The usefulness of SwiftScan technology for bone scintigraphy using a novel anthropomorphic phantom.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of SwiftScan with a low-energy high-resolution and sensitivity (LEHRS) collimator for bone scintigraphy using a novel bone phantom simulating the human body. SwiftScan planar image of lateral view was acquired in clinical condition; thereafter, each planar image of different blend ratio (0-80%) of Crality 2D processing were created. SwiftScan planar images with reduced acquisition time by 25-75% were created by Poisson's resampling processing.

Clinical efficacy of thrombus aspiration on 5-year clinical outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Adjunctive thrombus aspiration (TA) during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was reported to promote better coronary and myocardial reperfusion. However, long-term mortality benefit of TA remains controversial. The objective of this study is to investigate the clinical impact of TA on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary PCI.

Impact of lesion morphology and associated procedures for left main coronary stenting on angiographic outcome after intervention: sub-analysis of Heart Research Group of Kanazawa, HERZ, Study.

Whether the lesion morphology and associated interventional procedures for the left main coronary artery disease (LMCA) could affect clinical outcome is still controversial. Therefore, we examined the impact of lesion morphology and associated procedures on clinical and angiographic outcomes of stenting for the LMCA. Among 7,660 patients with coronary intervention registered, we analyzed early angiographic results of 228 patients (179 men, mean age 69.

Incidence and outcome of surgical procedures after coronary bare-metal and drug-eluting stent implantation: a report from the CREDO-Kyoto PCI/CABG registry cohort-2.

Background: There still remain safety concerns on surgical procedures after coronary drug-eluting stents (DES) implantation, and optimal management of perioperative antiplatelet therapy (APT) has not been yet established.

Methods And Results: During 3-year follow-up of 12 207 patients (DES=6802 patients and bare-metal stent [BMS] only=5405 patients) who underwent coronary stent implantation in the CREDO-Kyoto registry cohort-2, surgical procedures were performed in 2398 patients (DES=1295 patients and BMS=1103 patients). Surgical procedures (early surgery in particular) were more frequently performed in the BMS group than in the DES group (4.

First human trial of KW39 slotted-tube stents: for percutaneous coronary intervention.

The KW39 stent is a balloon-expandable, stainless-steel, slotted-tube stent, newly designed to adjust to the shape of the coronary arteries. We evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of KW39 stent-based percutaneous coronary interventions in human native coronary arteries. A total of 105 patients (110 lesions), with a diagnosis of stable angina, acute coronary syndrome, or asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, were included in this prospective study.

Three-year outcome of sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in coronary bifurcation lesions: the provisional side branch stenting approach versus the elective two-stent approach.

Aims: To explore optimal management strategies for bifurcation lesions with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES).

Methods And Results: Among 12,824 patients enrolled in the j-Cypher Registry, we identified 2,122 patients with 2,250 non-left main bifurcation lesions (average age: 69 years; diabetes: 39%; acute coronary syndrome: 24%; lesion length ≥30 mm: 17%; true bifurcation: 53%) treated exclusively with SES. The majority of lesions (1,978 lesions, 88%) were treated by provisional side branch stenting approach with a 4.

Long-term safety and efficacy of sirolimus-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in real world clinical practice in Japan.

Long-term safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents remains controversial. The CREDO-Kyoto registry cohort-2 is a physician-initiated non-company sponsored multi-center registry enrolling consecutive patients undergoing first coronary revascularization in 26 centers in Japan. We compared 3-year outcome between patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) only (5092 patients) and bare-metal stent (BMS) only (5405 patients).

Association of the use of proton pump inhibitors with adverse cardiovascular and bleeding outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention in the Japanese real world clinical practice.

Previous studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the effects of concomitant use of clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors (PPI) on cardiovascular outcomes. We sought to evaluate the clinical impact of PPI-use in patients treated with thienopyridines after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a large Japanese observational database. Among 12446 patients discharged alive on thienopyridines (ticlopidine 90.

Impact of severe coronary disease associated or not associated with diabetes mellitus on outcome of interventional treatment using stents: results from HERZ (Heart Research Group of Kanazawa) analyses.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using a drug-eluting stent (DES) leads to less re-stenosis than PCI using a bare metal stent (BMS), however there is still controversy whether use of a DES for severe coronary disease leads to an acceptable outcome in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study 8159 lesions were treated in 6739 patients (mean age 68.9 years) with coronary artery disease.

Incidence and risk factors of late target lesion revascularization after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation (3-year follow-up of the j-Cypher Registry).

It yet has not been clarified whether there is a late catch-up phenomenon in target lesion revascularization (TLR) after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) compared to bare metal stent (BMS) implantation. In 12,824 patients enrolled in the j-Cypher Registry, incidences of early (within first year) and late (1 year to 3 years) TLR were compared between 17,050 lesions treated with SESs and 1,259 lesions treated with BMSs. Incidences of TLR in SES-treated lesions were 5.

Evaluation of long-term practical training of graduate students at an off-campus hospital-questionnaire survey of graduate students and pharmacists-.

The graduate students in our laboratory underwent 4-5 months of training at Maizuru Kyosai Hospital. To evaluate the effectiveness of this long-term practical training course of the off-campus hospital, we conducted a questionnaire survey before and after the course among the students and the pharmacists. The results of the survey suggest that the students gained experience regarding pharmaceutical management and came to understand the importance of pharmaceutical care during the course.

Incidence and outcome of surgical procedures after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation: a report from the j-Cypher registry.

The incidence of surgical procedures after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation and, more importantly, the rate of perioperative stent thrombosis (ST) and/or other adverse events have not yet been adequately addressed. The incidence and outcome of the surgical procedures after SES implantation were prospectively evaluated in a large-scale multicenter registry of patients undergoing SES implantation. Among 12,824 patients enrolled in the registry, cumulative incidences of surgical procedures were 0.

Effects of turmeric extract on the pharmacokinetics of nifedipine after a single oral administration in healthy volunteers.

The effects of turmeric extracts on the pharmacokinetics of nifedipine were examined in 10 healthy volunteers. An open-label and randomized crossover study was performed at 2-week intervals. In the control experiment, after a 10 h overnight fast, 10 mg of nifedipine (Adalat® capsule) was administered orally and blood was collected at 0, 0.

Association of Gln222Arg polymorphism in the deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) gene with myocardial infarction in Japanese patients.

Aims: We have recently reported that serum deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) activity, which may be involved in apoptosis, increases abruptly in the early phase of acute myocardial infarction (MI) [Kawai Y, Yoshida M, Arakawa K, Kumamoto T, Morikawa N, Masamura K, Tada H, Ito S, Hoshizaki H, Oshima S, Taniguchi K, Terasawa H, Miyamori I, Kishi K, Yasuda T. Diagnostic use of serum deoxyribonuclease I activity as a novel early-phase marker in acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 2004;109:2398-2400].

Ten-year follow-up of familial hypercholesterolemia patients after intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy.

To prevent coronary artery disease, it is necessary for patients with familial hyper-cholesterolemia (FH) to maintain a low cholesterol level. Recently a combination therapy of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis and statins has been used for FH patients, but their long-term prognosis over 10 years is unknown. In this single center prospective report, 18 FH patients with severe coronary stenosis received LDL apheresis every 2 or 4 weeks and statin therapy for 9.

[Fundamental study of coronary angiography using gadolinium contrast agent].

To investigate the clinical usefulness of coronary arteriography using a gadolinium contrast medium (hereinafter referred to as Gd contrast medium) in patients with iodine allergy, images obtained using an iodinated contrast medium and a Gd contrast medium were compared using respective phantoms. Within the range of the effective energy (34.8 to 41.

Differentiation between patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy and those with anterior acute myocardial infarction.

Background: There has not been a comparison of the electrocardiographic (ECG) finding of ST-segment elevation in the precordial leads in patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) and those with anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with regard to the location of the culprit lesion.

Methods And Results: The present study evaluated 18 patients with TC, and 85 with anterior AMI who were divided into 3 groups: group A had the culprit lesion proximal to both the first septal branch (S1) and the first diagonal branch (D1), group B had the culprit lesion proximal to either S1 or D1, and group C had the culprit lesion distal to both S1 and D1. In patients with TC, reciprocal ST-segment depression in the inferior leads was observed less frequently than in patients in groups A (p<0.

Value of iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy in patients with vasospastic angina.

To assess the presence and location of presynaptic myocardial sympathetic abnormality in patients with vasospastic angina, iodine-123 labelled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) single-photon emission tomography (SPET) was performed. Fifty patients suspected of having vasospastic angina pectoris were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent a provocative test with intracoronary ergonovine infusion during coronary angiography, in which 99%-100% obstructive spasm was defined as a positive result.

Evolution of coronary vascular tone in vasospastic angina.

In general, anginal symptoms diminish with time in patients with vasospastic angina. We assessed changes in coronary vascular tone (CVT) in patients with vasospastic angina over a 4-year period to evaluate the time course of spastic activity. Vasospastic angina was evaluated in 39 patients in whom occlusive spasm was evoked by selective intracoronary injection of ergonovine maleate (ERG-S) 48 h after stopping all coronary vasodilator drugs.

[Evaluation of pulmonary perfusion in a patient with agenesis of the left pulmonary artery: usefulness of radionuclide angiography].

We reported a case with agenesis of the left pulmonary artery, in which radionuclide angiography with 99mTc-HSA and time activity curve (TAC) were useful in evaluating pulmonary perfusion in the effected lung. The case involved a 32-year-old male, who underwent nuclear medicine examination including 99mTc-MAA scanning, 81mKr scanning and 99mTc-HSA angiography. 99mTc-MAA and 81mKr scanning showed the perfusion defect and decreased ventilation in the effected lung, respectively.

[Endovascular stenting for a recurrent angina patient].

We report successful Palmaz-Schatz stenting for recurrent angina. Coronary arteriography in a 65-year-old man with recurrent angina six months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) showed stenosis in the right coronary artery and in the saphenous vein graft to the left anterior descending artery. For both stenotic lesions, balloon dilatation was performed.