Prognostic Value of LV Global Longitudinal Strain by 2D and 3D Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Patients With HFpEF.

Background: In patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the impact of type 2 diabetes (T2D) on left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) and its prognostic implications remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate LV function using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography in patients with HFpEF with and without T2D, and to investigate its prognostic significance.

Methods: A total of 335 patients with HFpEF were prospectively enrolled for echocardiographic evaluation.

Application of an echocardiographic index to characterize right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling in heart failure.

Heart failure (HF), with its high morbidity and mortality, remains a global public health issue. Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a sign of deterioration in the natural history of HF, and a thorough evaluation of the relationship between RV contractility and its afterload through RV-pulmonary arterial (RV-PA) coupling can aid in accurately assessing overall RV function. The ratio of RV end-systolic elastance (Ees) to pulmonary arterial elastance (Ea) invasively measured by right heart catheterization served as the gold standard for evaluating RV-PA coupling.

Inhibition of Notch Signaling Attenuates Schistosomiasis Hepatic Fibrosis via Blocking Macrophage M2 Polarization.

Macrophages play a key role in the pathogenesis of liver granuloma and fibrosis in schistosomiasis. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully characterized. This study revealed that the macrophages infiltrating the liver tissues in a murine model of Schistosoma japonica infection exhibited M2 functional polarization, and Notch1/Jagged1 signaling was significantly upregulated in the M2 polarized macrophages in vivo and in vitro.

Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging for the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Lymph Nodes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the overall performance of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) in differentiating between benign and malignant lymph nodes (LNs) by conducting a meta-analysis.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure were comprehensively searched for potential studies through August 13th, 2016. Studies that investigated the diagnostic power of ARFI for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant LNs by using virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) or virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) were collected.