Association between the High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Efflux Capacity and the Long-term Prognosis in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-analysis.

Aim: We aimed to determine whether baseline high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) at the time of coronary angiography (CAG) could serve as a prognostic marker for future major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: The MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Embase databases were used for data collection. As of April 2024, 2,871 studies have been identified.

Reliable measurement methods for the isovolumic relaxation time: comparisons of dual gate Doppler and seven other methods.

Purpose: Isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) is a useful indicator of diastolic dysfunction. However, a measurement method for IVRT has not been established. The Dual Gate Doppler method, which can record two separate pulse-wave Doppler signals simultaneously using two sample gates, may be ideal for measuring IVRT.

Prognostic Impacts of CHADS, CHADS-VASc, and CHADS-VASc-HS Scores on Clinical Outcomes After Elective Drug-Eluting Stent Placement for De Novo Coronary Stenosis.

The prognostic impact of CHADS, CHADS-VASc, and CHADS-VASc-HS scores on clinical outcomes after drug-eluting stent (DES) placement has not been fully elucidated. The present study was a retrospective, non-randomized, single-center, and lesion-based study. Target lesion failure (TLF), comprising cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization, occurred in 7.

Perinatal and neonatal characteristics of Prader-Willi syndrome in Japan.

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is suspected at birth if extreme hypotonia, difficulty in feeding, hypogonadism, and failure to thrive are present. Genetic diagnosis of PWS can generally be made within the first few months of life; however, a delayed diagnosis of PWS is frequently reported. Although the clinical characteristics of perinatal and neonatal patients with PWS have been reported, there are no such reports on the clinical characteristics of these patients in Japan.

Treatment of secondary mitral regurgitation by transcatheter edge-to-edge repair using MitraClip.

Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is becoming the standard invasive treatment for ventricular functional mitral regurgitation (MR). It is necessary to determine the severity of MR before treatment with MitraClip; however, the severity of secondary MR is usually underestimated compared with that of primary MR and varies temporally. Therefore, to accurately determine the severity of MR, it is important to correctly use the algorithm of the guidelines for valvular heart disease and aggressively perform stress echocardiography.

Cryofreezing for slow-pathway modification in patients with slow-fast AVNRT: Efficacy, safety, and electroanatomical relation between sites of transient AV block and sites of successful cryoablation.

Introduction: Cryoablation has emerged as an alternative to radiofrequency ablation for treating atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cryoapplication at sites within the mid/high septal region of Koch's triangle and the relation between sites of transient AV block (AVB) and sites of successful cryoablation.

Methods And Results: Included were 45 consecutive patients undergoing slow-fast AVNRT cryoablation.

Utility of hot-balloon-based pulmonary vein isolation under balloon surface temperature monitoring: First clinical experience.

Introduction: A new hot balloon system that registers balloon surface temperature (BST) during energy delivery is now available for clinical use in Japan. This study sought to investigate the utility of BST measurement for achievement of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) by a single-shot energy delivery strategy during hot balloon ablation (HBA).

Methods: We applied and tested the system in 30 consecutive patients undergoing HBA for paroxysmal or early-persistent atrial fibrillation (AF).

A porcine study of the area of heated tissue during hot-balloon ablation: Implications for the clinical efficacy and safety.

Introduction: Hot-balloon ablation depends solely on thermal conduction, and myocardial tissue is ablated by only conductive heating from the balloon surface. Despite growing clinical evidence of the efficacy and safety of hot-balloon ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF), the actual tissue temperature and the mechanism of heating during such ablation has not been clarified. To determine, by means of a porcine study, the temperatures of tissues targeted during hot-balloon ablation of AF performed with hot-balloon set temperatures of 73°C or 70°C, in accordance with the temperatures now used clinically.

Clinical Impact of Size, Shape, and Orientation of the Tricuspid Annulus in Tricuspid Regurgitation as Assessed by Three-Dimensional Echocardiography.

Background: Tricuspid annuloplasty for tricuspid regurgitation (TR) depends on the measurements of tricuspid annular diameter (TAD) obtained in an apical four-chamber view on two-dimensional (2D) transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). We performed a combined 2D and three-dimensional (3D) echocardiographic study to understand the impact of the size, shape, and orientation of a dilated annulus on the inconsistencies between measured 2D TTE-TAD and the actual annular diameter.

Methods: A total of 185 patients with grade ≥3+ TR and 50 controls underwent 2D TTE and 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) assessment of the tricuspid valve.

Atrial reverse remodeling represented by the atrial conduction time in persistent atrial fibrillation patients after catheter ablation: its impact on predicting late atrial fibrillation recurrence.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the reduction in the atrial conduction time during the follow-up phase of catheter ablation in persistent atrial fibrillation (PsAF) patients, which would suggest atrial reverse remodeling, and to investigate its impact on predicting AF recurrence.

Methods: Fifty-seven PsAF patients underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation. The P-wave to left atrial appendage (LAA) conduction time was measured by transthoracic echocardiography using tissue Doppler imaging (P-LAA TDI), within 24 h and 6 months after ablation.

Impact of low-voltage zones on the left atrial anterior wall on the reduction in the left atrial appendage flow velocity in persistent atrial fibrillation patients.

Background: The reduction in the left atrial appendage (LAA) flow velocity is related to the presence of emboli in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. The LAA is located on the left superior side of the left atrial (LA) anterior wall, and we investigated the relationship between the reduction in the LAA flow velocity (LAAFV) and low voltage zones (LVZs < 0.5 mV) on the LA anterior wall.

Comparison of mitral valve geometrical effect of percutaneous edge-to-edge repair between central and eccentric functional mitral regurgitation: clinical implications.

Aims: Percutaneous edge-to-edge repair alters mitral valve (MV) geometry in functional mitral regurgitation (FMR). We sought to characterize MV morphology in patients with central and eccentric FMR, compare the geometrical effect of MitraClip therapy, and elucidate different mechanisms of MR improvement according to FMR subtypes.

Methods And Results: Seventy-six symptomatic patients with Grade 3 to 4+ FMR (central, n = 39; eccentric, n = 37) underwent three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography during MitraClip implantation.