[Proton-pump inhibitor use and hyponatremia].

Aim: Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used. However, reports of their adverse effects are increasing. Older patients are prone to developing hyponatremia due to various factors.

Independent component analysis of hyperspectral data measured from overlapping latent fingermarks: Forensic potential of independent component images.

Overlapping fingermark images are sometimes discarded because fingermark collation for the individual fingermarks is difficult. Fluorescence hyperspectral data (HSD) measured using the models of double overlapping fingermarks obtained under the excitation of a high-power, continuous wave, green laser is suitable for obtaining individual fingermark images. However, there are limitations such as the problems on each spectrum of the individual fingermark and the forensic value of the obtained images.

Aortic valve replacement in a patient with self-reported systemic multiple metal allergy.

We report our experience with aortic valve replacement in a patient with severe aortic stenosis who had self-reported allergies to multiple metals. The patient was a 74-year-old man. He developed palmoplantar pustulosis after using a dental prosthesis, and a patch test revealed reactions to several metals; therefore, he was diagnosed with systemic metal allergy.

Cardioprotective and functional effects of levosimendan and milrinone in mice with cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis.

Levosimendan and milrinone may be used in place of dobutamine to increase cardiac output in septic patients with a low cardiac output due to impaired cardiac function. The effects of the two inotropic agents on cardiac inflammation and left ventricular (LV) performance were examined in mice with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis. CLP mice displayed significant cardiac inflammation, as indicated by highly increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and neutrophil infiltration in myocardial tissues.

[Septic cardiomyopathy: pathophysiology and potential new therapeutic approaches].

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients, and its incidence continues to rise. Sepsis was defined as a systemic inflammatory response syndrome with an identifiable focus of infection, but therapeutic strategies aimed at eliminating the inflammatory response have only modest clinical benefit. The development of a failure of one or more organs poses a major threat to the survival of patients with sepsis, and mortality in sepsis is most often attributed to multiple organ dysfunction.

[Early Results of Complex Fractionated Atrial Electrogram Mapping Guided Atrial Fibrillation Surgery].

Objective: Although the Cox-maze operation is the standard surgical procedure for permanent atrial fibrillation(AF), conversion to sinus rhythm is limited by patient characteristics, including the duration of AF, atrial size, and voltage of fibrillation waves. A surgical strategy based on structural alteration of the electrical substrates of AF is required to achieve better outcomes of AF surgery. Complex fractionated atrial electrogram (CFAE) plays an important role in the electrical substrate of AF.

Diminished responsiveness to dobutamine as an inotrope in mice with cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis: attribution to phosphodiesterase 4 upregulation.

Dobutamine has been used in septic shock for many years as an only inotrope, but its benefit has been questioned. We weighed the effects of dobutamine and milrinone as inotropes in mice with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced polymicrobial sepsis. CLP-induced septic mice exhibited significant cardiac inflammation, as indicated by greatly increased mRNAs of proinflammatory cytokines and robust infiltration of inflammatory cells in the ventricular myocardium.

Current topics in surgery for multiple ventricular septal defects.

In this review article, we describe several topics, including the sandwich technique, the transatrial re-endocardialization technique, the limited apical left ventriculotomy approach and device closure. The sandwich technique was introduced for the closure of muscular ventricular septal defects (VSD) by sandwiching the septum between two felt patches placed in the left and right ventricle. This technique requires neither the transection of muscular trabeculae nor ventriculotomy.

Long-term efficacy of imatinib in a practical setting is correlated with imatinib trough concentration that is influenced by body size: a report by the Nagasaki CML Study Group.

Imatinib has dramatically improved long-term survival of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients. To analyze its efficacy in a practical setting, we registered most of CML patients in Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan. Of these, 73 patients received imatinib as an initial therapy.

Imatinib provides durable molecular and cytogenetic responses in a practical setting for both newly diagnosed and previously treated chronic myelogenous leukemia: a study in nagasaki prefecture, Japan.

To evaluate the efficacy of imatinib in a practical setting, we registered 43 patients with newly diagnosed chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (group I) and 56 patients with previously diagnosed CML (group II) at 11 hematology centers in Nagasaki prefecture, Japan, from December 2001 to July 2005 and analyzed the molecular responses. Cytopenia, fluid retention, and skin rash were major adverse events, along with elevation in creatine phosphokinase levels. With a follow-up of approximately 3.

Chemokine expression in human erythroid leukemia cell line AS-E2: macrophage inflammatory protein-3alpha/CCL20 is induced by inflammatory cytokines.

Objective: Normal and malignant hematopoietic cells are shown to express and secrete various cytokines and chemokines, some of which are believed to play an important role in normal and abnormal hematopoiesis in an autocrine/paracrine manner. To explore the possibility of a cytokine/chemokine network participating in the pathophysiology of anemic disorders, we evaluated the ability of inflammatory cytokines to induce chemokine expression using erythroid progenitor cells.

Methods: Erythropoietin-dependent human leukemia cell line AS-E2 was used as a model of erythroid colony-forming unit (CFU-E) cells.

Difference in clinical features between Japanese and German patients with refractory anemia in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Several reports indicate that there might be differences in clinical features between Asian and Western myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) cases. We analyzed refractory anemia (RA) in French-American-British (FAB) classification cases diagnosed in Japan and Germany to perform a more exact comparison between Asian and Western MDS types. In the first step, we analyzed agreement of morphologic diagnosis between Japanese and German hematologists.

Common neural processing regions for dynamic and static stereopsis in human parieto-occipital cortices.

We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural processing regions in the parieto-occipital cortices for human dynamic and static stereopsis. The subjects were ten ophthalmologists professionally trained to do microscopic surgery. Visual stimuli for dynamic or static stereopsis were performed with solid stereograms displayed in the image guides of a binocular visual stimulation device that we developed.