Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty for the Treatment of Nonoperable Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Single-Center Experience with Low Initial Complication Rate

PurposeTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) for nonoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) patients during the initial experience of a single center.MethodsA total of 18 CTEPH patients (5 with residual pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy) were treated with BPA during the period 2014–2018 and were retrospectively reviewed. Mean age was 61 ± 19 years; 55% were female; mean pulmonary artery pressure was 44 ± 12 mmHg; cardiac output was 4.3 ± 1.0 l/min; and pulmonary vascular resistance was 8.4 ± 3.6 WU. Patients were evaluated by New York Heart Association functional class, 6-minute walk distance, N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide, echocardiography, right heart catheterization, and before and after completions of BPA.ResultsA total of 91 procedures were performed, with a median number of 4 BPA sessions per patient (range, 2–8). There were no deaths or major complications requiring extracorporeal support or (non)invasive ventilation. The most common complication was self-limiting hemoptysis (3%). According to Society of Interventional Radiology classification, 4 mild, 4 moderate, and 1 severe adverse events were noted. Invasive hemodynamics significantly improved, with a cardiac index increase of 15% (P = .0333), decrease of mean pulmonary artery pressure of 30% (P = .0013), and decrease of pulmonary vascular resistance of 45% (P = .0048). Stroke volume index (P = .0171) and pulmonary arterial compliance (P = .0004) were also significantly enhanced.ConclusionsBPA significantly improves cardiopulmonary hemodynamics with an acceptable safety profile. Further studies assessing the long-term efficacy of BPA are required.     

Intelligent Imaging: Radiomics and Artificial Neural Networks in Heart Failure

BackgroundOur previous work with ¹²³iodine meta-iodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I-mIBG) radionuclide imaging among patients with cardiomyopathy reported limitations associated with the prognostic power of global parameters derived from planar imaging [1]. Employing multivariate analysis, we further showed the regional washout associated with territories adjacent to infarcted myocardium obtained from single-photon emission computed tomography imaging (SPECT) yielded superior prognostic power over the other planar and SPECT indices in predicting future cardiac events [1]. The aim of this study was to apply an artificial neural network (Neural Analyser version 2.9.5) to the original data from the same patient cohort to evaluate the most potent prognostic index for future cardiac events among patient with cardiomyopathy.MethodsThe original data were reevaluated using an artificial neural network (Neural Analyser version 2.9.5). There were 84 input variables in the original 22 patients from clinical data, electrocardiogram (rest, stress, and continuous ambulatory electrocardiogram recording), transthoracic echocardiography, coronary angiogram, sestamibi myocardial perfusion SPECT, planar and SPECT 123I-mIBG, and genetic and biomarkers, detailed in the previous work. A single binary output was a cardiac event or no cardiac event in the follow-up period.ResultsFollowing training and validation phases, the optimal number of inputs was determined to be two with a training loss of 0.025 and selection loss <0.001. The final architecture had inputs of a change in left ventricular ejection fraction (Δ > −10%) and 123I-mIBG planar global washout (>30%), two hidden layers of 6 and 1 node, respectively, and a binary output. Using receiver operator characteristics analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.75 correlating to a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 50%.ConclusionThe premise that regional washout of 123I-mIBG SPECT from noninfarcted tissue is the best predictor of cardiac events was built on has a sound and logical foundation. By artificial neural network analysis; however, 123I-mIBG planar global washout of >30% was shown to be the best indicator for risk of cardiac event when accompanied by a decline in left ventricular ejection fraction of >10%. Further investigation should be undertaken assessing assimilation into big data and the potential for automated feature extraction from raw image datasets with convolutional neural networks.     

瓜蒌薤白桂枝汤对老年冠心病患者的临床观察

目的:探究瓜蒌薤白桂枝汤对老年冠心病患者血脂及NT-proBNP、hs-CRP、Fib水平影响。方法:选取2014年4月至2018年4月西藏民族大学附属医院收治的老年冠心病患者78例作为研究对象,根据就诊顺序编号,按照随机数字表法随机分为对照组和观察组,每组39例。对照组常规西医治疗,观察组在对照组基础上加用瓜蒌薤白桂枝汤治疗,同时治疗4周。观察2组治疗前、完成治疗后血脂、NT-pro BNP、hs-CRP、Fib、WBC、HCY、血流流变学、心脏功能水平变化并比较;完成治疗后进行疗效评价。结果:观察组患者治疗后TC、TG、HDL-C、NT-proBNP、hs-CRP、Fib、WBC、HCY、全血高切黏度、全血低切黏度、血浆黏度、红细胞聚集指数下降较对照组患者幅度更低,LDL-C、EDD、NEDD、LVEF、LVPFR上升幅度及治疗后临床总有效率较对照组更高(P<0.05)。结论:瓜蒌薤白桂枝汤能降低老年冠心病患者血脂水平,抑制炎性反应,改善冠状动脉血循环,从而提高疗效,改善心功能。