Johnstonhewitt1507

Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed a greater area under the curve for SFA/VFA than for the other parameters. The cut-off level of SFA/VFA with the greatest sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of MACE was 1.45 (sensitivity 0.849, specificity 0.472). Conclusions Our results suggest that SFA/VFA may be a marker for evaluating the presence of MACE.Background Drug-eluting stents (DESs) have been widely used for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there are few reports on early- and middle-phase arterial repair after DES implantation in ACS patients. Methods and Results Coronary angioscopy (CAS) findings covering the early and middle phases (mean [±SD] 4±1 and 10±2 months, respectively) of arterial healing after second- and later-generation DES placement between May 2009 and January 2020 were extracted from the Kansai Rosai Hospital Cardiovascular Center database. Neointimal coverage (NIC), yellow color intensity, and the incidence of thrombus adhesion were compared between ACS and chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) in the early (54 stents of 47 lesions, 38 ACS patients; 86 stents of 70 lesions, 52 CCS patients) and middle (179 stents of 154 lesions from 136 ACS patients; 459 stents of 374 lesions from 287 CCS patients) phases. In the early phase, NIC, the incidence of thrombus adhesion (ACS, 39.1%; CCS, 38.0%), and maximum yellow color grade were similar between the 2 groups. In the middle phase, although the maximum yellow color grade was significantly higher in the ACS group (P=0.013), NIC and the incidence of thrombus adhesion (ACS, 24.6%; CCS, 23.4%) were similar in the 2 groups. Conclusions Arterial healing assessment with CAS showed that NIC and the incidence of thrombus adhesion after DES implantation were similar between ACS and CCS patients.Background The implications of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, including the newly introduced esaxerenone, on cardiac reverse remodeling in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remain uncertain. Methods and Results We included patients with HFpEF who received esaxerenone for hypertension between November 2019 and July 2021 in this retrospective study. Changes in left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were compared between the 6-month pretreatment period (without esaxerenone) and the 6-month treatment period (on esaxerenone). Thirty-three patients (median age 74 years [interquartile range IQR 70-81 years]; 33% male, median systolic blood pressure [SBP] 135 mmHg [IQR 123-148 mmHg]) were included in the study and completed 6-month esaxerenone therapy without any adverse events. During the pretreatment period, SBP decreased significantly (P=0.009), whereas LVMI remained unchanged (P=0.30). During the esaxerenone treatment period, both SBP and LVMI decreased significantly (P=0.003 and P=0.001, respectively). Conclusions Esaxerenone may have beneficial effects of reverse remodeling in patients with HFpEF when used to treat hypertension. Further studies are needed to understand which patient populations may see greater benefits with esaxerenone.Background The prognostic impact of urinary isoxanthopterin (U-IXP), a recently proposed marker of oxidative stress, in patients with heart failure remains unknown. Methods and Results Patients who were admitted to our institute for decompensated heart failure were prospectively included in the study; U-IXP was measured on admission. The association between the U-IXP concentration and a composite primary outcome that included cardiovascular death and heart failure readmissions following the index discharge was investigated. In all, 42 patients (median age 78 years [interquartile range IQR 69-85 years]; 25 males) were included in the study. The median U-IXP concentration on admission was 0.58 μmol/g creatinine (Cre; IQR 0.35-0.95 μmol/g Cre). A higher U-IXP concentration was an independent predictor of the primary outcome adjusted for clinical potential confounders and was associated with a significantly higher cumulative incidence of the primary outcome (71% vs. 16%, P=0.001) at a cut-off of 0.93 μmol/g Cre. Conclusions U-IXP on admission was associated with cardiovascular death or heart failure readmission following the index discharge in patients with decompensated heart failure. The clinical implication of aggressive interventions to normalize U-IXP and the detailed prognostic mechanism of U-IXP in heart failure patients remain the next concerns.Background Both hypo- and hyperkalemia are associated with adverse events in heart failure patients. Their effects on patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) remains unknown. Methods and Results The cohort included consecutive patients undergoing LVAD implantation between 2014 and 2018. In all, 170 patients (median age 56 years; 117 males) were stratified according to serum potassium levels 1 month after implantation into 3 groups hypokalemia (5.0 mEq/L; n=9). Compared with the normokalemia group, the adjusted hazard ratios for 1-year mortality were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21-3.92) for hypokalemia and 4.14 (95% CI 1.47-11.65) for hyperkalemia. In the hyperkalemia group, the prevalence of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors decreased and serum potassium levels normalized following the first month. Conclusions Hyperkalemia was associated with increased mortality during LVAD support. Management of serum potassium needs further investigation.Background Kurort is a German term from the words kur (cure) and ort (area), and refers to improvements in patients' health in areas full of nature. We investigated the effect of kurort health walking in the 2 urban-style kurort health walking courses opened in Gifu City on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate, and mood. Methods and Results The subjects were 454 people (136 males, 318 females; mean [±SD] age 61.7±9.9 years) taking part in kurort health walking for the first time. SBP, DBP, and heart rate were measured before and after kurort health walking. Mood was assessed using a 10-item checklist after kurort health walking. Kurort health walking significantly decreased SBP and DBP and increased heart rate. The decrease in SBP was significantly greater in the SBP ≥140 than less then 140 mmHg group, indicating that SBP before Kurort health walking was inversely correlated with the change in SBP. Similarly, the decrease in DBP was significantly greater in the DBP ≥90 than less then 90 mmHg group, indicating that DBP before kurort health walking was also inversely correlated with the change in DBP. All 10 items on the mood assessment were significantly improved after kurort health walking. Conclusions Kurort health walking preferentially decreases higher blood pressure and improves mood.Background The ELDERCARE-AF trial demonstrated that low-dose edoxaban prevented stroke or systemic embolism (SE) in very elderly Japanese patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in whom standard oral anticoagulant therapy was inappropriate because of high bleeding risk. The aim of this study was to elucidate the characteristics and outcomes of such patients in routine clinical practice. Methods and Results Data were extracted from the Fushimi AF Registry for ELDERCARE-eligible NVAF patients aged ≥80 years, with a CHADS2 score ≥2 and ≥1 bleeding risk factors, as shown in the ELDERCARE-AF trial. check details ELDERCARE-eligible patients (n=549; 12.8% of the entire cohort, 52.9% of those aged ≥80 years and with CHADS2 score ≥2) were less often male, were older, had more comorbidity and higher risk scores than non-eligible patients from the entire cohort (n=3,734). The crude incidence (% per patient-year) of adverse events was significantly higher in ELDERCARE-eligible than non-eligible patients (stroke/SE, 4.8% vs. 2.0%; major bleeding, 3.6% vs. 1.9%; all-cause mortality, 15.5% vs. 3.9%; cardiovascular death, 2.7% vs. 0.6%; all log-rank P less then 0.001). Compared with non-eligible patients aged ≥80 years and with a CHADS2 score ≥2 (n=488), the incidence of stroke/SE, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular death remained significantly higher in ELDERCARE-eligible patients. Conclusions Patients with NVAF who met the inclusion criteria of the ELDERCARE-AF trial were common in routine clinical practice, and had poor clinical outcomes.Cancer still ranks as a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Although considerable efforts have been dedicated to anticancer therapeutics, progress is still slow, partially due to the absence of robust prediction models. Multicellular tumor spheroids, as a major three-dimensional (3D) culture model exhibiting features of avascular tumors, gained great popularity in pathophysiological studies and high throughput drug screening. However, limited control over cellular and structural organization is still the key challenge in achieving in vivo like tissue microenvironment. 3D bioprinting has made great strides toward tissue/organ mimicry, due to its outstanding spatial control through combining both cells and materials, scalability, and reproducibility. Prospectively, harnessing the power from both 3D bioprinting and multicellular spheroids would likely generate more faithful tumor models and advance our understanding on the mechanism of tumor progression. In this review, the emerging concept on using spheroids as a building block in 3D bioprinting for tumor modeling is illustrated. We begin by describing the context of the tumor microenvironment, followed by an introduction of various methodologies for tumor spheroid formation, with their specific merits and drawbacks. Thereafter, we present an overview of existing 3D printed tumor models using spheroids as a focus. We provide a compilation of the contemporary literature sources and summarize the overall advancements in technology and possibilities of using spheroids as building blocks in 3D printed tissue modeling, with a particular emphasis on tumor models. Future outlooks about the wonderous advancements of integrated 3D spheroidal printing conclude this review.Bioprinting is an emerging technology for the construction of complex three-dimensional (3D) constructs used in various biomedical applications. One of the challenges in this field is the delicate manipulation of material properties and various disparate printing parameters to create structures with high fidelity. Understanding the effects of certain parameters and identifying optimal parameters for creating highly accurate structures are therefore a worthwhile subject to investigate. The objective of this study is to investigate high-impact print parameters on the printing printability and develop a preliminary machine learning model to optimize printing parameters. The results of this study will lead to an exploration of machine learning applications in bioprinting and to an improved understanding between 3D printing parameters and structural printability. Reported results include the effects of rheological property, nozzle gauge, nozzle temperature, path height, and ink composition on the printability of Pluronic F127. The developed Support Vector Machine model generated a process map to assist the selection of optimal printing parameters to yield high quality prints with high probability (>75%). Future work with more generalized machine learning models in bioprinting is also discussed in this article. The finding of this study provides a simple tool to improve printability of extrusion-based bioprinting with minimum experimentations.