Comparison of Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI) and CAVI in Large Healthy and Hypertensive Populations.

Aim: The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) represents the blood pressure-independent arterial stiffness from the origin of the aorta to the ankle. CAVI has been proposed as a variant index. We aimed to clarify the difference between CAVI and CAVI among large populations, and to explore reasons of the difference.

Coefficients in the CAVI Equation and the Comparison Between CAVI With and Without the Coefficients Using Clinical Data.

Aim: The Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI) is a stiffness index of the arterial tree from the origin of the aorta to the ankle, independent of blood pressure at the time of measurement. The CAVI equation includes the coefficients "a" and "b" to adjust it to the value of Hasegawa's pulse wave velocity, which is compensated for at 80 mmHg of diastolic pressure. To verify this adjustment with the coefficients, the clinical significance of CAVI and CAVI without the coefficients (haβ) were compared in both an epidemiological study and an acute clinical study.

Awareness of the Japanese Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension and their use in clinical practices: 2009 survey results.

The objective of this study was to investigate physicians' awareness and use of the Japanese Society of Hypertension (JSH) Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension (JSH2004 and JSH2009), and determine what changes need to be implemented in the future. A questionnaire was used to survey physicians' awareness and their use of JSH2004 and JSH2009. Physicians attending educational seminars on hypertension that were held during the months after the publication of JSH2009 (January-April 2009) were asked to participate in the survey.

Renal cell carcinoma producing alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) with a unique lectins-affinity profile.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) producing alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a rare entity and merely 7 cases have been reported so far. The present case, a 71-year-old woman, showed a high serum AFP level of 204 ng/ml. The RCC of the autopsied right kidney consisted mainly of spindle-shaped or bizarre sarcomatous tumor cells.