Comparison between unattended automated office blood pressure and conventional office blood pressure under the environment of health checkup among Japanese general population.

Unattended automated office blood pressure (AOBP) measurement has been endorsed as the preferred in-office measurement modality in recent Canadian and American clinical practice guidelines. However, the difference between AOBP and conventional office blood pressure (CBP) under the environment of a health checkup remains unclear. We aimed to identify the clinical significance of AOBP as compared to CBP under the environment of a health checkup.

Respiratory function in healthy ever-smokers is impaired by smoking habits in a dose-dependent manner.

Background: There is limited information about the respiratory function of ever-smokers without lung disorders. We sought to assess the effects of smoking habits on respiratory function in subjects without lung disorders.

Methods: Subjects were recruited from among patients without any evidence of respiratory disorders who visited rural primary care clinics.

Evaluation of a Quantitative Serological Assay for Diagnosing Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of a quantitative Aspergillus IgG assay for diagnosing chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. We examined Aspergillus-specific IgG levels in patients who met the following criteria: (i) chronic (duration of >3 months) pulmonary or systemic symptoms, (ii) radiological evidence of a progressive (over months or years) pulmonary lesion with surrounding inflammation, and (iii) no major discernible immunocompromising factors. Anti-Aspergillus IgG serum levels were retrospectively analyzed according to defined classifications.

Conifer-Derived Monoterpenes and Forest Walking.

Conifer and broadleaf trees emit volatile organic compounds in the summer. The major components of these emissions are volatile monoterpenes. Using solid phase microextraction fiber as the adsorbant, monoterpenes were successfully detected and identified in forest air samples.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with a rho-kinase inhibitor in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: We have previously demonstrated that long-term inhibition of Rho-kinase ameliorates pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in animal models. In the present study, we examined the clinical effects of mid-term oral treatment with an extended release formulation of AT-877 (fasudil hydrochloride), a specific Rho-kinase inhibitor (AT-877ER) on PAH.

Methods And Results: 23 PAH patients were treated with either placebo (10/2 females/males, 51 ± 16 years, idiopathic PAH (IPAH) in 6, PAH associated with connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH) in 3, PAH with congenital heart disease (CHD-PAH) in 2, and portal PAH in 1) or AT-877ER (6/5 females/males, 47 ± 14 years, IPAH in 2, CTD-PAH in 5, and CHD-PAH in 4); 3 patients were excluded.

[The add-on effect of omalizumab on patients with uncontrolled bronchial asthma].

A high-dose administration of inhaled corticosteroid is effective in the majority of patients with bronchial asthma, but is often difficult to attain sufficient control in certain subsets of patients. Omalizumab has recently emerged as a promising drug for bronchial asthma. To assess its add-on effect we administered omalizumab to patients with uncontrolled atopic asthma for more than 16 weeks and gave them questionnaires.

[Comparison between predicted equations obtained by standard Japanese values and present predicted equations for vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second].

Until recently, predicted values of vital capacity (VC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) have been calculated with Baldwin's equation (VC-B) and Berglund's equation (FEV1-B) respectively, in Japan. Due to several problems using these equations, new prediction equations of VC (VC-J) and FEV1 (FEV1-J), which were created using data from healthy Japanese, were provided by the Japanese Respiratory Society in 2001. In the present study, we studied the validity of these prediction equations.

High incidence of chromosomal abnormalities at 1p36 and 9p21 in early-stage central type squamous cell carcinoma and squamous dysplasia of bronchus detected by autofluorescence bronchoscopy.

Heavy smokers with central type squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) frequently have multiple cancerous lesions in the bronchus. Autofluorescence bronchoscopy (AFB) is useful in the detection of early bronchogenic cancer and dysplastic lesions. We investigated the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI) and expression of four proteins in 13 early stage SCC (early SCC) and 9 squamous dysplasia detected by AFB and 19 cases of surgically resected invasive SCC (invasive SCC).

[Evaluation of galactomannan antigen and beta-D-glucan value for diagnosis of chronic necrotizing pulmomary aspergillosis].

In order to establish the reliable cut-off value of galactomannan (GM) antigen as well as that for beta-D-glucan for CNPA diagnosis, we conducted the following study. From 2001 to 2008, in a total of 1511 patients we measured GM and anti-aspergillus antibody simultaneously. These patients had chronic pulmonary disease including old tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacteriosis, COPD, and had bullous lung, interstitial lung disease or were suspected to have suspected to have interstitial lung disease.

Administration of VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor increases VEGF production causing angiogenesis in human small-cell lung cancer xenografts.

Angiogenesis is mediated mainly by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and VEGF causes rapid growth in cancers, including human small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The anti-angiogenic strategy of treating cancer using VEGF receptor (VEGFR) inhibition is currently of great interest. We tested the effects of the VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) vandetanib on the proliferation of two kinds of SCLC cell lines: SBC-1 cells, with detectable VEGFR2 expression and MS-1-L cells, without detectable VEGFR2 expression.

Renal abscess with Morganella morganii complicating leukemoid reaction.

We report a case of leukemoid reaction (LR) complicating renal abscess caused by Morganella morganii infection in an 80-year-old man. On administration, laboratory tests revealed white blood cell count of 76160 /microL and C reactive protein 3.09 mg/dL.

Color auto-fluorescence from cancer lesions: improved detection of central type lung cancer.

A fluorescence endoscopic system, PDS-2000, enabled observation of color auto-fluorescence from the human body. We performed a clinical study to determine whether color auto-fluorescence bronchoscopy using PDS-2000 improved the accuracy of central type lung cancer diagnosis, as compared to white light bronchoscopy. White light bronchoscopy followed by auto-fluorescence bronchoscopy was performed in 71 subjects with either bronchogenic cancer, previous lung cancer, bloody sputum or who were at a high risk of developing lung cancer.

Radiological findings of alveolar hydatid disease of the lung caused by Echinococcus multilocularis.

Alveolar hydatid disease is a highly malignant form of echinococcosis caused by the larvae of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis. Alveolar hydatid disease always affects the liver and can metastasise to the lungs and brain. The case reports describe the radiological features of alveolar hydatid disease of the lung caused by E.

Doxapram stimulates the carotid body via a different mechanism than hypoxic chemotransduction.

To determine if doxapram stimulates the carotid body through the same mechanism as hypoxia, we compared the effects of doxapram and hypoxia on isolated-perfused carotid bodies in rabbits. Doxapram stimulated the carotid body in a dose-dependent manner. In Ca(2+)-free solution, neither doxapram nor hypoxia stimulated the carotid body.

[Symptoms in asthmatics living in cold districts during winter].

Exposure to cold is known as a potential exacerbating factor in asthmatics. However, few studies have investigated severity of symptoms during daily life in winter for asthmatics living in northern Hokkaido, the coldest region in Japan. We sent questionnaires to 126 asthmatics living in northern Hokkaido, and obtained answers from 116 patients (52 males, 64 females).

Severe pulmonary hypertension associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Severe pulmonary hypertension is one of the fetal complications in various connective tissue diseases. We report a case of severe pulmonary hypertension associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome. In a lung biopsy specimen, there were findings of intimal and medial hypertrophy with narrowing vessel lumina and plexiform lesions.

Alterations in penicillin binding protein gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae and their correlation with susceptibility patterns.

Penicillin binding protein (pbp) gene alterations of 328 clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae were examined for a correlation with their antibiotic-resistance. The frequency of penicillin G (PEN-G) resistance was determined to clarify susceptibility to several antibiotics, namely PEN-G, ampicillin, sulbactam/ampicillin, cefozopram, panipenem (PAPM), clarithromycin (CLR), azithromycin (AZM) and levofloxacin (LVX). Oligonucleotide primers for three pbp genes (pbp1a, pbp2x and pbp2b) were used to detect mutations in pbp.

[A case of pulmonary hamartoma and sclerosing hemangioma in the same lung].

A 49-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because abnormal masses had been found in the left lung on chest radiography. This examination and CT scanning on admission both revealed a 12 x 8 mm mass in the left S5 and a 31 x 25 mm mass in the left S8. Calcification was not found in the tumors.

[Saccharomyces-induced hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a dairy farmer: a case report].

A 58-year-old man, a dairy farmer, was admitted to Engaru Kosei Hospital because of cough, fever and dyspnea following repeated exposure to moldy silage in a silo. Chest radiography showed ground-glass opacity and tiny nodules in both lung fields. Arterial blood gas analysis showed severe hypoxia (PaO2, 30.

[Pulmonary sarcoidosis in a case of dermatomyositis under long-term steroid therapy].

Pulmonary sarcoidosis in association with dermatomyositis has rarely been reported. A 52-year-old woman was admitted for evaluation of a previously unrecognized bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy on a chest radiogram in August 1995. She had been receiving oral corticosteroids for dermatomyositis, which was confirmed by the typical skin rash and the myogenic changes on an electromyogram in 1977.