Histopathological evaluation of aortic dissection: a comparison of congenital versus acquired aortic wall weakness.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify pathological changes of aortic dissection based on histopathological evaluation of aortic wall weakness by comparing patients with and without congenital abnormalities.

Methods: We reviewed records of patients who underwent repair for dissection-related aortic disease between 2008 and 2015. Fifty patients (20 men and 30 women; mean age 66.

Surgical resection of two independent primary intimal sarcomas in the left atrium.

Primary intimal sarcoma of the heart is an extremely rare tumor that is known to have a very poor prognosis. We present a case of a 65-year-old man who suffered from deteriorating congestive heart failure due to a severe mitral stenosis caused by a large mobile left atrial tumor. The patient underwent an emergency operation of the tumor in the left atrium.

Coronary artery bypass graft in a patient with Fabry's disease.

Fabry's disease is a lysosomal storage disease characterized by intracellular accumulation of ceramide trihexoside resulting from alpha-galactosidase A deficiency. While the heart is often involved, coronary artery disease and its management in Fabry's disease patients are extremely rare clinical entities. We report a case of a 72-year-old man with left main disease in Fabry's disease with special consideration of the arterial wall pathology.

Partial aortic root replacement for aneurysm of the right sinus of Valsalva.

An aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva is clinically rare, and its operative indications and procedures are controversial. We herein report the rare case of a 68-year-old woman with severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by an aneurysm of the right sinus of Valsalva. We performed partial aortic root reconstruction using a bovine pericardial patch, and aortic valve replacement.

Hematogenous umbilical metastasis from colon cancer treated by palliative single-incision laparoscopic surgery.

Sister Mary Joseph's nodule (SMJN) is a rare umbilical nodule that develops secondary to metastatic cancer. Primary malignancies are located in the abdomen or pelvis. Patients with SMJN have a poor prognosis.

TNF inhibitors induce discoid fibrosis in the sublining layers of the synovium with degeneration of synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis.

We determined the characteristic features of synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated by TNF inhibitors in order to delineate their mechanism of action. Synovial tissues were obtained during the joint surgical operations from 12 RA patients who had been treated with TNF inhibitors in addition to disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for at least 5 months (5-25 months) (RA-TNFinh), and from 12 RA patients who had been treated with DMARDs alone (RA-DMARD), and were evaluated under light microscopy. There were no significant differences in disease duration, serum CRP levels, DAS28, Steinbrocker's stages on X-ray and treatment regimen except for TNF inhibitors between RA-TNFinh and RA-DMARD.

Aortic dissection in the outer third of the media: what is the role of the vasa vasorum in the triggering process?

Objectives: Extensive clinicopathological analyses of aortic dissection have implicated hypertension and genetic abnormalities as the major pathogenic mechanisms. However, previous findings from pathological examinations have often been inconsistent with these mechanisms. In this paper, we suggest a significant role for the vasa vasorum in the aetiology and pathogenesis of aortic dissection.

[Distal arch aneurysm and acute aortic dissection with bicuspid aortic valve; report of a case].

A 49-year-old man was admitted to our institution with acute chest and back pain. Chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed type A aortic dissection from the ascending aorta to the bilateral common iliac arteries and a distal arch aneurysm with a diameter of 65 mm. Echocardiogram showed a bicuspid aortic valve with severe regurgitation.

Histopathological analysis of cerebral hemorrhage in systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with antiphospholipid syndrome.

A 53-year-old woman was admitted due to akinetic mutism and fever. On admission, brain computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a large hemorrhagic lesion in the left anterior lobe that required surgical operation for total removal. Her neuropsychiatric manifestation was not attenuated after the operation, and was gradually ameliorated by high doses of corticosteroid thereafter, suggesting a diagnosis of lupus psychosis.

Analysis of CXCL9 and CXCR3 expression in a case of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma.

Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma is a rare disease with multiorgan involvement that also affects the skin. Skin manifestations include purpuric to red macules, plaques, or nodules with occasional edema and tenderness. We report a 68-year-old woman with bilateral leg edema and occasional high fever.

Effect of G-1 column (Adacolumn) therapy in rats with adjuvant arthritis on the migration and immunoreactivity of peripheral and splenic leukocytes.

The G-1 column (Adacolumn), a novel extracorporeal adsorption device, is now available for the treatment of such chronic inflammatory diseases as ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis. G-1 column treatment sometimes results in a rapid decrease in clinical inflammatory parameters and/or has a delayed beneficial effect on disease activity. In order to identify the scientific basis for such clinical benefits, we studied rats with adjuvant arthritis induced by immunization with Mycobacterium butyricum antigen.