Shunji Yoshikawa

Profiles of serum cytokine levels in Takayasu arteritis patients: Potential utility as biomarkers for monitoring disease activity

BACKGROUND Takayasu arteritis (TA) is an autoimmune arteritis of unknown etiology. Currently, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are widely used to monitor disease activity of TA. However, sometimes it is difficult to reflect inflammatory symptoms in either CRP or ESR values, especially in TA patients with immunosuppressive therapies. Therefore, higher-accuracy biomarkers for evaluating disease activity need to be explored. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined 21 Japanese patients diagnosed with TA; 17 TA patients were treated with prednisone with or without additional immunosuppressive therapies and the remaining 4 patients were treated with infliximab, a human monoclonal anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antibody. In active phase, the serum levels of both TNF-α and interleukin (IL)-6 were significantly higher than in healthy subjects, as is the case with both the levels of CRP and ESR. In contrast, the levels of both IL-12 and IL-23 remained in the normal range. Both TNF-α and IL-6 levels were markedly decreased in response to therapies, on equality with both CRP and ESR levels. Regarding the TA patients treated with infliximab, both CRP and IL-6 levels tended to be decreased after infliximab therapy. Conversely, TNF-α level after infliximab therapy was higher than before therapy. CONCLUSION Both TNF-α and IL-6 levels, but not IL-12 or IL-23 levels, in the serum could be potent biomarkers that can reflect the activity of TA.

The effectiveness of excimer laser coronary atherectomy with contrast medium for underexpanded stent: The findings of optical frequency domain imaging

Stent underexpansion is a risk factor for in‐stent restenosis (ISR) and stent thrombosis. Although excimer laser coronary atherectomy (ELCA) with contrast medium was shown to be effective to improve stent underexpansion in undilatable lesions, precise mechanism of this technique was not well understood. We report a case of ISR with stent underoptimal implantation within a circumferential‐calcified atherosclerotic plaque beneath the stent strut that could not be dilated by repeated high‐pressure balloon inflations. After rotational atherectomy, the mechanism of the underexpanded lesion could be obtained by optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI). High‐pressure balloon could not dilate the underexpanded stent. Since ELCA with saline flush only gave intimal erosions and minor dissections, additional high‐pressure balloon was also ineffective. Finally, ELCA with contrast medium could disrupt the calcific lesion beneath the underexpanded stent. The angiographic and OFDI findings confirmed the full stent expansion could be accomplished by further balloon dilatation with an ordinary pressure. ELCA with contrast medium is feasible to improve stent underexpansion by disrupting the calcified plaque behind the stent strut.

The efficacy of excimer laser pretreatment for calcified nodule in acute coronary syndrome

Stent underexpansion is known as a major cause of restenosis and stent thrombosis in calcified coronary lesions. We report a case of calcified nodule pretreated with excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Excimer laser use altered underlying lesion morphology such as calcified nodule and accompanied plaque and thrombus. Pretreatment of ELCA may be a useful tool to get a full expansion of the deployed stent without distal embolism for calcified nodule in ACS.

Dielectric permittivity change detects the process of blood coagulation: Comparative study of dielectric coagulometry with rotational thromboelastometry.

BACKGROUND Intravascular thrombus formation causes various cardiovascular diseases. To monitor coagulation is important for screening native status, prevention from bleeding and maintaining it within its therapeutic range. The prothrombin time and the activated partial thromboplastin time are widely used for assessment and recognized as the conventional methods. Prothrombin time methods employ enhancement of coagulation with thromboplastin. Since the laboratory data depend on the production lot and/or the manufacturer, the accurate methods are required for evaluation. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is a method based on detection of the change in resistance to rotational movement during blood clotting, while dielectric blood coagulometry (DBCM) is a novel method for assessment of clotting by measuring the change of electrical permittivity. These methods are thus based on the technology for observation of different physical phenomena. The aim of this study was to compare parameters such as the clotting time obtained by ROTEM and DBCM to evaluate their clinical usefulness. METHODS AND RESULTS ROTEM and DBCM parameters were measured in 128 patients. The ROTEM clotting time showed a significant positive correlation with the DBCM coagulation time (R=0.707, p<0.001). Comparison of the DBCM coagulation time between patients with and without anticoagulant therapy (including novel oral anticoagulants) revealed a significant difference (43.8±11.9min in the anticoagulant group vs 29.4±8.3min in the control group, p<0.001). Evaluation of coagulation was equivalent with DBCM and ROTEM. CONCLUSIONS The present study suggested that DBCM, a novel method for measuring blood clotting, could provide the detail assessment for the status of anticoagulant therapy.

Incidence and predictors of early and late target lesion revascularization after everolimus‐eluting stent implantation in unselected patients in japan

The objective of this study was to clarify the incidence and predictors of early and late target lesion revascularization (TLR) after everolimus‐eluting stent (EES) implantation in actual clinical practice.

Efficacy of mother-child-grandchild technique: 4 F and 5 F inner catheters through mother guide catheter

Stent delivery failure to the distal lesion was still encountered even after the introduction of mother-child technique using a 5F or 4F child catheter. A 5F inner catheter with a length of 112cm, and a 4F inner catheter with a length of 122cm enabled a novel mother-child-grandchild technique. In in vitro experiments, not only was backup support increased, but superior trackability could also be obtained with the mother-child-grandchild technique, over the mother-child technique. We describe the clinical data using this novel mother-child-grandchild technique to deliver a stent to the severely bended and/or calcified distal lesion.

The Hypercholesterolemia Paradox in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: An Analysis of a Multicenter PCI Registry

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between hypercholesterolemia (HC) and clinical events through a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) registry. HC is a well-known independent risk factor for long-term cardiovascular events after PCI. However, it has been reported to be associated with a lower risk of adverse events in patients with cancer or acute coronary syndrome. Methods We analyzed the relationship between HC and adverse events in patients treated with everolimus-eluting stents (EESs) through the Tokyo-MD PCI study (an all-comer, multicenter, observational registry). The propensity score method was applied to select two groups with similar baseline characteristics. Results The unadjusted population included 1,536 HC patients and 330 non-HC patients. Propensity score matching yielded 314 matched pairs. After baseline adjustment, the outcomes of HC patients were significantly better than those of the non-HC patients with respect to the primary endpoint, which was a combination of mortality from all causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal neurological events, and major bleeding [hazard ratio (HR) 0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.81; p=0.002], and the secondary endpoints, which included a combination of mortality from all causes, nonfatal MI, and nonfatal neurological events (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.39-0.88; p=0.01), and major bleeding (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.20-0.88; p=0.02). A subgroup analysis showed age as an interaction factor for the primary endpoint (interaction p=0.035). Conclusion HC was associated with better outcomes in patients who underwent EES implantation, even after baseline adjustment.

Long-term clinical outcomes of permanent polymer everolimus-eluting stent implantation following rotational atherectomy for severely calcified de novo coronary lesions: Results of a 22-center study (Tokyo-MD PCI Study)

BACKGROUND Long-term clinical outcomes of permanent polymer everolimus-eluting stent (PP-EES) implantation after rotational atherectomy (RA) have not been fully evaluated. We sought to investigate the long-term clinical outcomes of PP-EES implantation after RA and assess the impact of hemodialysis on this treatment strategy. METHODS Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with PP-EES at 22 institutions between January 2010 and December 2011 were enrolled in this multicenter, observational trial. From a total of 1918 registered patients, 113 patients with 115 de-novo lesions who underwent PCI with PP-EES following RA were retrospectively analyzed. The primary endpoint was a major adverse cardiac event (MACE) defined as the composite of cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), and clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). RESULTS Long-term follow-up was available for 112 patients (99.1%). The median follow-up period was 2.9 (interquartile range 1.9-3.6) years. The mean age of the patients was 72.3 ± 8.8 years and 64 patients (56.6%) had chronic kidney disease (≥stage 3, 42 on hemodialysis). The cumulative incidences of MACE, non-fatal MI, and TLR were 22.1%, 5.3%, and 10.6%, respectively. Coxs proportional hazards analysis showed that the independent predictors of TLR were hemodialysis and chronic total occlusion. (HR, 14.1; 95% CI, 1.74-155.5; p = 0.01, HR, 9.01; 95% CI, 1.34-62.5; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS PP-EES implantation after lesion modification by RA is considered to be a feasible treatment strategy for heavily calcified lesions. Hemodialysis and chronic total occlusion appeared to be associated with TLR.

Effect of drug-coated balloon on stent restenosis, neointimal proliferation, and coronary dissection: an optical coherence tomography analysis

Aim The aim of this study was to assess the acute and mid-term effects of drug-coated balloon (DCB) in terms of the healing process of non-flow-limiting dissections and changes in the neointimal area after DCB treatment using frequency domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT). Patients and methods Thirty-six consecutive patients with in-stent restenosis pretreated with a scoring balloon were evaluated (19 and 17 patients with and without a DCB, respectively). FD-OCT was performed before and after each procedure during percutaneous coronary intervention and at 6 months of follow-up. Results Clinical characteristics and baseline FD-OCT findings were comparable between the two groups. No patient required stent implantation because of low-pressure DCB-related dissections. In the acute phase, the DCB distributed paclitaxel to the vessel wall without increasing dissections. The DCB did not reduce the neointimal area by itself. At 6 months, more dissections healed in the DCB group (−4.5±2.3 vs. −2.7±1.3, P=0.02). The DCB group showed less change in the neointimal area (−0.04±0.92 vs. 1.06±1.57 mm2, P=0.03). Conclusion The low-pressure DCB was not intended to expand the lumen, but instead to attach paclitaxel to the vessel wall by using FD-OCT examination. The DCB reduced the number of dissections and prevented neointimal proliferation during the mid-term follow-up.

TCT-235 Effect of Additional Lower-speed Rotational Atherectomy on Acute Lumen Gain in vivo and in vitro: Evaluation using OFDI

The association between the platform speed and acute lumen gain remains unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of additional lower-speed rotational atherectomy (RA) following conventional high-speed RA on acute lumen gain using sequential optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI