Possible associations between palliative care conferences and positive outcomes when performing palliative care for patients with end-stage heart failure: a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Palliative care for end-stage heart failure should be provided by a multidisciplinary team. However, the influence of each occupational category on patients receiving palliative care for end-stage heart failure remains unclear. Thus, this study investigated the relationships between palliative care conferences and positive outcomes of palliative care for end-stage heart failure patients.

The deeper the pouch is, the longer the radiofrequency duration and higher the radiofrequency energy needed-Cavotricuspid isthmus ablation using intracardiac echocardiography.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore whether the pouch depth influenced the radiofrequency (RF) duration and total delivered RF energy for cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation and define the cutoff value for a deep pouch-specified ablation strategy.

Methods: This study included 94 atrial fibrillation (AF) patients (56 males, age 68 ± 8.0 years).

Design of a nationwide survey on palliative care for end-stage heart failure in Japan.

Background: The term palliative care has historically been associated with support for individuals with advanced incurable cancer, so cardiologists and cardiac nurses may be unfamiliar with its principles and practice. However, palliative care is now a part of end-stage heart failure management. We conducted the first nationwide survey to investigate the status of palliative care for heart failure in Japan.

Beneficial effects of intracoronary nicorandil on microvascular dysfunction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention: demonstration of its superiority to nitroglycerin in a cross-over study.

Purpose: In patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), coronary microvascular dysfunction is associated with poor prognosis. Coronary microvascular resistance is predominantly regulated by ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels. The aim of this study was to clarify whether nicorandil, a hybrid KATP channel opener and nitric oxide donor, may be a good candidate for improving microvascular dysfunction even when administered after primary PCI.

Distal protection during primary coronary intervention can preserve the index of microcirculatory resistance in patients with acute anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate whether a distal protection (DP) device can preserve the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Methods And Results: The study group of 36 consecutive patients with anterior STEMI were randomized into 2 groups of primary PCI with or without DP: stenting without DP (non-DP group, n = 17) and with DP (DP group, n = 19). The DP in all cases was Filtrap (Nipro, Japan).

Importance of packing coefficients of host cavities in the isomerization of open host frameworks: guest-size-dependent isomerization in cholic acid inclusion crystals with monosubstituted benzenes.

The crystal structures of inclusion compounds of cholic acid (CA) with 28 monosubstituted benzenes have been systematically investigated. All of the crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P2(1) and have bilayer structures with one-dimensional molecular channels that can include guest compounds. They are classified into four types of host frameworks that depend on the conformations and stacking modes of the host compound.

Experimental beta-alaninuria induced by (aminooxy)acetate.

Experimental beta-alaninuria was induced in rats by injection of (aminooxy)acetate (AOA), a potent inhibitor of aminotransferases, in order to elucidate the pathogenesis of hyper-beta-alaninemia. A 27-fold increase of beta-alanine (BALA) excretion was induced by subcutaneous injection of 1 5 mg of AOA per kg of body weight. A 13-fold and a 9-fold increase of beta-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), respectively, were also induced simultaneously by the AOA injection.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of beta-alanine, beta-aminoisobutyric acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid in tissue extracts and urine of normal and (aminooxy)acetate-treated rats.

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of beta-alanine, beta-aminoisobutyric acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid in biological materials. Amino acids including these beta- and gamma-amino acids were derivatized with 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4'-sulfonyl (dabsyl) chloride and dabsyl amino acids formed were separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Dabsyl derivatives of these beta- and gamma-amino acids were well separated from other dabsyl-amino acids.

[A case of refractory pulmonary fistula, managed with bronchoscopic therapy using occluding spiral embolus].

We report a successful case of bronchoscopic therapy using occluding spiral embolus and fibrin glue for refractory pulmonary fistula. A 22-year-old female underwent left lower lobectomy for giant bulla of the lung. Air leakage began 6 days after lobectomy.

Isolation of S-[2-carboxy-1-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethyl]cysteine from human urine.

S-[2-Carboxy-1-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethyl]cysteine (I), a proposed precursor of 3-[(carboxymethyl)thio]-3-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)propanoic acid [Kinuta, Yao, Masuoka, Ohta, Teraoka & Ubuka (1991) Biochem. J. 275, 617-721], was isolated from healthy human urine by using ion-exchange column chromatography.

L-Cysteine metabolism via 3-mercaptopyruvate pathway and sulfate formation in rat liver mitochondria.

We have studied the 3-mercaptopyruvate pathway (transamination pathway) ofL-cysteine metabolism in rat liver mitochondria.L-Cysteine and other substrates at 10 mM concentration were incubated with mitochondrial fraction at pH 8.4, and sulfate and thiosulfate were determined by ion chromatography.

Immunosuppressive mechanism of 15-deoxyspergualin on sinusoidal lining cells in swine liver transplantation: suppression of MHC class II antigens and interleukin-1 production.

To elucidate the precise mechanism of action of 15-deoxyspergualin (DSG) in swine liver transplantation, the expression of MHC class II antigens (Ia) on hepatic sinusoidal lining cells (SLC) and their production of interleukin-1 (IL-1) were examined. In our previous study, we isolated sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) and Kupffer cells (KC) by enzymatic digestion and centrifugal elutriation, and demonstrated that both SEC and KC present alloantigens effectively and generated IL-1 in response to allogenic or lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Animals were divided into three groups: group 1, nontransplanted normal controls (n = 3); group 2, no immunosuppressive treatment following liver transplantation (n = 5); group 3, DSG (0.

[Effect of Euro-Collins' or UW solution on the early graft function following cadaveric kidney transplantation].

From November 1985 to March 1990, 55 cadaveric kidney transplants were performed under cyclosporine therapy. All kidneys were harvested from non-heart beating donors and cold stored after being flushed with EC solution (Group I, n = 27) or UW solution (Group II, n = 28). Warm ischemic time (min) in groups I and II were 7.

[Prognosis of mitral valve prolapse related to the changes in the grade and ventricular arrhythmias].

Eighty-four cases with idiopathic mitral valve prolapse (MVP) were followed for 3.1 years in average (1 to 6 years). Left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions and/or left atrial dimension increased in 72.