[Discussion on the safety of acupuncture in experimental animals].

Many basic studies on acupuncture need to be carried out on experimental animals. However, the safety of acupuncture in experimental animals has been neglected for a long time. In the present paper, we make a discussion on the current situations, causes, its influence on research results and countermeasures of acupuncture safety events in experimental animals, so as to promote the safety evaluation of acupuncture in experimental animals and the standardized operation of acupuncture.

[Value of cardiac CT examination in middle-aged and elderly patients with atrial septal defect before planned transcatheter closure].

Objective: To investigate the value of the cardiac CT examination for decision making in middle-aged and elderly patients before planned transcatheter atrial septal defect (ASD) closure.

Methods: Cardiac CT was performed in 63 adult patients [18 males, aged from 50 to 77 years, mean age (56.87 ± 5.

Contemporary analysis of predictors and etiology of ventricular fibrillation during diagnostic coronary angiography.

Objectives: To assess the incidence, investigate the predictors and analyze the causes of ventricular fibrillation (VF) during coronary angiography (CA) on the condition of current techniques.

Methods: From April 2004 to January 2007, a total 22,254 patients (27,798 procedures) received CA procedures in our center; 27 patients developed VF during CA. This report was to retrospectively analyze the clinical basic characteristics, coronary angiographic characteristics and CA procedure records of these patients.