Small intestinal intussusceptions due to the placement of a percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy tube.

Percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (PEJ) has been developed and is considered to be a better method than percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy for preventing the occurrence of aspiration pneumonia. However, the incidence of other complications associated with this procedure is less clear. We herein report a rare case with a small intestinal intussusception due to a PEJ placement.

Physiological characteristics of the body fluid in lymphedematous patients postbreast cancer surgery, focusing on the intracellular/extracellular fluid ratio of the upper limb.

Aim: The aim of this research was to determine the physiological characteristics of patients with lymphedema following breast cancer surgery, based on differences between the quantity of body water in the right and left fingertips, with a view to establishing whether or not this simple measurement could serve as a predictive index for the onset of lymphedema.

Method: The research was conducted at a hospital in Hiroshima, Japan (August 2004 to December 2004). Observations were made on 39 female breast cancer patients who had undergone surgery and 45 healthy female participants.

Neutrophil survival factors (TNF-alpha, GM-CSF, and G-CSF) produced by macrophages in cats infected with feline infectious peritonitis virus contribute to the pathogenesis of granulomatous lesions.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a feline coronavirus (FCoV)-induced fatal disease of domestic and wild cats. The infiltration of neutrophils into granulomatous lesions is unusual for a viral disease, but it is a typical finding of FIP. This study aimed to investigate the reason for the lesions containing neutrophils in cats with FIP.

[Toward the promotion of effective communication between medical doctors and medical technologists--strategy beyond the team].

It is essential to establish effective communication between medical doctors (MDs) and medical technologists (MTs), such as during telephone conversations, to ensure high quality and clinically significant laboratory test results. However, the level of communication between MDs and MTs is still inadequate in Japan. Suggested here in are resources to promote effective MD-MT communication through a case analysis of severe sepsis with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), since, even today, DIC remains life-threatening, and the rapid response of the clinical laboratory is critical.

Comparison of the body fluid levels in healthy individuals and those with schizophrenia in Japan: using the bioelectrical impedance method.

Polydipsia and water intoxication have been found to be care problems in people with schizophrenia in many countries. This Japanese study measured the body fluid distribution and body fat of 80 males with long standing schizophrenia and compared this to that of 64 healthy males, using bioelectrical impedance spectrum analysis (BIS). Participants with schizophrenia exhibited significantly lower percentages of intracellular fluid and total body fluid, and significantly higher percentages of fat.

Induction of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase mRNA and NO production in macrophages infected with influenza A/PR/8 virus and stimulated with its ether-split product.

We investigated the inductive activity of infective influenza A/PR/8/34 (PR8) virus and its ether-split product (ESP) on the expression of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) and NO production in RAW264.7 (RAW) cells, a murine macrophage (M psi) cell line, and thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal M psi (TPM). In both cells, PR8 virus infection induced iNOS mRNA between 4 hr and 24 hr, attaining a peak value at 12 hr.