Effect of Optimal Medical Therapy Before Procedures on Outcomes in Coronary Patients Treated With Drug-Eluting Stents.

It has not been established whether the achievement of optimal medical therapy (OMT) before implantation of a drug-eluting stent has a clinical benefit for patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). This study included 3,004 patients with CAD treated with drug-eluting stent from 123 Japanese participating centers. The achievement of OMT was defined as control of blood pressure <130/80 mm Hg, hemoglobin A1c <7.

Three-year follow-up outcomes of SES and PES in a randomized controlled study stratified by the presence of diabetes mellitus: J-DEsSERT trial.

Background: Three-year clinical follow-up of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Japan-Drug Eluting Stents Evaluation; a Randomized Trial (J-DESsERT) using 2 different drug eluting stents (DES). A recent study demonstrated that efficacy of sirolimus eluting stents (SES) attenuated over time in diabetic patients.

Methods: In the largest trial of its kind, 1724 DM patients out of 3533 enrolled patients were randomized to either SES or paclitaxel eluting stents (PES).

Presence of myocardial hypoenhancement on multidetector computed tomography after primary percutaneous coronary intervention in acute myocardial infarction predicts poor prognosis.

Background: Recent research has suggested that patients with greater delayed contrast-enhanced size by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) are more likely to experience adverse cardiac events and have poor prognoses over the long term. The myocardial hypoenhancement area in the delayed contrast-enhanced effect suggests microvascular obstruction. The outcomes of patients with a hypoenhancement area detected by MDCT have not been clear.

Outcomes of the largest multi-center trial stratified by the presence of diabetes mellitus comparing sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) in patients with coronary artery disease. The Japan drug-eluting stents evaluation: a randomized trial (J-DESsERT).

The Japan drug-eluting stents evaluation: a randomized trial (J-DESsERT) was conducted to compare the effectiveness of 2 different drug-eluting stents (DES). It remains uncertain which is more efficacious in diabetic patients, sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) or paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES). In this trial, the largest of its kind, 3,533 patients including 1,724 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients were randomized to either SES or PES.

Impact of angiographic peri-stent contrast staining (PSS) on late adverse events after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation: an observation from the multicenter j-Cypher registry PSS substudy.

This study sought to assess clinical significance of angiographic peri-stent contrast staining (PSS) after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation in a large multicenter study with 5-year follow-up. The j-Cypher PSS substudy is a multicenter study including 5712 patients (7838 lesions) who underwent follow-up angiographic study within 12 months after SES implantation. Late acquired PSS was observed in 184 patients (3.

Rescue pulmonary vein isolation for hemodynamically unstable atrial fibrillation storm in a patient with an acute extensive myocardial infarction.

Background: New-onset atrial fibrillation in patients hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction often leads to hemodynamic deterioration and has serious adverse prognostic implications; mortality is particularly high in patients with congestive heart failure and/or a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. The mechanism of atrial fibrillation in the context of an acute myocardial infarction has not been well characterized and an effective treatment other than optimal medical therapy and mechanical hemodynamic support are expected.

Case Presentation: A 71 year-old male with an acute myocardial infarction due to an occlusion of the left main coronary artery was treated with percutaneous coronary intervention.

A case of fulminant myocarditis associated with novel N1H1 influenza successfully treated by percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system.

We report a case of fulminant myocarditis associated with N1H1 influenza virus infection. N1H1 was confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction assay and she was treated with oseltamivir phosphate. She was admitted to the hospital because of respiratory distress, however, echocardiography revealed severely depressed wall motion followed by refractory ventricular fibrillation.

Renal protective effects and the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy by atrial natriuretic peptide.

Objectives: This study was designed to examine the protective effects of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) on contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after coronary angiography.

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy is a common complication after angiography. Some studies have shown that ANP has renal protective effects, but the beneficial effects for CIN prevention remain to be clearly shown.

Demonstration of left ventricular dyssynchrony and resynchrony by ECG-gated SPECT with cardioGRAF in a patient with advanced heart failure and narrow QRS complex.

Accurate objective quantification of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony is a key to selecting candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), especially when screening among patients with a narrow QRS. CardioGRAF (cardio Gated single photon emission computed tomography Regional Assessment for left ventricular Function), a newly developed LV segmental time-volume analyzing program for myocardial perfusion single photon emission tomography, may be a promising tool. We describe the case of a 63-year-old male with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy with a QRS duration of 112 ms, in whom cardioGRAF successfully demonstrated baseline LV dyssynchrony and resynchronization achieved by CRT as evidenced by a significant decrease in dyssynchrony index (standard deviation of the duration from R to end-systole among 17 LV segments) x100/R-R interval).

Risk stratification of patients with prior myocardial infarction and advanced left ventricular dysfunction by gated myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging.

Background: The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial II (MADIT-II) has shown that the prophylactic implantable cardiac defibrillator improves the survival rate of patients with prior myocardial infarction and advanced left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. However, a more accurate noninvasive predictor should be found to identify subgroups at high risk, one that would allow implantable cardiac defibrillator therapy to be directed specifically to the patients who would benefit most.

Methods And Results: To elucidate whether technetium 99m tetrofosmin electrocardiogram-gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging at rest can determine the risk of arrhythmic death, 106 patients who met the MADIT-II criteria (LV ejection fraction View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acute myocardial infarction caused by spontaneous postpartum coronary artery dissection.

Background: A 34-year-old postpartum woman presented at hospital with chest pain. She had experienced an uneventful delivery of a healthy infant and had no known coronary risk factors. Electrocardiography demonstrated an acute myocardial infarction, which resolved on intravenous glyceryl trinitrate infusion.

Asymptomatic Brugada syndrome associated with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: Does autonomic disorder increase propensity for future arrhythmic events?

Autonomic imbalance may work as a modifying factor for initiating lethal arrhythmia in patients with Brugada syndrome. A 26-year-old man with episodes of near syncope was given a diagnosis of an autonomic disorder, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The patient spontaneously showed typical Brugada-type ECG, and ventricular fibrillation was induced by programmed electrical stimulation, which allowed the further diagnosis of Brugada syndrome.

Effects of low-dose angiotensin II receptor blocker candesartan on cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of angiotensin II receptor blockers on the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Background: Angiotensin II may contribute to the pathogenesis of CAD. Long-term clinical trials have shown that blockade of the renin-angiotensin system can reduce cardiovascular events in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure.

Follow-up X rays play a key role in detecting implantable cardioverter defibrillator lead fracture: a case of incessant inappropriate shocks due to lead fracture.

A patient with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) received incessant inappropriate shocks due to a lead fracture 3 years after implantation. Routine lead measurements at 3-month intervals had shown no abnormal findings even at the most recent measurement performed 2 months prior to the event. In contrast, serial observation of chest X rays clearly disclosed progressive lead narrowing starting 11 months prior to the event.

Angiotensin II type 2 receptor blockade partially negates antihypertrophic effects of type 1 receptor blockade on pressure-overload rat cardiac hypertrophy.

We investigated the effects of angiotensin II type 2 (AT2) receptor blockade on the antihypertrophic effects of type 1 receptor (AT1) blockade in pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy in adult rats. Cardiac hypertrophy was induced by banding the abdominal aorta above the renal arteries. The rats were treated with either an AT1 receptor antagonist TCV-116 (TCV, 10 mg/kg/day), an AT2 receptor antagonist PD123319 (PD, 20 mg/kg/day), or both for 4 weeks after the aortic banding.

The Glu298Asp polymorphism in endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene is associated with coronary in-stent restenosis.

Background: Reduced or impaired synthesis of nitric oxide promotes the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, and thus may induce the neointimal formation leading to coronary in-stent restenosis. Recent reports have suggested that the Glu298Asp polymorphism in exon 7 of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene is associated with coronary spasm and acute myocardial infarction. In this study, we have examined the implication of this polymorphism with regard to coronary restenosis after Palmaz-Schatz stent deployment.

Quinapril prevents restenosis after coronary stenting in patients with angiotensin-converting enzyme D allele.

Restenosis after coronary artery stent implantation is attributed chiefly to intimal hyperplasia, which is prevented experimentally by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Therefore, the present study investigated whether the effect of quinapril, a tissue-specific ACE inhibitor, on the prevention of coronary restenosis differs according to ACE polymorphism. One hundred consecutive patients with successful stent implantation were randomly assigned to quinapril and control groups.

Plasma C-reactive protein predicts left ventricular remodeling and function after a first acute anterior wall myocardial infarction treated with coronary angioplasty: comparison with brain natriuretic peptide.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) directly participates in the myocardial injury of acute myocardial infarction (MI). Although high plasma CRP levels in the acute phase strongly indicate a poor early clinical outcome of patients with MI, the impact of CRP levels on late left ventricular (LV) function and remodeling, which are closely associated with long-term prognosis, remains unknown.

Hypothesis: Acute plasma CRP levels may predict late LV function and remodeling after MI.