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Stenting of small coronary arteries has been limited by high rates of restenosis, and restenosis after stenting has chiefly been attributed to inflammatory reactions resulting in cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia. In order to suppress this inflammatory process, we examined the effects of hydrocortisone, an antiinflammatory agent, on restenosis after stenting in a nonrandomized retrospective registry. The study population consisted of 193 patients treated at two hospitals, who underwent stent implantations in coronary arteries of reference diameter

Concomitant mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequently seen in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). We evaluated change of MR 12±10 days after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) without mitral valve (MV) surgery and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using 2-dimensional

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a three-dimensional structure with dynamic change which makes it difficult to assess the morphology using two-dimensional methods. We aimed to elucidate the geometry of PFO using three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE). We studied 36 patients with

Objective Stenting of small coronary arteries has always been limited by high rates of restenosis, and restenosis has mainly been attributed to inflammatory reactions resulting in cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia. Based on our experience for several years, we retrospectively investigated the effect of hydrocortisone on reducing in-stent restenosis. Patients and Methods Study population consisted of consecutive 166 patients, 221 lesions, who electively underwent stent implantations stent diameter less than 3 mm into coronary arteries between February 1999 and October 2002. We intravenously administered hydrocortisone before the procedure to 40 patients for preventing allergic reactions due to contrast material, and the effect of hydrocortisone on reducing restenosis was retrospectively compared with 126 patients who did not receive this treatment. Results There was no significant difference in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, or hypertension between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the type of lesion, length of stent, balloon/artery ratio, or initial success rate between the two groups, but stent diameter was significantly smaller in the hydrocortisone group compared with the control group. On six-month angiographic follow-up, the restenosis rate was significantly lower in the hydrocortisone group compared with the control group (16.2% vs 34.0%, respectively), and the target lesion revascularization rate was also significantly lower in the hydrocortisone group compared with the control group (13.2% vs 27.5%, respectively). Conclusion These results suggest that intravenous administration of hydrocortisone reduces in-stent restenosis of small coronary arteries. Prospectively controlled trials will be necessary to confirm this preventive effect of hydrocortisone.(Internal Medicine 42: 1084-1089, 2003)

Flow dynamics from the pulmonary veins (PVs) to the left ventricle (LV) is crucial for global cardiac function and for a formation of thrombus at the left atrium (LA). 4D-Flow enabled us to visualize intra-vascular blood flow, but has not been applied to evaluate the intra-cardiac flow dynamics. We

Geometry and size of persistent iatrogenic atrial septal defect (IASD) after transseptal puncture during catheter-based mitral valve clip repair (MVCR) has not been detailed. We investigated 11 lASDs in 10 patients who underwent MVCR using the guide catheter with 22-F at the atrial septum. The

The pulmonary circulation is impaired by various diseases and the analysis of pulmonary blood flow has great clinical significance. 4D-Flow can visualize the velocity vectors of blood flow as streamline images. We aimed to study changes in flow pattern of pulmonary artery (PA) during a cardiac cycle

The study sought to elucidate the geometry of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) in patients with aortic stenosis and its effect on the accuracy of the continuity equation (CE)-based aortic valve area estimation. Forty patients with aortic stenosis who underwent 2D transthoracic