Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum bilirubin and dyslipidemia in a health screening population.

Objective: To investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum total bilirubin (TB) and dyslipidemia.

Methods: Odds ratios (ORs) of prevalent dyslipidemia for TB were calculated in 2113 men and 1265 women. Correlation coefficients between baseline TB as well as the change in TB over 5 years and baseline log triglycerides, baseline HDL cholesterol and the changes in log triglycerides and HDL cholesterol over 5 years were calculated.

Tachycardia-dependent augmentation of "notched J waves" in a general patient population without ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest: not a repolarization but a depolarization abnormality?

Background: J waves can be observed in individuals of the general population, but electrocardiographic characteristics are poorly understood.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the J-wave dynamicity in a general patient population.

Methods: The responses of J waves (>0.

Low vital capacity was found to be associated with incident diabetes in health screening population of Japanese women.

Objective: There have been no previous studies regarding the relationship between the respiratory function and incident diabetes in East Asian women in whom obesity is not prevalent.

Methods: Using Cox regression models, hazard ratios (HRs) for incident diabetes for each one SD increase in the percent vital capacity (%VC), a parameter of restrictive pulmonary dysfunction, forced expiratory volume in one second over forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), a parameter of obstructive pulmonary dysfunction, and log high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were calculated in 1,704 men and 1,016 women among a Japanese health screening population.

Results: Over the four-year study period (mean of 3.

Electrical storm in patients with brugada syndrome is associated with early repolarization.

Background: Electrical storms (ESs) in patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) are rare though potentially lethal.

Methods And Results: We studied 22 men with BrS and ES, defined as ≥3 episodes/d of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and compared their characteristics with those of 110 age-matched, control men with BrS without ES. BrS was diagnosed by a spontaneous or drug-induced type 1 pattern on the ECG in the absence of structural heart disease.

Heart failure caused by renal arteriovenous fistula with giant renal artery aneurysms.

We encountered an extremely rare case of a renal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) with 2 giant renal artery aneurysms (RAAs) in a 75-year-old woman who presented with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. A chest x-ray revealed cardiomegaly with a cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) of 65%. Computed tomography showed 2 giant left RAAs (diameter, 45 × 40 mm(2) and 75 × 60 mm(2)) associated with an AVF, dilated inferior vena cava, and dilated pulmonary arteries.

A decrease in total bilirubin predicted hyper-LDL cholesterolemia in a health screening population.

Objective: To investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum total bilirubin (TB) and LDL cholesterol.

Methods: It is a retrospective observational study. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between TB and hyper-LDL cholesterolemia were investigated in a health screening population.

Overweight and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein are weakly associated with kidney stone formation in Japanese men.

Objectives: To investigate longitudinal relationships between obesity/inflammation and kidney stone formation in a population where obesity is not prevalent.

Methods: Using Cox regression models, associations between kidney stone formation and body mass index, waist circumference, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and other possible risk factors were retrospectively examined in a health screening Japanese population including 1726 men and 992 women.

Results: During 4 years of follow up (mean 3.

Brugada syndrome and idiopathic left ventricular tachycardia unmasked by exercise and a class Ic drug.

The patient was a 33-year-old male. Twenty years ago, he underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation for idiopathic sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) with an RBBB and superior axis pattern. The VT was inducible by programmed stimulation and entrained by rapid pacing.

Longitudinal associations between lymphocyte count and LDL cholesterol in a health screening population.

Background: Longitudinal associations between leukocyte subtype counts and LDL cholesterol have not been reported.

Methods And Results: This is a retrospective observational study in a health screening population. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated between leukocyte subtype counts and LDL cholesterol levels at baseline and after four years.

Sudden cardiac arrest recorded during Holter monitoring: prevalence, antecedent electrical events, and outcomes.

Background: Causative arrhythmias of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) are changing in this age of improved coronary care.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of terminal arrhythmias and the electrical events prior to SCA.

Methods: We analyzed 24-hour Holter recordings of 132 patients enrolled from 41 institutions who either died (n = 88) or had an aborted death (n = 44).

Decreased serum albumin predicts hypertension in a Japanese health screening population.

Objective: The serum albumin level has been reported to be positively associated with blood pressure in some cross-sectional studies. However, the longitudinal relationships between the serum albumin level and incident hypertension have been poorly studied.

Methods: The incidence of hypertension was calculated for each quartile of serum albumin in 1,385 normotensive men and 855 normotensive women without cardiovascular disease at baseline who revisited for four years thereafter.

Long-term PT-INR levels and the clinical events in the patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation: a special reference to low-intensity warfarin therapy.

Background: Anticoagulation therapy is essential in atrial fibrillation (AF), and in Japan, less intense control is popular.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy and safety with a special reference to low intensity warfarin therapy.

Subjects And Methods: In 488 out of 508 patients with non-valvular AF, prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR) was kept at 1.

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is a predictor of metabolic syndrome in a Japanese health screening population.

Objective: Both increased serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are associated with obesity and have been established to be risk factors of cardiovascular disease. However, studies on the relationship between LDLC and MetS have been limited.

Methods: Cross-sectional (n=3,871) and longitudinal (n=2,558) associations between LDLC and MetS were examined in a Japanese health screening population.

Descending aorta-external iliac artery bypass for middle aortic syndrome.

We encountered a surgical case of middle aortic syndrome (MAS) in a 56-year-old man who had resistant hypertension. Computed tomography showed severe stenosis of the abdominal aorta from below the superior mesenteric artery to above the inferior mesenteric artery. Although bilateral renal artery stenosis was confirmed, renal function was within normal limits.

[Early and mid-term outcomes of aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis in hemodialysis patients].

We carried out a retrospective evaluation of the early and mid-term outcomes of aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic stenosis in hemodialysis patients. Between 2004 and 2012, a total of 40 dialysis patients underwent AVR with or without an additional procedure. Hemodialysis was performed routinely the day before and during the operation.

Resting heart rate predicts metabolic syndrome in apparently healthy non-obese Japanese men.

Autonomic nervous dysfunction is considered to be one of the mechanisms of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study is to investigate whether resting heart rate, a marker of autonomic nervous dysfunction, is a predictor of MetS in apparently healthy non-obese [body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m(2)] Japanese men. This is an observational study through 3 years in apparently healthy Japanese 1,265 men and 793 women without MetS and with no history of cardiovascular disease and no use of antihypertensive, antidiabetic, or antihyperlipidemic medication at baseline.

Serum uric acid is an independent predictor of metabolic syndrome in a Japanese health screening population.

Serum levels of uric acid (UA) are associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, no study has been aimed to investigate whether baseline UA is a predictor of MetS in a Japanese population. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of MetS through 3 years were calculated for each 1 SD increase in baseline UA, for the higher quartiles of baseline UA compared with the lowest quartile, and for baseline hyperuricemia defined as ≥7.

Electrical storm in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation is associated with early repolarization.

Objectives: This study sought to characterize patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) who develop electrical storms.

Background: Some IVF patients develop ventricular fibrillation (VF) storms, but the characteristics of these patients are poorly known.

Methods: Ninety-one IVF patients (86% male) were selected after the exclusion of structural heart diseases, primary electrical diseases, and coronary spasm.