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Mitral valvuloplasty using GORE-TEX as the artificial chordae is often associated with difficulties in determining the length of the artificial chordae, achieving the correct artificial chordae length, and preventing knot slippage, especially for beginners. We describe a simple technique involving a novel device called the "Mitral Plate," which enables surgeons to automatically determine the correct length of the artificial chordae and tie slippery knots without performing excessive saline tests.

Background: Functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is caused by left ventricular (LV) remodeling and subsequent tethering of the mitral valve (MV). If LV remodeling is irreversibly advanced, it could not be attenuated by the MV procedure alone, although the additional subvalvular procedure could induce LV reverse remodeling by forcibly reducing MV tethering. This study aimed to assess the anti-tethering effect of papillary muscle tugging approximation (PMTA) on LV reverse remodeling after mitral valve replacement (MVR) for non-ischemic FMR. Methods: The study subjects were 19 patients who underwent MVR with and without PMTA [MVR + PMTA (n = 11) and MVR alone (n = 8), respectively] for non-ischemic FMR. The tethering distance (TD) and LV end-systolic volume (ESV) at the preoperative, postoperative, and follow-up periods were assessed in terms of their correlation and time-dependent changes. The intra-LV energy efficiency was also evaluated through vector flow mapping analysis. Results: TD and ESV were comparable between both procedures preoperatively and did not change after MVR alone. In MVR + PMTA, however, a significant decrease was identified in TD and ESV at the early postoperative and follow-up periods, respectively [TD = 48, 30, and 31 mm (p < 0.001) and ESV = 159, 133, and 82 mL (p < 0.001) at the preoperative, postoperative, and follow-up periods, respectively]. Finally, at follow-up, the extent of change from the preoperative value in ESV significantly correlated with that in TD (rho = 0.81, p < 0.001 for overall; rho = 0.93, p < 0.001 for MVR + PMTA; rho = 0.86, p = 0.011 for MVR alone). The ratio of TD to ESV was also significantly correlated with systolic energy loss to LV stroke work after MVR + PMTA (rho = 0.81, p = 0.015). Conclusions: PMTA for non-ischemic FMR could induce LV reverse remodeling depending on the extent of postoperative TD reduction. A smaller TD to ESV was associated with a higher intra-LV energy efficiency after PMTA + MVR. (C) 2021 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objectives Myocardial autophagy has been recognized as an important factor in heart failure. It is not known whether changes in ventricular geometry by left ventriculoplasty influence autophagy in ischemic cardiomyopathy. We hypothesized that myocardial autophagy plays an important role in left ventricular (LV) redilation after ventriculoplasty. Methods Four weeks after ligation of the left anterior descending artery, ventriculoplasty or sham operation was performed. The animals were euthanized at 2 days (early) or 28 days (late) after the second operation. Ventricular autophagy was evaluated by protein expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 II, an autophagosome marker. Cardiomyocyte area was assessed by histologic examination. LV function was evaluated by echocardiography. To examine the implications of autophagy, an autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine) was injected intraperitoneally for 3 weeks before sacrifice. Results The LV was reduced in size early and redilated late after ventriculoplasty. LV systolic function was improved early and later worsened after ventriculoplasty. Light chain 3 II expression decreased early after ventriculoplasty and increased in the late period. Myocyte area increased from the early to late stage after ventriculoplasty. Autophagic inhibition exaggerated the increased myocyte hypertrophy and LV redilation. Conclusions In a rat model of myocardial infarction, autophagy decreased early after ventriculoplasty and increased again during LV redilation. These results provide new insights into the mechanism underlying the late failure of ventriculoplasty.

A 23-year-old man had progressive muscle weakness and Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) due to a LMNA (lamin A/C) mutation. Congestive heart failure diagnosed at 19 years of age. Maximal drug treatment/cardiac resynchronization failed to improve the cardiac function. He was therefore hospitalized due to heart failure. Despite extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, he developed severe right heart dysfunction and died (multiple organ failure). A cardiac lesion's presence determines the prognosis of EDMD. While there are many arrhythmia reports, few reports on heart failure (particularly severe heart failure requiring cardiac transplantation) have been published. Right heart function monitoring and early ventricular-assist device use plus right heart support considering heart transplantation are important.

This article translates the guidelines for cadaver surgical training (CST) published in 2012 by Japan Surgical Society (JSS) and Japanese Association of Anatomists from Japanese to English. These guidelines are based on Japanese laws and enable the usage of donated cadavers for CST and clinical research. The following are the conditions to implement the activities outlined in the guidelines. The aim is to improve medicine and to contribute to social welfare. Activities should only be carried out at medical or dental universities under the centralized control by the department of anatomy under the regulation of Japanese law. Upon the usage of cadavers, registered donors must provide a written informed-consent for their body to be used for CST and other activities of clinical medicine. Commercial use of cadavers and profit-based CST is strongly prohibited. Moreover, all the cadaver-related activities except for the commercial-based ones require the approval of the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) before implementation. The expert committee organized at each university for the implementation of CST should summarize the implementation of the program and report the details of the training program, operating costs, and conflicts of interest to the CST Promotion Committee of JSS.

Objective We performed a multicenter prospective comparative study to determine the impact of a Japanese frozen elephant trunk device on total arch replacement compared with conventional repair without it. Methods Between 2016 and 2019, a total of 684 patients (frozen elephant trunk procedure; n = 369; conventional repair, n = 315) from 41 institutions were enrolled. The 2 procedures were selected according to each center's strategy. Results The frozen elephant trunk procedure was applied more for aortic dissection, whereas the conventional repairs were predominantly performed for aneurysms. In the former, only hypothermic circulatory arrest time was reduced among the intraoperative parameters. Although there were no differences in the 30-day and in-hospital mortality rates (0.8% and 1.6%, respectively, for the frozen elephant trunk procedure vs 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively, for conventional repair), the neurologic complication rates were significantly higher in stroke (5.7% vs 2.2%; P = .022) and paraplegia (1.6% vs 0%; P = .023). In the propensity score matching analyses using 11 variables, statistical significance disappeared in the differences for mortality and neurologic morbidity (stroke and paraplegia/paraparesis) rates of 194 patients of each group, although they were still higher for the frozen elephant trunk procedure. Conclusions The early outcomes of total arch replacement with the frozen elephant trunk procedure were acceptable despite its higher prevalence of emergency or redo surgery, which was comparable to that of the conventional repair. This procedure had higher rates of spinal cord injury than the conventional repair, which is a disadvantage of this approach.

Objectives While it was reported that patients with residual moderate mitral regurgitation (MR) after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) had a poorer prognosis than those without it, the risk factors for residual MR have not been fully elucidated. The aim of the study was to evaluate risk factors for residual MR after SAVR. Methods Of the 222 patients who underwent isolated SAVR from 2001 to 2018, 33 (11 men; age: 74 +/- 7 years) had functional moderate MR before surgery. The risk factors for residual MR were evaluated by comparing patients with residual moderate MR (n = 11, 33%) with those who exhibited improved post-surgery MR (n = 22, 67%). Results The left atrial diameter was significantly larger in the residual MR group (51 +/- 7 mm) than in the improved MR group (46 +/- 5 mm; P = 0.049). The mean pressure gradient at the aortic valve was significantly smaller in the residual MR group (52 +/- 18 mmHg) than in the improved MR group (69 +/- 22 mmHg; P = 0.043). A ratio of left atrial diameter (mm) and mean aortic valve pressure gradient (mmHg) greater than 0.9 predicted residual MR with a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 74% (area under the ROC curve: 0.779; P = 0.015). Conclusions In patients with severe aortic valve stenosis and moderate MR, a high ratio of preoperative left atrial diameter and mean aortic valve pressure gradient would be a parameter predicting residual moderate MR post-SAVR.

Recent reports suggested that cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time is one of the risk factors for postoperative complications after Fontan conversion. Although Fontan conversion may be performed for the patients with hepatic fibrosis after initial Fontan procedure, there is no predictive indicator regarding the liver function associated with hemostasis which can affects CPB time. Thirty-one patients who underwent Fontan conversion using the same surgical procedure (extracardiac conduit conversion with right atrium exclusion) were enrolled. In multivariate analyses including age at Fontan conversion, interval from initial Fontan to conversion, hemodynamic data such as right atrial pressure, ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and cardiac index, hepatic data such as platelet count, prothrombin time international normalized ratios, serum total bilirubin, hyaluronic acid levels, five known indices for hepatic fibrosis (Forns Index, APRI, FIB4, FibroIndex, and MELD-XI), and liver stiffness measured by ultrasound elastography, only the Forns Index remained independently associated with the CPB time (P 0.01) and blood transfusions (plasma transfusions and platelet concentrations: P 0.01 for both). The cutoff level for Forns Index to predict the prolonged CPB time (exceeding 240 min) was 4.85 by receiver-operating characteristic curve (area under the curve 0.823, sensitivity 76.9%, and specificity 72.2%). Three patients with Forns Index 7.0 had poor outcomes with long CPB time and massive blood transfusions in contrast with the other 28 patients. In conclusion, Forns Index could serve as a practical predictor of CPB time and is associated with blood transfusion volume in Fontan conversion.

Background This study aimed to determine the usefulness and limitations of videoassisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy using one-window and puncture method (1WPM). Methods This study involved 14 patients who underwent lobectomy using the 1WPM at our institute from 2008 to 2017. Results The study patients comprised of 3 men and 11 women with a median age of 10.5 years (range, 0-72 years). There were eight cases in children younger than 18 years old and the youngest patient was 9 days old. The diagnoses were congenital pulmonary cystic disease (n = 7), primary lung cancer (n = 4), metastatic lung tumor (n = 1), and others (n = 2). The 1WPM was successful in 9 of 14 patients (64.3%) and, in 5 cases (35.7%), needed conversion to either two-window method (TWM) using additional port (n = 3) or open thoracotomy (n = 2). The causes for conversion were need for additional bronchoplasty or lymph node dissection (n = 3), failure of one-lung ventilation (n = 1), and presence of a small thoracic cavity that made the procedure extremely difficult (n = 1). In the group that was successfully treated with 1WPM, the median values were as follows: operation time, 193 min (range, 112-480 min); blood loss, 0 ml (range, 0-90 ml); drainage duration, 1 day (range, 1-4 days); and postoperative hospital stay, 7 days (range, 4-13 days). Conclusions Lobectomy by 1WPM can be safely performed and has good postoperative course and this procedure can be applicable and effective in small infants., Highlights • This study describes the novel VATS lobectomy method: the one-window and puncture method (1WPM). • 1WPM is performed using 2–3 cm single incisions and a needle scope for intrathoracic access from other points. • This retrospective study involved 14 patients who underwent lobectomy using the 1WPM. • VATS lobectomy using 1WPM can be safely applied from adult cases to new born cases.

Introduction The prognostic implications of having patients with idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) on lung transplantation waiting lists have been unclear. In Japan, where a severe shortage of brain-dead donors remains a major limitation for organ transplantation, it is particularly important to predict the prognoses of patients when they are listed for transplantation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of lung transplantation candidates with IPPFE and the influence of those characteristics on prognosis. Methods This was a retrospective review of 29 consecutive adult lung transplant candidates with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia between January 2014 and April 2018. Results Eight patients with IPPFE and 21 with other types of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia were included. Body mass index (median 17.1 kg/m2 vs 23.5 kg/m2, P Conclusions Patients with IPPFE waiting for transplantation have some distinctive characteristics and should be retained on waiting lists to receive transplants.

Hemocompatibility-related adverse events (HRAEs) are substantial issues in patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with worse prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF), but its effect on HRAEs following LVAD implantation remain uncertain.Methods and Results:Data from the Japanese Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support registry of consecutive patients who received HeartMate II LVADs and were followed for 1 year were retrospectively reviewed. Among 190 patients, 23 had AF and 167 had sinus rhythm. The AF group had comparable baseline characteristics with the non-AF group except for their higher age (53 vs. 42 years, P0.001). Following LVAD implantation, most cases of AF (73%) persisted. Antiplatelet therapy, anticoagulation therapy, and LVAD speed following LVAD implantation were comparable between groups (P0.05 for all). The 1-year survival free from HRAEs was comparable between groups (83% vs. 76%, P=0.52). Event rates of the breakdown of HRAEs were comparable between groups except for a relatively higher rate of surgically managed pump thrombosis in the AF group (0.16 vs. 0.04, incidence rate ratio 3.75, 95% confidence interval 0.87-16.1, P=0.075). These trends still remained with propensity score-matched comparison.Existence of AF had no effect on the development of HRAEs following LVAD implantation. The need to aggressively treat AF before or after LVAD implantation needs further investigation.

Objective Mitral subvalvular procedures in addition to restrictive annuloplasty are promising for ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR). However, the prevalence and efficacy of specific subvalvular repair in severe IMR have not been elucidated. This is the first nationwide survey regarding surgeons' attitudes toward IMR in Japan. Methods A questionnaire was sent to 543 institutions. From 2015 to 2019, numbers of elective first-time mitral valve replacement (MVR) with/without complete chordal preservation (CCP)/papillary muscle approximation (PMA) and mitral valvuloplasty (MVP) with/without papillary muscle relocation (PMR)/PMA in patients with severe IMR were collected. Concomitant procedures for coronary artery, tricuspid valve, and arrhythmia could be included but left ventricular reconstruction was excluded. Results Completed questionnaires were received from 286 institutions (52.7%). The majority (90%) had less than 20 cases within 5 years. The number of MVP (1413, 61.5%) surpassed MVR (886, 38.5%). CCP was performed in half of MVR (50.0%), while PMA was included in only 1.9% of MVR. PMA and PMR were also performed infrequently, in only 7.7% and 10.9% of MVP, respectively. Conclusion Japanese surgeons aggressively perform MVP for severe IMR. Subvalvular repair was also aggressively performed in addition to MVR, but not to MVP. A multicenter registry study is in progress.

Background The bridge-to-bridge (BTB) strategy, a conversion to durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) after stabilization using surgical temporary mechanical circulatory supports for a couple of months, is not uncommon in Japan. However, its effect on clinical outcomes in comparison with a primary durable LVAD implantation strategy remains unknown.Methods and Results:Data of 837 consecutive patients (median age 45, 73% males) who underwent durable LVAD implantation as BTB (n=168) or primary implant (n=669) between April 2011 and April 2019 were retrospectively reviewed from the prospective multicenter Japanese mechanically assisted circulatory support registry. The BTB group was younger and had comparable end-organ function, better hemodynamic profile, and longer operative time compared with the primary implant group at baseline. The 3-year survival was 80% vs. 87% (P=0.007) for the BTB and primary implant groups respectively, with greater observed rates of stroke and infection as the predominant causes of death. The BTB strategy was independently associated with increased 3-year mortality (hazard ratio 2.69 [1.43-5.07], P=0.002) in addition to other significant risk factors. Conclusions The BTB cohort had comparable baseline characteristics to the primary implant cohort at the time of durable LVAD conversion, but had lower 3-year survival. Detailed analysis clarifying the causality of this finding should improve outcomes with the BTB strategy.

Objective: Operative mortality and morbidity after thoracoabdominal aortic surgery remain high. We report our strategy and outcomes, especially those of spinal cord protection. Methods: Outcomes of 178 patients (age: 26-88 years) who underwent thoracoabdominal aortic replacement were retrospectively analyzed. 65 had aortic dissection, 14 had infected aneurysms, and 22 presented with rupture. Operations were non-elective in 24 and redo through re-thoracotomy in 21. Extent of replacement was Crawford-I in 39, II in 26, III in 78, and IV in 35. Staged repair was recently preferred, which resulted in decrease in extent II repair and increase in redo since 2009. Operations were performed under distal aortic perfusion and multi-segmental sequential repair to maximize collateral blood flow, and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest was preserved for those requiring open aortic anastomosis (n = 20). A total of 166 separate grafts were used for intercostal reconstruction in 88 patients, which was guided by preoperative feeding artery localization. Their patency was studied by postoperative MD-CT in 74 patients for 145 grafts. Results: There were 3.9% hospital mortality and 5.1% spinal cord injury. Preoperative feeding artery localization resulted in reduced number of reconstruction and improved patency, and grafts connecting to the feeding artery were patent in 92%. Results of redo operations were not different (no mortality and spinal cord injury) from the de novo operations. Conclusions: Our concept of spinal cord protection, which was based on selective intercostal reconstruction while maximizing spinal cord collateral blood flow, seems justified.

Background: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy has improved the clinical outcomes in advanced heart failure patients, however, this may differ between countries. We aimed to compare outcomes between Japanese and US LVAD cohorts. Methods: For 416 consecutive LVAD patients who received HeartMate II LVAD implantation and completed a one-year follow-up, age-matched Japanese patients (the Japanese registry for mechanically assisted circulatory support (J-MACS) group) and the US patients were compared for their clinical outcomes. Results: 154 J-MACS patients and 77 US patients were compared. Survival, free from hemocompatibility-related adverse events (HRAEs) in the J-MACS was statistically comparable with the US (75% vs. 63%, p = 0.79). J-MACS had more disabling strokes than the US (0.221 vs. 0.052/patient-year, p = 0.005), whereas there was less nonsurgical bleeding (0.045 vs. 0.117/patient-year, p = 0.024). The net hemocompatibility score was statistically comparable between the groups (1.54 vs. 1.19 points/patient, p = 0.99). Post-LVAD prothrombin time with international normalized ratio (INR) &lt, 1.5 (odds ratio 4.07) was a risk factor for HRAEs in J-MACS, whereas INR &gt, 3.0 (odds ratio 5.71) was a risk factor in the US (p &lt, 0.05 for both). Conclusion: In the age-matched cohorts, the J-MACS group experienced more strokes, while the US group had more bleedings. &ldquo, Tailor-made&rdquo, therapeutic strategy might be required for each country, given the unique variation of HRAE incidence among each country.

Background It is important to understand pulmonary vein drainage pattern variations and their frequency in order to perform safe anatomical pulmonary resection. Methods Variations and frequencies were assessed using three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3D-CT) in 194 patients. In cases where the tumor or lymph node caused atelectasis or compression of hilar structures, the involved lobes were excluded from the analyses. Results We confirmed variant drainage patterns in 15/189 (8.0%) patients in the right upper lobe (RUL), 29/189 (15.3%) in the right middle lobe (RML), 18/192 (9.5%) in the right lower lobe (RLL), and 5/187 (2.6%) in the left upper lobe (LUL). There was no variant type in the left lower lobe (LLL). There were 14 (7.4%) cases of anomalous superior posterior pulmonary vein of RUL (V2 ) drainage: V2 draining to the superior pulmonary vein (SPV) (n = 2, 1.1%), V2 to the inferior pulmonary vein (IPV) (n = 7, 3.7%), V2 to the left atrium (LA) (n = 2, 1.1%), and V6 to the apical pulmonary vein of the RLL (n = 3, 1.6%). There was a posterior pulmonary vein, V3 to RML pulmonary vein in one case (0.5%). The RML pulmonary vein drained into the IPV in 14 (7.4%) and into the LA in 15 (7.9%) cases. The right V6 directly drained into the LA in 15 (7.9%) and V6 into the SPV in 3 (1.6%) cases. The lingular pulmonary vein drained into the IPV in one case (0.5%) and into the LA in two cases (1.1%). The inferior lingular pulmonary vein V5 drained into the IPV and into the LA in one case (0.5%), respectively. Conclusion We describe anomalous pulmonary venous drainage patterns and their frequencies particular to anatomic surgical resection. 3D-CT is useful to find such variations.

The vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) is a scale showing the amount of vasoactive and inotropic support. Recently, it was suggested that the VIS after cardiac surgery predicts morbidity and mortality in infants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the VIS at the end of surgery as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in adult cardiac surgery. A retrospective cohort study of 129 adult cardiac surgery patients was performed at a university hospital. The primary outcome was termed “poor outcome”, which was a composite of morbidity and mortality. The secondary outcomes were the duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and time to first extubation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between the VIS and poor outcomes. A proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the duration of the ICU stay and time to first extubation. After adjusting for the EuroSCORE, preoperative ejection fraction, and bypass time, a high VIS at the end of surgery was associated with a poor outcome with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.87 (95% confidence interval 1.51–18.94; p = 0.007). After controlling for the EuroSCORE and bypass time, patients with a high VIS experienced longer ICU stay (hazard ratio 1.62; 95% confidence interval 1.10–2.39; p = 0.015) and needed longer ventilation (hazard ration 1.87; 95% confidence interval 1.28–2.74, p = 0.001). The amount of cardiovascular support at the end of cardiac surgery may predict morbidity and mortality in adults.

Background The Jarvik 2000 ventricular assist device features a miniaturized intraventricular pump and an intermittent low-speed function that facilitates aortic valve opening. Despite its long history, little is known about the Jarvik device with regard to post-implantation outcomes. Methods Prospectively collected data from 13 participating hospitals were extracted from the Japanese Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support database to analyze mortality, morbidity and de-novo aortic regurgitation . Data on 83 patients who underwent implantation of the Jarvik 2000 were reviewed. Median support duration was 191 (maximum 758) days. All recipients underwent implantation as a bridge to transplantation. Results Overall survival proportions at 1 and 2 years were 85.0% and 79.3%, respectively. Nine patients were in INTERMACS Level 1, and 28 patients were on mechanical circulatory support at the time of implantation. Causes of death included stroke, infection and device malfunction. Three patients had their device removed: 2 at the time of heart transplantation and 1 after recovery of the left ventricle . Common adverse events included major bleeding (27.7%), new infection (31.3%), stroke (20.5%) and device malfunction (20.5%). De-novo aortic regurgitation was observed in 17 patients, 6 of whom developed at least moderate regurgitation during follow-up. Conclusions Mid-term survival after Jarvik 2000 implantation was satisfactory and comparable to that reported by other national and international registries (INTERMACS and IMACS) for continuous-flow LVADs. De novo aortic regurgitation occurred despite the intermittent low-speed effect of this device, with some recipients experiencing progressive worsening of aortic regurgitation within 2 years post-implantation.

Inhibiting specific gene expression with siRNA provides a new therapeutic strategy to tackle many diseases at the molecular level. Recent strategies called high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-mimicking peptide-phospholipid nanoscaffold (HPPS) nanoparticles have been used to induce siRNAs-targeted delivery to scavenger receptor class B type I receptor (SCARB1)-expressing cancer cells with high efficiency. Here, eight ideal therapeutic target genes were identified for advanced lung cancer throughout the screenings using endobronchial ultrasonography–guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and the establishment of a personalized siRNA-nanoparticle therapy. The relevance of these genes was evaluated by means of siRNA experiments in cancer cell growth. To establish a therapeutic model, kinesin family member-11 (KIF11) was selected as a target gene. A total of 356 lung cancers were analyzed immunohistochemically for its clinicopathologic significance. The antitumor effect of HPPS-conjugated siRNA was evaluated in vivo using xenograft tumor models. Inhibition of gene expression for these targets effectively suppressed lung cancer cell growth. SCARB1 was highly expressed in a subset of tumors from the lung large-cell carcinoma (LCC) and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. High-level KIF11 expression was identified as an independent prognostic factor in LCC and squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) patients. Finally, a conjugate of siRNA against KIF11 and HPPS nanoparticles induced downregulation of KIF11 expression and mediated dramatic inhibition of tumor growth in vivo. Implications: This approach showed delivering personalized cancer-specific siRNAs via the appropriate nanocarrier may be a novel therapeutic option for patients with advanced lung cancer. Mol Cancer Res; 16(1); 47–57. ©2017 AACR.

OBJECTIVES To clarify the risk factors for abnormal degeneration of autologous pericardium, the mechanical stress on the endothelial tissue caused by turbulent blood flow in the pulmonary artery (PA) reconstructed with autologous pericardium and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries was assumed in pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect. METHODS Patient-specific PA models were created for 6 patients based on their past computed tomography images taken after unifocalization of major aortopulmonary collateral arteries. Computational fluid dynamics models were created to simulate the physiological pulsatile flow including the peripheral reflection wave, characteristic impedance and autonomous regulation system. Flow streamline, wall shear stress (WSS) and the oscillatory shear index (OSI) were calculated from the simulated result. PA degeneration was evaluated with the computed tomography images before the intracardiac repair. RESULTS Regions with physiological high WSS had fewer abnormal changes. Excessively high WSS was often detected at the anastomosis site of the reconstructed PA, and intimal thickening was found in these regions during intracardiac repair. Regions with high OSI and low WSS had dilated change within several months. In 1 patient, in particular, detached vortex flow occurred at the rectangular angle anastomosis site of the right PA in flow streamline, resulting in high OSI and low WSS with abnormal enlargement in the pericardium. CONCLUSIONS Endothelial stress caused by blood flow would affect the degeneration of autologous pericardium and major aortopulmonary collateral arteries in the reconstructed PA. High OSI and low WSS might induce enlargement or dilatation, and excessively high WSS in the anastomosis site might induce intimal thickening.

Although aortic valve-sparing operations are performed throughout Japan, the indications, specific repair techniques, and outcomes have not been reported in full. Thus, we conducted the first nationwide survey of aortic valve-sparing surgery. We mailed a questionnaire to 508 institutions across Japan to obtain information on elective aortic valve and aortic root surgeries performed in 2014. Included in the mailing was a secondary questionnaire that sought further information from institutions reporting aortic valve-sparing surgeries. Two hundred and fifty (49%) institutions responded and reported a total of 7859 aortic valve operations and 771 aortic root operations. Aortic valve operations performed strictly for aortic regurgitation totaled 2080, 156 (8%) of which were aortic valve repairs. Of the 699 aortic root surgeries performed for aortic regurgitation, 236 (34%) were valve-sparing root replacement surgeries. The valve-sparing root replacement surgeries comprised aortic valve reimplantation (n = 173, 73%) and aortic root remodeling (n = 63, 27%). Five of 57 (9%) institutions were responsible for 42% (99/233) of the total aortic valve-sparing surgeries performed. Detailed information that was obtained for 233 patients who underwent aortic valve repair or valve-sparing root replacement showed 30-day mortality and reoperation for regurgitation after aortic valve repair (n = 97), aortic root remodeling (n = 37), and aortic valve reimplantation (n = 99) to be 1, 0, and 1% and 3, 3, and 1%, respectively. To date, aortic valve-sparing operations have been performed for limited patients at limited institution in Japan, but the early outcomes have been excellent.

No ideal small-diameter vascular graft for widespread clinical application has yet been developed and current approaches still suffer from graft failure because of thrombosis or degeneration. Decellularized vascular grafts are a promising strategy as they preserve native vessel architecture while eliminating cell-based antigens and allow for autologous recellularization. In the present study, a functional in vivo rodent aortic transplantation model was used in order to evaluate the benefit of bioactive coating of decellularized vascular grafts with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) conjugated to a temperature-sensitive aliphatic polyester hydrogel (HG). Luminal HG-VEGF coating persistence up to 4 weeks was confirmed in vivo by rhodamine-labelling. Doppler-sonography showed that the grafts were functional for up to 8 weeks in vivo. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis of the explanted grafts after 4 weeks and 8 weeks in vivo demonstrated significantly increased endothelium formation in the HG-VEGF group compared with the control group (luminal surface covered with single-layered endothelium, 4 weeks: 64.8 ± 7.6% vs. 40.4 ± 8.3%, p = 0.025) as well as enhanced media recellularization (absolute cell count, 8 weeks: 22.1 ± 13.0 vs. 3.2 ± 3.6, p = 0.0039). However, HG-VEGF coating also led to increased neo-intimal hyperplasia, resulting in a significantly increased intima-to-media ratio in the perianastomotic regions (intima-to-media ratio, 8 weeks: 1.61 ± 0.17 vs. 0.93 ± 0.09, p = 0.008; HG-VEGF vs. control). The findings indicate that HG-VEGF coating has potential for the development of engineered small-diameter artificial grafts, although further research is needed to prevent neo-intimal hyperplasia. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We report on the findings of the first antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance study in Japan of isolates recovered from odontogenic infections. Of the 38 facilities where patients representing the 4 groups of odontogenic infections were seen, 102 samples were collected from cases of periodontitis (group 1), 6 samples from pericoronitis (group 2), 84 samples from jaw inflammation (group 3) and 54 samples from phlegmon of the jaw bone area (group 4) for a total of 246 samples. The positivity rates of bacterial growth on culture were 85.3%, 100%, 84% and 88.9%, respectively, for groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Streptococcus spp. isolation rates according to odontogenic infection group were 22% (group 1), 17.7% (group 3) and 20.7% (group 4). Anaerobic isolation rates were 66.9% (group 1), 71.8% (group 3) and 68.2% (group 4). Drug susceptibility tests were performed on 726 strains excluding 121 strains that were undergrown. The breakdown of the strains subjected to testing was 186 Streptococcus spp., 179 anaerobic gram-positive cocci, 246 Prevotella spp., 27 Porphyromonas spp., and 88 Fusobacterium spp. The isolates were tested against 30 antimicrobial agents. Sensitivities to penicillins and cephems were good except for Prevotella spp. The low sensitivities of Prevotella spp is due to β-lactamase production. Prevotella strains resistant to macrolides, quinolones, and clindamycin were found. No strains resistant to carbapenems or penems were found among all strains tested. No anaerobic bacterial strain was resistant to metronidazole. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing performed on the S. anginosus group and anaerobic bacteria, which are the major pathogens associated with odontogenic infections, showed low MIC90 values to the penicillins which are the first-line antimicrobial agents for odontogenic infections; however, for Prevotella spp., penicillins combined with β-lactamase inhibitor showed low MIC90 values.

There is uncertainty over the efficacy of additional surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) associated with mitral valve operation for non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This study aims to assess mid-term outcomes of these non-heart transplant surgical approaches for DCM. We reviewed retrospectively 106 patients (median age 64, 44 females) who underwent isolated mitral annular plasty (MAP; n = 34), mitral valve replacement (MVR; n = 29), and SVR associated with MAP (SVR + MAP; n = 43) for DCM, in 11 Japanese hospitals. We analysed mid-term outcomes, specifically freedom from cardiac death and cardiac event. Hospital deaths occurred in 16 patients (15.1%) and cardiac deaths in 36 patients (34.0%) during the study period of 4.4 ± 3.5 years. Freedom from cardiac death at 7 years in patients undergoing MAP, MVR, and SVR + MAP were, respectively, 79.1%, 82.6%, and 29.5% (P

Objectives: The slope in the preload recruitable stroke work relationship is a highly linear, load-insensitive contractile parameter. However, the perioperative change of the slope has not been reported before. We examined the perioperative slope from a steady-state single beat in patients with functional mitral regurgitation and assessed the correlation with brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. Methods: The study included 16 patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and refractory heart failure: 10 patients underwent mitral valve plasty and left ventricular plasty (MVP + LVP group) and 6 patients who underwent mitral valve replacement and papillary muscle tugging approximation (MVR + PMTA group). The left ventricular ejection fraction was assessed by the modified Simpson method; the slope was assessed by the single-beat technique using transthoracic echocardiography. BNP levels were measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: The left ventricular ejection fraction and slope did not significantly change from pre- to early post-surgery in the MVP + LVP group. Both the left ventricular ejection fraction and slope significantly increased 6 months after surgery in the MVR + PMTA group. Postoperative BNP level was low in the MVR + PMTA group. While the postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction did not correlate with BNP levels, the postoperative slope significantly correlated with BNP level after surgery in the MVP + LVP group and in the total functional mitral regurgitation group. Conclusions: The change of slope was dependent on surgical procedures. In functional mitral regurgitation, the slope may be a more sensitive parameter in reflecting the left ventricular contractile function than the left ventricular ejection fraction.

Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), a source of adipokines, is metabolically active, but the role of EAT mitochondria in coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been established. We investigated the association between EAT mitochondrial respiratory capacity, adiponectin concentration in the EAT, and coronary atherosclerosis. EAT samples were obtained from 25 patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery. Based on the coronary angiographycal findings, the patients were divided into two groups; coronary artery disease (CAD; n = 14) and non-CAD (n = 11) groups. The mitochondrial respiratory capacities including oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) capacity with non-fatty acid (complex I and complex I + II-linked) substrates and fatty acids in the EAT were significantly lowered in CAD patients. The EAT mitochondrial OXPHOS capacities had a close and inverse correlation with the severity of coronary artery stenosis evaluated by the Gensini score. Intriguingly, the protein level of adiponectin, an anti-atherogenic adipokine, in the EAT was significantly reduced in CAD patients, and it was positively correlated with the mitochondrial OXPHOS capacities in the EAT and inversely correlated with the Gensini score. Our study showed that impaired mitochondrial OXPHOS capacity in the EAT was closely linked to decreased concentration of adiponectin in the EAT and severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

Background: The indications of left-ventricular plication (LVP) are controversial, although several studies have reported favorable outcomes in heart failure patients. The aim of this study was to assess left-ventricular (LV) wall stress and myocardial remodeling after LVP in a rat model of myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: Sixteen rats underwent LVP by excluding the LV anterior wall scar 4 weeks after ligation of the left anterior descending artery. After 4 weeks, LV wall stress was assessed using transthoracic echocardiography and an LV catheter. Gene expression of the wall stress markers, atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), were evaluated via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Cardiomyocyte area and myocardial fibrosis were also examined through histological examinations. These parameters were compared to those in 16 rats that underwent coronary artery ligation but not LVP. Results: We noted that the LV end-diastolic dimension was smaller (9.9 ± 0.3 vs. 11.2 ± 0.2 mm, p < 0.05) and fractional shortening was greater (25 ± 2 vs. 15 ± 1%, p < 0.05) in LVP rats than in sham rats. Moreover, systolic wall stress was lower in LVP rats (71 ± 7 vs. 111 ± 9 × 103 dyn/cm2, p < 0.05). Myocardial ANF and BNP expression levels were lower in LVP rats (2.6 ± 0.3 vs. 4.4 ± 0.5 and 1.0 ± 0.1 vs. 1.5 ± 0.2 arbitrary units, respectively; p < 0.05). Cardiomyocyte area was significantly decreased in LVP rats (556 ± 15 vs. 670 ± 28 μm2, p = 0.003) and was correlated with LV wall stress (r = 0.669, p = 0.002). The reduction in myocardial fibrosis after LVP was not significant. Conclusion: LVP reduced LV wall stress and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in a rat model of MI.

Key Clinical Message Splenic injury is one of the most critical complications of chest tube insertion and often requires invasive emergency management. However, noninvasive management such as delayed removal of the malpositioned tube may be considered for a stable patient without severe adverse event.

A man in his 54 was admitted to our hospital owing to progressive postprandial pain for a month. Computed tomography (CT) scan and angiography revealed severe stenosis and calcification of the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, and inferior mesenteric artery. Based on the findings of CT scan and angiography, abdominal angina was established and retrograde revascularization was performed only to the superior mesenteric artery using an artificial graft. After the surgery, he remains free of postprandial abdominal pain.

Regional cardiac function analysis is important for the diagnosis and treatment planning of ischemic heart disease, but has not been sufficiently developed in the field of computed tomography (CT). Therefore, we propose a 3D endocardial tracking framework for cardiac CT using local point cloud registration based on the iterative closest point with an integrated scale estimation algorithm. We also introduce regional function descriptors that express the curvature and stretching of the endocardium: Surface distortion (E) and Scaling rate (S). For a region-to-region comparison, we propose endocardial segmentation according to coronary perfusion territories defined by the Voronoi partition based on coronary distribution. Our study of 65 endocardial segments in ten subjects showed that global endocardial deformation has a positive relationship with the stroke volume index (r = 0.896 and 0.829 in [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively) and ejection fraction (r = 0.804 and 0.835), and a positive relationship with the brain natriuretic peptide level (r = 0.690 and 0.776). A positive relationship between segmental E and S (r = 0.845), a higher value of E in ischemic segments (p = 0.021) that are determined by fractional flow reserve estimated from coronary CT data, and a higher value of S in the left circumflex artery territory (p