Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is a severe drug reaction characterized by skin rash, organ involvement, lymph node swelling, eosinophilia, and atypical lymphocytosis, with myocarditis being a rare but potentially fatal complication. It has been reported that in patients with cardiac involvement due to DRESS, older age and shorter periods between offending drug exposure and symptom onset are associated with mortality. We report a case of fatal DRESS-associated myocarditis in a young woman, occurring one month after drug exposure, despite intensive immunosuppressive therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rapid spread of a novel type of coronavirus infection, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made it difficult to implement the results of clinical trials in real-world situations. After the emergence of the Omicron variant and messenger RNA vaccine, a combination of less virulent but more contagious viruses and more people with protective immunity has resulted in a larger number of patients with less severe, mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Many patients with severe conditions did not have extensive viral pneumonia frequently seen in the "pre-Omicron" era but had serious complications due to aggravation of underlying comorbidities or secondary bacterial infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSerum leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) has been utilized for adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, its efficacy in pediatric IBD remains unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of serum LRG for pediatric IBD with that of current inflammatory markers, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). This retrospective case-control study included pediatric patients, aged <16 years, who underwent colonoscopy and/or esophagogastroduodenoscopy between April 2017 and March 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study assessed the efficacy of a high-impact, short-term workshop in honing the laparoscopic hepaticojejunostomy technical skills and self-confidence of novice pediatric surgeons, focusing on vertical needle driving and knot tying.
Methods: Lectures, hands-on sessions, pre- and post-workshop evaluations, and training using porcine models were conducted to refine basic and advanced skills. The "hepaticojejunostomy simulator" was used for comparative analysis of precision in pre- and post-workshop vertical needle driving and knot tying.
Purpose: Testicular torsion requires emergency surgery; thus, prompt and correct diagnosis is very important. Ultrasound with color Doppler is usually the first-choice modality for diagnosis; however, skill and experience are required for confident diagnosis. Recently, contrast-enhanced ultrasound for the diagnosis of testicular torsion has been reported, but there have been only a few reports.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Torsion of the appendix testis or epididymis is a cause of acute scrotum in children. Ultrasonography with color Doppler is the first-choice modality for diagnosis. However, this method requires skill and experience to make a diagnosis with confidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cloacal exstrophy (CE) is a rare congenital disease that requires multiple surgeries for complex gastrointestinal and genitourinary anomalies. Long-term complications are not uncommon; however, they are poorly reported. Pyosalpinx is sometimes encountered during CE management in adolescents and young adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother
March 2023
Voluntary training and food modulate the fecal microbiota in humans and mice. Although there are some reports of the timing effects of voluntary training and feeding on metabolism, the timing effects of these factors on microbiota have not been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the effects of the timing of voluntary training and feeding on the gut microbiota.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo evaluate the long-term efficacy of high-dose dexamethasone (HD-DXM) treatment for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), we retrospectively analysed 36 newly diagnosed ITP patients treated with HD-DXM as a first-line treatment. An initial response was obtained in 23 (63.9%) patients, including 11 with a complete response (CR) and 12 with a partial response (PR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), capable of zoonotic transmission, has been associated with emerging viral pneumonia in humans. In this study, a set of highly potent peptides were designed to prevent MERS-CoV fusion through competition with heptad repeat domain 2 (HR2) at its HR1 binding site. We designed eleven peptides with stronger estimated HR1 binding affinities than the wild-type peptide to prevent viral fusion with the cell membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe herein report two cases of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) complicated by other autoimmune disorders, autoimmune hepatitis and immune thrombocytopenia, respectively. In both cases, corticosteroids were continuously administered for the treatment of preceding autoimmune disorders. However, a sufficient objective response for TTP was not obtained by plasma exchange and corticosteroid treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConstipation is a common condition that occurs in many people worldwide. While magnesium oxide (MgO) is often used as the first-line drug for chronic constipation in Japan, dietary fiber intake is also recommended. Dietary fiber is fermented by microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To elucidate the orientation of burnout prevention in line with the experience level of nurses by examining the impact of organisational climate on burnout by nursing experience level.
Background: While the relationship between a nurse and the organisation where they work changes depending on the nurse's experience level, there is a dearth of research that takes into account the nursing experience level in exploring the relationship between organisational climate and burnout.
Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,102 nurses.
Jerusalem artichokes contain high amounts of inulin, which is a prebiotic that supports digestive health, as well as a variety of insoluble fibers and caffeoylquinic acid. The individual impact of these components on gut microbiota is well known; however, the combinatorial effects are less clear. In this investigation, we fractionated Jerusalem artichokes into three parts (water-soluble extract, insoluble extract, and organic extract) and powdered them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: An artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm typically requires a considerable amount of training data; however, few training images are available for dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Therefore, this study aims to present the potential of cycle-consistent generative adversarial networks (CycleGAN) to obtain enough number of training images for AI-based computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) algorithms for diagnosing dementia.
Methods: We trained CycleGAN using 43 amyloid-negative and 45 positive images in slice-by-slice.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a newly emerging viral disease with fatal outcomes. However, no MERS-CoV-specific treatment is commercially available. Given the absence of previous structure-based drug discovery studies targeting MERS-CoV fusion proteins, this set of compounds is considered the first generation of MERS-CoV small molecule fusion inhibitors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lung hyperinflation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is closely associated with emphysema and non-emphysematous gas trapping, termed functional small airway disease (fSAD), on inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography (CT). Because the cranial-caudal emphysema distribution affects pulmonary function and fSAD may precede emphysema on CT, we tested the hypothesis that lobar fSAD distribution would affect lung hyperinflation differently in COPD with minimal and established emphysema.
Methods: The volume percentages of fSAD and emphysema (fSAD% and Emph%) over the upper and lower lobes were measured using inspiratory and expiratory CT in 70 subjects with COPD.
Purpose: The three-dimensional (3D) structure of the human nipple has not been fully clarified. However, its importance has increased in recent years because it has become common practice to preoperatively explore the spread of breast cancer to the nipple with needle biopsy, ductoscopy, and/or ductal lavage for nipple-sparing mastectomy. Here, we demonstrated that X-ray dark-field computed tomography (XDFI-CT) is a powerful tool for reconstructing the 3D distribution pattern of human lactiferous ducts non-destructively, without contrast agent, and with high tissue contrast.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater-soluble dietary fiber such as inulin improves the beta diversity of the intestinal microbiota of mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD). The circadian clock is the system that regulates the internal daily rhythm, and it affects the pattern of beta diversity in mouse intestinal microbiota. Burdock () root contains a high concentration of inulin/fructan (approximately 50%) and is a very popular vegetable in Japan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater-soluble dietary fiber is known to modulate fecal microbiota. Although there are a few reports investigating the effects of fiber intake timing on metabolism, there are none on the effect of intake timing on microbiota. Therefore, in this study, we examined the timing effects of inulin-containing food on fecal microbiota.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe precise physiological changes associated with the use of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) are not well characterized. We examined the impact of changes in hemodynamic state using LVAD on endothelial function. We measured flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) to evaluate endothelial vasodilator function of the brachial artery in 53 patients (dilated cardiomyopathy: 39, ischemic cardiomyopathy: 4, and others: 10) with an implanted LVAD (DuraHeart, EVAHEART, or HeartMate II).
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