Carotid artery calcification at the initiation of hemodialysis is a risk factor for cardiovascular events in patients with end-stage renal disease: a cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vascular calcification has been recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, the association of carotid artery calcification (CAAC) with CV events remains unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether CAAC is associated with composite CV events in ESRD patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One-hundred thirty-three patients who had been started on hemodialysis between 2004 and 2008 were included in this retrospective cohort study. These patients received multi-detector computed tomography to assess CAAC at the initiation of hemodialysis. Composite CV events, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular diseases, and CV deaths after the initiation of hemodialysis, were examined in each patient.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CAAC was found in 94 patients (71%). At the end of follow-up, composite CV events were seen in 47 patients: ischemic heart disease in 20, heart failure in 8, cerebrovascular disease in 12, and CV deaths in 7. The incidence of CAAC was 87% in patients with CV events, which was significantly higher than the rate (62%) in those without. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significant increase in composite CV events in patients with CAAC compared with those without CAAC (p = 0.001, log-rank test). Univariate analysis using a Cox hazards model showed that age, smoking, common carotid artery intima-media thickness and CAAC were risk factors for composite CV events. In multivariate analysis, only CAAC was a significant risk factor for composite CV events (hazard ratio, 2.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-8.00; p = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CAAC is an independent risk factor for CV events in ESRD patients. The assessment of CAAC at the initiation of hemodialysis is useful for predicting the prognosis.</p

Impact of severe coronary disease associated or not associated with diabetes mellitus on outcome of interventional treatment using stents: Results from HERZ (heart research group of Kanazawa) analyses

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using a drug-eluting stent (DES) leads to less re-stenosis than PCI using a bare metal stent (BMS), however there is still controversy whether use of a DES for severe coronary disease leads to an acceptable outcome in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study 8159 lesions were treated in 6739 patients (mean age 68.9 years) with coronary artery disease. Use of a DES significantly decreased the re-stenosis rate compared with BMS in both DM (9.6% versus 21.3%) and non-DM (9.5% versus 17.1%) patients. The re-stenosis rate was significantly higher in DM than in non-DM patients in the BMS group but not in the DES group. There was no statistically significant difference in event-free survival after stenting of patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease between the BMS and DES groups. It was concluded that, compared with BMS, DES reduced re-stenosis in patients with DM, however, we advise careful treatment after using DES for severe coronary disease, including LMCA lesions, in patients with DM. © 2011 Field House Publishing LLP

A WIND &amp; SOLAR HYBRID ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM USING NANO-STRUCTURED HYDROGEN STORAGE ALLOY

ABSTRACT A wind-solar hybrid energy storage system was constructed to store electricity from wind and solar energy as hydrogen, and to utilize the produced hydrogen for a fuel cell. This investigation was conducted as a project of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, from 2003 to 2004. A wind mill (1 kW) with a vertical axis system (Tokai University type) and a solar photovoltaic array (1 kW) produce electricity to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen gases using a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE). The produced hydrogen gas was stored in tanks containing a nano-structured TiFe (n-TiFe) hydrogen storage alloy. The n-TiFe exhibited kinetic properties suitable for practical use

Study of Toroidal Current Penetration during Current Ramp in JIPP T-IIU with Fast Response Zeeman Polarimeter

"The toroidal current penetration is studied in current ramp experiments of the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. The poloidal magnetic field profile in the peripheral region of a plasma (0.5 leq rho leq 1.0) has been measured directly with a newly developed fast response Zeeman polarimeter. The experimental results indicate that an obvious skin effect of toroidal current density is clearly observed during both the current ramp-up and ramp-down experiments. The experimentally obtained toroidal current density profiles are well described by the profiles calculated on the assumption of the neoclassical electrical conductivity. Quasi-linear Delta\u27-analysis of tearing modes for the measured current density profile is consistent with time behaviour of coherent MHD modes such as m=4/n=1 or m=3/n=1 (m: poloidal mode number, n: toroidal mode number) often observed during the current ramp-up phase. The effect of these MHD modes on current penetration during the current ramp-up discharges is studied.