老年心肌缺血者QTc和QTcd变化及临床意义

测定了６４例老年心肌缺血（ＭＩＳ）患者和２１例心肌梗塞（ＭＩ）患者心电图的ＱＴｃ间期和ＱＴｃ离散度（ＱＴｃｄ），并与心血管神经官能症（ＣＶＮ）及正常老年人进行比较；探讨ＱＴｃ、ＱＴｃｄ与致命性室性心律失常（ＦＶＡ）、心原性猝死（ＣＳＤ）的关系；分析ＭＩ不同部位的ＱＴｃｄ变化以及稳定性心绞痛（ＳＡＰ）和不稳定性心绞痛（ＵＳＡＰ）的ＱＴｃｄ差异。结果：老年女性患者ＱＴｃ较男性长（Ｐ＜０．０５），而ＱＴｃｄ两者无差异；老年ＭＩＳ患者ＱＴｃ和ＱＴｃｄ较正常组明显延长（Ｐ＜０．０１）；ＭＩ前壁、下壁和后壁３组ＱＴｃｄ无明显差异（Ｐ＞０．０５）；ＵＳＡＰ患者ＱＴｃｄ较ＳＡＰ长（Ｐ＜０．０５）。     

Effects of hypoxia and altered K0 on the membrane potential of rabbit ventricle

The upstroke of the ventricular action potential in the rabbit consits of two depolarizing components with different rates of rise. The effects of hypoxia on the resting potential (RP); the upstroke phases (I and II) and the maximum rate of rise of phase I ( _max) were studied at different external K concentrations (K₀). Perfused hearts were submitted to N₂-equilibrated media containing 1.5 to 10 m K₀. Exposure of oxygenated hearts to different K₀ changed the regenerative response from a fast rising action potential at 1.5 m K₀ to a depressed fast response at 7.5 and 10 m K₀. Hypoxia decreased the action potential amplitude (APA) at all K concentrations. In K₀ ≤ 5 m the reduction of APA was due to a decrease in the amplitude of phase II of the upstroke but the maximum rate of rise ( _max) did not change. In contrast, phase I of the upstroke was markedly depressed by hypoxia in high K₀, but phase II was unmodified and its _max compared well with values reported for other normoxic cardiac cells. Hyperkalemia per se did not slow conduction during normoxia but increased conduction time in hypoxia. The resting potential of hypoxic cells was closer to the K equilibrium potential than in the control. The RP v. K₀/K_i relation suggested that electrogenic Na extrusion persists in hypoxia. The electrogenic fraction of the resting potential as determined from pump inhibition with 10⁻⁴ ouabain amounted to −6 mV. Our results did not indicate whether the differential effects of hypoxia on the upstroke components were potential dependent or were related to direct effects of K⁺ on the ionic currents that determine the action potential. The persistence of phase II during hypoxia in partly depolarized cells may assure the maintenance of propagated electrical activity under conditions that are likely to be encountered in vitro during cardiac ischemia.     

多器官缺血时缺血修饰白蛋白的变化

目的：研究2个以上器官缺血时缺血修饰白蛋白（IMA）的变化及其影响因素。方法：研究对象分为正常对照组20例，心肌缺血组28例，其中急性心肌梗死（AMI）16例，不稳定型心绞痛（UA）12例和脑梗死并发肢体血管病变的脑-肢体缺血组16例。所有研究对象采用白蛋白钴结合（albumin cobalt binding，ACB）试验测定IMA的ACB值，同时测定血肌钙蛋白Ⅰ（cardiac TroponineⅠ，cTnⅠ）和氧分压（PaO2）。结果：对照组IMA的ACB值为72．68±5．51（U／ml），心肌缺血组IMA的ACB值为52．98±7．30（U／ml），脑-肢体缺血组IMA的ACB值为54．60±9．40（U／ml），两组与对照组比较均有显著性差异（P〈0．01）。脑-肢体缺血组IMA的ACB值与PaO2之间呈正相关（r=0．986，P〈0．01）。结论：IMA是一个灵敏的缺血性标志物，既可用于预报心肌缺血，也是心外多器官缺血、缺氧性病变的佐证。IMA在作为ACS的诊断指标时要排除心外器官的缺血、缺氧因素的影响。     

Collateral-flow measurements in humans by myocardial contrast echocardiography: validation of coronary pressure-derived collateral-flow assessment.

AIMS: Myocardial blood flow (MBF) is the gold standard to assess myocardial blood supply and, as recently shown, can be obtained by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). The aims of this human study are (i) to test whether measurements of collateral-derived MBF by MCE are feasible during elective angioplasty and (ii) to validate the concept of pressure-derived collateral-flow assessment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty patients with stable coronary artery disease underwent MCE of the collateral-receiving territory during and after angioplasty of 37 stenoses. MCE perfusion analysis was successful in 32 cases. MBF during and after angioplasty varied between 0.060-0.876 mL min(-1) g(-1) (0.304+/-0.196 mL min(-1) g(-1)) and 0.676-1.773 mL min(-1) g(-1) (1.207+/-0.327 mL min(-1) g(-1)), respectively. Collateral-perfusion index (CPI) is defined as the rate of MBF during and after angioplasty varied between 0.05 and 0.67 (0.26+/-0.15). During angioplasty, simultaneous measurements of mean aortic pressure, coronary wedge pressure, and central venous pressure determined the pressure-derived collateral-flow index (CFI(p)), which varied between 0.04 and 0.61 (0.23+/-0.14). Linear-regression analysis demonstrated an excellent agreement between CFI(p) and CPI (y=0.88 x +0.01; r(2)=0.92; P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Collateral-derived MBF measurements by MCE during angioplasty are feasible and proved that the pressure-derived CFI exactly reflects collateral relative to normal myocardial perfusion in humans.     

Supernumerary right coronary artery

A rare case of a patient with supernumerary right coronary artery in whom the two vessels arose from the right coronary sinus from two separate ostia adjacent to each other is presented. The smaller vessel gave off the sinoatrial nodal branch and the posterior descending artery whereas the larger one gave off the conus branch, the right ventricular branches, and continued as acute marginal branch. This is the first case report in the English literature.     

Monitoring minimal residual disease in peripheral blood in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

The use of peripheral blood rather than marrow has potential advantages for monitoring minimal residual disease during the treatment of leukaemia. To determine the feasibility of using blood, we used a sensitive polymerase chain reaction method to quantify leukaemia in the blood and marrow in 35 paired samples from 15 children during induction treatment. Leukaemic cells in the blood ranged from 1.1 × 10⁻² to < 9.4 × 10⁻⁷ leukaemic cells/total cells, corresponding to 1.3 × 10⁷ to < 2 × 10³ leukaemic cells/l. In 15 paired samples, leukaemia could be quantified in both tissues and in 20 paired samples, leukaemia was not detected in one or both tissues so that only upper level limits could be set. In the former 15 pairs, the level of leukaemia in peripheral blood was directly proportional to that in marrow but was a mean of 11.7-fold lower. Leukaemia in blood was detected in 10/12 pairs in which the level in marrow was > 10⁻⁴, but in only two of 13 pairs in which the level in marrow was < 10⁻⁵. Patients studied at multiple time-points showed parallel declines in the number of leukaemic cells in both tissues. The results showed that leukaemia could be monitored in peripheral blood during induction therapy, and quantitative considerations based on the results suggest that monitoring of blood during post-induction therapy may be of value in detecting molecular relapse.     

Melatonin protects against oxidative mitochondrial damage induced in rat placenta by ischemia and reperfusion

We assessed the effects of melatonin, a powerful scavenger of oxygen free radicals, on ischemia/reperfusion-induced oxidative damage to mitochondria in the rat placenta. In Wistar rats at day 19 of pregnancy, feto-placental ischemia was induced by occluding both utero-ovarian arteries for 20 min. Reperfusion was achieved by releasing the occlusion and restoring circulation for 30 min. Melatonin solution or the vehicle alone was injected intraperitoneally at dose of 10 mg/kg 1 hr before occlusion. Sham-ischemic animals were treated with vehicle. Each group consisted of 10 pregnant rats. We measured placental mitochondrial respiratory control index (RCI; a marker of mitochondrial respiratory activity), the ratio of the added adenosine 5-diphosphate (ADP) concentration to consumption of oxygen during state 3 respiration (ADP/O), and the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in each group. RCI and ADP/O were significantly decreased by ischemia/reperfusion, while TBARS were increased. Melatonin prevented these changes. These results indicate that exogenous melatonin protects against ischemia/reperfusion-induced oxidative damage to mitochondria in rat placenta. Melatonin could be useful in treating preeclampsia and possibly other clinical states involving excess free radical production, such as fetal growth restriction and fetal hypoxia.     

Dynamic Myocardial Perfusion CT for the Detection of Hemodynamically Significant Coronary Artery Disease

ObjectivesIn this international, multicenter study, using third-generation dual-source computed tomography (CT), we investigated the diagnostic performance of dynamic stress CT myocardial perfusion imaging (CT-MPI) in addition to coronary CT angiography (CTA) compared to invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR).BackgroundCT-MPI combined with coronary CTA integrates coronary artery anatomy with inducible myocardial ischemia, showing promising results for the diagnosis of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease in single-center studies.MethodsAt 9 centers in Europe, Japan, and the United States, 132 patients scheduled for ICA were enrolled; 114 patients successfully completed coronary CTA, adenosine-stress dynamic CT-MPI, and ICA. Invasive FFR was performed in vessels with 25% to 90% stenosis. Data were analyzed by independent core laboratories. For the primary analysis, for each coronary artery the presence of hemodynamically significant obstruction was interpreted by coronary CTA with CT-MPI compared to coronary CTA alone, using an FFR of ≤0.80 and angiographic severity as reference. Territorial absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF) and relative MBF were compared using C-statistics.ResultsICA and FFR identified hemodynamically significant stenoses in 74 of 289 coronary vessels (26%). Coronary CTA with ≥50% stenosis demonstrated a per-vessel sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the detection of hemodynamically significant stenosis of 96% (95% CI: 91%-100%), 72% (95% CI: 66%-78%), and 78% (95% CI: 73%-83%), respectively. Coronary CTA with CT-MPI showed a lower sensitivity (84%; 95% CI: 75%-92%) but higher specificity (89%; 95% CI: 85%-93%) and accuracy (88%; 95% CI: 84%-92%). The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of absolute MBF and relative MBF were 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71-0.86) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.74-0.88), respectively. The median dose-length product of CT-MPI and coronary CTA were 313 mGy·cm and 138 mGy·cm, respectively.ConclusionsDynamic CT-MPI offers incremental diagnostic value over coronary CTA alone for the identification of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease. Generalized results from this multicenter study encourage broader consideration of dynamic CT-MPI in clinical practice. (Dynamic Stress Perfusion CT for Detection of Inducible Myocardial Ischemia [SPECIFIC]; NCT02810795)     

Aeroportia and acute abdominal pain: ischemic bowel necrosis

Pneumatosis intestinalis and aeroportia are typical findings of mesenteric ischemia. The second carries a worse prognosis than the former. We report the case of a patient presenting with acute abdominal pain and acidosis after admission to the coronary unit for myocardial infarction. An emergent abdominal CT scan showed aeroportia. Laparotomy confirmed extended bowel necrosis. Aeroportia is a typical feature of ischemic bowel necrosis, often associated with advanced disease and bad prognosis. In the presence of acute abdominal pain, aeroportia should be considered as a sign of ischemic bowel necrosis. Emergent laparotomy is warranted.