Publications by authors named "Murakawa K"

Background: Central venous catheter (CVC) is often used in the perioperative management of esophageal cancer. The position of the CVC tip has been reported to shift with body positioning and, although infrequent, may traverse into the azygos vein arch. Herein, we describe a case where a migrated CVC tip in the azygous vein arch was identified during esophageal cancer surgery, preventing CVC dissection concurrent with azygous vein arch resection.

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Background: The efficacy of antifibrotic agents in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been demonstrated and early introduction is recommended, especially in patients with preserved performance status (PS). We aimed to determine the proportion of untreated IPF cases using real-world data and to assess the factors associated with non-intervention.

Methods: A prospective observational study using questionnaires was performed on 518 patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and their attending physicians who visited a clinic, general hospital, or tertiary respiratory center between December 2019 and October 2020.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a significant risk after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in children, and this study investigates the effects of letermovir, a prophylactic treatment, on CMV infections following HSCT.
  • A retrospective analysis of 79 pediatric patients showed that while the overall incidence of CMV infection was not significantly different between those who received letermovir and those who did not, letermovir was associated with a lower incidence of CMV infection in the first 100 days post-transplant.
  • Despite minimal side effects, such as nausea in one case, the findings suggest that letermovir could be an effective preventive measure against CMV in children undergoing HSCT.
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There is growing evidence suggesting an association between severe acute respiratory coronavirus syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and various extrapulmonary diseases since the advent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, case reports of fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus (FT1D) following SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited. We encountered a 44-year-old Japanese woman who developed FT1D accompanied by subclinical thyrotoxicosis caused by autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) approximately one week after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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  • The study investigates how preoperative CT scans can predict delayed recovery of independent walking in older cardiovascular surgery patients by assessing muscle mass and quality.
  • It involved 139 Japanese patients, analyzing their CT-derived psoas muscle index and related physical fitness metrics to determine the impact on postoperative mobility.
  • Results showed that low psoas muscle attenuation was a significant predictor of delayed walking recovery after surgery, highlighting the importance of monitoring muscle quality in surgical candidates.
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Background: Intercostal artery bleeding often occurs in a single vessel; in rare cases, it can occur in numerous vessels, making it more difficult to manage.

Case Presentation: A 63-year-old Japanese man was admitted to the emergency department owing to sudden chest and back pain, dizziness, and nausea. Emergency coronary angiography revealed myocardial infarction secondary to right coronary artery occlusion.

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Background: Pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely poor prognostic disease. Even though multidisciplinary treatment for PDAC has developed, supportive therapies, such as nutritional therapy or perioperative rehabilitation to sustain and complete aggressive treatment, have not yet been well-established in PDAC. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the combined index using psoas muscle mass index (PMI) values and controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score and prognosis.

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Although endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is beneficial in improving asthma symptoms, its impact on the lung function in patients with asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis remains unclear. We herein report a case of severe asthma with eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis, in which ESS substantially improved airflow limitation and concomitantly reduced fractional exhaled nitric oxide and blood eosinophil counts. ESS likely relieved airflow limitation by suppressing type 2 inflammatory pathways.

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Although diuretics play an important role in triple-whammy acute kidney injury (AKI), it is unclear whether the type of diuretic influences the risk of triple-whammy AKI. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vasopressin receptor antagonists affect triple-whammy AKI. This cross-sectional study used disproportionality analysis of VigiBase data to assess the risk of AKI with various diuretics.

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Background: Asthma is a highly heterogeneous airway disease, and the clinical characteristics of patients with asthma with preserved and reduced physical activity are poorly understood.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the risk factors and clinical phenotypes associated with reduced physical activity in a wide range of patients with asthma.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of 138 patients with asthma, including patients with asthma without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 104) and asthma-COPD overlap (n = 34), and 42 healthy controls.

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Background: Metastatic lung tumor with a tumor thrombus in the peripheral pulmonary vein is very rare. We present a case of a metastatic lung tumor from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with tumor thrombus invasion in the pulmonary vein that was diagnosed preoperatively and underwent complete resection by segmentectomy.

Case Presentation: A 77-year-old man underwent laparoscopic lateral segment hepatectomy for HCC eight years ago.

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Backgrounds: The lung-to-heart ratio (L/H ratio) in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) is a useful marker that complements the sensitivity of ischemia detection. However, it requires planar imaging acquired following a separate protocol in addition to single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). We developed a novel method for constructing virtual planar image (VPI) from SPECT data.

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This study aimed to investigate the incidence and prognosis of postoperative complications after laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) for gastric cancer (GC). We retrospectively enrolled 411 patients who underwent curative LTG for GC at seven institutions between January 2004 and December 2018. The patients were divided into two groups, complication group (CG) and non-complication group (non-CG), depending on the presence of serious postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade III [≥ CD IIIa] or higher complications).

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Background: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) reactivation is a serious complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Although low-dose acyclovir can prevent VZV reactivation after HSCT in adults, the efficacy of a dose of acyclovir lower than the recommended dose, such as 60-80 mg/kg/day in children, is unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the incidence of VZV reactivation after HSCT during and after low-dose acyclovir administration for preventing VZV reactivation in children.

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Although neoadjuvant therapy (Nac) is recommended for high-risk resectable pancreatic cancer (R-PDAC), evidence regarding specific regimes is scarce. This report aimed to investigate the efficacy of S-1 Nac for R-PDAC. In a multicenter phase II trial, we investigated the efficacy of Nac S-1 (an oral fluoropyrimidine agent containing tegafur, gimeracil, and oteracil potassium) in R-PDAC patients.

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Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a serious side effect in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy and frequently proves fatal. Since infection control is crucial in the management of FN, the antimicrobial agent cefozopran (CZOP) has been recommended but not approved for routine use in clinical care of FN in Japan. However, few studies of CZOP in the management of FN have used a thrice daily dose schedule.

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Both 1,3-beta-D-glucan (BDG) and galactomannan (GM) are polysaccharide components of the fungal cell wall. Although elevated levels of serum BDG and Aspergillus GM suggest invasive fungal infection or Pneumocystis pneumonia and aspergillosis, respectively, it is also necessary to consider the possibility of false-positives. We herein report a 68-year-old man with marked elevation in serum BDG and GM levels accompanied by Mendelson's syndrome after rice aspiration.

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Patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly known as Wegener's granulomatosis, sometimes exhibit no clinical features. Here, we describe a case of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-negative GPA presenting with only lung granuloma. A 55-year-old woman with a right upper lung mass underwent lobectomy for suspected lung cancer; however, only granuloma was detected, and the etiology was not identified.

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Background: It is unclear whether deep-learning-based super-resolution technology (SR) or compressed sensing technology (CS) can accelerate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) .

Purpose: To compare SR accelerated images with CS images regarding the image similarity to reference 2D- and 3D gradient-echo sequence (GRE) brain MRI.

Material And Methods: We prospectively acquired 1.

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Although the 6 min walk test (6MWT) is well-established for assessing desaturation in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), it cannot be easily performed in primary healthcare settings. This retrospective observational study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the 1 min sit-to-stand test (1STST) for assessing desaturation during 6MWT in ILD patients with normal resting blood oxygen levels. We included 116 patients, and the pulse oxygen saturation (SpO) for both methods was analyzed.

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Purpose: This study evaluated the short-term outcomes and prognosis after laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) in elderly patients aged ≥ 80 years in a multicenter retrospective cohort study using propensity score matching.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 440 patients who underwent curative LTG for gastric cancer at six institutions between January 2004 and December 2018. Patients were categorized into an elderly patient group (EG; age ≥ 80 years) and non-elderly patient group (non-EG; age < 80 years).

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A 64-year-old female received modified FOLFOX6 therapy with continuous administration of a high concentration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for recurrence of peritoneal dissemination after total gastrectomy. Twenty-nine hours after the administration, there was the sudden onset of altered consciousness and hepatic dysfunction accompanied by hyperammonemia. The consciousness and hepatic function improved the following day after treatment with branched-chain amino acid formulation, lactulose, fresh frozen plasma, and continuous hemodiafiltration.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study compared postoperative outcomes between two methods of esophagojejunostomy (EJS) following laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) for gastric cancer, specifically the overlap method and the functional method, using a retrospective approach and propensity score matching.
  • A total of 69 matched patient pairs from 440 eligible patients were analyzed, with no significant differences found in the operative time, blood loss, lymph node removal, or overall complications between the two groups.
  • The research concluded that the type of anastomosis used did not influence surgical outcomes or overall survival, suggesting that the choice of method should rely on the surgeon's personal preference and experience.
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We herein report an immunocompromised patient familiar with gardening admitted to our hospital suffering from severe pneumonia caused by . We suspected non-pneumophila species pneumonia because of gardening habits, the negative urine antigen test and the non-significant Gram staining results of orange-coloured sputum. The pathogen was identified using mass spectrometry analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

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