As the eventual end of the cardiovascular disease, heart failure is aggravated or results in cachexia when the patient is under malnutrition or exposes to certain risk factors of diet mode during the long disease duration. Researches reveal that the diet has effects on patho-physiology, energy metabolism, inflammation and oxidative stress of heart failure. This article conducts a literature review on the association between diet and heart failure.
Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of thyroid hormone replacement on critically ill COPD patients with low serum thyroid hormone. Methods Sixty-seven critically ill patients with acute exacerbation of COPD ( AECOPD) , and complicated with respiratory and/ or heart failure and low serum thyroid hormone, admitted from July 2008 to June 2011, were recruited for the study. They were randomly divided into an intervention group ( n = 34) and a control group ( n = 33) . The control group received conventional treatment and the intervention group received conventional treatment plus additional thyroid hormone replacement therapy. Results Compared with the control group, the overall efficacy of the intervention group was not significantly different ( 88. 2% vs. 81. 8% , P gt; 0. 05) , while average effective time was significantly shorter [ ( 9. 6 ±2. 5) d vs. ( 12. 3 ±2. 8) d, P lt; 0. 05] . The post-treatment serum FT3 , FT4 , TT4 , and h-TSH levels were significantly higher in the intervention group than those in the control group, and significantly higher than baseline ( P lt;0. 05) . Conclusions For AECOPD patients complicated with respiratory and/or heart failure and low serum thyroid hormone, thyroid hormone supplement at low dosage will help to improve serumthyroid hormone level, and promote early recovery.
Abstract： Among all kinds of heart diseases, heart failure is the leading cause of death. In recent years, the treatment of terminal heart failure has increasingly become a great challenge to cardiovascular clinical physicians. The limitations of routine medical therapy and surgical interventions, and the shortage of donor hearts have led to the rapid development of mechanical circulation support devices. As the joint research and development of electric machine, mechanical engineering, fluid mechanics, materials science, medical science and some other related subjects, exploring a new type of longterm implantable blood pump has become a hot issue. Axial flow blood pump has the advantages of simple structure, light weight, high flow and efficiency, easy implantation and removal, and at the same time, it does not need to install artificial valves, which can greatly reduce the risk of thrombosis. Compared with the centrifugal pump, axial flow blood pump is smaller and causes much less damage to the blood. At present, axial flow blood pump research has become a focus in cardiac surgery and biomedical engineering field. This article is going to review the operation principles and characteristics of axial flow blood pump, and some key technical issues of current axial flow blood pump research.
Abstract: The ventricle assist device has emerged as an important therapeutic option in the treatment of both acute and chronic heart failure. The blood pumps which are the major components of ventricle assist devices have also progressed to the third generation. The magnetic and/or liquid levitation technologies have been applied into the third generation blood pumps. The impellers which drive blood are levitated in the blood pumps. The third generation blood pumps are mainly composed of the levitation system and the driving system. The development of the third generation blood pumps has three stages: the stage of foreign motor indirectly driving the impeller with the levitation and driving system separated, the stage of motor directly driving the impeller with the levitation and driving system separated, and the stage of levitation system integrated with the driving system. As the impellers do not contact with other structures, the third generation blood pumps possess the advantages of low thrombosis, less hemolysis and high energy efficiency ratio. Currently most of the third generation blood pumps are in the research stage, but a few number of them are used in clinical trials or applying stage. In this article, the history, classification, mechanism and research situation of the third generation blood pumps are reviewed.
Objective To summarize the clinical experiences of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) which provides temporary cardiopulmonary assist for critical patients, and preliminary analysis of the cause of failure. Methods From February 2005 to October 2008, 58 adult patients (male 42, female 16) undergoing cardiogenic shock required temporary ECMO support. Age was 44.8±17.6 years, and support duration of ECMO was 131.9±104.7 hours. There were 24 patients (41.4%) with coronary heart disease, 11 patients (19.0%) with cardiomyopathy, 10 patients (17.2%) with cardiac valve disease,and 9 patients (15.5%) with congenital heart disease. Results 22 patients died in hospital. 11 patients (50%) died of multisystem organ failure, 5 patients (22.7%) died of refractory heart failure despite the ECMO support. Another patients died of bleeding and severe pulmonary hypertension etc. The percentage for patients need cardiac resuscitation before ECMO support and patients with acute renal failure treated by continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) under ECMO support were obviously higher in dead patients than those in survivor patients (45.5% vs.19.4%, 40.9% vs. 5.6%; P=0.043，0.001). All of the discharged patients were reassessed, mean followup time were 15.6 months. Three patients died of refractory heart failure， 1 patient died of neurologic complications. The other 32 survivors were in good condition with cardiac symptom of New York Heart Association class Ⅰ or Ⅱ. Conclusion ECMO offers effective cardiopulmonary support in adults. Early intervention and control of complications could improve our results with increasing experience. Combining using CRRT during the ECMO support is associated with significantly higher mortality rate. Suffered cardiac arrest prior to ECMO also influences the survival.
Heart failure (HF) is a symptoms caused by various diseases. As the myocardial contractility and/or diastolic weakening, the cardiac output decreased, when it can not satisfy the needs of the body, a series of symptoms and signs occurs. HF is an end-stage performance of heart disease, and is also a major factor of mortality. The morbidity of heart failure increased as peoples enter the aging. Despite the continuous improvement of drug treatment,the morbidity and mortality of HF remains high. At present, nondrug treatment of heart failure get more and more attention to clinicians. Surgical methods gets more innovation.Medical intervention has been introducted new auxiliary facilities, and genetics and stem cell technology bring new hope to it’s treatment. This article reviews the HF surgery, nterventional treatment and its related gene and cell therapy and research recently.
Today, the morbidity and mortality of heart failure are increasing year by year in the world. Mechanical circulatory assist devices has been one of the most effective ways to treat heart failure. The experimental study and clinical application of counterpulsation technique are now becoming more and more popular.Intraaortic balloon pump is representative, and has become the most frequently used shortterm mechanical assist device to treat heart failure. Recently, paraaortic counterpulsation device and other new counterpulsation devices have been developing very rapidly. The principle of counterpulsation and its historical background, as well as the development of various counterpulsation devices are reviewed in this paper.
Ventricular assist device can provide the heart with a nonload circumstance and improve hemodynamics and energy metabolism of ischemic myocardium.With ventricular assistance,not only multiple organ failure is improved but also cardiac function and myocardial injury are resumed. In recent years, studies found that ventricular assistance have an impact on the myocardial interstitium on its structural protein-typeⅠ,Ⅲcollagens and their metabolism conditioning systems.It reverse adverse myocardial remodeling and improve cardiac function by changing myocardial collagen content and distribution.
Objective To systematically assess the effectiveness and safety of atorvastatin in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) complicating chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods Databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, and VIP were searched from inception to November 2011 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on atorvastatin for DCM accompanied with CHF. According to the inclusion criterion, relevant articles were screened. Then we extracted data, assessed quality, and performed meta-analysis using RevMan 5.0. Results A total of 11 RCTs involving 648 patients were included. The result of meta-analyses showed that compared with the control group at the sixth month after treatment, in the atorvastatin group, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) obviously (MD=3.92, 95%CI 1.93 to 5.92, P=0.000 1) and 6-minute walk distance (MD=13.15, 95%CI 5.47 to 20.83, P=0.000 8) increased. Besides, serum level of CRP obviously decreased in the atorvastatin group (MD=1.91, 95%CI 3.03 to 0.79, P=0.000 9). Conclusion Current evidence indicates that atorvastatin, based on routine treatment, can improve cardiac function to some extent, increase LVEF, and reduce serum levels of inflammatory markers for patients with DCM complicating CHF. Therefore, atorvastatin is likely to be a safe and effective drug for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy due to DCM, which still has to be proved by more large-scale and high-quality clinical trials.
Objective To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effect and safety of western medicine plus Shenfu Injection versus simple western medicine in heart failure (HF) patients. Methods Such databases as CNKI (January 1979 to 2009), VIP (January 1989 to December 2009), CBM (1978 to 2009), PubMed (1978 to December 2009), The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2009) and relevant journals were searched, and the literature of randomized controlled trials comparing the combination of western medicine and Shenfu Injection with simple western medicine in HF patients was included. The quality of studies was evaluated according to the methods of the Cochrane Collaboration, the data were extracted; and meta-analyses were performed with RevMan5.0.2 software. Results Sixteen trials involving 1 117 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that compared with the simple western medicine treatment, the combination of western medicine and Shenfu Injection therapy significantly improved the symptoms, clinical comprehensive effect (RR=3.30, 95%CI 2.22 to 4.92, Plt;0.000 01), TCM syndrome and patient’s quality of life (RR=6.85, 95%CI 2.90 to 16.17, Plt;0.000 01), increased left ventricular ejection fraction (WMD=3.54, 95%CI 2.78 to 4.30, Plt;0.000 01), and reduced LVSD (WMD=2.43, 95%CI 1.04 to 3.82, P=0.000 6). Meanwhile, only one trail indicated that the combination of western medicine and Shenfu Injection might increase the six-minute walking distance, reduce the level of IL-6 and TNF-α, and eliminate the Lee’s HF and LVD-36 questionnaire integral. Conclusion The therapeutic effect of combining western medicine with Shenfu Injection therapy on HF patients is better than that of simple western medicine treatment.