The effectiveness and safety of modest exercise in Japanese patients with chronic kidney disease: a single-armed interventional study.

Background: Poor physical ability and skeletal muscle wasting are common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, who may experience a decline in daily activity and, in turn, increased mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of modest exercise in patients with stable CKD.

Methods: Forty-seven CKD patients were enrolled in a 6-month group program for aerobic and resistance exercise by self-training.

Clinical Characteristics and Long-Term Outcomes of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has various morphological and clinical features. A decade has passed since the previous survey of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of Japanese HCM patients. The Aichi Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (AHC) Registry is based on a prospective multicenter observational study of HCM patients.

Prescription patterns of oral anticoagulants for patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation: experience at a Japanese single institution.

New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are now clinically available. However, few studies have demonstrated which patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) actually receive NOACs in a clinical setting. We analyzed 182 NVAF patients who received oral anticoagulants.

[A case and literature review of ovarian carcinosarcoma with long-term survival after repeated recurrences].

Ovarian carcinosarcoma is a rare and aggressive tumor with a poor prognosis. We report a case of ovarian carcinosarcoma and also review the literature. In 2000, a 63-year-old woman underwent optimal cytoreductive surgery for ovarian carcinosarcoma( International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics[FIGO]stage III c[pT3cN0M0]).

ERCC1 expression and chemosensitivity in uterine cervical adenocarcinoma cells.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUD/AIM: We previously demonstrated that high protein expression of excision repair cross-complementation group-1 (ERCC1) was associated with poor disease-free survival in patients who received adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin, and was shown to be an independent prognostic factor. In the present study, we evaluated ERCC1 expression levels in uterine cervical adenocarcinoma cell lines to assess whether they are affected by treatment with cisplatin with and without 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).

Materials And Methods: Firstly, half-maximal (50%) inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for cisplatin or 5-FU were calculated in cervical adenocarcinoma, HCA-1, and TCO-2 cell lines by 3-(4,5-di-methylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, yellow tetrazole (MTT) assay.

Overcoming paclitaxel resistance in uterine endometrial cancer using a COX-2 inhibitor.

Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors have been reported to potentially modulate the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs by affecting multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) expression. In the present study, we investigated the association between COX-2 and MDR1 expression in endometrial cancers and evaluated the effects of the COX-2 inhibitor, etodolac, in combination with paclitaxel on paclitaxel-resistant endometrial cancer cells. The relationship between COX-2 and MDR1 mRNA expression was examined by quantitative PCR in 36 endometrial cancer specimens.

A pediatric case of hepatitis B virus subgenotype A2 in Japan.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been classified into 10 major genotypes, and HBV genotypes C and B are found in the majority of Japanese patients. However, the prevalence of genotype A has been increasing in patients with chronic or acute hepatitis. Here we report a pediatric case of HBV subgenotype A2.

Clinical features of eosinophilic esophagitis: ten Japanese cases.

Aim: We studied eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) to clarify the clinical and endoscopic features of a Japanese case series.

Methods: Records of 10 patients diagnosed with EE at our hospital between May 2010 and December 2011 were examined for age, sex, symptoms, allergic disorder, endoscopic findings, and treatment received. Esophageal wall thickness was measured by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS).

[Diagnosis of the depth of gastric cancer invasion by endoscopic ultrasonography].

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is useful to diagnose the depth of invasion because of obtaining tomographic image of gastric cancer. Stomach layer has a 5-layer structure. Gastric cancer is visualized as low echoic tumor image by EUS.

Low dose of hydrochlorothiazide, in combination with angiotensin receptor blocker, reduces blood pressure effectively without adverse effect on glucose and lipid profiles.

Previous studies have shown highly effective lowering of blood pressure with thiazide diuretics in combination with angiotensin receptor blockers. However, thiazide diuretics may cause the development of diabetes and abnormal lipid metabolism. Little is known as to whether dysmetabolic potential of thiazide diuretics could be neutralized when adding angiotensin receptor blockers.

[Guideline of prevention and treatment for NSAIDs induced ulcer].

The guideline for peptic ulcer treatment was reported by Japanese Society of Gastroenterology in 2009. In the guideline, 23 clinical questions were chosen for NSAIDs induced ulcer. Nine questions out of them were related to the prevention, eight were low dose aspirin, three were COX-2 inhibitors and three were the treatment.

Multifocal electroretinogram and optical coherent tomography: prediction of visual outcome after epiretinal membrane removal.

Purpose: The aim was to evaluate the value of multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) in predicting post-operative visual acuity (post-VA) after removal of an idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM).

Methods: Fifty-one eyes of 51 patients with an idiopathic macular ERM were examined by OCT and mfERG before three-port pars plana vitrectomy with removal of the ERM. The parameters of the OCT images and mfERGs, pre-operative visual acuity (pre-VA) and the duration of symptoms (DS) were compared with the post-VA.

[New guideline for peptic ulcer treatment, attention to low-dose aspirin].

The guideline for peptic ulcer treatment was reported in 2009. In the guideline, eight clinical questions were chosen for peptic ulcers associated with use of low-dose aspirin. Five questions out of them were related to the clinical behavior, and three were the treatment of peptic ulcers in patients taking low-dose aspirin.

Retinal adaptability loss in serous retinal detachment with central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To investigate the functional characteristics of the detached retina on a serous retinal detachment (SRD) in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) with spared visual acuity.

Methods: Multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs) were recorded with a long recording time of 14 minutes, 34 seconds, to obtain accurate measurement of the second-order kernel (K2.1), an index of functional adaptability of the retina, from seven eyes with CSC (visual acuity, >or=1.

[Usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the differential diagnosis of polypoid gallbladder lesions].

We investigated the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for differential diagnosis of polypoid gallbladder lesions in 60 patients, consisting of gallbladder carcinoma in 20, adenoma in 2, benign polyp in 29, and adenomyomatosis in 9, comparing contrast enhancement patterns with pathologic findings. We monitored vascular flow for 120 sec, constructing a time intensity curve (TIC) by flash-echo imaging. We compared the number of vessels and vessel diameter determined by contrast enhancement patterns and by pathologic examination.

[Equipment for epiduroscopy and its clinical applications].

Equipments for epiduroscopy consist of an epidural endoscope, video camera system, video screen, recording system and C arm X-ray system. Epidural endoscope with a diameter of 0.9 mm is inserted from the hiatus sacralis, and has been used clinically for the observation of epidural space of a lumbar vertebrae level since 1996.

Health-related quality of life after thoracoscopic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis.

Background: Palmar hyperhidrosis is a benign functional disorder regarded as a psychological and social handicap. Improvement of the quality of life is a major goal of treatment. However, little attention has been given to quality of life after thoracoscopic sympathectomy, which is the first line of treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis.

Effect of flumazenil on recovery from sevoflurane anesthesia in children premedicated with oral midazolam before undergoing herniorrhaphy with or without caudal analgesia.

Purpose: Oral midazolam is frequently used to treat children, but its effect on recovery from anesthesia is controversial. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of flumazenil on reversal of midazolam during recovery from sevoflurane-induced anesthesia in children who underwent caudal analgesia compared to those who did not.

Methods: A series of 60 children 1-8 years of age, with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of 1 or 2, who were scheduled to undergo herniorrhaphy were randomly assigned to one of four groups: group 1, control/placebo; group 2, control/flumazenil; group 3, caudal/placebo; group 4, caudal/flumazenil.