Comparisons of Patients Living Alone versus Living with Others in Acute Coronary Syndrome.

We aimed to examine the relationship of living arrangements (i.e., living alone or living with others) with background, clinical severity, preintervention culprit lesion plaque morphology, and clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Excitatory amino acids, possible causative agents of nodding syndrome in eastern Africa.

Background: Nodding syndrome (NS) is one type of epilepsy and a progressive disease characterized by nodding symptoms with children in sub-Saharan Africa. The burden for NS children is heavy, not only mentally but financially for themselves and their families, and yet, the cause and cure of NS remain unknown. The kainic acid-induced model in experimental animals is a well-known epilepsy model that is useful for studying human diseases.

Early recurrence of attack after myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries: a case report.

Background: Diagnostic strategies depend on non-standardized workup, and the causes of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries remain unclear for some patients. Intracoronary imaging is recommended for detecting the missed causes by coronary angiography. Myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries is a heterogeneous entity; a meta-analysis of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary artery studies demonstrated that all-cause mortality rate at 1 year is 4.

Identification of Membrane-expressed CAPRIN-1 as a Novel and Universal Cancer Target, and Generation of a Therapeutic Anti-CAPRIN-1 Antibody TRK-950.

Unlabelled: Specific targets for cancer treatment are highly desirable, but still remain to be discovered. While previous reports suggested that CAPRIN-1 localizes in the cytoplasm, here we now show that part of this molecule is strongly expressed on the cell membrane surface in most solid cancers, but not normal tissues. Notably, the membrane expression of CAPRIN-1 extended to the subset of highly tumorigenic cancer stem cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-induced metastatic cancer cells.

Practical guide for safe sedation.

This practical guide has been developed to ensure safe and effective sedation performed in adult patients outside of the operating room, for instance in intensive care units and dental treatment rooms and in the field of palliative care. Sedation levels are classified based on level of consciousness, airway reflex, spontaneous ventilation, and cardiovascular function. Deep sedation induces loss of consciousness and protective reflexes, and can cause respiratory depression and pulmonary aspiration.

Last Entrainment Sequence: A Novel Diagnostic Technique for Atrial Tachycardia Mimicking Other Supraventricular Tachycardias.

Background: Adenosine-sensitive re-entrant atrial tachycardia (AT) originating from near the atrioventricular (AV) node or AV annulus resembles other supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs), and the differential diagnosis is sometimes challenging.

Objectives: This study sought to develop a novel technique to distinguish adenosine-sensitive re-entrant AT from AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) and orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia (ORT).

Methods: The study retrospectively studied 117 re-entrant SVTs that were successfully entrained by atrial overdrive pacing (AOP) (27 adenosine-sensitive re-entrant ATs, 63 AVNRTs, 27 ORTs).

HotBalloon Pulmonary Vein Isolation Registry Study - Real-World Efficacy and Safety of HotBalloon Ablation.

Background: Radiofrequency hotballoon (RHB) is an ablation device used for atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment. The efficacy and safety of RHB-based pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in real-world practice are unknown.

Methods and results: A multicenter, prospective registry study (UMIN000029567) enrolled AF patients who underwent RHB-PVI.

Indocyanine green conjugated phototheranostic nanoparticle for photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy.

Background: Phototheranostics represents a highly promising paradigm for cancer therapy, although selecting an appropriate optical imager and sensitizer for clinical use remains challenging.

Methods: Liposomally formulated phospholipid-conjugated indocyanine green, denoted as LP-iDOPE, was developed as phototheranostic nanoparticle and its cancer imaging-mediated photodynamic reaction, defined as the immune response induced by photodynamic and photothermal effects, was evaluated with a near-infrared (NIR)-light emitting diode (LED) light irradiator.

Results: Using in vivo NIR fluorescence imaging, we demonstrated that LP-iDOPE was selectively delivered to tumor sites with high accumulation and a long half-life.

Efficacy of electrical isolation of the left atrial posterior wall depends on the existence of left atrial low-voltage zone in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.

Background: Modification of the low-voltage zone in the left atrium (LA-LVZ) in addition to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has not shown sufficient improvement in arrhythmia-free survival in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PerAF). Further, the effect of electrical posterior wall isolation (PWI) is controversial. We investigated the impact of existence of LA-LVZ on the outcome of patients undergoing additional PWI for PerAF.

Device for retrieval of vena cava filter with combination of a multi-loop snare and Amplatz catheter.

A 25-year-old woman diagnosed as having a non-massive pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis from the right superficial femoral to the right common iliac vein was treated by deployment of a DENALI Vena Cava Filter. Filter retrieval was attempted 6 months later using a BARD snare retrieval kit. However, the conventional technique was unsuccessful because of a tilt and attachment of the filter head to the vessel wall.

Distal type of nodo-ventricular pathway: Unique electrophysiological characteristics mimicking fasciculo-ventricular pathway.

Fasciculo-ventricular and nodo-ventricular pathways (FVP and NVP) are rare preexcitation variants. Normally, NVP is electrophysiologically different from FVP. We describe a unique type of NVP emerging from the distal part of the slow pathway, designated as "distal type" NVP.

Helicopter emergency medical service for patients with acute coronary syndrome: selection validity and impact on clinical outcomes.

Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) has the potential to improve prognosis for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, adequacy and effectiveness of HEMS have not been fully evaluated. A total of 862 ACS patients transferred by emergency medical services were divided into two groups: patients transferred by HEMS (n = 171) or by ground ambulance (GA; n = 691).

Perioperative coronary artery spasms in patients undergoing catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Purpose: Catheter ablation (CA) is an established treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). Although coronary artery spasms (CAS) during or after ablation procedures have been described as a rare complication in some case reports, the incidence and characteristics of this complication have not been fully elucidated. The present observational study aimed to clarify the CAS in a large number of patients experiencing AF ablation.

Characteristics of patients with atrial flutter and spontaneous 1:1 atrioventricular conduction with and without anti-arrhythmic drug treatment.

Atrial flutter (AFL) is a large reentrant circuit located in the right atrium. Anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) can provoke AFL with 1:1 atrioventricular conduction (AVC) to cause hemodynamic collapse. We elucidated the characteristics of patients with AFL exhibiting spontaneous 1:1 AVC.

Use of the Japanese Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment to Estimate Cognitive Decline in Patients Aged 75 Years or Older with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: The number of people diagnosed with dementia worldwide is set to increase significantly. Patients with dementia often have comorbidities, particularly diabetes, and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a high risk of cognitive decline. This study investigated whether older people with T2DM have disease-specific cognitive deficits.