Evaluation of Biomarkers of Severity in Patients with COVID-19 Infection.

Object: Although many Japanese patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) only experience mild symptoms, in some cases a patient's condition deteriorates, resulting in a poor outcome. This study examines the behavior of biomarkers in patients with mild to severe COVID-19.

Methods: The disease severity of 152 COVID-19 patients was classified into mild, moderate I, moderate II, and severe, and the behavior of laboratory biomarkers was examined across these four disease stages.

Soluble C-Type Lectin-Like Receptor 2 Elevation in Patients with Acute Cerebral Infarction.

Background: Acute cerebral infarction (ACI) includes cardiogenic ACI treated with anticoagulants and atherosclerotic ACI treated with antiplatelet agents. The differential diagnosis between cardiogenic and atherosclerotic ACI is still difficult.

Materials And Methods: The plasma sCLEC-2 and D-dimer levels were measured using the STACIA system.

A Rare Case of Immature Sacrococcygeal Teratoma With Lymph Node Metastasis in a Neonate.

This is the first report of an immature sacrococcygeal teratoma with inguinal lymph node metastasis, providing the histologic transformation of an immature teratoma in association with chemotherapy. Incomplete tumor resection with coccygectomy was performed, and the histopathologic diagnosis was a grade 3 immature teratoma. Following the initial surgery, the residual tumors enlarged and the tumors metastasized to the inguinal lymph node, demonstrating immature teratoma without yolk sac tumor components.

Long-term functional outcome of sacrococcygeal teratoma after resection in neonates and infants: a single-center experience.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and factors associated with long-term functional outcomes of sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) after resection in neonates and infants.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with a minimum of 3 years of follow-up who underwent resection and were histologically diagnosed with SCTs between 1982 and 2017 at our institution were included.

Results: The median age at the time of the study was 10.

Radial versus femoral approach for left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy.

Aims: Despite the widespread use of the radial approach in coronary interventions, left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (LV-EMB) is most frequently performed via the femoral artery. We sought to assess the feasibility and safety of radial compared to femoral access in a large cohort of patients undergoing LV-EMB.

Methods And Results: Data from 264 patients who underwent LV-EMB in Germany, Portugal, Japan and Canada were collected.

Untangling the obesity paradox in patients with acute myocardial infarction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (detail analysis by age).

Background: Obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. However, obesity paradox has been discussed in some patients with cardiovascular disease.

Objectives: We investigated the mechanisms of the obesity paradox in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients.

Multiple Life-threatening Coronary Artery Spasms after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Coronary Syndrome.

A 69-year-old man who had been hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), underwent urgent percutaneous coronary intervention. In the subacute phase, he developed sudden chest pain and hemodynamic deterioration, and urgent coronary angiogram showed multiple coronary artery spasms. The discontinuation of beta-blocker treatment and the administration of a calcium antagonist helped prevent angina attacks.

Transradial Approach for Left Ventricular Endomyocardial Biopsy.

Background: Left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (LV-EMB) may offer a superior diagnostic yield compared with right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (RV-EMB) in conditions predominantly affecting the LV but is underused compared with RV-EMB. Despite the steep uptake of radial approach in coronary interventions, LV-EMB is usually performed via the femoral artery in contemporary practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the safety and feasibility of LV-EMB via a transradial approach in a multicentre registry.

Trousseau's Syndrome Causing Refractory Deep Venous Thrombosis.

A 66-year-old man, who had been diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and who was treated with a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) and who had undergone the implantation of an inferior vena cava filter, was admitted due to an exacerbation of DVT. VKA was administered again; however, the patient's DVT worsened. Further examinations revealed colon cancer, which led to a diagnosis of Trousseau's syndrome.

Antialbuminuric effect of eplerenone in comparison to thiazide diuretics in patients with hypertension.

This study investigated the effects and safety of eplerenone or thiazide diuretics in patients with hypertension and albuminuria (pretreatment urinary albumin/creatinine ratio ≥10 mg/gCr) treated with an angiotensin II receptor blocker. The primary end point was the mean percent change in the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio from baseline to 48 weeks. An efficacy analysis was performed in 195 patients (98 in the eplerenone group and 97 in the thiazide group).

Kidney-protective effects of azelnidipine versus a diuretic in combination with olmesartan in hypertensive patients with diabetes and albuminuria: a randomized study.

Background: A thiazide diuretic used in combination with benazepril is superior to amlodipine plus benazepril in reducing albuminuria in hypertensive patients with diabetes. However, calcium channel blockers have diverse characteristics. Thus, we investigated whether combining an angiotensin receptor blocker with either azelnidipine or a thiazide diuretic produced similar reductions in albuminuria in hypertensive diabetic patients for the same levels of blood pressure achieved.

Diagnostic value of late gadolinium-enhanced MRI and first-pass dynamic MRI for predicting functional recovery in patients after acute myocardial infarction.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the comparative diagnostic values of late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and first-pass dynamic MRI for predicting functional recovery of regional myocardial contraction in patients early after acute myocardial infarction.

Materials And Methods: First-pass and late-enhanced MRI were performed in 18 patients 5.5 +/- 2.

Detection of coronary artery stenosis with whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography.

Objectives: We sought to determine the diagnostic performance of whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance (MR) angiography for detecting significant coronary artery disease.

Background: The accuracy of whole-heart coronary MR angiography has not been determined in a large number of patients.

Methods: Three-dimensional coronary MR angiograms covering the entire heart were obtained during free breathing in 131 patients.

Impact of nicorandil to prevent reperfusion injury in patients with acute myocardial infarction: Sigmart Multicenter Angioplasty Revascularization Trial (SMART).

Background: Nicorandil in conjunction with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been reported to reduce reperfusion injury events and improve cardiac function in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This multicenter study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness and optimal administration of nicorandil in AMI patients.

Methods And Results: Ninety-two patients with first AMI were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: intracoronary administration of nicorandil (Group A), combined intravenous and intracoronary administration of nicorandil (Group B), and no nicorandil administration (Group C).

Assessment of coronary arteries with total study time of less than 30 minutes by using whole-heart coronary MR angiography.

This study had institutional review board approval, and all patients gave informed consent. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the use of whole-heart three-dimensional (3D) coronary magnetic resonance (MR) angiography in patients suspected of having coronary artery disease. Whole-heart coronary MR angiography was performed in 39 patients (30 men and nine women; mean age, 63.

Diagnostic accuracy of stress first-pass contrast-enhanced myocardial perfusion MRI compared with stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of stress perfusion MRI acquired with saturation-recovery prepared turbo fast low-angle shot (turbo FLASH) compared with stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Recent studies show that first-pass contrast-enhanced myocardial perfusion MRI can provide noninvasive detection of low-limiting stenosis in the coronary artery.

Materials And Methods: First-pass contrast-enhanced MR images were acquired at rest and during stress in 40 patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in acute and chronic myocardial infarction. Improved prediction of regional myocardial contraction in the chronic state by measuring thickness of nonenhanced myocardium.

Objectives: We sought to determine serial changes of enhanced and nonenhanced tissue on late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients with a myocardial infarction (MI) and to assess whether thickness of nonenhanced myocardium can improve the detection of preserved contractile function in the chronic state.

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that enhancement on late gadolinium-enhanced CMR images indicates myocardial necrosis, and nonenhancement shows the presence of viable myocardium.

Methods: The CMR studies were performed within one week (scan 1) and more than five months (scan 2) after the onset of MI in 18 patients.

Acute myocardial infarction: myocardial viability assessment in patients early thereafter comparison of contrast-enhanced MR imaging with resting (201)Tl SPECT. Single photon emission computed tomography.

Purpose: To compare contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with resting thallium 201 ((201)Tl) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for predicting myocardial viability in patients early after acute myocardial infarction.

Materials And Methods: Inversion-recovery contrast-enhanced MR images and resting (201)Tl SPECT images were obtained in 22 patients after acute myocardial infarction. The (201)Tl SPECT images were obtained 4.

Differences in fatty acid metabolic disorder between ischemic myocardium and doxorubicin-induced myocardial damage: assessment using BMIPP dynamic SPECT with analysis by the Rutland method.

Unlabelled: Dynamic myocardial SPECT data acquired with 15-(123)I-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(R,S)-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) were analyzed by the Rutland method. The relative time-activity curves generated from dynamic SPECT in normal control subjects were compared with similar curves from patients with established ischemic heart disease (IHD) and doxorubicin-induced myocardial damage (DxMD). Comparison of such time-activity curves may provide some indirect information concerning qualitative differences in BMIPP metabolism.