Real-World Safety Profile of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Using a Second-Generation Cryoballoon in Japan: Insight From a Large Multicenter Observational Study.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the incidence and characteristics of the real-world safety profile of second-generation cryoballoon ablation (2nd-CBA) in Japan.

Background: Pulmonary vein isolation using second-generation cryoballoons is an accepted atrial fibrillation ablation strategy.

Methods: This multicenter observational study included 4,173 patients with atrial fibrillation (3,807 paroxysmal) who underwent a 2nd-CBA in 18 participating centers.

Genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease-M232R with the cooccurrence of multiple prion strains, M1 + M2C + M2T: Report of an autopsy case.

Genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (gCJD) with a methionine to arginine substitution at codon 232 of the prion protein gene (gCJD-M232R) is rare and has only been reported in Japan. We report an autopsy case of gCJD-M232R showing alleles of codon 129 that were homozygous for methionine and the presence of multiple strains of the protease-resistant, abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP ), M1 + M2C + M2T. The patient, a 54-year-old Japanese man, died after a clinical course of 21 months characterized by slowly progressive dementia and sleep disturbance.

Convergent Validity of Three Pressure Injury Risk Assessment Scales: Comparing the PPRA-Home (Pressure Injury Primary Risk Assessment Scale for Home Care) to Two Traditional Scales.

Purpose: The Pressure Injury Primary Risk Assessment Scale for Home Care (PPRA-Home) was developed to predict pressure injury risk in geriatric individuals requiring long-term care in home settings. This study aimed to compare the convergent validity of the PPRA-Home to that of the two other standardized pressure injury prevention scales: the Braden and Ohura-Hotta (OH) scales.

Methods: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted with 34 home-based geriatric support service providers located in five Japanese districts.

C-reactive protein at discharge and 1-year mortality in hospitalised patients with acute decompensated heart failure: an observational study.

Objectives: To examine the association of a high C-reactive protein (CRP) level at discharge from an acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) hospitalisation with the 1-year clinical outcomes.

Design: A post-hoc subanalysis of a prospective cohort study of patients hospitalised for ADHF (using the Kyoto Congestive Heart Failure (KCHF) registry) between October 2014 and March 2016 with a 1-year follow-up.

Setting: A physician-initiated multicentre registry enrolled consecutive hospitalised patients with ADHF for the first time at 19 secondary and tertiary hospitals in Japan.

Association of an increase in serum albumin levels with positive 1-year outcomes in acute decompensated heart failure: A cohort study.

Background: Despite the prognostic importance of hypoalbuminemia, the prognostic implication of a change in albumin levels has not been fully investigated during hospitalization in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

Methods: Using the data from the Kyoto Congestive Heart Failure registry on 3160 patients who were discharged alive for acute heart failure hospitalization and in whom the change in albumin levels was calculated at discharge, we evaluated the association with an increase in serum albumin levels from admission to discharge and clinical outcomes by a multivariable Cox hazard model. The primary outcome measure was a composite of all-cause death or hospitalization for heart failure.

[A Case of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Modified FOLFOXIRI plus Bevacizumab for Transverse Colon Cancer with Invasion of the Gastric Antrum].

A 66-year-old male diagnosed with transverse colon cancer was admitted to our hospital. Computed tomography, colonoscopy, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed locally advanced cancer with invasion of the gastric antrum. We staged the disease as cT4a, cN2, cM0, Stage ⅢB, with wild-type RAS expression.

Prediction of oral intake recovery for inpatients with aspiration pneumonia by videoendoscopic evaluation using the Hyodo-Komagane score in Japan.

Objective: To verify the validity of the prediction of oral intake recovery for inpatients with aspiration pneumonia using the Hyodo-Komagane score.

Background: Patients admitted for treatment of aspiration pneumonia sometimes have difficulty in resuming oral intake due to decreased swallowing function. Predicting whether the swallowing function will recover enough to achieve oral ingestion at discharge is an important factor in developing a treatment strategy.

Benign notochordal cell tumor of the lung: Report of a case.

A surgical case of a benign notochordal cell tumor of the lung is reported. The patient was an asymptomatic 41-year-old man, who was incidentally found to have a small tumor in the subpleural region of the left lingular segment. Since wedge resection of the tumor, the patient has been free from recurrence.

Sex differences in patients with acute decompensated heart failure in Japan: observation from the KCHF registry.

Aims: The association between sex and long-term outcome in patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) has not been fully studied yet in Japanese population. The aim of this study was to determine differences in baseline characteristics and management of patients with ADHF between women and men and to compare 1-year outcomes between the sexes in a large-scale database representing the current real-world clinical practice in Japan.

Methods And Results: Kyoto Congestive Heart Failure registry is a prospective cohort study enrolling consecutive patients hospitalized for ADHF in Japan among 19 centres.

Clinical outcome after surgical aortic valve replacement in low-risk Japanese patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Two randomized control trials demonstrated that transcatheter aortic valve implantation was associated with 1-2 year clinical outcomes comparable or even superior to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in low surgical risk patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). However, no previous study has reported the clinical outcomes after SAVR in Japanese patients with low surgical risk. From 3815 consecutive patients enrolled in the CURRENT AS registry, we retrieved 220 patients who underwent SAVR in reference to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the PARTNER 3 trial.

Association with Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score and In-hospital Mortality and Infection in Acute Heart Failure.

The high controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score that represents poor nutritional status has been acknowledged to have prognostic implications in chronic heart failure. We aimed to investigate its role in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Using the data from an multicenter registry that enrolled 4056 consecutive patients hospitalized for ADHF in Japan between 2014 and 2016, we analyzed 2466 patients in whom data on the components of the CONUT score at hospital presentation were available.

Risk factors and clinical outcomes of functional decline during hospitalisation in very old patients with acute decompensated heart failure: an observational study.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of functional decline during hospitalisation and its relationship with postdischarge outcomes in very old patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) hospitalisation.

Design: Prospective cohort study between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2016.

Setting: A physician-initiated, multicentre study of consecutive patients admitted for ADHF in 19 hospitals throughout Japan.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation vs. Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Stenosis in Real-World Clinical Practice.

Background: There are no data comparing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) outcomes in real clinical practice in Japan.

Methods and results: We combined 2 independent registries, the K-TAVI Registry (a 6-center prospective registry of consecutive patients who underwent TAVI) and the CURRENT AS Registry (a large, 27-center registry of 3,815 consecutive patients with severe aortic stenosis [AS]). In the K-TAVI Registry, 338 patients underwent TAVI with SAPIEN XT balloon-expandable valves from October 2013 to January 2016, whereas in the CURRENT AS Registry 237 patients with severe AS underwent SAVR from January 2003 to December 2011.

Age-Related Differences in the Effects of Initial Aortic Valve Replacement vs. Conservative Strategy on Long-Term Outcomes in Asymptomatic Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the initial aortic valve replacement (AVR) strategy relative to a conservative strategy on long-term outcomes stratified by age among asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS).

Methods and results: Among 1,808 asymptomatic severe AS patients in the CURRENT AS registry, there were 1,166 patients aged ≥75 years (initial AVR: n=124, and conservative: n=1,042), and 642 patients with age <75 years (initial AVR: n=167, and conservative: n=475). Median follow-up interval was 1,280 (interquartile range [IQR]: 1,012-1,611) days, and 1461 (IQR: 1,132-1,886) days in patients aged ≥ and <75 years, respectively.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation versus conservative management for severe aortic stenosis in real clinical practice.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is criticized by some as an expensive treatment in super-elder patients with limited life expectancy. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the magnitude of clinical benefit provided by TAVI in comparison with conservative management in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) in real clinical practice, which would be important in the decision making for TAVI.

Methods: We combined two independent registries, namely CURRENT AS and K-TAVI registries.

A risk prediction model in asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis: CURRENT-AS risk score.

Aims: Early aortic valve replacement (AVR) might be beneficial in selected high-risk asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), considering their poor prognosis when managed conservatively. This study aimed to develop and validate a clinical scoring system to predict AS-related events within 1 year after diagnosis in asymptomatic severe AS patients.

Methods And Results: We analysed 1274 asymptomatic severe AS patients derived from a retrospective multicentre registry enrolling consecutive patients with severe AS in Japan (CURRENT AS registry), who were managed conservatively and completed 1-year follow-up without AVR.

Reasons for Choosing Conservative Management in Symptomatic Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis - Observations From the CURRENT AS Registry.

Background: There has not been a previous report on the long-term outcomes of those patients who refuse aortic valve replacement (AVR) despite physicians' recommendations.

Methods and results: Among 3,815 consecutive patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) enrolled in the CURRENT AS registry, the study population comprised 2,005 symptomatic patients, who were subdivided into 3 groups by their treatment strategy and the reasons for conservative strategy (Initial AVR group: n=905; Patient rejection group: n=256; Physician judgment group, n=844). The primary outcome measure was a composite of aortic valve-related death and heart failure hospitalization.

Efficacy and Safety of Tolvaptan in Patients More Than 90 Years Old With Acute Heart Failure.

Background: The oral vasopressin-2 receptor antagonist, tolvaptan, causes aquaresis and improves symptoms in patients with congestive heart failure. However, few studies have explored the effect of tolvaptan in acute heart failure (AHF) patients ≥90 years old.

Methods: This study enrolled 106 AHF patients treated with tolvaptan added to standard therapy.

Association of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Use With All-Cause Mortality and Hospital Readmission in Older Adults With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

Importance: Scarce data are available on the association of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) use with outcomes in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

Objective: To investigate the association of MRA use with all-cause mortality and hospital readmission in patients with ADHF.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study examines participants enrolled in the Kyoto Congestive Heart Failure (KCHF) registry, a physician-initiated, prospective, multicenter cohort study of consecutive patients admitted for ADHF, between October 1, 2014, and March 31, 2016, into 1 of 19 secondary and tertiary hospitals throughout Japan.

Anemia in Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Prognostic impact of anemia complicating severe aortic stenosis (AS) remains unclear. We assessed the impact of anemia on cardiovascular and bleeding outcomes in 3403 patients enrolled in the CURRENT AS registry. 835 patients (25%) had mild (hemoglobin 11.

Pharmacogenomic-pharmacokinetic study of selective estrogen-receptor modulators with intra-patient dose escalation in breast cancer.

Background: An association between CYP2D6 polymorphisms and tamoxifen (TAM) efficacy has not been confirmed, partly due to unreliable prediction of active metabolite exposure solely by CYP2D6 activity. The efficacy of TAM dose escalation appears limited in poor TAM metabolizers. Since the chlorine atom on the side chain of toremifene (TOR) prevents 4-hydroxylation by CYP2D6, its contribution to active conversion of TOR is minor.