Estimated glomerular filtration rate versus creatinine clearance to determine anticoagulant dosage after lower-limb orthopedic surgery.

Background: Anticoagulation is recommended for thromboprophylaxis after lower-limb orthopedic surgery. The suggested dosage is based on creatinine clearance (CCr) in the labels. However, most facilities only provide estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as laboratory data.

Clinical characteristics of hospitalized heart failure patients with preserved, mid-range, and reduced ejection fractions in Japan.

Aims: There are regional differences in the patient characteristics, management, and outcomes of hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF). The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Japanese patients who are hospitalized with HF on the basis of the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) stratum.

Methods And Results: We retrospectively conducted a multicentre cohort study of 1245 hospitalized patients with decompensated HF between 2013 and 2014.

Rapid HIV-1 Disease Progression in Individuals Infected with a Virus Adapted to Its Host Population.

HIV-1 escape from CTL is predictable based on the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I alleles expressed by the host. As such, HIV-1 sequences circulating in a population of hosts will harbor escape mutations specific to the HLA alleles of that population. In theory, this should increase the frequency of escape mutation transmission to persons expressing the restricting HLA allele, thereby compromising host immunity to the incoming HIV-1 strain.

Amelioration of cardio-renal injury with aging in dahl salt-sensitive rats by H2-enriched electrolyzed water.

Unlabelled: Recent studies have revealed the biological effects of H2 in suppressing organ injuries due to acute inflammation and oxidative stress. Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rats naturally develop elevated blood pressure (BP) and kidney injury with aging. The present study examined the effect of long-term supplementation of H2 in drinking water on age-related changes.

Long-term prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction in the era of acute revascularization (from the Heart Institute of Japan Acute Myocardial Infarction [HIJAMI] registry).

Background: The long-term prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the contemporary acute revascularization era is not fully understood.

Methods: To clarify long-term prognosis and prognostic factors of AMI patients in a real-world setting, we consecutively registered 3021 patients with AMI (mean age 69 years, 70.7% male) who were admitted to 17 participating medical institutions and followed up prospectively.

Intake of water with high levels of dissolved hydrogen (H2) suppresses ischemia-induced cardio-renal injury in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

Background: Hydrogen (H(2)) reportedly produces an antioxidative effect by quenching cytotoxic oxygen radicals. We studied the biological effects of water with dissolved H(2) on ischemia-induced cardio-renal injury in a rat model of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: Dahl salt-sensitive rats (7 weeks old) were allowed ad libitum drinking of filtered water (FW: dissolved H(2), 0.

[Systemic neurolymphomatosis complicated in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma].

A 73-year-old woman was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the uterus (Stage IVB). After 3 courses of CHOP therapy, right abducens nerve paralysis appeared and was diagnosed as central nervous system infiltration with lymphoma cells. Although partial remission was obtained by chemotherapy with methotrexate, numbness and muscle weakness of all four limbs appeared asymmetrically and progressed subacutely.

[The role of the pharmacist to an inpatient in order to switch from inpatient treatment to a home-based care of an outpatient--the usefulness of a patient record notebook in cancer chemotherapy].

We have been successfully using a patient's record notebook in home-based outpatient cancer chemotherapy since 2003. Many of the patients expressed their satisfaction carrying a patient record notebook through our questionnaires designed to illicit details of their side effects during the chemotherapy. There are so many tasks the patient has to do by his own once he leaves the hospital and to become an outpatient.

Regulator of complement activation (RCA) locus in chicken: identification of chicken RCA gene cluster and functional RCA proteins.

A 150-kb DNA fragment, which contains the gene of the chicken complement regulatory protein CREM (formerly named Cremp), was isolated from a microchromosome by screening bacterial artificial chromosome library. Within 100 kb of the cloned region, three complete genes encoding short consensus repeats (SCRs, motifs with tandemly arranged 60 aa) were identified by exon-trap method and 3'- or 5'-RACE. A chicken orthologue of the human gene 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 2, which exists in close proximity to the regulator of complement activation genes in humans and mice, was located near this chicken SCR gene cluster.

Improved strain distribution patterns of SMXA recombinant inbred strains by microsatellite markers.

To develop SMXA recombinant inbred (RI) strains as more valuable genetic resources, 302 microsatellite (Mit) loci were added to the strain distribution patterns (SDP) reported previously. The improved SDP were constructed in a total of 1085 loci containing 484 Mit markers, 571 restriction landmark genomic scanning (RLGS) spot markers and 30 others. This substantially improved SDP can be freely accessed on our homepage (http://www.

Prediction of functional outcome after stroke rehabilitation.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of functional outcome after acute stroke inpatient rehabilitation using raw Functional Independence Measure (FIM) total scores.

Design: Multivariate analysis was performed on data collected retrospectively from stroke rehabilitation patients. Six independent variables were obtained from patients' medical records.

[Swallowing rehabilitation using balloon catheter treatment evaluated by videofluorography in an elderly patient with Wallenberg's syndrome].

A 65-year old man was admitted with severe dysphagia, ataxia and aspiration pneumonia. Dysphagia and ataxia were caused by lateral medullary infarction (Wallenberg's syndrome). The swallowing abnormality was assessed by videofluorography and we attempted the balloon dilatation method for cricopharyngeal dysphagia.

[Activities of antimicrobial agents against 5,180 clinical isolates obtained from 26 medical institutions during 1998 in Japan. Levofloxacin--Surveillance Group].

The surveillance study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial activity of fluoroquinolones (ofloxacin, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, tosufloxacin) and other 20 antimicrobial agents against 5,180 clinical isolates obtained from 26 medical institutions during 1998 in Japan. The resistance to fluoroquinolones was remarkable in Enterococci, methicillin-resistant staphylococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa from UTI. However, many of the common pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae including penicillin-resistant isolates, methicillin-susceptible Stahylococcus aureus, Moraxella catarrhalis, the family of Enterobacteriaceae, Haemophilus influenzae including ampicillin-resistant isolates have been kept to be susceptible to fluoroquinolones.

Fasting insulin and leptin serum levels are associated with systolic blood pressure independent of percentage body fat and body mass index.

Objective: To examine the relationship between leptin and insulin serum levels and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in young men.

Setting: Kobe University of Mercantile Marine, Kobe, Japan.

Participants: One hundred and ninety-eight male students aged 18-20 years (comprising 100% of those eligible).

Comparison of venoarterial versus venovenous access in the cerebral circulation of newborns undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

This study was designed to compare venoarterial (VA) with venovenous (VV) access in the cerebral circulation of newborn infants during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Among 14 infants with VA ECMO, 7 had no intracranial complications (group 1), while the others (group 2) developed intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). In contrast, among 19 infants with VV ECMO, only 1 developed ICH.

Use of PCR serum in diagnosing and monitoring cytomegalovirus reactivation in bone marrow transplant recipients.

We previously reported that the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in detecting cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in serum (sPCR) enables the detection of CMV viremia, which has not been possible with other methods. In this study, the clinical usefulness of sPCR was investigated by comparison with the results of three other diagnostic methods, i.e.

Cimetidine reduces impairment of cellular immunity after cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objective: Depressive effects of cardiopulmonary bypass on cell-mediated immune responses may lead to postoperative infectious complications. We previously reported that cimetidine reduced postbypass depression of the cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells. This study evaluated cimetidine as an agent to preserve cellular immunity after cardiac operations.

Thoracotomy for a patient with Stevens-Johnson syndrome: report of a case.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is an uncommon eruptive disorder of the skin and mucous membranes with systemic manifestation. It is extremely unusual for patients with a past history of SJS to present with indications for surgery necessitating thoracotomy. We describe herein the perioperative management of a patient with SJS who underwent surgery for a spontaneous pneumothorax.

[A case of primary HIV-1 infection].

A previously healthy 28 year old Japanese man came to us with a genital ulcer which appeared 13 days before admission to our hospital. He had subsequently fever (40 degrees C), arthralgia, a sore throat and oral aphtha 6 days before admission. He had a history of sexual contact with a female commercial sex worker one week before his illness.

Isolation and structural characterization of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP)-like peptide from the brain of a teleost, stargazer, Uranoscopus japonicus.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a novel neuropeptide consisting of 38-residue (PACAP 1-38) and a truncated form with 27 residues (PACAP 1-27) that plays several roles in tetrapods. We isolated a highly purified PACAP-like peptide from the brain of a teleost, the stargazer, by extracting of acetone-dried powder with acetic acid followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on gel-filtration, cation-exchange, and reverse-phase columns. Purification was monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blotting analysis using an anti-PACAP 1-27 antiserum.

[A case of rapidly grown pulmonary blastoma].

A 78-year-old woman who had been in a local hospital with a complaint of cough and chest pain was referred to our hospital because a mass 12 cm in size was found in her right lung by a chest X-ray and CT. Within 3 weeks, the tumor rapidly developed to 19 cm in size. Malignant schwannoma of the lung was suspected by a percutaneus lung biopsy and the right upper and middle lobectomy was performed.

Cardiorespiratory function as assessed by exercise testing in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Exercise testing was used to examine 19 cardiorespiratory diabetes mellitus patients, aged 32-68 years (body mass index, 27.8 +/- 4.8 kg/m2), and 16 healthy volunteers, aged 23-57 years (body mass index, 22.