[Relationship between Left Ventricle Myocardium Volume in Coronary Territories' Analysis and Fractional Flow Reserve].

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of estimating functional ischemia information from coronary artery computed tomography (CACT) data (i.e., morphological information). Fifty-five suspected ischemic heart disease patients were included in this study. To calculate the ischemic myocardium percentage (LV myocardial territories volume of distal portion the stenotic lesion/total LV myocardial volume) from CACT data with "coronary territories analysis, Ziostation2", and compared with the ischemic LV myocardium percentage and the functional flow reserve (FFR). The results showed that ischemic LV myocardium percentage was correlated with the FFR (r=-0.57). The median ischemic LV myocardium percentage of the FFR-positive group (n=33) was 37.1% (interquartile range [IQR] 33, 41.4%) and that of the FFR-negative group (n=22) was 24.8% (IQR 19.6, 30.6%). The ischemic LV myocardium percentage was significantly higher in the FFR-positive group (p<0.01) than in the FFR-negative group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the cutoff value for the ischemic LV myocardium percentage was 30%, with the sensitivity of 90.9% and the specificity of 77.3%. In conclusion, myocardial ischemia to diagnosis of FFR may occur when ischemic LV myocardium percentage is over than 30% and is unlikely to occur when it is less than 30%. This study suggests that the analysis of CACT data may contribute to the diagnosis of functional ischemia.

Cohort study of consistency between the compliance with guidelines for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and patient outcome.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is one of the most influential factors that affect patient quality of life; thus, preventing this adverse event could lead to better patient outcome. Standard preventive guidelines for antiemetic treatment have already been established based on the emetogenicity of chemotherapeutic agents. It is important that compliance with in-house guidelines and their effect on patient outcome is monitored. METHODS: In 3 years since the Akita university hospital antiemetic guidelines were outlined, we assessed the incidence of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting using the antiemesis tool of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. Compliance of the guidelines was extracted from the hospital clinical record, and the chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting was examined by the patient reported outcome. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients answered the questionnaire. The overall compliance rate with the guidelines for early nausea and vomiting was 98.6% and with the delayed nausea and vomiting was 87.7%. The complete response rate for the early and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting was 77.8% and 73.8%, respectively. The overall relative risk of early nausea and vomiting was 0.22 (P < 0.05), whereas the relative risk for delayed nausea and vomiting was 2.09 (P < 0.05). Breakthrough vomiting was observed in 3 cases in the low-risk group only. These data suggest that delayed nausea and vomiting is difficult to prevent, particularly in the low-risk group. Further, it seems that the individual sensitivity for emetogenicity might differ among patients. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to standard prevention guidelines based on emetogenicity, individual care based on patient reports should be considered for the complete prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.