International heart journal
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Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using a transfemoral approach under local anesthesia with conscious sedation (LACS) is becoming an increasingly common TAVI strategy. However, patients who are awake during the TAVI procedure can experience stress, anxiety, and pain, even when LACS is used. Clinical hypnotherapy is an anxiolytic intervention that can be beneficial for patients undergoing invasive surgery. ⋯ The multiple regression analysis showed that being male, hypnotherapy, and the composite complication score were independently associated with the length of stay in the ICU. The adjunctive hypnotherapy on LACS among transfemoral TAVI patients may facilitate perioperative management. However, a prospective randomized study is necessary to confirm the efficacy of hypnotherapy among TAVI patients.
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Therapeutic strategies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have made remarkable progress over the last two decades. Currently, 3 types of drugs can be used to treat PAH; prostacyclins, phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors, and endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA). In Japan, the first generation ERA bosentan was reimbursed in 2005, following which the 2nd generation ERAs ambrisentan and macitentan were reimbursed in 2009 and 2015, respectively. ⋯ Next, in a comparison between 1st and 2nd generation ERAs, 2nd generation ERAs were found to have brought about greater improvements in hemodynamic parameters (mPAP and PVR. P < 0.01), heart rate, brain natriuretic peptide, arterial oxygen saturation, and mixed venous oxygen saturation than the 1st generation ERA bosentan. We conclude that all ERAs could successfully improve the hemodynamics of PAH patients and that the newer generation ERAs, ambrisentan and macitentan, seemed to be preferable to bosentan.
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On March 11, 2011, a great earthquake, known as the Great East Japan Earthquake, hit northeastern Japan, resulting in a tsunami that caused a nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, forcing about 160,000 people to evacuate. We, therefore, sought to examine the effects of this evacuation on the onset of cardiovascular diseases and sudden death (SD) in Fukushima Prefecture, three years after the earthquake. We divided the evacuation zone into two areas, whole evacuation zone (Area 1) and partial evacuation zone (Area 2), and we defined the north district of the prefecture as the control area (Area 3). ⋯ The total death rate was higher in Area 1 in March 2011, just after the disaster, than in the other two areas. The rate of SD was also higher in Area 1 than in the other areas in March 2011. The incidence of sudden cardiac death might have increased just after the Great East Japan Earthquake in the evacuation area, but not in other areas in Fukushima Prefecture.
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We report the case of a 79-year-old man with acute myocardial infarction caused by left main trunk lesion, who experienced cardiogenic shock during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). To reverse the cardiogenic shock, we initiated veno-arterial extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) without an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) due to the severe tortuosity of the left external iliac artery. Although PCI was successful, arterial pressure monitoring revealed that the pulse pressure was too low to recover from the cardiogenic shock of decreased cardiac contraction function (the left ventricular ejection fraction was 30%). ⋯ In this case, IABP added to VA-ECMO clearly achieved an improvement of pulse pressure and vital signs. Based on this result, monitoring of the pulse waveform is an effective tool to determine whether the concomitant use of IABP with VA-ECMO is indicated. Moreover, when it is difficult to insert IABP from the femoral arteries, the use of a 6-Fr IABP system (Takumi) approaching from the brachial artery should be considered.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Relation of Systolic Blood Pressure on the Following Day with Post-Discharge Mortality in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction.
The clinical scenario, which is based on systolic blood pressure (SBP) upon admission, is useful for classifying and determining initial treatment for acute heart failure (HF). However, the prognostic significance of SBP following the initial treatment is unclear. The Japanese Heart Failure Syndrome with Preserved Ejection Fraction (JASPER) registry is a nationwide, observational, and prospective registration of consecutive Japanese patients hospitalized with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 50%. ⋯ Compared to the normal and high groups, the low group demonstrated a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation (67.1%, 63.9%, and 47.8%, P = 0.026) and the lowest left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral determined by echocardiography (16.4 cm, 19.4 cm, and 23.3 cm, P = 0.001). In the multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis, low SBP on the day following hospitalization was an independent predictor of all-cause death (hazard ratio 1.868, 95% confidence interval 1.024-3.407, P = 0.042) and the composite endpoint (hazard ratio 1.660, 95% confidence interval 1.103-2.500, P = 0.015). Classification based on SBP on the day following initial treatment predicts post-discharge prognosis in hospitalized patients with HFpEF.