Association of Multiple Nonhypertrophic Cardiomyopathy-Related Genetic Variants and Outcomes in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Approximately 10% of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients have left ventricular systolic dysfunction (end-stage HCM) leading to severe heart-failure; however, risk stratification to identify patients at risk of progressing to end-stage HCM remains insufficient.

Objectives: In this study, the authors sought to elucidate whether the coexistence of other cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related variants is associated with progression to end-stage HCM in patients with HCM harboring pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP) sarcomeric variants.

Methods: The authors performed genetic analysis of 83 CVD-related genes in HCM patients from a Japanese multicenter cohort.

Successful treatment of fulminant and recurrent lymphocytic myocarditis with calcineurin inhibitors.

Lymphocytic myocarditis (LM) is primarily triggered by various factors including viral infections and subsequent immune responses. While rare, some patients with LM experience recurrence with a life-threatening fulminant form. Although combining steroids and immunosuppressants, such as azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil, has demonstrated favourable outcomes in patients with LM, their efficacy is limited to the chronic phase.

Comprehensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Following Acute Myocardial Infarction Improves Clinical Outcomes Regardless of Exercise Capacity.

Background: Reduced exercise capacity is a prognostic indicator of adverse outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in this population. This study aimed to clarify the efficacy of comprehensive CR in patients with AMI and reduced exercise capacity.

Pneumococcal infectious aortic aneurysm: A caution for a life-threatening vascular complication caused by non-vaccine-covered serotypes.

Unlabelled: The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) has contributed to reducing pneumonia caused by . However, in Japan, invasive pneumococcal diseases caused by non-vaccine-covered serotypes have increased over the years. A 73-year-old man with a history of PPSV23 was referred to our hospital due to persistent fever and back pain following pneumococcal pneumonia.

Successful transcatheter mitral valve repair for functional mitral regurgitation in a patient with mitochondrial cardiomyopathy: a case report.

Background: Mitochondrial diseases are a group of genetic disorders caused by nuclear or mitochondrial DNA gene mutations and characterized by multiorgan disorders, including cardiomyopathy. Mitochondrial cardiomyopathy is occasionally complicated by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with/without left ventricular systolic dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy, and left ventricular non-compaction. In such cases, the dilated left ventricle impairs coaptation of the mitral leaflets and leads to functional mitral regurgitation.

Frailty assessment using photographs in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Background: When frailty is considered in patient selection, better outcomes are achieved in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. This study investigated whether patient photographs could be utilized to qualitatively assess patient frailty and independently predict poor outcomes following TAVR.

Methods: This study included 1345 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVR at the Sakakibara Heart Institute, Japan, between 2013 and 2022.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement-related aortic dissection: A clinical case series.

Objectives: We review our experience with 13 periprocedural aortic dissection (AD) cases caused by transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Background: AD is a potentially lethal complication of TAVR; however, only sporadic case reports have been published to date.

Methods: Among 1335 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR in 2013-2021, we retrospectively extracted 13 patients (1.

Cephalic vein cut-down technique for severe venous spasm following axillary vein puncture at pacemaker implantation.

Unlabelled: An 83-year-old male with complete atrioventricular block underwent dual-chamber pacemaker implantation. Venography showed normal anatomy of the left axillary vein. Following sedation with intravenous propofol, local anesthesia, and skin incision, we punctured the left axillary vein on the first limb.

Short-time ventricular tachycardia ablation for cardiac sarcoidosis using coherent map.

A 69-year-old woman with isolated cardiac sarcoidosis was hospitalized for frequent appropriate implantable converter defibrillator therapies for ventricular tachycardia (VT) despite of favorably controlled condition with oral prednisolone. The patient underwent urgent catheter ablation with CARTO 3D mapping system. Although the voltage map, activation map, and propagation map during VT could not visualize the tachycardia circuit, the coherent map clarified entrance and exit sites of the tachycardia circuit with slow or nonconducting (SNO) zones, which seemed like a figure-of-eight circuit.

Pacemaker implantation using the SelectSecure system for a patient with persistent left superior vena cava and absent right superior vena cava: Insights into techniques for stable lead fixation.

The techniques for successful pacemaker implantation via the PLSVC with the SelectSecure system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) are unknown. Regarding the techniques, we presented a case in which we implanted a pacemaker via the PLSVC in patient with absent RSVC using the SelectSecure system.

Quadruple episodes of takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a case report.

Background: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is characterized by transient left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, often preceded by emotional or physical trigger. The recurrence of TTS has been investigated, however, cases of multiple recurrences are scarcely reported.

Case Summary: A 79-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with the complaint of dyspnoea following emotional stress.