drinking alcohol (23.7%). The stratified analysis showed that the prevalence of overweight, obesity and low high density lipoprotein cholesterol in female was significantly higher than that in males, while the prevalence of smoking and drinking alcohol was significantly higher in males.
ConclusionIn rural areas, the prevalence of pre-diabetes is high and complicated with multiple cardiovascular risk factors.
Objective
To analyze the characteristics of pathogens causing bloodstream infection (BSI) after cardiovascular surgery, and provide instructions for prevention and treatment of such kind of disease.
Methods
A retrospective investigation of clinical and pathogenic data of the patients suffering from BSI after cardiovascular surgery in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2015 to December 2016 was performed. There were 61 patients with 36 males and 25 females at average age of 48.2±17.1 years. A percentage of 65.6% (40/61) of the underlying diseases was rheumatic heart disease.
Results
Sixty-five strains were isolated from the blood culture specimens of the 61 patients. Gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria and fungi isolates accounted for 56.9% (37/65), 35.4% (23/65), and 7.7% (5/65), respectively. Among these isolates, Streptococcus spp. was predominant (19/65, 29.2%), followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (8/65, 12.3%), Staphylococcus aureus (6/65, 9.2%), Acinetobacter calcoaceticus- A. baumannii (5/65, 7.7%) and Escherichia coli (5/65, 7.7%). The resistance rate of Streptococcus spp. to erythromycin and clindamycin was 73.4% (14/19) and 63.2% (12/19), while its resistance to cefepime, vancomycin or linezolid was not observed. Staphylococcus spp. showed the resistance rate of 71.4% (10/14) to oxacillin. All of A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii isolates were multidrug resistant (5/5, 100.0%), and 80.0% (4/5) of them were resistant to imipenem. The isolates producing extended spectrum beta-lactamase accounted for 80.0% (4/5) of E. coli.
Conclusion
Streptococcus spp. was the common pathogen causing BSI after cardiovascular surgery. Staphylococcus spp. and gram-negative bacilli show high resistance.
Blood pressure variability (BPV) is a novel predictor related to blood pressure level, and a large number of studies based on the hypertension cohort have shown that BPV is an independent predictor of target organ damages and cardiovascular adverse outcomes. Due to the significant hemodynamic changes, BPV in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hemodialysis is higher than the simple hypertension cohort, suggesting that BPV may be of great significance to patients with chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis. In recent years, studies based on CKD and hemodialysis cohort have published in succession whose results revealed that BPV of this cohort is of great prognostic significance for predicting target organ damages and cardiovascular disease risks. This article aims to provide an overview on these research, so as to survey and predict the clinical significance of BPV in CKD and hemodialytic patients.
Abstract： Arginine vasopressin （AVP） is closely related to the pathogenesis of a variety of cardiovascular diseases and kidney diseases. Currently it is often used for the treatment of severe peripheral vasodilatory shock， and particularly beneficial for patients with refractory catecholamine-resistant vasodilatory shock. For some patients who do not have adequate AVP level in plasma after cardiovascular surgery， external low-dose AVP infusion is helpful to decrease the heart rate, and the dosage and duration of catecholamine use. Early initiation of low-dose AVP infusion may be beneficial for postoperative patients’ hemodynamic recovery without adverse complications. More randomized control trials are needed to provide evidence for rational usage， dosage and duration of AVP administration.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy of n-3 PUFAs (fish oil) for prevention of cardiovascular events. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched from the following electronic databases: PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2009), CBM, and CNKI. Quality assessment and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently. Disagreement was resolved through discussion. All data were analyzed by using Review Manager 4.2 software. Results Five studies involving 37 689 participants met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis results showed that: 1) Compared with placebo, the incidence rates of the cardiovascular death (RR=0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.98), cardiovascular events (RR=0.95, 95%CI 0.91 to 0.98), angina (RR=0.79, 95%CI 0.64 to 0.96), and myocardial infarction (RR=0.79, 95%CI 0.65 to 0.96) could be reduced by n-3 PUFAs (fish oil). 2) There were no significant differences in death from any cause, the hospitalization rates of cardiovascular disease, sudden death, and heart failure (RR=0.95, 95%CI 0.90 to 1.00; RR=0.97, 95%CI 0.93 to 1.02; RR=0.90, 95%CI 0.79 to 1.01; RR=0.98, 95%CI 0.91 to 1.06). 3) Compared with placebo, the incidence rates of the arrhythmia and stroke could be increased, but there were no significant differences (RR=1.14, 95%CI: 0.80 to 1.62; RR=1.12, 95%CI 0.97 to 1.30). Conclusion Compared with placebo, n-3 PUFAs (fish oil) has good effects on reducing the incidence rates of total cardiovascular events, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and angina pectoris, and it has the same efficacy in death from all cause, sudden death, heart failure, and the hospitalization rates of cardiovascular disease. There are no significant differences in the increased rates of arrhythmia and stroke.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the safety of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors on the risk of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.
MethodsDatabases such as the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Elsevier ScienceDirect and EMbase were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about DPP-4 inhibitors for T2DM patients from inception to February 2014. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan5.2 software.
ResultsA total of 20 RCTs involving 10 402 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:there were no significant differences between the DPP-4 inhibitors group and the control group in the cardiovascular adverse events (RR=0.86, 95%CI 0.62 to 1.20, P=0.38) and acute coronary syndrome (RR=0.66, 95%CI 0.37 to 1.17, P=0.15). Subgroup analyses by type of liptins and durations showed there were lower risks of adverse cardiovascular events in the DPP-4 inhibitors group of the sitagliptin subgroup (RR=0.49, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.82, P=0.007) and the duration of ≥52 weeks subgroup (RR=0.62, 95%CI 0.39 to 0.97, P=0.04). No significant difference was found between the two groups in hypertension events (RR=1.09, 95%CI 0.84 to 1.40, P=0.52).
ConclusionThe DPP-4 inhibitors are relatively safe. In the long-term treatment of T2DM, the sitagliptin could not only effectively control the level of blood sugar but also might obtain benefits in cardiovascular aspects.
