Association between polypharmacy and the long-term prescription of hypnotics in Japan: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Hypnotic polypharmacy and its long-term prescriptions constitute the inappropriate use of hypnotics. However, the relationship between hypnotic polypharmacy and prolonged prescriptions remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the association between hypnotic polypharmacy and the duration of hypnotic prescriptions.

A Simple Prediction Model for Clostridioides difficile Infection: A Hospital-Based Administrative Database Study.

Background And Aim: Few prediction scores for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), a potentially life-threatening nosocomial diarrhea, combine high accuracy with simplicity. A simple prediction score for routine clinical practice is needed.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all inpatients aged ≥ 18 at a secondary care hospital in Japan.

The Apparent Lack of the Risk of Intussusception Immediately After Rotavirus Vaccination Among Japanese Infants.

Rotavirus vaccines carry a small risk of intussusception mainly 1-7 days after vaccination in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and Latin America where the background rate of intussusception is relatively low. Such risks are undetectable in Africa and India where the background rate is the lowest. Because few studies were carried out in high-background-rate countries such as Japan, we examined how intussusception occurred in infants living in Akita prefecture, Japan, while the vaccines were sold in the private market.

Ulcerative Colitis Associated with Cardiometabolic Disease and Complicated with Autoimmune Pancreatitis.

Diet-related cardiometabolic diseases and inflammatory bowel disease, common previously in Western countries, are global problems. We hypothesized that inflammatory bowel disease is a lifestyle disease primarily mediated by the current Western diet. We report here the simultaneous onset of ulcerative colitis and autoimmune pancreatitis, a rare systemic complication of inflammatory bowel disease, 2 months after acute myocardial infarction in a patient with type 2 diabetes.

Diagnostic uncertainty of steroid-modified Marburg's variant of multiple sclerosis even at autopsy: A case suggesting lymphoma and related myelin loss.

MS (multiple sclerosis) has specific criteria to avoid misdiagnosis. However, the Marburg variant of MS is so fulminant that initial axonal damage and other atypical observations have been allowed in past reports. We present a 74-year-old autopsy case with a vanishing tumor after steroids and radiation therapy, which was pathologically diagnosed as a Marburg variant with initial axonal loss.

Relationship between the elasticity of the forearm flexor-pronator muscles and elbow valgus torque in young baseball pitchers: a descriptive laboratory study.

Background: The forearm flexor-pronator muscles act as a dynamic elbow stabilizer against elbow valgus load during baseball pitching. The elasticity of these muscles increases with pitching. However, it is unclear whether increased muscle elasticity is associated with greater elbow valgus torque during pitching.

Successful Treatment of Bilocular Walled-off Necrosis with Transmural Naso-cyst Continuous Irrigation: A Case Report.

Recently, transmural naso-cyst continuous irrigation (TNCCI) has been reported as an effective and safe treatment for walled-off necrosis (WON). We herein report a case of bilocular WON that was successfully treated with TNCCI. The patient was a 60-year-old man.

Overexposure to venetoclax is associated with prolonged-duration of neutropenia during venetoclax and azacitidine therapy in Japanese patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Purpose: An observational study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of venetoclax and its impact on the efficacy and safety for Japanese patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with venetoclax and azacitidine therapy.

Methods: The association between the plasma concentration, after the first cycle of azacitidine and venetoclax therapy, and the efficacy and safety was evaluated in 33 patients with untreated or relapsed/refractory AML.

Results: Full dose of venetoclax was administered to all patients.

Plant-based diet for pregnant women with inflammatory bowel disease: case series.

Background: We assert that the ubiquitous environmental factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is our westernized diet. Therefore, all of our newly diagnosed patients were admitted to experience a plant-based diet (PBD). In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of a PBD in pregnant women with IBD.

A case of pancreatic PEComa with prominent inflammatory cell infiltration: the inflammatory subtype is a distinct histologic group of PEComa.

Background: PEComa is a mesenchymal tumor that can occur in various organs including the uterus and soft tissues. PEComas are composed of perivascular epithelioid cells, and angiomyolipoma (AML), clear cell sugar tumor (CCST), and lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM) are considered lesions of the same lineage as tumors of the PEComa family. Histologically, a common PEComa shows solid or sheet-like proliferation of epithelioid cells.

Efficacy of Hangeshashinto in the Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Diarrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Hangeshashinto has attracted attention owing to its potential to prevent chemotherapy-induced diarrhea. However, studies on the efficacy of Hangeshashinto have had conflicting results. Evaluating the efficacy of Hangeshashinto may contribute to reducing the use and adverse events caused by drug therapy for chemotherapy-induced diarrhea.

Therapeutic advancement in inflammatory bowel disease by incorporating plant-based diet.

Identification and recognition of the ubiquitous environmental factor are prerequisite for treatment and prevention of the disease. The biggest problem with current practice in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the lack of a widely appreciated ubiquitous environmental factor for the disease. The incidence of IBD is associated with dietary transition from a traditional diet to the current (westernized) diet.

Impact of Functional Status on Development of Clostridioides difficile Infection and Increase in Inhospital Mortality among Antibiotic Users.

Introduction: Functional status is one of the surrogates of advanced age, an established risk factor for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). We aimed to investigate the usefulness of functional status in the clinical management of CDI.

Methods: We enrolled all hospitalized adult patients receiving antibiotics from a retrospective hospital-based cohort in Japan between 2016 and 2020.

Health literacy in older patients with abdominal tumours and its association with clinical characteristics: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Health literacy (HL) is pivotal in managing patients with abdominal cancer and is associated with treatment outcomes and care experience. However, detailed characteristics of HL and their associations with clinical features remain uncertain in the population. Therefore, we aimed to comprehensively investigate HL and its associations with clinical characteristics in older patients with abdominal tumours.

Elasticity of the Forearm Flexor-Pronator Muscles as a Risk Factor for Medial Elbow Injuries in Young Baseball Players: A Prospective Cohort Study of 314 Players.

Background: Young baseball players with medial elbow injuries are known to have high forearm flexor-pronator muscle elasticity; however, the causal relationship between forearm muscle elasticity and the occurrence of medial elbow injuries remains unclear.

Purpose/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the forearm flexor-pronator muscle elasticity is a risk factor for medial elbow injury in young baseball players. It was hypothesized that high flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) elasticity would be a risk factor for medial elbow injuries.

A resected case of acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas with liver metastasis following chemotherapy using modified FOLFIRINOX.

Background: Acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare exocrine malignancy representing less than 1% of all pancreatic neoplasms. It has been reported that it responds to treatment differently from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and the treatment algorithm for acinar cell carcinoma usually depends on the stage of the respective tumor and the patient's current status.

Case Presentation: A 60-year-old man presented with upper abdominal pain and anorexia.

Real clinical outcomes of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for renal cell carcinoma in patients over 75 years old.

Background: Although nivolumab plus ipilimumab is the standard treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), its efficacy and safety in older patients remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the clinical outcomes of nivolumab plus ipilimumab for metastatic RCC in patients aged ≥ 75 years.

Methods: We enrolled 120 patients with metastatic RCC treated with nivolumab plus ipilimumab from August 2015 to January 2023.

Physical activity measurements in individuals with interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Physical activity (PA) measurements are becoming common in interstitial lung disease (ILD); however, standardisation has not been achieved. We aimed to systematically review PA measurement methods, present PA levels and provide practical recommendations on PA measurement in ILD.

Methods: We searched four databases up to November 2022 for studies assessing PA in ILD.

Association between misoprostol and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced kidney injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: Misoprostol is a prostaglandin E1 analogue that is used to prevent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate whether use of misoprostol also decreases the risk of NSAID-induced kidney injury.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials that compared misoprostol vs.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of endoscopy in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Objectives: The whole picture of the disturbance in endoscopy performance caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan remains to be clarified. Therefore, the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society-Tohoku conducted this questionnaire survey in Tohoku region of Japan.

Methods: A questionnaire on the number of diagnostic endoscopy procedures and resulting diagnosed cancers in 2019 and 2020 was sent to all guidance/guidance cooperation hospitals in the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society who worked in the Tohoku region.