Performance of the Japanese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (J-PHQ-9) for depression in primary care.

Objective: To assess the performance of the Japanese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (J-PHQ-9) for depression in primary care.

Methods: Participants in both phases completed the J-PHQ-9, while patients in the second phase also completed the SF-8 (the short form for the health-related QOL scale SF-36). Subjects (n = 284; male = 107, female = 177) had to return the questionnaires to their health care professional within 48 hours and undergo a diagnostic evaluation interview based on the Japanese version of M.

A Cluster Analysis of Bronchial Asthma Patients with Depressive Symptoms.

Objective Whether or not depression affects the control or severity of asthma is unclear. We performed a cluster analysis of asthma patients with depressive symptoms to clarify their characteristics. Methods Multiple medical institutions in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, were surveyed in 2014.

[A case of primary effusion lymphoma effectively treated by oral corticosteroid therapy].

Primary effusion lymphoma is a rare type of lymphoma which is confined to those body cavities associated with human herpes virus 8 infection in its development. We describe a 93-year-old man with primary effusion lymphoma in the pleura, but who was negative for herpes virus 8 infection. Chest computed tomography revealed bilateral pleural effusion, but did not show any evidence of a tumor mass or lymph node enlargement.

[A case of IgG4-related disease with marked thickening of the bronchial wall].

A 52-year-old man noticed hardening and swelling of his salivary glands in the summer of 2009. We suspected Mikulicz disease and performed several work-ups. His serum IgG4 level was elevated, and a chest computed tomography scan demonstrated marked thickening of the bronchial wall.

[A case of mesalazine-induced lung injury improved by only discontinuation of mesalazine].

We reported a case of drug-induced lung injury associated with mesalazine. A 50-year-old woman was diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis and treated with mesalazine. After administration for 1 month, the patient developed dry cough, fever and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates.

[Case of acute eosinophilic pneumonia probably induced by minocycline].

We reported a case of acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) induced by minocycline. A 55-year-old man presented with a low grade fever and cough and was treated with antibiotics, including minocycline (MINO). During treatment, the patient developed symptoms of acute respiratory failure, and computed tomography (CT) scan showed bilateral ground grass opacities.

[A case of refractory Wegener's granulomatosis successfully treated with high-dose methotrexate].

We report a case of generalized Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) successfully treated with high-dose methotrexate (MTX) and predonisolone (PSL). A 35 year-old men had complaints of auditory disturbance and nasal hemorrhage. Diagnosis of WG was made based on positive proteinase-3 anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR3-ANCA), lung nodules, and focal necrotizing glomerulonephritis revealed by renal biopsy.

[A case of primary Sjögren' s syndrome with pathological findings resembling multicentric Castleman' s disease showed multiple nodular opacities on chest CT scans].

A 49-year-old woman with primary Sjögren's syndrome a few years previously was admitted to our hospital complaining of tongue and skin eruptions, swelling of the face and neck and for examination of liver injury and hypereosinophilia. A blood test revealed leukocytosis with eosinophilia, mild liver injury, polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia, and positive results for anti-nuclear antibody, anti-SS-A antibody and anti-SS-B antibody. Chest CT scan showed multiple nodular opacities with cavities in peripheral regions of both lungs.

Ischemic symptoms induced by occlusion of the unilateral vertebral artery with head rotation together with contralateral vertebral artery dissection--case report.

We report a 45-year-old woman whose unilateral vertebral artery (VA) was potentially occluded with head rotation at the C1-C2 level and her ischemic symptoms suddenly appeared because of contralateral VA dissection. She noticed first pain around the posterior part of her neck on the right side, and then dizziness when turning the head to the right side. The dizziness disappeared immediately after her head returned to the natural position.

A clinical and genetic study in a large cohort of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6.

In order to clarify the clinical and genetic features of SCA6, we retrospectively analyzed 140 patients. We observed an inverse correlation between the age of onset and the length of the expanded allele, and also between the age of onset and the sum of CAG repeats in the normal and the expanded alleles. The ages of onset of four homozygous patients correlated better with the sum of CAG repeats in both alleles rather than with the expanded allele calculated from heterozygous SCA6 subjects.

[Cortical control of saccadic eye movements: a clinical electrophysiological study of antisaccades].

An antisaccadic paradigm in which saccades are directed towards the mirror location opposite to that of target appearance has been thought to reflect frontal lobe function and a saccade-inhibitory mechanism. In order to clarify now the cortical mechanism differs between antisaccades (AS) and reflexive visually guided saccades (VS), we measured scalp EEG potentials preceding AS and VS in 9 young normal subjects, as well as the magnetic brain activities during AS and VS in 1 of them. Prior to the right and left saccades in both paradigms, our measurements revealed the appearance of a slowly developing negative potential, the presaccadic negativity (PSN), and then a steeper negative potential, the presaccadic steep negativity (PSSN).

Dentatorubropallidoluysian atrophy with chronic renal failure in a Japanese family.

We describe a Japanese family with molecularly confirmed DRPLA associated with chronic renal failure of unclear etiology on hemodialysis. The clinical symptoms and laboratory data show that the renal failure in our DRPLA patients is not associated with known familial renal diseases. Thus, we suggest a possible unifying hypothesis that the coexistence of DRPLA and chronic renal failure may be caused by the same etiology.