International heart journal
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
Evaluation of renal microcirculation by contrast-enhanced ultrasound with Sonazoid as a contrast agent.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major and serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Continuous hypoxia due to hypoperfusion in peritubular capillaries is one of the factors aggravating CKD, but evaluation of perfusion in this region is difficult using clinically available imaging methods. Since the second-generation ultrasound contrast agent Sonazoid has a stable shell, it enables visualization of the renal vasculature for a long period of time. ⋯ No side effects of the contrast agent were observed in any subjects. The attenuation of renal contrast enhancement observed in CKD patients appears to reflect disturbance of perfusion in peritubular capillaries. CEUS with Sonazoid is a useful and safe means of visualizing the renal microvasculature.
-
It has previously been reported that cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is useful in predicting the postoperative course after cardiac surgery, and that elevated serum cTnI levels are associated with increased in-hospital mortality. However, these findings have been reported in heterogeneous groups of cardiac surgical procedures. In the current study, the usefulness of postoperative cTnI measurements for the prediction of patient outcomes in a specific group of cardiac surgical procedures was determined, with the analysis limited to patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. ⋯ Values of cTnI on POD 1 and POD 2 were significantly correlated with the length of ICU stay, whereas only the CK-MB level on POD 2 was significantly correlated with the length of ICU stay. In addition, the cTnI levels on POD 1 and POD 2 were significantly correlated with POHS, however, there was no relationship between postoperative CK-MB levels and POHS. Postoperative cTnI measurements are more useful than CK-MB measurements in predicting the postoperative course of a patient following mitral valve surgery.