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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the breast cancer subtype that displays a high risk of early recurrence and short overall survival. Improvement of the prognosis of patients with TNBC requires identifying a predictive factor of recurrence, which would make it possible to provide beneficial personalized treatment. However, no clinically reliable predictive factor is currently known. In this study, we investigated the predictive factor of recurrence in TNBC using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-imaging mass spectrometry for lipid profiling of breast cancer specimens obtained from three and six patients with recurrent and non-recurrent TNBC, respectively. The signal for phosphatidylcholine (PC) (32:1) at m/z 732.5 was significantly higher in the recurrence group compared to the non-recurrence group (P = 0.024). PC (32:1) was more abundant in the cancer epithelial area than it was in the surrounding stroma, suggesting that abnormal lipid metabolism was associated with malignant transformation. Our results indicate PC (32:1) as a candidate predictive factor of TNBC recurrence. A future prospective study investigating whether personalized therapy based on PC (32:1) intensity improves the prognosis of patients with TNBC is recommended.

Stabilizing the aorto-ventricular junction is integral in aortic valve repair. We report our technique of internal circular suture annuloplasty. We used a continuous horizontal mattress suture of a single thick expanded polytetrafluoroethylene suture (CV-3). We put 4 stitches per sinus, so the suture was below the cusp attachment line at the nadirs and passed through the interleaflet triangle at the upper aorto-ventricular junction level. The suture was reinforced with pericardial pledgets on both sides of each commissure. We used this technique in 12 patients. The diameter of aorto-ventricular junction was reduced from 25 ± 2 mm to 22 ± 1 mm ( n  = 11) and was 22 ± 1 mm at the latest follow-up (4–74 months, median 41, n  = 10). In 2 patients with large aorto-ventricular junction (27 mm or more), expected annular reduction was not achieved. Our modified technique is simple and seems durable. It may be useful for mild annular dilatation.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer and mortality in women worldwide. Recent studies have argued that there is a close relationship between lipid synthesis and cancer progression because some enzymes related to lipid synthesis are overexpressed in breast cancer tissues. However, lipid distribution in breast cancer tissues has not been investigated. We aimed to visualize phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and lysoPCs (LPCs) in human breast cancer tissues by performing matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS), which is a novel technique that enables the visualization of molecules comprehensively. Twenty-nine breast tissue samples were obtained during surgery and subjected to MALDI-IMS analysis. We evaluated the heterogeneity of the distribution of PCs and LPCs on the tissues. Three species [PC(32∶1), PC(34∶1), and PC(36∶1)] of PCs with 1 mono-unsaturated fatty acid chain and 1 saturated fatty acid chain (MUFA-PCs) and one [PC(34∶0)] of PCs with 2 saturated fatty acid chains (SFA-PC) were relatively localized in cancerous areas rather than the rest of the sections (named reference area). In addition, the LPCs did not show any biased distribution. The relative amounts of PC(36∶1) compared to PC(36∶0) and that of PC(36∶1) to LPC(18∶0) were significantly higher in the cancerous areas. The protein expression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1), which is a synthetic enzyme of MUFA, showed accumulation in the cancerous areas as observed by the results of immunohistochemical staining. The ratios were further analyzed considering the differences in expressions of the estrogen receptor (ER), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki67. The ratios of the signal intensity of PC(34:1) to that of PC(34:0) was higher in the lesions with positive ER expression [corrected]. The contribution of SCD1 and other enzymes to the formation of the observed phospholipid composition is discussed.

After World War II, he and his family moved to Sapporo, where he spent his school days until he graduated from the Sapporo Medical University (M.D.) in 1967. There is no doubt that Dr. Juro Wada, a pioneer in cardiothoracic surgery in Japan, who was serving as a professor of surgery at the Sapporo Medical University, mentored him in his decision. [...]he was invited by the German Academic Exchange Service in 1994 as a visiting professor at the Hannover Medical School, Germany, by St. Antonius Hospital Nieuwegein, the Netherlands, in 1995, and also by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the United States, as a visiting professor in 1996.

During the last decade, treatment paradigm for degenerative aortic arch aneurysms has been changed by a better understanding of the pathophysiology of brain complication and introduction of endovascular technologies. To avoid neurocognitive dysfunction, safe duration of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest is now considered <25 min, and retrograde cerebral perfusion became less frequently used. Selective cerebral perfusion (SCP) is not associated with neurocognitive decline unless profound hypothermia (<20 °C) is used, which may suggest profound hypothermic SCP is not advantageous but may be detrimental. Attempts have been made to use mild to moderate hypothermia during SCP, and safe duration of distal circulatory arrest seems <60 min at 28 °C to avoid ischemic spinal cord injury. Three-vessel perfusion seems advantageous to provide adequate brain and spinal cord protection. To avoid aortogenic brain atheroembolism in the high risk patients, we previously proposed the “isolation” technique, where SCP is established before systemic perfusion. This technique has subsequently been modified to use both axillary and left carotid arteries for systemic arterial return, so that aortogenic emboli may not enter the brain circulation. In the TEVAR (thoracic endovascular aortic repair) era, hybrid operations such as the frozen elephant trunk or TEVAR completion after the elephant trunk are increasingly performed for extensive or distal arch aneurysms. It should be noted, however, that the frozen elephant trunk operation for extensive aneurysms carries an increased risk of paraplegia, and for distal arch aneurysms its outcome is not better than that after the standard open repair in Japan.

Objective Although the radial artery graft has an adaptive property to flow demand, its flow characteristics in aorto-coronary sequential bypass grafting are not well elucidated. We evaluated the differences between the vein and radial artery grafts in the patency and the transit time flow meter-derived parameters (flow and pulsatile index), according to the stenosis rate of terminal target vessels and the number of anastomoses, in sequential bypass grafting to the left coronary territories as a second conduit. Methods We analyzed 222 patients who underwent isolated on-pump beating coronary artery bypass grafting with an aorto-coronary bypass to the left coronary territory. The patients were divided into radial artery group ( n  = 154) and vein graft group ( n  = 68). Sequential bypass was performed 1n 171 patients (127 radial arteries, 44 veins). Results Flow of the radial artery grafts was lower than that of the vein grafts (40.9 ± 22.3 vs 47.5 ± 23.8 mL/min, p  = 0.044), while it became higher as the number of anastomoses per graft increased (1: 28.9 ± 16.3 vs 2: 40.9 ± 19.9 vs 3: 55.8 ± 27.5, p  < 0.001). The patency of radial artery grafts was better than that of vein grafts (98.0% vs 92.6%, p  = 0.010; p  < 0.001 after propensity score weighting). Conclusions Although intraoperative flow rate of the radial artery graft is lower, it has sufficient flow reserve for sequential bypass grafting, and its early patency is high enough. Radial artery is suitable for sequential bypass grafting to the left coronary territories as a second arterial conduit.

Objective This study aimed to construct a simple scoring system for predicting visceral pleural invasion of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from computed tomography (CT) findings and clinicopathological factors in lesions directly under the pleural membrane. Methods Among 376 cases of surgically treated NSCLC, cases in which the tumor was ≤ 7 cm in diameter and in contact with the pleura on the CT image were retrospectively extracted and examined. The CT findings and clinicopathological factors associated with the presence of pathological pleural invasion in each case were examined by Fisher’s exact test. A score was then assigned based on the odds ratio obtained for each factor, and a risk scoring system for predicting pleural invasion was constructed. Result In the 138 extracted cases, pathological visceral pleural invasion was found in 64 cases. The scoring system predicting pleural invasion could be defined as follows: pl risk score = 3 (tumor diameter in CT ≥ 24 mm) + 3 (tumor contact length with pleura in CT ≥ 16 mm) + 3 (smoking index ≥ 400) + 3 (clinically lymph node positive) + 2 (tumor with cavity in CT) + 2 (serum CEA level > 4.4 ng/mL). A score was calculated for each case and an ROC curve was created. The cutoff value was score 8 and the area under curve (AUC) was 0.68. Conclusion Our findings suggest that visceral pleural invasion can be predicted using a score calculated from several simple CT findings and clinicopathologic factors.

Cancer tissues reflect a greater number of pathological characteristics of cancer compared to cancer cells, so the evaluation of cancer tissues can be effective in determining cancer treatment strategies. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can evaluate cancer tissues and even identify molecules while preserving spatial information. Cluster analysis of cancer tissues’ MSI data is currently used to evaluate the phenotype heterogeneity of the tissues. Interestingly, it has been reported that phenotype heterogeneity does not always coincide with genotype heterogeneity in HER2-positive breast cancer. We thus investigated the phenotype heterogeneity of luminal breast cancer, which is generally known to have few gene mutations. As a result, we identified phenotype heterogeneity based on lipidomics in luminal breast cancer tissues. Clusters were composed of phosphatidylcholine (PC), triglycerides (TG), phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and ceramide. It was found that mainly the proportion of PC and TG correlated with the proportion of cancer and stroma on HE images. Furthermore, the number of carbons in these lipid class varied from cluster to cluster. This was consistent with the fact that enzymes that synthesize long-chain fatty acids are increased through cancer metabolism. It was then thought that clusters containing PCs with high carbon counts might reflect high malignancy. These results indicate that lipidomics-based phenotype heterogeneity could potentially be used to classify cancer for which genetic analysis alone is insufficient for classification.

Purpose There is controversy regarding which internal thoracic artery (ITA) should be anastomosed to the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Here, we propose an optimal graft design based on measurement of blood flow in the ITA. Methods Sixty-one patients (53 men, median age 68 [62–75] years) undergoing first elective coronary artery bypass grafting were enrolled. Fifty-seven left ITAs (LITAs) and 28 right ITAs (RITAs) were harvested in either a semi-skeletonized manner using a harmonic scalpel covered with papaverine-soaked gauze (group-A, n  = 45) or a fully skeletonized manner using electrocautery with intraluminal papaverine injection (group-B, n  = 41). Free flow of 33 ITAs was measured after pharmacological dilatation and in situ ITA-LAD flow was measured in 59 patients by transit-time flowmetry. Results RITA and LITA free flow were 147.0 [87.8–213.0] mL/min and 108.0 [90.0–144.0] mL/min, respectively ( P  = 0.199). The group-B had significantly higher ITA free flow (135.0 [102.0–171.0] mL/min) than group-A (63.0 [36.0–96.0] mL/min, P  = 0.009). In 13 patients with bilateral ITA harvesting, free flow of the RITA (138.0 [79.5–204.0] mL/min) was also significantly higher than the LITA (102.0 [81.0–138.0] mL/min, P  = 0.046). There was no significant difference between RITA and LITA flow anastomosed to the LAD. The group-B had significantly higher ITA-LAD flow (56.5 [32.3–73.6] mL/min) than group-A (40.9 [20.1–53.7] mL/min, P  = 0.023). Conclusion RITA provides significantly higher free flow than LITA but similar blood flow to the LAD. Full skeletonization with intraluminal papaverine injection maximizes both free flow and ITA-LAD flow.

Superior vena cava invasive thoracic malignancy requires combined resection of the superior vena cava to achieve en bloc resection of the involved structures with negative margins. The superior vena cava combined resection requires the creation of collateral circulation from the head to the heart before performing the combined resection. Even for a short time, total superior vena cava clamping without a procedure is unsafe and should be avoided. We will present a surgical resection with superior vena cava reconstruction, involving a temporary extrathoracic shunt from the left brachiocephalic vein to the right auricle using a venous return cannula. This is an optional technique for convenient and safe superior vena cava combined resection. It provides an excellent intrathoracic surgical view by venous return via the unilateral brachiocephalic vein, with the advantages of being a simple procedure requiring short surgical time.