1.
Bone mineral density in patients with chronic heart failure: a meta-analysis.
Xing, W, Lv, X, Gao, W, Wang, J, Yang, Z, Wang, S, Zhang, J, Yan, J
Clinical interventions in aging. 2018;:343-353
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to verify the existing relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and chronic heart failure (CHF) by meta-analysis. METHODS Databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, published in English or Chinese up to February 28, 2017, were searched for studies on the association between CHF and BMD. Two independent reviewers collected the relevant articles. The standard mean deviation (SMD) and 95% confidence interval were calculated for BMD with fixed- and random-effect models. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. RESULTS A total of six studies (552 CHF and 243 non-CHF patients) were included. The results indicated that the patients with CHF had a lower total BMD compared with the non-CHF patients. Similar effects were also observed for femoral neck, arm, leg, and trunk BMD. However, no difference was observed in the lumbar spine BMD. The SMD of total BMD in New York Heart Association classes I or II (NYHA I or II) patients was -0.62, while that in NYHA III or IV patients was -0.87, and the SMD of femoral bone mineral density in NYHA I or II patients was -0.47, while that in NYHA III or IV patients was -1.07. Moreover, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were also found to be associated with CHF. CONCLUSION Patients with CHF had a lower total BMD and femoral neck, arm, leg, or trochanter BMD than patients with non-CHF. Vitamin D reduced, whereas PTH increased, with the severity of CHF. The clinical significance of the present findings remains uncertain and should be confirmed by future studies.
2.
Chinese herbal injections for heart failure: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analyses.
Yang, F, Zou, J, Ge, L, Tian, J, Lee, MS, Jun, JH, Zhang, J
Medicine. 2018;(8):e9973
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) are commonly used for the treatment of heart failure in China. Due to the variety of CHIs used in clinic, selecting a suitable CHI for patients with heart failure is vital. This study aims to assess and compare the effect of different CHIs for heart failure using network meta-analysis (NMA). METHODS Six electronic databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database will be search from inception to January 2018. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing CHI with another CHI will be included. The primary outcome will be changes in heart function classification and left ventricular ejection fraction. Risk of bias assessment of the included RCTs will be conducted according to the Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0. A Bayesian NMA will be performed using WinBUGS 14 software and the result figures will be generated using Stata 13 software. GRADE will be used to explore the quality of evidence. RESULTS The results of this NMA will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION Our study will generate evidence of CHIs for patients with heart failure and provide suggestions for Chinese medicine clinical practice or guideline. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Ethics approval and patient consent are not required because this study is an NMA based solely on the published literature. The results of this NMA will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER PROSPERO CRD 42018086740.