Hybrid operation for type B aortic dissection involving distal aortic arch.

OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively summarize clinical experiences and mid-term follow-up outcomes of hybrid operation for Type B aortic dissection involving the distal arch. METHODS: From February 2009 to April 2013, 15 consecutive patients (6 males and 9 females) with Type B aortic dissection (acute, n = 10; chronic, n = 5) involving the distal aortic arch underwent a hybrid operation. RESULTS: The patients' median age was 62 (68-44) years. The median hospital stay was 14 (19-11) days. The hybrid procedure was performed in 15 patients comprising seven in zone 1 and eight in zone 2. Technical success was achieved in 100% and no case of paraplegia was reported. Thirty-day mortality and stroke were 0%. At a median follow-up of 12 months (range, 4-52 months), a stroke and death occurred in one patient not associated with an endograft complication. At follow-up, the overall mortality was 6.7% (1 of 15). A computed tomography scan was performed in 13 of 15 patients and thrombus formation was observed in the descending aortic false lumen excluded by the stented graft in most patients. The overall late endoleak rate was 7.7% (1 of 13); retrograde dissection occurred in no patient. There are no differences between acute and chronic aortic dissection or proximal landing zone 1 and landing zone 2 except for proximal endograft dimension. CONCLUSIONS: Hybrid operation for Type B aortic dissection involving the distal aortic arch appears safe and effective at mid-term follow-up and may extend the application of endovascular repair in the treatment of this pathology.

Surgical treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection after coronary artery stenting / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To retrospectively analyze the surgical treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection after coronary artery stenting, and to explore the surgical techniques and surgical indications. Methods    Clinical data of 1 246 consecutive patients who underwent operations on Stanford type A aortic dissection from April 2016 to July 2019 in Beijing Anzhen Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection after coronary artery stenting were enrolled. Results    Finally 19 patients were collected, including 16 males and 3 females with an average age of 54±7 years ranging from 35 to 66 years. There were 11 patients in acute phase, 15 patients with AC (DeBakey Ⅰ) type and 4 patients with AS (DeBakey Ⅱ) type. In AC type, there were 10 patients receiving Sun's surgery and 5 patients partial arch replacement. Meanwhile, coronary artery bypass grafting was performed in 7 patients and mitral valve replacement in 1 patient. Stents were removed from the right coronary artery in 4 patients. In this group, 1 patient died of multiple organ failure in hospital after operation combined with malperfusion of viscera. Eighteen patients recovered after treatment and were discharged from hospital. The patients were followed up for 30 (18-56) months. One patient underwent aortic pseudoaneurysm resection, one thoracic endovascular aortic repair, one emergency percutaneous coronary intervention due to left main artery stent occlusion, and one underwent femoral artery bypass due to iliac artery occlusion. Conclusion    Iatrogenic aortic dissection has a high probability of coronary artery bypass grafting at the same time in patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection after coronary artery stenting. Complicated type A aortic dissection after percutaneous coronary intervention should be treated with surgery aggressively.

Influential factors and interventions of aortic remodeling in residual aortic dissection after surgical repairs / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

The aortic dissection is a critical emergency in cardiovascular surgery and can be classified as Stanford type A and type B aortic dissection depending on whether the ascending aorta is involved. Currently, the mainstream treatment option for type A aortic dissection is open surgery, while type B dissection can be treated by interventional therapy, open surgery, or optimal medical therapy depending on the situation. However, regardless of the treatment option, it is difficult to resolve all the problems at once. As a result, residual aortic dissection is commonly found in patients with aortic dissection. This article will review the hot issues of aortic remodeling in terms of the definition, prognosis, and risk factors.

Surgical repair of type Ⅱ right-sided aortic arch with Kommerell diverticulum / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To summarize our experience and outcomes of surgical repair of type Ⅱ right-sided aortic arch(RAA) with Kommerell's diverticulum(KD).Methods:From May 2010 to August 2020, a total of 13 patients with type Ⅱ RAA and KD underwent surgery at our center. Mean age was(50.46±10.31) years, 10 were male, and 3 were female. All patients had an aneurysmal KD and aberrant left subclavian artery(ALSA). Preoperative comorbidities included type B aortic dissection in 1 case, aortic arch pseudoaneurysm in 2 cases, and type B intramural hematoma in 2 cases, respectively. Eight(61.5%) patients underwent stented elephant trunk procedures under moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest combined with selective antegrade cerebral perfusion via median sternotomy, and all of them had ALSA reconstruction. Five(38.5%) patients underwent distal arch and descending thoracic aortic replacement through a right posterolateral thoracotomy, the ALSA was reconstructed or ligated in 1 each, and ALSA embolization was performed before surgery in the other 3 cases.Results:No operation deaths occurred. Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred in 2 cases. There was 1(7.69%) in-hospital death. Follow-up was complete in 100 % at mean(5.28±3.84) years. No late death occurred. A persistent anastomotic leak of the proximal arch was detected in a patient who underwent stented elephant trunk procedure, but no aortic dilatation or tracheal and esophageal compression was observed during follow-up. Meanwhile, aortic events, limb ischemia, or symptoms of tracheal and esophageal compression were not observed in the remaining 11 patients.Conclusion:Surgical repair of type Ⅱ RAA with KD can achieve favorable early and midterm outcomes. Surgical strategies should be chosen based on the anatomy of the aorta and whether it is combined with compression symptoms.

New aortic arch-clamping technique in Sun’s procedure to repair acute Type A aortic dissection: an early clinical analysis of 67 cases in a single center / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of new arch-clamping technique in Sun’s procedure to repair acute type A aortic dissection.Methods:67 consecutive patients with acute type A aortic dissection who underwent total arch replacement and frozen elephant trunk implantation(TAR+ FET) from Dec 2019 to Dec 2022 with using new arch-clamping technique during operation. Relative intraoperative and postoperative variables and complications were compared.Results:Cardiopulmonary bypass time was(166.66±32.81)min, the aortic occlusion time was(100.49±19.96)min, the circulatory arrest time was(3.97±1.63)min, the lowest nasopharyngeal temperature was(25.716±1.304)℃, and the lowest bladder temperature was(26.209±1.552)℃. The whole group died in hospital in 2 cases(2.98%), cerebral infarction in 3 cases(4.48%), transient neurological dysfunction in 4 cases(5.97%), paraplegia patients in 1 case(1.49%), renal failure requiring continuous dialysis in 4 cases(5.97%).Conclusion:New arch-clamping technique decrease postoperative complication, and is a safe and feasible innovative approach to effectively improve surgical outcome of Sun’s procedure for repair of acute type A aortic dissection.

Application of neoadventitia technique in root repair of acute type A aortic dissection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the neoadventitia technique for root repair in acute type A aortic dissection(ATAAD).Methods:From January 2019 to February 2022, a total of 94 patients with ATAAD who underwent surgical treatment in Beijing Anzhen Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. According to the different treatment methods for the aortic root, the patients were divided into the neoadventitia technique group(58 cases) and the Bentall group(36 cases). The perioperative data and postoperative follow-up results of the two groups were compared, and the efficacy of the new adventitia technique in acute type A aortic dissection was analyzed.Results:There were no intraoperative deaths. The 30-day mortality was 3.4% and 5.6% in the neoadventitia group and Bentall group, respectively ( P=0.636). The cardiopulmonary bypass time[(154.3±29.8)min, P<0.001] and aortic clamp time[(94.7±20.6)min, P<0.001)]were significantly shorter in the neoadventitia group, compared with the Bentall group. Aortic regurgitation was significantly improved after the operation (0.33±0.50 vs. 1.02±0.80, P<0.001). No aortic root-related secondary intervention occurred during follow-up. There was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups( P=0.248). Conclusion:Neoadventitia root repair is a safe and feasible method for the treatment of ATAAD, which has good short-term and mid-term efficacy.

Gender-related differences of clinical features and perioperative treatment outcomes in patients with type A aortic dissection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the gender differences in the clinical characteristics and perioperative outcomes of patients with type A aortic dissection in our institution.Methods:From January 2019 to January 2020, total 405 patients underwent surgical treatment for type A aortic dissection at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, including extensive aortic repair (total aortic arch replacement combined with stenting elephant trunk implantation) and limited aortic repair. In the entire cohort, male 295 cases, female 110 cases. All measures in this study were expressed as ± s or median(quartiles) and analyzed by Student t test for variables or non- parametric tests; count data were expressed as frequencies and percentages and analyzed by χ2 test and Fisher exact probability test. Independent risk factors were analyzed by logistic multivariate regression. Results:Females were older than males[(53.3 ± 12.4)years old vs. (47.1 ± 11.0)years old, P<0.001] and had significantly higher proportion of diabetes(9.1% vs. 4.1%, P=0.047) and previous cerebrovascular disease (11.8% vs. 5.8%, P=0.038). Females had a lower proportion of total aortic arch replacement combined with elephant trunk implantation (64.5% vs. 82.7%, P<0.001), while aortic cross-clamp time[168.0(144.8, 201.5) minutes vs. 190.0 (163.0, 217.0) minutes, P<0.001] and CPB time[99.0 (79.8, 118.0) min vs. 107.0 (91.0, 126.0) min, P=0.006] were significantly shorter than males. Females had significantly higher rates of pulmonary infection (14.5% vs. 5.8%, P=0.004) and stroke than males (15.5% vs. 8.1%, P=0.030). The difference in the proportion of postoperative deaths between female and male TAAD patients was not statistically significant (3.6% vs. 7.8%). Logistics multivariable regression analysis found that female was an independent risk factor for postoperative stroke ( OR=2.574, 95% CI: 1.198-5.531, P=0.015) and pulmonary infection ( OR=2.610, 95% CI: 1.180-5.772, P=0.018). Conclusion:Gender did not affect mortality after TAAD repair significantly, but females increased the risk of stroke and pulmonary infection after TAAD surgery.

The influence of COVID-19 infection on treatments of patients with acute type A aortic dissection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the differences in outcomes of surgical strategies and prognosis of patients with acute type A aortic dissection(ATAAD) during the period of COVID-19 Omicron variant epidemic compared with the non-epidemic period.Methods:Clinical data were retrospectively collected from ATAAD patients during the COVID-19 Omicron variant epidemic(December 7, 2022 to January 10, 2023) and during the non-epidemic period(December 7, 2019 to January 10, 2020) to compare the differences in surgical strategies, perioperative mortality, and perioperative complication rates in ATAAD patients during the two different periods.Results:There were 14 patients in the COVID-19 infected group and 43 patients in the control group. Patients in the infected group had a shorter mean aortic clamp time[(89.71±16.27)min vs.(110.09±28.99)min, P<0.01], a significantly higher postoperative mortality rate relative to the control group(21.43% vs. 2.33%, P=0.02), a significantly longer length of stay in the ICU(3 days vs. 2 days, P=0.04) and the duration of intubation time(34 h vs. 14 h, P<0.01), and the incidence of adverse events, mainly cerebral infarction, was higher in infected group(28.57% vs. 6.98%, P=0.03). Conclusion:During the COVID-19 Omicron variant strain epidemic, our center preferred a more conservative surgical strategy in COVID-19 infected patients. Although the COVID-19 infection increased the postoperative mortality and complication rate of ATAAD, patients still achieve a more satisfactory outcome. Therefore, surgical treatment should be timely performed for ATAAD patients.

Midterm clinical results of Sun's procedure with median resternotomy / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To summarize the clinical data of Sun's procedure(total aortic arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk technique) in the treatment of complex aortic arch disease after previous cardiac surgery.Methods:From January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020, a total of 55 patients underwent resternotomy Sun's procedure in the Aortic Surgery Center of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, including 41 males and 14 females, with a mean age of(45.4±12.7) years old, were retrospectively analyzed. The indications of primary cardiac surgery included type A aortic dissection, aortic root or ascending aortic aneurysm, heart valve surgery, and coronary heart disease. Indications for reoperation included residual aortic dissection larger than 55 mm in diameter, aortic aneurysm dilation, new type A aortic dissection, anastomotic leakage with symptoms, and pseudoaneurysm. All the operations were performed under general anesthesia and median resternotomy, total aortic arch replacement with the stented elephant trunk implantation and were performed by anterograde unilateral or bilateral cerebral perfusion.Results:There was no intraoperative death, and the postoperative mortality was 9.1%(5/55). The causes of death were 2 cases of low cardiac output, 1 case of respiratory failure, 1 case of cerebral complications, and 1 case of gastrointestinal bleeding. Except death, there were 2 cases of postoperative cerebral complications(2/50, 4%), 5 cases of spinal cord injury(transient paraplegia)(5/50, 10%), the median duration of ventilator use was 17 hours(14-42 h). Other postoperative complications included respiratory insufficiency requiring ventilatory support longer than 48 hours(8/50, 16%), renal insufficiency requiring temporary dialysis(2/50, 4%). The follow-up time was(25.9±11.2) months(10-47 months), during which 1 case died due to cerebral complication, 4 cases underwent total thoracoabdominal aorta replacement, and 1 case underwent anastomotic leakage repair.Conclusion:It is safe and effec to perform Sun's procedure(total aortic arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk technique) in the treatment of complex arch disease after previous cardiac surgery.

Anzhen hospital expert experience on perioperative treatment principles of cardiovascular surgery for patients infected with COVID-19 / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

The end of the COVID-19 infection peak in 2022 prompts a backlog of cardiovascular surgical patients to gradually return to the hospital, resulting in a surge in cardiovascular surgeries. However, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinical practice of cardiovascular surgery faces many problems. Therefore, organized by Beijing Anzhen Hospital, experts in cardiovascular surgery and related fields have formulated hospital expert experience on perioperative treatment principles of cardiovascular surgery for patients infected with COVID-19. This article summarizes the clinical decision-making of patients requiring cardiovascular surgery after COVID-19 infection, and advises on the corresponding recommendations according to the existing evidence-based medical evidence as well as the actual clinical practice experience of relevant experts. The main content of the article includes special requirements for cardiovascular surgical treatment indications in patients with COVID-19 infection, selection of surgical timing, special requirements of preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative management, etc., which aims to provide COVID-19-infected patients with guidance on rational decision-making when receiving cardiovascular surgery.

The advances of microRNA in aortic aneurysms / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Aortic aneurysm (AA) is a vascular disease involving the progressive dilation of aorta diameter. It is usually asymptomatic but with high mortality once rupture. Currently, there is no effective pharmacologic treatment. MicroRNA specifically refers to non-coding small RNAs consisting of 19-25 nucleotides. The characteristic of microRNA targeting multiple genes seems to form a complicated regulation network, which receives considerable attention. Emerging studies show that microRNAs are closely related to the occurrence and development of AA. Many microRNAs are involved in multiple cell processes and functions and may participate in the pathogenesis of AA, including endothelial cell dysfunction, inflammatory cell infiltration, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, and extracellular matrix degradation. This article will describe the animal models for AA research and the latest progression of microRNA and AA.

The long-term outcomes of one-stage hybrid procedure for aortic arch pathologies / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To analyze the long-term outcomes of hybrid arch repair(HAR) treating aortic arch pathologies.Methods:Between January 2009 and January 2018, 87 consecutive patients underwent HAR for aortic arch pathologies at Beijing Anzhen Hospital. 76 were males. 2 cases were in zone 0, 46 cases were in zone 1, and 39 cases were in zone 2. The zones of the aortic arch were defined following the Ishimaru classification.Results:Five(5.7%) operative death occurred. 13 patients(19.1%) died during the follow-up. The overall survival rate was 88.4%, 83.3%, 83.3%, 49.8% at 1, 3, 5, 10 year, respectively. Multivariate Cox proportional risk analysis showed that stroke( HR=20.626, 95% CI: 2.698-157.685, P=0.004) was an independent risk factor for short-term death. Stroke( HR=16.234, 95% CI: 4.103-64.229, P<0.001) and spinal cord infury( HR=11.060, 95% CI: 2.150-56.893, P=0.004) were independent risk factors for long-term death. Conclusion:In conclusion, HAR could be an alternative procedure for the patients that are not suitable for open repair under the premise of strict control of indications. In the future, the risk assessment system and uniform operational indications for HAR should be further established.

Clinical outcomes of redo median sternotomy on proximal aortic repair / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To summarize the clinical outcomes and experience of redo median sternotomy on proximal aortic repair. Investigate the relationship between first operation and reoperation, reoperation indications, cardiopulmonary bypass strategy, intraoperative technical details, early and mid-term postoperative results.Methods:There were 28 patients underwent 29 times of redo median sternotomy on proximal aorta from April 2017 to December 2019. There were 23 males (79.3%) with an average age of (45.1±12.7) years (26-79 years), 15 Marfan syndrome (15/29, 51.7%) and 3 Behcet's disease (3/29, 10.3%). The primary operation included aortic valve or mitral valve replacement, Bentall procedure, ascending aortic replacement, simultaneous abdominal aortic replacement, Sun's procedure and coronary artery bypass grafting. The indications for reoperation were: aortic root aneurysm or coronary artery aneurysm, anastomotic leakage, perivalvular leakage due to inflammatory aortic disease, acute or chronic type A aortic dissection and aortic root abscess, aortic arch aneurysm. The surgical methods were Bentall, Cabrol, wheat, aortic valve sparing root replacement with replantation, anastomotic leakage repair, CABG, total arch replacement + stent elephant trunk implantation (Sun's procedure), ascending aorta to abdominal aorta bypass, abdominal aortic replacement.Results:One patient (3.4%) died in hospital because of severe postoperative pulmonary complications, consolidation of both lungs, ARDS and hypoxia. Postoperative low cardiac output was occurred in 2 cases (6.9%), 1 case was cured by ECMO, and 1 case died half a year after operation during follow up period. Re-exploration for postoperative hemorrhage was occurred in three cases (10.3%). Renal failure requires dialysis was 3 cases (10.3%), and transient paresis was 1 cases (3.4%), respectively. All of them were recovered before discharge. During the follow-up period, one patient died of multiple organ failure due to low cardiac output, and one patient underwent total thoracoabdominal aortic replacement. One patient underwent Cabrol for aneurysm of the coronary artery after Bentall procedure. One year later, type A dissection occurred again and Sun's procedure was performed through a median sternotomy.Conclusion:Reoperation of proximal aorta after cardiac and aortic surgery is safe and effective, with good short-term and medium-term results. Comprehensive preoperative evaluation, successful sternotomy, establishment of cardiopulmonary bypass and effective organ protection are the key to successful operation. Patients with aortic diseases, especially Marfan syndrome, are more likely to undergo reoperation. Close follow-up and timely reoperation are necessary to avoid aortic rupture. Sun's procedure is suitable for redo complex arch operation.

Arch-clamping technique for surgical repair of acute Type A aortic dissection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of arch-clamping technique in Sun’s procedure to repair acute type A aortic dissection.Methods:20 consecutive patients[17 males with mean age of (49.7±10.9)years old] with acute type A aortic dissection who underwent total arch replacement and frozen elephant trunk implantation (TAR+ FET) from May 2019 to April 2020 were divided into group with using arch-clamping technique during operation (arch-clamping group) or group without (traditional group). Circulatory arrest time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, recovery time, ventilation time, platelet count during the first 3 days postoperatively, blood loss during the first 12 h postoperatively, death, cerebral infarction and acute renal failure were compared. Patients with advanced age(age>70 years old ), or malperfusion syndrome preoperatively or who did not receiving TAR+ FET surgery were excluded from this study.Results:Circulatory arrest time[(4.1±0.6 )min vs. (17.2±2.6)min, P=0.001] and cardiopulmonary bypass time[(158.4±6.8 )min vs. (198.2±12.6)min, P=0.01] were significantly lower in arch-clamping group, compared with traditional group. Postoperative recovery time[(8.9±2.6 )h vs. (16.0±7.3)h, P=0.94] and ventilation time[(13.6±2.2)h vs. (34.1±14.3)h, P=0.18] were non significantly lower in arch-clamping group. Although postoperative platelet counts were higher in arch-clamping group during the first three days, those difference did not reach statistical significance ( P>0.05). All patients were discharged alive. There was no significant difference among the two group with respect to drainage during the first 12 h postoperatively, death, cerebral infarction and acute renal failure. Conclusion:Arch-clamping technique decrease circulatory arrest time dramatically and provide good protection of brain, coagulation and renal function by shortening ischemia time, thereby reducing postoperative complications. It is a safe and feasible innovative approach to effectively improve surgical outcome of Sun’s procedure for repair of acute type A aortic dissection.

The clinical value of 18F-FDG PET/CT dual-time-point imaging in diagnosing aortic graft infection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT dual-time-point imaging (DTPI) in the diagnosis of aortic grafts infection (AGI). Methods:Forty-two patients with suspected AGI were prospectively recruited in this DTPI study from October 2014 to October 2021. There were 35(83%) males and 7 females, mean age (54±15) years old, range 22-79 years old. PET/CT image quality was scored as 5 grading scale. Semi-quantitative analysis of DTPI data was performed using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of suspected AGI lesions. The percentage of SUVmax change between initial and delayed images were recorded as retention index (RI). Management of Aortic Graft Infection Collaboration (MAGIC) criteria were used as the diagnostic reference criteria for AGI.Results:According to the MAGIC criteria, 27 patients (64%) were positive for AGI, and 15 patients (36%) were negative. The mean RI of AGI was higher than that of non-AGI ones[(26.7±18.9)% vs. (6.4 ±18.8)%, P<0.01]. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of initial SUVmax ≥6 with the presence of AGI was 88.9%, 73.3%, and 83.3%, respectively. Delayed SUVmax ≥6 improved the sensitivity (96.3%) and accuracy (88.1%) for diagnosing AGI. DTPI with 15% increment as the optimal cut-off value of RI improved the specificity (93.3%) and accuracy (90.5%) for diagnosing AGI. Fifteen (56%, 15/27) AGI patients had improved image quality grading on the delayed images, leading to more accurately delineating the detailed extent of the infected aortic graft. Conclusion:18F-FDG PET/CT DTPI has better diagnostic performance for AGI than conventional Single-time-point PET/CT imaging by improving image quality as well as enhancing delineation of infected aortic graft extent.

The clinical effects of minimally invasive versus conventional coronary artery bypass grafting for coronary heart disease: A retrospective cohort study / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective     To compare the mid- and long-term efficacy of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS) versus conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods     This study analyzed 679 patients with coronary heart disease treated in the Minimally Invasive Heart Center of Beijing Anzhen Hospital from 2015 to 2019, including 532 males and 147 females with an average age of 61.16 years. A total of 281 patients underwent MICS (a MICS group) and 398 patients underwent conventional CABG (a CABG group). The clinical data of the patients in the two groups were analyzed. Results    The average operation time was longer (P<0.001), the total hospital stay was shorter (P<0.001), and the amount of drainage 24 h after the operation was less (P=0.029) in the MICS group. There was no statistical difference in the incidence of perioperative complications between the two groups. The median follow-up time was 2.68 years. The follow-up results showed that the total incidence of cumulative main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in the CABG group was higher at 2 years (6.2% vs. 3.8%) and 4 years (9.3% vs. 7.6%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). There was no statistical difference in 2- or 4-year all-cause death between the two groups (3.5% vs. 2.8%, 5.6% vs. 2.8%, P>0.05). At the same time, there was no statistical difference in the incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke or revascularization between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion    Compared with conventional CABG, MICS can achieve satisfactory mid- and long-term outcomes.

Preoperative ascending aorta diameter and prognosis analysis of patients with acute type A aortic dissection / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the preoperative ascending aorta diameter in patients with acute type A aortic dissection in the Chinese population, compares and analyze the differences in preoperative blood biomarkers, and evaluate the impact of the preoperative ascending aorta diameter in this part of patients on the short-term prognosis of patients.Methods:A collection of 641 patients with acute type A aortic dissection who were enrolled in the " Acute Aortic Syndrome High-Risk Early Warning and Intervention Study" project from January 2018 to January 2020 were collected. Divide the patients into two groups (group Ⅰ<55 mm, group Ⅱ≥55 mm) according to the preventive intervention value of ascending aorta diameter recommended by the guideline for studying preoperative ascending aorta diameter difference in blood biomarkers and the influence of ascending aorta diameter on the short-term prognosis of patients. All patients had CT scans to assess the diameter of the ascending aorta before operation.Results:In this study, all patients with acute type A aortic dissection had a mean preoperative ascending aorta diameter of (46.9±9.7)mm. The preoperative ascending aorta diameter of all patients was less than 55 mm, accounted for 84.1%. Male patients were more likely to have aortic dissection than females; most patients' age was less than 60 years old. The preoperative blood inflammatory index counts were higher in the ascending aorta diameter ≥55 mm group. However, the long-term prognosis of patients with different ascending aorta diameters before surgery was not apparent in this study. The preoperative survival rate and short-term survival rate of patients with ascending aorta diameter <55 mm were higher than those of other groups, but the difference was not statistically significant.Conclusion:In patients with acute type A aortic dissection, the diameter of the ascending aorta is usually less than 55 mm. Moreover, the blood inflammatory index counts are high in the preoperative ascending aorta diameter ≥55 mm group. Meanwhile, patients with smaller ascending aorta diameter have better survival rate and short-term prognosis.

Effect of rumination on suicide attempts in adolescents with depressive disorder / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To explore the relationship between rumination and depression and suicide attempts, and the mediating effect of rumination between depression and suicide attempts in adolescents with depressive disorder.Methods:Clinical interviews and questionnaires were conducted on 331 adolescents aged 11-18 with depressive disorders.Depressive symptoms were assessed with patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Rumination was assessed with ruminative responses scale-10 (RRS-10), and Chinese version of the sociality module of MINI5.0 was used to assess suicide.SPSS 23.0 software was applied to descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, t-test, Spearman correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis, and the SPSS macro program PROCESS V 3.4 was used for Bootstrap mediating effect. Results:The incidence of suicide attempts in adolescents with depressive disorder was 53.78%, which was significantly higher in girls (59.48%) than that in boys (40.40%), and the difference was significant ( χ2=10.16, P<0.01). In contrast to the non-suicide attempt group, suicide attempt group had higher scores on PHQ-9((11.08±9.26) vs (14.43±7.49), t=-3.634, P<0.01), brooding ((10.76±3.89) vs (12.44±3.87), t=-3.926, P<0.01), reflection ((10.05±3.54) vs (11.20±3.33), t=-3.044, P<0.01) and rumination total score ((20.81±6.78) vs (23.64±6.42), t=-3.898, P<0.01). Regression analysis revealed that girl ( β=0.175, t=3.228, P=0.001), depressive symptoms ( β=0.168, t=3.082, P=0.002), rumination ( β=0.138, t=2.364, P=0.019) were risk factors for suicide attempts.Rumination played a complete mediating effect between depressive symptoms and suicide attempts (effect value=0.013, 95% CI=0.003-0.027). Depression symptoms significantly and positively predicted rumination ( P<0.01), and rumination significantly and positively predicted suicide attempts ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The incidence of suicide attempts was high in adolescents with depressive disorders.Depressive symptoms affect suicide attempts mainly through rumination.Clinicians should assess the rumination of adolescents with depressive disorders.In addition, clinicians should implement concurrent psychotherapy to adjust the cognitive response and reduce rumination, in order to improve the mental health and reduce suicide attempts.

Electrocorticographic signals comparison in sensorimotor cortex between contralateral and ipsilateral hand movements.

Brain machine interfaces (BMIs) have emerged as a technology to restore lost functionality in motor impaired patients. Most BMI systems employed neural signals from contralateral hemisphere. But many studies have also demonstrated the possibility to control hand movement using signals from ipsilateral one. However, the relationship of neural signals in sensorimotor cortex between contralateral and ipsilateral hand movement control is still unclear. In this study, the electrocorticographic signals (ECoG) of sensorimotor cortex were analyzed in two epilepsy participants when they performed a visual guided rock-scissors-paper task by using contralateral and ipsilateral hand respectively. Although typical beta suppression followed increased gamma were observed during the movements of each individual hands, the stronger responses were found in two participants when their contralateral hands were used during the task. We further extracted the power spectrum of high gamma frequency band (70-135Hz) of ECoG signals as neural features to decode the hand movements. The results showed that the classification accuracy of contralateral decoding and ipsilateral decoding were 81% and 78% for participator one (P1) and 84% and 77% for participator two (P2). The accuracy of ipsilateral decoding was only slightly lower than that of contralateral one. The hand movement information contained in ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex suggested that the ipsilateral hemisphere might be also involved in neural modulation as well as contralateral hemisphere did when performing unimanual movement, which would expand the clinical application of BMIs.

Localizing seizure onset zone by convolutional transfer entropy from iEEG.

Automatic localization of the seizure onset zone (SOZ) is able to output an objective result and help clinical doctors greatly in epilepsy therapy. Transfer entropy is one of the most frequently used measures based on information theory to localize the SOZ. However, if only using transfer entropy to localize the SOZ, different results can be obtained during different periods, thus humans still need to identify which one is most reasonable. This paper proposes a new method to output only a few (e.g. 1 or 2) results along a long time slot. Based on the results of traditional transfer entropy, we use a 3D convolution method to enhance the connection between the spatial channels and also between different temporal positions. After that, a connected component method is used to extract the stable blocks that indicate the SOZ. To evaluate the effectiveness of our method, preliminary experiments on a short iEEG signals are conducted. The experimental results show that our method can achieve a sensitivity of 100% and a false positive rate of 1.79% for SOZ localization.