Clinical Outcome after Everolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation for Small Vessel Coronary Artery Disease: XIENCE Asia Small Vessel Study.

There are limited data on outcomes after implantation of everolimus-eluting stents (EES) in East Asian patients with small vessel coronary lesions. A total of 1,600 patients treated with XIENCE EES (Abbott Vascular, CA, USA) were divided into the small vessel group treated with one ≤2.5 mm stent (n=119) and the non-small vessel group treated with one ≥2.

Safety and Efficacy of the Endeavor Resolute® Stent in Patients with Multivessel Disease: The HEART (Honam EndeAvor ResoluTe) Prospective, Multicenter Trial.

The Endeavor Resolute® (ER) is a zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) with a biocompatible BioLinx polymer. This study prospectively compared the clinical outcomes of 2 versions of ZES, ER and Endeavor Sprint® (ES), in patients with multivessel disease. A total of 488 patients who underwent multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were divided into 2 groups the ER group (n=288) and the ES group (n=200).

Clinical Outcomes of Elderly Patients with Non ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.

The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical outcomes of the elderly patients with Non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) compared to non-elderly patients. Patients with NSTEMI and undergoing CABG (n=451) who were registered in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry between December 2003 and August 2012 were divided into two groups.; the non-elderly group (<75 years, n=327) and the elderly group (≥75 years, n=124).

Hydrogen Peroxide-Responsive Nanoparticle Reduces Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.

Background: During myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is produced. In particular, overproduction of hydrogen peroxide (HO) is considered to be a main cause of I/R-mediated tissue damage. We generated novel HO-responsive antioxidant polymer nanoparticles (PVAX and HPOX) that are able to target the site of ROS overproduction and attenuate the oxidative stress-associated diseases.

Energy Calibration of a CdTe Photon Counting Spectral Detector with Consideration of its Non-Convergent Behavior.

Fast and accurate energy calibration of photon counting spectral detectors (PCSDs) is essential for their biomedical applications to identify and characterize bio-components or contrast agents in tissues. Using the x-ray tube voltage as a reference for energy calibration is known to be an efficient method, but there has been no consideration in the energy calibration of non-convergent behavior of PCSDs. We observed that a single pixel mode (SPM) CdTe PCSD based on Medipix-2 shows some non-convergent behaviors in turning off the detector elements when a high enough threshold is applied to the comparator that produces a binary photon count pulse.

p-Hydroxybenzyl alcohol-containing biodegradable nanoparticle improves functional blood flow through angiogenesis in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia.

Therapeutic angiogenesis has achieved promising results for ischemic diseases or peripheral artery disease in preclinical and early-phase clinical studies. We examined the therapeutic angiogenic effects of HPOX, which is biodegradable polymer composing the antioxidant p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (HBA), in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia. HPOX effectively stimulated blood flow recovery, compared with its degraded compounds HBA and 1,4-cyclohexendimethanol, via promotion of capillary vessel density in the ischemic hindlimb.

Tissue Cancellation in Dual Energy Mammography Using a Calibration Phantom Customized for Direct Mapping.

An easily implementable tissue cancellation method for dual energy mammography is proposed to reduce anatomical noise and enhance lesion visibility. For dual energy calibration, the images of an imaging object are directly mapped onto the images of a customized calibration phantom. Each pixel pair of the low and high energy images of the imaging object was compared to pixel pairs of the low and high energy images of the calibration phantom.

A unified statistical framework for material decomposition using multienergy photon counting x-ray detectors.

Purpose: Material decomposition using multienergy photon counting x-ray detectors (PCXD) has been an active research area over the past few years. Even with some success, the problem of optimal energy selection and three material decomposition including malignant tissue is still on going research topic, and more systematic studies are required. This paper aims to address this in a unified statistical framework in a mammographic environment.

Automatic registration between 3D intra-operative ultrasound and pre-operative CT images of the liver based on robust edge matching.

The registration of a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) image with a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance image is beneficial in various clinical applications such as diagnosis and image-guided intervention of the liver. However, conventional methods usually require a time-consuming and inconvenient manual process for pre-alignment, and the success of this process strongly depends on the proper selection of initial transformation parameters. In this paper, we present an automatic feature-based affine registration procedure of 3D intra-operative US and pre-operative CT images of the liver.

Clinical effects of hypertension on the mortality of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

The incidence of ischemic heart disease has been increased rapidly in Korea. However, the clinical effects of antecedent hypertension on acute myocardial infarction have not been identified. We assessed the relationship between antecedent hypertension and clinical outcomes in 7,784 patients with acute myocardial infarction in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry during one-year follow-up.

Three-dimensional blood vessel quantification via centerline deformation.

It is clinically important to quantify the geometric parameters of an abnormal vessel, as this information can aid radiologists in choosing appropriate treatments or apparatuses. Centerline and cross-sectional diameters are commonly used to characterize the morphology of vessel in various clinical applications. Due to the existence of stenosis or aneurysm, the associated vessel centerline is unable to truly portray the original, healthy vessel shape and may result in inaccurate quantitative measurement.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor in ileal neobladder.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a recently described mesenchymal tumor that can develop in any portion of the gastrointestinal tract. The occurrence of a GIST in the urinary tract is rare, but GIST can present as tumor of the urinary tract or invade the urinary tract. This is the first reported case of GIST in the ileal neobladder, which presented as a submucosal tumor.

A new path planning algorithm for maximizing visibility in computed tomography colonography.

In virtual colonoscopy, minimizing the blind areas is important for accurate diagnosis of colonic polyps. Although useful for describing the shape of an object, the centerline is not always the optimal camera path for observing the object. Hence, conventional methods in which the centerline is directly used as a path produce considerable blind areas, especially in areas of high curvature.

Impact of preinterventional arterial remodeling on in-stent neointimal hyperplasia and in-stent restenosis after coronary stent implantation.

Background: Patterns of arterial remodeling during the course of plaque development have been shown to play an important role in both the progression of de novo atherosclerosis and in the restenotic process following coronary intervention. The aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate the effect of pre-interventional arterial remodeling on in-stent neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) and in-stent restenosis (ISR) after stenting.

Methods And Results: Pre-interventional arterial remodeling was assessed in 85 native coronary lesions by using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).

Prognostic significance of simvastatin therapy in patients with ischemic heart failure who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction.

We prospectively followed 202 patients with ischemic heart failure who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (left ventricular [LV] ejection fraction <40%). Patients were divided into 2 groups: groups I (simvastatin group, n = 106, aged 60.8 +/- 10.

Predictive factors of major adverse cardiac events in acute myocardial infarction patients complicated by cardiogenic shock undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess in-hospital mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during long-term clinical follow-up of patients who developed cardiogenic shock (CS) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: The data from 147 patients with CS after AMI (61.7 +/-10.

Effect of combined intracoronary adenosine and nicorandil on no-reflow phenomenon during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: This study aimed to clarify the effect of intracoronary administration of combined adenosine and nicorandil on the no-reflow phenomenon.

Methods And Results: Fifty patients (67+/-10 years, 30 male) with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who developed no-reflow phenomenon during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between June 2001 and May 2003 comprised the study group, which was divided into 2 groups: group I [25 patients, 67+/-10 years, 13 male; adenosine (24 microg/ml) alone in addition to nitrate] and group II [25 patients, 66+/-9 years, 17 male; combined intracoronary administration of adenosine and nicorandil (2 mg/ml) in addition to nitrate]. In-hospital and 6-month major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after PCI were compared between the 2 groups.