Internal medicine
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Cryoballoon ablation has been established as an effective method for pulmonary vein isolation and has recently been investigated for its efficacy of substrate modification on the left atrial roof area in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. We herein report the first successful case of left atrial posterior wall isolation including roof line ablation using cryoballoons in a patient with persistent atrial fibrillation, dextrocardia, and situs inversus. Cryoballoon ablation proved to be a safe and straightforward approach to create lasting lesions along the left atrial roof line and left atrial posterior wall, even under challenging anatomical conditions.
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Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal-dominant vascular disorder characterized by intractable epistaxis, mucocutaneous telangiectasias, and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in multiple organs, including the lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, brain, and spinal cord. We herein report a 50-year-old Japanese man with HHT who experienced recurrent epistaxis, telangiectasia in the cornea, apex of the tongue and fingers; hepatic AVM; and a poorly developed main arterial trunk in the right middle cerebral artery. A genetic analysis revealed a novel heterozygous mutation in the activin A receptor-like type 1 gene, with a frameshift mutation in NM_000020.3:c.826_836del (p. Ile276ProfsTer112).
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Objective Although the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has improved, chemoprevention remains a challenge. We recently identified that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is associated with subclinical infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, implying a reduction in the severity of COVID-19. We analyzed a large medical database to assess the utility of UDCA in the reduction of COVID-19 severity. ⋯ The UDCA group had significantly more complications with liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. The UDCA group had a higher in-hospital mortality rate than the non-UDCA group, even after propensity score matching (7.4% vs. 4.3%, p =0.03), whereas there was no difference in the risks of hospitalization, oxygen therapy, or ventilation. Conclusions Although the observed increase in mortality among UDCA users could have been due to unmeasured confounding factors, UDCA did not reduce the severity of COVID-19 in viral hepatitis patients.
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Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a rare disorder characterized by resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH). Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO) is a characteristic physical condition associated with PHP. ⋯ The patient did not have AHO or other comorbidities but showed digital clubbing during childhood. Although digital clubbing is rarely associated with PHP, it may represent a phenotype of this disorder.