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Objective This study aimed to review treatment of patients with aortic disease during pregnancy and after delivery in Beijing Anzhen Hospital. Methods A retrospective study was conducted using data from 12 patients with aortic disease during pregnancy and after delivery in our institution from May 2005 to December 2014. Patients were provided different treatments based on the type of aortic disease and clinical characteristics. Results The mean age was 29.83 ± 4.17 years, mean height was 171.7 ± 8.22 cm, mean weight was 68.55 ± 10.62 kg, and mean body mass index was 23.18 ± 2.93 kg/m2. Two patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection died of renal failure after surgery. All of the other patients were discharged. Six foetuses survived. One patient continued her pregnancy after an aortic operation. The gestational age of the remaining five patients was less than 28 weeks at the time of the operation and all foetuses of these five patients died. Conclusions A suitable treatment strategy for aortic disease during pregnancy and after delivery should be chosen based on an individual’s comprehensive clinical condition. Foetal management should be chosen based on gestational age and severity of aortic disease.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was conducted to summarize the association between anaemia and outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). METHODS: MEDLINE®, Cochrane Library, OVID and EMBASE databases were searched to identify studies that examined the effect of anaemia on mortality or other adverse events (heart failure, cardiogenic shock or major bleeding). RESULTS: Nineteen studies met the final inclusion criteria (total number of patients 241 293). The risks of short-term mortality (odds ratio [OR] 2.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.09, 3.65), long-term mortality (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.52, 2.71), heart failure (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.47, 2.62), cardiogenic shock (OR 1.95; 95% CI 1.04, 2.64) and major bleeding (OR 4.28; 95% CI 1.05, 17.14) were increased in patients with anaemia, compared with patients without anaemia. Anaemia was also associated with a higher risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.49, 95% CI 1.24, 1.79). CONCLUSIONS: These study findings suggest that anaemia can be used to identify patients with ACS who are at a high risk of death or adverse events, and it may become a promising risk stratification factor in ACS.