Publications by authors named "Toshitaka Iwasaki"

Aims: This study was undertaken to assess the association between plaque features at culprit lesions assessed by frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) and impaired microvascular perfusion estimated by intracoronary electrocardiogram (IcECG) after elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Furthermore, we investigated whether IcECG could predict future cardiac events.

Methods And Results: This study consisted of 84 patients who underwent both FD-OCT and IcECG during PCI.

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Background: Malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein (MDA-LDL) is considered to play an essential role in plaque destabilization. We aimed to investigate the association between the tissue characteristics of culprit plaque assessed by integrated backscatter (IB)-intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and the serum MDA-LDL levels in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Methods and results: The study group consisted of 179 patients undergoing IB-IVUS during elective percutaneous coronary intervention.

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Background: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is a sensitive and early sign of myocardial ischemia. We assessed whether mitral annular velocity reflected the severity of myocardial ischemia evaluated by single-photon emission computed tomography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and preserved ejection fraction.

Methods And Results: The study population consisted of 125 patients with suspected CAD who underwent both single-photon emission computed tomography and transthoracic echocardiography.

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Background: Aortic knob width on chest radiography is independently related to cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about the correlation between aortic knob width and central hemodynamics.

Methods: Central blood pressure was measured invasively with diagnostic catheter in 92 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

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Objective: Periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) remains a relatively common complication even after successful procedures. In-stent restenosis (ISR) may be involved in lesion-related factors for PMI. We compared the incidence of PMI between patients with ISR and those with de novo stenosis.

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Background: We assessed the accuracy of left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF) using quantitative gated single-photon emission computed tomography (QGS) in comparison with echocardiography as the reference standard. We also assessed the effects of total perfusion deficit (TPD) on the accuracy of QGS measurements.

Methods: A total of 258 patients underwent single-photon emission computed tomography and transthoracic echocardiography within 4 weeks of each investigation for evaluating coronary artery disease.

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Objective: Analyses of arterial blood gas parameters, including pH, HCO3- and lactate, play an important role in assessing the clinical status of patients with heart failure. In the present study, we evaluated the degree of agreement in the pH, HCO3- and lactate levels between arterial and venous blood samples according to the subset of the Forrester classification.

Methods: The study population consisted of 128 patients with known or suspected heart failure.

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Background: Recent studies have shown that arterial stiffness is reduced after meal intake. We evaluated the acute response of central hemodynamics to glucose loading and the variation in their responses among normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: The study enrolled 85 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease who underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test.

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Background: Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a well-established marker of platelet activation. In the current study, we compared MPV between patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS) and control subjects. We also assessed the association between MPV and left ventricular geometry in patients with AS.

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Background: Regeneration of R-wave or disappearance of Q-wave sometimes occurs after myocardial infarction (MI) especially in the coronary intervention era. We assessed the impact of poor R-wave progression (PRWP) or residual R-wave in precordial leads on myocardial infarct size in patients with prior anterior MI treated with coronary intervention.

Methods: Fifty-three patients with prior anterior MI and 20 age- and sex-matched patients without underwent electrocardiogram (ECG), myocardial perfusion single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and echocardiography.

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Background: We evaluated the diagnostic value of resting echocardiographic findings including total heart calcification (THC) score in combination with dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) for detection of myocardial ischemia.

Methods: Altogether, 110 patients with suspected angina pectoris underwent resting echocardiography and DSE. On the basis of resting echocardiography, we determined the THC score, left anterior descending artery diastole-to-systole velocity ratio (LAD-DSVR), and positive myocardial velocity during isovolumic relaxation phase (VIVR ) detected by color-coded tissue Doppler imaging.

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Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a well-established marker of platelet activation, and recent studies have shown that platelet activation is central to the processes in the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease (CAD). The study population consisted of 45 patients with stable CAD who underwent successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents. We selected 45 age- and sex-matched control subjects without cardiovascular diseases who did not require antiplatelet therapy.

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Background: Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is characterized by chronic left ventricular pressure overload, leading to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We assessed correlations in left ventricular volumes and function between echocardiography and quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) in patients with AS.

Methods And Results: The study population consisted of 28 patients with AS defined as a peak velocity of > 3.

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Background: Both aortic aneurysms and coronary artery ectasia (CAE) frequently coexist and are associated with more pronounced inflammation. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NL ratio) is widely used as a marker of inflammation. However, relation between CAE and NL ratio in patients with aortic aneurysms is not fully understood.

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Aortic aneurysms are associated with coronary artery ectasia (CAE). However, the relation between the extent of CAE and coronary blood flow in patients with aortic aneurysms is not fully understood. This study was undertaken to assess the angiographic characteristics and effects of the topographical extent of CAE on coronary blood flow in patients with aortic aneurysms.

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Heart Score View (HSV) is a free software package for automated quantification of myocardial single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging using a standard Windows computer. We compared scoring results of myocardial perfusion among visual analysis, Quantitative Perfusion SPECT (QPS), and HSV in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.This study included 75 consecutive patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease who underwent adenosive stress-rest Tl-201 SPECT.

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Background And Purpose: We assessed the causes of death and efficacy of permanent inferior vena cava (IVC) filters for preventing new pulmonary embolisms (PE) in Japanese deep vein thrombosis (DVT) patients with or without PE.

Methods And Subjects: We studied the clinical outcomes during the follow-up period of 1 day to 9 years (median: 18 months; mean: 28 months) in 66 of 72 consecutive patients (44 with acute PE, 27 with intrapelvic DVT, and 1 with floating femoral vein thrombosis). Fifty of 66 patients received anticoagulant therapy after the filter placement.

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Background: Recent studies have shown good correlations between echocardiography and Tl-201 gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for the assessment of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction. We assessed how left ventricular geometry affected correlations between these values measured by the 2 methods in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

Methods And Results: There were 109 patients with normal left ventricular geometry, 20 patients with concentric remodeling, 32 patients with eccentric hypertrophy and 28 patients with concentric hypertrophy.

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Residual risk of cardiovascular disease might stem, at least partially, from low serum concentrations of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of ezetimibe on serum lipids and PU-FAs in patients with coronary artery disease who were intolerant of new or high-dose statin therapy. The study population consisted of 13 patients who were intolerant of new statin therapy and 10 patients who were intolerant of high-dose statin therapy for the treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

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Stent thrombosis remains a severe complication after deployment owing to its high mortality. In the current report, we present a case of stent thrombosis distal to the segment showing flow-limiting early in-stent restenosis with an everolimus-eluting stent. < Cardiologists should be aware of the potential risk of stent thrombosis in patients undergoing stent deployment distal to the segment where early restenosis is likely to occur.

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Background: Compared to patients with similar levels of hypertension, patients with primary aldosteronism have a greater left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The presence of LVH should be detected as early as possible to prevent cardiovascular complications associated with the condition. We evaluated comparative diagnostic value of electrocardiographic (ECG) indexes for LVH in patients with primary aldosteronism.

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