Hemoperitoneum secondary to spontaneous rupture of hepatic metastasis from lung cancer.

We describe a rare case of hemoperitoneum secondary to spontaneous rupture of hepatic metastasis from lung cancer. A 72-year-old man with non-small cell lung cancer was admitted to our hospital with sudden onset of right upper abdominal pain and hypovolemic shock. Laboratory tests showed severe anemia.

Successful treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome improves autonomic nervous system dysfunction.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction may be implicated in the subsequent development of cardiovascular disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). To confirm the relation between OSAS and ANS dysfunction, we prospectively investigated ANS function in 7 patients with moderate or severe OSAS; 7 healthy age-matched volunteers were for control. We also studied ANS function before and after treatment in the patients with OSAS to evaluate the effect of OSAS treatment on ANS dysfunction.

[A case of primary adenocarcinoma of the trachea].

Primary adenocarcinoma of the trachea is rare. We present a case that was successfully treated with radiotherapy followed by surgical resection. A 66-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of cough, sputum and dyspnea.

Photoelectric dye-coupled polyethylene film as a prototype of retinal prostheses.

Photoelectric dyes, which absorb light and convert photon energy to electric potentials, have been previously shown to stimulate retinal neurons in culture. In this study, a photoelectric dye was coupled to a polyethylene film surface and tested in vitro using retinal tissues from chick embryos at the 12-day embryonic stage, at which time outer segments of retinal photoreceptor cells have not yet developed. Carboxyl moieties were introduced to a polyethylene film surface by fuming nitric acid, and then a photoelectric dye, 2-[2-[4-(dibutylamino)phenyl]ethenyl]-3-carboxymethylbenzothiazolium bromide, was coupled to the film through amide linkage.

[A case of quadruple cancer arising in the stomach, lung, liver and prostate].

A 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of severe dyspnea and pollakiuria in October 2001. We diagnosed his illness as carcinomatous pericarditis caused by the recurrence of primary lung cancer and prostatic hypertrophy. He had undergone surgery for gastric cancer in 1986, and for lung cancer in 1996.

[A case of small-cell lung cancer during treatment for active pulmonary tuberculosis after surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer].

A 76-year-old man taking anti-tuberculous drugs for active pulmonary tuberculosis was admitted to our hospital requiring further examination of a pulmonary mass in the left upper lobe. He had had right lower lobectomy and partial middle lobectomy for non-small-cell lung cancer two years before admission. Retrospectively, the left upper lobe mass had been gradually growing for about 2 months.