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Mucormycosis is a rare fungal infection occurring in the immunocompromised host. It is difficult to diagnose, and its cardiac involvement is extremely rare. Here, we report a 64-year-old Japanese man with a 5-year history of hemodialysis with disseminated mucormycosis causing fulminant myocarditis and pulmonary necrosis under glucocorticoid use. Two months before, he had received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and started to take amiodarone for recurrent ventricular arrhythmias due to hypertensive cardiomyopathy. He developed amiodarone-induced interstitial pneumonia and then received glucocorticoid therapy. Although the interstitial pneumonia partially improved, a lung cavitary lesion developed in the upper right lobe. Antibiotics had no effect, and serologic tests, blood and sputum cultures and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were all negative for infectious pathogens. Eventually, he died of fulminant myocarditis. Autopsy revealed disseminated mucormycosis with vascular invasion and fungal thrombi, hemorrhage and infarction in lung (cavity lesion), heart (severe myocarditis), brain, thyroid and subcutaneous tissue around the implantable cardioverter defibrillator. The lung cavitary lesion was the only clinical finding suggestive of mucormycosis before autopsy. When an immunocompromised patient shows a progressive lung cavity lesion, the possibility of mucormycosis should be considered so that a broad-spectrum antifungal agent can be empirically administered in a timely fashion.

Although concomitant peripheral artery disease in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been considered as a high-risk subgroup with a greater incidence of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), few data exist regarding the clinical utility of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) for predicting bleeding complications, which affects the subsequent outcome.Eight hundred and twenty-four consecutive patients with ACS who underwent PCI and ABI examination were analyzed retrospectively. Decreased-ABI was defined as ABI0.9. The primary outcome was bleeding complications within 30 days, which was defined according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium classification grade ≥3. The secondary endpoint was all-cause death during follow-up.Of the 824 patients with ACS, 137 (16.6%) exhibited decreased-ABI. The incidence of bleeding complications was significantly higher in patients with decreased-ABI, compared with the remaining patients (21.9% vs. 6.0%, p0.001). In multivariate analysis, anemia [odds ratio (OR) 2.14], estimated glomerular filtration rate60mL/min/1.73mAssessment of ABI provides useful information for predicting 30-day bleeding complications and long-term mortality in patients with ACS after PCI.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the impact of stent deformity induced by final kissing balloon technique (KBT) for coronary bifurcation lesions on in-stent restenosis (ISR). BACKGROUND In experimental models, the detrimental effects of KBT have been clearly demonstrated, but few data exists regarding the impact of proximal stent deformity induced by KBT on clinical outcomes. METHODS We examined 370 coronary lesions where intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided second-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation for coronary bifurcation lesions was performed. Based on IVUS analysis, the stent symmetry index (minimum/maximum stent diameter) and stent overstretch index (the mean of stent diameter/the mean of reference diameter) were calculated in the proximal main vessel. RESULTS The stent symmetry index was significantly lower (0.75 ± 0.07 vs 0.88 ± 0.06, P

Although statin therapy is beneficial in the setting of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), a substantial proportion of patients with ACS still do not receive the guideline-recommended lipid management in contemporary practice. We hypothesize that the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level at the time of admission might affect patient management and the subsequent outcome. Nine-hundred and forty-two consecutive patients with ACS who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention were analyzed retrospectively. The study patients were first divided into two groups based on the LDL-C level on admission: group A (n = 267), with LDL-C

Background Autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), are associated with thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Presence of lupus anticoagulant is an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic diseases. Case presentation A 56-year-old man with past history of hypertension, and cerebral infarction was admitted to our hospital owing to acute chest pain. He was diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction based on his symptoms and electrocardiogram results, which demonstrated ST elevation in the precordial leads. Coronary angiography images revealed total occlusion at the proximal site of the left anterior descending artery. A drug-eluting stent was deployed, which successfully recovered coronary blood flow. The patient had fever of unknown cause when he was 30 years old; on admission, he presented with a low-grade fever and reddish exanthema affecting both cheeks. Based on his physical signs as well as elevated antinuclear antibodies (anti-double-stranded DNA), decreased lymphocytes, and a positive direct Coombs test, he was diagnosed with SLE. Owing to a positive lupus anticoagulant test, he was also suspected to have antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Triple antithrombotic therapy, including dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel during coronary stenting and single anticoagulation therapy with warfarin, was initiated. Conclusions Careful diagnosis of autoimmune diseases should be performed in patients with thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Moreover, risk factors for coronary artery disease should be strictly controlled in patients with APS.

The aim of the study was to elucidate the aggressive reduction of both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and blood pressure (BP) reduced coronary atherosclerotic plaque volume compared with a standard treatment of LDL-C and BP in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study is a prospective, randomized, and open-labelled with a blind-endpoint evaluation study. A total of 97 patients (81 men, mean age 62.0 ± 9.6) with CAD undergoing intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomized, and 68 patients had IVUS examinations at baseline and at 18–24 months follow-up. Patients were randomly assigned to standard or aggressive strategies targeting LDL-C and a BP of 100 mg/dL and 140/90 mmHg vs. 70 mg/dL and 120/70 mmHg, respectively. The primary endpoint was the percent change in coronary plaque volume. Both standard and aggressive strategies succeeded to achieve target levels of LDL-C and BP; 74.9 ± 14.7 vs. 63.7 ± 11.9 mg/dL (NS) and 124.1 ± 9.4/75.8 ± 7.7 vs. 113.6 ± 9.6/65.8 ± 9.4 mmHg (systolic BP; NS, diastolic BP; p < 0.05), respectively. Both groups showed a significant reduction in the coronary plaque volume of −9.4 ± 10.7% and −8.7 ± 8.6% (NS) in standard and aggressive therapies, respectively. Both standard and aggressive intervention significantly regressed coronary plaque volume by the same degree, suggesting the importance of simultaneous reductions of LDL-C and BP for prevention of CAD.

Aim: The prospective, randomized, multicenter Myocardial Ischemia Treated with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Plaque Regression by Lipid Lowering & Blood Pressure Controlling assessed by Intravascular Ultrasonography (MILLION) study demonstrated that combined treatment with atorvastatin and amlodipine enhanced coronary artery plaque regression. Although the baseline high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) reportedly plays an important role in atherogenesis, few data exist regarding the relationship between hs-CRP and plaque regression in patients receiving a combined atorvastatin and amlodipine therapy. Methods: A total of 68 patients (male, 55; mean age, 64.2 years) with baseline and follow-up 3-dimensional intravascular ultrasound examinations in the MILLION study were stratified by baseline hs-CRP level quartiles. The serial measurements of lipid, blood pressure, and percentage changes in the plaque volume were compared between the groups, and the factors associated with the percentage change in the plaque volume were assessed. Results: There were no significant between-group differences in the extent of change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or systolic and diastolic blood pressure after 18–24 months of treatment. The percentage change in the plaque volume showed a linear association with the baseline hs-CRP (p for trend < 0.05); however, there was no correlation with changes in LDL-C or systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In the multiple regression analysis, the baseline hs-CRP level was independently associated with the percentage change in the plaque volume (β = 0.29, p = 0.022). Conclusions: Coronary plaque regression was associated with the baseline hs-CRP level in patients treated with a combined lipid- and blood pressure-lowering therapy.

Although Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score based on angiographic scoring system was developed in patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), few data exist regarding its prognostic utility in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We examined 272 patients with previous CABG (217 men; mean age, 70.4 ± 9.7 years) undergoing PCI. Severity of the coronary anatomy was evaluated using CABG-SYNTAX score. The primary end point of this study was cardiovascular death. The baseline CABG-SYNTAX score ranged from 2 to 53.5, with an average of 26.0 ± 10.2. In the index procedures, PCI for the native coronary accounted for nearly all patients (88%). During follow-up (median 4.1 years), 40 cardiovascular deaths had occurred. In multivariate analysis, age75 years (hazard ratio [HR] 2.82, 95% CI 1.45 to 5.52), left ventricular ejection fraction40% (HR 2.99, 95% CI 1.39 to 6.07), end-stage renal disease (HR 2.90, 95% CI 1.15 to 6.75), peripheral artery disease (HR 2.20, 95% CI 1.10 to 4.64), and CABG-SYNTAX score25 (HR 2.37, 95% CI 1.19 to 5.05) were independent predictors of cardiovascular death. After creating a composite risk score in consideration of identified predictors, the freedom from cardiovascular death at 5 years was 98%, 86%, and 58% in the low (0 to 1), medium (2), and high (3 to 5) scores, respectively (p0.001). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for cardiovascular death for the CABG-SYNTAX and composite risk scores were 0.66 and 0.77, respectively (p0.05). In conclusion, the combination of angiographic and clinical characteristics is useful for risk stratification in patients with previous CABG undergoing PCI.

Although drug-eluting stents (DES) for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have dramatically reduced the incidence of in-stent restenosis, their deployment for large-size coronary lesions is still controversial because of problems such as late in-stent thrombosis and late catch-up in DES. We aimed to evaluate the long-term outcome beyond 2 years of bare metal stents (BMS) as compared with DES in large vessels. Consecutive 228 patients who underwent PCI with large-size stents (>3.5 mm in diameter) in our hospital were enrolled in this study. The end points of this study are target lesion revascularization (TLR) and occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) for subject patients. We analyzed 183 patients (152 men, mean age 65.8 ± 10.5 years) whose outcome could be followed up for at least 2 years. At the first 8-month follow-up, clinically driven TLR rate was significantly higher in patients who received BMS than those who received DES (17.2 vs. 2.2 %, p

The occurrence of deteriorated coronary flow associated with distal embolization during percutaneous coronary intervention results in impaired myocardial perfusion and worsens the clinical prognosis. This study aimed to examine the impact of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-determined coronary plaque morphology on the prediction of deteriorated coronary flow after stent implantation in acute as well as stable coronary syndromes (ACS and SAP, respectively). We studied 126 patients who underwent OCT during stenting for ACS (n = 44) and SAP (n = 82) with a de novo lesion. Angiographic deteriorated coronary flow was defined as the deterioration of TIMI flow grade after mechanical dilatation in the absence of a mechanical obstruction on angiograms. Patients could be divided into the deteriorated flow group (n = 21) and the reflow group (n = 105). Under these conditions, the presence of thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) was more frequently observed in the deteriorated flow group than in the reflow group in both ACS and SAP. A multivariable logistic regression model revealed that TCFA was an independent predictor of deteriorated coronary flow (hazard ratio: 12.32; 95 % confidence interval: 3.02–50.31; p = 0.0005). These results demonstrate that TCFA detected by OCT could be a strong predictor of the occurrence of deteriorated coronary flow during stent implantation in ACS as well as SAP.

A line of epidemiological studies suggests that the accumulation of coronary risk factors promotes the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Recent clinical studies showed that aggressive low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol-lowering therapy using statins could regress coronary atheroma and reduce major cardiovascular events. Additionally, therapy that controlled amlodipine-based blood pressure reduced major cardiovascular events in patients with hypertension compared with an atenolol-based regimen. An open-label randomized multicenter study is primarily planned to evaluate the changes in coronary atheroma volume using intravascular ultrasonography 18–24 months after intensive lowering of LDL-cholesterol and blood pressure compared with a standard therapy indicated by current guidelines in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The secondary endpoints include changes in serum lipid levels, inflammatory markers, glucose markers and blood pressure. In total, 100 subjects with CAD who are undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention will be tested. The MILLION study will provide new evidence and therapeutic standards for the prevention of CAD in Japanese patients by controlling both LDL-C levels and blood pressure.

Invasive diagnostic imaging technique of coronary atherosclerosis has rapidly developed. For example, intravascular ultrasound(IVUS) is recognized as an essential device for percutaneous coronary intervention to evaluate the vessel wall, vascular lumen and coronary plaque morphologies because of its accuracy for quantitative analysis capability. Recently new imaging modalities such as radio-frequency signal analysis, elastography and contrast harmonic echography have been developed for the evaluation of histological characteristics. Also, optical coherence tomography(OCT), which provides approximately ten-times higher-resolutional cross-section images of the coronary arterial wall in comparison with IVUS, became available in clinical setting. In this article, we review the latest progress of the invasive diagnostic imaging of coronary atherosclerosis.