Severe symptomatic native aortic regurgitation (AR) is associated with poor prognosis. Surgical aortic valve replacement is presently the main choice of treatment according to current guidelines. The data of safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for patients with pure native AR were limited. In this paper, a case of AR patient with heart failure was reported. After preoperative CT evaluation and operation plan, the postoperative symptoms improved significantly. Bundle branch block and retroperitoneal hematoma appeared during hospitalization. After the treatment, the patient’s condition improved. Before the discharge, cardiac ultrasound indicated that the reflux was significantly improved, no perivalvular leakage was observed, and cardiac function was improved. AR remains a challenging pathology for TAVR. TAVR is a feasible and reasonable option for carefully selected patients with pure AR.
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of nicorandil for reperfusion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), so as to provide high quality evidence for formulating the rational AMI therapy. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2012), PubMed, EMbase, HighWire, CBM, and CNKI were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on nicorandil in AMI reperfusion published before March 2012. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies. Then the meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan5.1 software. Results A total of 11 trials involving 1 027 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that: for AMI reperfusion, nicorandil could decrease the non-reflow or slow flow rate (RR=0.34, 95%CI 0.19 to 0.61, P=0.000 3), improve the left ventricular ejection fraction (MD=5.49, 95%CI 4.51 to 6.47, Plt;0.000 01), reduce the left ventricular end-diastolic volume (MD=–14.38, 95%CI –17.31 to –11.45, Plt;0.000 01), and decrease the incidence of cardiac adverse events (RR=0.34, 95%CI 0.25 to 0.46, Plt;0.000 01), readmission rate (RR=0.33, 95%CI 0.17 to 0.63, P=0.000 8) and mortality rate (RR=0.40, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.97, P=0.04). Conclusion Current evidence shows that nicorandil used as an adjuvant for AMI reperfusion can increase coronary microcirculation, improve prognosis, and decrease the incidence of cardiac adverse events, readmission and mortality rate. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, this conclusion still needs to be further proved by performing more large-scale and high quality RCTs, so we suggest clinician should adopt rational therapies based on patient’s conditions.