Publications by authors named "Ikejima K"

Purpose: To compare the clinical and radiological features of gastric and small intestinal anisakiasis with those of gastric ulcers and Crohn's disease.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 205 cases of anisakiasis (148 gastric; 53 small intestinal) were identified between July 2003 and February 2022. The control groups included 130 and 31 patients with gastric ulcers and Crohn's disease, respectively.

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Lipid rafts are subdomains of the cell membrane that are rich in cholesterol and glycolipids, and they are involved in various cellular processes and pathophysiological mechanisms. However, the specific role of lipid rafts in hepatocyte dysfunction during the pathogenesis of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the impact of lipid rafts on insulin sensitivity and hepatocyte injury induced by saturated free fatty acids (sFFAs) using primary-cultured mouse hepatocytes.

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Aim: To investigate the outcomes of cabozantinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), focusing on dose setting and modification.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 34 Japanese patients who received cabozantinib for uHCC. Trough concentrations (C) of cabozantinib were also measured weekly for 6 weeks in the 18 patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study evaluated the use of liver MR fingerprinting (MRF) to quantitatively assess and diagnose different focal liver lesions in 89 participants averaging 62 years old.
  • The MRF measurements performed comparably to standard MRI assessments, showing strong agreement for T1 values and moderate for T2, while also demonstrating good repeatability across measurements.
  • A combination of metrics derived from MRF distinguished between benign and malignant lesions effectively, achieving a high diagnostic accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.92.
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Article Synopsis
  • The cover features Professor Hideo Hosono's research group from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
  • Their work investigates the dominant activation mechanisms in ammonia synthesis, specifically focusing on nitrogen activation.
  • The findings are detailed in the accompanying research article, which can be accessed at the provided DOI link: 10.1002/cssc.202300551.
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Estuaries contain some of the highest concentrations of accumulated microplastics (MPs) that can be ingested by abundant deposit-feeding crabs. We investigate MPs in gill, hepatopancreatic, and gastrointestinal tissues of seven intertidal crab species in Kokubu River, Kochi, Japan. By applying a reliable method that considers limits of detection and quantification, we report MPs in 63 of 116 crabs (>50%), with a mean of 3.

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Aim: Following the coronavirus disease outbreak, a state of public emergency was declared worldwide, which enforced lifestyle changes. This study therefore aimed to investigate the changes in lifestyle, body composition, hepatic steatosis, and fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) under lockdown.

Methods: During the lockdown period, 1344 patients with CLD answered a lifestyle questionnaire.

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To evaluate the diagnostic performance of our deep learning (DL) model of COVID-19 and investigate whether the diagnostic performance of radiologists was improved by referring to our model. Our datasets contained chest X-rays (CXRs) for the following three categories: normal (NORMAL), non-COVID-19 pneumonia (PNEUMONIA), and COVID-19 pneumonia (COVID). We used two public datasets and private dataset collected from eight hospitals for the development and external validation of our DL model (26,393 CXRs).

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Liver fibrosis results from chronic liver injury triggered by factors such as viral infection, excess alcohol intake, and lipid accumulation. However, the mechanisms underlying liver fibrosis are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that the expression of fibroblast growth factor 18 (Fgf18) is elevated in mouse livers following the induction of chronic liver fibrosis models.

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Background: Endoscopy is an important form of clinical gastroenterology education because it gives students the opportunity to learn about diagnosis procedures and even treatment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical students were observed from outside the endoscopy room due to the risk of airborne infection. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of combining endoscopy education with doctor's-eye-view videos of the procedure obtained using live-action cameras (GoPro®).

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Measurements of microplastics in environmental and biological samples can be overestimated because of contaminants introduced during the analytical process. Knowledge of the potential sources and frequency of contamination during analysis is required to develop a protocol to prevent analytical errors. In this study, potential sources of contamination in the laboratory analysis of biological samples were evaluated, and reliable, inexpensive measures to prevent contamination were tested.

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Nitride and hydride materials have been proposed as active supports for the loading of transition metal catalysts in thermal catalytic ammonia synthesis. However, the contribution of nitrogen or hydride anions in the support to the catalytic activity for supported transition-metal catalysts is not well understood, especially for Fe-based catalysts. Here, we report that hexagonal-BaTiO N with nitrogen vacancies at face-sharing sites acts as a more efficient support for Fe catalysts for ammonia synthesis than BaTiO or BaTiO H at 260 °C to 400 °C.

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This study investigated the impact of partial splenic embolization (PSE) on portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG). We retrospectively analyzed endoscopic findings and the portal venous system of 31 cirrhotic patients with PHG. The improved group was defined as the amelioration of PHG findings using the McCormack classification.

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Purpose: BRCA1 and BRCA2 tumors exhibit different characteristics. This study aimed to assess and compare the ultrasound findings and pathologic features of BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancers. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the mass formation, vascularity, and elasticity in breast cancers of BRCA-positive Japanese women.

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The high accumulation potential of estuaries for plastics, particularly microplastics, poses a threat to the high societal value and biodiversity they provide. To support a spatially refined evaluation of the risk that microplastic pollution poses to fauna utilizing estuarine sedimentary habitats, we investigated the distribution of microplastics (lower limit of quantification, LOQ = 62 μm) at the sediment surface of two dominant habitats, and subsequently compared microplastic burdens between two crabs species utilizing these habitats. Microplastics were dominated by low density polyolefins (45-50 %), comparable to the polymer composition of macroplastics.

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This prospective study investigated the impact of cabozantinib exposure on proteinuria and muscle toxicity, in a cohort of 14 Japanese patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). We measured the trough concentration of cabozantinib (Ctrough) weekly for 6 weeks after starting treatment. Although the initial dose was less than 60 mg in most cases, dose interruption occurred in 79%, primarily because of proteinuria and/or malaise.

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Background Liver MR fingerprinting (MRF) enables simultaneous quantification of T1, T2, T2*, and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) maps in single breath-hold acquisitions. Histopathologic correlation studies are desired for its clinical use. Purpose To compare liver MRF-derived metrics with separate reference quantitative MRI in participants with diffuse liver disease, evaluate scan-rescan repeatability of liver MRF, and validate MRF-derived measurements for histologic grading of liver biopsies.

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A bronchobiliary fistula (BBF) is an uncommon but severe complication after radiofrequency ablation (RFA). However, the definitive salvage methods are controversial. We herein report a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatic abscess and BBF following RFA.

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Glecaprevir is a substrate for organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1/1B3, which transports bilirubin. Hyperbilirubinemia is an adverse event during anti-hepatitis C virus treatment with glecaprevir and pibrentasvir. Gadoxetic acid is also transported by OATP1B1/1B3, and we aimed to evaluate whether gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was associated with glecaprevir trough concentrations (C).

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Aims: Autophagic dysfunction is associated with the progression of various liver diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, serum markers for evaluating autophagic function have not been reported. Highly insoluble nuclear proteins participate in many cellular functions and are potential diagnostic markers for cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) are rising globally, especially among individuals with metabolic syndrome, highlighting the need for specific markers to assess alcohol consumption.
  • In a study of 120 patients with fatty liver disease, the ratio of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin to total transferrin (%CDT) was found to correlate significantly with alcohol consumption levels, with specific cutoff values established for identifying non-light and heavy drinkers.
  • %CDT emerged as a reliable marker for monitoring alcohol intake, independent of liver damage or metabolic syndrome factors, thus aiding in the diagnosis of NAFLD and ALD.
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Background: Quantitative evaluation of radiographic images has been developed and suggested for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, there are limited opportunities to use these image-based diagnostic indices in clinical practice. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the utility of a novel visually-based classification of pulmonary findings from computed tomography (CT) images of COVID-19 patients with the following three patterns defined: peripheral, multifocal, and diffuse findings of pneumonia.

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