Long-Term Levocarnitine Ameliorates Left Ventricular Diastolic as Well as Systolic Dysfunction in Hemodialysis Patients - Multi-Center Study.

Levocarnitine has been reported to improve the left ventricular (LV) systolic function and decrease LV hypertrophy in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Its effect on LV diastolic dysfunction, however, has not yet been clarified. HD patients (n=88) were given levocarnitine i.

Renoprotective effect of the addition of losartan to ongoing treatment with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor in type-2 diabetic patients with nephropathy.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are frequently used for the treatment for glomerulonephritis and diabetic nephropathy because of their albuminuria- or proteinuria-reducing effects. To many patients who are nonresponsive to monotherapy with these agents, combination therapy appears to be a good treatment option. In the present study, we examined the effects of the addition of an ARB (losartan) followed by titration upon addition and at 3 and 6 months (n=14) and the addition of an ACE-I followed by titration upon addition and at 3 and 6 months (n=20) to the drug regimen treatment protocol in type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy for whom more than 3-month administration of an ACE-I or the combination of an ACE-I plus a conventional antihypertensive was ineffective to achieve a blood pressure (BP) of 130/80 mmHg and to reduce urinary albumin to <30 mg/day.

Assessment of arterial medial characteristics in human carotid arteries using integrated backscatter ultrasound and its histological implications.

Recently, ultrasound tissue characterization of the carotid arteries with an integrated backscatter (IB) analysis was shown to identify a high-risk group of atherosclerosis. To clarify whether IB ultrasound is useful in assessing arterial sclerosis as well as stiffness beta and whether IB values reflect the histological structure, we measured IB values of common carotid media in 52 subjects without coronary risk factors and in 10 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) in the clinical studies and 12 patients in the histological studies with a Philips Medical Systems Sonos 5500. IB values were correlated with age (r=0.

Decrease of beta-cells and increase of alpha-cells in a diabetic patient with mitochondrial DNA 3243 (A-->G) mutation.

We report here a case of a 53-year-old woman with mitochondrial 3243 (A-->G) mutation diabetes. Diabetes mellitus was diagnosed at 39 years of age. At 50 years of age, cardiomyopathy and hypothyroidism were noted.

In vivo quantitative tissue characterization of human coronary arterial plaques by use of integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound and comparison with angioscopic findings.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to define whether integrated backscatter (IB) combined with conventional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) makes tissue characterization of coronary arterial plaques possible.

Methods And Results: IB-IVUS was performed in coronary arteries (total 18 segments) of 9 patients at autopsy, and the findings were compared with the histology. RF signals, which were digitized at 2 GHz in 8-bit resolution, were obtained with an IVUS system with a 40-MHz catheter.