Objective To systematically evaluate the safety, efficacy, and economics of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) versus transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). Methods PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Database were systematically searched to collect relevant studies on comparing ICE and TEE-guided LAAO from inception to June 15th, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.3 and R 4.0.3. Retrospective cohort studies were excluded for sensitivity analysis. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the types of occluder and ICE catheter. Results A total of 14 studies with 6 599 patients were included. Meta-analyses showed no statistical differences in technical success rate, overall complications, device embolization, peri-device leakage, device-related thrombus, stroke, vascular complications, bleeding, operation time, fluoroscopy time, or contrast agent volume between the ICE and TEE-guided LAAO. The total in-room time (MD=–33.47 min, 95%CI –41.20 to –25.73, P<0.00001) and radiation dosage (MD=–170.20 mGy, 95%CI –309.79 to –30.62, P=0.02) were lower in the ICE group than those in the TEE group, whereas the incidence of pericardial effusion/tamponade was higher than the TEE group (RR=1.57, 95%CI 1.01 to 2.45, P=0.048). Except for pericardial effusion/tamponade, subgroup analyses and sensitivity analysis showed similar results. The analysis based on the cost data from the United States showed comparable or even lower total costs for ICE versus TEE, but comparative domestic cost studies were lacking. Conclusion Current evidence suggests that ICE-guided LAAO can reduce radiation dosage and total in-room time, and there is no statistical difference in the overall complication rate between the two groups. Owing to the limitations of sample size and quality of the included studies, the conclusion still needs to be verified by large sample size and high-quality randomized controlled trials.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the hemostatic effect of traditional class Ⅲ hemostatic powder and aggregate absorbable hemostat in surgeries. MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to collect controlled studies related to the objectives from inception to September 18th, 2023. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 7 randomized controlled trials, 5 cohort studies and 9 animal experiments were included. The results of analysis showed that the group with traditional class Ⅲ hemostatic powder or aggregate absorbable hemostat had a higher hemostatic success rate and shorter hemostatic time than those with no hemostatic material in animal surgeries. And the group with aggregate absorbable hemostat had a higher 10 min hemostatic success rate than those with traditional hemostatic measures. The application of traditional class Ⅲ hemostatic powder in human cardiothoracic surgeries shortened the hemostatic time and reduced drainage after surgeries, but caused more blood loss during knee arthroplasties. Aggregate absorbable hemostat caused less blood loss than traditional hemostatic measures in human hip arthroplasties, and the 5 min and 10 min success rates of aggregate absorbable hemostat group were not worse than those of hemostatic gauze. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that the hemostatic effect of both traditional class Ⅲ hemostatic powder and aggregate absorbable hemostat are better than that of no hemostatic material in animal and human surgery, but the comparison results between the two and with other hemostatic measures are still not clear. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectiveTo investigate the annual publication volume, paper type distribution, journal quartile distribution, and citation status of SCI journal papers published by West China Hospital, Sichuan University, to provide a reference for optimizing the publication-based research evaluation system. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted. The Web of Science Core Collection was electronically searched to retrieve all papers affiliated with West China Hospital, Sichuan University. After screening, SCI journal papers up to December 31, 2024, in which the first author’s first affiliation was West China Hospital, Sichuan University published were included. Citation information as of December 31, 2024 was further obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection. R 4.2.2 software was used to analyze the annual quantity, journal quartile, paper type and citation distribution of SCI papers. ResultsA total of 38 005 papers were included. Original articles accounted for the highest proportion (62.06%), followed by reviews (17.66%), meeting abstracts (10.16%), letters (6.17%), and editorials (3.95%). Overall, 55.11% of the papers were published in JCR Q1 journals, and the proportion of Q1 papers showed a trend of initial decline followed by a rise over time. By the end of 2024, the total number of citations all included papers was 534 338, with an average number of citations of 14.06 per paper. The proportion of papers that received no citations within 2 years of publication was 29.65%. The 2-year average citation frequency ranked reviews (11.18) > original articles (5.99) > editorials (1.78) > letters (1.23) > meeting abstracts (0.23), and ranked as Q1 (7.61) > Q2 (4.28) > Q3 (3.18) > Q4 (1.56) when classified by JCR quartile. However, the 2-year citation rate was Q2 (75.67%) > Q3 (71.00%) > Q1 (68.78%) > Q4 (53.98%). ConclusionThe annual publication volume, the proportion of high-level Q1 journal papers, and the citation rate and average citation frequency of West China Hospital all showed an increasing trend. Nevertheless, structural problems such as a high proportion of uncited papers and a lack of high-impact papers remain.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the non-inferiority trials in the cardiovascular domain that utilize medical devices as interventions, and investigate its characteristics and threshold settings. MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL databases were electronically searched to collect non-inferiority trials in the cardiovascular field involving medical devices from inception to July 26, 2023. Two reviewers independently screened literature and extracted data. The reported information included basic characteristics, features of non-inferiority trials, and threshold-setting features of the included studies. Data analysis was performed using Excel 2020 and R 4.2.1 software. ResultsA total of 214 studies were included, with 167 studies (78.0%) focusing on interventions related to coronary artery stents. The trials predominantly utilized a two-arm design (92.9%), with a prevalent use of non-inferiority absolute thresholds (96.7%) as the criteria for non-inferiority determination. In 150 studies (70.1%), non-inferiority thresholds were established based on estimated control group effect values, while 33 studies (15.4%) did not report the source of these values. The non-inferiority trial endpoint outcomes exhibited diversity, and there were substantial differences in threshold settings. The three most studied qualitative indicators were target lesion failure rates (2.1%-8.6%), target vessel failure rates (2.5%-19.6%), and major adverse cardiovascular events rates (2.1%-10.0%). Late lumen loss (0.1-0.4 mm) emerged as the most frequently studied quantitative indicator. After converting absolute non-inferiority thresholds for all indicators into relative thresholds, the range was 1.20-3.67. ConclusionSignificant variations in non-inferiority threshold settings are observed for identical endpoint outcomes across included studies, highlighting a lack of reporting on the rationale behind threshold settings.