Effect of nitroglycerin administration on cardio-ankle vascular index.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the difference between effects of nitroglycerin (NTG) on the functional stiffness in patients with and without coronary artery disease (CAD) using a newly developed stiffness index, cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI).

Subjects And Methods: The two subject groups in this study were normal controls (n=31) and CAD patients (n=25). The normal controls had no medical history and were not on regular medications.

Extensive deep vein thrombosis treatment using fondaparinux and edoxaban: a case report.

Background: Factor Xa inhibitor is a key drug in the coagulation cascade. Parenteral anticoagulation using low molecular weight heparin or fondaparinux is the recommended form of treatment for most patients presenting with venous thrombosis. Following the acute phase, edoxaban is recommended.

Prospective multi-center registry to evaluate efficacy and safety of the newly developed diamond-like carbon-coated cobalt-chromium coronary stent system.

The purpose of this multi-center, non-randomized, and open-label clinical trial was to determine the non-inferiority of diamond-like carbon (DLC)-coated cobalt-chromium coronary stent, the MOMO DLC coronary stent, relative to commercially available bare-metal stents (MULTI-LINK VISION). Nineteen centers in Japan participated. The study cohort consisted of 99 patients from 19 Japanese centers with single or double native coronary vessel disease with de novo and restenosis lesions who met the study eligibility criteria.

Waon Therapy for Managing Chronic Heart Failure - Results From a Multicenter Prospective Randomized WAON-CHF Study.

Background: Waon therapy improves heart failure (HF) symptoms, but further evidence in patients with advanced HF remains uncertain.

Methods and results: In 19 institutes, we prospectively enrolled hospitalized patients with advanced HF, who had plasma levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) >500 pg/ml on admission and BNP >300 pg/ml regardless of more than 1 week of medical therapy. Enrolled patients were randomized into Waon therapy or control groups.

Subfraction analysis of circulating lipoproteins in a patient with Tangier disease due to a novel ABCA1 mutation.

Tangier disease, characterized by low or absent high-density lipoprotein (HDL), is a rare hereditary lipid storage disorder associated with frequent, but not obligatory, severe premature atherosclerosis due to disturbed reverse cholesterol transport from tissues. The reasons for the heterogeneity in atherogenicity in certain dyslipidemias have not been fully elucidated. Here, using high-performance liquid chromatography with a gel filtration column (HPLC-GFC), we have studied the lipoprotein profile of a 17-year old male patient with Tangier disease who to date has not developed manifest coronary atherosclerosis.

Cardio-ankle vascular index relates to left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with heart failure. A retrospective study.

The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) has been proposed as a new noninvasive marker of arterial stiffness independent of blood pressure. Arterial stiffness is closely related to afterload, and elevated afterload aggravates heart failure. We hypothesized that CAVI is a potential marker of afterload in patients with heart failure.

Evaluation of myocardial tissue fluid flow by fluorescence cardioscopy in patients with coronary artery disease.

Myocardial tissue fluid flow (MTFF) directly represents the oxygen supply to the cardiomyocytes. Therefore, imaging of MTFF is carried out by fluorescence cardioscopy (FC).Sixty-six patients with coronary artery disease underwent FC using fluorescein as an indicator of MTFF because this dye exhibits fluorescence in tissue fluid but not in the blood.

Changes in cardio-ankle vascular index in smoking cessation.

Aim: To investigate the effect of smoking and smoking cessation on cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI).

Methods: The subjects were 82 smokers (77 men, 64+/-10 years) and 20 non-smokers (18 men, 61+/-7 years). CAVI was measured every 3 months and CAVI severity was classified into 3 levels.

Bidirectional precordial ST changes during angioplasty to right coronary artery.

Emergency coronary angiography of a 53-year-old man with acute coronary syndrome revealed stenosis in right coronary artery. During angioplasty, the ECG change showed three kind of ST deviation, namely inferior ST elevation with precordial ST depression, inferior ST elevation with precordial ST elevation, and inferior ST depression with precordial ST elevation. The present case shows that the ST deviation of the inferior ischemia with right ventricular ischemia takes various patterns.

Enhanced circulating soluble LR11 in patients with coronary organic stenosis.

LR11, an LDL receptor family member, is expressed in intimal smooth muscle cells. It was found that the soluble form of LR11 (sLR11) is detected in serum, and the circulating sLR11 levels are positively correlated with intima-media thickness of carotid arteries in dyslipidemic subjects. To clarify the significance of serum sLR11, the circulating sLR11 levels in patients with organic coronary stenosis and the contributing risk factors for them were studied.

Association between cardio-ankle vascular index and serum cystatin C levels in patients with cardiovascular risk factor.

Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between CAVI and serum cystatin C levels to understand the role of arterial stiffness in the presence of renal insufficiency.

Methods: We enrolled 206 consecutive patients with cardiovascular risk factors and/or coronary artery disease (CAD) in the study. Serum cystatin C, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) were measured.

Cardio-ankle vascular index is a candidate predictor of coronary atherosclerosis.

Background: Recently, arterial stiffness parameter called cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) has been developed. In the current study, using coronary angiographic (CAG) findings, the usefulness of CAVI as a marker of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis was compared with that of carotid atherosclerosis parameters obtained from high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography.

Method And Result: A total of 109 participants who underwent CAG were enrolled in the current study.

[Angina pectoris presenting with unusual form of coronary spasm: a case report].

A 46-year-old male with asthma bronchiale and eosinophilia was admitted to our hospital because of continuous severe chest pain. Electrocardiography showed ST segment elevation in leads II, III and aVF during chest pain. Emergency coronary angiography showed a series of coronary arterial narrowings in segments 1 and 2.

[Study of the echocardiographic diagnosis of acute pulmonary thromboembolism and risk factors for venous thromboembolism].

Objectives: To identify the relationship of risk factors for atherosclerosis with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and the utility of transthoracic echocardiography in acute pulmonary thromboembolism (APTE).

Methods: In 75 patients with VTE (VTE group), 101 patients with suspected VTE (N group), and 50 control subjects (control group), the frequency of atherosclerosis risk factors such as hyperlipidemia, obesity, hypertension, smoking, and diabetes mellitus and the number of risk factors were evaluated. Transthoracic echocardiographic findings such as tricuspid regurgitation, right ventricular dilation, pulmonary hypertension, and right ventricular dysfunction were evaluated in 15 patients with APTE (APTE group) and 38 patients in the N group (NC group).

[Mechanism of exercise-induced ST depression based on hemodynamics during cardiac catheterization].

Objectives: The cause of exercise-induced ST depression was studied by assessing left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP).

Methods: This study included 28 patients with normal coronary artery, 24 patients with vasospastic angina pectoris and 28 patients with fixed organic lesion who underwent both treadmill exercise testing and selective coronary arteriography. Exercise-induced ST deviation was considered as maximal ST deviation during the exercise test and maximum LVEDP was considered as the pressure measured 1 min after left ventriculography.

[Relationships between intravascular ultrasonographic findings and coronary risk factors in patients with normal coronary angiography].

Objectives: Indicators of ischemic heart disease were studied for the practice of preventive medicine.

Methods: Intravascular ultrasonography was performed in 97 patients with no abnormalities by left anterior descending artery angiography. Coronary risk factors were evaluated based on the relationship between plaque formation and lipoprotein levels.

[A relationship between insulin resistance and reduction in oxidative stress in vivo by atorvastatin].

Objectives: To examine the relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and the reduction of oxidative stress in vivo by the statin atorvastatin.

Methods: This study included 40 patients with hypercholesterolemia without a history of diabetes mellitus (21 males, 19 females, mean age 62 +/- 11 years). Homeostasis assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used as a marker for insulin resistance.

[Relationship between insulin resistance and oxidative stress in vivo].

Objectives: The relationship between oxidative stress in vivo and insulin resistance was examined.

Methods: This study included 87 patients, 46 males and 41 females (mean age 63 +/- 10 years), without coronary artery disease. The homeostasis assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (fasting blood sugar x fasting immunoreactive insulin/405), a marker for insulin resistance, was measured.

Preventive effect of an antiallergic drug, pemirolast potassium, on restenosis after stent placement: quantitative coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound studies.

Objectives: The preventive effect of pemirolast against restenosis after coronary stent placement was evaluated.

Methods: Eighty-four patients with 89 de novo lesions who underwent successful coronary stenting were assigned to the pemirolast group(40 patients, 45 lesions) and the control group(44 patients, 44 lesions). Administration of pemirolast(20 mg/day) was initiated from the next morning after stenting and continued for 6 months of follow-up.

[Headache due to nitroglycerin administration and its clinical significance].

Objectives: This study assessed the side effects of nitroglycerin administration and their clinical significance.

Methods: Adverse reactions associated with sublingual nitroglycerin administration were investigated in 103 patients, 71 men and 32 women (mean age 56 +/- 11 years), 32 patients with coronary artery stenosis and 71 without coronary artery stenosis.

Results: Fifty-one percent of patients experienced headache and 30% experienced other adverse reactions, whereas 19% experienced no adverse reactions.

Angioscopic evaluation of stabilizing effects of an antilipemic agent, bezafibrate, on coronary plaques in patients with coronary artery disease: a multicenter prospective study.

To evaluate the stabilizing effects of an antilipemic agent, bezafibrate, on coronary plaques, we carried out a prospective angioscopic and angiographic open trial. From April 1997 to December 1998, 24 patients underwent coronary angioscopy of plaques in non-targeted vessels during coronary interventions and then again 6 months later. The patients were divided into control (10 patients, 14 plaques) and bezafibrate (14 patients, 21 plaques) groups.

Association between preheparin serum lipoprotein lipase mass and acute myocardial infarction in Japanese men.

A sensitive immunoassay system using a specific monoclonal antibody against lipoprotein lipase (LPL) recently demonstrated the presence of an LPL mass in preheparin serum. We reported that a preheparin serum LPL mass (pre-LPL mass) reflected the level of functioning LPL activity in the whole body and could be deeply involved in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis of stable organic angina pectoris. We examined the relation between the pre-LPL mass and acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

[Clinical significance of preheparin serum lipoprotein lipase mass in normocholesterolemic patients with coronary artery disease].

Objectives: Some normocholesterolemic patients have coronary artery disease (CAD) in Japan. This study evaluated the clinical significance of preheparin lipoprotein lipase mass as a risk factor for normocholesterolemic patients with CAD.

Methods: This study included 89 normocholesterolemic male patients with CAD (CAD group, 40 with stable organic angina pectoris, 19 with vasospastic angina pectoris, and 30 with acute myocardial infarction), and 13 normocholesterolemic males with normal coronary arteries (control group) with no stenotic lesion and negative reaction to intracoronary administration of acetylcholine.