Successful palliation for an aged patient with primary pericardial mesothelioma.

An 85-year-old Japanese man with a complaint of exertional dyspnea was admitted to our hospital. Sixty-three years prior to admission at our hospital, he handled asbestos for 2 years in a factory. His chest computed tomography showed a massive pericardial effusion leading to cardiac tamponade and right pleural plaque.

Impact of target lesion coronary calcification on stent expansion.

Background: Stent underexpansion remains a concern as a cause of drug-eluting stent (DES) failure. Although coronary calcification is considered to be a contributing factor in stent underexpansion, previous intravascular ultrasound studies have failed to demonstrate this relationship. We investigated whether stent expansion could be predicted by coronary calcification as assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Successful stent implantation guided by intravascular ultrasound and a Doppler guidewire without contrast injection in a patient with allergy to iodinated contrast media.

Presence of allergy to iodinated contrast may prevent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to be performed. We present a 76-year-old male with a history of allergic reaction to iodinated contrast who successfully underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and a Doppler guidewire-guided PCI. Stent size was determined based on IVUS.

Local release of catecholamines from the hearts of patients with tako-tsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction.

Background: The precise mechanism of tako-tsubo-like left ventricular (LV) dysfunction remains unclear, although recent studies have shown that activation of sympathetic tone might be involved. However, local release of catecholamines from cardiac sympathetic efferent neurons in patients with tako-tsubo-like LV dysfunction remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate evidence of local release of catecholamines from the hearts of patients with tako-tsubo-like LV dysfunction.