Abstract: Ischemia postconditioning is a new concept based on ischemic preconditioning. It has become a hot topic in protection of ischemic-reperfusion injury because of its effective protection, relative ease of application, and postconditioning. However, its precise mechanisms and most effective application methods are still unclear. This review covers recent progress in the understanding, developments (in remote postconditioning and pharmacological postconditioning), applications to the protection of heart, lung, liver, kidney, and brain, mechanisms and appropriate protocol of ischemic post-conditioning.
ObjectiveTo investigate clinical outcomes and safety of minimally invasive left atrial myxoma (LAM) resection via right anterolateral minithoracotomy (ALMT). MethodsClinical data of 9 patients who underwent minimally invasive LAM resection via right ALMT in the Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College from January 2011 to October 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 2 male and 7 female patients with their age of 37-62 (51±9) years. The operation was performed through a small (4-6 cm) right ALMT incision. Femoral artery and vein and superior vein were cannulated to establish cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Transthoracic clamp was used for ascending aortic clamping. Antegrade cold blood cardioplegia was infused for myocardial protection. LAM was resected through right atriotomy trans-septal approach. ResultsAll the operations were successfully performed without in-hospital death. Operation time was 210-310(260±33) minutes, aortic cross-clamping time was 23-50(37±9) minutes, CPB time was 60-87(71±9) minutes, postoperative mechanical ventilation time was 6-14(9.0±2.5) hours, and length of ICU stay was 17-26(20±3) hours. Postoperative mediastinum drainage was 100-650(376±190) ml. Mean length of right ALMT was 4.5-6.0 (5.3±0.6) cm. All the patients were followed up for 1 to 30 months,and echocardiography showed no LAM recurrence. ConclusionMinimally invasive LAM resection via right ALMT is safe and feasible with satisfactory clinical outcomes.
ObjectiveTo analyze clinical outcomes of mitral valvuloplasty (MVP) via right anterolateral minithoracotomy. MethodsClinical data of 23 patients with valvular heart disease who underwent minimally invasive MVP via right anterolateral minithoracotomy from January 2011 to February 2013 in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 8 males and 15 females with mean age of 41±10 years. The procedure was performed through a small (4-6 cm) incision via right anterolateral minithoracotomy. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was established via femoral artery and vein cannulation. Transthoracic clamp was used for ascending aortic clamping. Cold blood cardioplegia was delivered after aortic cross-clamping. Left atrial drainage was established through right superior pulmonary vein. MVP was performed through the atrial septal approach,and tricuspid valvuloplasty was performed for tricuspid regurgitation if necessary. ResultsAll the operations were successfully performed without in-hospital death. Operation duration was 160-290 (229±37) minutes. Aortic cross-clamping time was 40-121 (67±19) minutes. CPB duration was 60-136 (87±21) minutes. Postoperative mechanical ventilation time was 6-47 (16±11) hours. The length of intensive care unit stay was 19-60 (30±12) hours. Postoperative chest drainage was 80-780 (320±184) ml. Postoperative color Doppler echocardiography showed that left ventricular ejection fraction was 49%-65% (56.0%±4.8%). There were 5 patients with trivial mitrial valve regurgitation and 6 patients with mild tricuspid valve regurgitation. Postoperative mean length of the right thoracic incision was 3.9-6.0 (5.3±0.7) cm. The patients were followed up for 1-24 months. The result of echocardiography showed no modern to severe valve regurgitation. ConclusionMinimally invasive MVP via right anterolateral minithoracotomy is safe and feasible with satisfactory cosmetic and clinical results.
ObjectiveThrough comparing the efficacy of levosimendan with dopamine for severe valvular disease patients with atrial fibrillation surgery to explore the efficacy and safety of levosimendan used in cardiac surgery. MethodsWe allocated 48 severe valvular disease patients with atrial fibrillation surgery into a dopamine group (24 patients with 15 males and 9 females at age of 55.0 ± 17.4 years) and a levosimendan group (24 patients with 18 males and 6 females at age of 52.3 ± 16.2 years) by random digital table in the Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College between February and June 2014. The effects of the two groups were compared. ResultsHospitalization time (18.7±8.6 d vs 20.6±7.5 d, t=11.52, P=0.02) and the incidence of acute kidney injury(1/24 vs 5/24, χ2=25.30, P=0.01) in the levosimendan group were lower than those in the dopamine group. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in other early clinical outcomes. At each postoperative time point, there was no statistical difference in creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) between the two groups. While 6 to 48 hours after operation, there were significant differences in cardiac troponin (cTnI) and brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) level between the two groups (P < 0.05). Five days after operation, the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) in the levosimendan group was higher than that in the dopamine group with statistical difference. ConclusionLevosimendan used for severe valvular disease with atrial fibrillation surgery is safe and effective, and has certain myocardial protection and renal protection effect, while its mechanism still needs further study.
ObjectiveTo explore whether preoperative coronary angiography could increase the incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury for patients with valve replacement. MethodsA total of 638 patients underwent routine cardiac valve replacement in our hospital from January 2013 through September 2015. There were 118 patients with preoperative coronary angiography (a coronary angiography group), and 520 patients without coronary angiography (a non-coronary angiography group). Serum creatinine (Scr), urea nitrogen(Bun), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), creatine kinase myocardial band (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnI) values were recorded at 4 time points:before surgery (T0), after surgery 12 h (T1), 24 h (T2), 48 h (T3). The number of patients with acute kidney injury at the time of 48 hours after surgery was recorded. ResultsScr values (91.6±37.7 μmol/L vs. 81.0±27.4 μmol/L, 84.9±23.6 μmol/L vs. 73.5±25.3 μmol/L) increased in the patients who did not undergo coronary angiography at the time of 24 hours and 48 hours after cardiac surgery compared with the patients with coronary angiography with statistical differences. While there was no statistical difference in the incidence of acute kidney injury between the two groups. The cardiac enzymes had no statistical difference between the two groups. ConclusionPreoperative coronary angiography does not increase the probability of postoperative acute kidney injury.
ObjectiveTo investigate whether Akt1 gene transfection mediated by recombinant lentivirus (LVs) in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) could enhance the ability of hypoxia tolerance so as to provide a theoretical basis for improving the effectiveness of stem cells transplantation. MethodLVs was used as transfection vector, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was used as markers to construct the pLVX-EGFP-3FLAG virus vector carrying the Akt1 gene. The 3rd generation BMSCs from 3-5 weeks old Sprague Dawley rats were transfected with pLVX-EGFP virus solution as group B and with pLVX-EGFP-3FLAG virus solution as group C; and untransfected BMSCs served as control group (group A). At 2-3 days after transfection, the expression of green fluorescent was observed by fluorescence microscope; and at 48 hours after transfection, Western blot method was used to detect the expression of Akt1 protein in groups B and C. BMSCs of groups B and C were given hypoxia intervention with 94%N2, 1%O2, and 5%CO2 for 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours (group B1 and group C1) . The flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell apoptosis rate and cell death rate, and the MTT method to analyze the cell proliferation, and Western blot to detect the expression of apoptosis related gene Caspase-3. ResultsAfter transfection, obvious green fluorescence was observed in BMSCs under fluorescence microscopy in groups B and C, the transfection efficiency was about 60%. Akt1 expression of group C was significantly higher than that of group B (t=17.525, P=0.013) . The apoptosis rate and cell death rate of group B1 increased gradually with time, and difference was significant (P<0.05) . In group C1, the apoptosis rate and cell death rate decreased temporarily at 3 hours after hypoxia intervention, then increased gradually, and difference was significant (P<0.05) . The apoptosis rate and cell death rate of group C1 were significantly lower than those of group B1 at each time point (P<0.05) except at 0 hour. MTT assay showed that absorbance (A) values of groups B and C were significantly higher than those of groups B1 and C1 at each time point (P<0.05) ; the A value of group B was significantly lower than that of group C at each time point (P<0.05) . The A value of group B1 was significantly lower than that of group C1 at 6, 9, and 12 hours after hypoxia intervention (P<0.05) . Western blot results showed that the Caspase-3 expression of group C1 significantly reduced when compared with group B1 at each time point (P<0.05) . ConclusionsAkt1 gene transfection mediated by recombinant LVs could significantly improve hypoxia tolerance of BMSCs by inhibiting the apoptosis, which could provide new ideas for improving the effectiveness of stem cells transplantation.
Objective To analyze the current status and hotspots of surgical transmural ablation of atrial fibrillation using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. MethodsThe Web of Science Core Collection database was used as the data source. The CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer software were used to analyze the related studies on surgical transmural ablation of atrial fibrillation about the authors, countries/institutions, literature co-citation and keywords. Results A total of 109 articles were enrolled. Damiano RJ was the most prolific researcher, while Cox JL was the author with the highest number of citations. The United States was the leading country in this research field. The University of Washington was an important institution in the study of atrial fibrillation transmural ablation. The main hotpots were the effectiveness of surgical ablation, especially Cox-maze procedure, selection of the energy source of surgical ablation, combination of surgical and catheter ablations, and pulmonary vein isolation. ConclusionThis study visualizes the current research status of surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation. How to improve the effectiveness and transmurality of surgical ablation is a hot research topic in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation. The combination of electrophysiology mapping and surgical ablation may be the development direction in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation.