Value of Thoracic Echocardiography in the Diagnosis of Acute Heart Failure: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Context: For patients with acute heart failure (AHF), the methods of clinical diagnosis of pulmonary edema mainly include clinical symptoms, laboratory results, and an imaging examination. The common diagnostic methods, such as chest X-rays and computerized tomography (CT) scanning, haven't been completely satisfactory. Objective: The study intended to systematically, quantitatively, and comprehensively evaluate the value of a lung (pulmonary) ultrasound, performed at a patient's bedside, in the diagnosis of acute heart failure (AHF), to provide an objective basis for its clinical application and further research. Design: The research team searched PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, China Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), VIP Full-text Database, Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) for relevant literature, from January 2010 to the present, about the use of a lung ultrasound for diagnosis of AHF patients. The team used keywords to search literature: ultrasound, AHF diagnosis, cardiogenic pulmonary edema, ultrasonic examination, AHF diagnosis, and cardiogenic pulmonary edema. The research team then conducted a meta-analysis of the collected data according to the Cochrane Handbook 5.3 with RevMan 5.3 statistical software. Setting: The study took place at Jinan. Outcome Measures: The research team: (1) evaluated the quality of the included studies; (2) examined the accuracy of a lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of AHF compared to computerized tomography (CT) as well as to the conventional ultrasonic cardiogram (echocardiogram) that a cardiologist performs; (3) determined the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of lung ultrasound using data from two of the included studies; (4) evaluated the data by drawing funnel charts; and (5) examined the publication bias of the included studies. Results: The research team selected six controlled clinical studies, with 345 data samples, for the meta-analysis. The team performed heterogeneity tests for the included research data. For the first test, the team compared the accuracy of lung ultrasound and CT in diagnosing AHF and found obvious heterogeneity, with χ2 = 11.40, df = 3, P = .010, and I2 = 74%. Based on an analysis using a random effects model, the team found no significant differences between the two methods in the diagnosis of AHF (P = .35). For the second test, the team compared the accuracy of lung ultrasound and an ultrasonic cardiogram in diagnosing AHF and found that the data didn't differ significantly, with χ2 = 0.08, df = 1, P = .78, I2 = 0%. Based on an analysis using a fixed effects model, the team found that the accuracy of the lung ultrasound in diagnosing AHF was significantly higher than that of ultrasonic cardiogram (P = .01). In the two studies, the sensitivity and specificity were high. The majority of the funnel charts were symmetrical, but a few were asymmetrical, suggesting a publication bias, which the heterogeneity in the studies and the limited number of examined examples may explain. Conclusions: Lung ultrasound is of great value in the diagnosis of AHF. It's highly efficient, has prospects for broad clinical application, and is worth popularizing, benefiting patients. Scholars need to verify the current study's findings in follow-up studies and in more high-quality case-control trials.

Enterolactone has stronger effects than enterodiol on ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is one of the three leading gynecological malignancies, characterized by insidious growth, highly frequent metastasis, and quick development of drug resistance. As a result, this disease has low 5-year survival rates. Estrogen receptor inhibitors were commonly used for the treatment, but only 7% to 18% of patients respond to anti-estrogen therapies. Therefore, more effective therapies to inhibit estrogen-related tumors are urgently needed. Recently, phytoestrogens, such as lignans with estrogen-like biological activities, have attracted attention for their potential effects in the prevention or treatment of estrogen-related diseases. Enterodiol (END) and enterolactone (ENL) are mammalian lignans, which can reduce the risk of various cancers. However, the effects of END and ENL on ovarian cancer are not adequately documented. METHODS: We used in vitro assays on the ES-2 cell line to evaluate the inhibiting effects of END and ENL on ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion and migration ability and in vivo xenograft experiments on nude mice to validate the anticancer effects of END and ENL. RESULTS: The in vitro assays demonstrated that high-dose END and ENL could obviously inhibit ovarian malignant properties, including cancerous proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Compared to END, ENL behaved in a better time-dose dependent manner on the cancer cells. The in vivo experiments showed that END (1 mg/kg), ENL (1 mg/kg) and ENL (0.1 mg/kg) suppressed tumor markedly, and there were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in tumor weight and volume. Compared to END, which have serious side effects to the animals at high concentration such as 1 mg/kg, ENL had higher anticancer activities and less side effects in the animals than END at the same concentrations, so it would be a better candidate for drug development. CONCLUSION: END and ENL both have potent inhibitory effects on ovarian cancer but ENL possesses a more effective anti-cancer capability and less side effects than END. Findings in this work provide novel insights into ovarian cancer therapeutics with phytoestrogens and encourage their clinical applications.