Satoru Yamamura

Non-invasive testing for sarcopenia predicts future cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND Sarcopenia is frequently observed and associated with poor outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A simple screening test for sarcopenia using age, grip strength, and calf circumference was recently developed. However, the clinical utility of this sarcopenia score in patients with CKD remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We calculated the sarcopenia score of 265 patients with CKD and followed the patients for cardiovascular events. The endpoint of this study was the composite of cardiovascular hospitalization and total mortality. We divided all participants into high (n = 166) and low (n = 99) sarcopenia score groups using a simple scoring system. Patients in the high sarcopenia score group showed significantly higher plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels than those in the low sarcopenia score group (median: 103.1, interquartile range: 46.3-310.0 vs. 46.7, 18.0-91.8 pg/mL; p < 0.0001). The Kaplan-Meier curve revealed that the risk of cardiovascular events was significantly greater in the high sarcopenia score group (log-rank test: p < 0.0001), even after potential confounding factors were corrected using propensity score matching. Multivariate Cox hazard analysis identified a high sarcopenia score (hazard ratio: 3.04, 95% confidence interval: 1.45-6.38, p = 0.003) as an independent predictor of the primary endpoints. Furthermore, the combination of a high sarcopenia score and high BNP level identified patients with a significantly higher probability of future events (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that this simple screening score for sarcopenia could be a useful tool for estimating the future adverse event risk in patients with CKD.

Optical coherence tomography visualization of stent deformation with subsequent thrombus adhesion at very early phase after everolimus-eluting stent implantation: a case report

BackgroundStent malapposition, stent fracture, and deformity, and inadequate anti-thrombotic therapy are known as the risk of stent thrombosis. We report a case of stent deformation with subsequent thrombus adhesion at the site of a partial stent fracture detected by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).Case presentationA 61-year-old male patient was diagnosed as effort angina pectoris. Coronary angiography revealed obstructions in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex artery (LCx). Elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was scheduled for these lesions in the prior hospital. First, an everolimus-eluting stent (EES) was implanted in the just proximal LAD slightly protruding into left main trunk. One week later, the treatment to residual obstruction at proximal LCx was attempted. During delivery of the stent to LCx, the proximal edge of the previously-implanted LAD stent got stuck with the newly-deploying stent and deformed into the intravascular lumen when retracting the stent into the guide-catheter. He was immediately transferred to our hospital to repair these procedural problems. Two days later after the index procedure to LCx, intracoronary imaging with an IVUS and OCT were performed, and the IVUS/OCT imaging revealed thrombus adhesion around the deformed struts. The three-dimensional OCT guide also helped the detection of the deformed stent and the repair of deformed struts by additional stenting and kissing balloon technique.ConclusionThe current case suggested that thrombus adhesion can occur at the site of deformed and/or fractured stent at very early phase after stent implantation.