Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in treatment of stabbing chest injuries.

Since 1994, we have performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in order to treat thoracic trauma. In general, emergency surgery is performed for trauma injuries incurred by knives. Between 1994 and 2005, we performed thoracoscopic surgery on eighteen cases of thoracic stab wounds.

Life-saving treatment by fluid resuscitation and a thoracotomy in a case of deep pulmonary laceration.

Case: A 41-year-old man survived deep pulmonary and hepatic lacerations by treatment with fluid resuscitation, blood transfusion, thoracotomy, and transcatheter hepatic artery embolization. The patient was transferred to our hospital 46 minutes after his motorbike struck a station wagon from behind. Hemorrhagic shock with systolic blood pressure of 68 mmHg was observed.

Can nifekalant hydrochloride be used as a first-line drug for cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA)? : comparative study of out-of-hospital CPA with acidosis and in-hospital CPA without acidosis.

Background: Early defibrillation of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation (VT/VF) is an urgent and most important method of resuscitation for survival in cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). We have previously reported that nifekalant (NIF), a specific I(Kr) blocker developed in Japan, is effective for lidocaine (LID) resistant VT/VF in out-of-hospital CPA (OHCPA). However, little is known about the differences in the effect of NIF on OHCPA with acidosis and in-hospital CPA (IHCPA) without acidosis.

Multiple gastric carcinoids associated with hypergastrinemia. A review of five cases with clinicopathological analysis and surgical strategies.

Previously, total gastrectomy was regarded as the treatment for multiple gastric carcinoids because of the unknown biological characteristics of this disease. Recent studies, however, have revealed that type 1 gastric carcinoids have a low potential for malignancy. In this study, five patients with hypergastrinemia and multiple gastric carcinoids, who underwent gastrectomy with regional node dissection, were analyzed.

Development and reliability of a standard rating system for outcome measurement of foot and ankle disorders II: interclinician and intraclinician reliability and validity of the newly established standard rating scales and Japanese Orthopaedic Association rating scale.

Background: This study evaluated the validity and inter- and intraclinician reliability of (1) the Japanese Society of Surgery of the Foot (JSSF) standard rating system for four sites [ankle-hindfoot (AH), midfoot (MF), hallux (HL), and lesser toe (LT)] and the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) foot and ankle scale and (2) the Japanese Orthopaedic Association's foot rating scale (JOA scale).

Methods: Clinicians from the same institute independently evaluated participating patients from their institute by two evaluations at a 1- to 4-week interval. Statistical evaluation was as follows.

Development and reliability of a standard rating system for outcome measurement of foot and ankle disorders I: development of standard rating system.

Background: The aim of this study was to report the five scales comprising the rating system that the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot (JSSF) devised (JSSF standard rating system) and the newly offered interpretations and criteria for determinations of each assessment item.

Methods: We produced the new scales for the JSSF standard system by modifying the clinical rating systems established by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS scales) and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association's foot rating scale (JOA scale). We also provided interpretations of each assessment item and the criteria of determinations in the new standard system.

Critical role of the "Doctor-Heli" system on cerebral infarction in the superacute stage--report of a outstanding pilot case.

In Japan, the physician staffed helicopter ambulance system, "Doctor-Heli" System, was first founded in our University Hospital in 1999. In this system, a helicopter is based at an Emergency Medical Center at all times and dispatch with both emergency physicians and a nurse upon a request by paramedics. This system has made possible a critically earlier development of the initial management at the point of care and rapid transport to the hospital.

Mucin expression and proliferating cell index of esophageal Barrett's adenocarcinoma.

Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease, and consists of mucosa with a metaplastic columnar epithelium (specialized columnar epithelium). In this study, we examined the expression of mucin and the Ki-67 labeling index (LI) in 15 cases of esophageal Barrett's adenocarcinoma, and clarified the significance of incomplete intestinal metaplasia of Barrett's mucosa as a premalignant lesion. Gastric mucin (MUC5AC, HGM, and/or MUC6) was detected in 93.

Leptin deficiency enhances sensitivity of rats to alcoholic steatohepatitis through suppression of metallothionein.

Oxidative stress is stated to be a central mechanism of hepatocellular injury in alcohol-induced liver injury. Recent reports have shown that Kupffer cell dysfunction in the leptin-deficient state contributes partly to the increased sensitivity to endotoxin liver injury. Here we report that leptin also plays a key role in the development of alcoholic liver injury and that leptin signaling in hepatocytes is involved in cellular mechanisms that mediate ethanol-induced oxidative stress.

Ubiquitous p63 expression in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

p63, a recently identified member of the p53 gene family, plays an important role in human tissue functions. We examined the pattern of p63 expression in human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas including early-stage cancers, and its clinicopathological significance. Immunoreactivity for p63 was detected in 96.

Immortalization of human nucleus pulposus cells by a recombinant SV40 adenovirus vector: establishment of a novel cell line for the study of human nucleus pulposus cells.

Study Design: Establishment and characterization of a de novo cell line derived from human nucleus pulposus cells using a recombinant simian virus 40 (SV40) adenovirus vector.

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of human nucleus pulposus cell line procurement and to evaluate the character of the resultant outcome to better understand the nature of human nucleus pulposus cells.

Summary Of Background Data: Despite recent advances in disc cell biologic research, the fundamental nature of nucleus pulposus cells, especially in the context of human cell lines, is still not well understood.

Clinicopathological significance of sialyl Lex expression in human gallbladder carcinoma.

Sialyl Lex antigen, a member of a family of high molecular weight glycoproteins, is a ligand for E-selectin and may play an important role in tumor metastasis. However, expression patterns of sialyl Lex have not yet been established in human gallbladder carcinomas. In this study, we analyzed the clinicopathological significance of sialyl Lex expression and patients' prognosis in cases of human gallbladder adenocarcinoma.

Bax interacts with the voltage-dependent anion channel and mediates ethanol-induced apoptosis in rat hepatocytes.

Acute ethanol exposure induces oxidative stress and apoptosis in primary rat hepatocytes. Previous data indicate that the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) is essential for ethanol-induced apoptosis. However, the mechanism by which ethanol induces the MPT remains unclear.

[The usefulness of MRI around the tentorial incisura for determining the mechanism of brain stem injury: a case report].

We report a case of isolated brain stem injury caused by the tentorium cerebelli. A 17-year-old male was admitted to our hospital. Thirty minutes before admission, he was struck by another motorcycle while driving his own motorcycle.

Pioglitazone prevents alcohol-induced fatty liver in rats through up-regulation of c-Met.

Background & Aims: Treatment of steatosis is important in preventing development of fibrosis in alcoholic liver diseases. This study aimed to examine if pioglitazone, an antidiabetic reagent serving as a ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma), could prevent alcoholic fatty liver.

Methods: Rats fed with an ethanol-containing liquid diet were given the reagent at 10 mg/kg per day intragastrically for 6 weeks.

Acute oral selenium intoxication with ten times the lethal dose resulting in deep gastric ulcer.

A 48-year-old woman presented after taking 2000 mg of selenium dioxide, corresponding to 10 times the experimental lethal dose in animals. She presented with mildly altered consciousness and hematemesis. Endoscopy revealed mucosal damage throughout the oral cavity, esophagus, and stomach.

Immunohistochemical mucin expression of short-segment Barrett's esophagus.

Barrett's mucosa consists of metaplastic columnar epithelium (specialized columnar epithelium) of the esophagus. Recently, "short-segment Barrett's esophagus (SSBE)" was proposed. In the present study, we examined immunohistochemical mucin expression and the Ki-67 labeling index (LI) of SSBE, in 5-15 mm lengths.

Human lower limb muscles: an evaluation of weight and fiber size.

Morphological study of the lower limb muscles is necessary for the analysis of muscle function and its relation to the aging process. In this study, we measured the muscle weight and the muscle fiber morphometry (cross-sectional area and total number of muscle fibers at the muscular belly, and muscle fiber size) of the human lower limb in an adult Japanese cadaver (male, 58 years old). The results presented here can provide the normal control data to elucidate the aging process of the human lower limb muscles.

[A case of leptospirosis diagnosed early by flaB-PCR].

We report a case of leptospirosis that was diagnosed in the early stage of infection by using flaB-PCR. The flaB gene of Leptospira was amplified from the DNA extract of the patient's blood at hospital day 1, while leptospiral antibody was negative by the method of microscopic agglutination test and micocapsule agglutination test at that time. Seroconversion occurred at hospital day 6 and Leptospira was isolated from the patient's blood at hospital day 16, demonstrating that flaB-PCR method was very useful in early diagnosis of leptospirosis.

Regulation of mouse retinol dehydrogenases and retinal dehydrogenases in hepatocyte differentiation.

Retinoic acid (RA) is produced via two sequential reactions of retinol dehydrogenases (RDHs) and retinal dehydrogenases (RALDHs). We found that primary cultured mouse hepatocytes on a single collagen gel gradually lost hepatocyte specific morphology, and that another collagen gel overlay remarkably recovered it. The levels of albumin and liver-dominant expressed RDHs expression in hepatocytes paralleled their morphological change, decreased during single collagen gel culture, and were up-regulated by sequential collagen overlay.