Patient-specific Hemodynamics of Severe Carotid Artery Stenosis Before and After Endarterectomy Examined by 4D Flow MRI.

Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) influences the carotid endoluminal anatomy, which results in hemodynamic changes before and after surgery. We investigated the hemodynamics of severe carotid artery stenosis before and after conventional endarterectomy with/without patch repair. An in vitro experiment utilizing carotid phantoms, which underwent a procedure that emulated CEA with/without the patch repair, was performed with a high-spatiotemporal resolution using 4D flow MRI.

Reduced amputation rate with isovolemic hemodilution in critical limb ischemia patients.

Aims: Critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients are characterized by intractable pain in spite of medication, non-healing ulcers, and gangrene. The objective of this study was to investigate whether or not isovolemic hemodilution treatment can reduce the rate of major amputations in CLI.

Methods: 28 patients were studied who had tissue loss on Rutherford Grade III, Category 5 or 6.

Awake extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridging for pulmonary retransplantation provides comparable results to elective retransplantation.

Background: Lung retransplantation became an accepted treatment for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). However, the value of different bridging modalities for these patients is controversial.

Methods: We analyzed outcomes of 39 patients listed for retransplantation between 2008 and 2012.

Influence of non-Newtonian viscosity of blood on microvascular impairment.

The present research investigated the role of blood viscosity on flow within a microvascular network to identify the conditions of blood flow stagnation. When the yield stress of blood was less than 0.005 Pa, there were no stagnant regions in the microvasculature.

Touch print cytology shows higher sensitivity than pleural lavage cytology for pleural micro-metastasis in lung cancer.

Many authors have used pleural lavage cytology for confirming pleural micro-metastasis in lung cancer, but the results showed relatively low sensitivity having positive range of 4-14%. So, if we have a method with higher sensitivity than lavage cytology, the significance of pleural micro-metastasis will be elucidated clearly. To detect micro-metastasis, we underwent touch print cytology using glass slides and lavage cytology.

Feasibility of latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscle-sparing vertical thoracotomy in general thoracic surgery.

Postero-lateral thoracotomy has many complications such as postoperative pain, limitation in the motion of the shoulder, decreasing pulmonary function from immobilization, increasing lung atelectasis from over-use of analgesia, and increasing pulmonary morbidity, especially in elderly patients. So, muscle-sparing thoracotomy appears to be a good alternative. But it has also many disadvantages such as seroma and the needs for drains, limitation of an accessible operative field, and difficulties with risky procedures.

Detection of atrial arrhythmia in superconducting quantum interference device magnetocardiography; preliminary result of a totally-noninvasive localization method for atrial current mapping.

Map-guided surgery is the goal for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), because it minimizes unnecessary incisions or procedures. We propose a totally-noninvasive and even non-contact method to detect atrial arrhythmia with a superconducting quantum interference device magnetocardiography (MCG) system, and report the first clinical application case of MCG map-guided AF surgery. To detect weak atrial excitation, we utilized a high sensitive 64-channel MCG system measuring tangential magnetic field components, which is known to be more sensitive to a deeper current source.