Prognostic value of E/e' ratio and its change over time in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction in the reperfusion era.

Background: The ratio of early diastolic mitral inflow velocity to mitral annular velocity (E/e') is a prognostic factor in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, data are lacking on long-term outcomes and longitudinal changes in E/e' in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the reperfusion era.

Methods: This is a pre-specified echocardiographic substudy of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of beta-blockers in STEMI patients with LVEF ≥40 % after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Progression of right ventricular dysfunction and predictors of mortality in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.

Background: Few studies have examined the relationship between echocardiographic indices of right ventricular (RV) function and the severity of pulmonary disease, or their prognostic impact. We evaluated the RV function in patients with interstitial pneumonia and its prognostic impact at each stage of disease severity.

Method: A total of 176 patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) were retrospectively enrolled and we evaluated RV function by transthoracic echocardiography.

Occurrence of right ventricular dysfunction immediately after pericardiocentesis.

The changes in cardiac function that occur after pericardiocentesis are unclear. An understanding of the effect of pericardiocentesis on right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) function is clinically important. This study was performed to assess RV and LV function with echocardiography before and after pericardiocentesis.

Rapid recurrence of primary gastric choriocarcinoma after complete resection.

Introduction: Primary gastric choriocarcinoma (PGC) is a rare and rapidly invasive tumor. We report a case of PGC diagnosed by endoscopic biopsy and treated with gastrectomy and chemotherapy.

Presentation Of Case: A 78-year-old man was referred to our hospital because esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a tumor at the fornix of the stomach.

Seizure management in children requiring palliative care: a review of current practice.

Objectives: Controlling seizures in children approaching death can be difficult, and there is a limited evidence base to guide best practice. We compared current practice against the guidance for seizure management produced by the Association of Paediatric Palliative Medicine (APPM).

Methods: Retrospective case note review of episodes of challenging seizure management in children receiving end-of-life care over a 10-year period (2006-2015) in the south-west region of England.

Enhancement of continuous-flow separation of viable/nonviable yeast cells using a nonuniform alternating current electric field with complex spatial distribution.

The variability in cell response to AC electric fields is selective enough to separate not only the cell types but also the activation states of similar cells. In this work, we use dielectrophoresis (DEP), which exploits the differences in the dielectric properties of cells, to separate nonviable and viable cells. A parallel-plate DEP device consisting of a bottom face with an array of micro-fabricated interdigitated electrodes and a top face with a plane electrode was proposed to facilitate the separation of cells by creating a nonuniform electric field throughout the flow channel.

Breast cancer metastatic to the kidney with renal vein involvement.

The common sites of breast cancer metastases include bones, lung, brain, and liver. Renal metastasis from the breast is rare. We report a case of breast cancer metastatic to the kidney with extension into the renal vein.

Biogenic polyamines capture CO2 and accelerate extracellular bacterial CaCO3 formation.

Bacteria, including cyanobacteria, as well as some fungi, are known to deposit calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) extracellularly in calcium-containing artificial medium. Despite extensive investigation, the mechanisms involved in extracellular formation of CaCO(3) by bacteria have remained unclear. The ability of synthetic amines to remove carbon dioxide (CO(2)) from natural gas led us to examine the role of biogenic polyamines in CaCO(3) deposition by bacteria.

TNK2 gene amplification is a novel predictor of a poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Backgrounds And Objectives: We previously examined the amplification status of 10 kinase genes (PIK3CA, EPHB3, TNK2, PTK7, EGFR, MET, ERBB2, HCK, SRC, and AURKA) in gastric cancer (GC). This study aimed to determine the prognostic significance of these gene amplifications in GC.

Methods: A survival analysis was performed for GC patients.

The effect of voluntary training with family participation on early home discharge in patients with severe stroke at a convalescent rehabilitation ward.

Background: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of voluntary training with family participation in addition to conventional rehabilitation for stroke patients.

Methods/design: The subjects were 49 first-time stroke patients with severe hemiplegia. They were divided into two groups: a family participation group, in which voluntary training was performed with family members (21 patients), and a nonfamily participation group, in which voluntary training was performed with a physical therapist (28 patients).

Near-infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy with a 1064 nm excitation wavelength for ex vivo diagnosis of gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer is one of the major causes of death in Japan. We have previously reported, using biopsy specimens, the usefulness of the 1064 nm near-infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy (RAS) system as a novel diagnostic modality for gastric cancer. However, our study might not have reflected in vivo use of RAS due to a lack of tissue other than the mucosal layer in the biopsy specimens.

Microarray analysis identifies versican and CD9 as potent prognostic markers in gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Although the main cause of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is gain-of-function mutations in the c-kit gene in the interstitial cells of Cajal, concomitant genetic or epigenetic changes other than c-kit appear to occur in the development of metastasis. We sought to identify the genes involved in the metastatic process of gastric GIST. Microarray analysis was performed to compare gene expressions between three gastric GIST and four metastatic liver GIST.

TSU68, an antiangiogenic receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, induces tumor vascular normalization in a human cancer xenograft nude mouse model.

Purpose: Combination therapy using antiangiogenic and cytotoxic agents is a useful strategy for advanced cancer, but the mechanism has not yet been elucidated. Moreover, there is a persistent paradox that destroying tumor vasculature with antiangiogenic agents disturbs the delivery of cytotoxic agents. It has been hypothesized that antiangiogenic agents can lead to normalization of tumor vessels that are structurally and functionally abnormal.

TSU68 prevents liver metastasis of colon cancer xenografts by modulating the premetastatic niche.

The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of TSU68 [(Z)-5-[(1,2-dihydro-2-oxo-3H-indol-3-ylidene)methyl]-2,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrrole-3-propanoic acid; SU6668], an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta, and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), on colon cancer liver metastasis, and to test the hypothesis that TSU68 modulates the microenvironment in the liver before the formation of metastasis. First, we implanted the highly metastatic human colon cancer TK-4 orthotopically into the cecal walls of nude mice, followed by twice-daily administration of TSU68 (400 mg/kg/d) or vehicle. Five weeks of treatment with TSU68 significantly inhibited liver metastasis compared with the control group (P<0.

Optical diagnosis of gastric cancer using near-infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy with a 1064-nm excitation wavelength.

Background: Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in Japan. The use of endoscopy is increasing, along with the number of histological examinations of specimens obtained by endoscopy. However, it takes several days to reach a diagnosis, which increases the medical expense.

Effect of loss of heterozygosity of the c-kit gene on prognosis after hepatectomy for metastatic liver gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

The authors have previously reported that loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the c-kit gene could be responsible for the gain in high proliferative activity in some gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), resulting in enhanced metastatic potential. In the present study, an attempt was made to identify the factors that might predict the postoperative prognosis of patients with metastatic liver GIST. The clinicopathologic or genetic features of resected liver GIST in 14 patients who had undergone a hepatectomy for metachronous liver metastases and who had not received adjuvant imatinib treatment were examined.

VEGF-C and VEGF-A synergistically enhance lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) is the most important molecule in lymphangiogenesis and its relationship with lymph node metastasis has attracted considerable interest. We investigated the relationship of VEGF-C or VEGF-A with clinicopathological factors in gastric cancer patients.

Methods: Eighty gastric cancer patients who underwent gastric resection were analyzed immunohistochemically for expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-A protein.

[Manifestation of liver metastasis 13 years after gastrectomy for gastric GIST].

A 58-year-old Japanese man underwent partial gastrectomy in 1991 for a tumor showing extra-gastric growth measuring 18 x 16.5 x 8.8 cm in size.

Immunohistochemical and genetic features of gastric and metastatic liver gastrointestinal stromal tumors: sequential analyses.

Metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) have an extremely poor prognosis; however, their immunohistochemical and genetic features have not been assessed satisfactorily and the mechanisms responsible for their high malignant potential remain unclear. We examined the immunohistochemical differences between gastric GIST and metastatic lesions in the liver of four patients who had undergone a postgastrectomy hepatectomy for metachronous liver metastases. We also carried out genetic analysis of the tumors in three of the four cases.

[Two cases of postoperative recurrence of gastric GIST treated by imatinib].

We report two cases of postoperative recurrence of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) treated by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (IM), and discuss some important items. Case 1: This 63-year-old Japanese man received a partial gastrectomy for leiomyosarcoma in 1993. Partial hepatectomy and proximal gastrectomy were performed for liver metastasis and local recurrence in 2001.

[A case of gastric GIST treated preoperatively by imatinib mesylate].

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), the most common mesenchymal tumor of the human gastrointestinal tract, is thought to originate from the interstitial cells of Cajal. The mutation of c-kit, cording KIT, is essential in the development of GIST. Imatinib mesylate (IM), an agent for chronic myeloid leukemia, was reported to inhibit tyrosine kinase activity of KIT and to be highly effective for GIST.

[Two cases of recurrent gastric cancer treated by combined chemotherapy of TS-1 and low-dose cis-platinum].

We report 2 patients with recurrent gastric cancer treated by combined chemotherapy of TS-1 and low-dose cis-platinum (TS-1/LCDDP). Who both obtained long-term survival while maintaining good QOL. Case 1: A 60-year-old man underwent total gastrectomy for gastric cancer (pT3, pN2, Stage III B).

The role of circulating IL-8 and VEGF protein in the progression of gastric cancer.

Both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) play an important role in the progression of gastric cancer (GC). In this study, we investigated whether circulating levels of VEGF or IL-8 in drainage veins of GC patients were correlated with any clinicopathological factors. Thirty-seven patients with primary GC who underwent gastrectomy at our department between 1999 and 2002 were analyzed.

Role of heme oxygenase-1 protein in the neuroprotective effects of cyclopentenone prostaglandin derivatives under oxidative stress.

Previously we found that some cyclopenteone prostaglandin derivatives (PGs), referred to as neurite outgrowth-promoting PGs (NEPPs), have dual biological activities of promoting neurite outgrowth and preventing neuronal death [Satoh et al. (2000) J. Neurochem.

Orthotopic implantation of a colon cancer xenograft induces high expression of cyclooxygenase-2.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relation of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 with liver metastasis. Pieces of human colon cancer xenograft were implanted orthotopically (CI), as well as intraperitoneally, and subcutaneously. Liver metastasis developed most frequently, and the COX-2 expression of both mRNA and protein of the tumors was the most dominant in the CI group.