Gender Differences in the Circadian and Seasonal Variations in Patients with Takotsubo Syndrome: A Multicenter Registry at Eight University Hospitals in East Japan.

Objective The aim of this study was to clarify the circadian and seasonal variations in addition to identify sex-based differences in Japanese patients with Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Methods The authors conducted a retrospective observational study to analyse the differences between the groups based on sex. Patients The patients were registered out of each institute registry of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) which contains a total of 10,622 cases in eight academic hospitals in east Japan. Results Data for 344 consecutive TTS (73 male and 271 female) were extracted from each hospital registry. In-hospital mortality was higher in the male group than in the female group (18% vs. 7%; p=0.005). With regard to the circadian variations in all study patients, TTS events occurred most often in the afternoon and least often during the night. Moreover, the patterns of circadian variations in the female and male groups were the same as that of all study patients. TTS events occurred most frequently in the autumn and least often in the spring in the whole study cohort. Moreover, the seasonal variation in the female group showed the same pattern as that of the whole cohort. However, there were no significant seasonal differences in the incidence of TTS in the male group. Conclusion In a multicenter study in Japan, seasonal variation was observed in the female group but not in the male group. Circadian variation was observed in both groups. These results suggested that the pathogenesis and clinical features of TTS might therefore differ according to sex.

Clinical and procedure characteristics in patients treated with polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stents after coronary perforation: a CIRC-8U multicenter registry and literature review.

This study aimed at identifying the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients treated with polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE)-covered stents after coronary interventions in a multicenter registry. Subjects with coronary artery perforation were selected from 31,262 consecutive patients who underwent coronary interventions in the hospital registries. Subjects were divided into two groups: those with a PTFE-covered stent implantation and those without a PTFE-covered stent implantation. Clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between the two groups. Data for 82 consecutive coronary perforations (15 PTFE-covered stents and 67 non-PTFE-covered stents) were extracted from each hospital registry. The PTFE-covered stent group had a higher prevalence of perforations due to pre-dilatation before stenting or post-dilatation after stenting (80% vs. 10.4%; p < 0.001), more Ellis classification III perforations (66.6% vs. 28.4%; p = 0.019), longer perforation to hemostasis time (74 min vs. 10 min; p < 0.001), lower hemostatic success rates (73.3% vs. 94.0%; p = 0.015), and higher in-hospital mortality (26.7% vs. 6.0%; p = 0.015) than the non-PTFE-covered stent group. Although the prevalence of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) usage was high during coronary interventions (86.7%), IVUS was performed in less than half the cases just before coronary perforations (47%) in the PTFE-covered stent group. Patients requiring PTFE-covered stents are more likely to be observed after balloon dilatation before or after stenting and have a poor prognosis. Careful coronary intervention is needed when IVUS image acquisition is not achieved in addition to proper evaluation of IVUS. Furthermore, if coronary artery perforation occurs, it is important to determine the need for a prompt PTFE-covered stent.

Clinical features and predictors of patients with critical limb ischemia who responded to autologous mononuclear cell transplantation for therapeutic angiogenesis.

The clinical features of patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) who responded to angiogenesis using autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cell transplantation (PB-MNC) have not yet been fully characterized, and there are no useful predictors to judge the curative effect in the early period after PB-MNC. This study sought to clarify the clinical features and predictors in patients with CLI who were successfully treated using PB-MNC. 30 consecutive patients [arteriosclerosis obliterans: 24 patients, thromboangiitis obliterans: 6 patients] who were diagnosed with major amputation despite maximal medical therapy were enrolled in this study. The study endpoint was major amputation within 3 months after PB-MNC. The collected data were evaluated for correlation between patients with and without major amputation within 3 months after PB-MNC. Six patients underwent major amputation and 1 patient underwent minor amputation. In the patients with major amputation, transcutaneous oxygen tension before PB-MNC and transplanted CD34-positive cells were lower than those of patients without major amputation. In the patients with amputation, interleukin-6 (IL-6) continued to increase after the first PB-MNC, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) decreased within 3 days after the first PB-MNC. PB-MNC was useful for the patients who were managed for inflammation and who had revascularization of the upper-popliteal arteries and two of the infra-popliteal arteries by endovascular and/or surgical revascularization. Variation in IL-6 and bFGF in the early period after PB-MNC could be useful predictors for the requirement of amputation within 3 months after PB-MNC.

Is there a relation between triglyceride concentrations in very low density lipoprotein and the index of insulin resistance in nondiabetic subjects?

BACKGROUND: Serum very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels increase during the early stages of insulin resistance; therefore, determination of VLDL levels would be useful for evaluating the progression of metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical utility of triglyceride in VLDL (VLDL-TG) level, determined using a homogeneous assay kit (Shino-test Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), as an index of insulin resistance. METHODS: We enrolled 74 subjects in this study (diabetic subjects, n = 42; nondiabetic subjects, n = 32). The levels of VLDL-TG, remnant-like lipoprotein particle cholesterol, preheparin lipoprotein lipase mass, and other biochemical markers were determined. RESULTS: VLDL-TG levels were significantly higher in the diabetic group (1.04 ± 0.84 mmol/l vs. 0.64 ± 0.42 mmol/l, P < 0.01) than in the nondiabetic group. In the nondiabetic group, VLDL-TG was significantly correlated with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), the index for insulin resistance (r = 0.513, P = 0.003). VLDL-TG levels, but not TG levels, were higher in the highest quartile (HOMA-IR) of the nondiabetic group. CONCLUSION: VLDL-TG level was a useful early marker for insulin resistance, especially in nondiabetic subjects. The homogeneous VLDL-TG assay is a simple, low-cost method for determining insulin resistance.

Therapeutic strategy using extracorporeal life support, including appropriate indication, management, limitation and timing of switch to ventricular assist device in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

The appropriate indication for, management of and limitations to extracorporeal life support (ECLS) and the timing of a switch to a ventricular assist device (VAD) remain controversial issues in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated with cardiogenic shock or cardiopulmonary arrest. To evaluate and discuss these issues, we studied patients with AMI treated with ECLS and compared deceased and discharged patients. Thirty-eight patients with AMI who needed ECLS [35 men (92.1 %), aged 59.9 ± 13.5 years] were enrolled in this study. Of these 38 patients, 34 subsequently underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and four subsequently received coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Fourteen patients (36.8 %) were discharged from the hospital. The outcome was not favorable for those patients with deteriorating low output syndrome (LOS) and the development of leg ischemia, hemolysis and multiple organ failure during ECLS. Levels of creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase, serum creatinine (Cr) and amylase after the patient had been put on ECLS and fluctuation of the cardiac index, blood pressure, arterial blood gas analysis and CK-MB and Cr levels during ECLS were indicators to switch from the ECLS to VAD. In the case of patients with no complication associated with ECLS, 4.6-5.6 days after initiation of ECLS was assumed to be the threshold to decide whether to switch from ECLS to VAD. Patients with AMI who suddenly developed refractory pulseless ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation without deteriorating LOS and who underwent successful PCI or CABG, and who prevented the complications associated with ECLS, showed a high probability of recovering with ECLS.

Two-week interval optical coherence tomography: imaging evidence on neointimal coverage completion after implantation of the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain imaging evidence by 2-week optical coherence tomography (OCT) on the completion of neointimal coverage (NIC; the percentage of stent strut coverage and thickness of the formed neointima) completion after implantation of the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (E-ZES). BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that NIC is a cardinal process in the pathomechanism of late stent thrombosis, little imaging information is available on morphological changes thereof on a short-time interval basis. METHODS: 27 Japanese patients with stable angina pectoris and de novo native coronary artery lesions were enrolled, and 27 lesions (30 implantations) were examined. OCT was performed at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 after E-ZES implantation. NIC was examined using cross-sectional OCT images obtained at the 1.0-mm intervals. RESULTS: In total, 621 cross-sectional OCT images, which depicted 7,747 stent struts, were analyzed. The mean percentages of stent strut coverage at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 after E-ZES implantation were 12.3, 70.4, 67.9, 86.0, and 99.2%, respectively; a marked increase was found between weeks 2 and 4. The mean thicknesses of the formed neointima were 40.2, 52.1, 48.1, 86.5, and 146.2 µm at respective weeks, with the high-signal and thick neointima (146 µm) at week 10. An intracoronary thrombus was detected in only one stent at week 4. CONCLUSIONS: The full circumferential coverage of the vessel wall by the high-signal neointima was found at as early as week 10 after E-ZES implantation, imparting a surrogate index for vascular healing by NIC.

Phosphoglucomutase activity as a novel biomarker in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Phosphoglucomutase (PGM), a key enzyme in cellular glucose utilization and energy homeostasis, has been reported to show a relationship with oxidative stress. However, the clinical importance of PGM activity has not been investigated in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). The aim of the present pilot study was to clarify whether PGM activity has potential as a cardiovascular risk predictor in patients with IHD. METHODS AND RESULTS: The levels of serum PGM activity in 237 patients with IHD (63 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 174 patients with stable effort angina pectoris (EAP)) were evaluated. PGM activity was compared with levels of various myocardial, thrombosis, and inflammatory biomarkers on admission. PGM activity in the AMI group was significantly increased relative to that in the EAP group on admission (AMI, 55.5 µmol·min(-1)·L(-1) (U/L); EAP, 14.4 U/L (P<0.001)), and was observed to increase in parallel with well-established myocardial markers (P<0.001). Moreover, PGM activity and the lipid, thrombosis, and inflammatory biomarkers in the AMI group were higher than those in the EAP group. CONCLUSIONS: PGM activity increased with levels of myocardial, thrombosis, and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with AMI, and might be useful in diagnostic applications during the acute phase in patients with AMI.