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Biomedical subjects

K Takayanagi

Publications and source records attributed to K Takayanagi.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

[Quality management in healthcare. Evaluation and improvement].

Quality in healthcare is a concept ultimately determined by the satisfaction of the patient, or more broadly stated, society's needs. Improvement in quality begins with the review of health care organizations, in the degree to which their current role and function can and do meet these needs. Recent trends in quality evaluation have been along the lines of patients satisfaction, as well as structure, process, and outcome oriented aspects of health care delivery. Quality entails not only the science of medicine itself, but also health care delivery, as well as social and individual concerns. In 1990, Japan Hospital Quality Assurance Society was founded. The secretariat is located at this department. Currently, more than 60 hospitals participate for the development of standards and survey to the hospitals. The quality improvement effort has slowly begun to put the concept into practice. The public's growing concern is directed toward holding healthcare organizations accountable for the services they provide. The healthcare field, in turn, is recognizing the needs and merit of voluntary commitment to quality, and are placing emphasis on identifying pressing society needs, and developing effective leadership. Moving the entire healthcare field in the direction of continuous quality improvement will be the key to the survival into the 21st century.

Humans↗

Higher Gensini score of coronary arteries in acute inferior myocardial infarction with precordial ST-segment depression.

To investigate the significance of precordial ST-segment depression in acute inferior myocardial infarction, we compared the Gensini score of coronary artery stenosis between 2 groups of patients with and without precordial ST-segment depression. Group I consisted of 28 patients who showed ST-segment depression on admission (greater than or equal to 1 mm in V2-V6) and Group II (n = 16) those without ST-segment depression (less than 1 mm). The Gensini score of the coronary arteries (56 +/- 29 vs. 28 +/- 18; p less than 0.001), the partial score of the infarction-related artery (29 +/- 16 vs. 17 +/- 11; p less than 0.01) and of the infarction-nonrelated artery (27 +/- 24 vs. 11 +/- 12; p less than 0.02) were significantly higher in Group I than in Group II. The Killip score (greater than or equal to II) (34% vs. 6%; p less than 0.05), frequency of arrhythmias (75% vs. 38%; p less than 0.02) and peak CK value (3,676 +/- 2,290 vs. 1,818 +/- 1,153 IU/L; p less than 0.005) were higher in Group I than in Group II. Four patients in Group I died following admission, while no patient died in Group II (N.S.). Autopsy findings from the 4 Group I patients revealed fresh extensive inferior infarction and healed diffuse subendocardial infarction which could not be predicted from electrocardiograms. All patients who survived the acute stage performed treadmill exercise testing and 22 patients underwent exercise thallium-201 single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT). On treadmill exercise test, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the frequency of angina pectoris and ST-segment depression. On SPECT, the perfusion defect area under 55% of maximum uptake at the redistribution phase was 45.8 +/- 19.6 cm2 in Group I (n = 14) and 34.7 +/- 21.3 cm2 in Group II (n = 8; N.S.). In conclusion, precordial ST-segment depression in acute inferior myocardial infarction suggested advanced atherosclerosis in both the infarction-related and nonrelated coronary arteries, indicating a larger infarct size.

Coronary Angiography↗

A seroepidemiological study of HTLV-1 infection in Nepal.

A seroepidemiological survey of antibodies to human T-lymphotropic retrovirus type-1 (HTLV-1) was carried out among 413 residents of Chitwan, Dhapakhel and Katmandu in Nepal. Donor screening was first carried out by the gelatin particle agglutination (PA) tests and positive sera were retested by an improved PA test, indirect immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blotting (WB). Nine sera showed positive reaction in the first PA screening. Among these positive sera, 1 serum was positive in the improved PA test and the IF test but negative in the WB test. This study suggests that the prevalence of HTLV-1 in Nepalese people is negligible.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗

[Left ventricular filling disturbances in cardiac amyloidosis: a study of atrial sound and diastolic inflow velocities].

Cardiac amyloidosis is characterized by left ventricular filling disturbances in a relatively early stage. To investigate such disturbances more precisely, we studied atrial sound and left ventricular inflow velocity patterns. Twelve cases diagnosed as cardiac amyloidosis according to the clinical criteria including rectal biopsies and serum amyloid proteins or at autopsy were reviewed and analyzed. Their mean age was 60.9 +/- 12.5 years. Twelve age-matched cases with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) served as the controls. We measured the amplitude of atrial sound by low-frequency phonocardiograms and the ratio of the heights of the A wave of apexcardiograms (ACG) to the total amplitude of the ACG. The mitral inflow velocity patterns were recorded using pulsed Doppler echocardiography. The rapid filling wave (R), atrial filling wave (A) and the ratio of A to R (A/R) were measured. In the amyloidosis group, atrial sound moderately increased in 2 cases, it was faint in 9 and not manifest in the remaining one. The A wave in the amyloidosis group was significantly smaller than that in the HCM group (p < 0.001) (12.4 +/- 3.9 vs 22.4 +/- 5.6%). In the left ventricular inflow velocity patterns, the R in amyloidosis was smaller than that in HCM (41.7 +/- 16.0 vs 56.4 +/- 12.1 cm/sec) (p < 0.02). The A in amyloidosis was also smaller than that in HCM (40.5 +/- 13.4 vs 58.1 +/- 13.0 cm/sec) (p < 0.006). The A/R was 1.0 +/- 0.34 in amyloidosis and 1.1 +/- 0.32 in HCM (N.S.). Both A and R were significantly less in amyloidosis than those in HCM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗

[A case of angina pectoris with cardiac arrest at treadmill stress test].

We reported a case of angina pectoris with cardiac arrest immediately after treadmill exercise test, and the effect of PTCA in the same case. A 69-year-old Japanese male had chest oppression on exertion. Initial treadmill test showed 2 mm ST-segment depression in leads V4-6. Two minutes after exercise, he had atrio-ventricular (A-V) block and cardiac arrest with episodes of fainting. He was resuscitated by chest thump. Coronary angiography showed 90% stenosis in the right coronary artery (RCA). PTCA for RCA was able to dilate the stenotic lesion. The second treadmill test after PTCA did not induce bradycardia nor A-V block. It was suggested that the RCA lesion may play a critical role.

Aged↗

Expression of micF involved in porin synthesis in Escherichia coli: two distinct cis-acting elements respectively regulate micF expression positively and negatively.

micF RNA, whose sequence is highly complementary to a 5'-portion of ompF mRNA, has been implicated in the osmoregulation and thermoregulation of the ompF porin gene in Escherichia coli. To define and characterize cis-acting regulatory regions upstream of the micF promoter, a series of deletions of the micF promoter fused to the lacZ gene were constructed. Two distinct regions, which function differently, were identified as cis-acting regulatory elements, namely, one responsible for OmpR-dependent activation and the other for OmpR-independent repression of micF expression. The former contains the OmpR-binding site, which simultaneously regulates both the genes, micF and ompC, in response to the medium osmolarity. The latter may be involved in an unknown regulatory process of micF expression.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Left ventricular diastolic filling in patients with coronary artery disease without myocardial infarction.

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction at rest was studied in 24 patients with coronary artery disease but no evidence of previous myocardial infarction. Seven patients with normal coronary arteries were studied as control. Diastolic filling was analyzed by the serial left ventricular volume and 14 radial axes from the gravity point of the left ventricle with cine left ventriculography. There were no differences in the systolic function between coronary artery disease and the normal control. Peak filling rate was decreased significantly in the groups with left anterior descending artery disease (LAD, p less than 0.05) and multivessel disease (MVD, p less than 0.05), but not in the group with right coronary artery disease (RCA). Time to peak filling rate was prolonged in each group of LAD (p less than 0.05), RCA (p less than 0.05), and MVD (p less than 0.001), compared with controls. The time-volume curve showed disturbed rapid filling in the LAD and RCA groups, and also both depressed rapid and slow filling in the MVD group. In the LAD group, the filling fraction was decreased significantly at the time of 25% of the diastolic period (p less than 0.001) and radial distension to the anterior wall was decreased at the time of 25%, 50%, and 75% of the diastolic period, compared with controls. In the RCA group, the filling fraction (p less than 0.001) and radial distension to the posterior wall were decreased only at the time of 25% of the diastolic period. In the MVD group, filling fraction and radial distension to the most wall were decreased at 25%, 50%, and 75% of the diastolic period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗

A rare case of caudal duplication.

A rare case of caudal duplication is reported. The infant had two well-formed lower limbs and pelvis with external male genitalia attached to the epigastrium. This is only the second reported case in which the parasite was attached to the epigastrium and it is the first reported case of caudal duplication without omphalocele.

Abdomen↗

Activation of the osmoregulated ompC gene by the OmpR protein in Escherichia coli: a study involving synthetic OmpR-binding sequences.

Expression of the Escherichia coli outer membrane proteins, OmpC and OmpF, is regulated in response to the medium osmolarity. The OmpR and EnvZ proteins are transcriptional factors involved in this osmotic regulation of the ompC and ompF genes. In particular, expression of the ompC gene is activated by the positive regulator, OmpR, in response to high osmolarity of the medium. In this study, we succeeded in defining a functional OmpR-binding sequence by analyzing a set of synthetic oligonucleotides, and propose a consensus motif for OmpR-binding. It was also demonstrated that the asymmetric OmpR-binding sequence, thus identified, can activate the canonical ompC promoter in an orientation independent-manner, providing that this sequence is placed closely and stereo-specifically with respect to the -35 region.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Lower pacemaker in high degree atrioventricular block is modulated electrotonically by atrial excitations.

To see if the lower pacemaker in patients with atrioventricular (AV) block was modulated electrotonically by atrial excitation, we studied R-R intervals in two groups of AV block patients using a phase response curve (PRC). Group I consisted of 20 patients with high degree AV block, including seven patients in whom complete AV block was transiently observed in the course of acute inferior myocardial infarction. Group II consisted of 19 patients with complete AV block. In every patient, PRC was obtained from the continuous electrocardiogram by plotting each R1-R2 interval (response) on the ordinate as a function of the R1-Px interval (phase, x = 1, 2 ...) on the abscissa. In Group I, the R-R interval was prolonged when the P wave fell in the initial half of the R-R interval, and was abbreviated when the P wave fell in the later half of the cycle. In Group II, the fluctuation of the R-R interval was minimum. In ten group I patients, with the improvement of the AV block, PRC became sharper and transition from prolongation to shortening occurred at shorter R-P intervals. We conclude that, in Group I, lower pacemaker was modulated electrotonically by atrial excitations through decreased electrical coupling along the AV node.

Aged↗

Nitroglycerin-induced transient coronary artery occlusion.

Nitroglycerin induced a paradoxical disappearance of a stenosed coronary artery in a 57-year-old man with non-Q wave myocardial infarction. On the coronary angiogram, the left anterior descending coronary artery (with a 95% stenosis) became completely invisible 2 min after 0.3 mg sublingual nitroglycerin. Three minutes later, the artery was opacified again. This transient occlusion may have resulted from a passive collapse of the distal portion of the artery, due to insufficient access of nitroglycerin across the stenotic region.

Animals↗

Aortic dissection associated with aortitis syndrome.

A 50-year-old woman with aortitis syndrome complicated by aortic dissection, is reported. The dissection was observed at the level of the descending thoracic aorta by aortography and at the intimal side of the dilated aorta on CT. An aneurysm of the right subclavian artery and a diffusely thick wall of the abdominal aorta were also observed. This case suggests that the uneven wall of the aorta in aortitis syndrome might be dissected at the intimal side by dilatation.

Aneurysm↗

Global and regional abnormalities of left ventricular diastolic filling in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Left ventricular diastolic filling was studied by left ventriculography in 17 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In 8 patients this manifested as a spadelike shape (HCM-S type) on the left ventriculogram, and in 9 patients as a banana shape (HCM-B type). Seven patients were studied as controls. Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was higher in HCM than in controls. In HCM, peak filling rate was decreased from 1.57 +/- 0.28 of the control to 1.28 +/- 0.20 (p less than 0.05), and the time to peak filling rate was prolonged from 27 +/- 6%DT of the control to 37 +/- 7%DT (p less than 0.01). Serial volume analysis in diastole showed filling fraction was also significantly decreased to 8.2 +/- 4.1 (p less than 0.001) at the 25% diastole time and 29.6 +/- 7.2 (p less than 0.01) at half time, compared with 19.8 +/- 6.3 and 32.8 +/- 5.8 for controls, respectively. In HCM-S type, the rate of distention of left ventricular radial axes at the apical area was lower at early and mid-diastole. In HCM-B type, the rate at the basal area was lower at early and mid-diastole. Results suggest that the left ventricular diastolic filling in HCM was impaired not uniformly but regionally in the hypertrophic area at early and mid-diastole.

Adult↗

[Role of carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and cytology of bile in diagnosis of biliary and pancreatic cancer].

To evaluate the clinical value in diagnosis of biliary and pancreatic cancer carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA19-9) and cytology in the bile were examined in 343 patients with benign biliary disease and 71 patients with biliary and pancreatic cancer. An abnormal CEA level was defined as a level of more than 500 ng/ml in the gallbladder bile and 40 ng/ml in the bile duct bile. Increased bile CEA levels were observed in 50.0% in 22 patients with bile duct cancer, 60.0% in 20 with gallbladder cancer and 23.8% in 21 with pancreas cancer. False positive rate in 343 patients with benign diseases was only 1.2%. Bile CA19-9 levels were measured in 195 patients with benign disease and 30 with malignancy. However, the overlap between the values of the 2 groups was too great for differentiation of malignancy from benign disease. The positive rates of bile cytology were 52.2% in 23 patients with bile duct cancer, 40.0% in 15 with gallbladder cancer and 27.3% in 22 with pancreatic cancer. The diagnostic accuracies of combined assessment of bile CEA and cytology were 68.0% in 25 patients with bile duct cancer, 77.3% in 22 with gallbladder cancer and 37.5% in 24 with pancreatic cancer. The sensitivity of this combined test was 60.6% (43/71), and the specificity was 98.8% (339/343). This combined test is considered to be reliable screening test especially for biliary cancer.

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate↗

Carbamazepine-induced bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome with pharmacological analysis and concurrent ECG monitoring.

The authors present a patient with carbamazepine-induced bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome, a rare type of drug-induced sinus node dysfunction. In this case, they established a clear-cut relationship between plasma carbamazepine concentration and the frequency of sinus arrests, following episodes of supraventricular tachycardia. As the pharmacological analysis of drug-induced sinus node dysfunction by concurrent ECG monitoring is very limited, the findings give an insight into the mechanism of this disorder.

Aged↗