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Objective:To investigate the myocardial protective effect of extracorporeal cardiac shock wave therapy (CSWT) combined with sulfur hexafluoride microbubble post-conditioning on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MI/RI) in rats, and to provide theoretical support for clinical treatment of MI/RI.Methods:A total of 32 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: sham operation group (Sham group), MI/RI group (IR group), CSWT group (IR+ SW group), and CSWT combined with sulfur hexafluoride microbubble treatment group (IR+ SW+ MB group), with 8 rats in each group. Therapeutic intervention was performed in IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day after modeling. The left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) of the rats were measured by echocardiography before and after treatment. On the 7th day, myocardial fibrosis was assessed by Masson staining, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis was observed by TUNEL staining. The myocardial apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, BAX, Cleaved-Caspase-3 and Cleaved-Caspase-9 in the infarct boundary area were detected by Western blot. The differences of the above indexes among different groups were compared.Results:①There was no significant change in heart rhythm and heart rate among the groups before and after treatment, and there was no significant difference in heart rate ( P>0.05). ②The echocardiographic results after treatment showed that, compared with IR group, LVEDD and LVESD in IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group decreased in turn, while LVEF and LVFS increased in turn with significant differences between each two groups (all P<0.05). ③Compared with IR group, the degrees of myocardial fibrosis and apoptosis in IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group were alleviated in turn, and the relief in IR+ SW+ MB group was the most obvious. Quantitative analysis showed that compared with IR group, the proportions of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group decreased in turn, and there were significant differences between each two groups (all P<0.05). ④The results of Western blot detection showed that compared with IR group, the levels of Bcl-2 in IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group increased in turn, while the levels of BAX and the activation level of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 protein decreased in turn. These differences were all statistically significant between each two groups (all P<0.05) except for the activation level of Caspase-3 protein between IR+ SW group and IR+ SW+ MB group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:CSWT combined with sulfur hexafluoride microbubble therapy can improve left ventricular remodeling and left ventricular systolic function by inhibiting cardiomyocyte apoptosis.
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Objective:To investigate the effects of early percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after thrombolysis.Methods:A total of 108 patients with STEMI treated in the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2020 to December 2022 were divided into early PCI following thrombolysis group ( n=65) and primary PCI (pPCI) group ( n=43). The general clinical data, and the parameters of routine echocardiography at 1 day after PCI and before discharge were compared between the two groups. Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) was used to evaluate myocardial perfusion at 1 day after PCI and before discharge. Results:There were no significant differences in general clinical data between the early PCI following thrombolysis group and the pPCI group (all P>0.05). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the early PCI following thrombolysis group and pPCI group before discharge was significantly higher than that on the 1st day after PCI(both P<0.05). The difference of LVEF was significant between the early PCI following thrombolysis group and the pPCI group before discharge and 1 day after PCI ( P<0.05). Compared with 1 day after PCI, the global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) of left ventricle increased in early PCI following thrombolysis group and pPCI group before discharge(both P<0.05). The difference of LVGLS between early PCI following thrombolysis group and pPCI group before discharge and 1 day after discharge was statistically significant( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left atrial volume (LAV), ratio of mitral early diastolic velocity to late diastolic velocity (E/A), mean early diastolic velocity of mitral annulus (Em) and E/Em 1 day after PCI and before discharge between early PCI following thrombolysis group and pPCI group (all P>0.05). MCE showed that the MCE score index of early PCI following thrombolysis group and pPCI group before discharge was significantly lower than that of 1 day after PCI(both P<0.001). Compared to the 1 day after PCI, the early PCI following thrombolysis group showed a significant increase in the proportion of normal microvascular perfusion (nMVP) and a decrease in the proportion of delayed microvascular perfusion (dMVP) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) before discharge (all P<0.05). In contrast, the pPCI group demonstrated a significant decrease in the proportion of both nMVP and dMVP before discharge compared to the first day after PCI (all P<0.05). However, the decrease in the proportion of MVO was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Early PCI following thrombolysis and pPCI can enhance left ventricular systolic function and myocardial perfusion in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Early PCI following thrombolysis may offer additional advantages in improving left ventricular systolic function and myocardial perfusion.
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Objective:To evaluate the degree of left atrial fibrosis in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation(AF) using four-dimensional automic left atrial quantitation(4D Auto LAQ).Methods:A total of 60 patients with persistent AF who underwent transcatheter radiofrequency ablation in the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from March 2022 to March 2023 were included. Patients were grouped according to the low-voltage area (mild<5%, moderate 5%-20%, severe>20%). General clinical data, conventional echocardiogram parameters, left atrial strain and related parameters of each group were compared. The relevant factors were obtained by Logistic regression analysis. The factor with the highest accuracy and its cut-off value was obtained by the ROC curve.Results:Sixty patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, were divided into mild low-voltage group(22 cases), moderate low-voltage group(20 cases), and severe low-voltage group(18 cases). There were statistical differences in gender, CHA2DS2-VASc score, peak value of early diastolic velocity of mitral inflow/average peak value of early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity of mitral annulus (E/e′), left atrial diameter (LAD), left atrial volume index (LAVI), left atrial maximal volume (LAVmax), left atrial minimal volume (LAVmin), left atrial total emptying fraction (LAEF), left atrial reservoir longitudinal strain (LASr), left atrial reservoir circumferential strain (LASr-c), left atrial myocardial work (LA MW, LA MW-c), left atrial stiffness (LA stiffness, LA stiffness-c) among the 3 groups(all P<0.05). The LASr had the highest correlation with low voltage area ( rs=-0.814, P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that CHA2DS2-VASc, LAD, LAVI, LAVmax, LAVmin, LAEF, LASr, LASr-C, LA MW, LA MW-C, LA stiffness and LA stiffness-c could all predict the low voltage area(all P<0.05). The LA stiffness had the highest AUC (0.952). The cut-off value of severe low voltage was 1.15, the sensitivity was 94.4%, and the specificity was 83.3%. Conclusions:4D Auto LAQ can be used to evaluate the degree of left atrial fibrosis. The correlation between LA stiffness and substrate voltage mapping is the highest.
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Resident standardization training is a major part of education of medical students after graduation , and is extremely important for high-level physician training and raising the quality of medical treatment. We trained the residents comprehensively according to the characteristics of echocardiography in terms of theoretical knowledge, clinical manipulative skills, clinical thinking ability, scientific research ability and communication and team cooperation ability, and carried out the relative examination according to the training. On the basis of practice, we explored the establishment of a standardized training mode and evaluation system suitable for echocardiography resident doctors in China.