Impact of HIV Infection on Transplant Outcomes after Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation: A Retrospective Study of Japanese Registry Data.

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a treatment option for HIV-positive patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma (MM). However, the prognosis after ASCT in HIV-positive Japanese patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of HIV infection on transplant outcomes after ASCT in Japan.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of human herpesvirus-6 encephalitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

In this retrospective analysis using the Transplant Registry Unified Management Program, we identified 145 patients with human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 encephalitis among 6593 recipients. The cumulative incidences of HHV-6 encephalitis at 100 days after transplantation in all patients, recipients of bone marrow or PBSCs and recipients of cord blood were 2.3%, 1.

Impact of the presence of HLA 1-locus mismatch and the use of low-dose antithymocyte globulin in unrelated bone marrow transplantation.

HLA 1-locus-mismatched unrelated donors (1MMUD) have been used in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) for patients who lack an HLA-matched donor. We retrospectively analyzed 3313 patients with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome who underwent bone marrow transplantation from an HLA allele-matched unrelated donor (MUD) or 1MMUD between 2009 and 2014. We compared the outcomes of MUD (n=2089) and 1MMUD with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (1MM-ATG(+); n=109) with those of 1MMUD without ATG (1MM-ATG(-); n=1115).

Clinical impact of pretransplant use of multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors on the outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are widely used to treat patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in the chronic phase (CML-CP), and outcomes of TKI treatment for patients with CML-CP have been excellent. Since multiple TKIs are currently available, second-line or third-line TKI therapy is considered for patients who are intolerant of or resistant to the previous TKI treatment. Therefore, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is considered only for patients with disease progression or for patients after treatment failure with multiple TKIs.

Impacts of graft-versus-host disease on outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: A nationwide retrospective study.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a therapeutic option that may lead to improved outcomes in patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). However, few studies have examined the impact of the grade of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) on post-transplant outcomes for CMML. We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 141 patients with CMML who underwent allo-HSCT between 1987 and 2010, and achieved neutrophil engraftment.

Clinical significance of high-dose cytarabine added to cyclophosphamide/total-body irradiation in bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for myeloid malignancy.

Background: Addition of high-dose cytarabine (HDCA) to the conventional cyclophosphamide/total-body irradiation (CY/TBI) regimen significantly improved prognosis after cord blood transplantation (CBT) for adult acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The efficacy of HDCA in bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (BMT/PBSCT), however, has not yet been elucidated.

Findings: We conducted a cohort study to compare the prognosis of HDCA/CY/TBI (N = 435) and CY/TBI (N = 1667) in BMT/PBSCT for AML/MDS using a Japanese transplant registry database.

Aortic root replacement with a stentless bioprosthesis in osteogenesis imperfecta.

Herein is reported a successful surgical case of aortic root replacement for aortic regurgitation in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta. A 37-year-old male, who had been diagnosed as osteogenesis imperfecta of type IA, underwent mitral valve repair for mitral regurgitation. Severe aortic regurgitation developed four years after surgery.

Two surgical cases of acute aortic dissection in pregnancy with marfan syndrome.

We describe 2 surgical cases of acute aortic type A dissection during pregnancy in women with Marfan syndrome. Both of them underwent emergency aortic root replacement under deep hypothermia; one patient was in her 21(st) week of pregnancy and the other was treated 1 day after a normal delivery. The patients experienced fair postoperative courses, but intrauterine fetus death was confirmed in the first case.

Transthoracic Doppler echocardiographic assessment of left anterior descending coronary artery and intramyocardial artery predicts left ventricular remodeling and wall-motion recovery after acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Previous studies reported that a coronary flow velocity (FV) pattern with a rapid diastolic deceleration time (DDT) immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention implies advanced microvascular damage in patients who have experienced an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: Using transthoracic echocardiography, we recorded the coronary FV in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and the FV in the intramyocardial artery 2 days after successful percutaneous coronary intervention in 24 patients who had experienced an anterior AMI. We measured the DDT of the LAD and the intramyocardial artery.

Reoperation for early failure of a freestyle bioprosthesis using a full root technique.

The case is reported of a 65-year-old male who required reoperation for early failure of a Freestyle stentless valve aortic root bioprosthesis implanted using the full root technique. The bioprosthesis had been implanted to treat annuloaortic ectasia associated with severe aortic regurgitation (AR). At 18 months postoperatively, a new diastolic murmur developed, though without complaint by the patient.

Impact of newly diagnosed abnormal glucose tolerance on long-term prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Newly-diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance are common among patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, its significance on long-term clinical outcomes in those patients remains unclear. The present study was designed to determine whether such abnormalities after AMI affect long-term clinical outcomes.

[Left ventricular volume and ejection fraction by the axius auto ejection fraction method: comparison with manual trace method and visual assessment of ejection fraction].

Objectives: Visual assessment of the ejection fraction (EF) is often used in clinical practice, but is subjective and requires training and experience. The auto EF method has been newly developed for automated detection of the left ventricular (LV) endocardial border throughout the cardiac cycle. The clinical feasibility was assessed of the auto EF method for measuring LV volumes and EF in patients.

Left atrial volume: predictor of atrial fibrillation in patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation.

Background And Aim Of The Study: In patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) due to degenerative mitral valve prolapse (MVP), preoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) has been identified as an independent predictor of survival after surgery for MR. Thus, the determinants of preoperative AF may have critical implications to evaluate the timing of mitral valve repair. The study aim was to investigate the role of left atrial (LA) volume in predicting preoperative AF in patients with severe MR due to degenerative MVP.

Left atrial volume in normal Japanese adults.

Background: Two-dimensional (D) echocardiography-derived left atrial (LA) volume has been shown to provide a more accurate assessment of LA size than the M-mode LA dimension. Our objective was to provide reference ranges of LA volume in healthy Japanese adults.

Methods And Results: The study subjects consisted of 105 Japanese adults, with a mean age of 39+/-13 years (range 20-63 years old).

Coronary flow velocity pattern assessed noninvasively by transthoracic color Doppler echocardiography serves as a predictor of adverse cardiac events and left ventricular remodeling in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Quantitative assessment of microvascular injury is possible in patients with reperfused anterior myocardial infarction by invasive method. Coronary flow velocity patterns can also be assessed by transthoracic color Doppler echocardiography (TTCDE).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the coronary flow velocity pattern assessed by TTCDE serves as a predictor of adverse cardiac events and left ventricular remodeling.

Transthoracic Doppler echocardiographic assessment of coronary flow velocity pattern in patient with acute myocardial infarction implies progression of myocardial damage.

Background: Coronary flow velocity (CFV) pattern with a rapid deceleration time of diastolic flow velocity and small average systolic peak velocity immediately after reperfusion implies poor wall-motion recovery in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Microvascular injury has been demonstrated to progress after coronary reperfusion. The purpose of this study was to assess whether CFV 1 day after reperfusion (day 1) may reflect accurately the degree of myocardial damage.

Annular geometry in patients with chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation: three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Although animal studies showed that annular remodeling may be related to the pathogenesis of chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation (CIMR), little was known in humans. A better understanding of the precise 3D geometry of the mitral valvular-ventricular complex in CIMR is needed to devise a better surgical technique. The purpose of the study was to elucidate mitral annular geometry in patients with CIMR using cardiac MRI.

Quantitative assessment of harmonic power doppler myocardial perfusion imaging with intravenous Levovist in patients with myocardial infarction: comparison with myocardial viability evaluated by coronary flow reserve and coronary flow pattern of infarct-related artery.

Background: Myocardial contrast echocardiography and coronary flow velocity pattern with a rapid diastolic deceleration time after percutaneous coronary intervention has been reported to be useful in assessing microvascular damage in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Aim: To evaluate myocardial contrast echocardiography with harmonic power Doppler imaging, coronary flow velocity reserve and coronary artery flow pattern in predicting functional recovery by using transthoracic echocardiography.

Methods: Thirty patients with anterior acute myocardial infarction underwent myocardial contrast echocardiography at rest and during hyperemia and were quantitatively analyzed by the peak color pixel intensity ratio of the risk area to the control area (PIR).

[Chordal cutting for the treatment of ischemic mitral regurgitation: two case reports].

The surgical treatment for ischemic mitral regurgitation remains controversal. Ring annuloplasty results in recurrent mitral regurgitation in some cases. Strut chordal cutting is a new surgical procedure in addition to ring annuloplasty for ischemic mitral regurgitation.

Left atrial volume and the risk of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is a common complication of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, often leading to acute or progressive heart failure and cerebral infarction. We assessed the echocardiographic data of 141 consecutive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, with and without PAF. In all, 31 patients (22%) had a history of PAF with spontaneous conversion to in sinus rhythm.