Interhemispheric Vertical Hemispherotomy: A Single Center Experience.

Purpose: Hemispheric epileptogenic lesions such as hemimegalencephaly often manifest as intractable epilepsy in early infancy. Hemispherotomy is the treatment of choice for controlling intractable hemispheric epilepsy. Less invasive procedures are desirable for surgery on infants with low body weight.

An Increased Serum N-Terminal Telopeptide of Type I Collagen, a Biochemical Marker of Increased Bone Resorption, Is Associated with Infliximab Therapy in Patients with Crohn's Disease.

Background: Osteopenia and osteoporosis are considered to be extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α biologics have been introduced as novel medications for an active IBD. However, it is still not well documented whether anti-TNF-α affects the frequency of bone loss or abnormality of bone mineral markers among patients with IBD.

[Modified Technique for Primary Dural Closure in the Lateral Suboccipital Approach:Dural Moisturizing with Fibrin Glue Coating].

Objective: When employing the lateral suboccipital approach, the thin dura shrinks due to the drying effect of illumination and air exposure, and dural substitutes are often needed for closure. We developed a new technique involving dural moisturizing with fibrin glue coating that facilitates primary dural closure.

Patients And Methods: We used this technique in 12 adults who underwent the lateral suboccipital approach for 5 hemifacial spasms, 3 trigeminal neuralgias, 2 cerebellopontine meningiomas, 1 vestibular schwannoma, and 1 vertebral artery aneurysm.

Ruptured Cerebral Microaneurysm Diagnosed by 3-Dimensional Fast Spin-Echo T1 Imaging with Variable Flip Angles.

Cerebral microaneurysms, which are 2 mm or small in size, are a rare cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The authors present 2 cases with ruptured microaneurysms, in which 3-dimensional (3D) fast spin-echo T1 imaging with variable flip angles (CUBE T1) using gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd) enhancement was useful in diagnosing the microaneurysms as the source of bleeding. Case 1 was a 61-year-old woman who had an SAH localized to the left Sylvian fissure.

Comparison of the pharmacokinetics of erlotinib administered in complete fasting and 2 h after a meal in patients with lung cancer.

Background: The recommended dose of erlotinib is 150 mg daily either 1 h before a meal (complete fasting) or 2 h after a meal (2 h post-meal), because of the food effect.

Methods: We conducted a cross-over pharmacokinetic study to compare the fed bioequivalence in the two conditions.

Results: Twenty-three patients with non-small cell lung cancer were included in the analysis.

Outflow Occlusion with Occipital Artery-Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery Bypass for Growing Vertebral Artery Fusiform Aneurysm with Ischemic Onset: A Case Report.

Surgical treatments should be considered for vertebral artery fusiform aneurysms, which become symptomatic due to cerebral ischemia or mass effect. Ischemic complication is one of the major problems after surgical or endovascular trapping, which is associated with unfavorable outcomes. The authors present a case with growing vertebral artery (VA) fusiform aneurysm with ischemic onset successfully treated with outflow occlusion with occipital artery-posterior inferior cerebellar artery (OA-PICA) bypass.

Clinical profiles for seizure remission and developmental gains after total corpus callosotomy.

Purpose: This study was aimed to determine what preoperative profiles were associated with seizure remission after corpus callosotomy and whether such seizure outcome was associated with the postoperative developmental outcome.

Methods: This retrospective study included 26 consecutive patients with childhood onset epilepsy who underwent one-stage total corpus callosotomy at our institution and were followed up for a minimum of 1 year. The age at surgery ranged from 13 months to 32 years (median 6 years).

Potent Gastric Acid Inhibition Over 24 Hours by 4-Times Daily Dosing of Esomeprazole 20 mg.

Background: When administered at a standard dose, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) do not always provide sufficient acid inhibition for all subjects, particularly in extensive metabolizers (EMs) of CYP2C19. Whether esomeprazole at a dose of 20 mg four times daily dosing (q.i.

Urethral caruncle in a 9-year-old girl: a case report and review of the literature.

Introduction: Urethral caruncles are the most frequent benign tumors of the female urethra. Most of them are found in post-menopausal women, and they are rare in childhood. Only a few pediatric cases have been published in the literature.

[A case of locally advanced pancreatic cancer successfully resected after gemcitabine+S-1 therapy].

A 6 1-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital because of obstructive jaundice. He was diagnosed with locally advanced cancer of the pancreatic head on computed tomography. Gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m² on days 8 and 15, every 21 days) + S-1 (6 0 mg/m² on day 1-15, every 21 days) chemotherapy was administered because the tumor had invaded the common hepatic artery and portal vein.

Cooperative roles of hydrophilic loop 1 and the C-terminus of presenilin 1 in the substrate-gating mechanism of γ-secretase.

γ-Secretase is a multisubunit protease complex that is responsible for generating amyloid-β peptides, which are associated with Alzheimer disease. The catalytic subunit of γ-secretase is presenilin 1 (PS1), which contains an initial substrate-binding site that is distinct from the catalytic site. Processive cleavage is suggested in the intramembrane-cleaving mechanism of γ-secretase.

Influence of prostate stem cell antigen gene polymorphisms on susceptibility to Helicobacter pylori-associated diseases: a case-control study.

Background: Patients with duodenal ulcer have a reduced risk of developing gastric cancer compared to those without. Recently, the prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) rs2294008 C>T polymorphism was found to be associated with different pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer developments. However, whether PSCA rs2294008 C>T polymorphism is associated with severity of gastric mucosal atrophy is unclear.

Guggulsterone, a plant-derived inhibitor of NF-TB, suppresses CDX2 and COX-2 expression and reduces the viability of esophageal adenocarcinoma cells.

Background/aims: Induction by bile acid of caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation is a critical event in the development of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Guggulsterone (GS) is a plant sterol that inhibits NF-κB activity. Here, we evaluated whether GS has either or both chemopreventive or therapeutic effects against EAC.

[Efficacy of halo-vest fixation in the assessment and prediction of the effectiveness of permanent fixation in a patient with basilar invagination with ambiguous vertebral instability].

Basilar invagination is a developmental anomaly of the craniovertebral junction in which the odontoid abnormally prolapses into the foramen magnum. It is also associated with Chiari malformation, syringomyelia, and hydrocephalus. Patients require surgical treatment to prevent progression of neurological symptoms, but assessment of anterior or posterior decompression can be difficult owing to bone instability and ambiguous compression of neural structures.

27-Gauge vitrectomy.

Ten years or more have passed since the current concept of 25-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy with a trocar-cannula system emerged. There is no doubt that current microincision vitrectomy surgery with 25- or 23-gauge instrumentation has simplified the vitrectomy procedure and has provided numerous potential advantages over traditional 20-gauge surgery. The established theory regarding surgical wounds is that 'much smaller is better'.

Allosteric regulation of γ-secretase activity by a phenylimidazole-type γ-secretase modulator.

γ-Secretase is an intramembrane-cleaving protease responsible for the generation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. Recently, a series of compounds called γ-secretase modulators (GSMs) has been shown to decrease the levels of long toxic Aβ species (i.e.

[Development of the fingertip blood dilution method for blood cell counting].

For simple examination of blood disorders such as anemia, the results of blood cell counting using a small volume of blood sampled from a finger were evaluated. Because the sampling volume varies, tyramine was added to the blood dilution buffer as an internal standard. When blood is added to a tyramine-containing buffer, tyramine is diluted according to the blood volume regardless of the hematocrit.

Optimized rod length of polyplex micelles for maximizing transfection efficiency and their performance in systemic gene therapy against stroma-rich pancreatic tumors.

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) modification onto a gene delivery carrier for systemic application results in a trade-off between prolonged blood circulation and promoted transfection because high PEG shielding is advantageous in prolonging blood retention, while it is disadvantageous with regard to obtaining efficient transfection owing to hampered cellular uptake. To tackle this challenging issue, the present investigation focused on the structure of polyplex micelles (PMs) obtained from PEG-poly(l-lysine) (PEG-PLys) block copolymers characterized as rod-shaped structures to seek the most appreciable formulation. Comprehensive investigations conducted with particular focus on stability, PEG crowdedness, and rod length, controlled by varying PLys segment length, clarified the effect of these structural features, with particular emphasis on rod length as a critical parameter in promoting cellular uptake.

Eradication of H. pylori infection in patients allergic to penicillin using triple therapy with a PPI, metronidazole and sitafloxacin.

Eradication of H. pylori in patients allergic to penicillin should be performed using regimens without penicillin derivatives. We treated a total of 28 patients allergic to penicillin with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), metronidazole (250 mg bid) and sitafloxacin (100 mg bid) for one to two weeks.

Prevention of gastric mucosal injury induced by anti-platelet drugs by famotidine.

Anti-platelet drug-induced gastric mucosal injury correlates with intragastric pH. Our aim was to investigate prophylaxis effects of famotidine, one of the representative histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA), on gastric mucosal injury induced by dual therapy with low-dose aspirin and clopidogrel in relation to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and CYP2C19 genotypes.

Induction of murine TNBS colitis is strictly controlled by a modified method using continuous inhalation anesthesia with sevoflurane.

Background: Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis is one of the most widely used experimental colitis models. However, there is no standard procedure for inducing colitis by TNBS because it is difficult to achieve a uniform distribution of colitis. We have developed a modified method of murine TNBS-induced colitis that involves inhalation anesthesia with sevoflurane combined with both single and repeated TNBS administrations.