Surgical explantation of an infected Lotus Edge valve: a case report.

Background: With the rapid expansion of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), TAVR valve explantation is also increasing. Nevertheless, previous reports on Lotus Edge valve explantation are limited to only two reports, none of which include intraoperative videos. Therefore, we report the case of an older adult who underwent a 2-year-old Lotus Edge valve explantation, after developing prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) and aortic annular abscess, with a strong indication for a TAVR explantation and surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR).

A Quantitative Diagnostic Method Using Tc-pyrophosphate Lateral Planar Images to Distinguish Between Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy and False-Positive Images Due to Blood Pools.

: This study investigated the feasibility of using a quantitative diagnostic method based on Tc-pyrophosphate scintigraphy (PYP) lateral planar images to differentiate between PYP-positive (myocardial uptake) and false-positive (blood pool uptake) scans. : The study included 93 consecutive patients with suspected transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) who underwent PYP between April 2022 and December 2023. Patients were categorized using planar anterior PYP images according to the Perugini visual grading system; patients with grades ≥ 2 were analyzed.

Peri-procedural outcome according to VARC-3 criteria and hemodynamic mid-term follow-up after Valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement for failed aortic bioprosthesis.

Despite the widespread adoption of valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (VIV-TAVR) for patients with failed aortic bioprosthesis, the effectiveness of this treatment for Japanese patients frequently associated with small aortic annuli remains unclear. From December-2011 to October-2022, 41 consecutive patients undergoing VIV-TAVR were enrolled in this study. The endpoints were technical success, device success, early safety, and two-year mortality according to implanted surgical valve size (small valves: 19-mm and 21-mm, n = 23; large valves: 23-mm and 25-mm, n = 18).

Questionnaire-based real-world survey of diagnosing food allergy in children: Utilization of oral food challenge tests and other diagnostic methods.

Background: Oral food challenge tests are considered the reference standard for diagnosing food allergies; however, studies on their real-world implementation rates are limited.

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the proportion of school-age children who underwent the oral food challenge test and to understand the motivations behind food elimination and utilization of various health care services.

Methods: The questionnaire-based survey for the parents of the students who submitted the "Certificate for School Life Management (For Allergic Diseases)" was conducted across public elementary and junior high schools in Gifu prefecture, Japan.