title: Reply.
authors.affiliation: Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, 1-40 Maeda 1 Jo 12 Chome, Teine-ku, Sapporo, Japan 006-8555. Electronic address: kurimoto-spr@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kurimoto
authors.affiliation: Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, 1-40 Maeda 1 Jo 12 Chome, Teine-ku, Sapporo, Japan 006-8555.
authors.forename: Ryushi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, 1-40 Maeda 1 Jo 12 Chome, Teine-ku, Sapporo, Japan 006-8555.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iba
authors.affiliation: Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, 1-40 Maeda 1 Jo 12 Chome, Teine-ku, Sapporo, Japan 006-8555.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamada