Single-stage endoscopic treatment for mild to moderate acute cholangitis associated with choledocholithiasis: a multicenter, non-randomized, open-label and exploratory clinical trial.

Background: Two-stage treatment involving stone removal after drainage is recommended for mild to moderate acute cholangitis associated with choledocholithiasis. However, single-stage treatment has some advantages. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of single-stage endoscopic treatment for mild to moderate acute cholangitis associated with choledocholithiasis.

MMP-9/ANC score as a predictive biomarker for efficacy of bevacizumab plus platinum doublet chemotherapy in patients with advanced or recurrent non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is a key regulator of tumor angiogenesis.

Objective: To evaluate biomarkers to predict the benefit of paclitaxel and carboplatin plus bevacizumab (PCB) therapy in patients with advanced or recurrent non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: Among 21 patients treated with PCB, 10 were included in the good responder group and 11 in the non-responder group.

Effect of antispasmodic drugs on endoscopic ultrasound/endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration: A multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background And Objective: Antispasmodic drugs (ADs) have been used to reduce examination time or improve the quality of gastrointestinal endoscopy, although the practice is controversial. No evidence about the efficacy of AD for endoscopic ultrasonography/EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS/EUS-FNA) is available. This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of AD in EUS/EUS-FNA.

[A patient with gastric small cell carcinoma who died from meningitis carcinomatosa after CDDP+CPT-11 chemotherapy with good response].

A-63-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of epigastralgia. On gastrointestinal fiberscopy, a complete obstruction of the pylorus was found, and endoscopic biopsy specimens from this region revealed gastric small cell carcinoma. CT scans showed the primary tumor at the pylorus with many regional lymph node metastases invading the pancreas.

Three cases of acute or fulminant hepatitis E caused by ingestion of pork meat and entrails in Hokkaido, Japan: Zoonotic food-borne transmission of hepatitis E virus and public health concerns.

Aim:   In developed countries including Japan, the transmission route of indigenous hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is obscure. Accordingly, public health implications of indigenous HEV infection have not been well addressed. The aim of this study was to clarify the route of transmission of a small outbreak of acute hepatitis E and assess the public health implications of indigenous zoonotic HEV transmission.