Clinical significance of the estimation of pulmonary-right ventricular uncoupling in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Aims: There are few data on the prognostic impact of pulmonary-right ventricular (RV) uncoupling in patients with wild-type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTRwt-CM).

Methods And Results: Among the 174 patients who were diagnosed with ATTRwt-CM at Kumamoto University Hospital from 2002 to 2021, 143 patients who met the current Japanese guideline and had sufficient information for two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography were retrospectively analysed. During a median follow-up of 1209 days, 39 cardiac deaths occurred.

The efficacy and safety of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors in patients aged over 80 years with heart failure.

Aims: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors (SGLT2i) have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization (HFH). However, the efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitors in elderly patients with poor general status, such as very low bodyweight or low nutritional status, who are not included in randomized controlled trials, has not yet been examined. In a real-world setting, the introduction of SGLT2 inhibitors to such elderly patients is a very difficult decision to make.

A catheter ablation case of confluent inferior and left superior pulmonary veins: a rare pulmonary vein variation.

Pulmonary vein (PV) variations are commonly detected by preoperative imaging modalities in catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. However, rare variations that have not been previously reported exist. The present case is the first reported instance of three PVs originating from a common trunk.

Efficacy of anifrolumab on systemic lupus erythematosus patients with serological manifestations: A post hoc analysis of the Japan subgroup of the TULIP-2 Trial.

Objectives: To describe the efficacy of anifrolumab vs. placebo in Japanese systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with low complement (C3 or C4) and/or who are positive for anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies.

Methods: This was a descriptive post hoc analysis of Japanese SLE patients with serological manifestations in the TULIP-2 trial who received either anifrolumab or placebo.

Characteristics of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica based on glucocorticoid dose in Japan: A cohort study using routinely collected health data.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the characteristics, inflammatory markers as surrogates for disease activity, and treatment of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) in Japan.

Methods: This cohort study analysed the data of 373 patients with PMR retrieved from an electronic medical records database in Japan. Patients were classified into quartiles, based on the daily glucocorticoid dose over the initial 90 days of treatment (Q1-Q4).