Relationship between physical parameters and visual analysis for assessment of image quality: a multi-center and multi-vendor phantom study in brain SPECT.

Objectives: Brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) image quality varies depending on SPECT systems. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between physical parameters and visual analysis for assessment of the brain SPECT image quality. We conducted our phantom study under various conditions in a multi-center and multi-vendor study.

Machine learning-based detection of sleep-disordered breathing in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often concomitant with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), which can cause adverse cardiovascular events. Although an appropriate approach to SDB prevents cardiac remodelling, detection of concomitant SDB in patients with HCM remains suboptimal. Thus, we aimed to develop a machine learning-based discriminant model for SDB in HCM.

Feasibility of Short-Term Aggressive Lipid-Lowering Therapy with the PCSK9 Antibody in Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: The guideline-recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target level of <70 mg/dL may not be achieved with statin administration in some patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Therefore, the proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) antibody can be added to high-risk patients with ACS. Nevertheless, the optimal duration of PCSK9 antibody administration remains unclear.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma in the pelvis successfully treated with proton beam radiotherapy.

The standard treatment for extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma is wide excision. However, extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma is often located in the deep layers of the extremities and pelvis, so functional impairment due to wide resection is unavoidable in many cases. In addition, the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy has not been defined, so no treatment method is established for unresectable cases.

Subclinical and latent cardiac dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea and effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure.

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with various cardiovascular disorders. This study aimed to investigate the effects of OSA on left ventricular (LV) function in patients with OSA who were at risk for heart failure but who had not yet developed structural heart changes. The study also sought to determine the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in these patients.

Acute Myocardial Infarction Due to Coronary Artery Embolism during Chemotherapy with mFOLFOX-6 Plus Bevacizumab for Metastatic Colon Cancer.

Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, may be associated with arterial embolisms. We herein report a case of acute myocardial infarction caused by coronary embolism during combination chemotherapy with mFOLFOX-6 and bevacizumab in a patient with metastatic colon cancer. Thromboembolism occurred only in the distal right posterolateral branch without stenotic lesions or plaque rupture in the proximal branch of the right coronary artery.

Emergency Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in a Surgical Aortic Bioprosthetic Valve for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Caused by Sudden Progression of Structural Valve Deterioration.

Bioprosthetic aortic valves have limited durability. We herein report sudden progression of structural valve deterioration (SVD) and a successful case of emergency transcatheter aortic valve (TAV) implantation for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) caused by SVD. A 79-year-old man who had undergone a Bentall operation 11 years prior was diagnosed with ADHF due to suddenly progressive SVD.

Difficulty Diagnosing Retrograde Type A Aortic Dissection with Intramural Hematoma and Risk of Re-dissection and Rupture: A Report of Two Cases.

Acute type A aortic dissection is a potentially fatal disease, and emergency surgery should be considered when it is diagnosed. We herein report two cases of retrograde type A aortic dissection with intramural hematoma, followed by re-dissection, rupture, and cardiac tamponade. The diagnoses in these cases had to be made carefully, as the false lumen of the ascending aorta was sometimes unclear on contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Incidence, diagnosis and treatment of popliteal artery entrapment syndrome in current vascular practice in Japan.

Few data regarding popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES) is available in Japan. In this study, we investigated incidence, diagnosis and treatment of PAES in current vascular practice. A retrospective analysis of all patients with PAES visiting 31 participating institutes between 2003 and 2015 was conducted.

Search for Substances That Inhibit Histamine Production Using Used Tea Leaves.

Abstract: As food waste has become a major problem in recent years, measures against food loss have become an urgent issue. When manufacturing or making green tea beverages, large quantities of tea leaves are subsequently disposed of, which results in potential food loss. Moreover, because many of the tea components remain in the used tea leaves, these continue to have value, as these leaves exhibit antibacterial action.

Clinical feasibility of pulmonary vein orifice pacing for the prediction of phrenic nerve injury during cryoballoon ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Phrenic nerve (PN) injury is a well-known complication of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) for pulmonary vein (PV) isolation in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, it is still insufficient to practically predict phrenic nerve injury (PNI) before freezing. We hypothesized that phrenic nerve capture (PNC) with phrenic nerve orifice pacing (PVOP) might be a surrogate sign of the close proximity of the PN, and that might predict PNI and changes in the compound motor action potential (CMAP) amplitude.

The Diagnosis of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection by Optical Coherence Tomography.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is rare, but it frequently presents as acute myocardial infarction. It is frequently fatal and most cases are diagnosed at autopsy. We herein present the case of a 65-year-old woman with ST-elevation and myocardial infarction due to SCAD.

Functional, morphological and electrocardiographical abnormalities in patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and apical aneurysm: correlation with cardiac MR.

Objective: The prognosis of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (APH) has been benign, but apical myocardial injury has prognostic importance. We studied functional, morphological and electrocardiographical abnormalities in patients with APH and with apical aneurysm and sought to find parameters that relate to apical myocardial injury.

Study Design: a multicentre trans-sectional study.

Distribution of late gadolinium enhancement in end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy: differential diagnosis and prediction of cardiac outcome.

Background: The prognostic implications of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) have been evaluated in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathies. The present study analyzed LGE distribution in patients with end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ES-HCM) and with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and tried to identify high risk patients in DCM.

Methods: Eleven patients with ES-HCM and 72 with DCM underwent cine- and LGE-cardiac magnetic resonance and ultrasound cardiography.

[Evaluation of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction by gated myocardial perfusion SPECT versus cardiac MRI].

It is stated that cardiac MRI imaging can provide accurate estimation of left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of gated myocardial perfusion SPECT for assessment of LV end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV) and EF, using cardiac MRI as the reference methods/(methodology). Gated myocardial perfusion SPECT images were analyzed with two different quantification software, QGS and 4D-MSPECT.

[Study of collimator broad correction in myocardial perfusion imaging].

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of myocardial perfusion imaging that is reconstructed using the ordered subsets-expectation maximization (OS-EM) method with collimator broad correction.

Methods: A cardiac phantom and clinical data (with ten normal patients) were used. These projection data were reconstructed using OS-EM with collimator broad correction (OS-EM(+)), without collimator broad correction (OS-EM(-)), and with filtered back projection (FBP).

Diaphragmatic rupture due to violent cough during tracheostomy.

We present herein a rare case of diaphragmatic rupture due to violent coughing during tracheostomy. A 73-year-old man was admitted with cough, hoarseness and dysphagia caused by a huge laryngeal cancer obstructing the airways. Immediate emergency tracheostomy was performed, during which he experienced violent paroxysmal coughing, and he began to complain of right upper abdominal discomfort after tracheostomy.

Isolated splenic vein thrombosis secondary to splenic metastasis: a case report.

A 49-year-old, previously healthy woman sought treatment for abdominal pain. Colonoscopy revealed ascending colon cancer. Computed tomography and angiography showed splenic metastasis and thrombosis extending from the splenic vein to the portal vein.

Strangulated hernia through a defect of the broad ligament and mobile cecum: a case report.

We report a case of 28-year-old woman presenting with small bowel obstruction. She had neither prior surgery nor delivery. An upright abdominal radiograph revealed several air-fluid levels in the small bowel in the midabdomen and the pelvic cavity.

[Usefulness of lung and right ventricular thallium-201 uptake during single photon emission computed tomography in exercise testing of patients with coronary artery disease].

Objectives: Increased pulmonary or right ventricular 201Tl uptake during the exercise test has been used as a marker of multivessel coronary artery disease. The most useful method for assessing the severity of coronary artery disease was evaluated among conventional evaluation of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), measurement of lung to heart uptake ratio (L/H), and right ventricular to left ventricular uptake ratio (RV/LV) on 201Tl images during exercise testing.

Methods: Regions-of-interest (4 X 4 pixels) were placed at the lung and the heart, and L/H was defined as mean lung uptake/mean heart uptake.

Spontaneous multiple arterial dissections presenting with renal infarction and subarachnoid hemorrhage in a patient under treatment for infertility.

A 36-year-old woman developed multiple spontaneous arterial dissections in both renal arteries, the carotid artery, superior mesenteric artery, and vertebral artery, but not the aorta, and she suffered a renal infarction and subarachnoid hemorrhage within a short period of time. She had been undergoing frequent injections of human chorionic gonadotropin and human menopausal gonadotropin, together with oral estrogen therapy, during a 5-year infertility treatment regimen. As she had no other history of any disorder affecting the arterial walls, this therapy is suspected to have caused the multiple arterial deformities.

[TS-1/CDDP/Lentinan combination chemotherapy for inoperable advanced gastric cancer].

It is reported that TS-1 administered orally shows a significant anti-neoplasm effect on advanced gastric cancer, and, furthermore, approximately 70% or greater effectiveness is reported for combination chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP). Lentinan is reported to extend the survival period in advanced cancer, and in combination with Tegafur. In the present study, combination chemotherapy with TS-1/CDDP/Lentinan was conducted for patients with inoperable advanced gastric cancer, and the validity, safety and resultant QOL of the treatment were evaluated.