Stent Graft Collapse after Zone 0 Landing Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

A zone 0 landing thoracic endovascular aortic repair was performed on a 69-year-old man with a saccular aortic arch aneurysm. Seven days after the surgery, the patient experienced diminished consciousness and lower limb paralysis. Stent graft collapse was seen on a computed tomography scan.

Brachial plexus injury and upper rib fracture after median sternotomy in cardiac surgery.

Objectives: Sternal retractors utilized during open-heart surgeries through median sternotomy can cause upper rib fractures which sometimes further leads to brachial plexus injury. We aimed to investigate the incidence of brachial plexus injury and upper rib fractures in open-heart surgeries and how these injuries are associated with each other.

Methods: We investigated 1050 cases during the past five years.

Instructor Development Workshops for Advanced Life Support Training Courses Held in a Fully Virtual Space: Observational Study.

Background: Various face-to-face training opportunities have been lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instructor development workshops for advanced resuscitation (ie, advanced life support) training courses are no exception. Virtual reality (VR) is an attractive strategy for remote training.

Development of virtual reality content for learning Japan Prehospital Trauma Evaluation and Care initial assessment procedures.

Aim: The Japan Prehospital Trauma Evaluation and Care (JPTEC) is a standardized educational program for prehospital trauma care in Japan. The initial assessment in the JPTEC course comprises a training segment that includes a 30-min session. Given the limited face-to-face training due to the coronavirus disease 2019, virtual reality (VR) content has become an alternative.

Deletion of Superoxide Dismutase 1 Blunted Inflammatory Aortic Remodeling in Hypertensive Mice under Angiotensin II Infusion.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme that catalyzes the dismutation of two superoxide anions (O) into hydrogen peroxide (HO) and oxygen (O) and is generally known to protect against oxidative stress. Angiotensin II (AngII) causes vascular hypertrophic remodeling which is associated with HO generation. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of cytosolic SOD (SOD1) in AngII-induced vascular hypertrophy.

Application of Recombinase-Based In Vivo Expression Technology to subsp. for Identification of Genes Induced in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Mice.

Bifidobacteria are one of the major components in human gut microbiota and well-known as beneficial microbes. However, clarification of commensal mechanisms of bifidobacteria in the intestines is still ongoing, especially in the presence of the gut microbiota. Here, we applied recombinase-based in vivo expression technology (R-IVET) using the bacteriophage P1 Cre/ system to subsp.

Effects of pharmacist participation in chronic kidney disease (CKD) network and CKD manual distribution on drug-related kidney injury.

Purpose: Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors carry a risk of normotensive ischemic acute kidney injury in dehydration and concurrent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use. Although the estimated number of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is 20 000, Fujieda, Japan, has only three nephrologists. On 25 March 2016, we reorganized the CKD network to include pharmacists and distributed a CKD manual.

[Treatment of Mediastinitis after Open Heart Surgery Using Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with Irrigation].

Mediastinitis occurs after open heart surgery in a small number of cases. When it occurs, early diagnosis and treatment are important. A 69-year-old male patient suffered from mediastinitis after total aortic arch replacement.

Successful Endovascular Removal of a Perforated Inferior Vena Cava Filter Complicated by a Large Retroperitoneal Hematoma: Pitfall of Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis.

Symptomatic caval perforation is rare complication after inferior vena cava (IVC) filter insertion. A 44-year-old woman developed back pain after the placement of retrieval IVC filter during catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT). Her computed tomography showed a large right-sided retroperitoneal hematoma.

Intratubular spermatocytic seminomas in 2 sprague-dawley rats.

This report describes 2 cases of spontaneous intratubular spermatocytic seminomas in Sprague-Dawley rats. These rats were sacrificed at 10 weeks old (case 1) and 40 weeks old (case 2), respectively. Macroscopically, there were no remarkable changes in either case.

A novel cardiac ryanodine receptor gene (RyR2) mutation in an athlete with aborted sudden cardiac death: a case of adult-onset catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes <35 years of age are mostly due to congenital or acquired cardiac malformations or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, ion channelopathies such as catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) or long-QT syndromes, which are less frequently observed, are also potential pathogenesis of SCD in young athletes. CPVT is an inherited arrhythmia that is induced by physical or emotional stress and may lead to ventricular fibrillation syncope or SCD.

Increased α-synuclein levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Recent studies have shown that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of α-synuclein (α-syn) are highly elevated in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) compared to controls. However, the diagnostic value of CSF α-syn in CJD has not been established. To confirm whether CSF α-syn is increased in CJD and is a useful marker for this disease, two independent enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays (ELISAs) specific for α-syn were used: ELISA 211-FL140, which is specific for full-length α-syn, and ELISA N19-FL140, which is specific for the full-length and associated C-terminal truncated forms of α-syn.

Cerebrospinal fluid proteomic patterns discriminate Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy.

The differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy can be challenging, especially in the early stages of the diseases. We developed a proteomic profiling strategy for parkinsonian diseases using mass spectrometry analysis for magnetic-bead-based enrichment of cerebrospinal fluid peptides/proteins and subsequent multivariate statistical analysis. Cerebrospinal fluid was obtained from 37 patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, 32 patients diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, and 26 patients diagnosed with other neurological diseases as controls.

[Superior vena cava thrombosis in a case with low serum factor XII].

The present case is 74 years old man who was hospitalized to treat lung tumor suspected of malignancy. Because the superior vena cava thrombus was also revealed by radiological examination, he was performed lobectomy and thrombectomy at the same time. He has past history of intravenous hyperalimentation for 15 days, and we supposed the event to be the cause of the thrombus.

Novel TNF-α receptor 1 antagonist treatment attenuates arterial inflammation and intimal hyperplasia in mice.

Aim: Tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) participates importantly in arterial inflammation in genetically altered mice; however it remains undetermined whether a selective TNFR1 antagonist inhibits arterial inflammation and intimal hyperplasia. This study aimed to determine the effect and mechanism of a novel TNFR1 antagonist in the suppression of arterial inflammation.

Methods: We investigated intimal hyperplasia in IL-1 receptor antagonist-deficient mice two weeks after inducing femoral artery injury in an external vascular cuff model.

IκBNS regulates interleukin-6 production and inhibits neointimal formation after vascular injury in mice.

Aims: IκBNS regulates a subset of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent genes including interleukin-6 (IL-6) by inhibiting nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). IL-6 is an inflammatory biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether IκBNS changes arterial inflammation and intimal hyperplasia after vascular injury.

Deficiency of CuZn superoxide dismutase promotes inflammation and alters medial structure following vascular injury.

Aim: The anti-oxidant enzyme copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) metabolizes superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) in vascular cells. However, the role of CuZnSOD in vascular injury remains poorly understood.

Methods: Using CuZnSOD-deficient (CuZnSOD(-/-)) mice and wild-type (WT) mice, we investigated morphometric changes and the role of O(2)(-) in vascular remodeling after femoral artery injury induced by an external vascular cuff model.

Usefulness of serum S100B as a marker for the acute phase of aquaporin-4 autoimmune syndrome.

The aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel antibody is used in the diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) due to its high sensitivity and high specificity. However, some patients are reported to have neither optic neuritis nor myelitis despite being positive for the AQP4-autoantibody (AQP4-Ab). Therefore, recent reports suggest that such patients should be diagnosed as having 'AQP4-autoimmune syndrome'.

Detection of elevated levels of α-synuclein oligomers in CSF from patients with Parkinson disease.

Background: To date, there is no accepted clinical diagnostic test for Parkinson disease (PD) that is based on biochemical analysis of blood or CSF. The discovery of mutations in the SNCA gene encoding α-synuclein in familial parkinsonism and the accumulation of α-synuclein in the PD brain suggested a critical role for this protein in PD etiology.

Methods: We investigated total and α-synuclein oligomers levels in CSF from patients clinically diagnosed with PD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), or Alzheimer disease (AD), and age-matched controls, using ELISA developed in our laboratory.

High-molecular-weight beta-amyloid oligomers are elevated in cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer patients.

There is accumulating evidence that soluble amyloid-beta (Abeta) oligomers, rather than amyloid fibrils, are the principal pathogenic species in Alzheimer disease (AD). Here, we have developed a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for high-molecular-weight (HMW) Abeta oligomers. Analysis of Abeta oligomers derived from synthetic Abeta 1-42, by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), revealed that our ELISA specifically detected HMW Abeta oligomers of 40-200 kDa.

Cognitive impairment and cerebral hypoperfusion in a CADASIL patient improved during administration of lomerizine.

A 64-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for recurrent stroke and cognitive impairment and was diagnosed with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Iodine-123 iodoamphetamine single photon emission computed tomography showed hypoperfusion in the whole brain, but cerebral blood flow increased dramatically after the administration of acetazolamide in the cerebral cortex. Lomerizine, a diphenylmethylpiperazine Ca2+ channel blocker, can selectively increase cerebral blood flow.