Multicenter prospective observational study to clarify the current status and clinical outcome in Japanese patients who have an indication for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) (TRANSITION JAPAN-ICD/WCD study): Rationale and design of a prospective, multicenter, observational, comparative study.

Background: Despite the positive impact of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and wearable cardioverter defibrillators (WCDs) on prognosis, their implantation is often withheld especially in Japanese heart failure patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) who have not experienced ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) for uncertain reasons. Recent advancements in heart failure (HF) medications have significantly improved the prognosis for HFrEF. Given this context, a critical reassessment of the treatment and prognosis of ICDs and WCDs is essential, as it has the potential to reshape awareness and treatment strategies for these patients.

Registry for Evaluating Healthy Life Expectancy and Long-Term Outcomes after Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in the Very Elderly (REHEALTH AF) study: rationale and design of a prospective, multicentre, observational, comparative study.

Introduction: Data are lacking on the extent to which patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) who are aged ≥80 years benefit from ablation treatment. The question pertains especially to patients' postablation quality of life (QoL) and long-term clinical outcomes.

Methods And Analysis: We are initiating a prospective, registry-based, multicentre observational study that will include patients aged ≥80 years with non-valvular AF who choose to undergo treatment by catheter ablation and, for comparison, such patients who do not choose to undergo ablation (either according to their physician's advice or their own preference).

Effect of Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Heart Failure With Mid-Range or Preserved Ejection Fraction - Pooled Analysis of the AF Frontier Ablation Registry and Hokuriku-Plus AF Registry.

Background: A recent randomized trial demonstrated that catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (EF) is associated with a reduction in death or heart failure. However, the effect of catheter ablation for AF in patients with heart failure with mid-range or preserved EF is unclear.

Methods and results: We screened 899 AF patients (72.

Clinical outcomes of ablation versus non-ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation in Japan: analysis of pooled data from the AF Frontier Ablation Registry and SAKURA AF Registry.

Whether ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is, in terms of clinical outcomes, beneficial for Japanese patients has not been clarified. Drawing data from 2 Japanese AF registries (AF Frontier Ablation Registry and SAKURA AF Registry), we compared the incidence of clinically relevant events (CREs), including stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), major bleeding, cardiovascular events, and death, between patients who underwent ablation (n = 3451) and those who did not (n = 2930). We also compared propensity-score matched patients (n = 1414 in each group).

Clinical Outcomes of Off-Label Underdosing of Direct Oral Anticoagulants After Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are sometimes prescribed at off-label under-doses for patients who have undergone ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). This practice may be an attempt to balance the risk of bleeding against that of stroke or AF recurrence.We examined outcomes of 1163 patients who continued use of a DOAC after ablation.

Current Status and Clinical Outcomes of Oral Anticoagulant Discontinuation After Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Japan - Findings From the AF Frontier Ablation Registry.

Background: The safety of discontinuing oral anticoagulant (OAC) after ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) in Japanese patients has not been clarified.

Methods and results: A study based on the Atrial Fibrillation registry to Follow the long-teRm Outcomes and use of aNTIcoagulants aftER Ablation (AF Frontier Ablation Registry) was conducted. Data were collected from 3,451 consecutive patients (74.

Acute flaccid myelitis associated with enterovirus D68 in a non-epidemic setting.

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a recently defined clinical disease accompanied by the national outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in the United States during the late summer/fall of 2014; 258 cases of EV-D68 and 59 cases of AFM were reported in Japan during the late summer/fall of 2015. Subsequently, there have been no epidemics of AFM or EV-D68. However, we encountered a patient who had AFM associated with EV-D68 in 2017.

Pial arteriovenous fistula of the spine in a child with hemiplegia.

Pial arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is an extremely rare disease in children. When a child presents with sudden onset of hemiparesis and headache, it is very important to perform spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning for early diagnosis and treatment.

Impact of Distal Protection with Filter-Type Device on Long-term Outcome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Clinical Results with Filtrap.

Aim: Although distal embolization during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) deteriorates cardiac function, whether distal protection (DP) can improve prognosis is still controversial. We investigated whether a filter-type DP device, Filtrap, could improve long-term outcomes after PCI for AMI.

Method: We studied 164 patients (130 men, mean age: 65.

Impact of thin-cap fibroatheroma on predicting deteriorated coronary flow during interventional procedures in acute as well as stable coronary syndromes: insights from optical coherence tomography analysis.

The occurrence of deteriorated coronary flow associated with distal embolization during percutaneous coronary intervention results in impaired myocardial perfusion and worsens the clinical prognosis. This study aimed to examine the impact of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-determined coronary plaque morphology on the prediction of deteriorated coronary flow after stent implantation in acute as well as stable coronary syndromes (ACS and SAP, respectively). We studied 126 patients who underwent OCT during stenting for ACS (n = 44) and SAP (n = 82) with a de novo lesion.

Comparison of sirolimus-eluting, paclitaxel-eluting, and bare-metal stents in a patient with angina pectoris: histopathological autopsy findings of the third month.

A 67-year-old man with a more than 15-year-old history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and glucose intolerance presented at our hospital with exertional angina. Coronary angiography showed considerable stenosis of 3 vessels. A diffuse calcified lesion in the left anterior descending coronary artery was pre-treated using rotational atherectomy followed by sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation.

Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of GH in Japanese Children with Down Syndrome Short Stature Accompanied by GH Deficiency.

In this study, we investigated the effects of GH treatment in children with Down syndrome who had been diagnosed with GH deficiency (GHD). A total of 20 subjects were investigated in this study. Fourteen Down syndrome children (5 boys and 9 girls) with short stature due to GHD were treated with GH at Okayama Red Cross General Hospital, and 6 Down syndrome children (4 boys and 2 girls) with short stature due to GHD were registered in the Pfizer International Growth Database (KIGS).

Spontaneous healing of posttraumatic focal coronary aneurysm: a case report.

We report on the spontaneous healing of a posttraumatic focal coronary aneurysm in a previously healthy 61-year-old man after his involvement in a motor vehicle accident, resulting in blunt chest trauma that injured the anterior wall of his left ventricle. Left-sided cardiac catheterization and selective coronary angiography 1 month after the accident showed an aneurysm in the proximal part of the left anterior descending artery, and normal coronary arteries otherwise. Intravascular ultrasound revealed that the lesion was a pseudoaneurysm protruding toward the myocardium.

Transition of the ST segment from a J wave to a coved-type elevation before ventricular fibrillation induced by coronary vasospasm in the precordial leads.

We describe the case of a 63-year-old man whose electrocardiogram showed transition of the ST segment from a J wave to a coved-type elevation in precordial leads before ventricular fibrillation induced by right coronary artery vasospasm. Simultaneously, the ST segment in inferior leads was gradually depressed with a J wave. Considering the sudden death of his son, induced ventricular fibrillation by programmed electrical stimulation, and modulations of the ST segment in the precordial and inferior leads by pilsicainide, some abnormalities in repolarization associated with Brugada syndrome or early repolarization syndrome might have caused these atypical ST-segment manifestations.

Growth of infants with osteogenesis imperfecta treated with bisphosphonate.

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable bone disease characterized by bone brittleness and various degrees of growth disorder. Cyclic pamidronate therapy is reportedly useful to prevent bone fracture in OI and in infants with OI, but, it remains unclear how infants with OI grow during bisphosphonate therapy.

Methods: Height and weight measurements of OI infants treated with cyclic pamidronate therapy were taken before and every 6 months during therapy until 18 months.

Flow uniformity in oxygenators with different outlet port design.

This study reports on evaluation of the optimum design of a blood outlet port structure for providing uniform flow by visualizing the blood flow in an extracapillary membrane oxygenator. We tested a cylindrical type extracapillary membrane oxygenator, HPO-20. The HPO-20 has a tangential blood outlet port and is thus referred to as "Tangential HPO-20.

Complete atrioventricular block associated with takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

An 82-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital due to repeated episodes of syncope with incontinence. Electrocardiography showed torsades de pointes, complete atrioventricular (AV) block, T-wave inversions and a prolonged QTc interval. Urgent coronary angiography showed no significant coronary stenosis and left ventriculography demonstrated typical abnormal wall motion of takotusbo cardiomyopathy.

Impaired pyridinoline cross-link formation in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.

Patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) show various degrees of bone fragility. Nevertheless, details of the mechanisms causing bone fragility remain unclear. We hypothesized that differences in pyridinoline cross-link formation at the N-and C-termini in type I collagen molecules partly contribute to bone fragility of OI.

Mutations in type I collagen genes in Japanese osteogenesis imperfecta patients.

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an autosomal dominant disorder of connective tissue characterized by bone fragility and low bone mass. COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes are very large and have been rarely analyzed systematically in Japan. The aim of this project was to develop an effective and convenient method of finding mutations in the COL1A1 and COL1A2 gene by using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).