Reduction of door-to-balloon time in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction by single-catheter primary percutaneous coronary intervention method.

Objectives: The objectives of this study is to confirm reduction of door-to-balloon (D2B) time with single-catheter percutaneous coronary intervention (SC-PCI) method.

Background: Reduction of total ischemic time is important in the emergency treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). There have been no established methods in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to shorten ischemic time via radial access.

Usefulness of dual-axis rotational coronary angiography in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Several studies have shown that dual-axis rotational coronary angiography (DARCA) reduces contrast medium volume and radiation exposure compared to conventional coronary angiography (CCA). However, there are no studies comparing the safety and usefulness of DARCA in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of DARCA on contrast medium volume, radiation exposure, time course of treatment, and adverse events in primary PCI for patients with STEMI.

The effects of xanthine oxidase inhibitor in patients with chronic heart failure complicated with hyperuricemia: a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial of topiroxostat vs allopurinol-study protocol.

Background: Hyperuricemia has a close relationship with cardiovascular diseases including heart failure. However, it is controversial whether xanthine oxidase inhibition has benefits for patients with chronic heart failure. We designed the Effect of Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitor in Chronic Heart Failure Patients Complicated with Hyperuricemia study (Excited-UA study) to compare the beneficial effects between a novel xanthine oxidoreductase inhibitor, topiroxostat, and a conventional agent, allopurinol, in patients with chronic heart failure and hyperuricemia.

Rationale and Design of Low-dose Administration of Carperitide for Acute Heart Failure (LASCAR-AHF).

Backgrounds: Despite current therapies, acute heart failure (AHF) remains a major public health burden with high rates of in-hospital and post-discharge morbidity and mortality. Carperitide is a recombinantly produced intravenous formulation of human atrial natriuretic peptide that promotes vasodilation with increased salt and water excretion, which leads to reduction of cardiac filling pressures. A previous open-label randomized controlled study showed that carperitide improved long-term cardiovascular mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalization for patients with AHF, when adding to standard therapy.

Two-week administration of rivaroxaban resolved left atrial thrombus.

An 89-year-old man visited our hospital complaining of palpitation. Electrocardiography showed atrial fibrillation, and transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a mobile thrombus of 28.6 mm × 20.

Varenicline-assisted smoking cessation decreases oxidative stress and restores endothelial function.

Smoking cessation decreases oxidative stress and restores vascular endothelial function. However, a recent meta-analysis suggests that the use of varenicline, a α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist, increases the risk of cardiovascular events. This study was designed to determine the effect of varenicline-assisted smoking cessation on vascular endothelial function.

Torsade de pointes associated with the combination of solifenacin and clenbuterol for urinary incontinence.

A 79-year-old woman undergoing medical treatment with solifenacin and clenbuterol for urinary incontinence was admitted to our hospital because of recurrent syncope. Her syncope appeared one month after the doses of clenbuterol were increased. Torsade de pointes (TdP) was evident on her Holter electrocardiogram at the time when she developed syncope.

The Japanese experience with sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in the infarct-related artery: five years of observation from the J-PMS study.

Background: Long-term outcome and safety concerns regarding drug-eluting stents (DES) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treatment is still debated.

Methods And Results: We analyzed data from 1937 patients with complete 5-year follow-up (94.5%) from a multicenter registry of sirolimus-eluting stents (J-PMS).

A rare connection by newly formed conduit vessels between the left internal mammalian artery and radial artery bypass grafts after failure of grafts.

Neovascularization such as formation of collateral vessels following total occlusion of native coronary artery is common in coronary artery disease. This is a case report of a very rare connection by newly formed conduit vessels between the left internal mammalian artery and the radial artery establishing bypass, which occurred after failure of bypass grafts.

Plasma microRNA 499 as a biomarker of acute myocardial infarction.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs 21-25 nucleotides in length. Recently, we reported that miRNA 208 (miR-208) is produced exclusively in the rat myocardium and that plasma miR-208 is a biomarker of myocardial injury in rats. In the present study, we assessed the hypothesis that plasma concentrations of myocardial-specific miRNAs can be used to diagnose myocardial injury in humans.