Symptomatic Pachydermodactyly: A Case Report.

Pachydermodactyly, an uncommon variant of digital fibromatosis, predominantly affects young men and results in fibrous swelling on the sides of the proximal interphalangeal joints. It is generally considered benign and asymptomatic, requiring only regular follow-up. Nevertheless, the absence of established diagnostic criteria has led to misdiagnoses, prompting the administration of unnecessary medications.

Evaluation of Seasonal and Climatic Variations Associated With Femoral Fracture Incidence Among the Elderly Population in Brazil.

Introduction: Femur fractures represent a significant public health concern for individuals over 60 years of age. In Brazil, the incidence of these fractures has shown a rising trend in line with population aging. Besides intrinsic risk factors like osteoporosis, seasonal and climatic variables have been suggested to significantly influence the occurrence of these fractures.

Cutaneous methotrexate-related T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder with CD4, CD30, CD56, EBV-positive tumor cell infiltration: a case illustration and a brief review.

Methotrexate (MTX) is a commonly used anti-metabolite agent. Long-term MTX treatment can cause MTX-related lymphoproliferative disorder (MTX-LPD). T-cell LPDs comprise a small fraction of MTX-LPDs.

Navigating Institutional Challenges: Design to Enable Community Participation in Social Learning for Freshwater Planning.

Social learning is a process suited to developing understanding and concerted action to tackle complex resource dilemmas, such as freshwater management. Research has begun to recognise that in practice social learning encounters a variety of institutional challenges from the shared habits and routines of stakeholders (organised by rules, norms and strategies) that are embedded in organisational structures and norms of professional behaviour. These institutional habits and routines influence the degree of willingness to engage with stakeholders, and expectations of behaviours in social learning processes.

Case report: retroperitoneal aspergilloma in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis presenting as malignant tumor.

Background: Aspergillosis in patients with impaired immunity usually presents with invasive pulmonary infection and dissemination to a variety of organs via hematogenous spread. Aspergilloma in the retroperitoneal cavity is a rare disease with only a few cases reported in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, the present case of a retroperitoneal aspergilloma with no surgical history is only the second report in the literature.

Venom and Antivenom of the Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) in Japan. Part I. Venom Extraction, Preparation, and Laboratory Testing.

The redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii Thorell) reportedly invaded Japan in September 1995. To date, 84 redback spider bite cases have been reported; 7 of these cases employed the antivenom. Antivenom has been imported from Australia in the past, but because of restrictions on exportation it was evident that nearly all of the antivenom present in Japan would expire during 2014.

Venom and Antivenom of the Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) in Japan. Part II. Experimental Production of Equine Antivenom against the Redback Spider.

This is the first report on large-scale experimental production of an equine antivenom against the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) lived in Japan. We captured 10,000 redback spiders in Japan and prepared the toxoids of crude venom extract, mixed the toxoids with a mineral oil adjuvant, and immunized healthy horses repeatedly over a period of several weeks. Thereafter, we separated the horse plasma, purified the γ-globulin fraction, and stocked it as a purified antivenom concentrate.

Severe Hypertriglyceridemia Possibly Masked Acute Pancreatitis and Led to a Difficult Diagnosis in an Obese Patient with Ketoacidosis-onset Type 2 Diabetes.

A young obese man with ketoacidosis-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus, associated with severe hypertriglyceridemia, was admitted to a local hospital complaining of abdominal pain. Although the abdominal pain worsened, his serum amylase level remained normal with persistent severe hypertriglyceridemia until the second day of hospitalization. The next day, computed tomography showed severe acute pancreatitis (AP) with serum amylase elevation, while the patient's triglyceride level decreased to 558 mg/dL.

Th17 cells reflect colon submucosal pathologic changes in active eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Background: Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) or eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG), or both, with asthma precede the onset of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) in half of all EGPA patients. It is not known what determines whether patients with CEP or with EG following asthma will develop EGPA.

Methods: We studied 17 EGPA patients and 12 patients with CEP but without EGPA.

Retrospective survey to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Japanese botulinum antitoxin therapy in Japan.

Japanese botulinum antitoxins have been used for more than 50 years; however, their safety and therapeutic efficacy are not clear. In order to analyze the available data on botulinum antitoxin therapy in Japan, we surveyed published reports about botulism cases in which botulinum antitoxins were used, and retrospectively analyzed the safety and efficacy of the therapy. A total of 134 patients administered botulinum antitoxins were identified from published reports.

Successful treatment of a fracture of a huge Achilles tendon ossification with autologous hamstring tendon graft and gastrocnemius fascia flap: a case report.

Background: Fracture of an ossified Achilles tendon is a rare entity, and no standard treatment has been established. This is the first report to describe the use of a hamstring tendon graft and gastrocnemius fascia flap for Achilles tendon reconstruction.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 50-year-old woman with fracture of an ossified Achilles tendon.

Self-organizing Map Analysis for Understanding Comprehensive Relationships between Formulation Variables, State of Water, and the Physical Stability of Pharmaceutical Emulsions.

The physical stability of pharmaceutical emulsions is an important quality attribute to be considered. To obtain a better understanding of this issue, this study investigated the contribution of the state of water to the physical stability of pharmaceutical emulsions. The key technology to evaluate the state of water was magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Fatal complication of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia in a tocilizumab-treated rheumatoid arthritis patient.

We herein report a fatal case of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia in a tocilizumab-treated rheumatoid arthritis patient who was in a state of shock on admission but remained afebrile even during severe pneumonia. Legionella antigen was detected in the urine and neutrophil CD64 expression was highly elevated. Despite undergoing intensive treatment, the patient developed sepsis and died 12 days after admission.

[Unilateral adrenal tuberculosis: a case report].

Computed tomography (CT) performed for a 75-year-old man as a follow-up examination for deep vein thrombosis in October 2010 revealed a left adrenal mass (diameter, 8 mm). In December 2012, the adrenal mass increased to 28 mm in diameter, and he was referred to our department. Several blood examinations revealed that the adrenal mass was non-functioning, and only peripheral lesions were observed to be enhanced by using CT in the arterial phase.

Immaturity of smooth muscle cells in the neointima is associated with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is mostly caused by ruptured plaques. The characteristics of rupture-prone vulnerable plaques include thin fibrous cap, large lipid core, and lower number of smooth muscle cells. Smooth muscle cells appearing in neointimal plaques are currently thought to have a uniformly synthetic phenotype, and their sub-classification has not been performed by h-caldesmon, which is supposed to be expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells that are beyond intermediately differentiated.

[Henoch-Schönlein purpura developed after radical cystectomy].

We report a case of Henoch-Schönlein purpura that developed after radical cystectomy. The patient was a 70-year-old man who visited our hospital with a chief complaint of asymptomatic macroscopic hematuria and was diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer. After providing one course of gemcitabine and cisplatin therapy as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radical cystectomy was performed.

Feasibility of deep-inspiration breath-hold PET/CT with short-time acquisition: detectability for pulmonary lesions compared with respiratory-gated PET/CT.

Objectives: Deep-inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) PET/CT with short-time acquisition and respiratory-gated (RG) PET/CT are performed for pulmonary lesions to reduce the respiratory motion artifacts, and to obtain more accurate standardized uptake value (SUV). DIBH PET/CT demonstrates significant advantages in terms of rapid examination, good quality of CT images and low radiation exposure. On the other hand, the image quality of DIBH PET is generally inferior to that of RG PET because of short-time acquisition resulting in poor signal-to-noise ratio.

Non-destructive monitoring of creaming of oil-in-water emulsion-based formulations using magnetic resonance imaging.

A non-destructive method for monitoring creaming of emulsion-based formulations is in great demand because it allows us to understand fully their instability mechanisms. This study was aimed at demonstrating the usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques, including MR imaging (MRI) and MR spectroscopy (MRS), for evaluating the physicochemical stability of emulsion-based formulations. Emulsions that are applicable as the base of practical skin creams were used as test samples.

[Malignant priapism due to metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma : a case report].

A 70-year-old man presented in December, 2010 with priapism persistent for over a month. The patient had no history of medications for erectile dysfunction, penis trauma, or traumatic sexual activities. A blood gas measurement of the cavernosum was performed, but only fibrosis tissue was aspirated and no blood was obtained.

A case of squamous cell carcinoma arising from a suprapubic cystostomy tract.

Background: Patients with spinal cord injury and a chronic indwelling urinary catheter are known to have an increased risk of bladder malignancy. However, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the epidermis around a suprapubic cystostomy is relatively rare. Here, we report a case of lower abdominal SCC arising from the suprapubic cystostomy tract.

Immunohistochemical characteristics of atypical polypoid adenomyoma with special reference to h-caldesmon.

Atypical polypoid adenomyoma (APA) is a relatively rare benign uterine tumor, histologically characterized by proliferation of irregular endometrioid glands accompanied by stromal cells of smooth muscle origin. As the epithelial components of APA usually show cytological atypia, a differential diagnosis between this tumor and endometrioid carcinoma invading myometrium is often difficult, especially in curettage material. This distinction is clinically very important to avoid unnecessary hysterectomy.

Aortic intramural hematoma associated with metastatic carcinoma.

We present a case of aortic intramural hematoma, a variant of aortic dissection, with metastatic carcinoma invasion within the aortic wall and pseudolumen. An elderly male patient with a history of controlled hypertension initially experienced chest pain. A computed tomographic scan revealed aortic intramural hematoma; thus, conservative therapy was performed.