Validity of Diagnostic Algorithms for Cardiovascular Diseases in Japanese Health Insurance Claims.

Background: We aimed to validate a claims-based diagnostic algorithm to identify hospitalized patients with acute major cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) from health insurance claims in Japan.

Methods and results: This retrospective multicenter validation study was conducted at 4 institutes, including Japanese Circulation Society-certified and uncertified hospitals in Japan. Data on patients with CVDs in departmental lists or with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes for CVDs hospitalized between April 2018 and March 2019 were extracted.

Prognosis and Outcomes of Clinically Diagnosed Cardiac Sarcoidosis Without Positive Endomyocardial Biopsy Findings.

Background: Diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is sometimes difficult due to a low positive rate of epithelioid granulomas by endomyocardial biopsy (EMB). Accordingly, Japanese guidelines can allow the CS diagnosis using clinical data alone without EMB results (clinical CS) since 2006. However, little is known about prognosis and outcome of clinical CS.

Features and Outcomes of Histologically Proven Myocarditis With Fulminant Presentation.

Background: Fulminant myocarditis presentation (FMP) is a rare and severe presentation of myocarditis. The natural history of FMP and its clinical features associated with poor outcomes are incompletely understood because there is a lack of generalizable evidence.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included patients hospitalized with histologically proven myocarditis who underwent catecholamine or mechanical support from 235 cardiovascular training hospitals across Japan between April 2012 and March 2017.

Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy: Impact of Transthyretin Amyloid Deposition in Myocardium on Cardiac Morphology and Function.

Background: Transthyretin (TTR) amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is increasingly being recognized as a cause of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) and progressive heart failure in elderly patients. However, little is known about the cardiac morphology of ATTR-CM and the association between the degree of TTR amyloid deposition and cardiac dysfunction in these patients.

Methods: We studied 28 consecutive patients with ATTR-CM and analyzed the relationship between echocardiographic parameters and pathological features using endomyocardial biopsy samples.

Incidence of epicardial connections between the right pulmonary vein carina and right atrium during catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: A comparison between the conventional method and unipolar signal modification.

Background: When performing an electrical isolation of ipsilateral pulmonary veins (PVs) for atrial fibrillation, physicians often need additional radiofrequency (RF) ablation in the carina region between the superior and inferior PVs to achieve a right PV isolation because of intercaval bundles between the right PVs and right atrium (RA). We compared the efficacy of a high-power and short-duration ablation guided by unipolar signal modification (UM) with the conventional method (CM) for ablating epicardial connections between the right PV carina and RA.

Methods: The study subjects consisted of patients who underwent an initial box isolation of atrial fibrillation from January 2015 to December 2019 at Nara Medical University Hospital.

Outcomes of catecholamine and/or mechanical support in Takotsubo syndrome.

Objective: This study aimed to reveal the clinical characteristics of patients with severe Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) who needed catecholamine support (CS) or mechanical support (MS) and to identify factors associated with serious illness and in-hospital mortality.

Methods: This was a nationwide retrospective study that used claims data from the Japanese registry of all cardiac and vascular diseases and the diagnosis procedure combination registry, from April 2012 to March 2016. The patients with TTS were divided into severe TTS and mild TTS groups.

Association of short-term exposure to air pollution with myocardial infarction with and without obstructive coronary artery disease.

Background: Air pollution including particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction.

Current Status and Effect of Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Japan.

Although cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been reported to be associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases, there are few nationwide studies about CR participation by patients with coronary artery disease in Japan. We performed a nationwide retrospective cohort study using the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan between April 2014 and March 2018. Patients were divided into 2 groups (acute coronary syndrome [ACS] and stable coronary artery disease [sCAD]), and the rates of participation in in- and outpatient CR after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were investigated.

Role of climatic factors in the incidence of Takotsubo syndrome: A nationwide study from 2012 to 2016.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the influence of climatic factors on the onset of Takotsubo syndrome (TTS).

Methods And Results: We performed a retrospective nationwide study among patients registered in the Japanese Registry of All Cardiac and Vascular Diseases and Diagnosis Procedure Combination (JROAD-DPC) discharge database, between 2012 and 2016. Before the analysis, a multicentre validation study was conducted for assessing the accuracy of the JROAD-DPC classification for TTS.