Feasibility, Safety, and Long-Term Outcomes of Zero-Contrast Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: The long-term safety and utility of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided zero-contrast percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unknown.

Methods and results: A total of 698 consecutive patients treated with PCI (1,061 procedures) in our center were studied. Patients with acute coronary syndrome, who are on maintenance hemodialysis, and who had a planned rotational atherectomy were excluded.

The Prognostic Value of Left Atrial Reservoir Functional Indices Measured by Three-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography for Major Cardiovascular Events.

Background: Left atrial (LA) volume and left ventricular longitudinal strain (LVLS) have significant prognostic values for major cardiovascular events (MACEs). Prognostic values of LA reservoir functional indices measured by 3-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) were evaluated.

Methods and results: A total of 264 patients, who underwent 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiography and 3DSTE for various underlying heart diseases, were followed up to record MACE.

Risk Factors for Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence After Cox Maze IV Performed Without Pre-exclusion.

Background: New guidelines from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons recommend adding surgical ablation as a concomitant procedure for class I indications. We performed the maze procedure for all patients who experienced atrial fibrillation (AF) before cardiac surgery, without surgeon pre-exclusion.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 83 patients, aged 71 ± 11 years (22% >80 years), who underwent Cox maze IV for persistent AF between 2014 and 2017.

Acid-catalyzed chirality-transferring intramolecular Friedel-Crafts cyclization of α-hydroxy-α-alkenylsilanes.

Acid-catalyzed intramolecular Friedel-Crafts cyclization of optically active α-hydroxy-α-alkenylsilanes possessing a benzene ring (>99% ee) with TMSOTf as a Lewis acid gave enantio-enriched tetrahydronaphthalenes (up to 98% ee). The silyl group attached to the chiral carbon played a crucial role in the chirality transfer.

Prognostic Value of Left Atrial Size and Functional Indices Measured by 3-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Analysis.

Background: The prognostic value of indices for left atrial volumes (LAV) and reservoir function measured by 3D speckle-tracking analysis (3DSTA) has not been determined.

Methods and results: LA maximal and minimal volume indices (LAVImax, LAVImin), and LA emptying fraction (LAEmpF) were measured via 2D echocardiography (2DE) and 3DSTA in 514 patients (62% male, mean age: 66±15 years) with various cardiovascular diseases. Two cutoff values using normal±2SD (cutoff criterion 1) and receiver-operating characteristic analysis (cutoff criterion 2) were evaluated.

Extended Posterior Leaflet Augmentation for Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation - Augmented Posterior Leaflet Snuggling up to Anterior Leaflet.

Background: The ideal surgical technique for ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) is controversial. We introduced an extended posterior mitral leaflet (PML) augmentation technique for functional MR with severe tethering, which detached the PML from the annulus almost completely and augmented it with a large 3×6-cm oval pericardial patch.

Methods and results: A total of 17 mitral repairs using the new technique were performed for ischemic MR with no 30-day mortality and 2 hospital deaths.

Long-Term Effects of Enzyme Replacement Therapy for Anderson-Fabry Disease.

Anderson-Fabry disease is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disease caused by α-galactosidase A (α-GalA) gene variants and characterized by a large genotypic and phenotypic spectrum. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) using recombinant α-GalA has been approved for > 10 years as a specific therapy for the disease. However, the long-term clinical efficacy for cardiac manifestations has been equivocal because it depends on several factors such as genotype, sex, age, and disease severity at the initiation of ERT.

Long-standing persistent effects of atrial volume reduction combined with pulmonary vein isolation.

Although surgical left atrial (LA) volume reduction combined with mitral valve surgery and/or surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation has been reported to be effective, its long-term outcomes in the absence of mitral procedure are not well established. A 74-year-old man with two previous sternotomies-the first for pericardiectomy due to constrictive pericarditis and the second for mitral valve replacement with mechanical valve and tricuspid annuloplasty-presented with heart failure and thrombus in his giant left atrium (1291 mL), complicated by cerebral infarction. His electrocardiogram showed rate-controlled persistent atrial fibrillation.

Post-cardiotomy venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation without heparinization.

We present the cases of eight patients (mean age 75 years; EuroSCORE II 17.0 ± 22.0) who underwent post-cardiotomy venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) without heparinization due to serious bleeding.

Trends and predictors of non-cardiovascular death in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure.

Background: Little information is available on non-cardiovascular (CV) death in acute heart failure (AHF) patients. The present study determined the incidence, time course, and factors associated with long-term non-CV death in AHF patients in a real-world setting.

Methods: The ATTEND registry, a nationwide, prospective observational multicenter cohort study, included 4842 consecutive patients hospitalized for AHF.

[Aflatoxins B and g contamination and aflatoxigenic fungi in nutmeg].

This study examined the distribution of aflatoxigenic fungi in 25 imported Indonesian nutmeg samples contaminated with aflatoxins Bs or Bs and Gs. The incidence of aflatoxigenic fungi in the samples contaminated with high levels of aflatoxin was significantly higher than that in the samples with low levels of the toxins(r=0.752).

Clinical features and outcomes of 35 disseminated intravascular coagulation cases treated with recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin at a single institution.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a clinical entity with high mortality and is characterized by multiple organ failure caused by activation of systemic intravascular coagulation. Although a standard treatment for DIC has not been established owing to the absence of randomized controlled trials, recent reports have indicated that recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rTM) is effective against DIC. To elucidate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of DIC, we retrospectively analyzed 35 DIC patients treated with rTM at our institution over a 2-year period (infectious disease: 21 cases; hematological disease: 14 cases).

Factors affecting outcome of intracerebral hemorrhage in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis.

To date, despite a markedly high incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in patients with end-stage renal disease, only few studies have focused on factors that affect patient's prognosis. To elucidate these factors, we retrospectively investigated 22 consecutive patients who had chronic renal failure, were maintained by hemodialysis (HD), had suffered from ICH, and were hospitalized and treated in our institute from 2006 to 2008. Hematoma volume, blood pressure on admission, blood pressure 3 days after ICH onset, and neurological deterioration significantly affected patient mortality.

Successful treatment of cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis derived from Waldenström's macroglobulinemia by rituximab-CHOP and tandem high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) is a slowly progressive, low-grade B cell lymphoproliferative disorder. In contrast to the indolent progression, the development of cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis associated with WM is a rare, aggressive, and life-threatening complication. We describe the case of a 53-year-old man who suffered from WM, which was accompanied by cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis.

Serial changes in liver function tests in patients with thyrotoxicosis induced by Graves' disease and painless thyroiditis.

Context: When the liver function tests are aggravated after starting antithyroid drugs (ATDs) in Graves' hyperthyroidism, discontinuation of ATDs is generally considered. However, a question arises whether such aggravation constitutes an adverse effect of the drugs or not.

Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of thyrotoxicosis on liver function tests, comparing the results with those in thyrotoxicosis induced by painless thyroiditis.

Correlation between urinary methoxyacetic acid and exposure of ethylene glycol dimethyl ether in a lithium battery plant.

Objective: To examine the correlation between airborne ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (EGdiME) exposures and the urinary methoxyacetic acid (MAA) and to approach the issue of a permissible exposure limit for EGdiME.

Methods: The survey was conducted on Thursday. Workers occupationally exposed to EGdiME, as well as nonexposed controls, were studied in combination with one of the authors, who was coincidentally exposed to EGdiME while carrying out the study.

Renal biopsy in elderly patients: a clinicopathological analysis.

As the numbers of aging patients with manifestations of renal disease increase, the elderly must frequently undergo renal biopsies. This study examined the characteristics of clinicopathological correlations in elderly patients. Medical and clinical records from renal biopsies registered in two hospitals between January 2000 and December 2004 were reviewed.

Urinary methoxyacetic acid as an indicator of occupational exposure to ethylene glycol dimethyl ether.

Objective: To investigate whether methoxyacetic acid (MAA) is the metabolite of ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (EGdiME) in humans and whether its metabolite in urine can be used as a biomarker for exposure to EGdiME.

Methods: Workers occupationally exposed to EGdiME, as well as nonexposed controls, were studied. Urine samples were collected from 20 control subjects and, on Friday postshift, from 14 workers.

Design, synthesis and bioactivities of novel diarylthiophenes: inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production.

The design, synthesis and SAR of novel diarylthiophene derivatives were performed. These compounds were designed by structural hybridization of TNF-alpha production inhibitors bearing 4-fluorophenyl and 4-pyridyl groups such as FR133605, FR167653 and SB210313, and 6-acetyl-3-ethoxycarbonyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridine (1) found previously by us. As a result, several compounds were more potent in vitro than FR133605 against TNF-alpha production stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).