Bimodal effects of obesity ratio on disease duration of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children.

Background: Morbid obesity may be associated with hospitalization and possibly death from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 infection, suggesting a yet unknown association between obesity and the severity of viral infections. Thus, we examined association between obesity ratios and duration of disease in children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection.

Methods: A retrospective survey of 243 children admitted for bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and those who tested positive for a RSV test, were observed from a single institute in Japan.

Survival of geriatric patients after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in Japan.

Aim: To examine the long term survival of geriatric patients treated with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in Japan.

Methods: We retrospectively included 46 Japanese community and tertiary hospitals to investigate 931 consecutive geriatric patients (≥ 65 years old) with swallowing difficulty and newly performed PEG between Jan 1st 2005 and Dec 31st 2008. We set death as an outcome and explored the associations among patient's characteristics at PEG using log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazard models.

Serum vitamin D levels and survival of patients with colorectal cancer: post-hoc analysis of a prospective cohort study.

Background: Recently, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels were shown to be associated with the survival of patients with colorectal cancer. However, 25OHD levels were measured a median of 6 years before diagnosis or were predicted levels. In this study, we directly measured serum 25OHD levels at surgery and examined the association with survival among patients with colorectal cancer.