Biomarker-based pre-heart failure screening in a middle-aged rural population.

Background: Guidelines recommend biomarker-based screening for pre-heart failure (pre-HF) among at-risk populations. Although the asymptomatic nature of pre-HF necessitates proactive screening, real-world implementation remains understudied. This retrospective study analyzed data from a regional pre-HF screening initiative, integrated into annual health screenings, to evaluate: (1) the prevalence of elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, (2) associated echocardiographic findings, and (3) adherence across the screening-to-consultation pathway.

Heterogeneous Cardiovascular Effects of SGLT2 Inhibitors in Type 2 Diabetes: A Causal Forest and Target Trial Emulation Study.

Aims: Evidence is limited as to who benefit the most from sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), especially among people without elevated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the heterogeneity in the effect of SGLT2i across CVD risk profiles.

Methods: Using a target trial emulation framework, we compared SGLT2i versus dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP4i) in a nationwide insurer-based database of working-age Japanese citizens in 2015-2023.

Left-Digit Bias in Serum Creatinine Levels and Contrast Administration: A Nationwide Cohort Study Using a Japanese Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry.

Background: Contemporary quality initiatives emphasize minimizing contrast volume as a key modifiable factor to prevent acute kidney injury (AKI) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Left-digit bias is a cognitive bias where the leftmost digit of a number disproportionately influences decisions. This bias may unintentionally affect contrast administration when interpreting laboratory values like serum creatinine.

Dual impact of anaemia and chronic kidney disease on postpercutaneous coronary intervention outcomes: insights from the Japanese nationwide registry.

Background: Anaemia and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are both established risk factors for bleeding events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). These conditions often coexist; however, previous assessments of these factors individually may have led to an underestimation of their impact on clinical outcomes.

Methods: We analysed the data of 77 482 patients who underwent PCI between 2017 and 2020 in the Japanese nationwide PCI registry.

Successful or Uncomplicated Use of Drug-Coated Balloon Versus Drug-Eluting Stent Strategies for De Novo Culprit Lesions in Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from a Nationwide Registry in Japan.

Background: Randomized trials demonstrated that drug-coated balloon (DCB) was not inferior to drug-eluting stent (DES) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, generalizability in clinical settings remains unclear. The present study compared the outcomes of DCB and DES strategies in percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS within a nationwide procedure-based registry.

Scoring System-Based Approach for Positive Intracoronary Acetylcholine Provocation Tests: The Original and Modified ABCD Scores.

Background: Although intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) provocation testing is a guideline-recommended invasive standard for the diagnosis of vasospastic angina (VSA), ACh tests are largely underused in clinical practice globally. Recently, the ABCD score, consisting of clinical presentation, myocardial bridge, C-reactive protein, and dyslipidemia, was developed to predict positive ACh test results.

Objectives: The authors aimed to externally validate the diagnostic ability of the score and attempted to improve the predictivity for identifying patients with VSA.

Impact of Nonadherence to Any Antiplatelet Therapy After PCI With Drug-Eluting Stents on Critical Outcomes.

Background: Lifelong antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) is strongly recommended. However, the extent and temporal variation in the risk of nonadherence to this recommendation remain unclear.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate how nonadherence to any antiplatelet therapy after PCI affects critical cardiac events and whether this effect varies over time.

Machine learning-based prediction of elevated N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide among US general population.

Aims: Natriuretic peptide-based pre-heart failure screening has been proposed in recent guidelines. However, an effective strategy to identify screening targets from the general population, more than half of which are at risk for heart failure or pre-heart failure, has not been well established. This study evaluated the performance of machine learning prediction models for predicting elevated N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in the US general population.

Beta-blocker initiation under dobutamine infusion in acute advanced heart failure: a target trial emulation with observational data.

Aims: In patients with advanced heart failure requiring dobutamine infusion, it is usually recommended to initiate beta-blockers after weaning from dobutamine. However, beta-blockers are sometimes initiated under dobutamine infusion in a real-world scenario. The association between such early beta-blocker initiation with clinical outcomes is unknown.

Effects of Transradial Access on In-Hospital Outcomes in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft: Insights from the Japanese Nationwide Database.

Because of its superior safety profile and improved outcomes, trans-radial percutaneous coronary intervention (TRI) has become the preferred access in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of native coronary disease. This study investigated the impact of TRI on in-hospital outcomes after PCI for coronary artery bypass graft vessels (GV-PCI). We analyzed patients who underwent GV-PCI in 2019-2022 from the Japanese nationwide registry.

Routine Electrocardiogram Screening and Cardiovascular Disease Events in Adults.

Importance: The resting electrocardiogram (ECG) is commonly performed for cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening purposes in Japan. However, evidence is limited regarding the prognostic significance of ECG in clinical practice settings.

Objective: To investigate the association between ECG abnormalities and CVD outcomes in a working-age population.

How to experimentally evaluate the adiabatic condition for quantum annealing.

We propose an experimental method for evaluating the adiabatic condition during quantum annealing (QA), which will be essential for solving practical problems. The adiabatic condition consists of the transition matrix element and the energy gap, and our method simultaneously provides information about these components without diagonalizing the Hamiltonian. The key idea is to measure the power spectrum of a time domain signal by adding an oscillating field during QA, and we can estimate the values of the transition matrix element and energy gap from the measurement output.

Early-Stage Chronic Kidney Disease and Related Health Care Spending.

Importance: The global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is substantial and potentially leads to higher health care resource use.

Objective: To examine the association between early-stage CKD and health care spending and its changes over time in the general population.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cohort study using nationwide health checkup and medical claims data in Japan.

[Creation of 3D Stereo and MPR Color Anatomical Charts in the Hepatic Segments].

We used the Voronoi diagram of a computed tomography (CT) application (i.e., CT liver volume measurement) to depict the liver area, and we obtained depictions of the hepatic segments as a three-dimensional (3D) image based on clinical data; this information can be used for the patient's education and for surgical planning.

Image Quality Assessment of Deep Learning Image Reconstruction in Torso Computed Tomography Using Tube Current Modulation.

Novel deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) reportedly changes the image quality characteristics based on object contrast and image noise. In clinical practice, computed tomography image noise is usually controlled by tube current modulation (TCM) to accommodate changes in object size. This study aimed to evaluate the image quality characteristics of DLIR for different object sizes when the in-plane noise was controlled by TCM.

[Accuracy of Virtual Non-contrast Image Reconstruction Using Material Decomposition for Fast kV-switching Dual-energy CT].

Purpose: Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) system can generate virtual non-contrast (VNC) images. Although several reconstruction algorithms are defined, there are not many researches using deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) algorithm. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of the VNC image reconstruction under various conditions using DLIR algorithm.

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors and New-onset Type 2 Diabetes in Adults With Prediabetes: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Context: The preventive effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for new-onset diabetes was investigated in secondary analyses of several randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, the results were inconsistent.

Objective: This work aimed to synthesize available evidence and evaluate whether SGLT2 inhibitors are effective in preventing new-onset diabetes.

[Creation of Bone X-ray Radiography Manual Using Human Bone Specimens for Bone X-ray Radiography Education].

Senior radiological technologists have made various improvements and have supported the clinical and educational fields by explaining bone X-ray radiography to students and junior radiological technologists to understand the procedure using illustrations, X-ray images, and photographs in a way that corresponds to the design software available for that era. Because human bone specimens are only available in the anatomy laboratory of medical schools, they could not be used for the explanation of bone X-ray radiography until now. Therefore, we have developed a bone X-ray radiography manual using bone specimens for the bone X-ray radiography education, which helps students to understand the procedure of bone X-ray radiography.

[Creation of Stereo-paired Color Vascular Anatomical Charts Using 3-dimentional Images].

Three-dimensional (3D) images of blood vessels in the human body, which are acquired by X-ray computed tomography (CT) and cone-beam CT of Angiography devices, are widely used in medical diagnosis and treatment. Using the 3DCT images of blood vessels, we created stereo-paired color vascular anatomical charts for better understanding of vascular anatomy in clinical settings, patient explanations, and student education. Since it is difficult to distinguish branches of blood vessels that show three-dimensionally complicated running such as cerebral blood vessels, we made it easier to identify them anatomically by color-coding each branch of the blood vessel.