Acknowledgements
WEST, SHIGA
The authors would like to thank all study participants; the following investigators: Keita Saito (The Jikei University Hospital), Masanori Takinami (The Jikei University Hospital), Shumpei Yoshino (Aso Iizuka Hospital), Hiroshi Morisaki (Keio University Hospital), Shingo Ihara (Nihon University Itabashi Hospital), Keisuke Tomii (Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital), Yasuo Shichinohe (NHO Hokkaido Medical Center), Nobuaki Shime (Hiroshima University), Hiromi Tomioka (Kobe City Medical Center West Hospital), Yoji Saito (Shimane University Hospital), Motohiro Sekino (Nagasaki University Hospital), Yuichiro Sakamoto (Saga University Hospital), Satoki Inoue (Nara Medical University Hospital), Junji Egawa (Nara Medical University Hospital), Joe Shindoh (Ogaki Municipal Hospital), Osamu Nishida (Fujita Health University Hospital), Shinichi Ishimatsu (St. Luke’s International Hospital), Shutaro Isokawa (St. Luke’s International Hospital), Yutaka Eguchi (Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital), Yasuyuki Tsujita (Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital), Hitoshi Imaizumi (Tokyo Medical University Hospital), Hidenobu Shigemitsu (Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital), Yu Hara (Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine), Akinori Uchiyama (Osaka University Hospital), Yuji Fujino (Osaka University Hospital), Kazuya Sobue (Nagoya City University Hospital), Atsushi Numaguchi (Nagoya University Hospital), and Makoto Kudo (Yokohama City University Medical Center); and Tomoaki Hoshino (Kurume University) for his contribution as an advisor.