In recent years, the potential of oral care in preventing aspiration pneumonia has been recognized.Consuming drinks is thought to be an easy and effective method of oral care, and the antibacterial activities of various drinks have been examined.However, the side effects associated with, for example, caffeine as an ingredient in tea (e.g.sleep disorders) need to be taken into consideration.As yet, a safe caffeine-free tea to be taken orally to prevent aspiration pneumonia has not been reported.Thus, in the present study we evaluated the antibacterial effects of hot water extracts of four teas, namely Hypericum erectum, Crataegus cuneata, Rosa canina, and Matricaria rectita, thought to be caffeine-free.The effects of the extracts against 19 bacteria and 1 fungus were investigated by the dilution plate technique.In addition, the components of the teas were analyzed by HPLC analysis.The strongest antibacterial activity was observed for the hot water extract of H. erectum, which exhibited signi cant activity against oral bacteria, including Streptococcus oralis.However, the H. erectum extract did not kill microbiota, such as Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus casei.Neither hypericin nor caffeine, both of which have notable side effects, were detected in the H. erectum extract following HPLC analysis.These results suggest that H. erectum tea may be a good candidate for simple, safe oral care to prevent aspiration pneumonia in the elderly.
Biomarkers of atherothrombosis can predict the risk of cardiovascular events. However, it is difficult to predict second adverse events using these biomarkers at the point in time when the first cardiovascular event occurs. Therefore, we evaluated atherothrombosis-related biomarkers to determine their associations with prognosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. A total of 309 AMI patients were enrolled in this study. The patients had undergone successful coronary interventions and the levels of various atherothrombosis-related biomarkers were assessed within the first postoperative hour. Biomarkers other than those assessed by routine biochemical tests were analyzed, including defined endothelial cell damage markers such as thrombomodulin (TM), inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), and coagulation and fibrinolysis system markers such as D-dimer, prothrombin fragment F1+2 (F1+2) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) occurred in 98 patients during the follow-up period (872.6±579.8 days). Multivariate analysis revealed that clinical parameters such as decreased levels of left ventricular ejection fraction and elevated levels of brain natriuretic peptide, hemoglobin A1c and TM were significantly associated with MACEs. The association between TM and MACEs was especially high (OR: 3.65, 95% CI; 1.75–7.68). Neither dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, advanced age, a history of cardiac events nor the type of AMI were associated with MACEs. TM is independently associated with MACEs and may be predictive of second events following PCI in patients with AMI.
Our data shows the regional coronary artery calcium scores (lesion CAC) on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and the cross-section imaging on MDCT angiography (CTA) in the target lesion of the patients with stable angina pectoris who were scheduled for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). CAC and CTA data were measured using a 128-slice scanner (Somatom Definition AS+; Siemens Medical Solutions, Forchheim, Germany) before PCI. CAC was measured in a non-contrast-enhanced scan and was quantified using the Calcium Score module of SYNAPSE VINCENT software (Fujifilm Co. Tokyo, Japan) and expressed in Agatston units. CTA were then continued with a contrast-enhanced ECG gating to measure the severity of the calcified plaque condition. We present that both CAC and CTA data are used as a benchmark to consider the addition of rotational atherectomy during PCI to severely calcified plaque lesions.
Annuloplasty ring dehiscence (ARD) after surgical mitral valve repair is a rare complication, which causes recurrent mitral regurgitation (MR) and is associated with adverse outcomes in patients with a prohibitive risk of repeat surgery. However, a patient developed severe MR, when challenging transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) after surgical ring dehiscence, it should be considering the relative efficacy and safety.
Recent clinical studies suggest that newer-generation drug-eluting stents that combine ultrathin struts and nanocoating (biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stents, BP-SES) could improve long-term clinical outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the early vascular response to BP-SES in these patients has not been investigated so far.
This study investigated whether the small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sd-LDL-c) level is associated with the rapid progression (RP) of non-culprit coronary artery lesions and cardiovascular events (CE) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
We investigated whether coronary artery calcium score (CAC) in the target lesion on the multidetector computed tomography angiography (CTA) predicts the addition of the Rotational atherectomy (Rota) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Lesion CAC on CTA were evaluated with quantitative coronary analysis (QCA) on coronary angiography for predicting the Rota treatment in 114 consecutive patients (165 target lesions) with first PCI (68 ± 9 years old, females: 17.6%). Rota was added in 8 patients (11 lesions). The lesion length and diameter stenosis on QCA, and lesion length and lesion CAC on CTA were the primary factors associated with the addition of Rota. Using the cut-off value based on receiver operating characteristic analysis, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting the Rota based on QCA was 72.7% in 8 of 11 lesions (vessels) with Rota and the specificity was 74% in 114 of 154 without Rota in the lesion length of ≥ 23mm (χ2=10.9, p=0.001), and 54.5% in 6 of 11 lesions with Rota and the specificity was 79.2% in 122 of 154 without Rota in the diameter stenosis of ≥ 83% (χ2=6.6, p=0.01). Those based on CTA were 90.9% in 10 of 11 lesions with Rota and 77.3% in 119 of 154 without Rota in the lesion length of ≥ 34mm (χ2=24.1, p<0.001), and 90.9% in 10 of 11 with Rota and 88.3% in 136 of 154 without Rota in the lesions with CAC ≥453 (χ2=45.7, p<0.001). Lesion CAC on CTA is most predictive of addition of Rota during PCI.
