Subtraction CT Improves Detectability of Mandibular Bone Invasion in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: Pretreatment evaluation of bone invasion in head and neck cancer is critical for treatment strategies. We investigated the usefulness of subtraction CT (SCT) in evaluating mandibular bone invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods: This retrospective investigation included patients with OSCC who underwent surgery at the Shizuoka Cancer Center Hospital between 2018 and 2022.

Biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma diagnosed by detection of fusion gene using integrated whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing.

Biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma (BSNS) is a double-phenotype sarcoma that shows differentiation in both the nervous and muscular systems. To date, whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing (WGTS) has not been used to analyze BSNS. We report a patient with BSNS who was diagnosed based on rearrangement using WGTS.

Salvage skull base surgery after proton beam therapy for recurrent sinonasal malignancies: A retrospective study.

Background: This study aimed to examine treatment outcomes and postoperative complications associated with salvage skull base surgery following radical proton beam therapy (PBT).

Methods: Nine patients who underwent salvage skull base surgery following curative PBT as the initial treatment at our institution between September 2002 and May 2023 were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: The cohort comprised four males and five females with a mean age of 48.

Clinicopathological Features of Buccal Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Focus on Patients Who Never Smoke and Never Drink.

 Oral carcinoma has been reported at a substantial proportion in patients who never smoke and never drink. However, the proportion may vary by subsite and ethnicity.  We aimed to determine the clinicopathological features of buccal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in a Japanese population.

Characterization of Urate Metabolism and Complications of Patients with Renal Hypouricemia.

Objective Both renal hypouricemia (RHU) and gout are associated with renal dysfunction and urolithiasis. The difference in renal complications associated with RHU and gout, however, has not been studied. We characterized the urate metabolism and complications of patients with RHU and compared them with patients with gout.

Immunological and Genetic Characterization of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer who Developed Recurrence.

Background/aim: The recurrence rate of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains high; thus the control of recurrence is a clinical problem to be challenged. To clarify the precise mechanism, specific immunological biomarkers responsible for recurrence were investigated.

Patients And Methods: The expression levels of immune response-associated and Shizuoka Cancer Center 820 cancer-associated genes, and genetic mutations from whole-exome sequencing were compared between HNSCC patients who developed recurrence (n=8) and HNSCC patients who did not develop recurrence (n=19) using a volcano plot analysis.

Predictive Model for Adverse Events and Immune Response Based on the Production of Antibodies After the Second-Dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine.

Background: The BNT162b mRNA vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), mimics the immune response to natural infection. Few studies have predicted the adverse effects (AEs) after the second-dose vaccination. We present a predictive model for AEs and immune response after the second-dose of the BNT162b mRNA vaccine.

Hsp70 promotes maturation of uromodulin mutants that cause familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy and suppresses cellular damage.

Background: Familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy (FJHN) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutations in UMOD. Here we studied effects of genetic expression and pharmacological induction of Hsp70 on the UMOD mutants C112Y and C217G.

Methods: We expressed wild type (WT), C112Y and C217G in HEK293 cells and studied their maturation and cellular damage using western blot and flow cytometry.

Physical Characteristics of Injection Site Pain After COVID-19 mRNA BNT162b2 Vaccination.

Background: BNT162b2, an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, was launched in many countries as an intramuscular vaccination for COVID-19 infection. Few studies have assessed the physical indications of pain at the immunization site. This study aimed to characterize pain at the injection site and investigate morphological attributes using ultrasound.

Triplet induction chemotherapy followed by less invasive surgery without reconstruction for human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal cancers: Why is it successful or unsuccessful?

Background: De-escalating treatments have been focused on for HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). We assessed the efficacy of a triplet induction chemotherapy (ICT) followed by surgery with or without neck dissection (ND) for locally advanced OPSCC, aiming at less invasive surgery without free-flap reconstruction and avoiding postoperative irradiation.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 41 patients with advanced resectable HPV-positive OPSCC who underwent ICT followed by surgery of primary resection with or without ND.

Successful Treatment of Cyst Infection in an Infant With Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Using Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic disease causing renal cysts. Reports on kidney cyst infection in children are rare despite cyst infections being important complications of ADPKD. Here, we report a case of a child without any medical history who had a urinary tract infection with sepsis at 7 months.

Low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy may allow early diagnosis of human renal transplant antibody-mediated rejection.

Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is an important cause of both short- and long-term injury to renal allografts. Transplant glomerulopathy (TG) is strongly associated with ABMR and reduced graft survival. Ultrastructural changes in early-stage ABMR include TG as a duplication of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), which can be observed only by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Qualitative Analysis of the Psychosocial Adaptation Process in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease: Toward Effective Support During Transition from Childhood to Adulthood.

Background: Pediatric chronic renal disease only shows abnormal values in a urinalysis in the initial stage, and subjective signs and symptoms are rare. If adolescents with chronic renal disease face a disease crisis combined with the usual developmental crisis, this may cause psychosocial maladaptation. We analyzed psychosocial adaptation in Japanese children with chronic renal disease in order to identify factors influencing healthy adaptation.

Relevant factors of depression in dementia modifiable by non-pharmacotherapy: a systematic review.

Depression in dementia patients is associated with complications such as decreased activities of daily living and decreased quality of life. Because pharmacotherapeutic treatments for depression in dementia patients may have a poor risk-benefit ratio, effective non-pharmacotherapeutic interventions are favourable. However, the development of effective treatments requires the identification of depression-associated factors that can be modified by non-pharmacotherapeutic means in dementia patients.

A review of clinical characteristics and genetic backgrounds in Alport syndrome.

Alport syndrome (AS) is a progressive hereditary renal disease that is characterized by sensorineural hearing loss and ocular abnormalities. It is divided into three modes of inheritance, namely, X-linked Alport syndrome (XLAS), autosomal recessive AS (ARAS), and autosomal dominant AS (ADAS). XLAS is caused by pathogenic variants in COL4A5, while ADAS and ARAS are caused by those in COL4A3/COL4A4.

Morphological diagnosis of Alport syndrome and thin basement membrane nephropathy by low vacuum scanning electron microscopy.

Alport syndrome (AS) and thin basement membrane nephropathy (TBMN) are genetic disorders caused by mutations of the type IV collagen genes COL4A3, COL4A4, and/or COL4A5. We here aimed to investigate the three-dimensional ultrastructure of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) in order to introduce a novel method of diagnosing AS and TBMN. The subjects were 4 patients with AS and 6 patients with TBMN.

Clinical overview of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus based on a nationwide survey in Japan.

Background: Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is a rare disease whose complications include polyuria, renal dysfunction, growth disorder and mental retardation. The details of NDI's clinical course have been unclear. To address this uncertainty, we performed a large investigation of the clinical course of NDI in Japan.

A novel approach to the histological diagnosis of pediatric nephrotic syndrome by low vacuum scanning electron microscopy.

Despite intensive treatment, steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (NS) often progresses to endstage renal disease. Therefore, a more accurate and quick histological diagnosis is required to properly treat such patients. The aim of this study was to introduce a novel approach to the histological diagnosis of pediatric NS by low vacuum scanning electron microscopy (LVSEM) and to describe the morphological differences in glomeruli between steroid-sensitive and steroid-resistant NS specimens.

Improvement of long-term outcomes in pancreatic cancer and its associated factors within the gemcitabine era: a collaborative retrospective multicenter clinical review of 1,082 patients.

Background: Although the outcomes of pancreatic cancer have been improved by gemcitabine, the changes in its characteristics and long-term outcomes within the gemcitabine era remain unclear. This study was conducted to identify clinical characteristics of pancreatic cancer patients within the gemcitabine era.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at 10 centers for 1,248 consecutive patients who were ever considered to have a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer between 2001 and 2010.

Role of Nox2 in diabetic kidney disease.

NADPH oxidase (Nox) isoforms have been implicated in contributing to diabetic microvascular complications, but the functional role of individual isoforms in diabetic kidney are unclear. Nox2, in particular, is highly expressed in phagocytes and may play a key inflammatory role in diabetic kidney disease. To determine the role of Nox2, we evaluated kidney function and pathology in wild-type (WT; C57BL/6) and Nox2 knockout (KO) mice with type 1 diabetes.

Castleman disease in a child with short stature.

We report a 14-year-old boy with Castleman disease in this article. He complained of short stature, and his body height was 133.8 cm (<3rd percentile; z score -4.