Publications by authors named "Hiroyuki Kokuto"
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates the factors contributing to prolonged dyspnea (difficulty breathing) in patients recovering from COVID-19, known as long COVID.
- It involved a multicenter cohort from 26 medical institutions in Japan, analyzing clinical data and patient-reported outcomes over 3, 6, and 12 months.
- Key findings indicate that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and the use of mechanical ventilation are significant risk factors for experiencing prolonged dyspnea in these patients.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates brain fog in COVID-19 patients, focusing on its clinical features and societal impact, particularly on work productivity.
- A cohort of 1,009 hospitalized patients was analyzed, revealing that brain fog symptoms decreased after 3 months but remained stable up to 12 months, with certain neurological symptoms correlating to higher brain fog instances.
- Key risk factors were identified, including advanced age, female sex, obesity, and pre-existing respiratory issues, with findings indicating that brain fog negatively affects labor productivity.
Article Synopsis
- * Data from 1200 enrolled patients showed a decline in symptoms over time, from 93.9% during hospitalization to 33.0% at 12 months, with those experience long COVID symptoms reporting lower quality of life and higher anxiety and depression.
- * Identified risk factors for long COVID included being female, middle-aged, requiring oxygen, and being in critical condition during hospitalization, providing valuable insights for future research in Japan.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of baricitinib in COVID-19 patients, specifically its role in reducing the need for invasive mechanical ventilation and identifying which patient groups benefit most.
- Conducted by the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, it included 3309 patients across 70 hospitals, comparing those on baricitinib to matched controls.
- Results showed that baricitinib significantly lowered the need for invasive ventilation (9% vs. 18.8%) and was especially beneficial for patients requiring oxygen support or those with severe symptoms, despite similar ICU admission and mortality rates between groups.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers analyzed RNA-seq data from 465 blood samples, uncovering 1169 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) and 1549 splice QTLs (sQTLs) linked to COVID-19 severity, including immune-related expressions.
- * The study highlights the impact of disease severity on gene expression, identifying specific eQTLs that interact with COVID-19 phenotypes, and provides an extensive resource for understanding gene regulation in response to the virus.
Article Synopsis
- Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 2,393 COVID-19 patients and 3,289 controls in Japan, identifying a specific genetic variant (rs60200309-A) on chromosome 5 linked to severe cases in individuals under 65.
- The variant is more common in East Asians and associated with reduced expression of the DOCK2 gene, which was found to be lower in severe COVID-19 cases, particularly in non-classical monocytes.
- Additionally, inhibiting DOCK2 in hamsters worsened pneumonia symptoms, indicating its potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target for severe COVID-19.
complex (MAC)-infected lung bulla was a rare type of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection. A 29-year-old man with a history of tetralogy of Fallot was admitted to our hospital because of a high fever and left chest pain. Chest computed tomography showed two bullae with intrabullous fluid in both the lower lobes and centrilobular small nodular shadow in the right upper lobe and the left lower lobe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe galaxy sign and cluster sign were first reported in pulmonary sarcoidosis. From those reports, these two signs became known as one of the characteristic computed tomography (CT) findings of sarcoidosis. We report a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis who had these two signs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: The identification and appropriate management of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers with unrecognized obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major public health concern and priority; OSA among drivers has not been fully investigated in Japan, and a better understanding of this undiagnosed disease is warranted. Therefore, we evaluated the prevalence of OSA and the factors related to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in Japanese CMV drivers.
Methods: This retrospective study included 1309 Japanese CMV drivers aged 40-69 years.
Background. The Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)/rifampicin (RIF) is a fully automated diagnostic test that allows for the detection of MTB including its RIF resistance. Although the test is used for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in sputum samples worldwide, studies using fecal specimens are scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of multi- (extensively-) drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) in our hospital.
Materials And Methods: One-hundred and forty-one cases diagnosed with MDR-TB and thirteen cases with XDR-TB admitted to our hospital over the last nine years were enrolled in this study.
Results: The gender distribution was: ninety-nine males and forty-two females in MDR-TB and nine males and four females in XDR-TB.
Background And Objective: Pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease is the most common pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis (NTM). The clinical and radiological findings were similar to those of pulmonary tuberculosis, both of which are characterized by upper lobe cavities. On the other hand, the presence of middle and lower field lesions with centrilobular nodules and bronchiectasis has been noted.
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