Effect of Increasing or Decreasing Use of Polypharmacy on Recovery of Activities of Daily Living in Patients With Stroke in the Recovery-Phase Rehabilitation Ward: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching.

Polypharmacy is a predictor of adverse outcomes, making its management crucial for improving patient health and recovery. Managing polypharmacy is particularly challenging in patients with stroke with many comorbidities and sequelae. Although reducing inappropriate prescribing is necessary, the number of medications may increase to effectively implement secondary prevention, potentially offsetting any changes in medication count.

Investigating the effect of prescribing status and patient characteristics on the therapeutic outcomes in patients with diabetes using a leftover drug adjustment protocol.

Treatment for diabetes includes anti-diabetic medication in addition to lifestyle improvements through diet and exercise. In Japan, protocol-based pharmacotherapy management allows drug treatment to be provided through cooperation between physicians and pharmacists, based on a protocol that is prepared and agreed upon in advance. However, there are no studies to clarify the relationship between patient characteristics and therapeutic effects after pharmacist intervention in protocol-based pharmacotherapy management for patients with diabetes.

Anticholinergic Load Is Associated with Swallowing Dysfunction in Convalescent Older Patients after a Stroke.

This study aimed to establish whether anticholinergic load affects the swallowing function of geriatric stroke patients in convalescent stages, as no proven association between the anticholinergic load-based Anticholinergic Risk Scale and the swallowing dysfunction in Japanese patients was known. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on hospitalized older patients undergoing rehabilitation after stroke. The study outcomes included evaluating the patients at hospital discharge using the Functional Oral Intake Scale.

Report on investigation of ISO 10993-12 extraction conditions.

The international standard ISO 10993-12 describes extraction conditions for generating extracts of medical devices to be used in testing of biological safety. Questions about the adequacy of the extraction conditions (and their variations) for hazard identification drove the development and execution of a round robin study. Four relevant device materials were each evaluated by four laboratories following an established protocol that specified multiple options of extraction solvent, temperature, duration, and ratio of solvent volume to quantity of test article.

The impact of decreasing potentially inappropriate medications on activities of daily living in a convalescent rehabilitation setting.

Background Polypharmacy or potentially inappropriate medications negatively affect the functional recovery of rehabilitation. However, limited research exists regarding the effect of decreasing in potentially inappropriate medications use on functional improvement of rehabilitation in geriatric Japanese patients. Objective To elucidate whether decreasing PIM during hospitalization could be a predictor of rehabilitation outcomes among geriatric patients in a convalescent rehabilitation setting.

Change in number of potentially inappropriate medications impacts on the nutritional status in a convalescent rehabilitation setting.

Aim: The association between potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) use and nutritional status is unclear in Japan. The aim of the present study was to establish whether PIM use during hospitalization affects the nutritional status among geriatric patients in the convalescing stage.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study included consecutive geriatric patients admitted and discharged from convalescent rehabilitation wards between 2010 and 2016.

Psychotropic drug use and cognitive rehabilitation practice for elderly patients.

Background Psychotropic drugs were associated with greater risks of adverse drug reactions, including lower the level of consciousness, cause cognitive dysfunction, relax muscles, cause hypotension and others. However, the effect of psychotropic drug use on rehabilitation outcomes is poorly documented in Japan. Objective To assess the association of increased psychotropic drugs during hospitalization with activities of daily living among elderly patients.

Anticholinergic drugs use and risk of hip fracture in geriatric patients.

Aim: Limited research exists regarding the effect of anticholinergic drugs on fracture in geriatric Japanese patients. The aim of the present study was to establish whether anticholinergic load affects hip fracture and to clarify the risk based on the Anticholinergic Risk Scale score among geriatric patients in a convalescent rehabilitation setting.

Methods: The present nested case-control study included consecutive geriatric patients admitted and discharged from the convalescent rehabilitation ward between 2010 and 2016.

Assessment of aspiration pneumonia using the Anticholinergic Risk Scale.

Aim: The association between anticholinergic drug use and aspiration pneumonia (AP) based on the Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS) or clinical study reports on AP risks using the ARS are unclear in Japan. The aim of the present study was to establish whether anticholinergic load affects AP, and to clarify the risk based on the ARS score among geriatric patients in the convalescing stage.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study included consecutive geriatric patients admitted and discharged from convalescent rehabilitation wards between 2010 and 2016.

Clinical factors affecting potentially inappropriate medications at discharge in older stroke patients.

Introduction: Factors for increased in potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are poorly documented in a rehabilitation setting. The goal of this study is to identify clinical factors that are strongly associated with increased PIMs in stroke patients.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included consecutive geriatric stroke patients in convalescent rehabilitation wards between 2010 and 2016.

The association of increased drugs use with activities of daily living and discharge outcome among elderly stroke patients.

Unlabelled: Background Few systematic studies have evaluated the association between drugs and functional recovery for geriatric patients after strokes in the convalescent stage. Objective To assess the association of increased drugs during hospitalization with activities of daily living and outcome among geriatric stroke patients. Setting This study was conducted at the convalescent rehabilitation ward in the Hitachinaka General Hospital in Japan.

Role of potentially inappropriate medication use in rehabilitation outcomes for geriatric patients after strokes.

Aim: The effect of the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) on mortality and functional outcome after strokes is unclear in Japan. The aim of the present study was to establish whether treatment with PIM affects functional improvements among geriatric patients convalescing after strokes.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study included consecutive geriatric patients admitted and discharged from convalescent rehabilitation wards for stroke between 2010 and 2016.

Estimated glomerular filtration rate -a more stable indicator than creatinine clearance in peritoneal dialysis practice.

Objective: The usefulness of estimated glomerular filtration rate may not be restricted to pre-dialysis patients, since we reported that estimated glomerular filtration rate was well correlated with measured total creatinine clearance in peritoneal dialysis patients. To clarify the clinical usefulness of estimated glomerular filtration rate as a parameter for peritoneal dialysis adequacy, we retrospectively surveyed estimated glomerular filtration rate and total creatinine clearance in peritoneal dialysis patients treated at JA Toride Medical Center.

Patients And Methods: A total of 114 data sets of estimated glomerular filtration rate and total creatinine clearance from 21 PD patients treated at JA Toride Medical Center were collected from November 2010 to October 2011.

Anti-centromere antibody is an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background: Anti-centromere antibody (ACA), a typical autoantibody of systemic sclerosis, is also detected in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). However, its pathogenic role is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to determine the association between ACA and kidney function in PBC.

Vascular responses to a biodegradable polymer (polylactic acid) based biolimus A9-eluting stent in porcine models.

Aims: The time-dependent changes in endothelial and healing properties of coronary arteries implanted with a biodegradable polymer-based biolimus A9-eluting stent (BioPol-BES) have not been investigated. We evaluated the short-term and the long-term in vivo response of BioPol-BES, as compared to a permanent polymer-based sirolimus-eluting stent (PermPol-SES), and a bare metal stent (BMS).

Methods And Results: Overlapping stents were placed in 33 swine (n=11 for BES, SES, and BMS, respectively) for two and four weeks and single stents in 30 miniature pigs (n=18 for BES, n=9 for SES, n=3 for BMS) for three, nine and 15-month evaluations.

Anti-centromere antibody-positive subjects presenting with hypertensive emergency and renal dysfunction in the absence of skin manifestations: a variant of systemic sclerosis or a novel entity?

Two patients with anti-centromere antibody (ACA), hypertensive emergency, and acute renal failure, mimicking scleroderma renal crisis, without Raynaud's phenomenon and typical skin manifestations of systemic sclerosis (SSc), are reported. A review of 26 ACA-positive patients between March 2003 and March 2011 in Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital identified four additional patients with similar manifestations. All patients were Japanese women between 41 and 84 years of age at presentation.

Recovery of renal function in a dialysis-dependent patient with microscopic polyangiitis and both myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies.

A 40-year-old man with microscopic polyangiitis developed both myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (90 EU) and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies (134 EU)-positive rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Although the patient initially showed no signs of improvement, persistent therapy including 1 g/day intravenous methylprednisolone, 50 mg/day oral prednisolone, plasma exchange, and 900 mg/day intravenous cyclophosphamide resulted in the normalization of both titers, recovery of renal function, and discontinuation of dialysis. Though previous studies showed poor outcomes in such "double-positive" patients, aggressive immunosuppression in younger patients may result in the recovery of renal function, even in those with severe renal dysfunction.

Fluoride complexation of element 104, rutherfordium.

Fluoride complexation of element 104, rutherfordium (Rf), produced in the 248Cm(18O,5n)261Rf reaction has been studied by anion-exchange chromatography on an atom-at-a-time scale. The anion-exchange chromatographic behavior of Rf was investigated in 1.9-13.

Upper thoracic spinal cord injury without vertebral bony lesion: a report of two cases.

Study Design: Case report.

Objectives: To describe a rarely reported type of upper thoracic spinal cord injury without vertebral bony lesion in two cases with multiple trauma.

Summary Of Background Data: Because it is supported by the stiffness of the rib cage, the upper thoracic spine has greater stability than the cervical and lumbar regions, and thus its fracture or fracture dislocation is less frequent.