Evaluation of Neonatal Left Ventricular Myocardial Contraction via Two-Dimensional Speckle Tracking Imaging / 中国医学影像学杂志

Purpose To use two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging(2D-STI)to evaluate left ventricular myocardial strain in term and preterm neonates.Materials and Methods A total of 81 neonates who accepted echocardiography in Soochow University Affiliated Children's Hospital from February to August 2018 were retrospectively enrolled,including 42 term neonates and 39 preterm neonates.Longitudinal and circumferential peak strain of each segment of left ventricle were measured by 2D-STI,and the average global longitudinal peak strain(GLPS-avg)and the average global circumferential peak strain(GCPS-avg)of left ventricular were measured too.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF-M,LVEF-Simpson),short-axis shortening rate(LVFS-M),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD),and tissue Doppler imaging parameters(E',A' and E'/A')of the septal mitral annulus were also measured.The differences in each segment of left ventricle and echocardiography between term neonates and preterm neonate were further compared.Results There were statistically significant differences in GLPS-avg,the global longitudinal peak strain from the apical two-chamber view(GLPS-a2c),GCPS-avg and the global circumferential peak strain in the middle and apical segments(GCPS-M ang GCPS-A)(t=-3.60--2.18,all P<0.05)between term neonates and preterm neonates,while there were no significant differences between the global longitudinal peak strain from the apical four-chamber and three-chamber view(GLPS-a4c and GLPS-a3c),the global circumferential peak strain in the basal segments(GCPS-M)(all P>0.05).There were statistically significant differences in GLPS-a4c,GLPS-a2c,GLPS-a3c in preterm neonates group(F=3.20,P=0.044),and the strain value GLPS-a4c was the highest.There were statistically significant differences in GCPS-B,GCPS-M,GCPS-A in preterm neonates group(F=79.15,P<0.001).There were statistically significant differences in GCPS-B,GCPS-M,GCPS-A in term neonates group(F=97.95,P<0.001),and the strain value increased from the basal segment to the apical segments.There was statistically significant difference in LVEDD between term neonates and preterm neonates(all P<0.05).There were no statistically significant differences in LVEF-M,LVEF-Simpson,LVFS-M,E',A' and E'/A' between term neonates and preterm neonates(all P>0.05).Conclusion 2D-STI may be a useful method of measuring left ventricular myocardial systolic function and can provide early detection of differences in left ventricular myocardial contraction between term and preterm neonates.

Clinical research progress of Traditional Chinese Medicine treating precancerous lesions of gastric cancer with syndrome differentiation / 国际中医中药杂志

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has certain advantages in the treatment of precancerous lesions of gastric cancer (PLGC) based on the holistic concept and the thought of syndrome differentiation. Currently, it is generally divided into 6 kinds of syndromes: liver and stomach qi stagnation syndrome, liver and stomach heat stagnation syndrome, spleen and stomach weakness syndrome (including spleen and stomach qi deficiency syndrome with coldness), spleen and stomach damp heat syndrome, stomach yin deficiency syndrome and blood stasis in stomach collateral syndrome. Clinically, the doctor should treat PLGC patients according to different syndrome types by using Chinese medicine prescription, which could improve the gastric mucosal pathological state, gastroscopy and clinical symptoms, to rehibit the development of precancerous lesions, reduce the incidence rate of gastric cancer. In the future, the doctors shouldreach the consensus of treating PLGC with TCM diagnosis, and focus on the research of TCM compounds or monomers with obvious curative effect, increase the times of follow-up, and evaluate the long-term curative effect.

Diagnosis of congenital pseudoaneurysm of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa by echocardiography / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective:To review the imaging characteristics and evaluate the diagnostic value of Doppler echocardiography for congenital pseudoaneurysm of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa (PMAIVF).Methods:Between June 2008 and January 2020, 4 patients with PMAIVF were diagnosed by CTA, MRI and operative findings in Shanghai Children′s Medical Center and Children′s Hospital of Soochow University. The echocardiographic characteristics were analyzed retrospectively in these children.Results:PMAIVF was characterized by a pulsatile echo-free sac that expanded in systole and collapsed in diastole with to-and-fro blood flow on color and pulsed-wave Doppler echocardiography between the mitral leaflet and the aortic annulus. Three cases were diagnosed correctly, and 1 case was misdiagnosed as left atrial mass.Conclusions:PMAIVF can be diagnosed accurately by Doppler echocardiography, but it is prone to be misdiagnosed and must be distinguished from aortic root abscess, atrial mass and coronary artery fistula.

Non-Gaussian diffusion MR imaging of glioma: comparisons of multiple diffusion parameters and correlation with histologic grade and MIB-1 (Ki-67 labeling) index.

INTRODUCTION: This study was conducted to compare the association of Gaussian and non-Gaussian magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived parameters with histologic grade and MIB-1 (Ki-67 labeling) index (MI) in brain glioma. METHODS: Sixty-five patients with pathologically confirmed glioma, who underwent diffusion-weighted MRI with 2 b values (0, 1000 s/mm(2)) and 22 b values (≤5000 s/mm(2)), respectively, were divided into three groups of grade II (n = 35), grade III (n = 8), and grade IV (n = 22). Comparisons by two groups were made for apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), slow diffusion coefficient (Dslow), distributed diffusion coefficient (DDC), and heterogeneity index α. Analyses of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were performed to maximize the area under the curve (AUC) for differentiating grade III + IV (high-grade glioma, HGG) from grade II (low-grade glioma, LGG) and grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) from grade II + III (other grade glioma, OGG). Correlations with MI were analyzed for the MRI parameters. RESULTS: On tumor regions, the values of ADC, Dslow, DDC, and α were significantly higher in grade II [(1.37 ± 0.29, 0.70 ± 0.11, 1.39 ± 0.34) (×10(-3) mm(2)/s) and 0.88 ± 0.05, respectively] than in grade III [(0.99 ± 0.13, 0.55 ± 0.07, 1.04 ± 0.20) (×10(-3) mm(2)/s) and 0.80 ± 0.03, respectively] and grade IV [(1.03 ± 0.14, 0.50 ± 0.05, 1.02 ± 0.16) (×10(-3) mm(2)/s) and 0.76 ± 0.04, respectively] (all P < 0.001). The parameter α showed the highest AUCs of 0.950 and 0.922 in discriminating HGG from LGG and GBM from OGG, respectively. Significant correlations with histologic grade and MI were observed for the MRI parameters. CONCLUSION: The non-Gaussian MRI-derived parameters α and Dslow are superior to ADC in glioma grading, which are comparable with ADC as reliable biomarkers in noninvasively predicting the proliferation level of glioma malignancy.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for the detection of testicular ischemia in experimental induced testicular torsion of rabbits / 中华放射学杂志

Objective To evaluate the dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)in detecting experimentally induced testicular ischemia. Methods Thirty healthy male New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned into 6 groups. There were 5 rabbits in each of the following experimental groups: ( 1 ) Normal control, (2) Sham-operated, (3) ischemia of 3 h group, (4) ischemia of 6 h group, (5) ischemia of 12 h group, (6) ischemia of 24 h group. In all experiment groups, the right testis served as the internal control while the left testis served as the experimental side. DCE-MRI for each animal lasts about 10 minutes. Signal enhanced ratios (SERs) of ROI for both sides of each group were calculated by a computer, and parameters of SERs of 30 s, 75 s, 120 s and maximal SER were used for statistical analysis.Time intensity curves (TICs) were made for two sides of each group via Excel 2003 software and classified into 4 types. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the differences of SERs between left and right testis by two independent Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Results In group I and 2, significant enhancement was observed on both testes of 10 rabbits. The enhancement decreased gradually with the elongation of ischemia in torsion groups. Three cases of type Ⅰ and 2 cases of type Ⅱ were observed in group 1,5 cases of type Ⅰ in group two, 2 cases of type Ⅰ and 3 cases of type Ⅱ b in group three, 2 cases of type Ⅰ and 2 cases of type Ⅱ b in group four, 5 cases of type Ⅱ b in group five and 5 cases of type Ⅲ in group six were noticed in the left testes. And in TICs of right testes, all cases showed TICs of type Ⅰ except 2 cases of type Ⅱ a in group six. In four torsion groups, the values for SER75 of the left side were 0. 084%, 0. 076%, 0.164% and 0.065%, while the right side were 0.255%, 0.410%, 0.586% and 0.302% (P ＜0.05). The values for SER120 in group three, five and six were 0.221% , 0.158% and 0.059% for the left side, and 0.405%,0.522% and 0.207% for the right side(P ＜0.05). The values for MSER in group three, five and six were 0.217% ,0.164% and 0.072% for the left side, and 0.405%, 0.586% and 0.302% for the right side(P ＜0.05). Conclusion DCE-MRI technique may be useful in the diagnosis of testicular torsion, which shows potential in the clinical application.

Applications of antisense-RNA technology in filamentous fungal metabolic engineering--a review / 生物工程学报

Filamentous fungi are important industrial microorganisms. The focus on its metabolic engineering is to optimize the metabolic pathway with gene expression regulation technology to meet with the industrial production needs. Antisense RNA technology due to its simplicity compared with the gene knock-out technology has great perspectives in filamentous fungal metabolic control. It is an efficient method for regulating gene expression and a key tool for metabolic engineering. In this article, we addressed the mechanism of antisense RNA technology and its applications in filamentous fungal metabolic engineering. Additionally, future perspectives were discussed.