Usefulness of SMART-COP score in prognosis of aspiration pneumonia.

Introduction: Aspiration pneumonia is becoming a common syndrome in the elderly in aging societies such as Japan. Although a number of tools have been validated for prediction of mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia, none have been established for aspiration pneumonia. The purpose of this study was to access the correlations of the A-DROP, CURB-65 and SMART-COP scores at the emergency visit with the 30-day mortality risk in patients with aspiration pneumonia.

A rare case of atypical bone marrow sarcoidosis without pulmonary involvement in a Japanese woman.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown origin characterised by the presence of non-caseating granulomatous lesions. Extrapulmonary sarcoidosis with bone marrow involvement is rare and even more so without pulmonary involvement. Here, we describe a case of 69-year-old woman diagnosed as having bone marrow and hepatic sarcoidosis without pulmonary involvement based on F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography findings.

Long-term Side Effects Including Blepharitis Leading to Discontinuation of Ripasudil.

Precis: Blepharitis was the most common side effect leading to discontinuation of ripasudil therapy. Prior allergic reactions to other topical glaucoma were found to be a risk factor for ripasudil-induced blepharitis.

Purpose: To report the incidence proportion of blepharitis and its relating factors due to long-term use of 0.

Beta-peripapillary atrophy of the optic disc and its determinants in Japanese eyes: a population-based study.

Purposes: To assess β-zone of peripapillary atrophy (β-PPA) and its relationship between systemic and ocular factors, especially glaucoma, in a Japanese population.

Methods: Fundus photographs obtained from 2129 normal, 84 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 10 primary angle closure glaucoma subjects from 3021 participants aged 40 years or older in the Tajimi Study were analysed planimetrically. If both eyes of a subject met inclusion criteria, one eye was randomly chosen.

Morphology of the optic disc in the Tajimi Study population.

Purpose: To assess optic disc morphology and disc-fovea distance (DF)/mean disc diameter (DD) ratio and related factors in Japanese subjects in a population-based setting.

Methods: Digital fundus photographs obtained from 2634 subjects, comprising 87% of 3021 participants aged 40 years or older in the Tajimi Study, a population-based glaucoma survey, were analyzed planimetrically.

Results: The disc size averaged 2.

Visual Field Progressive Rate in Normal Tension Glaucoma Before and After Trabeculectomy: A Subfield-Based Analysis.

Purpose: To compare pretrabeculectomy and posttrabeculectomy progression rates in normal-tension glaucoma in 6 subfields of the central 30 visual field.

Design: A retrospective study.

Methods: Clinical records of 34 patients with normal-tension glaucoma (12 males and 22 females) with progressive visual field loss undergoing successful trabeculectomy were studied.

Iridotrabecular contact observed using anterior segment three-dimensional OCT in eyes with a shallow peripheral anterior chamber.

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence and range of iridotrabecular contact (ITC) in eyes with a shallow peripheral anterior chamber (AC) by using anterior segment swept-source optical coherence tomography (AS-SS-OCT) and to compare the results with those obtained with ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and gonioscopy.

Methods: Forty-three shallow peripheral AC eyes in 43 consecutive patients underwent gonioscopy. Cross-sectional images throughout the angle circumference (i.

p53/p66Shc-mediated signaling contributes to the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in humans and mice.

Background & Aims: The tumor suppressor p53 is a primary sensor of stressful stimuli, controlling a number of biologic processes. The aim of our study was to examine the roles of p53 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Methods: Male wild type and p53-deficient mice were fed a methionine- and choline-deficient diet for 8 weeks to induce nutritional steatohepatitis.

Identification of Schlemm's canal and its surrounding tissues by anterior segment fourier domain optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To identify Schlemm's canal (SC) and trabecular meshwork (TM) by anterior segment Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (AS-FD-OCT) with histologic confirmation in enucleated human eyes and to quantitatively evaluate SC and TM in living human eyes.

Methods: In enucleated human eyes, the imaging of the anterior chamber angle by AS-FD-OCT was performed before and after surgical expansion of SC with an injection of a viscoelastic material, followed by histologic examination. In 60 living human eyes, the agreement of identification of SC between examiners was evaluated with the Cohen's κ values, and the lengths of SC and TM and the area of TM were measured on temporal and nasal sections of the AS-FD-OCT images.

Frequency doubling technology for earlier detection of functional damage in standard automated perimetry-normal hemifield in glaucoma with low-to-normal pressure.

Purpose: To compare the longitudinal change of frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry and standard automated perimetry (SAP) results in SAP-normal hemifield in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) eyes with low-to-normal intraocular pressure (IOP).

Materials And Methods: FDT perimetry with the N-30 full threshold protocol and SAP using the Humphrey Field Analyzer with the 30-2 Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm-standard protocol were periodically performed for at least 3 years in 39 eyes of 39 OAG patients with low-to-normal IOP and visual field damage confined to only one hemifield. The time courses of the mean of the threshold values of FDT and the mean of total deviations (TDs) in SAP-normal and SAP-abnormal fields were analyzed using a linear mixed model.

Pressure loading and ethanol exposure differentially modulate rat hepatic stellate cell activation.

Ethanol may cause an increase in sinusoidal pressure accompanied by portal hypertension. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) located in hepatic sinusoids may therefore be frequently exposed to dual stimulations of mechanical pressure and ethanol exposure in alcoholic liver injury. In this study, the effects of pressure loading and ethanol exposure on activation of rat cultured HSCs were investigated using an in vitro pressure-inducing apparatus.

Effects of intratumoral injection of CCL2 on monocyte-endothelial cell interactions in mouse pancreatic cancer.

Objective: Although monocyte infiltration is an important aspect of the host response to tumor growth, the mechanisms of recruitment and their impact on tumor growth are still unknown. The authors studied monocyte-endothelial interaction and the effect of chemokine CCL2 in orthotopic mouse pancreatic cancer.

Methods: The rolling and adhesion of labeled monocytes in peritumoral and intratumoral areas were assessed by using an intravital microscope.

Expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in the liver in autoimmune liver diseases.

Objectives: PD-L1 (also B7-H1) and PD-L2 (also B7-DC) are ligands for programmed death-1 (PD-1), which is a member of the CD28/B7 superfamily of costimulatory molecules and plays an inhibitory role on the periphery. Impaired regulation of this system may cause disruption to self-tolerance leading to autoimmunity; however, the role of these molecules in the liver is unknown. Therefore, we examined the expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in the liver in autoimmune liver diseases.

Serum reactivity against bacterial pyruvate dehydrogenase: increasing the specificity of anti-mitochondrial antibodies for the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis.

Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) are the serum hallmark of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). However, AMA-positivity can be found in non-PBC sera when lower dilutions are used, thus raising issues about the specificity and sensitivity of the test. AMA reacts primarily with the lipoylated domains of pyruvate dehydrogenase-E2 (PDC-E2) which is highly conserved across species, including bacteria.

[A case of Churg-Strauss syndrome discovered with hematemesis].

A 68-years-old Japanese woman was hospitalized emergently because of hemorrhagic gastric ulcer. For the hospitalization period, elevated levels of white blood cell count, eosinophilic leucocyte count, serum IgE and positive MPO-ANCA were recognized. With considering clinical course and these laboratory findings, we diagnosed Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS).

A highly hydrophobic domain within hypervariable region 1 may be related to the entry of hepatitis C virus into cultured human hepatoma cells.

Interaction of the envelope glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with a cellular receptor(s) is thought to be essential for the initial steps of HCV infection. However, the mechanisms of HCV infection remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine the features of HCV that enable efficient entry of the virus into human hepatocytes.

Efficacy of a glycyrrhizin suppository for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a pilot study.

Intravenous administration of glycyrrhizin has potential efficacy on decreasing serum aminotransferase levels in patients with chronic hepatitis. However, patients receiving this treatment are recommended to attend hospital regularly for several years. To improve the quality of life for these patients, we developed a glycyrrhizin suppository.

Clinical usefulness of a new infrared videoendoscope system for diagnosis of early stage gastric cancer.

Background: Infrared light can penetrate tissue more deeply than visible light. Therefore, an infrared video endoscope may be useful for assessment of gastric submucosal vessels. However, the resolution of currently available infrared video endoscope systems has been unsatisfactory.