Hyun-Jae Kang

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of intracoronary infusion of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) has not been compared between patients with acute (AMI) versus old myocardial infarction (OMI). In addition, the potential risk of restenosis associated with G-CSF-based stem cell therapy has not been evaluated in the setting of drug eluting stent (DES) implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We randomly allocated 96 patients with myocardial infarction who

BACKGROUND: In the PLATO trial, ticagrelor was superior to clopidogrel in reducing cardiovascular events among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) at the expense of increased nonfatal bleeding. Because Asian patients, when compared with non-Asian patients, are believed to be more susceptible to bleeding, we evaluated the effects of ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel in Asian (n=1,106) and non-Asian (n=17,515) patients with acute coronary syndrome enrolled in the PLATO study. METHODS AN

Application of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to stem-cell therapy is not feasible because of the risk of tumorigenicity and rejection. In contrast, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are free from the risk of tumorigenicity and also have immune privilege. However, hMSCs obtained from adults have infinite variety in terms of the biological characteristics and functionality. We report here a new derivation method of hMSCs from hESCs. The derivation of hMSCs from three different hESC lines (

Stem cell transplantation in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has emerged as a promising therapeutic option. We evaluated the impact of AMI on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation into cardiomyocyte lineage. Cord blood-derived human MSCs were exposed to in vitro conditions simulating in vivo environments of the beating heart with acute ischemia, as follows: (a) myocardial proteins or serum obtained from sham-operated rats, and (b) myocardial proteins or serum from AMI rats, with or witho

AIM: To evaluate the long-term effects of peripheral blood stem cell therapy in myocardial infarction (MI) patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 163 patients with MI who were successfully revascularized with drug-eluting stents were enrolled and randomly assigned to four groups: acute MI (AMI) cell infusion, AMI control, old MI (OMI) cell infusion, and OMI control. We compared 5 years' clinical outcomes between the cell infusion group (57 and 22 patients with AMI and OMI, respectively) and t

AIMS: In the previous COREA-TAXUS trial, a 6-month adjunctive use of celecoxib reduced target-lesion revascularization (TLR) without increased thrombotic risk. We aimed to confirm the effects of 3-month celecoxib in patients receiving drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in the larger prospective, randomized trial. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients (n = 909) treated for native coronary lesions were randomized into four groups: the control or the celecoxib group with stratification by stents: paclit

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) and reduced pulmonary function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eighty-six chronic AF patients who were enrolled from annual health examination programs were studied using echocardiography and pulmonary function tests (PFT). Echocardiography and PFT matched for age, gender, and year performed were selected by the control group who had normal sinus rhythms. Patients with ejectio

Acquisition of pre-beamformed data is essential in advanced imaging research studies such as adaptive beamforming, synthetic aperture imaging, and photoacoustic imaging. Ultrasonix Co. has developed such a data acquisition device for pre-beamformed data known as the SONIX-DAQ, but data can only be downloaded and processed offline rather than streamed in real-time. In this work, we developed a software framework to extend the functionality of the SONIX-DAQ for streaming and processing data in nea

Iloprost infusion increased SMA blood flow by 60% in this model of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (from 168 +/- 41 to 269 +/- 76 mL/min; p <.05). The effect of iloprost infusion was more prominent after the tamponade (422 +/- 87 mL/min in the iloprost group vs. 232 +/- 111 mL/min in the control group; p <.05). Increased mesenteric perfusion decreased intestinal mucosal hypercarbia, leading to improvement of intramucosal pH.

MP transfer with magnet application can be a promising novel strategy to enhance homing efficacy and outcomes of current stem cell therapy.