ShaoLiang Chen

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data from large cohort studies examining the prognostic significance of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with coronary artery disease. We hypothesized that OSA predicts subsequent major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The Sleep and Stent Study was a prospective, multicenter registry of patients successfully treated with percutaneous coronary ...

AIM: To investigate the remodeling of mesenteric artery and the expression of TGF-beta1, c-Jun in mesenteric artery and effects of imidapril and irbesartan on the remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

METHODS: Thirty SHR (male/female, 21/9), aged 13 wk, were randomly divided into 3 groups (7 male rats and 3 female rats each group): SHR group, imidapril group (imidapril 3 mg/kg.d was given in drinking water for 14 wk), and irbesartan group (irbesartan 50 mg/kg.d was given ...

AIMS: There is uncertainty on which stenting approach confers the best long-term outlook for unprotected left main (ULM) bifurcation disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a non-randomized, retrospective study including all consecutive patients with 50% stenosis of the left main involving at least 1 of the arteries stemming from the left main treated with drug-eluting stents (DES) in 9 European centers between 2002 and 2004. Patients were divided into two groups: those treated with ...

(99m)Technetium-labeled diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-polyethylene glycol-folate (DTPA-PEG-folate) was synthesized and tested as a radiopharmaceutical agent, which targeted the lymphatic system with metastatic tumor. Folic acid was reacted with H2N-PEG-NH2 to yield H2N-PEG-folate. After purification by anion-exchange chromatography, the product was reacted with cyclic DTPA. By removal of unreacted DTPA by size-exclusion chromatography, DTPA-PEG-Folate was obtained. ...

An increasing number of studies have been devoted to studying the respiratory toxicity of carbon nanomaterials, but little information is known, thus far, on the biodistribution of these nanomaterials after inhalation or intratracheal instillation. We synthesized and labeled a polyhydroxylated derivative of fullerene C60(OH)x (x=22,24) with 99mTc. With single photon emission computed tomography imaging and 〈gamma〉-ray counting techniques, the biodistribution of 99mTc-C60(OH)x in ...

Management of empyema with bronchopleural fistula remains a challenge. A 38-year-old man who had bullous emphysema was hospitalized on account of a right-sided necrotizing pneumonia complicated by empyema that mandated a tube drainage. Persistent air leak from the chest tube was noted, and chest computed tomography confirmed an empyema cavity with a suspicious bronchopleural fistula. This complex condition was successfully treated using fibrin glue with buttressed bovine pericardium to ...

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend administering dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for 12 months to patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and without contraindications after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. A recent study reported that 3 months of DAPT followed by ticagrelor monotherapy is effective and safe in ACS patients undergoing DES implantation compared with the standard duration of DAPT. However, it is unclear whether antiplatelet monotherapy with ticagrelor ...

BACKGROUND: The risk/benefit tradeoff of dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention may vary in East Asian patients as compared with their non-East Asian counterparts.

METHODS: The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized TWILIGHT trial (Ticagrelor With Aspirin or Alone in High-Risk Patients After Coronary Intervention) enrolled patients undergoing high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention. After 3 months of treatment with ticagrelor plus aspirin, ...

The vessel wall is an intricate structure composed of three layers: the intima (consisting of endothelial cells), media (consisting of smooth muscle cells and elastic fibers), and externa (consisting of the extracellular matrix scaffold). The homeostasis of the vasculature depends on the consistent function of each layer. In the vascular system, potassium channels are well known to regulate vascular function. The interactions between vascular conditions and membrane potential are ...