Adults with current asthma but not former asthma have higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a population-based prospective cohort study.

Higher mortality in asthmatics has been shown previously. However, evidence on different asthma phenotypes on long-term mortality risk is limited. The aim was to evaluate the impact of asthma phenotypes on mortality in general population.

Feasibility of Device Closure for Multiple Atrial Septal Defects With an Inferior Sinus Venosus Defect: Procedural Planning Using Three-Dimensional Printed Models.

Background: Multiple atrial septal defects (ASD) with an inferior sinus venosus defect (SVD) have always been considered to be contraindications for interventional therapy. On the basis of early experience using a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occluder for interventional treatment for inferior ASD, this study investigated the feasibility of transcatheter closure of multiple ASDs with an inferior SVD under the guidance of three-dimensional (3D) printed heart models.

Methods: Between August 2016 and February 2017, five patients who were diagnosed with multiple ASDs with an inferior SVD at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans and three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography to generate heart disease models by a 3D printing technique.

Safety of an improved patent ductus arteriosus occluder for transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defects with abnormally attached tricuspid chordae tendineae.

Background: The off-label use of various devices has been reported for the transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defects (PmVSD) because of serious complications, such as heart block and tricuspid regurgitation (TR), associated with conventional ventricular septal defect devices. However, whether certain defects such as PmVSD with abnormally attached tricuspid are fit for interventional treatment is still disputable.

Aim: To explore the feasibility and safety of transcatheter closure of PmVSD with abnormally attached tricuspid chordae tendineae using an improved patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occluder.

Transcatheter Closure of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defects in Children using a Wire-Drifting Technique.

Objective: Explore the feasibility and safety of transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defects using a wire-drifting technique (WT) in children.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 121 pediatric patients diagnosed with perimembranous ventricular septal defects who underwent interventional treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from Dec 2011 to Dec 2014. Based on the method used for arteriovenous loop establishment during the procedure, the patients were divided into a conventional technique (CT) group and a WT group.

A Case Report on Pulmonary Arteriovenous Fistula with Recurrent Cerebral Infarction.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) and pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) have been both proposed as a mechanism for cerebral infarction. However, there are only a few reports on how to distinguish the role of the two factors in cerebral infarction.

Multidisciplinary assessment of PFO with substantial right-to-left shunting and medium-term follow-up after PFO device closure: A single-center experience.

Objectives: To describe the multidisciplinary assessment of patent foramen ovale (PFO) with substantial right-to-left shunting (RLS) and medium-term follow-up after PFO closure for stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Background: PFO closure is a therapeutic option to prevent recurrent ischemic event in patients with cryptogenic stroke and TIA. The apparent lack of benefit seen in previous studies was in part due to the inclusion of patients with alternate mechanisms of stroke/TIA.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells modified with IGFBP-3 inhibit the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common clinical cardiovascular disease, leading to the excessive proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and endothelial cells, and is associated with a high mortality rate. Recently, stem- and progenitor cell-mediated gene therapies have provided a novel approach for the treatment of PAH. However, the function of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBM‑MSCs) modified with the insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) gene in the regulation of PAH is not yet fully understood.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome in a patient with a pre-existing patent foramen ovale successfully treated with an atrial septal occluder.

Platypnea orthodeoxia syndrome is associated with dyspnea and arterial oxygen desaturation accentuated by an upright posture. It can be secondary to an intracardiac shunt. We report a case of platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome (POS) in a 58-year old male patient who had a pre-existing patent foramen ovale (PFO) and substantial pulmonary pathologies.

[Clinical observation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia].

Objective: To explore the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in venous thromboembolism.

Methods: A total of 202 patients with venous thromboembolism without anticoagulation contraindications were enrolled. All of them were treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and/or unfractionated heparin (UFH).