Pulse transit time-estimated blood pressure: a comparison of beat-to-beat and intermittent measurement.

Pulse transit time (PTT), which refers to the travel time between two arterial sites within the same cardiac cycle, has been developed as a novel cuffless form of continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in BP parameters, including BP variability, between those assessed by beat-to-beat PTT-estimated BP (eBP) and those assessed by intermittent PTT-estimated BP at fixed time intervals (eBP) in patients suspected of having sleep disordered breathing (SDB). In 330 patients with SDB (average age, 66.

Changes in the Pneumococcal Vaccine Serotypes in Adult Noninvasive Pneumonia after the Introduction of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination for Children.

Context: Although the incidence of invasive pneumococcal infections in children has decreased since the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs), the appearance of serotype replacements has continued to increase.

Aims: We examined the frequency of serotype replacements in adult cases of pneumococcal pneumonia. Furthermore, the transition in the coverage of vaccine serotypes (VTs) to non-VTs (NVTs) was also examined.

Outcomes in two Japanese adenosine deaminase-deficiency patients treated by stem cell gene therapy with no cytoreductive conditioning.

Objective: We here describe treatment outcomes in two adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficiency patients (pt) who received stem cell gene therapy (SCGT) with no cytoreductive conditioning. As this protocol has features distinct from those of other clinical trials, its results provide insights into SCGT for ADA deficiency.

Patients And Methods: Pt 1 was treated at age 4.

A case of pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 12 and treated successfully with imipenem.

The patient was an 83-year-old man hospitalized for Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia, who developed recurrent pneumonia after improvement of the initial episode. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 12 was isolated from the sputum, accompanied by increased serum antibody titers to L. pneumophila serogroup 12.

Immunoglobulin G4-related lung disease accompanied by organizing pneumonia.

The full picture of immunoglobulin G4-related lung disease (IgG4-RLD) has not yet been elucidated. A 69-year-old man was referred to us with a more than 2-week history of productive cough and fatigue. Chest CT showed an airspace consolidation along the bronchovascular bundles.

Relapsing polychondritis complicated by giant cell myocarditis and myositis.

An 83-year-old man presented with a three-week history of dyspnea. The clinical features suggested a diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis (RP); however, the patient died of heart failure. An autopsy revealed active chondritis of the tracheal and bronchial cartilage.

[Spontaneous regression of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the lung].

We report a case of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the lung that regressed spontaneously. An 82-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of an abnormal chest shadow. Chest CT scans showed soft tissue components along the periphery of the left main bronchus.

Non-destructive three-dimensional evaluation of pores at different welded joints and their effects on joints strength.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to measure the porosity in different laser welded cast alloys non-destructively using X-ray micro-focus computerized tomography (micro-CT) and to evaluate the effect of porosity on the tensile strength of the welded joints.

Materials And Methods: The welding procedure was conducted in rectangular cast metals, CoCr, Ti and platinum added gold alloy (AuPt). The metal plates were butted CoCr to CoCr (CoCr/CoCr) or Ti to Ti (Ti/Ti) for welding of similar metals and Ti to AuPt (Ti/AuPt) for welding of dissimilar metals.

Survey on use of titanium dentures in Tsurumi University Dental Hospital for 11 years.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to survey the production of titanium dentures in Tsurumi University Dental Hospital and to study the actual use of titanium dentures in our university.

Methods: The survey was based on the metal base dentures produced at Tsurumi University Dental Hospital during an 11-year period between April 1995 and March 2006, with relation to the types of metals used in the dentures, types of dentures, dental condition, and the number of artificial teeth.

Results: 1871 metal base dentures were produced in the study period.

A new retainer using magnetic attachment.

Patient: A 58-year-old man with a complaint of masticatory disturbance presented. His mandibular left premolars and molars were missing, and the mandibular left canine, which was neighboring to the missing part, showed marked labial tipping. A cobalt-chromium removable partial denture was fabricated using a new magnetic attachment retainer because it seemed difficult to apply a conventional clasp for this case.

[A case of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung with a high titer of proteinase 3 antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody].

A 57-year-old man who had a history of sinusitis was admitted to Ryugasaki-Saiseikai hospital in April 2002 because of productive cough and bloody sputum. Chest radiographs and CT scans showed mediastinal lymphadenopathy and a solitary mass lesion with an irregular margin and cavity in the left lower lung field. Proteinase 3 antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR3 ANCA) was positive, and this is a sensitive and specific indicator of Wegener's granulomatosis.

A technique for making a diagnostic and surgical template.

Implant-supported restorations can restore function and esthetics provided that the implants are placed in the predetermined location and properly angulated. This article describes the fabrication of a diagnostic template incorporating a silicone radiopaque marker as a guide for achieving 3-dimensional evaluation of bone without artifacts using computed tomography. The diagnostic template may be easily transformed into a surgical template by removing the silicone marker.

A large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease due to an inadequate circulating and filtration system for bath water--epidemiologic manifestations.

Objective: To study the epidemiologic manifestations of a large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease due to an inadequate circulating and filtration system for bath water.

Patients: In June 2000 at Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, a large outbreak of Legionnaire's disease occurred, as a result of an inadequate circulating and filtration system for communal bath water. This outbreak was the worst ever experienced in Japan, involving a total of 34 patients (20 confirmed, 14 probable), 3 of whom died.

[A major outbreak of Legionnaire's disease due to a public bathhouse: clinical examination].

The largest epidemic outbreak of legionnaires' disease occurred in Japan, where there were 45 cases, including three deaths. There was a high degree of homology at the genetic level between Legionella pneumophila sero-group 1 isolated from two patients and water samples collected from a public bath, and this highlighted the public bath visited by the patients as the source of the infection. We report our clinical observations of 34 cases with a pneumonia type (20 definite and 14 probable) of the 42 cases for whom a diagnosis was made and follow-up care was subsequently provided at our hospital or hospital-affiliated facilities, out of the initial total of 45 cases.

The kinetics of immune reconstitution after cord blood transplantation and selected CD34+ stem cell transplantation in children: comparison with bone marrow transplantation.

The present study compares immune reconstitution after allogeneic cord blood transplantation (CBT) and CD34+ stem cell transplantation (CD34-SCT) with that after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Eighty-eight children who underwent CBT (20 patients), BMT (58), and CD34-SCT (10) were enrolled, and lymphocytes and T-, B-, and natural killer-lymphocyte subsets were monitored for more than 5 years after transplantation. CBT recipients showed significant ircreases in (1) total lymphocyte counts (P < .

[A case of diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura with bilateral chylothorax].

We describe a case of bilateral chylothorax with malignant pleural mesothelioma. A 41-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea. She had no history of exposure to asbestos.

Intralobar pulmonary sequestration presenting increased serum CA19-9 and CA125.

A 39-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of a consolidated shadow and clarification of the cause of serum tumor marker elevation (CA19-9 496.2 U/ml, CA125 160.6 U/ml).

[Comparative study of bone resorption markers for the diagnosis of bone metastasis in lung cancer].

NTx and I CTP, a metabolite of type I collagen, were compared as to their usefulness as indicators of bone metastasis in lung cancer. The NTx level was significantly higher in lung cancer patients with bone metastasis (107.9 +/- 56.

[Improvement of extrapulmonary lesions of eosinophilic granuloma after cessation of smoking].

We encountered a case of pulmonary eosinophilic granuloma complicated with pneumothorax. A 24-year-old man was admitted to our department because of respiratory difficulty. Chest radiography on admission showed a right pneumothorax.

Analysis of T cell receptor V(beta) gene expression and clonality in bronchoalveolar fluid lymphocytes from a patient with chronic eosinophilic pneumonitis.

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonitis (CEP) is characterized by longstanding respiratory symptoms accompanied by a massive pulmonary eosinophil infiltration. T lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonitis are considered to recognize unknown antigens. To analyze the pathogenesis of CEP, we examined the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire and T cell clonotype of BAL lymphocytes and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) in a 66-year-old woman patient with CEP.

Umbilical cord blood T lymphocytes are induced to apoptosis after being allo-primed in vitro.

In this study, the immunity of umbilical cord blood (UCB) T lymphocytes against allo-antigens was investigated by a standard MLC. No significant difference, between the UCB T cells or peripheral blood (PB) mature T cells, was observed in the primary responses (stimulation index (SI), 51.8 +/- 14.

T-cell clonal change after allo-kidney transplantation in humans.

Whether T cells circulating peripherally express changes at a clonal level after renal transplantation is uncertain. To clarify this issue, we analyzed T-cell clonality of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) in 12 renal transplant recipients by a novel polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method that can discriminate T-cell clones with different T-cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta motifs. The PCR-SSCP study showed that after transplantation, only a few distinct T-cell clonotypes accumulated in the absence of clinical episodes, irrespective of the compatibility of HLA antigens.