Safety and Usefulness of Intracoronary Acetylcholine 200 μg Into the Left Coronary Artery as Vasoreactivity Testing: Comparisons With Intracoronary Acetylcholine Maximum 100 μg.

Objectives: We retrospectively analyzed the usefulness and safety of intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) 200 μg into the left coronary artery (LCA) as vasoreactivity testing compared with intracoronary ACh 100 μg.

Methods: We recruited 1433 patients who had angina-like chest pain and intracoronary ACh testing in the LCA, including 1234 patients with a maximum ACh 100 μg and 199 patients with a maximum ACh 200 μg. ACh was injected in incremental doses of 20/50/100/200 μg into the LCA.

Lack of Class I Vasoreactivity Testing for Diagnosing Patients With Coronary Artery Spasm.

Background: Vasoreactivity testing, such as intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) or ergometrine (EM), is defined as Class I for the diagnosis of patients with vasospastic angina (VSA) according to recommendations from the Coronary Vasomotion Disorders International Study (COVADIS) group and guidelines from the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS).

Hypothesis: Although vasoreactivity testing is a clinically useful tool, it carries some risks and limitations in diagnosing coronary artery spasm.

Methods: Previous reports on vasoreactivity testing for diagnosing the presence of coronary spasm are summarized from the perspective of Class I.

Importance of provoked spasms at the sites of nonobstructive stenosis as well as at the sites of obstructive stenosis in patients with obstructive coronary arteries and coronary spasm.

Objectives: There are few reports regarding the prognosis in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease (OCAD) and vasospastic angina (VSA). This study investigated the clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes in patients with VSA and OCAD, especially regarding provoked spasm phenotypes and sites.

Methods: This was a retrospective, observational, single-center study of 403 patients with typical or atypical angina-like chest pain undergoing acetylcholine (ACH) spasm provocation testing and OCAD.

Clinical Limitations of Vasoreactivity Testing as a Diagnostic Tool in Patients with Vasospastic Angina.

The Japanese Circulation Society guidelines recommend a class I vasoreactivity test to diagnose patients with vasospastic angina (VSA). However, the acetylcholine or ergonovine test has been established as the gold standard for variant angina (VA). The sensitivity and specificity of intracoronary vasoreactivity testing in patients with VA were acceptable.

Comparison of surgical outcomes between iStent inject W implantation and microhook ab interno trabeculotomy in combination with phacoemulsification in primary open-angle glaucoma patients.

Purpose: To examine primary open-angle glaucoma patients after undergoing combined cataract surgery with microhook ab interno trabeculotomy (μLOT-Phaco) or iStent inject W implantation (iStent-Phaco), and then evaluate the surgical outcomes after a minimum of 6 months of follow-up.

Methods: Between October 2020 and July 2022, 39 μLOT-Phaco eyes and 55 iStent-Phaco eyes that underwent surgery were evaluated in this retrospective, multicenter comparative case series. Data that included preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications, and occurrence of complications were collected from medical records and then examined.

Additive effects of brimonidine tartrate 0.1%/brinzolamide 1% fixed-dose combination in prostaglandin analog-treated Japanese glaucoma patients.

Purpose: A brimonidine tartrate 0.1%/brinzolamide 1% fixed-dose combination (BBFC) was recently approved for glaucoma and ocular hypertension treatment in Japan. We investigated the efficacy and safety of BBFC used concomitantly with prostaglandin analogs (PG) or a PG/beta-blocker fixed-dose combination (PG/beta FC).

Can magnetic resonance imaging after cranioplasty using titanium mesh detect brain tumors?

This study determined the dependence of the concentration and position of contrast-enhanced tumors on the radio frequency (RF)-shielding effect of titanium mesh using the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A phantom was constructed by filling a plastic container with manganese chloride tetrahydrate and agar. Four cellophane cylindrical containers were arranged from the end of the plastic container, and the brain tumor model was filled with gadobutrol diluted with NaCl, with molarity values of 0.

Multicenter prospective observational study of fungal keratitis in Japan: analyses of in vitro susceptibility tests for combinations of drugs.

Purpose: To determine the effects of a combination of two antifungal drugs against causative fungi of fungal keratitis in Japan.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective observational study.

Methods: Eighteen isolates of yeast-like fungi and 22 isolates of filamentous fungi collected by the Multicenter Prospective Observational Study of Fungal Keratitis in Japan were studied.

Multicenter prospective observational study of fungal keratitis in Japan: analyses of culture-positive cases.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics and causative fungi in patients with fungal keratitis in Japan, and to determine factors related to the prognosis.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective observational study.

Methods: Eligible patients were enrolled from November 2011 to October 2013 at the 1st stage and from April 2015 to March 2016 at the 2nd stage.

Stratification-Based Investigation of Adjunctive Brimonidine or Timolol to a Prostaglandin Analogue in Japanese Patients with Normal-Tension Glaucoma.

Purpose: We previously investigated the efficacy and safety of adding 0.1% brimonidine (Brim) or 0.5% timolol (Tim) to prostaglandin analogue (PGA) monotherapy to treat patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) with intraocular pressure (IOP) of ≤16 mmHg.

Usefulness of data augmentation for visual field trend analyses in patients with glaucoma.

Aim: To investigate the usefulness of data augmentation in visual field (VF) trend analyses in patients with glaucoma.

Method: This study included 6380 VFs from 638 eyes of 417 patients with open-angle glaucoma. Various affine transformations were applied to augment the VF data: (1) rotation, (2) scaling, (3) vertical and horizontal shift and (4) a combination of these different transformations.

Effect of Standard vs Intensive Blood Pressure Control on the Risk of Recurrent Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial and Meta-analysis.

Importance: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) demonstrated that a systolic blood pressure (BP) target less than 120 mm Hg was superior to less than 140 mm Hg for preventing vascular events. This trial excluded patients with prior stroke; therefore, the ideal BP target for secondary stroke prevention remains unknown.

Objective: To assess whether intensive BP control would achieve fewer recurrent strokes vs standard BP control.

Validating the efficacy of the binomial pointwise linear regression method to detect glaucoma progression with multicentral database.

Background/aim: We previously reported the benefit of applying binomial pointwise linear regression (PLR: binomial PLR) to detect 10-2 glaucomatous visual field (VF) progression. The purpose of the current study was to validate the usefulness of the binomial PLR to detect glaucomatous VF progression in the central 24°.

Methods: Series of 15 VFs (Humphrey Field Analyzer 24-2 SITA-standard) from 341 eyes of 233 patients, obtained over 7.

Investigating the usefulness of a cluster-based trend analysis to detect visual field progression in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

Background/aims: To investigate the usefulness of the Octopus (Haag-Streit) EyeSuite's cluster trend analysis in glaucoma.

Methods: Ten visual fields (VFs) with the Humphrey Field Analyzer (Carl Zeiss Meditec), spanning 7.7 years on average were obtained from 728 eyes of 475 primary open angle glaucoma patients.

Visual field defects and changes in macular retinal ganglion cell complex thickness in eyes with intrachoroidal cavitation are similar to those in early glaucoma.

Background/aims: To examine the characteristics of visual field defects and optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in eyes with intrachoroidal cavitation (ICC) and investigate the similarities between these results and glaucomatous changes.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients diagnosed with ICC based on peripapillary radial cross-sectional scans performed with OCT. Visual field was measured with the Humphrey automated visual field analyzer SITA standard central 24-2 program, and macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness was measured in 9×9 mm areas on OCT.

Development of tumor-specific caffeine-potentiated chemotherapy using a novel drug delivery system with Span 80 nano-vesicles.

In recent years, chemotherapy with caffeine has manifested potently high efficacy against osteosarcoma, although adverse effects have been observed. Recently, we developed a novel drug delivery system (DDS) with nonionic vesicles prepared from Span 80 which have promising physicochemical properties as an attractive possible alternative to commonly used liposomes. Herein, we demonstrated that tumor-specific caffeine-potentiated chemotherapy for murine osteosarcoma administered by a novel DDS with Span 80 nano-vesicles showed significant antitumor effects as well as limited adverse effects.

[Effectiveness of plasma exchange in Miller Fisher syndrome--a case report].

Background: We report a successful treatment by plasma exchange(PE) in the case of Miller Fisher syndrome.

Case: A 71-year-old woman rapidly developed diplopia and unsteady gait, and was admitted to Minami-matsuyama Hospital on day 3 of her illness. Ophthalmological and neurological examination on admission revealed bilateral complete external ophthalmoplegia with moderate mydriasis, cerebellar ataxia, and weakness of biceps reflexs, but her consciousness was intact.

Mesenteric venous thrombosis in hereditary protein C deficiency with the mutation at Arg169 (CGG-TGG).

A 39-year-old man with no significant medical history was admitted to our hospital with severe abdominal pain and melena. Computed tomographic (CT) scans demonstrated superior mesenteric venous thrombosis. Although thrombolysis and anticoagulant therapy was started immediately, symptoms of strangulation ileus developed.

[Hemodynamic analysis of pulsatile blood flow in arteries by MRI].

The purpose of this study was to analyze the hemodynamics of pulsatile blood flow in arteries by MRI. The blood flow velocity was calculated by dividing the traveled distance of blood bolus by the echo time obtained from DBI images. Pulsatile water flow in the phantom and blood flow in abdominal aorta of 27 volunteers were estimated by means of both the DBI image and an approximate equation of flow velocity.

[A case of sarcoidosis with renal failure as the main manifestation in granulomatous interstitial nephritis].

A 39-year-old woman was consulted to our hospital because of renal failure on October 1992. A chest X-ray showed no abnormal shadow. Subsequently, she was under conservative treatment until December 1993, when she began to notice clouded vision.