939-81 Thrombolysis Enhanced by Ultrasound on Intracoronary Thrombus

The synergistic effect of combined usage of ultrasonic irradiation and t-PA was examined on intracoronary thrombus, produced in the canine left anterior descending artery (LAD). t-PA was given as a bolus dose of 0.1mg/kg followed by an infusion of 0.9mg/kg in one hour, until recanalization (TIMI 2). Canines were randomly divided into two groups, one of which (n=5) received continuous ultrasonic irradiation (200kHz, 0.25W/cm2) directly to the LAD occluded by thrombus. The other group (n=4) served as the unirradiated control. Ultrasonic irradiation significantly reduced both the time required for recanalization (irradiated 13.6±6.0min. vs. control 36.0±18.0min.; p<0.05) and the administered dose of t-PA (0.32±0.11mg/kg vs. control 0.64±0.27 mg/kg; p<0.05). Upon electron microscopical examination, ultrasonic irradiation had no damage on the tissue morphology. This simple method safely could enhance the thrombolytic effect of t-PA and could make rapid coronary recanalization and reduction the dose of t-PA. We expect this method may be applied to the treatment of acute myocardial infarction

Gender Diversity of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research Annual Meetings from 2013 to 2022

Introduction: There are no reports that have examined the annual trends of the percentage of women who are members of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR) or their roles at annual meetings. Furthermore, the status of gender diversity in the JSSR remains unclear. This study aims to identify gender diversity in the JSSR by quantifying the role of women at annual meetings over the past decade. Methods: We performed a retrospective review to explore gender role in the JSSR annual meeting by examining the meeting programs for 2013-2022. The gender ratios were surveyed each year for the following: (1) first authors of general application abstracts (oral and poster), (2) meeting guest speakers, (3) meeting moderators, and (4) program editors of the abstracts. We also investigated the availability of gender equality symposiums. Results: The percentage of women applying (1.1%-2.1%) and those who were invited as participants [guest speaker (0%-0.9%), moderator (0%-5.8%), and program editor (0%-0.6%)] at the annual JSSR meetings was low, with no significant increase over the past decade. In addition, there has never been a symposium promoting gender equality at the annual JSSR meeting. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a strong and active role for institutional leaders and senior members to support the scholarly activities of women spine surgeons is important for adopting gender diversity in the JSSR academia. The absence of gender equality symposiums and the few invited women participants at the JSSR annual meeting may be due to a lack of gender diversity awareness among conference organizers or unconscious gender bias. Monitoring the role of women in the JSSR annual meetings may solve the gender diversity problem