ObjectiveTo investigate the natural outcome of spontaneous closure of iatrogenic atrial septal defect (IASD) in patients with atrial fibrillation after transseptal catheterization and the influencing factors affecting its healing.MethodsA total of 122 patients who underwent percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion in West China Hospital, Sichuan University from September 2014 to February 2018 were selected for observation and follow-up. General information of the patients was collected. Each patient underwent transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography before the surgery or 45 days, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after the surgery, observing the atrioventricular size, cardiac function and atrial septal defect size. The natural outcome of IASD and influencing factors and prognosis of IASD were analyzed.ResultsThe healing rate increased gradually with the follow-up time; the median healing time was 180 days [95% confidence interval (169.5, 190.5) days]. The difference in the effect on IASD healing rate between the gender and atrial fibrillation type was not significant (P>0.05); being older than 70 years old was the influence factor for the IASD healing rate (P<0.05). There was no statistically difference in right heart size and systolic and diastolic function between the unhealed group (n=18) and the healed group (n=63) after a 1-year follow-up (P>0.05), but the left ventricular size was bigger in the unhealed group than that in the healed group (P<0.05). The follow-up time points had a significant effect on the size of the left atrium, and the left atrium in the healing group after 1 year follow-up was significantly smaller than before. There was no significant difference among the different follow-up time points and no interaction between grouping and follow-up time (P>0.05). ConclusionsWith the extension of follow-up time, the healing rate increases gradually. Larger left atrium and ventricular size and the age over 70 may be related to the healing of IASD.
Objective To investigate long-term echocardiography characteristics and their clinical significance of patients after mitral valve replacement （MVR）. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 204 patients who underwent prosthetic MVR and finished echocardiography examination at least 5 years after surgery in West China Hospital of Sichuan University. There were 44 male patients and 160 female patients with their age of 23 to 73 （50.9±10.6）years. Postoperatively， all the patients were followed up for 5-15 （7.9±2.3）years and regularly received echocardiography examination at the outpatient department. Analysis variables included left atrium （LA） dimension， left ventricle （LV） dimension，right atrium （RA） dimension， right ventricle （RV） dimension， left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF） and effective orificearea （EOA） of the mitral valve. Results Long-term echocardiography showed that LA and LV dimensions were signifi-cantly smaller than preoperative dimensions （P＜0.05）， while RA and RV dimensions were not statistically different from preoperative dimensions （P＞0.05）. Long-term LVEF was significantly higher than preoperative value （P＜0.05）. Long-term EOA was 1.1-4.8 （2.3±0.5）cm2， including EOA of 1.1-1.4 cm2 in 7 patients （3.4%，7/204），and 1.6-1.9 cm2in 42 patients （20.6%，42/204）. During long-term follow-up， 7 patients underwent their second heart surgery， including2 patients with prosthetic valve dysfunction， 1 patient with prosthetic perivalvular leak and severe hemolytic anemia，3 patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation which were not improved after medication treatment， and 1 patient with moderateaortic valve stenosis and regurgitation. Two patients had left atrial thrombosis during follow-up， including 1 patient who died of endocarditis 7 years after surgery， and another patient who was still receiving conservative therapy and further follow-up. Conclusion Concomitant tricuspid or aortic valve disease should be actively treated during MVR， and postoperative patients need better follow-up. Many patients after MVR need long-term cardiovascular medication treatment during follow-up in order to improve their heart function and long-term survival rate.
The present study aimed to investigate the impact of hypothyroidism on left ventricular systolic function using real-time three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (RT3D-STI). Thirty hypothyroidism patients and forty healthy volunteers were recruited and received RT3D-STI measurement of global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS), and global area strain (GAS). A comparison of differences between the hypothyroidism patients and those in the healthy group was carried out and we obtained the results as followings. The values of GLS were (-18.93°3.89) vs. (-21.44°1.99), with P<0.01, GRS were (51.13°11.95) vs. (56.10°5.76), with P<0.0; and GAS were (-31.63°5.38) vs. (-34.40°2.32), with P<0.01, i.e. they were lower in hypothyroidism group than those in the health group. While GCS were (-17.75°1.92) vs. (-17.03°3.45), with P>0.05, which were not significantly different between the two groups. In linear regression, GLS showed significant correlation with both TSH (b=-0.69, P<0.01) and FT3(b=0.71, P<0.01). Meanwhile, the GRS (b=2.98, P<0.05) and GAS (b=3.11, P<0.05) linearly correlated with FT3 level. In conclusion, the present study shows that the global longitudinal and radial moves of left ventricular are weaker in patients with hypothyroidism than healthy controls. And the impairment of left ventricular function would aggravate as FSH rises or FT3 declines.
ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of volume-related mitral regurgitation (MR) from the anatomy of mitral valve.MethodsA total of 32 patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD) combined MR meeting inclusion criteria in West China Hospital from September 2018 to November 2019 were enrolled in this study. The direction relative to the cardiac axis: the deviation of the MR bundle along the left atrial wall was eccentric, otherwises it was central. There were 23 patients of VSD and eccentric MR (EMR, a VSD-EMR group), including 10 males and 13 females aged 21 (10, 56) months, and 9 patients of VSD and central MR (CMR, a VSD-CMR group), including 4 males and 5 females aged 26 (12, 87) months. Besides, 9 healthy children were enrolled in a control group, including 4 males and 5 females aged 49 (15, 72) months. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) examination at 2 weeks before surgery and 6 months after surgery, respectively, The MR degree, end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), antero-posterior diameter (AP), annulus circumference (AC), commissural diameter (CD) were assessed.ResultsBefore operation, EDV, ESV, SV, AP, AC and CD in the VSD-EMR and VSD-CMR groups were significantly larger or longer than those in the control group (P<0.05); after operation, EDV, ESV, SV, AP and CD decreased compared with those before operation (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference compared with the control group (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, AC was slightly decreased (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in EF between and within groups before and after operation (P>0.05). The improvement rate of MR was 78.9% (15/19) in the VSD-EMR group and 100.0% (9/9) in the VSD-CMR group.ConclusionAfter unloading of volume, the valve structure is back to normal except AC. The improvement rate of MR in the VSD-EMR group is lower than that in the VSD-CMR group, which may indicate that the mechanism of VSD-EMR is more complicated.