Assessment of Safety of Using Antithrombotic Agents during Esophagogastroduodenoscopy : Rationale and Design of the ASAMA Study

This is the first multicenter trial in Japan to investigate the safety of continuing antithrombotic therapy during EGD with biopsy.Article信州医学雑誌 60(3): 143-148(2012)journal articl

Note On 6-regular Graphs On The Klein Bottle

Altshuler classified six regular graphs on the torus, but Thomassen and Negami gave different classifications for six regular graphs on the Klein bottle. In this note, we unify those two classifications, pointing out their difference and similarity

Risk Evaluation for Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Impaired Glucose Tolerance After a Successful Coronary Intervention

信州大学博士（医学）・学位論文・平成23年3月31日授与（甲第880号）・堀込充章This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in CLINICAL NUCLEAR MEDICINE. 36(7):546-552 (2011)Purpose: Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) often have risk factors that may influence endothelial function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the endothelial function and its association with coronary risk factors after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Materials and Methods: A total of 14 patients with impaired glucose tolerance and CAD underwent positron emission tomography with N-13 ammonia to measure myocardial blood flow (MBF) at rest and during a cold pressor test (CPT), to estimate endothelial function as a percent increase (%increase) of MBF. The results were compared among normal segments (normal), reperfused segments with PCI (PCI), and nonculprit CAD segments without PCI (non-PCI). Correlations between the %increase and major risk factors were also investigated. Results: CPT induced significant increase in MBF in all groups. The %increase of normal, non-PCI, and PCI groups were 33% +/- 22%, 21% +/- 23%, and 26% +/- 23%, respectively. Comparison with risk factors demonstrated significant correlations only in the non-PCI group. Specifically, there were negative correlations between %increase and fasting blood sugar (r = -0.64, P < 0.05), hemoglobin A1c (r = -0.74, P < 0.05), total cholesterol (r = -0.87, P < 0.05), triglyceride (r = -0.71, P < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.92, P < 0.005), respectively. Conclusions: Although impaired glucose tolerance patients with a PCI-treated coronary stenosis showed preserved response to CPT, the %increase negatively correlated with risk factors in the non-PCI segments. Therefore, coronary risk factors may affect CAD lesions in PCI-treated patients.ArticleCLINICAL NUCLEAR MEDICINE. 36(7):546-552 (2011)journal articl

Rationale and design of assessment of lipophilic vs. hydrophilic statin therapy in acute myocardial infarction (the ALPS-AMI) study

SummaryBackgroundStatins reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Although all statins are equally effective in secondary prevention, there might be certain differences in the effects of lipophilic and hydrophilic statins. Therefore, our aim is to compare the effectiveness of lipophilic atorvastatin and hydrophilic pravastatin in secondary prevention after AMI.Methods and resultsThis study is a prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter study of 500 patients with AMI. Patients that have undergone successful percutaneous coronary intervention will be randomly allocated to receive either atorvastatin or pravastatin with the treatment goal of lowering their low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level below 100mg/dl for 2 years. The primary endpoint will be death due to any cause, nonfatal MI, nonfatal stroke, unstable angina, or congestive heart failure requiring hospital admission, or any type of coronary revascularization.ConclusionThis is the first multicenter trial to compare the effects and safety of lipophilic and hydrophilic statin therapy in Japanese patients with AMI. It addresses an important issue and could influence the use of statin treatment in the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease

Successful Treatment of Cardiac Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma : A Report of Two Cases

Cardiac lymphoma is a rare neoplasm of the heart,defined as an extranodal lymphoma exclusively located in the heart and/or pericardium. Multiple imaging modalities may help to diagnose cardiac tumors ; however, pathological diagnosis is difficult because of the limited approaches for obtaining tissue samples. This report describes two cases of prompt histological diagnosis of cardiac lymphoma as diffuse large B-cell type and their successful treatment with chemotherapy. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed one case as CD5-positive and the other as CD5-negative lymphoma. This report highlights the necessity of histological diagnosis and the importance of clinicopathological characterization of cardiac lymphoma. Shinshu Med J 59 : 177―183, 2011 (Received for publication January 7, 2011; accepted in revised form February 16, 2011)Article信州医学雑誌 59(3): 177-183(2011)departmental bulletin pape