Herein, we report a case of chylothorax following total thymectomy. A 46-year-old woman having an anterior mediastinal tumor underwent a thymectomy via median sternotomy. Seven days after surgery, there was no massive pleural effusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGaucher disease is a rare genetic disorder caused by the deficiency of acid β-glucosidase to effectively catalyze the degradation of glucosylceramide to glucose and ceramide. We report here the case of a 31-year-old male Japanese patient with Gaucher disease who switched from enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) to substrate reducing therapy (SRT). Liver dysfunction was identified at a routine medical checkup, and the patient was referred to our hospital with "idiopathic liver disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBACKGROUND Diabetic macular edema (DME) causes serious visual impairments in diabetic patients. The standard treatments of DME are intra-vitreous injections of corticosteroids or anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibodies and pan-photocoagulation. These treatments are unsatisfactory in their effects and impose considerable physical and economic burdens on the patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Home Blood Pressure for Diabetic Nephropathy (HBP-DN) study is a prospective cohort study to determine the optimal home blood pressure (HBP) required to improve the prognosis of type 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is heterogeneous in microalbuminuric diabetic patients. The first step of the HBP-DN study explored the significance of estimating GFR for the identification of patients for whom HBP measurement would be more helpful.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: β-adrenergic antagonists (β-blockers) are often used to attenuate the hyperadrenergic symptoms of Graves' disease (GD), including palpitation. Although β-blockers reduce the heart rate, cardiac output and oxygen consumption, no firm evidence exists regarding the effects of combined therapy with β-blockers and anti-thyroid drugs. The objective is to elucidate the effects of β-blockers on anti-thyroid drug therapy in GD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 63-year-old male with type 2 diabetes mellitus was admitted to our hospital with fever and chest pain. An echocardiogram, chest CT and MRI showed the gas-containing pericardial abscess located posteriol to the right atrium. He was initially treated by thoracoscopic pericardial fenestration to set a drainage tube in the pericardial abscess.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe patient, a 78-year-old female with a 10-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, was admitted to our department for evaluation of leg edema and general fatigue. Biochemical investigations revealed hypokalemia and elevated serum cortisol and plasma ACTH levels, with a loss of diurnal rhythm and failure of suppression at high doses (8 mg) of dexamethasone. No pituitary tumor or parasellar tumor was detected by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance image scan of the pituitary.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate the effects of short-term (1 week) intensive insulin therapy, on glycemic control, insulin secretion, and insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients, an open prospective study was conducted in sixteen type 2 diabetic patients receiving diet therapy alone or treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents. Of the study subjects, 8 patients were treated with insulin, the remaining 8 patients served as the control group. The metabolic parameters were evaluated once before treatment and once during one of the following treatments : glycemic control as measured by 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol (1,5-AG) and area under curve of glucose (AUCglucose), insulin secretion as measured by area under curve of daily serum insulin (AUCinsulin), and insulin sensitivity as measured by the K index of the insulin tolerance test (K(ITT)).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report two cases of patients who underwent stent-assisted percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for intracranial vertebral artery (VA) and basilar artery (BA) stenosis. They presented with sudden onset of vertigo and right hemiparesis. Vertebral angiographies revealed severe proximal BA stenosis (case 1) and intracranial VA stenosis (case 2).
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