Three-dimensional magnetic resonance myocardial motion tracking from a single image plane.

Three-dimensional imaging for the quantification of myocardial motion is a key step in the evaluation of cardiac disease. A tagged magnetic resonance imaging method that automatically tracks myocardial displacement in three dimensions is presented. Unlike other techniques, this method tracks both in-plane and through-plane motion from a single image plane without affecting the duration of image acquisition. A small z-encoding gradient is subsequently added to the refocusing lobe of the slice-selection gradient pulse in a slice following CSPAMM acquisition. An opposite polarity z-encoding gradient is added to the orthogonal tag direction. The additional z-gradients encode the instantaneous through plane position of the slice. The vertical and horizontal tags are used to resolve in-plane motion, while the added z-gradients is used to resolve through-plane motion. Postprocessing automatically decodes the acquired data and tracks the three-dimensional displacement of every material point within the image plane for each cine frame. Experiments include both a phantom and in vivo human validation. These studies demonstrate that the simultaneous extraction of both in-plane and through-plane displacements and pathlines from tagged images is achievable. This capability should open up new avenues for the automatic quantification of cardiac motion and strain for scientific and clinical purposes.     

Cerebral Cortical Aquaporin-4 Expression in Brain Edema following Cardiac Arrest in Rats

OBJECTIVES: Brain edema occurs following clinical as well as experimental cardiac arrest (CA) and predicts a poor neurologic outcome. The objective of this study was to determine the expression of cerebral cortex aquaporin (AQP)-4, a member of a family of membrane water-channel proteins, in brain edema formation following normothermic or hypothermic CA. METHODS: Twenty-four rats were subjected to time-matched normothermic (N-Sham, 37.5 degrees C +/- 0.5 degrees C, n = 6) or hypothermic (H-Sham, 34 degrees C +/- 0.5 degrees C, n = 6) sham experiments and normothermic (N-CA, n = 6) or hypothermic (H-CA, n = 6) CA induced by asphyxiation for 8 minutes. Hypothermia was induced before CA. The animals were resuscitated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventilation, and epinephrine administration. Brain edema was determined by brain wet-to-dry weight ratio at one hour of resuscitation. AQP4 immunoactivity in the cerebral cortex was determined using immunohistochemical staining and was semiquantified as an intensity of staining with an automated cell imaging system. RESULTS: Mild hypothermia in the sham experiments did not alter cerebral cortex AQP4 immunoactivity (mean +/- SD) (55.0 +/- 3.7 in H-Sham vs. 53.3 +/- 1.7 in N-Sham, p > 0.05). N-CA resulted in a significant increase in AQP4 immunoactivity (61.8 +/- 4.5) compared with N-Sham (p = 0.01) and H-Sham (p = 0.03). H-CA attenuated AQP4 compared with N-CA (53.4 +/- 1.3, p = 0.01). Brain wet-to-dry weight ratios were 4.41 +/- 0.07 in N-Sham, 4.40 +/- 0.08 in H-Sham (p > 0.05 vs. N-Sham), 4.55 +/- 0.04 in N-CA (p = 0.004 vs. N-Sham; p = 0.005 vs. H-Sham), and 4.43 +/- 0.09 in H-CA (p = 0.02 vs. N-CA; p > 0.05 vs. N-Sham and H-Sham). CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral cortical AQP4 expression is up-regulated after normothermic CA, which is attenuated by hypothermia induced before CA.     

Accelerating cardiac cine 3D imaging using k-t BLAST.

By exploiting spatiotemporal correlations in cardiac acquisitions using k-t BLAST, gated cine 3D acquisitions of the heart were accelerated by a net factor of 4.3, making single breathhold acquisitions possible. Sparse sampling of k-t space along a sheared grid pattern was implemented into a cine 3D SSFP sequence. The acquisition of low-resolution training data, which was required to resolve aliasing in the k-t BLAST method, was either interleaved into the sampling process or obtained in a separate prescan to allow for shorter breathhold durations in patients with heart disease. Volumetric datasets covering the heart with 20 slices at a spatial resolution of 2 x 2 x 5 mm3 were recorded with 20 cardiac phases in a total breathhold duration of 25-27 sec, or 18 sec if partial Fourier sampling was additionally employed. The feasibility of the method was demonstrated on healthy volunteers and on patients. The comparison of endocardial area derived from single slices of the 3D dataset with values extracted from separate single-slice acquisitions showed no significant differences. By shortening the acquisition substantially, k-t BLAST may greatly facilitate volumetric imaging of the heart for evaluation of regional wall motion and the assessment of ventricular volume and ejection fraction.     

猪心肌球蛋白及其轻,重链亚基的纯化和鉴定

采用一种改进的方法，从１００ｇ猪心室肌中提取心肌肌球蛋白３７０ｍｇ，并进一步分离和纯化其亚基成分，分别得到肌球蛋白轻链２４ｍｇ和重链２１０ｍｇ，核酸含量＜１％，不含有肌动蛋白、原肌球蛋白、肌钙蛋白及其它杂蛋白；ＳＤＳＰＡＧＥ显示，猪心肌球蛋白重链为２００～２２０ＫＤ一条带，肌球蛋白轻链则为２７ｋｄ、２１．４ｋｄ、１９ｋｄ三条带；纯化猪心肌球蛋白的Ｃａ２＋激活ＡＴＰ酶活性为０．２４μｍｏｌＰｉ／（ｍｇ·ｍｉｎ），但其分离后的亚基则无此活性。     

火器伤后胸心异物存留

目的：探讨火器伤后胸心异物存留摘除的指征、时机、方法及结果。方法：回顾性分析了３９例火器伤后胸心异物存留摘除者的一般资料、临床表现、不同处理方法的选择及效果。结果：１９例患者早期因凝固性血胸及肺持续漏气伴异物存留或异物存留伴胸腔及心包腔化脓性感染，在开胸清创时做了异物摘除；另２０例患者为胸伤伤情恢复后单纯异物存留，因异物位于肺门、心脏及大血管旁或远期并发症等，而后期开胸异物摘除。结论：火器性胸部穿透伤后，因异物本身或其他原因所致早期并发症者，应在开胸清创的同时摘除异物；胸伤伤情恢复而单纯胸心异物存留，应选择性摘除或因并发远期并发症而摘除。     

Abnormal cardiac histology in severe intrauterine growth retardation infants

Four infants with severe intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) weighing less than 1000 g at birth developed heart failure and died in our unit, where heart failure of IUGR infants is the main reason of death in extremely low birth-weight infants. The causes of their heart failure are one of the main themes in current neonatal medicine. The subjects of this study were four small for gestational age infants; all died due to heart failure 5 to 10 days after birth. Microscopic specimens of hearts from autopsies were evaluated with respect to the following characteristics: thickness of myocardial fibers, maturation of nuclei, presence of dysgenesis or necrosis in myocardium, and amount of glycogen in the heart. Neither dysgenesis nor infarction of the heart was found but hypoplasia in myocardial fibers and decreased glycogen levels were observed. Maturation delay in myocytes' nuclei did not appear to be severe. We conclude that these infants' hearts failed to adapt to postnatal hemodynamic changes because of inadequate myocardial function and inadequate glycogen reserves.     

The efficacy of fluconazole in treating prosthetic valve endocarditis caused byCandida glabrata: Report of a case

A case of active prosthetic valve infective endocarditis (PVE) due toCandida glabrata was successfully treated by the systemic administration of fluconazole. A 66-year-old Japanese man with infective endocarditis of unknown etiology underwent aortic and mitral valve replacement to treat severe aortic and mitral regurgitation associated with multiple organ failure. Postsurgical cultures of arterial blood were repeatedly positive forC. glabrata, and therefore fluconazole was administered either intravenously or orally at a dose of 400 mg/day for 46 days. During that time the signs of inflammation including fever such as an elevated white blood cell count and the presence of C-reactive protein (CRP) all improved while the blood cultures became negative. Fluconazole is thus considered to be effective in treating PVE caused byC. glabrata. When administering this treatment, it is also important to monitor the patient's renal and liver function.     

Influence of volume replacement with different HES–solutions on microcirculatory blood flow in cardiac surgery

A variety of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) preparations with different molecular weight average (Mw) and molar substitution (MS) is available for volume replacement during acute normovolemic haemodilution (ANH). Particularly with regard to microcirculation, the ideal solution for volume therapy has not been found. A 5th group without ANH served as a control (10 patients in each group). In addition to systemic haemodynamics and various laboratory parameters, skin capillary blood flow was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry. Laser Doppler flow (LDF) was monitored simultaneously at the patient's forehead and forearm. Changes in systemic haemodynamics were similar in all ANH–patients. Systemic vascular resistance (SVR) was lowest after infusion of HES 200/0.5. The most pronounced increase in plasma viscosity was in patients of group 1 (450/0.7) (P<0.05) and plasma viscosity remained highest during the entire investigation period in these patients. After ANH, skin capillary blood flow measured at the forehead decreased in all patients except in patients of group 2 (200/0.5: max. + 18%). Group 3 (200/0.62) showed the highest decrease in forehead–LDF. During CPB, forehead–LDF decreased significantly in groups 3 (200/0.62) and 4 (40/0.5). At the end of the operation, LDF was most reduced in groups 1 (– 32%) and 3 (– 33%). Forearm–LDF increased in all ANH–patients. Immediately after ANH this increase was lowest in group 3 (200/0.62). In the further course of the investigation, no more differences were seen in any HES patients. The different HES preparations showed a different microcirculatory response. 6% HES 200/0.5 seems to be overall most suitable for volume replacement in cardiac surgery patients undergoing acute normovolemic haemodilution (ANH) due to the best effects on microcirculatory skin perfusion assessed by laser Doppler flow. HES 6% 200/0.62 showed the overall least positive effects with regard to skin capillary blood flow in this situation.     

Revascularization of a thrombosed aortopulmonary shunt with the use of the AngioJet thrombectomy system.

We report the use of the AngioJet F140 rheolytic catheter to recannalize an acutely thrombosed aortopulmonary shunt in a 21-year-old female with palliated, complex congenital heart disease. After extracting the thrombus that filled the entire length of the shunt, three stents were placed at sites where the lumen was compromised by distortion or thrombus. Unobstructed flow was restored to the left pulmonary artery that persisted at 1-year follow-up.