Prognostic Factors in Hemodialysis Patients Undergoing Endovascular Treatment for Critical Limb Ischemia due to Isolated Below-the-Knee Disease.

Aim: To investigate the prognosis and to clarify the predictors of both patient and limb survival among hemodialysis (HD) patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) due to isolated below-the-knee (BK) disease.

Methods: An observational cohort study, analyzing a total of 546 HD patients with 681 limbs who underwent endovascular treatment (EVT) for CLI with isolated BK disease at 11 hospitals in Japan between March 2004 and June 2011, was performed.

Results: The mean patient age was 69.

Patient factors against stable control of warfarin therapy for Japanese non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients.

Introduction: Effectiveness and safety of warfarin therapy for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients are strongly associated with its stability presented such as time in therapeutic range (TTR) of PT-INR. However, the factors that affect TTR have not been fully elucidated in Japan where majority of patients are controlled within the range of 1.6-2.

Antihypertensive efficacy of the losartan/hydrochlorothiazide combination and its effect on plasma B-type natriuretic peptide in hypertensive patients uncontrolled by angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist-based therapy: a multicentre prospective observational study.

Background And Objectives: Although strict blood pressure (BP) control is effective in the prevention of cardiovascular events, it is often insufficient in many hypertensive patients. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been shown to be associated with cardiovascular events. We investigated the effects of the losartan/hydrochlorothiazide combination on BP and plasma BNP in hypertensive patients uncontrolled by an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist (angiotensin receptor blocker [ARB])-based therapy.

Possible involvement of macrophage-colony stimulating factor in the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction in hemodialysis patients.

In patients with end stage renal disease on hemodialysis (HD), left ventricular (LV) function is frequently impaired. However, the mechanism of the LV dysfunction is totally unknown. It has been suggested that overproduction of nitric oxide induced by inflammatory cytokines may contribute to the LV dysfunction in some diseased states.