小林 欣夫

Objectives Although uric acid lowering therapies, including xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition, may reduce the absolute level of blood pressure (BP), the effect of XO inhibition on BP variability is largely unknown. The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate the impact of febuxostat, an XO inhibitor, on BP variability in a randomised trial setting. Methods This was a subanalysis of the PRIZE Study, a randomised trial to evaluate the potential effect of febuxostat on carotid intima–media thickness progression. Patients with hyperuricemia and carotid plaques were randomly assigned to the febuxostat or control group. During a 24-month period, office BP and pulse rate (PR) were measured ≥3 times. BP and PR variabilities were assessed with SD and coefficient of variation (CV). The effect of febuxostat on BP and PR variabilities was adjusted with age, sex and baseline BP or PR, expressed with 95% CIs. Results A total of 472 patients were included into the present subanalysis. During the 24-month follow-up period, the febuxostat group had a significantly lower adjusted mean systolic BP (128.4 (126.8–130.0) vs 130.7 (129.1–132.2) mm Hg, p=0.04) and CV of systolic BP (7.4 (6.7–8.0) vs 8.2 (7.6–8.8), p=0.04) than the control group. Adjusted SD of PR was also lower in the febuxostat group than their counterpart (5.95 (4.93–6.97) vs 7.33 (6.32–8.33), p=0.04). Conclusion XO inhibition with febuxostat was associated with reduced visit-to-visit BP variability as well as reduced PR variability in patients with hyperuricemia and carotid plaques. Trial registration numbers University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN000012911 and UMIN000041322).

BACKGROUND: Dialysis patients have strong intracoronary calcification, accelerated by secondary hyperparathyroidism as well as atherosclerosis. We evaluated the association of intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level with intracoronary calcification evaluated by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and its impact on both stent expansion after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and long-term clinical outcomes, in dialysis patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods and Results: A total of 116 patients on dialysis, who underwent PCI with IVUS guidance between March 2012 and December 2020, were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on their median iPTH level. The degree of intracoronary calcification was evaluated by calcification score using grayscale IVUS in the target lesions. Preprocedural calcification scores were significantly higher in the high iPTH group compared with the low iPTH group (2.9±1.1 vs. 2.1±0.7, P<0.001). After PCI, the high iPTH group had a significantly lower stent expansion index (0.6±0.2 vs. 0.7±0.1, P<0.001) and stent symmetry index (0.5±0.1 vs. 0.7±0.1, P<0.001) compared with the low iPTH group. The incidence of major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events within 3 years was significantly higher in the high iPTH group (log-rank P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High iPTH level is likely to increase intracoronary calcification, and cause inadequate stent expansion, which may be associated with increased risk of future adverse events in dialysis patients with CAD requiring PCI.

We treated a female patient known to have a double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV) who presented with symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Emergent coronary artery catheterization revealed acute right coronary artery (RCA) occlusion and proximal left anterior descending (LAD) stenosis. We performed percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the RCA occlusion. Right heart catheterization revealed a pressure gradient across the mid-RV of 58 mmHg. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed no other congenital cardiac abnormalities. She underwent surgical repair of the RV stenosis and coronary artery bypass surgery for LAD stenosis.

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) is useful for the screening of coronary artery stenosis, and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) analysis by CT using new dedicated software is now available. Here, we evaluated the utility of ECV analysis using cardiac CT to predict patient prognosis in cases with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We analyzed 70 cases with DCM and cardiac computed tomography (CT) with available late-phase images. We evaluated the ECV of the left ventricular myocardium (LVM) using commercially available software (Ziostation 2, Ziosoft Inc, Japan). ECV on LVM was 33.96 ± 5.04%. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) occurred in 21 cases (30%). ECV of the LVM on CT, endo-systolic volume, and rate of significant valvular disease were significantly higher in cases with MACE than in those without (37.16 ± 5.91% vs. 32.59 ± 3.95%, 194 ± 109 vs. 138 ± 78 ml and 57% vs. 20%, all P values < 0.05). LVEF was significantly lower in cases with MACE than in those without (23 ± 8 vs. 31 ± 11%, P = 0.0024). The best cut-off value of ECV on LVM for prediction of MACE was 32.26% based on receiver operating characteristics analysis. Cases with ECV ≥ 32.26% had significantly higher MACE based on Kaplan-Meier analysis (P = 0.0032). Only ECV on LVM was an independent predictor of MACE based on a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model (P = 0.0354). Evaluation of ECV on LVM by CT is useful for predicting MACE in patients with DCM.

Cardiorenal syndrome is the term that describes the interaction between the heart and kidney that leads to diuretic resistance and worsening renal function. Prolonged anuria generally represents irreversible renal failure, and recovery of renal function after prolonged anuria in patients with heart failure has rarely been reported. Moreover, increased central venous pressure including heart failure is associated with impaired renal function. We herein report a rare case of a 46-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy who presented with dyspnea and generalized edema. His body weight increased from 90 kg to 128 kg in one year and he was hospitalized. Central venous pressure (CVP) on admission was 33 mmHg. Intravenous catecholamines were not effective; thus, he was started on continuous hemodiafiltration. Anuria occurred after hemodiafiltration due to heart failure, sepsis, and antibiotics use. However, he experienced weight reduction of over 70 kg, under hemodialysis guided by central venous pressure measurement, and renal function recovery after 87 days of anuria. His CVP had improved to 5 mmHg at discharge. This case showed continuous trial to reduce the CVP and raise cardiac output could result in the recovery of impaired renal function even in the presence of prolonged anuria. <Learning objective: We report a rare case of a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy who experienced weight reduction of over 70 kg under hemodialysis guided by central venous pressure (CVP) measurement and renal function recovery after 87 days of anuria due to chronic heart failure. Even in the presence of prolonged anuria, continuous trial to reduce the CVP and raise cardiac output could result in the recovery of impaired renal function.>.

Fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio are widely accepted and recommended in Western and Japanese guidelines for appropriate percutaneous coronary intervention. There are, however, many differences in clinical situations between Japan and Western countries. Therefore, the Task Force on coronary physiology of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Intervention and Therapeutics (CVIT) has proposed an expert consensus document to summarize current evidence and suggest the practical use of physiological lesion assessment in Japan.

Purpose High-quality images can be obtained with 320-slice computed tomography (CT) with model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR). We therefore investigated the diagnostic accuracy of 320-slice CT with MBIR for detecting significant coronary artery stenosis. Methods This was a retrospective study of 160 patients who underwent coronary CT and invasive coronary angiography (ICA). The first 100 consecutive patients (Group 1) underwent 320-slice CT without MBIR or small-focus scanning. The next 60 consecutive patients (Group 2) underwent 320-slice CT with both MBIR and small-focus scanning. Patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery were excluded. The diagnostic performance of 320-slice CT without MBIR or small-focus scanning and 320-slice CT with both of them, with ICA regarded as a reference standard, was compared to detect significant coronary artery stenosis (≥70% on CT, ≥75% on ICA). Results In a patient-based analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy of detection of significant stenosis on CT against ICA were 95%, 85%, and 91% in Group 1, and 93%, 83%, and 90% in Group 2, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in the patient- and segment-based analyses. However, among cases with a severe coronary artery calcium score >400 (31 cases in Group 1 and 28 in Group 2), the specificity and overall accuracy were significantly higher (all p<0.01) in Group 2 than in Group 1 according to the segment-based analysis. Conclusion The diagnostic accuracy of the detection of coronary artery stenosis on CT was improved using 320-slice CT with MBIR.

Background Clinical outcomes of acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock remain poor with high in-hospital mortality. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) has been widely used for patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock refractory to conservative therapy, which is likely fatal without mechanical circulatory support. However, whether additional intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) use during VA-ECMO support improves clinical outcomes remains controversial. This study sought to investigate prognostic impact of the combined VA-ECMO plus IABP treatment compared with VA-ECMO alone. Methods and Results From the nationwide Japanese administrative case-mix Diagnostic Procedure Combination (DPC), the JROAD (Japanese Registry of All Cardiac and Vascular Diseases)-DPC, we identified 3815 patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention and managed with VA-ECMO. Of these, 2964 patients (77.7%) were managed with IABP (VA-ECMO plus IABP), whereas 851 (22.3%) were managed without IABP (VA-ECMO alone). We compared in-hospital, 7-day, and 30-day mortality between the VA-ECMO plus IABP versus the VA-ECMO alone support. Patients managed with VA-ECMO plus IABP demonstrated significantly lower in-hospital, 7-day, and 30-day mortality than those managed with VA-ECMO alone (adjusted odds ratios [95% CI] of 0.47 [95% CI, 0.38-0.59], 0.41 [95% CI, 0.33-0.51], and 0.30 [95% CI, 0.25-0.37], respectively). The findings were consistent in the propensity matching and inverse probability of treatment-weighting models. Conclusions This large-scale, nationwide study demonstrated that the combination of VA-ECMO plus IABP support was associated with significantly lower mortality compared with VA-ECMO support alone in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

In this updated expert consensus document, the methods for the quantitative measurement and morphological assessment of optical coherence tomography (OCT)/optical frequency domain imaging images (OFDI) are briefly summarized. The focus is on the clinical application and the clinical evidence of OCT/OFDI to guide percutaneous coronary interventions.

Background <p lang="en">Lower primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) volume is known to be associated with worse outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) at hospital level. The present study aimed to evaluate the relations of primary, elective, and total PCI volume and primary/total PCI volume ratio per hospital to in‐hospital mortality in patients with acute MI undergoing primary PCI. </p> Methods and Results <p lang="en">Using a large nationwide administrative database, we included a total of 83 076 patients from 154 hospitals in Japan undergoing PCI for either acute MI or elective cases. Relations of annual procedural volumes for primary, elective, and total PCI to in‐hospital mortality after acute MI at hospital level were evaluated. The ratio of primary to total PCI volume per hospital was also assessed. The primary end point was the ratio of observed to predicted mortality. Of 83 076 patients, 26 913 (32.4%) underwent primary PCI for acute MI, among whom 1561 (5.8%) died during hospitalization. Overall, observed in‐hospital mortality after acute MI and observed/predicted mortality ratio were higher in hospitals with lower primary, elective, and total PCI volumes. Observed/predicted in‐hospital mortality ratio was higher in hospitals with low primary/total PCI volume ratio, even in those with high total PCI volume. </p> Conclusions <p lang="en">Primary, elective, and total PCI volume at hospitals were inversely associated with in‐hospital mortality in patients with acute MI undergoing primary PCI. Lower ratio of primary to total PCI volume were related to higher in‐hospital mortality, suggesting primary/total PCI volume ratio as an institutional indicator of quality of care for acute MI. </p>

BACKGROUND: The wall motion abnormalities of the left ventricle (LV) in takotsubo syndrome (TTS) are known to be transient and completely recover within a few weeks. However, there is little information about the relationship between functional recovery and tissue characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the recovery process of TTS using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). METHODS: Consecutive patients with TTS were prospectively enrolled. We performed serial CMR in the acute phase (<72 h after admission), the subacute phase (7-10 days after admission) and the chronic phase (3 months later). To assess the degree of myocardial edema quantitatively, we evaluated the signal intensity of myocardium on T2-weighted images and calculated the signal intensity ratio compared with the skeletal muscle. RESULTS: Fifteen patients with TTS were enrolled. CMR demonstrated reduced LV ejection fraction in the acute phase, and it recovered almost completely by the subacute phase. On the other hand, severe myocardial edema was still observed in the subacute phase, associated with increased LV mass. The highest signal intensity ratio in the subacute phase was correlated with the maximum voltage of negative T wave on electrocardiogram (r = 0.57, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with TTS, myocardial edema associated with increased LV mass still remained in the subacute phase despite functional recovery of the LV. Electrocardiogram may be useful to assess the degree of myocardial edema in the subacute phase. Our study suggests that myocardial ischemia might have a central role in developing TTS.

A concomitant use of S-ICD and epicardial pacemaker was established to avoid tricuspid valve dysfunction. DFT test confirmed that any bipolar pacing did no interference on the S-ICD function.

The winking earlobe sign is a sign of tricuspid regurgitation, characterized by the movement of the earlobe coincident with the pulse.