Tomio Arai

Hepatitis C virus seropositivity, but not hepatitis B virus carrier or seropositivity, associated with increased pulse wave velocity.

Immune mechanisms have important roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The present study was conducted to evaluate the association of pulse wave velocity (PWV) with either hepatitis C or B. In 7514 subjects, we determined the PWV, as well as the plasma levels of hepatitis B virus antigen and antibody and of hepatitis C virus antibody. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that seropositivity for hepatitis C virus was a significant variable for PWV independent from atherosclerotic risk factors. Thus, hepatitis C virus seropositivity was associated with increased PWV.

Detection of silent myocardial ischemia patients by the spatial velocity electrocardiogram.

This study was designed to detect patients with type I silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) at rest by assessing the symmetry of the electrocardiographic (ECG) T wave using the spatial velocity electrocardiogram (SVECG). In this study, the ECG T waves in patients with SMI were symmetric compared with those in normal subjects, and the the c/a ratio in the SVECG-T wave as the index of degree of symmetry of the ECG T wave enabled us to diagnose 73% of these patients; the c/a ratio in the SVECG T wave was a useful index for detecting patients with type I SMI at rest.