Relationship among Childbirth, Onset of Lower Back Pain, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Female Patients with Lower Back Pain: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between childbirth and lower back pain and determine the health-related quality of life of female patients with lower back pain.

Methods: A total of 111 patients were divided into three groups: those who had given birth and developed lower back pain due to pregnancy, childbirth, or child-rearing movements (childbirth group, n=41), those who had given birth and developed lower back pain due to other causes (childbirth and other cause group, n=29), and those who were nulliparous (nulliparous group, n=41). A total of 22 physical therapists evaluated the patients during initial rehabilitation.

Association between ligamentous stenosis at spondylolisthetic segments before fusion surgery and symptomatic adjacent canal stenosis at follow-up in patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Study Design: A retrospective case-control propensity score-matching study.

Purpose: This study aimed to longitudinally evaluate whether preoperative ligamentous stenosis at the spondylolisthetic segments could affect the incidence of symptomatic adjacent canal stenosis following one-segment fusion surgery.

Overview Of Literature: Several risk factors for symptomatic adjacent canal stenosis following fusion surgery have been assessed.

Prevalent morphometric vertebral fractures as a risk factor for subsequent clinical vertebral fractures after shortfusion surgery in older Japanese women with degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study using the Kaplan-Meier method with propensity-score matching.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the presence of prevalent morphometric vertebral fractures (VFs) poses a risk for subsequent clinical VFs after short-fusion surgery in women aged ≥60 years with degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Overview Of Literature: VFs are common osteoporotic fractures and are associated with a low quality of life.

Assessment of Residual Vasospasm in Patients with Plaque Rupture or Plaque Erosion using Optical Coherence Tomography.

Aims: Coronary vasospasm is associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and may persist during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We aimed to elucidate the incidence, morphological characteristics, and prognostic impact of residual vasospasm in plaque rupture (PR) and plaque erosion (PE) lesions using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods: We enrolled 142 patients with ACS who underwent OCT-guided primary PCI.

Association between Eicosapentaenoic Acid to Arachidonic Acid Ratio and Characteristics of Plaque Rupture.

Aims: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has shown beneficial effects on coronary plaque stabilization. Based on our previous study, we speculated that EPA might be associated with the development of healed plaques and might limit thrombus size. This study aimed to elucidate the association between EPA and arachidonic acid (AA) ratios and various plaque characteristics in patients with plaque rupture.

Impact of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins on early in-stent neoatherosclerosis formation in patients undergoing statin treatment.

Background: Neoatherosclerosis (NA), which refers to neointimal atherosclerosis within a stent, is considered one of the underlying causes of late-phase stent failure following a newer generation drug-eluting stent (DES) placement procedure. Even contemporary guideline-directed medical therapy may be insufficient to prevent NA.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate how intricately lipid markers are associated with NA formation in the early phase of treatment with well-maintained low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels.

Impact of small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins on plaque rupture with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: Plaque rupture (PR), characterized by a disruption of the fibrous cap of lipid-rich plaques, is the major etiology of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Dyslipidemia is a well-known risk factor for PR. Nonetheless, the impact of detailed atherogenic lipid profiles, including small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sd-LDL-C) and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs), on PR has not yet been investigated.

Impact of small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on cholesterol crystals in patients with acute coronary syndrome: An optical coherence tomography study.

Background: The presence of cholesterol crystals (CCs) is recognized as a component of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques at risk of rupture. The phagocytosis of atherogenic lipid factors by macrophages precedes and promotes the formation of vulnerable plaques, but it is not clear how these factors affect the formation of CC.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between lipid biomarkers such as small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sd-LDL-c) and CC detected by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Coronary High-Intensity Plaques at T1-weighted MRI in Stable Coronary Artery Disease: Comparison with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Intravascular US.

Background The histologic nature of coronary high-intensity plaques (HIPs) at T1-weighted MRI in patients with stable coronary artery disease remains to be fully understood. Coronary atherosclerosis T1-weighted characterization (CATCH) enables HIP detection by simultaneously acquiring dark-blood plaque and bright-blood anatomic reference images. Purpose To determine if intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) or lipid is the predominant substrate of HIPs on T1-weighted images by comparing CATCH MRI scans with findings on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) intravascular US (IVUS) images.

Linear concentration-response relationship of serum caffeine with adenosine-induced fractional flow reserve overestimation: a comparison with papaverine.

Background: Caffeine intake from one cup of coffee one hour before adenosine stress tests, corresponding to serum caffeine levels of 3-4 mg/L, is thought to be acceptable for non-invasive imaging.

Aims: We aimed to elucidate whether serum caffeine is independently associated with adenosine-induced fractional flow reserve (FFR) overestimation and their concentration-response relationship.

Methods: FFR was measured using adenosine (FFRADN) and papaverine (FFRPAP) in 209 patients.

Onset time and prognostic value of acute kidney injury in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: The mechanisms and clinical impact of acute kidney injury (AKI) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may differ depending on whether AKI develops during the early or late phase after AMI. The present study assessed the timing of AKI onset and the prognostic impact on long-term outcomes in patients hospitalized with AMI.

Methods: The present study enrolled consecutive AMI survivors who had undergone successful percutaneous coronary interventions at admission.

Early Vascular Healing Following Bioresorbable-Polymer Sirolimus-Eluting Stent Placement Compared to That with Durable-Polymer Everolimus-Eluting Stent.

A recent thinner strut drug-eluting stent might facilitate early strut coverage after its placement. We aimed to investigate early vascular healing responses after the placement of an ultrathin-strut bioresorbable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (BP-SES) compared to those with a durable-polymer everolimus-eluting stent (DP-EES) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.This study included 40 patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) who underwent OCT-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Small Dense Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol: A Residual Risk for Rapid Progression of Non-Culprit Coronary Lesion in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Aim: This study investigated whether the small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sd-LDL-c) level is associated with the rapid progression (RP) of non-culprit coronary artery lesions and cardiovascular events (CE) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: In 142 consecutive patients with ACS who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention for the culprit lesion, the sd-LDL-c level was measured using a direct homogeneous assay on admission for ACS and at the 10-month follow-up coronary angiography. RP was defined as a progression of any pre-existing coronary stenosis and/or stenosis development in the initially normal coronary artery.

Early Vascular Response to Ultrathin Biodegradable Polymer Sirolimus-Eluting Stents for the Treatment of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction After Plaque Rupture.

Recent clinical studies suggest that newer-generation drug-eluting stents that combine ultrathin struts and nanocoating (biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stents, BP-SES) could improve long-term clinical outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the early vascular response to BP-SES in these patients has not been investigated so far.We examined this response in 20 patients with STEMI caused by plaque rupture using frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to understand the underlying mechanisms.

Presence or absence of adjacent vertebral fractures has no effect on long-term global alignment and quality of life in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures treated with balloon kyphoplasty.

Background: Global sagittal malalignment after osteoporotic vertebral fracture is correlated with decreased quality of life. Balloon kyphoplasty promotes short-term global alignment, but long-term correction is difficult in patients with such fractures. Adjacent vertebral fracture is one of the major complications of balloon kyphoplasty.

Lower lumbar osteoporotic vertebral fractures with neurological symptoms might have two different pathogeneses according to early magnetic resonance images.

Background: Most osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs) occur in the thoracolumbar area without neurological symptoms. The pathogenesis and clinical results of symptomatic lower lumbar OVFs have not been analysed. We aimed to retrospectively investigate the risk factors for the occurrence of neurological symptoms in patients with lower lumbar OVFs and to assess the clinical results of these symptoms using magnetic resonance (MR) images.

Thrombomodulin can predict the incidence of second events in patients with acute coronary syndrome: Single-center, retrospective cohort study.

Background: Plasma levels of atherothrombosis-related markers such as endothelial biomarkers have been reported to predict the risk of first acute coronary syndrome (ACS) events. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by balloon angioplasty and stenting established as a treatment for ACS enabled early discharge and early clinic care. The procedure of PCI, however, may itself be associated with arterial injury with endothelial dysfunction.

The Reliabilities of Several Measurement Methods of Cervical Sagittal Alignment in Cases with Cervical Spine Rotation Using X-ray Findings in Cervical Spine Disorders.

Introduction: Several measurement methods designed to provide an understanding of cervical sagittal alignment have been reported, but few studies have compared the reliabilities of these measurement methods. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the intraexaminer and interexaminer reliabilities of several cervical sagittal alignment measurement methods and of the rotated cervical spine using plain lateral cervical spine X-rays of patients with cervical spine disorders.

Methods: Five different measurement methods (Borden's method; Ishihara index method (Ishihara method); C2-7 Cobb method (C2-7 Cobb); posterior tangent method: absolute rotation angle C2-7 (ARA); and classification of cervical spine alignment (CCSA)) were applied by seven examiners to plain lateral cervical spine X-rays of 20 patients (10 randomly extracted cases from a rotated cervical spine group and 10 from a nonrotated group) with cervical spine disorders.

Smaller facet effusion in association with restabilization at the time of operation in Japanese patients with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Object: The objective of this study was to assess, in patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, which factors determine whether the involved disc levels were restabilized or remained unstable at the time of operation using multifactorial analysis.

Methods: A total of 195 consecutive patients who had received laminectomy with or without fusion at our hospital between 2003 and 2007 for progressed degenerative spondylolisthesis (slip percentage > 10% at lateral flexion position) with spinal canal stenosis participated in this study. Sagittal plane unstable motion was defined according to the criteria that translatory displacement was > 4 mm (translatory hypermobility) or rotatory displacement was > 10 degrees (rotatory hypermobility).

Magnetically labeled neural progenitor cells, which are localized by magnetic force, promote axon growth in organotypic cocultures.

Study Design: An in vitro, rat animal study was conducted.

Objective: To assess the corticospinal axon growth potential in varying concentrations of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and in magnetically localized labeled NPCs, quantitatively using our original organotypic coculture system.

Summary Of Background Data: Transplantation of NPCs for spinal cord injury has been anticipated as a possible future treatment.

Bone marrow stromal cells promoting corticospinal axon growth through the release of humoral factors in organotypic cocultures in neonatal rats.

Object: The transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) is considered to be an alternative treatment to promote central nervous system regeneration, but the precise mechanisms of this regeneration after transplantation of BMSCs have not been clarified. In the present study, the authors assessed the effects of BMSC transplantation on corticospinal axon growth quantitatively, and they analyzed the mechanism of central nervous system regeneration in the injured and BMSC-treated spinal cord using the organotypic coculture system.

Methods: Bone marrow stromal cells derived from green fluorescent protein-expressing transgenic Sprague-Dawley rats were transplanted to the organotypic coculture system in which brain cortex and spinal cord specimens obtained in neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were used.