[Clinical usefulness of procalcitonin measurement].

Procalcitonin (PCT) was initially described as a calcitonin prohormone and later shown to be a useful marker for identifying bacterial infection and sepsis. We evaluated PCT's clinical efficacy in assessing bacterial infection severity, measuring PCT and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) markers in 180 subjects with suspected infection. PCT titer was higher with increasing infection severity.

[A case of pernicious anemia with type A gastritis in an extremely elderly patient with dementia and heart failure].

A 90-year-old woman was referred and admitted to our hospital because of progressing dementia, decreased appetite, and general fatigue. Blood tests on admission disclosed: white cell count, 2,900 /mm(3); hemoglobin 5.6 g/dl; mean corpuscular volume; 139.

Fulminant massive gas gangrene caused by Clostridium perfringens.

Clostridium perfringens (C.P) gas gangrene is one of the most fulminant infectious diseases. We encountered fulminant massive gas gangrene in a 56- year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.