Ultrasonographic diagnosis of degree of chronic type C liver disease.

Background/aims: We propose a method, named US score, for semi-quantitative determination of the stage of chronic type C liver disease by ultrasonography.

Methodology: The subjects were 454 patients with chronic type C liver disease. Of the patients with chronic hepatitis C, 208 underwent US-guided or laparoscopic liver biopsy.

Telomere shortening in human coronary artery diseases.

Background: Increased cell turnover in response to injury is considered to be important in the development of atherosclerotic plaques. Telomere shortening has been shown to be associated with cell turnover. We assessed the telomere length of human coronary endothelial cells to clarify whether there is a relationship between telomere shortening and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Meshwork pattern is an important risk factor for development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with HBV-related chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis.

We analyzed the importance of 'meshwork pattern', a sign representing severe irregularity on the intra-hepatic echogram, in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, as a risk factor for development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Two hundred and thirty-one patients (143 men and 88 women) with HBV-related chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis who visited our hospital from January 1993 to December 1994 were enrolled in this study. Since enrollment, abdominal ultrasonography had in principle been performed every 3 months for cirrhotic patients and every 4-6 months for patients with chronic hepatitis for HCC screening.

Effects of alanine in patients with advanced primary biliary cirrhosis: preliminary report.

When rats given D-galactosamine are then treated with the glucogenic amino acid alanine, their alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, total bilirubin level, and survival rate improve compared with when other amino acids are used. Here, we report a preliminary study of the clinical and pharmacological effects of alanine given to three patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The patients were jaundiced and were in the end-stage of the disease.

Neutrophil infiltration of culprit lesions in acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Neutrophils in unstable atherosclerotic lesions have not received much consideration, despite accumulating evidence suggesting a link between systemic inflammation and acute coronary syndromes.

Methods And Results: Coronary artery segments were obtained at autopsy from 13 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI); 8 had a ruptured and 5 an eroded plaque. Patients (n=45) who had died of noncardiovascular diseases served as reference.

Sporadic intra-abdominal desmoid with acute abdomen.

We report a 72-year-old man with sporadic intra-abdominal desmoid tumor manifesting as acute abdomen. CT scan revealed an air-containing tumor 7 cm in diameter; three weeks later, the tumor had shrunk to 4 cm on antibiotics. At surgery, a tumor arising from the transverse colon mesentery and infiltrating the jejunum was resected.

Alterations to hepatic microcirculation in thioacetamide-induced cirrhotic livers of rats.

In liver cirrhosis, increased resistance of intrahepatic microvasculature contribute to the development of portal hypertension. This study aimed to reveal the alterations to hemodynamics in microvasculature of thioacetamide-induced fibrotic and cirrhotic rat livers, using in vivo microscopy. In fibrotic livers, although intrahepatic blood flow remained unaltered, area percentage of sinusoids was significantly decreased.

An autopsy case of POEMS syndrome with a high level of IL-6 and VEGF in the serum and ascitic fluid.

A 45-year-old woman was hospitalized because of systemic edema and peripheral nerve impairment. The patient had complications of organomegaly, endocrinopathy, and monoclonal gammmopathy, and was diagnosed with POEMS syndrome based on these characteristic signs and symptoms. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in the serum and ascitic fluid were high.

Pathophysiological role of oxidized low-density lipoprotein in plaque instability in coronary artery diseases.

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is considered to play a key role in the genesis of inflammatory processes in atherosclerotic lesions. It has also been shown that LDL isolated from patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) has an enhanced susceptibility to oxidation. Recently, a sandwich ELISA method for measurement of plasma ox-LDL levels has been developed.