Publications by authors named "Akiko Kimura 木村丹香子"

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate factors associated with outcomes after 3 months of instructed usage of hand-held digital devices (DD) in patients with acquired comitant esotropia (ACE).

Methods And Analysis: This prospective multicentre observational study included patients with ACE, aged 5-35 years, who used DD within 1 year of onset and were followed up for clinical findings and instructed use of DD. The outcomes were classified into four groups: cured, improved, unchanged and worsened.

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Purpose: To investigate the usage status of biologics for the chronic treatment of optic neuritis including neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in Japan.

Design: Multicenter retrospective case series.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with anti-aquaporin 4 antibody (AQP4-Ab) positive optic neuritis and had been initiated on biologics (satralizumab, eculizumab, and inebilizumab) between January 2020 and August 2022 were identified at 30 facilities in Japan.

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Aims/introduction: We aimed to explore the associations between income/employment status and diabetes care processes, health behaviors and health outcomes.

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study used health insurance claims data between April 2021 and March 2022, and a questionnaire survey between December 2022 and January 2023 in Tsukuba City. The study analyzed the participants with diabetes (other than type 1) from those selected by stratified random sampling.

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Serratia marcescens is an environmental gram-negative bacterium that causes invasive disease in rare cases. During 2020-2022, an outbreak of 21 invasive Serratia infections occurred in a prison in California, USA. Most (95%) patients had a history of recent injection drug use (IDU).

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Purpose: To clarify the clinical features of patients with Double seronegative (DS) ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG).

Methods: Sixty-one patients diagnosed with DS OMG at the Department of Ophthalmology, Hyogo Medical University Hospital over a 5-year period from 2017 were included. Patients were classified into three groups based on the initial examination findings: group P (ptosis alone), group M (ocular motility disorder alone), and group PM (combination of both).

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Purpose: To investigate the distinction between sagging eye syndrome (SES group) and acquired unilateral trochlear nerve palsy (Trochlear group) in the Bielschowsky head tilt test (BHTT).

Methods: Fifteen patients in the SES group (mean age 74.6 ± 5.

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Legionnaires disease is a serious infection acquired by inhalation of water droplets from human-made building water systems that contain Legionella bacteria. On July 11 and 12, 2022, Napa County Public Health (NCPH) in California received reports of three positive urinary antigen tests for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in the town of Napa. By July 21, six Legionnaires disease cases had been confirmed among Napa County residents, compared with a baseline of one or two cases per year.

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During October 2021, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency identified five cases of shigellosis among persons experiencing homelessness (PEH). We conducted an outbreak investigation and developed interventions to respond to shigellosis outbreaks among PEH. Confirmed cases occurred among PEH with stool-cultured ; probable cases were among PEH with -positive culture-independent diagnostic testing.

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Purpose: Resilience engineering is the ability of a system to adjust its own functions and maintain the required behavior in the face of changes and disturbances, and resilience potential is a necessary requirement. We aimed to clarify the relationship between resilience potential and error prevention cases.

Method: Based on the error cases reported in our department, we aggregated the relationship with resilience potential for each radiation treatment process.

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Purpose: To describe clinical presentations of acquired comitant esotropia and digital device use in children, adolescents, and young adults without neurological problems.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective observational study.

Methods: Patients with acquired comitant esotropia, without intracranial diseases aged 5-35 years at the time of visit, who were seen at pre-registered facilities within 1 year of onset were enrolled.

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is an environmental bacterium and clinical pathogen that can cause an array of infections. We describe an environmental sampling and comparative genomics approach used to investigate a multi-year outbreak of at a correctional facility. Whole genome sequencing analysis revealed a predominant cluster of clonally related from nine patient cases and items associated with illicit drug use.

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Purpose: To study the spatial association of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast enhancement (CE) areas with visual field defect (VFD) asymmetry in initial cases of optic neuritis (ON) with altitudinal hemianopsia (AH) with reference to nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) with AH.

Study Design: Multicenter, cross-sectional study.

Methods: The present study comprised 19 ON patients and 20 NAION patients with AH who underwent orbital contrast fat-suppressed MRI.

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Smart eyeglasses with an integrated electrooculogram (EOG) device (JINS MEME ES_R, JINS Inc.) were evaluated as a quantitative diagnostic tool for blepharospasm. Participants without blepharospasm (n = 21) and patients with blepharospasm (n = 19) undertook two voluntary blinking tests (light and fast) while wearing the smart eyeglasses.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 in high-risk patients who showed symptoms within five days.
  • The trial involved 25 patients, with no significant difference in viral load changes between those receiving convalescent plasma and those receiving standard care over the first five days.
  • The results suggest that early convalescent plasma treatment does not reduce SARS-CoV-2 viral load compared to standard care alone within that timeframe.
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Purpose: The number of patients with acute acquired comitant esotropia (AACE) has been increasing in Japan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in the number and characteristics of patients with AACE examined in our institution during a 12-year period.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with AACE aged < 30 years who suddenly developed diplopia or esotropia and were examined in Hyogo College of Medicine Hospital from January 2008 to December 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cabozantinib demonstrated a favorable risk-benefit ratio for Japanese patients with advanced liver cancer (HCC) based on a phase II study that analyzed data before the final database lock.* -
  • Patients who had previously been treated with sorafenib experienced a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 7.4 months, while those who were naïve to sorafenib had a lower PFS of 3.6 months, with high disease control rates in both groups.* -
  • Overall, cabozantinib showed efficacy with a manageable safety profile, with the most common side effects being skin reactions, diarrhea, and appetite loss, while liver function remained stable for ongoing patients.*
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Background: Cabozantinib was established as the standard of care for the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) whose disease had progressed after vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGFR-TKI) therapy in the global randomized trial METEOR. A phase 2 study was conducted to bridge the findings in METEOR to Japanese patients. Here, we report a biomarker analysis and update the efficacy and safety results of cabozantinib treatment.

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Pevonedistat, the first small-molecule inhibitor of NEDD8-activating enzyme, has demonstrated clinical activity in Western patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We report findings from a phase 1/1b study in East Asian patients with AML or MDS, conducted to evaluate the safety/tolerability and characterize the pharmacokinetics of pevonedistat, alone or in combination with azacitidine, in this population, and determine the recommended phase 2/3 dose for pevonedistat plus azacitidine. Twenty-three adult patients with very high/high/intermediate-risk AML or MDS were enrolled in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

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Cabozantinib inhibits multiple receptor tyrosine kinases, including the TAM kinase family, and may enhance response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. One cohort of the ongoing phase Ib COSMIC-021 study (NCT03170960) evaluating cabozantinib plus the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that has progressed in soft tissue on/after enzalutamide and/or abiraterone treatment for metastatic disease has shown promising efficacy. Here, we describe the rationale and design of a phase III trial of cabozantinib plus atezolizumab versus a second novel hormone therapy (NHT) in patients who have previously received an NHT for mCRPC, metastatic castration-sensitive PC or nonmetastatic CRPC and have measurable visceral disease and/or extrapelvic adenopathy - a population with a significant unmet need for treatment options.

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Article Synopsis
  • A man died from primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) after a trip to India, likely due to nasal exposure at an indoor swimming pool.
  • Medical records and family interviews revealed his symptoms appeared three days after returning, showing signs consistent with PAM but not bacterial meningitis.
  • Genotyping of the ameba showed it was related to strains found in both the United States and India, highlighting the need for PAM to be considered in similar medical cases.
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Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous "freeze-dried sulfonated human normal immunoglobulin (GGS)" in patients with steroid-resistant optic neuritis (ON).

Study Design: Multicenter, prospective, double-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Patients with steroid-resistant acute ON were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous GGS (GGS group) or intravenous methylprednisolone (steroid pulse [SP] group).

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Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of cabozantinib in Japanese patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who had progressed following one or two lines of systemic therapy including sorafenib. An exploratory evaluation in sorafenib-naïve patients was performed.

Methods: In this open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial, patients received oral cabozantinib 60 mg once daily.

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Purpose: To investigate the effects of cataract surgery in Japanese patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Methods: The primary endpoint in this prospective, observational study was patient satisfaction at 6 months after cataract surgery in patients with nAMD. Secondary endpoints comprised changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), M-chart score, central retinal thickness (CRT), AMD status, and number of AMD treatments.

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Purpose: To report the characteristics and outcomes of extraocular muscle (EOM) surgery for diplopia and abnormal head posture (AHP) after treatment of severe brain diseases such as brain tumor, severe cerebral bleeding and cerebral infarction.

Patients And Methods: Sixty-four patients (mean age 53.7 ± 16.

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