Normal tissue complication probability model for severe radiation-induced lymphopenia in patients with pancreatic cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: Radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) may be associated with a worse prognosis in pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to develop a normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model to predict severe RIL in patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT).

Materials And Methods: We reviewed pancreatic cancer patients treated at our facility for model training and internal validation.

Impact of correlation structure on sample size requirements of statistical methods for multiple binary outcomes: A simulation study.

Background: In randomized clinical trials, multiple-testing procedures, composite endpoints, and prioritized outcome approaches are increasingly used to analyze multiple binary outcomes. Previous studies have shown that correlations between outcomes influence their sample size requirements. Although sample size is an important factor affecting the choice of statistical methods, the power and required sample sizes of methods for analyzing multiple binary outcomes have yet to be compared under the influence of outcome correlations.

Associations of sarcopenia and malnutrition with 30-day in-hospital morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery.

Objectives: Sarcopenia and malnutrition often occur simultaneously in adults with cardiovascular diseases. Our objective was to determine the associations of preoperative sarcopenia and malnutrition with major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) after cardiac surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed 154 consecutive patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery between January 2015 and June 2018 at two institutions in Japan.

Improvement of Hypoalbuminemia and Hepatic Reserve after Stent Placement for Post-Surgical Portal Vein Stenosis.

Purpose: To investigate the change in serum albumin levels and hepatic reserve scores before and after portal vein stent placement (PVS) for post-surgical portal vein stenosis.

Material And Methods: A retrospective cohort of patients undergoing PVS after abdominal surgery between 2007 and 2021 was analyzed. Patients' age, sex, and PVS technical success (defined by portal vein patency at final portography) were evaluated.

Serum 5-S-cysteinyldopa as a predictive biomarker for stem cell transplantation-related complications in children and young adults.

Diffuse hyperpigmentation is common in patients who undergo chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation (SCT). However, only a few studies have reported the relation between skin reactions and SCT-related complications. Serum 5-S-cysteinyldopa (5SCD), a pheomelanin precursor, is elevated in individuals with hyperpigmentation.

L-Carnitine: A New Therapeutic Option for the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation in Non-Cardiac Surgery-A Single-Group Interventional Pilot Study.

L-carnitine is essential in lipid metabolism and reportedly has preventive effects for arrhythmia. Our objective was to examine the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and changes in serum biomarker levels following perioperative L-carnitine administration in patients with lung cancer. Thirteen patients undergoing a lobectomy with preoperative serum brain natriuretic peptide levels >24 pg/mL were perioperatively administered L-carnitine for 5 days (3 g/3×).

Results of the JRS-I LRA0401 and LRB0402 Japan Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group trials for low-risk embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

Background: Failure-free survival (FFS) rates of low-risk patients with rhabdomyosarcoma improved in Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study IV after the escalation of cyclophosphamide total dose to 26.4 g/m. However, this dose may increase the risk of adverse events, including infertility, in some patients.

Impact of wheat sensitization on wheeze and T2 phenotypes in general population of children.

Background: The association between sensitization to specific aeroallergens and outcomes in patients with asthma is well researched; however, the association between childhood-onset wheeze/asthma and sensitization to various aeroallergens and food allergens in the general pediatric population remains poorly understood.

Objective: We sought to investigate the association between sensitization to common aeroallergens and food allergens with wheeze and type 2 (T2) inflammation in the general pediatric population.

Methods: Specific IgEs against 9 aeroallergens and 4 food allergens were measured in the prospective Hokkaido birth cohort of 428 school-age children (age ∼10 years).

Status of COVID-19 Patients Treated With Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Japan: Nationwide Database Analysis.

Background The report of epidemiological data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients treated using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in Japan has been limited. Our study seeks to fill the existing gap in knowledge by providing an in-depth analysis of the clinical epidemiological characteristics and diverse medical outcomes of COVID-19 patients treated with ECMO in Japan. Methods This study used the COVID-19 Registry Japan nationwide database.

Event-free survival at 36 months is a suitable endpoint for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with immunochemotherapy: real-world evidence from the North Japan Hematology Study Group.

Information regarding follow-up duration after treatment for newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is important. However, a clear endpoint has yet to be established. We enrolled a total of 2,182 patients newly diagnosed with DLBCL between 2008 and 2018.

Exploratory analysis of the accuracy of echocardiographic parameters for the assessment of right ventricular function and right ventricular-pulmonary artery coupling.

Echocardiography is a widely used modality for the assessment of right ventricular (RV) function; however, few studies have comprehensively compared the accuracy of echocardiographic parameters using invasively obtained reference values. Therefore, this exploratory study aimed to compare the accuracy of echocardiographic parameters of RV function and RV-pulmonary artery (PA) coupling. We calculated four indices of RV function (end-systolic elastance [Ees] for systolic function [contractility], for relaxation, and and end-diastolic elastance [Eed] for stiffness), and an index of RV-PA coupling (Ees/arterial elastance [Ea]), using pressure catheterization, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and a single-beat method.

Phase II trial of niraparib for -mutated biliary tract, pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers: NIR-B.

Due to the widespread use of cancer genetic testing in gastrointestinal cancer, the genetic mutation has been identified in biliary tract cancer as well as pancreatic cancer. Niraparib is a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, and PARP inhibitors exert their cytotoxicity against cancer cells in the context of homologous recombination deficiency, such as mutations, the mechanism of synthetic lethality. The aim of this phase II NIR-B trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of niraparib for patients with unresectable advanced or recurrent biliary tract cancer, pancreatic cancer or other gastrointestinal cancers with germline or somatic mutations revealed by genetic testing.

A case of autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis during the course of treatment of rapidly progressive interstitial pneumonia associated with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive dermatomyositis.

Background: Autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (APAP) is a diffuse lung disease that causes abnormal accumulation of lipoproteins in the alveoli; however, its pathogenesis remains unclear. Recently, APAP cases have been reported during the course of dermatomyositis. The combination of these two diseases may be coincidental; however, it may have been overlooked because differentiating APAP from a flare-up of interstitial pneumonia associated with dermatomyositis is challenging.