Publications by authors named "Ken-Ichi Ishigami"
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) and its antagonist, sFlt-1, in predicting long-term outcomes for patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).
- Researchers enrolled 464 patients and analyzed blood samples to measure PlGF and sFlt-1 levels, finding a correlation between higher PlGF/sFlt-1 ratios and increased risk of all-cause death and total cardiovascular events during a median follow-up of 3.3 years.
- The results indicate that the PlGF/sFlt-1 ratio is an independent predictor for all-cause death in these patients, highlighting its potential significance in CAD prognosis.
Aims: Ablation of right-sided accessory pathways (APs) is sometimes challenging because several anatomical features of the tricuspid annulus (TA) and surrounding structures differ from those of the mitral annulus. This study investigated the electrophysiological characteristics and efficacy of a non-contact mapping (NCM) system for catheter ablation of right-sided APs.
Methods And Results: We examined nine APs in six consecutive patients who underwent catheter ablation of right-sided APs with NCM.
Article Synopsis
- A 23-year-old man presented unconscious with low oxygen levels (hypoxemia) and was diagnosed with biventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, showing structural heart defects (VSD and ASD).
- Doppler echocardiography indicated abnormal blood flow patterns: a left-to-right shunt through the ventricular septal defect and a right-to-left shunt through the atrial septal defect.
- Cardiac catheterization showed high pressure in the right atrium but normal pulmonary pressure, suggesting that the right-to-left shunt from the ASD contributed to his hypoxemia primarily due to right ventricular dysfunction, rather than pulmonary hypertension.
Aims: Morphological characteristics of non-significant coronary plaques (NSCPs) that develop rapid progression have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to clarify the morphological characteristics of NSCPs in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) using intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Methods And Results: Fifty-three consecutive CAD patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention were enrolled and 69 NSCPs (per cent diameter stenosis <50%) were identified on baseline angiogram.
Dual-energy computed tomography (DE-CT) uses polyenergetic X-rays at 100- and 140-kVp tube energy, and generates 120-kVp composite images that are referred to as polyenergetic images (PEIs). Moreover, DE-CT can produce monoenergetic images (MEIs) at any effective energy level. We evaluated whether the image quality of coronary angiography is improved by optimizing the energy levels of DE-CT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present an alternative method for evaluating cardiac fat tissue-dual gradient-echo in-phase and opposed-phase magnetic resonance imaging (IPOP-MRI) with electrocardiographic (ECG) gating. Conventional IPOP-MRI can be used to evaluate small amounts of fat and is widely used for abdominal imaging, but cardiac motion artifacts make its use difficult for cardiac imaging. Using ECG gating prior to IPOP-MRI, we evaluated lipomatous metaplasia after myocardial infarction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can depict papillary muscle (PM) necrosis or fibrosis by late enhancement (LE) of PM, but its clinical significance in old myocardial infarction (OMI) has been little understood.
Methods: Myocardial LE and PM-LE were detected with contrast imaging in 60 patients with OMI caused by a single culprit coronary artery lesion. Left ventricular (LV) morphology and function, mitral valve geometry, and severity of mitral regurgitation were also evaluated by cine imaging.
Background: Dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) has enabled us to non-invasively visualize coronary artery stenosis, but its ability to characterize coronary atherosclerotic plaques (ASPs) has not been evaluated. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides tissue images of coronary artery wall that are validated by pathohistological studies. We studied the diagnostic accuracy of DSCT in the characterization of coronary ASPs, especially lipid-rich ASP with thin fibrous cap (TCFA), in comparison with OCT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Late stent thrombosis related to delayed neointimal growth is a major concern after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. The time course of neointimal growth and risk factors of uncovered stent struts after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) was studied using optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Methods And Results: The 60 patients were enrolled and classified into G1 (follow-up period <9 months, n=27), G2 (9-24 months, n=18), and G3 (>25 months, n=15).
Background: Coronary spasm (CS) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many types of ischemic heart disease, but morphological appearance of non-stenotic coronary segments with CS is not fully understood. We evaluate the morphological characteristics of coronary arteries in patients with coronary spastic angina (CSA) using intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Methods: We evaluated 37 patients with resting chest pain whose coronary angiograms did not reveal significant stenosis.
Background: Placental growth factor (PlGF), a homolog of vascular endothelial growth factor, is reported to stimulate angiogenesis and arteriogenesis in pathological conditions. It was recently demonstrated that PlGF is rapidly produced in myocardial tissue during acute myocardial infarction (MI). However, the effects of exogenous PlGF administration on the healing process after MI are not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: We previously found, using a mouse model, that activation of proinflammatory cytokines after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) augments neointimal hyperplasia of a remote artery. The present study assessed the progression of luminal narrowing of non-culprit coronary arteries (NCCA) in patients following AMI.
Methods: The study group comprised 21 AMI patients successfully treated with bare-metal stents and 16 stable angina (SA) patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stents.