LMT AMI Caused by a Valve-Like Ridge in a 9-Year-Old Boy Successfully Treated With PCI.

A 9-year-old boy was suspected of having acute myocardial infarction and emergency coronary angiogram was performed. No signs of flow limitation in either coronary artery was detected. We performed intravascular ultrasonography from the ascending aorta, which showed a ridge on the left main trunk acting like a valve, resulting in significant stenosis.

Open-Label Randomized Trial Comparing Oral Anticoagulation With and Without Single Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Stable Coronary Artery Disease Beyond 1 Year After Coronary Stent Implantation.

Background: Despite recommendations in the guidelines and consensus documents, there has been no randomized controlled trial evaluating oral anticoagulation (OAC) alone without antiplatelet therapy (APT) in patients with atrial fibrillation and stable coronary artery disease beyond 1 year after coronary stenting.

Methods: This study was a prospective, multicenter, open-label, noninferiority trial comparing OAC alone to combined OAC and single APT among patients with atrial fibrillation beyond 1 year after stenting in a 1:1 randomization fashion. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or systemic embolism.

A rare case of spontaneously dissolved calcification of the mitral annulus: Caseous calcification of the mitral annulus.

Caseous calcification of the mitral annulus is a rare variant of mitral annular calcification (MAC). MAC is detected using conventional echocardiography and is prevalent in the elderly. However, limited information is currently available on the transformation of MAC.

Improvement in Limit of Detection of Enzymatic Biogas Sensor Utilizing Chromatography Paper for Breath Analysis.

Breath analysis is considered to be an effective method for point-of-care diagnosis due to its noninvasiveness, quickness and simplicity. Gas sensors for breath analysis require detection of low-concentration substances. In this paper, we propose that reduction of the background current improves the limit of detection of enzymatic biogas sensors utilizing chromatography paper.

An Electrochemical Gas Biosensor Based on Enzymes Immobilized on Chromatography Paper for Ethanol Vapor Detection.

This paper presents a novel method of fabricating an enzymatic biosensor for breath analysis using chromatography paper as enzyme supporting layer and a liquid phase layer on top of screen printed carbon electrodes. We evaluated the performance with ethanol vapor being one of the breathing ingredients. The experimental results show that our sensor is able to measure the concentration of ethanol vapor within the range of 50 to 500 ppm.

The ReACT Trial: Randomized Evaluation of Routine Follow-up Coronary Angiography After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Trial.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term clinical impact of routine follow-up coronary angiography (FUCAG) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in daily clinical practice in Japan.

Background: The long-term clinical impact of routine FUCAG after PCI in real-world clinical practice has not been evaluated adequately.

Methods: In this prospective, multicenter, open-label, randomized trial, patients who underwent successful PCI were randomly assigned to routine angiographic follow-up (AF) group, in which patients were to receive FUCAG at 8 to 12 months after PCI, or clinical follow-up alone (CF) group.

Relationship between diastolic ventricular dysfunction and subclinical sleep-disordered breathing in atrial fibrillation ablation candidates.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is recognized as a primary factor or mediator of atrial fibrillation (AF). We hypothesized that the severity of SDB among AF ablation candidates would be associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) even for subclinical SDB. A total of 246 patients hospitalized for initial pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) were analyzed.

Ablation of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation targeting short coupled ventricular premature contractions originating from a right ventricular papillary muscle.

We describe a 38-year-old male who experienced several episodes of syncope after having ventricular fibrillation. The electrocardiographic monitoring after his hospitalization revealed repetitive polymorphic ventricular tachycardias. All polymorphic ventricular tachycardias were consistently initiated by a short-coupled monomorphic ventricular premature contraction (VPC).

A case of intermittent claudication associated with the Angio-Seal™ vascular closure device after carotid artery stenting.

We report a case of intermittent claudication caused by the use of Angio-Seal™ vascular closure device after carotid artery stenting. This device is widely used for hemostasis at the femoral arterial puncture site. It allows early ambulation of patients and reduces labor for manual compression.

A novel SCN5A mutation demonstrating a variety of clinical phenotypes in familial sick sinus syndrome.

Mutations in SCN5A have been reported to cause several types of hereditary arrhythmias (overlap syndrome). We herein report two patients with the overlapping phenotypes of juvenile sick sinus syndrome (SSS) and Brugada syndrome (BrS). The proband was a man who was in his twenties and had been diagnosed with both SSS and ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Effects of medical treatment on the prognosis and risk of embolic events in patients with severe aortic plaque.

Aim: The optimal treatment strategy for patients with aortic atheroma is not well established because data regarding medical treatment for such patients are lacking, especially with respect to the Japanese population. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of medical treatment on the risk of embolic events and mortality in patients with severe aortic plaque.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated 75 consecutive patients with severe aortic plaque detected on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) between 1995 and 2005.

A case of significantly increased mitral regurgitation early after atrial septal defect closure.

We report a rare case in which mitral regurgitation (MR) was exacerbated to a severe level early after atrial septal defect (ASD) closure, even though the female patient had preoperatively mild MR and mild changes in mitral valve (MV) and sinus rhythm. The mechanism of increased MR was considered as poor coaptation and tethering of the MV due to the restricted motion of the posterior leaflet in addition to geometric changes of the left ventricle (LV) after ASD closure.

Marked regression of aortic plaque by intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy.

A 65-year-old man with rheumatic combined valvular heart disease showed a persistent fever after cardiac catheterization. He was diagnosed with cholesterol embolism due to multiple mobile plaques in the descending thoracic aorta by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) along with persistent eosinophilia, deteriorating renal function, and blue toe sign. He was treated with intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy for 3 years, resulting in marked regression of the aortic plaque on TEE.

Cardiac tamponade during transesophageal echocardiography in a patient with infective endocarditis.

An 81-year-old man with a history of diabetes mellitus and end-stage renal disease was admitted because of infective endocarditis. During transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), pericardial effusion rapidly increased and led to cardiac tamponade. Despite intensive therapy, the patient did not recover.

Usefulness of contrast echocardiography for detecting right-to-left cardiac shunts during the diagnosis of hypoxemia: 2 case reports.

We report two cases in which contrast echocardiography was useful for detecting right-to-left shunt. In case 1, a 53-year-old man was admitted to our hospital after being diagnosed with acute heart failure. Even after improvement of the heart failure, hypoxemia remained.

[A case of long survival with unresectable duodenal papilla cancer treated with oral chemotherapy using combination UFT and cyclophosphamide].

A 69-year-old female patient underwent a choledochojejunostomy for unresectable duodenal papilla cancer with para-aortic lymph node metastases. Both tegafur-uracil(UFT) and cyclophosphamide were given orally every day after surgery. Twenty-eight months from the initiation of the chemotherapy the tumor had remarkably reduced and the objective response was evaluated as a PR.

Angiomyofibroblastoma-like tumor (cellular angiofibroma) in the male inguinal region.

Angiomyofibroblastoma-like tumor is a rare mesenchymal tumor involving the male genital tract. We report a case of an angiomyofibroblastoma-like tumor that arose in the subcutaneous tissue of the left inguinal region in a 50-year-old man. Ultrasonography of the region demonstrated a well-circumscribed subcutaneous mass.

Ischemia/reperfusion in rat heart induces leptin and leptin receptor gene expression.

Concentrations of leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, are elevated in obesity. Recently, leptin has been shown to participate in multiple biological actions including inflammation, reproduction, and angiogenesis. Leptin has also been documented as a critical component in the process of wound healing; however, leptin involvement in cardiovascular disease is poorly understood.

Effect of dog-walking on autonomic nervous activity in senior citizens.

Objective: To compare changes in autonomic nervous activity in healthy senior individuals while walking with and without a dog, and during routine activities at home and periods of interacting with the dog at home.

Design: Controlled crossover study.

Participants And Setting: 13 healthy volunteers (3 men, 10 women; mean age, 67.

Primary cardiac lymphoma demonstrated by delayed contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Delayed contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging that nullifies the signal of normal myocardium produces great differences in myocardial signal intensity between normal and infarcted myocardium. A case of primary cardiac lymphoma is presented in which delayed contrast-enhanced MR imaging clearly identified the localization and extension of a lymphoma infiltrating the myocardium.

Reduction of viral myocarditis in mice lacking perforin.

Cellular immunity plays an important role and contributes to morbidity and mortality in the development of cardiomyopathy secondary to acute myocarditis. Lymphocytotoxicity has been proposed as due to infiltrated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Perforin is thought to be a major factor responsible for the cytolytic properties of the CTLs.