[Factors influencing the choice of atrial septal occluder for transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defects].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors influencing the choice of atrial septal occluder (ASO) for transcatheter closure of patients with secundum atrial septal defect (ASD). METHODS: A total of 1114 ASD patients [388 males, aged from 2 to 75 years, mean age (26.3 +/- 17.0) years] were enrolled. Patients were divided to adult (> 14 years, mean 34.4 years, n = 779) and child (< or = 14 years, mean 7.3 years, n = 335) groups. ASD size in different ultrasound cross-sections was determined by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). ASO size was chosen on the basis of the maximum diameter of the defect (MD). Defect-shapes and rim lengths of ASD, the difference choice of ASO in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: MD of the defects ranged from 5 to 40 mm [mean (19.7 +/- 7.8) mm]. ASD was successfully occluded in 1085 out of 1114 patients (97.4%). Occluder size ranged from 6 to 46 mm [mean (25.8 +/- 8.9) mm] and the difference between occluder size and MD ranged from 2 to 10 mm [mean (6.1 +/- 3.4) mm, ASO/MD ratio 1.3:1]. Though the diameter of the defect was similar between the 2 groups, the size of occluder was significantly larger in adult group than that in child group (ASO/MD ratio 1.1 - 1.6:1 vs. 1.2 - 1.8:1, P < 0.05). MD was significantly correlated with ASO in both groups (r = 0.911 and r = 0.944 in adults and child groups, respectively, all P < 0.01). The size and increment of the occluder used in patients with deficient anterior rims was significantly bigger than patients with sufficient anterior rims (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The maximum diameter of the defect was the major determinant for selecting occluder size and choice of occluder size was also influenced by patient age, defect-shape and defect rim for transcatheter closure of secundum ASD.

Serum glycated albumin, glycated hemoglobin, and arterial stiffness in a general Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Both glycated albumin (GA) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reflect the mean glucose levels. This study was conducted to investigate the relationships among GA, HbA1c, and arterial stiffness in the general population. METHODS: A total of 11,014 participants were included. Serum GA; HbA1c; and arterial stiffness indices, including brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and central systolic blood pressure (cSBP), were measured. Single-factor and multivariate regression analyses were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to compare the predictive value of GA, HbA1c, and their combination for arterial stiffness. All analyses were stratified by sex. RESULTS: Men had a lower GA level than women. GA, HbA1c, and plasma glucose levels were correlated. The levels of baPWV and cSBP increased across sex-specific quartiles of GA and HbA1c (P for trend<0.001 for all). Both GA and HbA1c were positively related to elevated baPWV and cSBP after adjusting for conventional factors (P<0.05 for all). These relationships remained significant when participants were divided into groups with normal glucose tolerance, prediabetes, or diabetes. Regarding screening for elevated baPWV and cSBP, the values of the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for GA were similar to those for HbA1c in men but were lower than those for HbA1c in women. The combination of GA and HbA1c did not improve the AUC compared with HbA1c alone. CONCLUSIONS: Both GA and HbA1c were associated with arterial stiffness. The predictive value of GA for arterial stiffness was similar in men but lower in women compared with that of HbA1c.

Effects of body mass index and weight change on mortality in older men with impaired glucose regulation.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of baseline body mass index (BMI) status and weight change on mortality in older men with impaired glucose regulation (IGR). METHODS: Eight hundred eighty-five men with IGR aged 60 to 90 were included. Baseline and endpoint weight were measured. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality were observed during a median follow-up period of 10years. Multivariate Cox regressions were used to estimate associations between BMI, weight change and mortality. RESULTS: Relative to normal weight, overweight was associated with lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratios, HRs [95% confidence interval, 95% CI]: 0.57 [0.41, 0.78]) and cardiovascular mortality (0.52 [0.29, 0.93]), whereas obesity did not significantly decrease or increase the mortality risk. Furthermore, compared to weight stability, all types of weight change led to increased mortality risk, except small weight gain. Specifically, after adjustment for covariates and the initial weight, the HRs (95% CI) of large weight loss were 1.64 (1.15, 2.34) for all-cause mortality and 1.85 (1.10, 3.14) for cardiovascular mortality, and the HRs (95% CI) of large weight gain were 1.55 (1.01, 2.40) for all-cause mortality and 2.11 (1.04, 4.30) for cardiovascular mortality. Similar associations were observed when weight change was redefined in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Both BMI at baseline and weight change have independent U-shaped associations with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among older men with IGR. The present study suggests that older men with IGR may ensure their best survival by being overweight at baseline or by maintaining their weight regardless of their baseline weight status.

[Complications of transcatheter interventional occlusion of ventricular septal defects].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the complications and their prevention in patients with perimembranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) experiencing transcatheter interventional occlusion. METHODS: From July, 2002 to May, 2004, totally 262 (138 males, 124 females) perimembranous VSD patients underwent transcatheter interventional occlusion in the department. The age ranged from 2 to 18 years (mean 9.3 +/- 5.8 years), and the body weight ranged from 11.0 to 65.0 kg (mean 30.5 kg). The implanted occluder with imported Amplatzer eccentric perimembranous VSD occluder, domestic double-disk, domestic eccentric perimembranous VSD and PDA occluder were attempted in 12, 212, 28 and 6 cases, respectively. Among them, 3 cases were complicated with ductus arteriosus, 4 with atrial septal defects and 1 with patent ductus arteriosus plus atrial septal defect. The associated defects were treated with other occluders at the same time. RESULTS: The diameters of VSD measured by transthoracic echocardiography before occlusion and by ventriculography during the procedure ranged from 2.7 to 13 mm (mean 6.5 mm) and from 1.3 to 14.0 mm (mean 6.8 mm), respectively. The defects in 256 cases (97.7%) were successfully occluded. The implant occluder was from 4 to 16 mm in size. Serious complications occurred in 8 cases (3.1%), including 5 cases of high degree atrioventricular block (AVB) (2.0%), 2 cases of hemolysis (0.8%) and 1 case of displacement of the occluder (0.4%). Amongst 5 cases of high degree AVB, permanent pacemaker was implanted only in 1 case due to high degree AVB 50 days after treatment, whereas the others all recovered. Two cases of hemolysis were completely recovered. One case of occluder displacement was emergently transferred to cardiac surgery. Other complications included residual shunt during 6 month follow-up in 1 case (0.4%), minor aortic regurgitation in 5 cases (2.0%), minor tricuspid regurgitation during 6 month follow-up in 4 cases (1.6%), and accelerated idioventricular rhythm or accelerated atrio-ventricular junctional tachycardia combined with atrioventricular interference-dissociation by ECG in 75 cases (29%) but they recovered after 3 - 5 days of corticosteroid treatment. Forty-one cases (16%) complicated with complete or incomplete right bundle branch block, of whom 50% recovered during follow-up. Still, there were 4 cases (1.6%) who were complicated with complete left bundle branch block but were all recovered during follow-up and 26 cases (10%) who were complicated with intraventricular block. There were no Significant difference in complications between cases who accepted imported Amplatzer occluders and domestic occluders. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter interventional occlusion is a safe, effective and ideal method with low incidence of serious complications for perimembranous VSD. Long term follow-up and clinical research should be carried out to improve the level of VSD interventional therapy.