We report a case of a 6-year-old boy who developed intra-atrial re-entrant tachycardia after percutaneous atrial septal defect closure. Ablation was performed, and the circuit of tachycardia was identified. This was a rare complication caused by right atrial enlargement due to an atrial septal defect closure device.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes transient contractile abnormalities mainly in the left ventricular apex, is rarely reported in children, especially in those with single-ventricle disease. A 4-year-old boy with a single right ventricle was transferred to our hospital following a severe seizure and was diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy by echocardiography. His cardiac function improved; however, he developed hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

This study investigated the incidence and risk factors of perioperative clinical seizure and epilepsy in children after operation for CHD. We included 777 consecutive children who underwent operation from January 2013 to December 2016 at Kanagawa Children’s Medical Center, Kanagawa, Japan. Perinatal, perioperative, and follow-up medical data were collected. Elastic net regression and mediation analysis were performed to investigate risk factors of perioperative clinical seizure and epilepsy. Anatomic CHD classification was performed based on the preoperative echocardiograms; cardiac surgery was evaluated using Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery 1. Twenty-three (3.0%) and 15 (1.9%) patients experienced perioperative clinical seizure and epilepsy, respectively. Partial regression coefficient with epilepsy as the objective variable for anatomical CHD classification, Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery 1, and the number of surgeries was 0.367, 0.014, and 0.142, respectively. The proportion of indirect effects on epilepsy via perioperative clinical seizure was 22.0, 21.0, and 33.0%, respectively. The 15 patients with epilepsy included eight cases with cerebral infarction, two cases with cerebral haemorrhage, and three cases with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy; white matter integrity was not found. Anatomical complexity of CHD, high-risk cardiac surgery, and multiple cardiac surgeries were identified as potential risk factors for developing epilepsy, with a low rate of indirect involvement via perioperative clinical seizure and a high rate of direct involvement independently of perioperative clinical seizure. Unlike white matter integrity, stroke and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy were identified as potential factors for developing epilepsy.

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a slowly progressive skeletal muscle and joint disorder associated with cardiac complications. Dilated cardiomyopathy was the initial manifestation of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy in an 8-year-old girl. Despite normal muscle and myocardial biopsies, genetic testing revealed LMNA mutations. As Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is associated with minimal skeletal muscle weakness, cardiac complications can facilitate its diagnosis.

Owing to the absence of a sub-pulmonary ventricle, the central venous pressure rises in patients with Fontan circulation. During exercise, central venous pressure may rise further to increase the systemic ventricular preload and cardiac output. We performed a single-centre prospective trial of cardiopulmonary exercise test while monitoring peripheral venous pressure which strongly correlates with central venous pressure. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that peripheral venous pressure at peak exercise inversely correlates with exercise capacity in patients with Fontan circulation. Seventeen patients following Fontan operation performed cardiopulmonary exercise test while monitoring peripheral venous pressure. Peak oxygen uptake, heart rate reserve, peak oxygen pulse (divided by body surface area), and peripheral venous pressure at peak exercise were measured. Correlations of peripheral venous pressure at peak exercise with the peak oxygen uptake, heart rate reserve, and peak oxygen pulse were evaluated. The peripheral venous pressure at peak exercise inversely correlated with the peak oxygen uptake (R = −0.66, p < 0.01), heart rate reserve (R = −0.6, p < 0.05), and peak oxygen pulse (R = −0.48, p < 0.05). Exercise-induced peripheral venous hypertension correlates with exercise intolerance in patients with Fontan circulation. Peak oxygen uptake is a useful index for evaluating the status of congestion in the daily life of patients with Fontan circulation.

Patients with erythrokeratodermia cardiomyopathy syndrome exhibit congenital, generalised erythrokeratoderma and dilated cardiomyopathy during early childhood. We report a case of erythrokeratodermia cardiomyopathy syndrome in a 15-year-old male patient and focus this report on cardiac features that were present.

We report on a 7-month-old male with transient phrenic nerve palsy induced by diagnostic cardiac catheterisation. The phrenic nerve palsy, which is a rare complication, was due to extravascular bleeding from a branch of the internal mammary artery.

Eucommia bark (Eucommia ulmoides Oliver) has been used as an herbal medicine, and more recently, the plant's leaves have been widely used to prepare tea which may have anti-obesity properties. We used a metabolic syndrome-like rat model, produced by feeding a 35 % high-fat diet (HFD), to examine potential anti-obesity and anti-metabolic syndrome effects and mechanisms of chronic administration of Eucommia leaf as an extract or green leaf powder. Eighty rats were studied for 3 months in ten groups. Both forms of Eucommia leaves minimised increases in body weight and visceral fat in a dose-dependent fashion. Increases in plasma levels of TAG and NEFA, and insulin resistance secondary to HFD were lessened by both forms of Eucommia leaf. Concomitantly, an increase in plasma adiponectin levels and suppression of plasma resistin and TNF-α levels were confirmed. Real-time PCR studies showed that both forms of Eucommia leaf enhanced metabolic function across several organs, including diminishing ATP production (white adipose tissue), accelerating β-oxidation (liver) and increasing the use of ketone bodies/glucose (skeletal muscle), all of which may exert anti-obesity effects under HFD conditions. These findings suggest that chronic administration of either form of Eucommia leaves stimulates the metabolic function in rats across several organs. The anti-obesity and anti-metabolic syndrome activity in this rat model may be maintained through secretion and regulation of adipocytokines that depend on the accumulation of visceral fat to improve insulin resistance or hyperlipaemia.

We have prepared Mg/Pd laminate composites with (Mg/Pd)=6, 3 and 2.5 atom ratios, by a super lamination technique. The homogeneous Mg-Pd intermetallic compounds, Mg6Pd, Mg3Pd and Mg5Pd2, are formed during the initial activation process. We investigated the hydrogen storage properties of these materials. The compounds can reversibly absorb and desorb a large amount of hydrogen, up to 1.46˜0.9 H/M, at 573 K. Except for the Mg5Pd2-hydrogen system, the pressure composition-isotherms show two plateaux. The mechanism of the phase transition during hydrogenation/dehydrogenation was analyzed by in-situ XRD measurements. These intermetallic compounds absorb and desorb hydrogen through reversible multistage disproportionation and recombination processes.

Microstructures and hydrogen storage properties of Mg/Cu super-laminates were compared to clarify the effect of initial activation. The initial activation change micro/nano-structures of Mg/Cu super-laminates into Mg2Cu with layered structure in fine grain size of about 1μm and pores highly dispersed between layers in sub-micrometer size. Large surface area, dense defects and short diffusion distance for the reaction enable Mg/Cu super-laminates to absorb hydrogen very quickly.

Super-laminates have been attracting attention since co-authors Ueda et al. reported that Mg/Cu super-laminates showed reversible hydrogenation and dehydrogenation at 473K. The Mg/Cu super-laminates were prepared by a repetitive fold and roll method. Initial activation at 573 K led the super-laminates to absorb hydrogen at 473K. TEM observations of micro/nano-structures in the super-laminates were performed in order to clarify the process of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation at 473K, The as-rolled Mg/Cu super-laminates have laminated structures in size of sub-micrometer thickness composed of Mg and Cu layers with dense lattice defects. The super-laminates after initial activation keep laminated structure and have uniformly distributed pores with a sub-micrometer diameter. It is considered that these micro/nano-structures of Mg/Cu super-laminates lead to lower dehydrogenation temperature and better kinetics, which would contribute to achieve high performance hydrogen storage materials.