Publications by authors named "Masaharu Aga"
Background/aim: Survival outcomes in patients with successfully resected non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are not well understood. Furthermore, the best treatment strategy for postoperative locoregional recurrence has not been established.
Patients And Methods: Patients who underwent R0 resection of NSCLC between 2013 and 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.
Article Synopsis
- - Cold agglutination syndrome is an autoimmune hemolytic anemia that causes red blood cells to clump and break down in cold temperatures, and it can be categorized into primary (occurring on its own) and secondary (occurring due to underlying infections like COVID-19).
- - A case study discusses a 69-year-old Japanese woman with periodontitis who suffered from brown urine and chest pain, revealing severe anemia linked to cold agglutination syndrome and multiple lung abscesses after her COVID-19 vaccination.
- - The findings suggest that COVID-19 can lead to secondary cold agglutination syndrome, which may worsen due to bacterial infections in the bloodstream, indicating a potential risk for patients recovering from
Background: The evidence for macrolide therapy in adult asthma is not properly established and remains controversial. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the efficacy and safety of macrolide therapy for adult asthma.
Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials from MEDLINE via the PubMed, CENTRAL, and Ichushi Web databases.
Article Synopsis
- * A case study of a 34-year-old patient shows that after initial crizotinib treatment, the disease progressed, requiring a switch to chemotherapy and later multiple treatments, including whole-brain radiotherapy.
- * The results suggest that switching to the drug entrectinib may help alleviate symptoms related to central nervous system metastases in ROS1-fusion-positive lung cancer patients who do not respond to crizotinib.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the connection between resistance to osimertinib (an EGFR-TKI) and PD-L1 expression in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).
- - Analyzing 64 patients, researchers found that those with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥20% had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 9.1 months, compared to 28.1 months for those with TPS <20%.
- - Results suggest that a higher PD-L1 TPS may indicate early resistance to osimertinib, highlighting the importance of PD-L1 status in managing treatment for EGFR-mutated NSCLC.
Introduction: Aspiration pneumonia is increasingly recognised as a common condition. While antibiotics covering anaerobes are thought to be necessary based on old studies reporting anaerobes as causative organisms, recent studies suggest that it may not necessarily benefit prognosis, or even be harmful. Clinical practice should be based on current data reflecting the shift in causative bacteria.
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- - G-CSF-producing lung cancer is linked to severe inflammation, high WBC counts, and poorer outcomes; recent cases show high PD-L1 expression and good responses to pembrolizumab.
- - A study at Yokohama Municipal Citizen's Hospital looked at 13 lung cancer patients with high G-CSF plasma levels to analyze PD-L1 expression, finding varying tumor proportion scores among them.
- - The research suggests a connection between G-CSF levels and PD-L1 expression; however, while immune checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab can be effective, their overall impact seems limited in these cases.
Malignant pericardial mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare tumour that arises from the mesothelial cells of the pericardium. No standard treatment has been established owing to a poor treatment response; therefore, MPM has a poor prognosis. We herein report a rare case of MPM in a 70-year-old man that was diagnosed immunohistopathologically using cell block sections of pericardial fluid and in which long-term survival for more than 3 years was achieved with only periodic pericardial drainage.
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- Remdesivir is effective in reducing recovery time and mortality in COVID-19 patients, but its safety in Japan is not well-studied.
- A study at Yokohama Municipal Citizen's Hospital analyzed 201 COVID-19 pneumonia patients treated with remdesivir, finding that 177 recovered but 23 experienced increased pancreatic enzyme levels or acute pancreatitis.
- The study revealed remdesivir and severe COVID-19 infection as independent risk factors for developing acute pancreatitis and elevated pancreatic enzymes in treated patients.
Article Synopsis
- Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare but challenging condition associated with cancer, difficult to diagnose before death due to quick onset of symptoms.
- The case described involved a patient with lymphedema who developed PTTM, presenting with pulmonary hypertension and ultimately passing away after 9 days in the hospital without a definitive diagnosis from initial tests.
- An autopsy revealed tumor embolisms in the lungs and cell proliferation, but the primary source of the cancer was not found, marking this as the first reported instance of PTTM linked to lymphedema.
Background: Redundant publication of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) on the same topic presents an increasing burden for clinicians. The aim of this study was to describe variabilities in effect size and methodological quality of overlapping surgery-related SRs/MAs and to investigate factors associated with their postpublication citations.
Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE was searched to identify SRs/MAs of RCTs on thoracoabdominal surgeries published in 2015.
Article Synopsis
- * Imaging showed a left lung infiltrate, tumor progression in the right lung, metastases, and pleural effusion, while a urinary antigen test confirmed a Legionnaires' disease infection.
- * Unfortunately, the patient's condition rapidly worsened, resulting in increased oxygen needs and death just one day after admission, highlighting the need for early treatment for suspected Legionnaires' disease, especially in at-risk patients.
Article Synopsis
- EBUS-TBNA, which uses a special needle called EchoTip ProCore, helps diagnose enlarged lymph nodes and tumors in the lungs but often struggles with obtaining enough sample tissue for accurate diagnosis.
- In a study from June 2017 to February 2020 involving 57 patients, the procedure yielded sufficient samples for histologic diagnosis in 53 cases, with a high successful diagnosis rate of 87.7%.
- The most common conditions identified included various types of lung cancer, sarcoidosis, and tuberculosis, with pneumonia being the only complication noted in one patient.
Background: Patients with aspiration pneumonitis often receive empiric antibiotic therapy despite it being due to a non-infectious, inflammatory response.
Objective: To study the benefits of early antibiotic therapy in patients with suspected aspiration pneumonitis in an acute care hospital.
Design: Retrospective cohort study using electronic medical records from Teine Keijinkai Hospital.