Relationship between lipids levels and right ventricular volume overload in congestive heart failure

BackgroundThe relationship between lipids and coronary artery disease has been well established. However, this is not the case between lipids and heart failure. Ironically, high lipid levels are associated with better outcomes in heart failure, but the mechan-isms underlying the phenomenon are not fully understood. This study was performed to test the hypothesis that reduced intestinal lipid absorption due to venous congestion may lead to low lipid levels.MethodsWe collected data of clinical characteristics, echocardio-graph, and lipid profile in 442 unselected patients with congestive heart failure. Correlations between lipid levels[including total cho-lesterol（TCL）, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C）, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol（LDL-C）, and triglycerides（TG）]and right ventricle end diastolic diameter （RVEDD）, left ventricle end diastolic diameter （LVEDD）, right atrium diameter （RA）, left atrium diameter （LA）, or left ventricle ejection fraction （LVEF） were analyzed using Pearson correlation and partial correlation. RVEDD, LVEDD, RA, and LA were indexed to the body surface area.ResultsThere was a significantly inverse correlation between TCL le-vels and RVEDD （r=-0.34,P〈0.001） and RA （r=-0.36,P〈0.001）. Other lipids such as LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG had asimilar inverse correlation with RVEDD and RA. All these correlations remained unchanged after adjusting for age, gender, smoking status, physical activity levels, comorbidities, and medication use.ConclusionsLipid levels were inversely correlated to RVEDD in patients with congestive heart failure; however, because this was an observational study, further investigation is needed to verify our results as wellas identify a causal relationship, if any.     

肝动脉介入栓塞术治疗肝血管瘤患者疗效及血清GPDA、GP73和β2-MG水平变化*

目的 探讨肝动脉介入栓塞术治疗肝血管瘤患者的疗效及血清甘氨酰脯氨酸二肽氨基肽酶(GPDA)、高尔基体蛋白73(GP73)和β2-微球蛋白(β2-MG)水平的变化。方法 2017年1月～2019年1月我院肝病科收治的60例肝血管瘤患者被随机分为介入手术组30例和开腹肝切除术组30例,分别接受经肝动脉介入栓塞术或开腹肝切除术。术后,随访半年。采用ELISA法检测血清GPDA、GP73、β2-MG水平及肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、肿瘤特异性生长因子(TSGF)和甲胎蛋白(AFP)水平。结果 介入手术组手术时间和术后住院时间分别为(84.7±21.9) min和(6.7±1.3)d,均显著短于开腹肝切除术组【分别为(126.8±60.5)min和(9.6±5.8)d,P<0.05】,术中出血量为(110.7±13.5)mL,显著少于开腹肝切除术组【(315.5±17.8)mL,P<0.05】;在术后1 w,介入手术组血清GPDA、GP73、β2-MG、TNF-α、TSGF和AFP水平分别为(62.6±9.8)U/L、(64.3±6.7)μg/L、(1.4±0.5)mg/L、(1.3±0.5)mg/L、(35.5±4.3)U/mL和(2.5±0.6)mg/L,均显著低于开腹肝切除术组【分别为(86.4±11.5)U/L、(112.2±9.3)μg/L,(2.3±0.9)mg/L,(2.1±1.2)mg/L,(61.3±9.8)U/mL和(4.7±0.8)mg/L,P<0.05】;介入手术组并发症发生率为13.3%,显著低于开腹肝切除术组(30.0%,P<0.05);在术后随访6 m,介入手术组总有效率为93.3%,显著高于开腹肝切除术组(80.0%,P<0.05)。结论 采用肝动脉介入栓塞术治疗肝血管瘤患者疗效较好,且可降低血清GPDA、GP73、β2-MG、TNF-α和TSGF水平,明显改善围术期手术相关指标,减少并发症的发生,具有较高的临床安全性。     

Acute enteritis associated with Coxsackievirus A19 in a kidney transplant patient

Diarrhea is a frequent complication after kidney transplantation, with an incidence rate between 22% and 51%. In many cases, the cause remains unknown. We describe here the first case, to our knowledge, of persistent diarrhea associated with Coxsackievirus A19 (CVA19) in a kidney transplant recipient. The patient was a 46‐year‐old man who received a deceased‐donor kidney. He experienced delayed graft function because of donor kidney donation after circulatory determination of death. Maintenance immunosuppression consisted of low‐dose cyclosporine, high‐dose mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (3 g/day), and prednisone (10 mg/day). He had severe diarrhea for 2 weeks associated with acute renal failure. No pathogens were found in the stool cultures. Enterovirus detection was positive by real‐time polymerase chain reaction, and sequence analysis found CVA19 (from Enterovirus C group). Area under the curve of MMF was 48 mg.h/L. Because of the persistence of diarrhea, MMF was stopped and replaced by azathioprine. The diarrhea disappeared, but serum creatinine did not return to baseline. CVA19 rarely causes gastroenteritis. This case illustrates that MMF is not always the direct cause of diarrhea, and that new clinical infectious diseases will be detected with the expansion of molecular‐based DNA diagnostics.