J league

The J. League or Japan Professional Football League has started a new season.

Today, my younger son and I went to a football stadium in my residential area to watch one of the opening games, as shown in the left picture.

This is my first time that I went to the stadium, which was just built a few months ago as a new home ground of Gamga Osaka. I am a fan of the team.

I have found the brand new stadium audience-friendly, as compared with the old one. We could see the players more closely. I could hear as if they breathing roughly next to me.

My son and I really got excited by the match, although our team Gamba Osaka has lost.

Fragmented QRS

Take a look at an ECG on the left and give me your diagnosis.

Note small notches in both lead V1 and lead V2, findings suggestive of tiny myocardial fibrosis in the area reflecting the leads or the anteroseptal wall.

You may make a diagnosis of fragmented QRS, which is defined as 2 or more notches in consecutive leads of the same group (i.e., inferior leads, lateral leads, or leads V1-4). Attention must be paid on ECG with bundle branch blocks, though.

The clinical significance of fragmented QRS remains unestablished but there are some reports to show that fragmented QRS is significantly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events in the future.

We did it

As you may know, tons of people were surprised to see news last week, which said "We did it. At last, we've got an evidence of gravitational waves." No wonder, it is an historical moment in the filed of science and I was so happy to be with the moment (I am not a member of the research team, though).

Yesterday, my colleagues and I said at around noon, "We did it. At last we've got an evidence!"

What we succeeded in detecting is a new heart murmur associated with a paradoxical jet flow from the apex to the base of the left ventricular during early diastole. This unique flow was found by my senior colleague about 30 years ago, and has been well known among experienced sonographers all over the world.

To our knowledge, this is a first case in which a diastolic murmur was confirmed in relation to a paradoxical jet flow. We have to write a report regarding this fantastic heart sound as soon as possible.

Entrance examination

Today, my son may be a little bit feeling nervous although he looked like the same, for me, in the morning.

This is my first time that one of my kids has entrance exams. My elder son attends local junior high school now and will start a high school life this spring or April. As you may know, a new school year starts in April in Japan.

I hope that he passes the exams because he deserves it; he has studied pretty hard for more than a year. I was impressed to see that my son did not stop studying even during new years holidays.

All I can do is to encourage and support him, given his superiority to me in terms of school subjects.

I am always keeping my fingers crossed for our children. Good luck on my proud son!