Aorta-pulmonary septal defect and aortic origin of the right pulmonary artery with interruption of the aortic arch:a clinical analysis of 5 cases

Objective Reviewing the experience in diagnosis and treatment of cases with aorta-pulmonary septal defect and aortic origin of right pulmonary artery complicated with interruption of aortic arch. Methods Clinical data from medical records for 5 patients (4 boys and 1 girl,age from 1 to 18 years on admission) who had been treated in Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital between 2005 and 2009

Recovery from Out-of-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Arrest Due to Type A Acute Aortic Dissection: A Case Report

Case: A 55-year-old man without past medical histories suffering from back pain for two weeks was successfully resuscitated from an 8-min cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) and was brought to our hospital by ambulance. Computed tomography demonstrated type A acute aortic dissection (AAAD) with brachiocephalic artery occlusion. After admission, Glasgow Coma Scale score improved to E1VTM4, and voluntary movement was noted only in the right limbs. Outcome: The patient underwent emergency grafting of the ascending aorta and innominate artery under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. After surgery, the patient recovered with mild disorientation and left hemiplegia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head revealed no large infarction but revealed multiple acute ischemic changes. One year later, the patient demonstrated independent walk and successfully returned to work life. Conclusions: Immediate resuscitation and surgery resulted in good recovery from CPA after AAAD.

Atherosclerotic aortic plaques detected by transesophageal echocardiography

Objective To evaluate the predictive value of atherosclerotic aortic plaques in coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods In 50 patients with suspected coronary artery disease, transesophageal echocardiography was performed to examine their thoracic aortas 2 weeks before or after coronary angiography. In the cases of coronary angiography studied, stenosis of the coronary artery ≥50%was considered to be due to coronary artery disease, whereas the thickness of the intima ≥1.3 mm was taken to be the criteria for the presence of an atherosclerotic aortic plaque on the transesophageal echocardiographic test. Results Among the 50 patients, 37 cases were diagnosed as CAD and 13 cases were considered to be normal. The plaques of the thoracic aorta were observed in 34 cases in the CAD group and 3 cases in the normal group. The sensitivity and specificity of aortic plaques for CAD were 91.9%and 76.9%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values of the aortic plaques for CAD were 91.9%and 76.9%, respectively. The accuracy was 88.0%. 80 percent of the patients with single-vessel disease had thoracic aortic plaques, 92 percent of the patients with two vessel disease and 100 percent of the patients with three vessel disease had thoracic aortic plaques. There was a significant difference in the thickness of aortic intimas between the normal group and the CAD group. Conclusions Detecting atherosclerotic plaques in the thoracic aorta with transesophageal echocardiography may be of great value in predicting the presence and extent of coronary artery disease.

Oxidized phospholipids and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A_2 as important determinants of Lp(a) functionality and pathophysiological role

Lipoprotein（a） [Lp（a）] is composed of a low density lipoprotein（LDL）-like particle to which apolipoprotein（a）[apo（a）] is linked by a single disulfide bridge. Lp（a） is considered a causal risk factor for ischemic cardiovascular disease（CVD） and calcific aortic valve stenosis（CAVS）. The evidence for a causal role of Lp（a） in CVD and CAVS is based on data from large epidemiological databases, mendelian randomization studies, and genome-wide association studies. Despite the well-established role of Lp（a） as a causal risk factor for CVD and CAVS, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. A key role in the Lp（a） functionality may be played by its oxidized phospholipids（OxPL） content. Importantly, most of circulating OxPL are associated with Lp（a）; however, the underlying mechanisms leading to this preferential sequestration of OxPL on Lp（a） over the other lipoproteins,are mostly unknown. Several studies support the hypothesis that the risk of Lp（a） is primarily driven by its OxPL content.An important role in Lp（a） functionality may be played by the lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A_2（Lp-PLA_2）,an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of OxPL and is bound to plasma lipoproteins including Lp（a）. The present review article discusses new data on the pathophysiological role of Lp（a） and particularly focuses on the functional role of OxPL and Lp-PLA_2 associated with Lp（a）.