Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome in the right lateral decubitus position: a case report.

Background: Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome is a rare syndrome characterized by dyspnea and hypoxia when the patient is sitting or standing. Here we report a case of platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome caused by a right hemidiaphragmatic elevation with giant liver cyst that triggered a right-to-left shunt through the patent foramen ovale. This case report is the first presentation of a case secondary to hemidiaphragmatic elevation with giant liver cyst.

[A case of glomerulonephritis associated with ventriculo-atrial shunt].

Nephritis associated with a chronically infected ventriculo-atrial (VA) or ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt is known as shunt nephritis. A 60-year-old woman who had a VA shunt implanted for hydrocephalus began to show intermittent low-grade fever of an unknown origin, as well as hypertension and lower leg edema. Laboratory findings showed renal insufficiency with proteinuria, and a percutaneous renal biopsy was performed.

Two cases in which an abnormal hemoglobin (Hb Kamakura) was identified on the basis of an abnormally low glycohemoglobin levels.

We encountered two patients with abnormally low glycohemoglobin levels in spite of normal plasma glucose levels. Since the presence of an abnormal hemoglobin was suggested by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gene analysis of these two patients was conducted by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis followed by direct sequencing, and Hb Kamakura with one base substitution (beta3 Leu --> Val) in the beta globin gene was detected in both patients. There was been only one report of Hb Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, and our patients represent the second and third cases, respectively.