Comparative study of the characteristics and properties of tendinocytes derived from three tendons in the equine forelimb.

The aim of this study was to determine the characteristic differences in tendinocytes derived from tendons in the equine forelimb, superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) and common digital extensor tendon (CDET), in morphology, proliferation, collagen production ability and ability for synthesis of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Significant differences were observed in cell number in vivo. The cellular number was largest in the SDFT and smallest in the CDET.

Correlation between surface and intracardiac electrocardiogram in a patient with inappropriate defibrillation shocks due to hyperkalemia.

A 39-year-old man received implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks during sinus rhythm, triggered by an increase in amplitude and oversensing of intracardiac T waves, caused by hyperkalemia. After treatment of hyperkalemia, the T wave morphology normalized, and oversensing and inappropriate ICD shocks were eliminated. Alteration of the intracardiac electrogram was well correlated to the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) changes.

Significance of early onset and progressive increase of activation delay during premature stimulation in Brugada syndrome.

Background: The relationship between the activation delay during programmed stimulation and the inducibility of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and filtered QRS duration on signal-averaged ECG (SAECG) were assessed in patients with Brugada syndrome (BS).

Methods And Results: The activation delay was assessed using the interval between the stimulus and the QRS complex during programmed stimulation in 25 patients with BS and 10 with idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (controls). The mean increase of delay (MID) was used to characterize the conduction curves.

[Single-stage operation for synchronous bilateral multiple lung cancer through median sternotomy].

An asymptomatic 65-year-old woman was incidentally found to have abnormal shadows on a chest X-ray during a medical examination. A chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed a pulmonary nodule in both right and left lung. Those were diagnosed as synchronous cStage IA bilateral lung cancer, and right upper lobectomy and segmentectomy of the left lung with lymphoadenectomy were sequentially performed through median sternotomy.

Improved cardiac function after sirolimus-eluting stent placement in diabetic patients by pioglitazone: combination therapy with statin.

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonists are used as anti-diabetic drugs, and their pleiotrophic action has been reported to improve endothelial function leading to cardioprotective effects. In this study we evaluated the long-term effect of pioglitazone on cardiac function in diabetic patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by drug-eluting stent (DES).

Methods And Results: We investigated 54 diabetic patients who received PCI using a sirolimus-eluting stent.

Improvement of hydrogelation abilities and handling of photocurable gelatin-based crosslinking materials.

Three types of eosin-derivatized gelatins (eosin-gelatins) with different molecular weights (M(w)) of ca. 15 kDa (low-molecular-weight eosin-gelatin, LEG), ca. 30 kDa (medium-molecular-weight eosin-gelatin, MEG), and ca.

Atypical Apert syndrome: sequential and segmental distraction osteogenesis of the skull, midface, and mandible.

We describe a boy with Apert syndrome, including cranial deformities and syndactyly (acrocephalosyndactyly), though intracranial hypertension, exophthalmos, and midfacial hypoplasia were mild. We treated him by mandibular distraction, in addition to fronto-orbital distraction, and Le Fort III midfacial distraction, with good results.

Construction of synthetic dermis and skin based on a self-assembled peptide hydrogel scaffold.

Using biocompatible peptide hydrogel as a scaffold, we prepared three-dimensional synthetic skin that does not contain animal-derived materials or pathogens. The present study investigated preparation methods, proliferation, and functional expression of fibroblasts in the synthetic dermis and differentiation of keratinocytes in the epidermis. Synthetic dermis was prepared by mixing fibroblasts with peptide hydrogel, and synthetic skin was prepared by forming an epidermal layer using keratinocytes on the synthetic dermis.

Ventricular fibrillation triggered during and after radiofrequency energy delivery to the site of origin of idiopathic right ventricular outflow tract arrhythmia.

We observed a case of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). The origin of target premature ventricular contraction (PVC) and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) was within a wide low-voltage area around the RVOT. During radiofrequency (RF) application to the site of arrhythmia origin, polymorphic VT and ventricular fibrillation were repeatedly triggered by new PVC that had developed near the site of ablation.

Focal atrial tachycardia refractory to radiofrequency catheter ablation originating from right atrial appendage.

A 44-year-old female presented with incessant, drug-refractory atrial tachycardia (AT). An electrophysiological study suggested focal abnormal automaticity, and localized the AT origin to the apex of the right atrial appendage (RAA). Repeated radiofrequency catheter ablation to the site of the earliest endocardial activation during AT failed.

Early surgical intervention for Japanese children with infantile hemangioma of the craniofacial region.

Although the indications for surgical intervention in patients with infantile hemangioma during the proliferation and early involution are controversial, it is considered in certain cases. Thirty-two Japanese patients (3 boys and 29 girls) were surgically treated at 24 months or earlier to resolve complications (obstruction of the visual axis, ulceration and bleeding, and deviation of the nasal septal cartilage) or to achieve esthetic improvement. Results were evaluated by 3 indicators: outcome, scarring, and resolution of the functional problem.

Effect of collagen oligopeptide injection on rabbit tenositis.

Effects of the collagen oligopeptide (COP) were examined by its repeat injection into the inflammatory rabbit Achilles tendon (Tendo calcaneus communis), in which tenositis was induced by injection of bacterial collagenase. COP was evaluated 5 times over a period of 3 weeks to 1 month after injection of collagenase. At 1 month after treatment, the therapeutic effect of COP was evaluated by examining the structure of collagen fibrils, amount and components of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and compared with the saline injection, control, and normal groups.

Fusobacterium nucleatum enhances invasion of human gingival epithelial and aortic endothelial cells by Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Invasion by Porphyromonas gingivalis has been proposed as a possible mechanism of pathogenesis in periodontal and cardiovascular diseases. Porphyromonas gingivalis have direct access to the systemic circulation and endothelium in periodontitis patients by transient bacteremia. Periodontitis can be described as one of the predominant polymicrobial infections of humans.

Antimicrobial host defense in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Background: With the exception of fungi, microbial infections are rare in the oesophagus. Herein, we aimed to systematically assess the distribution and quantity of different antimicrobial host factors as well as, for the first time, functional mucosal antimicrobial activity in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Methods: We investigated biopsies from the healthy oesophagus, three different locations in the stomach and the duodenum in a total of 12 individuals.

[Tracheal resection and reconstruction for tracheal stenosis].

Five patients underwent surgery for tracheal stenosis. The cause of stenosis was congenital tracheal stenosis in 1 case, post-intubation tracheal stenosis in 1 case, and tracheal stenosis due to thyroid cancer invasion in 3 cases. All 5 patients required circumferential tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis using 4-0 or 5-0 absorbable sutures.

Morphological analysis of corneal opacity in Shiba dog with GM1 gangliosidosis.

GM1 gangliosidosis is one of the inherited metabolic lysosomal storage disorders characterized by neurological symptoms caused by beta-galactosidase deficiency and consequent accumulation of GM1 ganglioside in neuronal cells. Shiba dogs affected with GM1 gangliosidosis have been found to suffer from corneal opacity. In our morphological analysis, keratocyte enlargement was induced by abnormal intracellular accumulation of neutral carbohydrates, resulting in the loss of normal arrangement of collagen fibrils in the opaque cornea was found to be associated with the disorder.

Preservation of renal function in response to cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has recently been introduced as a new option for patients with severe heart failure, but its effect on renal function remains unclear.

Methods And Results: Twenty-three patients receiving CRT were studied. Responders were those who showed >0% increase in left ventricular ejection fraction after CRT by echocardiography.

Secondary correction of deformities of the vermilion with exposed oral mucosa after cleft lip repair.

There is much discussion on the deformities of the vermilion after cleft lip repair such as a notch and uneven thickness of the vermilion because of insufficient union of the orbicularis oris muscle, vertical scar contracture of the vermilion, and suture sufficiency. However, it is relatively rare for a corrective method of the coloration and texture of the vermilion to become an issue. Prominent deformities can remain because of the exposed oral mucosa in the vermilion region.

A preliminary study of direct application of atelocollagen into a wound lesion in the dog cornea.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of atelocollagen for canine corneal wound healing.

Materials And Methods: Atelocollagen was used to fill a transplant bed in the central cornea, which was then covered with a contact lens. The wound healing process was analyzed clinically, morphologically, and biochemically.

Inverted Takotsubo contractile pattern caused by pheochromocytoma with tall upright T-waves, but not typical deep T-wave inversion.

We describe a 36-year-old woman with inverted Takotsubo cardiomyopathy caused by pheochromocytoma crisis. In the acute phase, her electrocardiogram showed ST segment depression in lead II, III, aVF and V2 through V5. On day 14, tall upright T-waves were observed in leads V2 through V5 despite heart failure and basal to midventricular ballooning improved on day 4, and all electrocardiographic abnormalities finally normalized after surgical removal of the pheochromocytomas.

Mutational analysis of block and facilitation of HERG current by a class III anti-arrhythmic agent, nifekalant.

Chemicals and toxins are useful tools to elucidate the structure-function relationship of various proteins including ion channels. The HERG channel is blocked by many compounds and this may cause life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. Besides block, some chemicals such as the class III anti-arrhythmic agent nifekalant stimulate HERG at low potentials by shifting its activation curve towards hyperpolarizing voltages.

The modulation of collagen fibril assembly and its structure by decorin: an electron microscopic study.

The present study was carried out to determine the effect of decorin in the process of collagen assembly. Collagen fibrils were obtained in vitro by aggregation from commercialized acid-soluble type I collagen with the addition of different concentrations of decorin (0-25 microg/ml). All specimens were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Mutation of the plastidial alpha-glucan phosphorylase gene in rice affects the synthesis and structure of starch in the endosperm.

Plastidial phosphorylase (Pho1) accounts for approximately 96% of the total phosphorylase activity in developing rice (Oryza sativa) seeds. From mutant stocks induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea treatment, we identified plants with mutations in the Pho1 gene that are deficient in Pho1. Strikingly, the size of mature seeds and the starch content in these mutants showed considerable variation, ranging from shrunken to pseudonormal.

Location of communicating veins for medial plantar venous flap.

Background: The medial plantar venous flap is suitable for reconstruction of the palmar surface of the finger. However, it is sometimes difficult to detect and harvest the distal subcutaneous vein of the flap. In such a situation, the communicating vein can be used as a distal vein for the flap.