Diagnostic value of thickness ratio between noncompacted and compacted myocardium of different phases with conventional and left heart contrast echocardiography in noncompaction cardiomyopathy / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective:To analyze the diagnostic value of thickness ratio between noncompacted and compacted myocardium (NC/C ratio) measured by echocardiography at end-systole and end-diastole comparatively in left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC).Methods:Thirty-five patients with suspected LVNC were collected and underwent conventional (2DE) and left ventricular opacification (LVO) in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from June 2019 to June 2020. The distribution and detection rate of two-layered segments, non-compaction (NC) segments and their NC/C ratios were comparatively analyzed at end-diastole and end-systole using 2DE, LVO and combined techniques respectively. With the diagnostic criteria of end-diastolic NC/C ratio>2.3 or end-systolic NC/C ratio>2.0, echocardiographic results were also recorded and compared with cMRI results.Results:Compared with 2DE, the number of detected segments was increased ( P<0.001), but the numbers of two-layered segments and NC segments were not significantly improved in end-systole using 2DE combined with LVO ( P>0.006). The diagnostic accuracy was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). However, when observing in end-diastole, the detected numbers of 3 kinds of segments were significantly increased using 2DE+ LVO in comparison with 2DE (all P<0.001), and the diagnostic accuracy was also significantly improved ( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the detected rates of two-layered and NC semgents between 2DE+ LVO and cMRI ( P>0.006). 2DE+ LVO in end-diastole resulted in the highest diagnostic sensitivity (88.9%) and accuracy (85.7%), and also the largest area under ROC curve (0.95). Conclusions:The combination of 2DE and LVO can detect more NC segments, and diagnostic accuracy of end-diastolic NC/C ratio is higher than that in end-systolic in patients with LVNC.

Clinical and immunologic features in severe and moderate forms of Coronavirus Disease 2019

BackgroundSince late December, 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia cases caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, and continued to spread throughout China and across the globe. To date, few data on immunologic features of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported. MethodsIn this single-centre retrospective study, a total of 21 patients with pneumonia who were laboratory-confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan Tongji hospital were included from Dec 19, 2019 to Jan 27, 2020. The immunologic characteristics as well as their clinical, laboratory, radiological features were compared between 11 severe cases and 10 moderate cases. ResultsOf the 21 patients with COVID-19, only 4 (19%) had a history of exposure to the Huanan seafood market. 7 (33.3%) patients had underlying conditions. The average age of severe and moderate cases was 63.9 and 51.4 years, 10 (90.9%) severe cases and 7 (70.0%) moderate cases were male. Common clinical manifestations including fever (100%, 100%), cough (70%, 90%), fatigue (100%, 70%) and myalgia (50%, 30%) in severe cases and moderate cases. PaO2/FiO2 ratio was significantly lower in severe cases (122.9) than moderate cases (366.2). Lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in severe cases (0.7 x 10{square}/L) than moderate cases (1.1 x 10{square}/L). Alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase levels, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and ferritin were significantly higher in severe cases (41.4 U/L, 567.2 U/L, 135.2 mg/L and 1734.4 ug/L) than moderate cases (17.6 U/L, 234.4 U/L, 51.4 mg/L and 880.2 ug /L). IL-2R, TNF- and IL-10 concentrations on admission were significantly higher in severe cases (1202.4 pg/mL, 10.9 pg/mL and 10.9 pg/mL) than moderate cases (441.7 pg/mL, 7.5 pg/mL and 6.6 pg/mL). Absolute number of total T lymphocytes, CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells decreased in nearly all the patients, and were significantly lower in severe cases (332.5, 185.6 and 124.3 x 106/L) than moderate cases (676.5, 359.2 and 272.0 x 106/L). The expressions of IFN-{gamma} by CD4+T cells tended to be lower in severe cases (14.6%) than moderate cases (23.6%). ConclusionThe SARS-CoV-2 infection may affect primarily T lymphocytes, particularly CD4+T cells, resulting in significant decrease in number as well as IFN-{gamma} production, which may be associated with disease severity. Together with clinical characteristics, early immunologic indicators including diminished T lymphocytes and elevated cytokines may serve as potential markers for prognosis in COVID-19.

Research progress in Madelung′s disease / 中华整形外科杂志

Madelung′s disease is a rare lipid metabolic disorder with unclear mechanism, characterized by the formation of diffuse uncapsulated lipomas in face, neck, shoulder and other body areas. This disease mainly affect middle-aged male, and is related to alcohol abuse. The treatment nowadays is only palliative surgery with a high recurrence rate, including lipectomy and liposuction. Both of them have advantages and disadvantages.

Research on specialist training of clinical cardiac electrophysiology physicians / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Science of cardiac electrophysiology (EP), a most complicated professional branch of car-diovascular medicine, is composed of theoretical knowledge of EP, anatomical knowledge, catheter manipu-lation skills, and antiarrhythmic drug therapy. Longer growth period is involved in clinical cardiac EP physicians due to abstract and complicated electrophysiology knowledge. Starting with simple operation and case to stimulate students' interest in learning, this study focuses on the four teaching modules such as the theory of electrophysiology, the knowledge of anatomy, the skill of the operation of the catheter and the use of antiarrhythmic drugs. It also guides and trains students' simplified habit of thinking and independent thinking and induction learning ability, which improves the cardiac electrophysiologic doctors' efficiency of clinical practice.

The Association Between Fasting C-peptide and Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Gastroparesis in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The relationship between C-peptide levels and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in type 2 diabetic patients is not clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between fasting C-peptide and GI symptoms of gastroparesis in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: We recruited 333 type 2 diabetic patients into the present study. All patients filled out questionnaires of gastroparesis cardinal symptom index (GCSI) to evaluate GI symptoms. Hospital anxiety and depression scale were adopted to define anxiety and depression. Patients with GCSI scores ≥ 1.9 were regarded as having symptoms of gastroparesis. RESULTS: In our study, 71 (21.3%) type 2 diabetic patients had GCSI scores ≥ 1.9. In comparison to patients with scores < 1.9, those with scores ≥ 1.9 had significantly lower fasting c-peptide levels (1.49 ng/mL vs 1.94 ng/mL, P < 0.001), higher prevalence of depression (40.9% vs 18.3%, P < 0.001) and anxiety (28.2% vs 13.0%, P = 0.002). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that fasting C-peptide was still significantly associated with symptoms of gastroparesis (odds ratio, 0.67; 95% confidence intervals, 0.48–0.94; P = 0.021), even after adjustments for age, sex, body mass index, HbA1c, current smoking and drinking status, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, linear regressions showed that fasting C-peptide was independently and negatively related to GCSI scores (standardized regression coefficient, −0.29; P < 0.001) in patients with at least one GI symptom. CONCLUSION: GI symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis affect approximately 20% of type 2 diabetes patients and are associated with lower fasting C-peptide levels independent of depression and anxiety status.