[Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery for a Left Atrial Myxoma with Atrial Septal Defect:Report of a Case].

A 48-year-old woman presented with abnormal electrocardiogram was diagnosed as having a left atrial tumor by echocardiography. She was asymptomatic and had no history of cardiac abnormality. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a relatively hyperechoic and heterogenous tumor with the diameter of 5~6 cm originated from the left atrial septum but could not detect atrial septal defect. Transesophageal echocardiography showed atrial septal defect of fossa ovalis but failed to uncover shunt flow behind the tumor. We diagnosed as left atrial myxoma complicated with atrial septal defect, and an operation was performed through small right intercostal thoracotomy. The tumor was excised and the atrial septal defect was completely repaired after pulmonary vein isolation. The post-operative course was uneventful. Cardiac myxoma coexisting atrial septal defect is rare, and preoperative transesophageal echocardiography is considered essential for the diagnosis of coexistent lesions especially in the patients minimally invasive cardiac surgery is planned.was uneventful. Cardiac myxoma coexisting atrial septal defect is rare, and preoperative transesophageal echocardiography is considered essential for the diagnosis of coexistent lesions especially in the patients minimally invasive cardiac surgery is planned.

[Impending Paradoxical Embolization in a Patient with a Thrombus Straddling the Patent Foramen Ovale].

The patent foramen ovale (PFO) is known as a risk of paradoxical embolism in patients with deep venous thromboses. However, PFO is usually found after systemic embolic symptoms become apparent. A 60-year-old male had complained of dyspnea for two weeks. Ultrasound echocardiography showed a thrombus straddling PFO, and venous echography showed blood clots in the right popliteal and soleus veins. Contrast computed tomography revealed multiple pulmonary embolisms and a thrombus in the right atrium expanding to the left atrium through the atrial septum. The straddling thrombus in the atrium and pulmonary thrombi were extirpated under circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia. An inferior vena cava filter was inserted intravenously four days after surgery. The patient was discharged on the 19th postoperative day without any signs of thromboembolism. Prompt surgery is considered important to prevent thromboembolism in the case of impending paradoxical embolism.

Week 2 Symptomatic Response with Vedolizumab as a Predictive Factor in Japanese Anti-TNFα-Naive Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A post hoc Analysis of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To evaluate the onset of symptomatic response with vedolizumab in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis in Japan. METHODS: Patients were randomized to receive vedolizumab 300 mg or placebo at Weeks 0, 2, and 6. Mayo subscores were analyzed in patients with baseline stool frequency (SF) ≥1 and rectal bleeding (RB) ≥1. In patients with baseline SF ≥2 and RB ≥1, the proportion who achieved SF ≤1 and RB = 0 was determined. RESULTS: Patients were randomized to vedolizumab (n = 164) or placebo (n = 82). Decrease from baseline in mean SF subscore was greater with vedolizumab versus placebo from Week 2 (-6.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -16.2, 3.0), with a greater difference in anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α-naive patients (vedolizumab vs. placebo, -13.2%; 95% CI, -29.7, 3.3). Mean percentage decrease from baseline RB subscore was numerically greater with vedolizumab versus placebo from Week 6 in anti-TNFα-naive patients (-10.7%; 95% CI, -33.0, 11.5). More patients in the anti-TNFα-naive subgroup achieved SF ≤1 and RB = 0 with vedolizumab versus placebo at Week 2 (14.8%; 95% CI, 2.5, 27.0) and Week 6 (20.3%; 95% CI, 4.4, 36.2). Patients with SF ≤1 and RB = 0 at Week 2 had higher clinical response, clinical remission, and mucosal healing rates at Week 10 than those without. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that vedolizumab induces a rapid symptomatic response, particularly in anti-TNFα-naive patients, and suggest that early symptomatic improvement predicts treatment response at Week 10 (NCT02039505).

Safety profile of brentuximab vedotin in Japanese patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma or systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma: a post-marketing surveillance study.

Brentuximab vedotin (BV) was initially approved in Japan for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) CD30-positive Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). As requested by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, we conducted a post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study to assess the safety of BV in Japanese patients with R/R HL or sALCL. PMS forms were collected from 284 patients (182 with HL, 101 with sALCL and one with another lymphoma) treated between April and September 2014. The median age was 62 (range 14-93) years and the median number of treatment cycles was 5.5 for HL and 4 for sALCL. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were reported in 74.3% of patients. The most commonly observed ADRs included peripheral sensory neuropathy (39.1%; grade ≥ 3, 6.3%), neutropenia (34.5%; grade ≥ 3, 22.2%) and lymphopenia (7.0%; grade ≥ 3, 5.3%). Ten patients had fatal ADRs including interstitial lung disease (n = 3). This study showed that BV has an acceptable safety profile in Japanese patients with R/R HL and R/R sALCL in the clinical practice setting. However, close monitoring rare, but potentially fatal, ADRs such as pulmonary toxicity may be warranted, especially in patients with prior or ongoing pulmonary disorders.

Vascular compression of the left bronchus in a patient with funnel chest.

We present a case of 5 year-old female with funnel chest, by which cardiovascular structures were displaced into the left chest cavity. This caused left bronchial compression by the pulmonary artery and the descending aorta, for which an external stenting was successfully performed. The patient had features suggestive of skeletal dysplasia with tracheobronchial malacia. One possible mechanism of vascular compression could be an association of fragility of the thoracic cavity and inspiratory dyspnea, causing thoracic deformity.

Surgical repair in a patient with Berry syndrome.

Berry syndrome is a trilogy involving an aorto-pulmonary window, right pulmonary artery from ascending aorta and an interrupted aortic arch. Surgical repair for this anomaly is associated with a high mortality rate and incidence of right pulmonary arterial stenosis. Herein, we present the case of a patient with Berry syndrome, who underwent a rapid two-stage repair involving bilateral pulmonary arterial banding and complete repair. Postoperative computed tomography scan showed well-repaired great vessels free of obstruction.

The safety and effectiveness of vonoprazan-based Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy; a prospective post-marketing surveillance.

Background: The safety and effectiveness of vonoprazan-based Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication therapy in routine clinical practice, and patient characteristics that influence safety and effectiveness, have not been well investigated.Methods: H. pylori-positive patients with gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, history of endoscopic treatment of early gastric cancer, and gastritis were enrolled. Patients received vonoprazan 20 mg, amoxicillin (AMPC) 750 mg, and clarithromycin (CAM) 200-400 mg twice daily for 7 days for the first-line eradication. For the second-line eradication, vonoprazan, AMPC, and metronidazole (MTZ) 250 mg were administered. The incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and eradication rates were evaluated.Results: The incidences of ADRs with vonoprazan/AMPC/CAM and vonoprazan/AMPC/MTZ were 3.22% (16/497) and 1.89% (1/53), respectively. Commonly reported ADRs were diarrhea, nausea, dysgeusia, feces soft, and rash. The eradication rates of the first-line therapy and the second-line therapy were 91.24% (427/468) and 95.45% (42/44), respectively. No notable differences in ADRs and eradication rates were observed when stratified by patient demographic characteristics.Conclusion: No new safety concerns were observed, and the effectiveness of vonoprazan-based triple therapy was confirmed in routine clinical practice.Trial registration: This study is registered at the Japan Pharmaceutical Information Center Clinical Trials Information (JapicCTI-153003).

Log-transformed B-type natriuretic peptide as a prognostic predictor in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to explore the association between circulating B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and other mortality-related factors in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. METHODS: In this observational study, multilevel linear regression analysis and multilevel survival analysis were performed to measure the log-transformed BNP (lnBNP) value at four time points in 197 patients with 788 repeated data measurements. Effects of the interaction between the time points and the two intervention groups (cardiac surgery and vascular surgery) were also investigated. Six models were evaluated to identify the best fit for the data. Stata/MP® version 14.2 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX, USA) was used to analyze the two-level variance component model fitting. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the fixed-effect parameters of lnBNP, such as the time point, age, body mass index, emergency operation, prognostic nutritional index, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. According to the multilevel survival analysis for all-cause death and vascular death, lnBNP significantly differed and was a common prognostic marker. CONCLUSION: As lnBNP increased by 1 point, all-cause death increased 2.07 times and vascular death increased 3.10 times. lnBNP is an important prognostic predictor and quantitative biochemical marker in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

Trileaflet pulmonary valve reconstruction for pulmonary regurgitation in childhood.

A 6-year-old boy with pulmonary regurgitation after complete repair of congenital heart disease underwent an alternative surgical repair for pulmonary valve replacement. Trileaflet pulmonary valve reconstruction using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane is a clinically feasible technique for pulmonary regurgitation in such a young child in whom large-sized bioprosthetic valves cannot be implanted.

Pericardial biopsy revealed gastric signet-ring cell cancer.

We describe the case of an 85-year-old man who presented with a large pericardial effusion. The patient was admitted because of anorexia and general malaise. Chest X-ray revealed an increased cardiothoracic ratio and a small amount of bilateral pleural effusion. Two-dimensional ultrasonographic echocardiography showed pericardial effusions with atrial and right ventricular early diastolic collapse, establishing the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade. Signet-ring cell cancer with pericardial involvement was diagnosed by subxiphoid pericardiostomy. The clear fluid was removed through pericardial drainage. The signet-ring cell carcinoma of the stomach was revealed by gastric fiberscope examination after pericardial biopsy proved malignancy. Virchow lymph node metastasis was also found. We diagnosed the patient with gastric cancer stage IV and suggested him the best supportive therapy. He died of cardiac arrest 1 month after best supportive care.

Lifestyle factors and efficacy of lifestyle interventions in gastroesophageal reflux disease patients with functional dyspepsia: primary care perspectives from the LEGEND study.

OBJECTIVE: Although gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a very common disorder worldwide, is considered to be a lifestyle disease, the pathogenic role of lifestyle factors and consequently the efficacy of lifestyle interventions, remains controversial. Lifestyle factors associated with GERD and the beneficial effect of specific recommended lifestyle interventions in the primary care setting were evaluated as a post-hoc analysis of the LEGEND study which investigated the effect of lansoprazole in patients with GERD who reported dyspeptic symptoms. METHODS: GERD patients with dyspepsia were treated with lansoprazole 15 mg or 30 mg daily for four weeks. Reflux and dyspeptic symptoms were evaluated using patient-reported questionnaires before and four weeks after the administration of lansoprazole. RESULTS: Among 12,653 patients, "feelings of continued stress" was the most common lifestyle factor (45.6% of patients), and >30% of the patients reported "eating sweet foods at least once every two to three days," "eating greasy foods at least once every two to three days" and "drinking coffee almost daily." Introducing lifestyle interventions had a significant effect on both reflux and dyspeptic symptoms. CONCLUSION: Lifestyle interventions are thus considered to be important in GERD patients with dyspepsia who receive a proton pump inhibitor.

Clinical initiatives linking Japanese and Swedish healthcare resources on cancer studies utilizing Biobank Repositories.

The Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Japan and the Lund University hospital in Sweden have recently initiated a research program with the objective to impact on patient treatment by clinical disease stage characterization (phenotyping), utilizing proteomics sequencing platforms. By sharing clinical experiences, patient treatment principles, and biobank strategies, our respective clinical teams in Japan and Sweden will aid in the development of predictive and drug related protein biomarkers. Data from joint lung cancer studies are presented where protein expression from Neuro- Endocrine lung cancer (LCNEC) phenotype patients can be separated from Small cell- (SCLC) and Large Cell lung cancer (LCC) patients by deep sequencing and spectral counting analysis. LCNEC, a subtype of large cell carcinoma (LCC), is characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation that small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) shares. Pre-therapeutic histological distinction between LCNEC and SCLC has so far been problematic, leading to adverse clinical outcome. An establishment of protein targets characteristic of LCNEC is quite helpful for decision of optimal therapeutic strategy by diagnosing individual patients. Proteoform annotation and clinical biobanking is part of the HUPO initiative (http://www.hupo.org) within chromosome 10 and chromosome 19 consortia.

Predictors of microscopic portal vein invasion by hepatocellular carcinoma: measurement of portal perfusion defect area ratio.

OBJECTIVE: Microscopic portal vein invasion (PVI) by cancer cells is a poor prognostic factor after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study is to predict PVI preoperatively in patients with HCC. METHODS: We studied 46 hepatectomized patients who had HCC without any portal venous invasion detected during preoperative radiographic evaluation. We defined the portal perfusion defect area ratio (PPDAR) as the following: the quotient of the maximal portal perfusion defect area, on computed tomography during arterio-portography (CTAP) is divided by the maximal tumor area on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or CT. RESULTS: The median PPDAR was 1.3 (mean 1.4 +/- 1.1; ranged from 0.7 to 5.8). The incidence of PVI was 4.5% in patients with a PPDAR <1.3, 35.7% in those with a PPDAR of 1.3-1.6, 70% in those with a PPDAR > or = 1.6 (P = 0.0005). When analyzing the preoperative value of different cut-off points for the PPDAR, the lowest P-value by Fisher's exact test was achieved when the PPDAR threshold was 1.6 (P = 0.0012). The sensitivity was 58%, and specificity was 91% with this cut-off value. On univariate analyses, factors that significantly correlated with PVI were PPDAR (P = 0.0012), serum levels of des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (P = 0.033), and tumor size (P = 0.0126). On multivariate analysis, PPDAR was the only significant independent predictor of PVI. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that PPDAR is a new concept, which is useful in predicting PVI and that a value > or = 1.6 is predictive of PVI.

Clinicopathological risk factors linked to recurrence pattern after curative hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma--results of 152 resected cases.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The recurrence rate after hepatectomy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains high. Although the cause of recurrence seems to be the multicentric occurrence and metastasis of cancer cells in the patients after curative resection of HCC, the mechanism of HCC recurrence in each case is still uncertain. The recurrence pattern may illuminate these mechanisms. METHODOLOGY: A data analysis of 152 patients who underwent HCC resection, and had observed for more than 5 years was conducted. These patients were divided into three groups; group I (n=32), the patients without HCC recurrence, group II (n=86), the patients with fewer than four recurrent nodules of HCC, group III (n=34), the patients with four or more recurrent nodules of HCC. We compared the clinicopathological data of groups I and II, and of groups I and III. The linkage of risk factors linked to recurrence patterns was clarified. RESULTS: The risk factors linked to group II by comparison with group I were high serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, low serum levels of albumin, high values in the indocyanine green retention test at fifteen minutes, hepatitis C antibody positivity. low platelet counts, and high histological hepatitis activity. The risk factors linked to group III were large tumor size, histological presence of portal vein invasion by cancer cells, intrahepatic metastasis, and poor differentiation of cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors linked to recurrence with no more than three HCC nodules recurrence were related to host-related factors such as hepatic function, and hepatitis activity, but not tumor related. The risk factors linked to multiple recurrence were tumor related. The analysis of recurrence patterns revealed that completely different mechanisms exist in the patients with recurrence involving no more than four nodules, which may be related to multicentric occurrence, and patients with multiple recurrence, which may be related to the metastasis of cancer cells.

Annular reconstruction for mitral valve replacement in a destroyed or calcified mitral annulus.

Mitral valve replacement in the presence of severe annular calcification and an infectious lesion may be complicated by atrioventricular rupture, left circumflex coronary artery injury, and recurrence of infective endocarditis. Confronted with these circumstances, we have developed a technique of annular reconstruction for mitral valve replacement. The prosthetic valve is made by enlarging the circumference of the sewing ring with a Dacron collar. The collar can be sutured to the left atrial wall above the mitral annulus. This technique has been employed in five patients: three had extensive annular calcification, and two had acute valve endocarditis with destruction of mitral annulus. In all cases, the circumferential or partial annular reconstruction permitted secure implantation of the prosthetic valve. The one postoperative death was related to hemodialysis due to chronic renal failure. There were no other fatalities during the postoperative course, and the valves functioned normally. Our results suggest that this technique can be performed in high operative risk patients when mitral valve replacement is impossible using conventional techniques.

Successful surgical treatment of an infrarenal abdominal pseudoaneurysm caused by tuberculosis: report of a case.

A 76-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for investigation of an apparent abdominal aortic aneurysm detected during treatment for epididymitis. A chest X-ray showed miliary shadows in the bilateral lung fields strongly suggestive of tuberculosis. The diameter of the aneurysm increased, and examinations showed impending rupture of a pseudoaneurysm. However, a definitive disease pathogenesis was not obtained before surgery. We performed a subemergency operation, which revealed an infrarenal abdominal pseudoaneurysm caused by tuberculosis. The pseudoaneurysm appeared to have resulted from direct extension of tuberculous lymphadenitis to the aortic wall, which ruptured. We review 24 other cases of tuberculous aortic aneurysms surgically treated in Japan before 2004.

Novel molecular drug carrier: encapsulation of oxaliplatin in cucurbit[7]uril and its effects on stability and reactivity of the drug.

Oxaliplatin forms a stable 1:1 inclusion complex with cucurbit[7]uril as indicated by NMR, mass spectrometry, isothermal titration calorimetry and X-ray crystallography. The encapsulation of the drug results in a large enhancement in stability, a moderate decrease in reactivity toward guanosine but a much larger decrease in reactivity toward L-methionine, which suggests the encapsulation not only increases the stability of the drug but also may reduce unwanted side effects caused by protein binding of the platinum drug. A preliminary in vitro assay using various tumor cell lines reveals that the encapsulation results in a decrease in the antitumor activity of oxaliplatin.

Clinical evaluation of combination therapy for biventricular pacing after cardiac surgery in patients with intractable heart failure.

We examined the effectiveness of combination therapy for biventricular pacing after cardiac surgery. We performed biventricular pacing in seven patients until April 2003. The diagnosis of the patients was ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) in four patients and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in three patients. The implantation method of biventricular pacing was performed with a myocardial electrode through a median sternotomy. DDD-R and SSI-R were used to perform biventricular pacing. A Y-adapter was connected to a generator so that the 2 leads could be implanted in both the right ventricles (RV) and left ventricles (LV). The clinical symptoms were New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification of 3.7+/-0.3 preoperatively and 1.8+/-0.6 postoperatively, showing a significant improvement (p<0.001). The cardiac index (CI) was 1.9+/-0.2 L/min/m2 preoperatively and 3.0+/-0.6 L/min/m2 postoperatively (p<0.05). The pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) was 19.5+/-2.6 mmHg preoperatively and 13.6+/-2.0 mmHg postoperatively, showing a significant improvement (p<0.05). The intracardiac potential and threshold values were: left atrium 1.9+/-1.0 mV, threshold value (PW: 0.45 msec) 2.1+/-0.6 V, LV 4.9+/-4.23 mV, threshold value (PW: 0.45 msec) 2.2+/-1.51 V, and RV 3.6+/-0.9 V, threshold value (PW: 0.45 msec) 2.0+/-0.7 V. The LV and RV threshold values were high. The QRS interval improved from 158.4+/-18.0 msec preoperatively to 110+/-13.4 msec postoperatively, showing a significant reduction. This combination therapy when compared to the use of the biventricular pacing method used at the current time, does have the risks of cardiac surgery, but the clinical symptoms and hemodynamic performance improvement are great.

Dynamic equilibrium between a supramolecular capsule and bowl generated by inter- and intramolecular metal clipping.

The metal-induced self-assembly of a resorcin[4]arene derivative 1 that has four pyridine units as pendent groups and two equivalents of [M(dppp)(OTf)(2)] (M=Pd, Pt) results in a dynamic equilibrium between an interclipped supramolecular capsule 3 and an intraclipped bowl 4 in nitromethane, although the interclipped capsule 3 is formed as a sole adduct in chloroform/methanol and the intraclipped bowl 4 is formed exclusively in an aqueous phase. This demonstrates how metal-induced self-assembly can be tuned by subtle changes in the solvent system. The coexistence of the two structures in nitromethane was characterized by NMR spectroscopy and coldspray ionization mass spectrometry (CSI-MS). The crystal structure of the interclipped capsule 3 b, which is composed of two units of ligand 1 and four Pt(II) ions, reveals the capsule cavity to have nanoscale dimensions of 15x20 A. NMR spectra show that the dynamic equilibrium between 3 and 4 is dependent on concentration and temperature. Temperature-dependent (1)H NMR spectroscopy was carried out from 273 to 343 K to verify the thermodynamic parameters that control the dynamic equilibrium process; the conversion from the interclipped supramolecular capsule 3 a to the intraclipped bowl 4 a is entropically favored and enthalpically disfavored. The rotational barrier of the restricted rotation of pyridine units in the intraclipped bowl 4 was determined by line-shape analysis.