Assessment of left ventricular myocardial systolic dysfunction in premature ovarian insufficiency patients using echocardiographic layer-specific myocardial strain imaging.

Background: Due to the lack of oestrogen, premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is an independent risk factor for ischaemic heart disease and overall cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to apply layer-specific myocardial strain for early quantitative evaluation of subclinical left ventricular myocardial systolic function changes in patients with POI.

Methods: Forty-eight newly diagnosed, untreated patients with POI (POI group) and fifty healthy female subjects matched for age, height and weight (control group) were enrolled.

Right ventricular volume and function by three-dimensional echocardiography: results of the echocardiographic measurements in normal Chinese adults (EMINCA) II.

Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography is an emerging technique for assessing right ventricular (RV) volume and function, but 3D-RV normal values from a large Chinese population are still lacking. The aim of the present study was to establish normal values of 3D-RV volume and function in healthy Chinese volunteers. A total of 1117 Han Chinese volunteers from 28 laboratories in 20 provinces of China were enrolled, and 3D-RV images of 747 volunteers with optimal image quality were ultimately analyzed by a core laboratory.

Impact of Hemodialysis on Left Ventricular-Arterial Coupling in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients.

Introduction: As a key determinant of cardiovascular performance, vascular-arterial coupling (VAC) has been reported to be a predictor of clinical outcomes in various clinical scenarios. However, few studies have explored how acute fluid removal during hemodialysis (HD) impacts the interaction between cardiac function and the arterial system.

Methods: We recruited 317 HD patients from an established renal dialysis unit for this cross-sectional study and a total of 285 were included in the final analyses.

Opportunistic screening for asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: International guidelines recommend natriuretic peptide biomarker-based screening for patients at high heart failure (HF) risk to allow early detection. There have been few reports about the incorporation of screening procedure to existing clinical practice.

Objective: To implement screening of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).

Daily ambulatory remote monitoring system for drug escalation in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: pilot phase of DAVID-HF study.

Aims: Underutilization of guideline-directed heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) medications contributes to poor outcomes.

Methods And Results: A pilot study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a home-based remote monitoring system for HFrEF management was performed. The system included wearable armband monitors paired with the smartphone application.

Protocol for Home-Based Solution for Remote Atrial Fibrillation Screening to Prevent Recurrence Stroke (HUA-TUO AF Trial): a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Current international guidelines recommend ECG monitoring after an ischaemic stroke to detect atrial fibrillation (AF) in order to prevent stroke recurrence. However, optimal strategies to detect AF and the downstream management to prevent stroke recurrence remain to be established. The objective of the study was to explore the use of long-term home-based ECG monitoring for AF detection and stroke prevention in patients with a history of stroke.

Body volume is the major determinant of worsening renal function in acutely decompensated heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction.

Aims: Little is known about the relative importance of body volume and haemodynamic parameters in the development of worsening of renal function in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF). To study the relationship between haemodynamic parameters, body water content and worsening of renal function in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) hospitalised for ADHF.

Methods And Results: This prospective observational study involved 51 consecutive patients with HFrEF (age: 73±14 years, male: 60%, left ventricular ejection fraction: 33.

Reference Values of Carotid Ultrafast Pulse-Wave Velocity: A Prospective, Multicenter, Population-Based Study.

Background: Ultrafast ultrasound imaging has been demonstrated to be an effective method to evaluate carotid stiffness through carotid pulse-wave velocity (PWV) with high reproducibility, but a lack of reference values has precluded its widespread use in clinical practice. The aims of this study were to establish reference values of PWV for ultrafast ultrasound imaging in a prospective, multicenter, population-based cohort study and to investigate the main determinants of carotid PWV.

Methods: A total of 1,544 healthy Han Chinese volunteers (581 men [38%]; age range, 18-95 years) were enrolled from 32 collaborating laboratories in China.

Antithrombotic therapy and the risk of new-onset dementia in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of dementia. Little is known about the relationship of antithrombotic therapy and the risk of dementia in patients with AF without clinical stroke.

Method: This was an observational study based on a hospital AF registry.

Point-of-care ultrasound augments physical examination learning by undergraduate medical students.

Background: Little is known about the impact of the provision of handheld point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) devices on physical examination skills of medical students.

Methods: We describe an educational initiative that comprised a POCUS workshop followed by allocation of a POCUS device to medical students for use over the subsequent 8 weeks. They were encouraged to scan patients and correlate their physical examination findings.

Thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TIRADS) for ultrasound features of nodules: multicentric retrospective study in China.

Purpose: To establish a practical and simplified Chinese thyroid imaging reporting and data system (C-TIRADS) based on the Chinese patient database.

Methods: A total of 2141 thyroid nodules that were neither cystic nor spongy were used in the current study. These specimens were derived from 2141 patients in 131 alliance hospitals of the Chinese Artificial Intelligence Alliance for Thyroid and Breast Ultrasound.

2020 Chinese guidelines for ultrasound malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules: the C-TIRADS.

Thyroid nodules are very common all over the world, and China is no exception. Ultrasound plays an important role in determining the risk stratification of thyroid nodules, which is critical for clinical management of thyroid nodules. For the past few years, many versions of TIRADS (Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System) have been put forward by several institutions with the aim to identify whether nodules require fine-needle biopsy or ultrasound follow-up.

The impact of cigarette smoking in predicting stroke using CHADS and CHADS-VASc schemas.

Objective: To determine the impact of smoking status in the prediction of stroke using CHADS and CHADS-VASc schemes.

Methods: Five hundred twenty-eight consecutive patients with arrhythmic symptoms and without any documented arrhythmia from Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, were followed up to determine the incidence of ischemic stroke, new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), or all-cause mortality. Smoking status was classified into nonsmokers and smokers.

Can Combined Screening of Ultrasound and Elastography Improve Breast Cancer Identification Compared with MRI in Women with Dense Breasts-a Multicenter Prospective Study.

: To assess the performance of elastography (ES) and ultrasound (US) in predicting the malignancy of breast lesions and to compare their combined diagnostic value with that of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). : The study prospectively enrolled 242 female patients with dense breasts treated in 35 heath care facilities in China between November 2018 and October 2019. Based on conventional US and elastography, radiologists classified the degree of suspicion of breast lesions according to the US Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) criteria.

Changes in left ventricular function and contractile homogeneity in young adults with newly diagnosed hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate myocardial dysfunction and mechanical abnormalities in young patients with Graves' disease before therapy, using two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiographic examination, including segmental and global radial strain, and time-to-peak radial strain, in 47 young patients with hyperthyroidism and 34 healthy adults. The time-to-peak radial strain was corrected by RR interval.

Risk of venous thromboembolism in Chinese pregnant women: Hong Kong venous thromboembolism study.

Background: Previous Caucasian studies have described venous thromboembolism in pregnancy; however, little is known about its incidence during pregnancy and early postpartum period in the Chinese population. We investigated the risk of venous thromboembolism in a "real-world" cohort of pregnant Chinese women with no prior history of venous thromboembolism.

Methods: In this observational study, 15,325 pregnancies were identified in 14,162 Chinese women at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong between January 2004 and September 2016.

PAK1 promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma by facilitating EMT via directly up-regulating Snail.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary cause of cancer mortality. PAK1 plays key roles in many types of cancers. However, the role of PAK1 in HCC is not clear.

A Novel Mathematical Model for Correcting the Physiologic Variance of Two-Dimensional Echocardiographic Measurements in Healthy Chinese Adults.

Background: To facilitate differentiation between normal and abnormal values, it is necessary to correct echocardiographic measurements for physiologic variance induced by age, gender, and body size variables.

Methods: A total of 34 two-dimensional echocardiographic parameters were measured in 1,224 healthy Chinese adults with body mass index < 25.0 kg/m.

miR-122 enhances sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma to oxaliplatin via inhibiting MDR1 by targeting Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the primary causes of cancer-related death and resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy is the major cause of mortality in HCC patients. miR-122 is a liver specific miRNA and is found to be reduced in HCC, however, the function of miR-122 in HCC chemosensitivity remains elusive.

Methods: We used qRT-PCR to measure expressions of miR-122, β-catenin and MDR1 in four HCC cell lines.

Risk Factors and Pregnancy Outcomes: Complete versus Incomplete Placenta Previa in Mid-pregnancy.

This prospective study was conducted to compare risk factors and pregnancy outcomes between women with complete placenta previa and those with incomplete placenta previa diagnosed in mid-pregnancy. The study was carried out from April 2014 to December 2015, during which 70 patients with complete previa and 113 with incomplete previa between 20 weeks and 25 weeks of gestation were included. Maternal demographics and pregnancy outcomes were compared between the two groups.

Rationale and design of the screening of pulmonary hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus (SOPHIE) study.

Current guideline-recommended screening for pulmonary hypertension in patients with systemic sclerosis has not been evaluated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which is disproportionately prevalent in Asians. This multicentre, cross-sectional screening study aims to study the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension among SLE patients using these guidelines, and identify independent predictors and develop a prediction model for pulmonary hypertension in SLE patients. SLE patients from participating centres will undergo an echocardiography- and biomarker-based pulmonary hypertension screening procedure as in the DETECT study.

Four-dimensional echocardiography area strain combined with exercise stress echocardiography to evaluate left ventricular regional systolic function in patients with mild single vessel coronary artery stenosis.

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to assess the diagnosis value of four-dimensional echocardiography area strain (AS) combined with exercise stress echocardiography to evaluate left ventricular regional systolic function in patients with mild single vessel coronary artery stenosis.

Methods: Based on treadmill exercise load status, two-dimensional conventional echocardiography and four-dimensional echocardiography area strain were performed on patients suspected coronary artery disease before coronary angiogram. Thirty patients (case group) with mild left anterior descending coronary artery stenosis (stenosis <50%) and thirty gender- and age-matched patients (control group) without coronary artery stenosis according to the coronary angiogram results were prospectively enrolled.

Relationship between placenta location and resolution of second trimester placenta previa.

This prospective study was conducted to assess the rate of resolution of second trimester placenta previa in women with anterior placenta and posterior placenta, and that in women with and without previous cesarean section. In this study, placenta previa was defined as a placenta lying within 20 mm of the internal cervical os or overlapping it. We recruited 183 women diagnosed with previa between 20 weeks and 25 weeks.