BackgroundAt present, the alterations in molecular markers and signaling pathways in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) remain unclear. We aimed to compare the difference of molecular markers and signaling pathways in patients with CTEPH and healthy people with transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.MethodsWe prospectively included 26 patients with CTEPH and 35 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers as control. We extracted RNA from whole blood samples to construct the library. Then, qualified libraries were sequenced using PE100 strategy on BGIseq platform. Subsequently, the DESeq2 package in R was used to screen differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) and differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DElncRNAs) of 7 patients with CTEPH and 5 healthy volunteers. Afterwards, we performed functional enrichment and protein–protein interaction analysis of DEmRNAs. We also performed lncRNA-mRNA co-expression analysis and lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network construction. In addition, we performed diagnostic analysis on the GSE130391 dataset. Finally, we performed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of genes in 19 patients with CTEPH and 30 healthy volunteers.ResultsGender and age between patients with CTEPH and healthy controls, between sequencing group and in vitro validation group, were comparable. A total of 437 DEmRNAs and 192 DElncRNAs were obtained. Subsequently, 205 pairs of interacting DEmRNAs and 232 pairs of lncRNA-mRNA relationship were obtained. DEmRNAs were significantly enriched in chemokine signaling pathway, metabolic pathways, arachidonic acid metabolism, and MAPK signaling pathway. Only one regulation pathway of SOBP-hsa-miR-320b-LINC00472 was found through ceRNA network construction. In diagnostic analysis, the area under curve (AUC) values of LINC00472, PIK3R6, SCN3A, and TCL6, respectively, were 0.964, 0.893, 0.750, and 0.732.ConclusionThe identification of alterations in molecules and pathways may provide further research directions on pathogenesis of CTEPH. Additionally, LINC00472, PIK3R6, SCN3A, and TCL6 may act as the potential gene markers in CTEPH.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Infratentorial and spinal cord lesions are important for diagnosing and monitoring multiple sclerosis, but they are difficult to detect on conventional MR imaging. We sought to improve the detection of infratentorial and upper cervical cord lesions using composite FLAIR3 images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 3D T2-weighted FLAIR and 3D T2-weighted images were acquired in 30 patients with MS and combined using the FLAIR3 formula. FLAIR3 was assessed against 3D T2-FLAIR by comparing the number of infratentorial and upper cervical cord lesions per subject using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Intrarater and interrater reliability was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient. The number of patients with and without $1 visible infratentorial/spinal cord lesion on 3D T2-FLAIR versus FLAIR3 was calculated to assess the potential impact on the revised MS diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: Compared with 3D T2-FLAIR, FLAIR3 detected significantly more infratentorial (mean, 4.6 6 3.6 versus 2.0 6 1.8, P , .001) and cervical cord (mean, 1.58 6 0.94 versus 0.46 6 0.45, P , .001) lesions per subject. FLAIR3 demonstrated significantly improved interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient ¼ 0.77 [95% CI, 0.63-0.87] versus 0.60 [95% CI, 0.40-0.76] with 3D T2-FLAIR, P ¼ .019) and a tendency toward a higher intrarater reliability (0.86 [95% CI, 0.73-0.93] versus 0.79 [95% CI, 0.61-0.89], P ¼ .23). In our cohort, 20%-30% (47%-67%) of the subjects with MS had $ 1 infratentorial (cervical cord) lesion visible only on FLAIR3. CONCLUSIONS: FLAIR3 provides higher sensitivity than T2-FLAIR for the detection of MS lesions in infratentorial brain parenchyma and the upper cervical cord.

BackgroundBlood flow is closely related to function, but currently, the relationship of right ventricular (RV) blood flow components with RV function and hemodynamics in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) remains unclear. Our objective is to qualify RV function with 4-dimensional flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (4D-Flow CMR) imaging and to investigate the correlation between RV flow and hemodynamics in patients with CTEPH.MethodsRetrospective enrollment included 67 patients with CTEPH (mean age 47.8±14.2 years, 47 men) who underwent CMR and right heart catheterization (RHC) within 2 days. RHC was used to evaluate hemodynamics. RV flow components including the percentages of direct flow (PDF), retained inflow (PRI), delayed ejection flow (PDEF), and residual volume (PRVo) were quantified on 4D-Flow sequence. RV functional metrics were determined with the CINE balanced steady-state free precession sequence. The sum of PDF and PDEF was compared with RV eject fraction (RVEF). The correlation among RV flow components, RV functional metrics and hemodynamics was analyzed with spearman correlation analysis.ResultsThe median (interquartile range) of RVEF, PDF, PDEF, PRI, and PRVo, respectively was 35.5% (18.2, 45.6%), 18% (8.4, 21.4%), 15.1% (13.5, 19.0%), 15.9% (13.8, 20.8%), and 50.6% (35.6, 60.4%). The sum of PDF and PDEF is 35.1% (24.8, 46.6%), which was similar to RVEF (z = 0.58, p = 0.561). PDF negatively correlated with right ventricular end-systolic volume index (RVESVI), right ventricular myocardial mass index (RVMI) and right ventricular global longitudinal strain (r = −0.61, −0.65, −0.64, p < 0.001). PRVo positively correlated with RVESVI and RVMI (r = 0.50, 0.58, p < 0.001). PDF negatively correlated with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) (r = −0.72, p < 0.001) while it positively correlated with cardiac output (CO) and cardiac index (CI) (r = 0.64 & 0.52, p < 0.001). PRVo positively correlated with mean pulmonary pressure and PVR (r = 0.57&0.54, p < 0.001). Total five patients died in the perioperative period. RVEF in the deceased patients was similar to survivors (z = −1.163, p = 0.092). In comparison with the survivors, RVPDF in the deceased patients significantly reduced (z = −2.158, p = 0.029) while RVPDEF, RVPRI, and RVPRVo in deceased patients were similar to survivors.Conclusion4D-Flow CMR can provide simultaneous quantification of RV function and hemodynamics in the assessment of CTEPH without breath-holding. The reduced PDF and increased PRVo were the main characteristics of RV flow in CTEPH.

Background: Pulmonary cement embolism (PCE) caused by cement leakage is one of the complications of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) or percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP). The aim of our study was to explore the imaging features on computed tomography (CT) and analyze the risk factors of PCE in patients with a vertebral compression fracture to compare the incidences of PCE caused by PVP and PKP.Methods: In this single-center, retrospective study, 373 patients (96 males and 277 females; mean age 76.2±9.4 years) from January 2017 to December 2020 who underwent PVP or PKP for treatment of vertebral compression fracture in the China-Japan Friendship Hospital were retrospectively included. Their clinical data were recorded, and their postprocedural chest CT scans were reviewed and evaluated for PCE.Results: Of the 373 patients, 258 patients underwent PVP while the other 115 underwent PKP. PCE was found on the postprocedural chest CT scans in 64 patients (17.2%), including 47 patients with PVP and 17 patients with PKP. The incidence of PCE of PVP and PKP was similar (χ 2 =0.660; P=0.460). The typical CT findings of PCE were multiple linear or branching radiopaque densities in pulmonary arteries.The upper lobes of bilateral lungs were the most frequently involved. In addition, postprocedural chest CT demonstrated that 103 cases had cement emboli in the azygos vein, and 8 cases had cement emboli in the inferior vena cava. Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that PVP or PKP in the T9 vertebra [odds ratio (OR) =4.222; 95% CI: 1.490-11.966] and cement emboli in the azygos vein (OR =7.647; 95% CI: 3.937-14.856) or the inferior vena cava (OR =42.701; 95% CI: 7.525-242.302) were the risk factors of PCE. Conclusions:The incidence of PCE during PVP or PKP was 17.2%. Postprocedural chest CT clearly showed PCE as branching hyperdense or radiopaque lesions confined within the pulmonary artery courses.