Publications by authors named "Masaki Aikawa"
Introduction: Patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis and idiopathic interstitial lung diseases (IIPs) are positive for myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA. MPO-ANCA-positive vasculitis mainly comprises microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and unclassifiable vasculitis. These diseases are frequently complicated by interstitial lung disease (ILD).
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- - Sarcoidosis, a disease causing granuloma formation in various organs like the lungs, is diagnosed mainly through clinicopathologic findings with traditional markers being ACE and sIL-2R, though new specific markers are needed.
- - This study found that serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels are elevated in sarcoidosis patients and correlate positively with ACE and sIL-2R levels, with the best diagnostic sensitivity achieved when combining NSE with these traditional markers.
- - Elevated serum NSE not only differentiates sarcoidosis from small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and other benign conditions but also reflects disease activity and treatment response, showing potential as a marker for diagnosis and monitoring of sarcoidosis.
Background: Currently, in Japan, shifting tasks from physician to hospital pharmacist is being developed to reduce physician workload and improve the quality of pharmacotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pharmacist involvement in the choice of inhaler as the task on the clinical outcomes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Methods: This prospective, single-center, single-arm study included 36 outpatients with newly diagnosed COPD indicating inhaler therapy.
Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis (AAV) occurs in elderly people, and patients with anti-myeloperoxidase autoantibodies (MPO-ANCA)-positive AAV are often complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate the age-related clinical features of elderly patients with MPO-ANCA-positive AAV-ILD. This study retrospectively investigated 63 patients with MPO-ANCA-positive AAV-ILD, all of whom were 65 years or older at diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anasarca in patients with lymphoma is a rare symptom. We report a patient with DLBCL associated with pituitary gland infiltration that was diagnosed based on significant anasarca.
Case Presentation: A 72-year-old woman with a 10-year history of hypertension visited a local hospital presenting with anasarca and 15-kg weight gain in the past 3 months.