Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement on the Management of Peripheral Artery Disease: A Report from the Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Disease Asia-Pacific Peripheral Artery Disease Consensus Statement Project Committee.

Background: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is the most underdiagnosed, underestimated and undertreated of the atherosclerotic vascular diseases despite its poor prognosis. There may be racial or contextual differences in the Asia-Pacific region as to epidemiology, availability of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and even patient treatment response. The Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases (APSAVD) thus coordinated the development of an Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement (APCS) on the Management of PAD.

Laparoscopic Total Gastrectomy for Remnant Gastric Cancer: A Single-institution Experience and Systematic Literature Review.

Background/aim: The safety and efficacy of laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) for remnant gastric cancer (RGC) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of LTG with open total gastrectomy (OTG) for RGC.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-two patients who underwent total gastrectomy for RGC were enrolled in this study.

Three-Year Efficacy and Safety of the Misago Peripheral Stent for Superficial Femoral Artery Disease: Final Results from the OSPREY Trial.

Purpose: This study evaluated the long-term outcomes of the Misago peripheral stent trial (Terumo) for atherosclerotic lesions in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) in patients with claudication.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective multicenter, single-arm, clinical trial of primary stent placement for de novo cases of SFA disease conducted in the United States and Asia. The primary endpoint was freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) at 36 months.

Natural history and clinical outcomes of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms based on the WHO 2017 classification; a single-center experience of 30 years.

Background/objectives: This single-center study aimed to evaluate treatment outcomes and long-term prognosis of patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) 2017 classification.

Methods: We enrolled 245 patients with PanNENs treated at Kyushu University Hospital between January 1987 and March 2018. PanNENs were categorized according to the WHO 2017 classification or further subdivisions of Ki-67 index.

Tracheoesophageal diversion improves oral uptake of food: a retrospective study.

Purpose: Tracheoesophageal diversion (TED) is an effective therapeutic procedure for intractable aspiration. In this study, we performed TED in cases of intractable aspiration and/or repetitive pneumonia, investigated the main route of nutritional uptake after the procedure, and evaluated the swallowing method using videofluoroscopy. We also evaluated the validity of TED for treating intractable aspiration.

Evolution of cerebellomedullary fissure opening: its effects on posterior fossa surgeries from the fourth ventricle to the brainstem.

Surgical approaches to the fourth ventricle and its surrounding brainstem regions have changed significantly in the previous 30 years, after the establishment of cerebellomedullary fissure (CMF) opening. With the development of CMF opening techniques, CMF opening surgeries have become widely used for the treatment of various pathologies and have contributed to the improvement of surgical results in posterior fossa surgeries. We here review the historical progress of CMF opening surgeries to help the future progression of neurosurgical treatments.

The survival impact of postoperative complications after curative resection in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: propensity score-matching analysis.

Purpose: The relationship between postoperative complications and long-term survival after surgery for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is controversial.

Method: A total of 210 patients with ESCC who underwent subtotal esophagectomy with a reconstructed gastric tube were investigated according to the development of postoperative complications. The associations of age, gender, T and N factors, and pStage with grade 0-2 complications (NSC) and grade 3 and higher complications (SC) were compared by propensity score-matching analysis.

Improvement of Blood Plasmalogens and Clinical Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease by Oral Administration of Ether Phospholipids: A Preliminary Report.

Unlabelled: . Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease (AD). With the ageing of population, the frequency of PD is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades.

Assessment of Microvasculature After Intervention as a Predictor of Wound Healing in Patients With Tissue Loss.

Objectives: This study investigated the correlation between vascular flow reserve (VFR) values and wound healing rate in patients with critical limb ischemia.

Background: Peripheral VFR may be useful for predicting complete wound healing after endovascular therapy (EVT). However, published reports included small numbers of patients from single centers and long-term outcomes remain unknown.

Impact of Box Isolation on Rotors and Multiple Wavelets in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Additional benefits of posterior left atrial (LA) box isolation (BOXI) over pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in persistent atrial fibrillation (perAF) have been reported, but the mechanism is still unclear. We evaluated the effects of BOXI on rotors and multiple wavelets in the whole LA.

Methods and results: Twenty patients with perAF (including 12 cases of longstanding perAF) underwent PVI.

Study of the Anatomical Features of the Offending Arteries Involved in Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia.

Background: The anatomic features of the posterior inferior cerebellar arteries (PICAs) and the anterior inferior cerebellar arteries (AICAs) as offending arteries involved in glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) are important to dictate the best surgical approach.

Objective: To study and classify the anatomic features of the offending arteries.

Methods: All clinical data and surgical videos from 18 GPN cases that were surgically treated during the past 10 yr were retrospectively reviewed.

Two-Year Outcomes After Deferral of Revascularization Based on Fractional Flow Reserve: The J-CONFIRM Registry.

Background: The safety of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-based deferral of revascularization remains to be fully established in real-world practice. We sought to assess clinical outcomes after deferral of revascularization based on FFR.

Methods: The J-CONFIRM registry (Long-Term Outcomes of Japanese Patients With Deferral of Coronary Intervention Based on Fractional Flow Reserve in Multicenter Registry) prospectively enrolled 1263 patients with 1447 lesions in whom revascularization was deferred based on FFR at 28 Japanese centers.

Continuous regional arterial infusion versus intravenous administration of the protease inhibitor nafamostat mesilate for predicted severe acute pancreatitis: a multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase 2 trial.

Background: Continuous regional arterial infusion (CRAI) of protease inhibitor nafamostat mesilate (NM) is used in the context of predicted severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) to prevent the development of pancreatic necrosis. Although this therapy is well known in Japan, its efficacy and safety remain unclear.

Methods: This investigator-initiated and -driven, multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled trial (UMIN000020868) enrolled 39 patients with predicted SAP and low enhancement of the pancreatic parenchyma on computed tomography (CT).

Prognostic and predictive factors on overall survival and surgical outcomes in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: recent advances and controversies.

: Recent advances in diagnostic modalities and therapeutic agents have raised the importance of prognostic factors in predicting overall survival, as well as predictive factors for surgical outcomes, in tailoring therapeutic strategies of patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (panNENs).: Numerous recent studies of panNEN patients report the prognostic values of a number of clinically related factors (clinical, laboratory, imaging, treatment-related factors), pathological factors (histological, classification, grading) and molecular factors on long-term survival. In addition, an increasing number of studies showed the usefulness of various factors, specifically biomarkers and molecular makers, in predicting recurrence and mortality related to surgical treatment.

Japanese Patients Treated in the IMPERIAL Randomized Trial Comparing Eluvia and Zilver PTX Stents.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to report 12-month efficacy and safety results from the subgroup of Japanese patients in the prospective IMPERIAL 2:1 randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: The global IMPERIAL RCT was designed to compare performance of the Eluvia Drug-Eluting Vascular Stent System (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA, USA) with the Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent (Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, USA) for treatment of femoropopliteal artery lesions. Patients with symptomatic (Rutherford category 2-4) disease were included.

Independent predictors of loss of primary patency at 1 year after aortoiliac stent implantation.

To identify the risk factors for restenosis at 1 year after aortoiliac stenting for symptomatic peripheral artery disease in real-world practice. We performed subgroup analysis of a large-scale prospective multicenter registry study enrolling Japanese patients with peripheral arterial disease who underwent aortoiliac endovascular therapy from April 2014 to April 2016. The subgroup comprised 880 patients (1108 limbs) who received iliac stenting.

Insights into Effects/Risks of Chronic Hypergastrinemia and Lifelong PPI Treatment in Man Based on Studies of Patients with Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome.

The use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) over the last 30 years has rapidly increased both in the United States and worldwide. PPIs are not only very widely used both for approved indications (peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens, stress ulcer prevention), but are also one of the most frequently off-label used drugs (25-70% of total). An increasing number of patients with moderate to advanced gastroesophageal reflux disease are remaining on PPI indefinitely.

A diabetic patient in whom Hb Weesp was incidentally detected when her HbA1c level was measured.

The level of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is widely used to monitor long-term glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus. There are more than 30 methods for measuring HbA1c levels. In recent times, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has become the most commonly used method in Japan.

Impact of Hospital Volume on Clinical Outcomes after Aortoiliac Stenting in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease.

Aim: To investigate the impact of institutional volume on clinical outcomes after aortoiliac (AI) stenting in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Methods: We analyzed the clinical database from the Observational prospective Multicenter registry study on the Outcomes of peripheral arTErial disease patieNts treated by AngioplaSty tHerapy in the aortoIliac artery (OMOTENASHI) registry. The volume of each institution was evaluated as the number of endovascular therapy (EVT) procedures performed in 2 years (2014-2015).

Prasugrel effectively reduces the platelet reactivity units in patients with genetically metabolic dysfunction of cytochrome P450 2C19 who are treated with long-term dual antiplatelet therapy after undergoing drug-eluting stent implantation.

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and P2Y inhibitor is administered following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with coronary stent implantation. Several studies have reported the effects of switching between P2Y inhibitors on platelet reactivity (P2Y reaction units: PRU), from acute to late phase after PCI. However, the effect of switching at very late phase is unknown.

Paclitaxel-Coated Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Stent Treatment Does Not Result in Increased Long-Term All-Cause Mortality Compared to Uncoated Devices.

Purpose: Patient-level data from two large studies of the Zilver PTX drug-eluting stent (DES) with long-term follow-up and concurrent non-drug comparator groups were analyzed to determine whether there was an increased mortality risk due to paclitaxel.

Methods: Data from the Zilver PTX randomized controlled trial (RCT) and Zilver PTX and bare metal stent (BMS) Japan post-market surveillance studies were analyzed. Five-year follow-up is complete in both DES studies; follow-up for the BMS study was limited to 3 years and is complete.