Published papers

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to evaluate the outcomes and trends of contemporary emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection on the basis of a systematic approach and to assess the impact of temporary aortic crossclamping during systemic cooling on early and late outcomes. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 702 consecutive patients who underwent emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection between March 2004 and May 2015. Our clinical protocol includes rapid transfer to the operating room, quick establishment of cardiopulmonary bypass, temporary aortic crossclamping during cooling, primary entry resection, and open distal anastomosis. We analyzed the perioperative data, survival, freedom from aortic reinterventions, and impact of aortic crossclamping on early and late outcomes. RESULTS: The median time from hospital arrival to cardiopulmonary bypass establishment was 115 minutes and has decreased over the last decade (trend test P < .001). We perfused the femoral artery in 615 patients (87.6%), placed aortic crossclamping in 616 patients (87.7%), and performed open distal anastomosis in all patients. The operative mortality was 5.4% (38/702), and the incidence of stroke was 10.8% (76/702). The 7-year overall survival and freedom from aortic reinterventions were 80.4% and 87.5%, respectively. Compared with the nonclamping group, the crossclamping group had a shorter operation time, similar operative mortality, incidence of stroke, and freedom from aortic reinterventions. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency surgery for acute type A aortic dissection based on our systematic approach demonstrated excellent early and late outcomes. The temporary aortic crossclamping during cooling decreased the operation time without increasing early and late adverse events.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) in the elderly is a risk factor for dementia, but the precise biological basis remains unknown, hampering the search for novel biomarkers and treatments. In this study, we performed metabolomics analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from cognitively intact elderly patients (N = 28) with MDD and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (N = 18). The CSF levels of 177 substances were measured, while 288 substances were below the detection limit. Only ascorbic acid was significantly different, with higher levels in the MDD group at baseline. There were no correlations between CSF ascorbic acid levels and clinical variables in MDD patients at baseline. At the 3-year follow-up, there was no difference of CSF ascorbic acid levels between the two groups. There was a negative correlation between CSF ascorbic acid and CSF amyloid-beta42 levels in all subjects. However, there were no correlations between ascorbic acid and other biomarkers (e.g., amyloid-beta40, total and phosphorylated tau protein). This preliminary study suggests that abnormalities in the transport and/or release of ascorbic acid might play a role in the pathogenesis of late-life depression.

We aimed to reappraise whether post-stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) results for brain metastases differ between patients with and without neurological symptoms. This was an institutional review board-approved, retrospective cohort study using our prospectively accumulated database including 2825 consecutive BM patients undergoing gamma knife SRS alone during the 15-year period since July 1998. The 2825 patients were divided into two groups; neurologically asymptomatic [group A, 1374 patients (48.6 %)] and neurologically symptomatic [group B, 1451 (51.4 %)]. Because there was considerable bias in pre-SRS clinical factors between groups A and B, a case-matched study was conducted. Ultimately, 1644 patients (822 in each group) were selected. The standard Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine post-SRS survival. Competing risk analysis was applied to estimate cumulative incidences of neurological death, neurological deterioration, local recurrence, re-SRS for new lesions and SRS-induced complications. Post-SRS median survival times (MSTs) did not differ between the two groups; 7.8 months in group A versus 7.4 months in group B patients (HR 1.064, 95 % CI 0.963-1.177, p = 0.22). However, cumulative incidences of neurological death (HR 1.637, 95 % CI 1.174-2.281, p = 0.0036) and neurological deterioration (HR 1.425, 95 % CI 1.073-1.894, p = 0.014) were significantly lower in the group A than in the group B patients. Neurologically asymptomatic patients undergoing SRS for BM had better results than symptomatic patients in terms of both maintenance of good neurological state and prolonged neurological survival. Thus, we conclude that screening computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging is highly beneficial for managing cancer patients.