Prevalence of Hepatitis A Immunity and Decision-tree Analysis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Are Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Tokyo.

Background: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) can be sexually transmitted. However, the level of HAV immunity among patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Japan is unknown. Determining the epidemiology of HAV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) and who are living with HIV is essential for an HAV vaccination program.

Prognostic Importance of Multiple Nutrition Screening Indexes for 1-Year Mortality in Hospitalized Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Patients.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of nutritional status on 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). We enrolled 457 hospitalized ADHF patients. Previously established objective nutritional indexes (controlling nutritional status [CONUT], prognostic nutritional index [PNI], geriatric nutritional risk index [GNRI], and subjective global assessment [SGA]) were evaluated at hospital admission.

Hemorrhagic Pericardial Cyst Complicated with Constrictive Pericarditis.

Pericardial cysts are rare abnormalities and are usually asymptomatic. Although several case reports on their diagnosis and treatment have been published, those on hemorrhagic pericardial cysts remain limited. We herein report the case of a 70-year-old man with a hemorrhagic pericardial cyst complicated with constrictive pericarditis 2 years after the initial diagnosis.

Unfractionated Heparin during the Interruption of Antiplatelet Therapy for Non-cardiac Surgery after Drug-eluting Stent Implantation.

Objective: Heparin is not recommended to be administered during the interruption of antiplatelet therapy for non-cardiac surgery. However, there are insufficient data to determine the value. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical results of the administration of unfractionated heparin during the interruption of antiplatelet therapy in non-cardiac surgery patients who had previously undergone drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation.

Impact of the statin escape phenomenon on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction: Subgroup analysis of the Nagoya Acute Myocardial Infarction Study (NAMIS).

Background: Statins are reportedly effective in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, mainly due to their ability to aggressively reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. However, patients sometimes exhibit the so-called "statin escape" phenomenon. The purpose of our study was to investigate the impact of the statin escape phenomenon on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Progression from stenosis to occlusion in the proximal native coronary artery after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is an established treatment for multivessel coronary artery disease. However, problematic situations are occasionally encountered after CABG, such as disease progression in the native coronary artery with graft occlusion, which causes difficulty in revascularization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the native coronary artery after CABG.

Impact of airflow limitation on carotid atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease patients.

Background: Both airflow limitation and smoking are established cardiovascular risk factors. However, their interaction as risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease patients remains unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of the interaction between airflow limitation and smoking status on the severity of carotid atherosclerosis.

Relation between paradoxical decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels after statin therapy and adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Statin therapy moderately increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Contrary to this expectation, a paradoxical decrease in HDL-C levels after statin therapy is seen in some patients. We evaluated 724 patients who newly started treatment with statins after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Impact of albuminuria on the incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury in patients undergoing elective coronary stent implantation.

Albuminuria has traditionally been associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular events. However, few studies have examined the potential relation between albuminuria and periprocedural risk in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of albuminuria on the incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) in patients who underwent PCI.

Long-term clinical outcome after surgical or percutaneous coronary revascularization in hemodialysis patients.

Background:  Although revascularization via coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been widely performed, there are limited data on which procedure is best in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods And Results:  This 10-year follow-up study consisted of 997 HD patients electively undergoing coronary revascularization (CABG, n=210; PCI, n=787). With an adjustment for propensity scores with all baseline covariates, the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was evaluated as a composite endpoint including all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and any revascularization.

CCDC3 is specifically upregulated in omental adipose tissue in subjects with abdominal obesity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to search for novel markers of visceral adiposity.

Methods: Visceral (omental) and subcutaneous adipose tissues were obtained from 43 Japanese men. Microarray analysis using total RNA from visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues obtained from five men with abdominal obesity and five nonobese men was first conducted.

Algorithm to determine the outcome of patients with acute liver failure: a data-mining analysis using decision trees.

Background: We established algorithms to predict the prognosis of acute liver failure (ALF) patients through a data-mining analysis, in order to improve the indication criteria for liver transplantation.

Methods: The subjects were 1,022 ALF patients seen between 1998 and 2007 and enrolled in a nationwide survey. Patients older than 65 years, and those who had undergone liver transplantation and received blood products before the onset of hepatic encephalopathy were excluded.

Using decision tree learning to predict the responsiveness of hepatitis C patients to drug treatment.

The recommended treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C, pegylated interferon α (PEG-IFN-α) plus rebavirin (RBV), does not provide a sustained virologic response in all patients, especially those with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. It is therefore important to predict whether or not a new patient with HCV genotype 1 will be cured by the recommended treatment. We propose a prediction method for a new patient using a decision tree learning model based on SNPs evaluated in a genome-wide association study.

Sirolimus-eluting stent vs. everolimus-eluting stent for coronary intervention in patients on chronic hemodialysis.

Background: Even in the drug-eluting stent era, adverse cardiac events, including restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), have been more frequently seen in patients on hemodialysis (HD) than in non-HD patients. The objective of this study was to compare the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and everolimus-eluting stent (EES) for prevention of adverse cardiac events, including restenosis, in HD patients.

Methods And Results: A total of 100 consecutive patients on HD who underwent PCI were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive SES or EES.

Sirolimus- vs. paclitaxel-eluting stent to coronary intervention in dialysis patients.

Background: Patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) are at high risk for restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) even if treated with a sirolimus-eluting stent (SES). The aim of this study was to compare the effects of SES and paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in preventing restenosis in HD patients with coronary artery disease.

Methods: A total of 100 consecutive patients on HD who underwent PCI were enrolled into the study.

Novel classification of acute liver failure through clustering using a self-organizing map: usefulness for prediction of the outcome.

Background: Patients with acute liver failure are classified according to the interval between the onset of hepatitis symptoms and the development of hepatic encephalopathy. We examined the validity of such classifications.

Methods: The subjects were 1,022 patients enrolled in a nationwide survey in Japan.

Submucosal electrocoagulation for prolapsed hemorrhoids:a new operative approach to hemorrhoidal varices.

The results of submucosal electrocoagulation (SEC), a new radical operation for prolapsed hemorrhoids, in 403 patients with third- or fourth-degree hemorrhoids are reported. After resecting the anal skin tags that coexisted with prolapsed hemorrhoids, the hemorrhoidal varices could be resected and electrically coagulated through the wound without cutting the anal canal epithelium by using a fine needle-type electric knife. The results of this series indicated that SEC could dramatically reduce the incidence of the postoperative complications that sometimes occur after conventional hemorrhoidectomy, such as severe anal pain, massive anal bleeding and anal stenosis.

Effects of oral cilostazol 100 mg BID on long-term patency after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in patients with femoropopliteal disease undergoing hemodialysis: a retrospective chart review in Japanese patients.

Background: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for femoropopliteal lesions in peripheral artery disease has been performed in patients undergoing hemodialysis as well as in the general population. Cilostazol, a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3, has been reported to reduce target lesion revascularization after PTA for femoropopliteal lesions in the general population.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of cilostazol use on long-term patency after PTA in patients with femoropopliteal disease undergoing hemodialysis.

Prognostic values of C-reactive protein levels on clinical outcome after implantation of sirolimus-eluting stents in patients on hemodialysis.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using drug-eluting stents significantly reduces the risk of restenosis in the general population. However, in patients on hemodialysis, adverse cardiac events are frequently seen even if treated with drug-eluting stents. Recent studies suggest that C-reactive protein (CRP) reflects vascular wall inflammation and can predict adverse cardiac events.

Nitinol stenting improves primary patency of the superficial femoral artery after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in hemodialysis patients: a propensity-matched analysis.

Background: Although percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has become a common therapeutic standard for peripheral artery disease (PAD), high restenosis rates in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) remain a major problem. Nitinol stent implantation is reported to reduce restenosis in SFA after PTA in the general population; however, little is known about whether the nitinol stent improves primary patency after PTA in hemodialysis patients who are at higher risk of revascularization failure. The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of nitinol stent implantation for primary patency in SFA after PTA in hemodialysis patients with PAD.

Long-term outcome of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in chronic haemodialysis patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Background: Chronic haemodialysis patients are at an increased risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Although percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has become a widely used therapeutic intervention for PAD, its outcome in haemodialysis patients remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to clarify the long-term outcome of PTA as a primary treatment for PAD in haemodialysis patients.

Selecting effective siRNA sequences by using radial basis function network and decision tree learning.

Background: Although short interfering RNA (siRNA) has been widely used for studying gene functions in mammalian cells, its gene silencing efficacy varies markedly and there are only a few consistencies among the recently reported design rules/guidelines for selecting siRNA sequences effective for mammalian genes. Another shortcoming of the previously reported methods is that they cannot estimate the probability that a candidate sequence will silence the target gene.

Results: We propose two prediction methods for selecting effective siRNA target sequences from many possible candidate sequences, one based on the supervised learning of a radial basis function (RBF) network and other based on decision tree learning.

Selecting effective siRNA sequences based on the self-organizing map and statistical techniques.

Short interfering RNA (siRNA) has been widely used for studying gene functions in mammalian cells but varies markedly in its gene-silencing efficacy. Although many design rules/guidelines for effective siRNAs based on various criteria have been reported recently, there are only a few consistencies among them. This makes it difficult to select effective siRNA sequences in mammalian genes.

Overexpression of Kruppel-like factor 7 regulates adipocytokine gene expressions in human adipocytes and inhibits glucose-induced insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cell line.

We have identified Kruppel-like factor 7 (KLF7) as a new candidate for conferring susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. To ascertain the possible involvement of KLF7 in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, we examined the functional roles of KLF7 in various types of cells. In human adipocytes overexpressing KLF7, the expression of adiponectin and leptin was decreased compared with that in control cells, whereas expression of IL-6 was increased.