Assessment of fractal ratio of vessel diameters in coronary bifurcation lesions by angiography and intravascular ultrasound.

Physiological coronary branching at the bifurcation has a constant fractal ratio (FR) of the diameter of the mother vessel to the sum of daughter vessels on quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). We sought to investigate the FR of diseased coronary bifurcations using QCA and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and its impact on late lumen loss after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In multicentre prospective studies of the J-REVERSE and 3D OCT Bifurcation Registry, 402 and 109 bifurcations treated with stenting that completed QCAs and IVUS examinations, respectively were analysed.

Effect of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on the geometry of coronary bifurcation lesions and clinical outcomes of coronary interventions in the J-REVERSE registry.

We investigated the effect of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on the geometry of coronary bifurcation lesions. A total of 300 non-left main bifurcation lesions in 298 patients from J-REVERSE registry were classified according to statin treatment status at admission (NT, non-treated; ST, statin-treated) and were further subdivided based on LDL-C levels with a cutoff of 100 mg/dL (NT-high, n = 76 lesions; NT-low, n = 46; ST-high, n = 99 and ST-low, n = 79). In addition, a group with strict control of LDL-C (< 70 mg/dL) was defined (ST-SC; n = 19).

Impact of final kissing balloon inflation on vessel healing following drug-eluting stent implantation: Insight from the optical coherence tomography sub-study of the J-REVERSE trial.

Background: We sought to clarify the impact of final kissing inflation (FKI) after single stenting of bifurcation lesions on vessel healing.

Methods: From the J-REVERSE registry enrolling 303 bifurcation lesions treated with provisional single stenting using sirolimus- (SES) or everolimus-eluting stent (EES), 65 lesions treated with (n=30) and without (n=35) FKI underwent 9-month follow-up optical coherence tomography. Average stent eccentricity index (SEI: minimum/maximum stent diameter) and neointimal unevenness score (NUS: maximum/average neointimal thickness of the same cross-section) for the proximal, bifurcation, and distal segments were compared between FKI and non-FKI groups.

Efficacy of kissing balloon inflation after provisional stenting in bifurcation lesions guided by intravascular ultrasound: short and midterm results of the J-REVERSE registry.

Aims: Our aim was to investigate the efficacy of the kissing balloon technique (KBT) in the provisional stenting of bifurcation lesions guided by intravascular ultrasound.

Methods And Results: In the J-REVERSE registry, 300 non-left main bifurcation lesions in 299 patients were divided into two groups, KBT (n=163) and non-KBT (n=137). Patient and lesion characteristics were similar except for a higher prevalence of diabetic patients in the non-KBT group.

Differences in Vessel Healing Between Sirolimus- and Everolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation for Bifurcation Lesions: The J-REVERSE Optical Coherence Tomography Substudy.

Background: We aimed to clarify the differences in vessel healing after stenting of bifurcation lesions using sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) or everolimus-eluting stents (EESs).

Methods: Japanese Registry Study in Comparison Between Everolimus-Eluting Stent and Sirolimus-Eluting Stent for the Bifurcation Lesion (J-REVERSE) is a prospective multicentre registry of 303 bifurcation lesions that were treated with provisional SES or EES with or without final kissing inflation. The first 115 lesions at selected study sites were predefined for inclusion in the optical coherence tomography (OCT) substudy, and 9-month follow-up OCT was conducted in 64 lesions (SES, n = 18; EES, n = 46).

Comparison of Everolimus- versus Sirolimus-eluting stents in the provisional Bifurcation stenting guided by intravascular ultrasound: mid-term results of the J-REVERSE registry.

This study aimed at comparing the mid-term clinical outcome of everolimus-eluting (EES) with sirolimus-eluting (SES) stents in the provisional bifurcation stenting guided by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). We compared the clinical outcome up to 9-month follow-up results of the prospective J-REVERSE registry of 300 non-left main bifurcation lesions in 298 patients treated with EES (n = 240) and SES (n = 60). The SB dilation with the kissing balloon technique (KBT) was performed in 54 %.

Frequency-dependent requirement for calcium store-operated mechanisms in induction of homosynaptic long-term depression at hippocampus CA1 synapses.

For induction of long-term depression (LTD), mechanisms dependent on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and on intracellular calcium stores have been separately known. How these two mechanisms coexist at the same synapses is not clear. Here, induction of LTD at hippocampal Schaffer collateral-to-CA1 pyramidal cell synapses was shown to depend on NMDARs throughout the theoretically predicted activation range for LTD induction.

Small-conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ channels are the target of spike-induced Ca2+ release in a feedback regulation of pyramidal cell excitability.

Cooperative regulation of inosiol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP(3)Rs) by Ca(2+) and IP(3) has been increasingly recognized, although its functional significance is not clear. The present experiments first confirmed that depolarization-induced Ca(2+) influx triggers an outward current in visual cortex pyramidal cells in normal medium, which was mediated by apamin-sensitive, small-conductance Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels (SK channels). With IP(3)-mobilizing neurotransmitters bath-applied, a delayed outward current was evoked in addition to the initial outward current and was mediated again by SK channels.

[Voiding function and sexual activity in patients following Hautmann neobladder construction].

Purpose: We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of Hautmann neobladder reconstruction in terms of complications, lower urinary tract symptoms, and sexual function in a large group of patients who underwent radical cystectomy.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 118 patients (105 men and 13 women) who underwent radical cystectomy and Hautmann neobladder construction at the Gifu University Hospital or one of its affiliate hospitals between Jan 1993 and Dec 1999. The 118 patients were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual activity, and the data was compiled.