Objective To evaluate the cardiovascular risk for non-cardiac thoracic surgery （NCTS） in elderly patients with dobutamine stress echocardiography and to decrease surgical risk for NCTS in the geriatrics. Methods Dobutamine stress echocardiography was used for cardiovascular evaluation in 32 NCTS candidates aged over 65 years. Patients with positive echocardiography underwent coronary angiography. Postoperative course and all complications were carefully recorded for the study. Results No serious cardiovascular events occurred during the test except for atrial or ventricular premature contracts in 5 cases. In 2 patients （6.7%,2/30） dobutamine test was positive and coronary artery occlusion was proved by further angiography. Thoracotomy was performed in 28 cases, including 2 cases with dubious result at dobutamine test. Cardiopulmonary complications occurred in 13 patients （46.4%,13/28） after surgery. Supraventricular tachyarrhythmia was the most common complication, occurred in 8 patients （28.6%,8/28）. One of the 2 patients with dubious result at dobutamine test developed definitive angina in the 5th postoperative day. The negative predictive value of dobutamine test was 100%. Conclusion Dobutamine stress echocardiography is a safe and effective method to evaluate major cardiovascular risk of NCTS in the geriatrics. But it is not predictive of tachyarrhythmia after surgery.
ObjectiveTo explore the value of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to monitor and evaluate aortic insufficiency (AI) within one year after the implantation of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD).MethodsWe retrospectively collected and analyzed the TTE data of 12 patients who received LVAD implantation from 2018 to 2020 in our hospital. All patients were males, with an average age of 43.3±8.6 years. We analyzed temporal changes in the aortic annulus (AA), aortic sinus (AoS), ascending aorta (AAo), the severity of AI and the opening of aortic valve before operation and 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after LVAD implantation.ResultsAll 12 patients survived within 1 year after LVAD implantation. One patient was bridged to heart transplantation 6 months after implantation, and two patients did not receive TTE after 3 and 6 months. Compared to pre-implantation, AoS increased at 1 month after implantation (31.58±5.09 mm vs. 33.83±4.69 mm). The inner diameters of AA, AoS and AAo increased at 3, 6 and 12 months after LVAD implantation compared to pre-implantation (P<0.05), but all were within the normal range except for one patient whose AoS slightly increased before operation. After LVAD pump speed was adjusted, the opening of aortic valve improved. The severity of AI increased at 6 and 12 months after LVAD implantation compared to pre-implantation, and increased at 12 months compared to 6 months after LVAD implantation (P<0.05).ConclusionTTE can evaluate aortic regurgitation before and after LVAD implantation and monitor the optimization and adjustment of LVAD pump function, which has a positive impact on the prognosis after LVAD implantation.
ObjectiveTo investigate clinical outcomes and safety of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided occlusion of infundibular ventricular septal defect (VSD) via minithoracotomy. MethodsClinical data of 21 pediatric patients with infundibular VSD who underwent TEE-guided occlusion via minithoracotomy in Children's Hospital of Hebei Province from January to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 10 male and 11 female patients with their age of 8-24 (16±8) months and body weight of 9±3 kg. The size of VSD was 4.5±2.5 mm. TEE was used to evaluate the position of the occluder, its influence on the atrioventricular valves and aortic valve, and the presence of residual shunt. ResultsThere was no perioperative death or complication. VSD occlusion was successfully performed in 20 out of 21 patients (95.2%). One patient received conversion to open VSD repair under extracorporeal circulation because VSD size was too big. Mean time of delivery of occluders was 32±16 minutes, the size of the occluders was 5±3 mm, and length of hospital stay was 6-8 days. All the patients were followed up for 3-6 months after discharge. During follow-up, echocardiography showed clear echo and normal position of the occluders, and there was no mild or more severe residual shunt or valvular regurgitation. ConclusionTEE-guided occlusion of infundibular VSD via minithoracotomy is easy to perform and safe with satisfactory clinical outcomes.
Abstract: Objective To investigate changes of left ventricularregional systolic function after surgical treatment of left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) by realtime threedimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). Methods From February 2009 to February 2010, 14 consecutive patients who were diagnosed to have coronary artery diseases with LVA underwent surgical repair and coronary artery bypass grafting (LVA group) in our hospital. All patients of the LVA group were followed up for a mean period of 4 months. Twodimensional echocardiography (2DE) and RT-3DE were performed before operation and during the follow-up. Left ventricular regional ejection fraction (EF) was acquired by Qlab software analysis. At the same time, 12 healthy persons were included as controls (control group). Statistical analyses were carried out to compare left ventricular regional EF between the LVA group (before operation and 4 months after operation) and the control group. Results Contrary to the control group, preoperative regional EF of the LVA group increased from apex to base. In addition to the inferior basal segment, lateralinferior basal segment and anteriorinferior basal segment, regional EF in the remaining 14 segments were significantly lower than that of the control group (P＜0.05). At postoperative followup, regional EF recovered the increase from base to apex, and there was no significant difference between anteriorinferior segment and lateral segment regional EF of the LVA group and those of the control group (P＞0.05), while regional EF of other segments in the LVA group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusion RT-3DE is an effective method to assess left ventricular regional systolic function in patients with LVA. After LVA repair and coronary artery bypass grafting, regional systolic function will restore to the normal direction of progressive increase, and some nonaneurysm segments systolic function will go back to normal.
Transcatheter left ventricular assist pump (LVAP) is widely used in cardiogenic shock, post-circulatory hypoperfusion syndrome and high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and its application scenarios cover various complex environments such as ICU, operating room, emergency department and catheterization room. It is important to quickly and accurately implant the transcatheter LVAP and monitor its position in real time. This paper reported 2 male patients with high-risk PCI, aged 47 and 45 years, both with triple coronary artery disease and reduced ejection fraction (<35%). The domestically produced transcatheter LVAP was implanted using an echocardiography guidance technology system, and PCI treatment was performed under the assistance of the interventional pump. The operation was smooth, and the interventional pump assisted for 1 h in 2 patients, and the pump was successfully removed. There were no obvious complications related to the pump and PCI after the operation, and the patients were discharged smoothly.
Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is at present a well established interventional procedure for the treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR). Echocardiography is an essential imaging modality for peri-interventional assessment of TEER. Pre-procedural echocardiographic assessments, which include grading of MR severity, determining MR etiology and mechanisms, and analyzing mitral valve morphology, helps to determine patient eligibility and plan the procedure. Echocardiography is also indispensable in intra-procedural guidance, such as atrial septum puncture, advancing the device to the target position, and leaflets capture. In addition, echocardiography is important in immediate result evaluation, complication detection and patient follow up after the procedure.
摘要:目的:分析微创外科室间隔缺损(ventricular septal defect,VSD)封堵失败原因,以期提高术前超声心动图筛查水平。方法:回顾性分析25例微创外科VSD封堵失败改行修补术病例,对比超声表现及手术所见,归纳总结产生并发症的原因。结果:残余分流与VSD假性膜部瘤右室面具有多个出口和低估VSD大小密切相关;VSD合并主动脉瓣右冠瓣脱垂是主动脉瓣反流的主要原因;封堵器移位与低估VSD大小且使用偏心封堵器有关;原有三尖瓣反流加重和发生Ⅲ度房室传导阻滞VSD均位于隔瓣下方;封堵失败组较封堵成功组缺损偏大,差异具有统计学意义(Plt;0.05)。结论:超声心动图对VSD及其毗邻结构的细致评估,有助于严格适应证,提高手术成功率。 Abstract: Objective:To analyze the failure of perventricular closure of ventricular septal defect (VSD), in order to improve the preoperative echocardiography examination. Methods: Twentyfive cases underwent surgical repair after failure of perventricular closure of VSD were included in this study. With combination of echocardiographic and surgical findings, retrospective analysis of the failure of perventricular closure of VSD were attempted to summarize the cause of complications.Results: Residual ventricular communication was due to underestimation of size of VSD and pseudomembranous aneurysm resulting in multiple outlets of VSD on the right ventricle side; preoperative prolapse of rightcoronary cusp was the main reason for mild or greater than mild aortic valve regurgitation after eccentric device closure of VSD; Underestimation of the size of VSD and using eccentric occluder device were responsible for the displacement of VSD occluder device. Postoperative aggravated tricuspid regurgitation and Ⅲ°atrialventricular block (AVB) were attributed to VSDs located under the septal leaflet of tricuspid valve. The size of VSD in group of failed perventricular device closure of VSD was larger than that in group of successful device closure of VSD,and the difference was significant(Plt;0.05). Conclusion: Echocardiography vividly reveals VSD and adjacent structures, which should be used in accessing the anomaly and defect and formulating surgical plans to reduce surgical morbidity and mortality.
Right-sided cardiac valvular diseases have traditionally been considered less important than disease of mitral or aortic valve. However, severe tricuspid regurgitation could lead to right ventricle dysfunction and reduce patients' survival rate. In clinic setting, tricuspid valve disease should be paid more attention for patients with secondary tricuspid regurgitation caused by left-sided valvular surgery combined with irreversible annular dilatation increasing the risk of re-operation. In this review, we summarize the epidemiology, anatomy, pathology, diagnosis, ultrasound and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings in patients with tricuspid regurgitation.
Objective To explore the feasibility of transcatheter closure of congenital heart disease (CHD) under the guidance of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Methods A total of 37 patients with CHD who received transcatheter closure under the guidance of transthoracic echocardiography from November 2013 through November 2015 in our hospital were recruited. There were 15 males and 22 females, aged 1 to 16 years. Among them 32 patients suffered atrial septal defect and 5 patients had patent ductus arteriosus. The transcatheter closure of CHD was performed under the guidance of TTE. The patients underwent echocardiography follow-up at one, three and six months after surgery. Results Closure devices were successfully implanted in 37 patients under TTE guidance. The procedure was simple and safe. During the follow-up, no severe complication such as valvular injury, pericardial effusion, residual shunt and peripheral vascular injury occurred. Conclusion Transcatheter closure of CHD under TTE guidance is a feasible method and worth further clinical application.
Accurate segmentation of pediatric echocardiograms is a challenging task, because significant heart-size changes with age and faster heart rate lead to more blurred boundaries on cardiac ultrasound images compared with adults. To address these problems, a dual decoder network model combining channel attention and scale attention is proposed in this paper. Firstly, an attention-guided decoder with deep supervision strategy is used to obtain attention maps for the ventricular regions. Then, the generated ventricular attention is fed back to multiple layers of the network through skip connections to adjust the feature weights generated by the encoder and highlight the left and right ventricular areas. Finally, a scale attention module and a channel attention module are utilized to enhance the edge features of the left and right ventricles. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method in this paper achieves an average Dice coefficient of 90.63% in acquired bilateral ventricular segmentation dataset, which is better than some conventional and state-of-the-art methods in the field of medical image segmentation. More importantly, the method has a more accurate effect in segmenting the edge of the ventricle. The results of this paper can provide a new solution for pediatric echocardiographic bilateral ventricular segmentation and subsequent auxiliary diagnosis of congenital heart disease.