Definition and characterization of the descending branch of the left colic artery.

Purpose: The descending branch of the left colic artery (dLCA) is under-recognized and has not been clearly defined. The dLCA is often confused with the sigmoid artery (SA) originating from the left colic artery (LCA). We clarified the anatomical characteristics of the dLCA and searched for surrogate measures to identify it.

Add-on aliskiren treatment can decrease blood pressure but requires attention to risks of renal impairment and hyperkalemia Chikushi Anti-Hypertension Trial-Rasilez® (CHAT-Ras).

Background: Renin is the starting point of the renin angiotensin (RA) system cycle. Aliskiren (AL), which is a direct renin inhibitor, suppressed the entire RA cycle. In the present study, the efficacy of add-on of AL treatment in patients with essential hypertension (HT) was investigated.

Sex difference between target levels of cholesterol-related parameters and post-PCI long-term clinical outcomes: From the FU-Registry.

Background: Since single lipid parameters are too weak to predict the risk of coronary artery disease, we examined whether the allocation of patients into four groups based on achievement of the target levels set by the Japan Atherosclerosis Guidelines at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) would reveal different long-term (5 years) clinical outcomes in males and females.

Methods: The results of a 5-year follow-up study are summarized as FU-Registry, Long-Term Clinical Outcome Results. The subjects consisted of 1158 patients who underwent elective PCI.

A Rare Case of Biphasic Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma with Refractory Ascites.

An 81-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with abdominal distension due to refractory ascites of unknown origin. He subsequently died of aspiration pneumonia. Autopsy revealed a diagnosis of biphasic malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) containing both epithelioid and sarcomatous components.

Is a bare-metal stent still useful for improving the outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention? From the FU-Registry.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a drug-eluting stent (DES) is increasingly being used for the treatment of coronary artery diseases. However, the role and effectiveness of PCI with a bare metal stent (BMS) have not yet been established.

Methods: Among the 2197 patients (2653 lesions) treated with PCI from 2003 to 2012 at three institutions in Fukuoka, 859 patients (1032 lesions) without acute coronary syndrome and in whom we were able to perform follow-up coronary angiography after stent placement and collect detailed data were selected for this study.

Impact of gender on infarct size, ST-segment resolution, myocardial blush and clinical outcomes after primary stenting for acute myocardial infarction: Substudy from the EMERALD trial.

Background: Women with AMI may have worse outcomes than men. However, it is unclear if this is related to differences in treatment, treatment effect or gender specific factors. We sought to determine whether primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) has a differential impact on infarct size, myocardial perfusion and ST segment resolution in men and women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Associations between different types of hypoglycemic agents and the clinical outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention in diabetic patients-From the FU-Registry.

Background: It is not clear whether it is reasonable to use particular drugs for glycemic control in preference to other hypoglycemic agents in terms of the clinical outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods And Results: Among 2148 patients (2568 lesions) in the FU-Registry, DM patients who underwent PCI (n=758; 922 lesions) were investigated to clarify the effects of various drugs for glycemic control on the clinical outcome [major adverse cardiac events (MACEs): death, myocardial infarction (MI), and target lesion revascularization (TLR)] over approximately 300 days of follow-up (UMIN000005679). The MACEs(+) group (n=165) had a higher usage of insulin (p<0.

Associations between lipid profiles and MACE in hemodialysis patients with percutaneous coronary intervention: from the FU-Registry.

Background: It is well known that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in hemodialysis (HD) patients is associated with higher rates of in-stent restenosis and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to that in non-HD patients, even if the target value in cholesterol management is achieved.

Methods: To evaluate the factors that are associated with MACE in HD patients, we selected 142 HD patients (164 lesions) without acute coronary syndrome (ACS) from 2148 patients (2568 lesions) who underwent PCI in our database of the FU-Registry [UMIN000005679, Fukuoka University Hospital EC/IRB:10-1-08(09-105)], and compared 52 patients (53 lesions) with MACE [MACE(+)] to 90 patients (111 lesions) without MACE [MACE(-)].

Results: Total cholesterol (TC: 150±30mg/dL vs 166±39mg/dL, p<0.

A case of primary aldosteronism who experienced cardiopulmonary arrest, was resuscitated and cured.

A 45-year-old female went into cardiopulmonary arrest. She was in ventricular fibrillation (VF) and was defibrillated using an automated external defibrillator. After arrival at our hospital, electrocardiography monitoring showed QT prolongation.

Characteristics of patients and types of lesions in patients with drug-eluting or bare-metal stent implantation in small coronary arteries: from the FU-Registry.

Although the use of drug-eluting stents (DES) has reduced the rate of restenosis, some problems remain regarding the usefulness of DES in small coronary arteries in addition to late thrombosis and a longer duration of dual-antiplatelet therapy. We considered 335 patients with 698 lesions who underwent DES or bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation, and randomly selected 172 DES and 124 BMS lesions that had undergone a complete data analysis and evaluation. Patients had a history of stable angina with at least 1 lesion with 50% diameter stenosis in a vessel and with a successfully minimum stent implantation (stent diameter=2.

Extraction of airways from CT (EXACT'09).

This paper describes a framework for establishing a reference airway tree segmentation, which was used to quantitatively evaluate fifteen different airway tree extraction algorithms in a standardized manner. Because of the sheer difficulty involved in manually constructing a complete reference standard from scratch, we propose to construct the reference using results from all algorithms that are to be evaluated. We start by subdividing each segmented airway tree into its individual branch segments.

[FOLFOX as adjuvant chemotherapy after curative resection of distant metastatic lesions in patients with colorectal cancer].

We investigated the effectiveness of prophylactic FOLFOX after curative resection of synchronous metastases in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Clinicopathological information including postoperative chemotherapy, such as a therapeutic regimen, relapse-free survival (RFS), site of recurrence, etc., was retrospectively analyzed in 116 CRC patients with synchronous distant metastases, and 63 patients with metachronous metastases who had received surgery in our hospital between 2000 and 2009.

Determination of the cut-off plasma adiponectin level associated with a lower risk of restenosis in patients with stable angina.

Objective: Hypoadiponectinemia is an independent predictor for the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD); however, the importance of plasma adiponectin levels in the midterm clinical outcome in patients with CAD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between plasma adiponectin levels and midterm clinical outcome in patients with CAD who underwent PCI.

Materials And Methods: A total of 112 patients (120 lesions) with stable angina who underwent PCI under intravascular ultrasound guidance, and who underwent follow-up coronary angiography about 8 months after PCI from August 2004 to December 2009 were enrolled in this study.

A case of coronary artery disease with antiphospholipid syndrome that showed repeated stent thrombosis.

A 55-year-old man with severe chest pain was hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome. Coronary angiography revealed total occlusion of his left anterior descending coronary artery, which was successfully recanalized by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the patient subsequently experienced subacute stent thrombosis, restenosis in the stent, and frequent thrombosis in PCI toward restenosis.

FOLFOX as adjuvant chemotherapy after curative resection of distant metastases in patients with colorectal cancer.

Objectives: The prophylactic effect of FOLFOX regimen, a standard regimen for unresectable colorectal cancer (CRC), was investigated in the adjuvant setting of CRC cases with distant metastases.

Methods: The study population included 116 CRC patients with synchronous metastases and 91 patients with metachronous metastases who had undergone curative operation in our hospital between 2000 and 2009. Clinicopathological parameters of CRC, postoperative chemotherapeutic regimen, recurrence rate, and relapse-free survival (RFS) were analyzed retrospectively.

Serum levels of bilirubin as an independent predictor of coronary in-stent restenosis: a new look at an old molecule.

Aim: In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains the major limitation of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and the mechanism of ISR is neointimal growth. Higher serum total bilirubin (TBIL) inhibits the inflammatory response and the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells; however, the relationship between TBIL and ISR is still unclear. This study aimed to determine whether the serum bilirubin level is associated with ISR after coronary stenting in patients with coronary artery disease.

Impact of glycemic control on the clinical outcome in diabetic patients with percutaneous coronary intervention--from the FU-registry.

Background: It is not yet clear whether glycemic control affects the clinical outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in diabetic patients.

Methods And Results: This study compared the effects of glycemic control on the clinical outcome in 2 groups of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) who underwent PCI: a poor-glycemic-control group, who showed greater than 6.9% HbA(1c) at the time of PCI (Pre-HbA(1c)) (`≥6.

Angiographic late lumen loss at the site of overlap of multiple Cypher™ sirolimus-eluting stents: ALSOCE study.

Objectives: It has been reported that the overlap of sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) is associated with greater in-stent late lumen loss and more angiographic restenosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the site of such overlap shows increased or decreased late lumen loss as assessed by quantitative coronary angiogram.

Methods And Results: We compared 7-month angiographic late lumen loss at the site of overlap in patients with multiple overlapping stents (overlap SES group, n=48) to that in patients with single stents (single SES group, n=144).

Immunohistochemical detection of autotaxin (ATX)/lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) in submucosal invasive colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Autotaxin (ATX) is molecularly identical to lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) and is a main enzyme producing lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), which mediates a broad range of cellular responses including stimulation of cell motility.

Patients And Methods: Using immunohistochemical staining, we examined the expression of ATX/lysoPLD in 98 cases of early colorectal cancer with submucosal invasion. ATX/lysoPLD was highly expressed in infiltrating cells in tumor tissue in the submucosal layer, which were characterized as mast cells.

Impact of angulated lesions on angiographic late loss in patients with drug-eluting stent implantation.

Angulated lesion was classified in moderate risk lesion subset in PTCA guidelines 2000, because angulated lesion has been associated with abrupt closure or myocardial injury. We compared angiographic late loss at 6-9 months in bending lesions to that in non-bending lesion. This study included 227 lesions (de nowo) who were implanted Cypher Sirolimus-eluting stent (SES).

Associations between metabolic factors and coronary plaque growth or arterial remodeling as assessed by intravascular ultrasound in patients with stable angina.

Although many clinical studies have evaluated plaque growth in response to positive or negative remodeling in coronary arteries using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), little is known about the associations between metabolic factors and coronary plaque growth or remodeling. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed 100 consecutive patients with stable angina who had undergone preinterventional IVUS. The characteristics of coronary plaque (plaque area [PA] and volume [PV]) and remodeling patterns were analyzed by IVUS.

Results of provisional stenting with a Sirolimus-eluting stent for bifurcation lesion: multicenter study in Japan.

Background: Treatment of bifurcation lesion with a drug-eluting stent (DES) remains problematic. The purpose of this study was to investigate an appropriate treatment strategy for bifurcation lesion with a Sirolimus-eluting stent (SES).

Method: One-hundred-forty-one patients with 169 bifurcation lesions were treated at three centers in Japan using a Sirolimus-eluting stent.

Treatment of diffuse in-stent restenosis with drug-eluting stents vs. intracoronary beta-radiation therapy: INDEED Study.

Background: We compared sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation and intracoronary brachytherapy (ICBT) for diffuse bare metal in-stent restenosis (ISR) to identify more effective treatment modality.

Methods: Patients (n=129) with diffuse ISR (lesion length > or = 10 mm) were randomly assigned to either SES implantation (n=65, group I) or beta-radiation with 188Re-MAG(3)-filled balloon (n=64, group II). The radiation dose was 20 Gy at a depth of 1.