Salivary β2-Microglobulin, Na+, and Cortisol Levels, and Salivary Glands' Uptakes in Sialoscintigraphy in Sjögren Disease.

Objective: For early diagnosis and inquiry into the pathophysiology of Sjögren disease (SjD), salivary secretion and component levels, and salivary glands' uptakes in sialoscintigraphy were examined, in this cross-sectional study.

Methods: Patients who visited our hospital with suspected SjD between April 2016 and March 2020 were checked for unstimulated salivary secretion and β2-microglobulin, Na+, and cortisol levels in saliva. The patients who showed any abnormal salivary test results underwent sialoscintigraphy; the uptakes in the parotid, submandibular, and thyroid glands were compared using paired t test.

[A Case of Descending Colon Cancer with Local Recurrence Eight Years and Seven Months after Curative Resection and Favorable Response to Pharmacotherapy-A Case Report].

A 73-year-old woman underwent a descending colectomy for descending colon cancer. The tumor was graded as pStage Ⅲb(pT3[SS], pN1b, pM0, Cur A), according to the 9th edition of the Japanese Classification of Colorectal, Appendiceal, and Anal Carcinoma. Postoperative treatment of adjuvant chemotherapy comprised oral tegafur/uracil and Leucovorin for 6 months with no evident recurrence.

Ibuprofen Would Be the First-Line Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug for Polymyalgia Rheumatica: A Case Series of Five Patients.

The primary treatment of choice for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is corticosteroids, which are better avoided for elderly patients susceptible to PMR. The cases of five patients cured with only a small dosage of 600 mg/day ibuprofen without steroids or methotrexate are reported. Their clinical features were compared with those of the 26 PMR patients who had steroids and/or methotrexate in addition to ibuprofen.

Cure of Fingertip Necrosis after Median Nerve Block Application in Two Cases of Definite and Probable Systemic Sclerosis.

One patient with systemic sclerosis with index fingertip necrosis and another with probable systemic sclerosis with index and middle fingertip impending necrosis were successfully treated with ultrasound-guided median nerve block application on the affected side. The nailfold temperatures of the affected fingers measured using thermography were below 25°C. Immediately after application, the temperature increased substantially.

Treatment strategy changes for inflammatory bowel diseases in biologic era: results from a multicenter cohort in Japan, Far East 1000.

Many molecular targeted agents, including biologics, have emerged for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but their high prices have prevented their widespread use. This study aimed to reveal the changes in patient characteristics and the therapeutic strategies of IBD before and after the implementation of biologics in Japan, where the unique health insurance system allows patients with IBD and physicians to select drugs with minimum patient expenses. The analysis was performed using a prospective cohort, including IBD expert and nonexpert hospitals in Japan.

Extremely rare rapid development of a papillary fibroelastoma on the left ventricular anterior papillary muscle.

Unlabelled: Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare, slow-growing cardiac tumor. We encountered an 80-year-old man with PFE accidentally revealed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to evaluate cardiac function before a non-cardiac operation. A 10-mm mass lesion adhered to the anterior papillary muscle of the left ventricle, which had not been detected with TTE performed nine months before.

Frequency of Difficult Patient Encounters in a Japanese University Hospital and Community Hospitals: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objective Difficult patient encounters (DPEs) are defined as encounters with patients causing strong negative feelings in physicians. In primary care settings, DPEs account for approximately 15% of visits among outpatients. To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiological study of DPEs in Japan.

Trends in glycemic control in patients with insulin therapy compared with non-insulin or no drugs in type 2 diabetes in Japan: a long-term view of real-world treatment between 2002 and 2018 (JDDM 66).

Introduction: We investigated trends in the proportion of diabetes treatment and glycemic control, which may be altered by recent advances in insulin and non-insulin drugs, in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: A serial cross-sectional study was performed using a multicenter large-population database from the Japan Diabetes Clinical Data Management study group. Patients with type 2 diabetes who attended clinics belonging to the study group between 2002 and 2018 were included to examine trends in glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) by treatment group using multivariable non-linear regression model.

Association of a SNP in the gene and hyperglycemia on β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes: the Toon Genome Study.

Objective: In type 2 diabetes, the significant pathological change in pancreatic islets is amyloid deposits. Its major component is islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP). The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility that the effect of the genotype on β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes is modified by variations in plasma glucose levels.

Patient characteristics associated with improvement in glycemic control following addition of an oral antidiabetic drug to DPP-4 inhibitor monotherapy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (JDDM 60).

Aims: The current study evaluated patient demographics and clinical characteristics that associated with HbA1c reduction following addition of one oral antidiabetic drug (OAD) to DPP4i monotherapy.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using CoDiC database. Adult T2DM patients treated with sitagliptin monotherapy for ≥ 6 months and adding one OAD were extracted.

Combination of disease duration-to-age at diagnosis and hemoglobin A1c-to-serum C-peptide reactivity ratios predicts patient response to glucose-lowering medication in type 2 diabetes: A retrospective cohort study across Japan (JDDM59).

Aims/introduction: Knowing the collective clinical factors that determine patient response to glucose-lowering medication would be beneficial in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. We carried out a retrospective cohort study to explore the combination of clinical factors involved in its therapeutic efficacy.

Materials And Methods: The results of cohort studies retrieved using the CoDiC database across Japan from January 2005 to July 2018 were analyzed based on criterion that using insulin therapy indicates severe type 2 diabetes.

Successful balloon-assisted coil embolization for a diagnostically difficult case of spontaneous vertebrovertebral arteriovenous fistula.

Background: We describe a rare case of idiopathic lower cervical vertebro-vertebral arteriovenous fistula (VVAVF) with compression of the nerve roots and spinal cord, successfully treated with detachable coils utilizing the transarterial balloon-assisted technique without complication of coil mass.

Case Description: A 68-year-old woman was admitted for numbness of the left upper limb and pain in the left neck. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed compression of nerve roots and spinal cord by a large vascular lesion.

Improved insulin sensitivity with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor treatment in a patient with slowly progressive type 1 diabetes mellitus with metabolic syndrome: a case report.

We herein report the clinical course of a 56-year-old Japanese patient with slowly progressive type 1 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and severe insulin resistance. The patient's intravenous glucose tolerance test indicated marked reductions in insulin sensitivity and endogenous insulin secretion. Accordingly, administration of ipragliflozin l-proline, a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor, promoted improvements in insulin sensitivity and blood glucose levels, as well as a decrease in visceral fat, improvement in dyslipidemia, and decrease in hepatic lipid content, suggesting the potential efficacy of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors for obese patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus exhibiting insulin resistance.

Development of an ELISA for Measurement of Urinary 3-Hydroxypropyl Mercapturic Acid (3-HPMA), the Marker of Stroke.

We previously observed an inverse correlation between stroke and urinary 3-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid (3-HPMA), an acrolein-glutathione metabolite, through its measurement by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). However, the cost of equipment for LC-MS/MS and its maintenance fee is very expensive and a cost-efficient method is required. In this study, we have developed a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system to measure 3-HPMA using a chicken antibody recognizing 3-HPMA-conjugated chicken albumin as antigen.

Analysis of Temporal Changes in Dural Sac Morphology After XLIF Indirect Decompression.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Objective: To investigate temporal changes in dural sac morphology after extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) indirect decompression for central lumbar spinal stenosis and to study the factors influencing the changes.

Methods: The morphology of the dural sac was categorized into 4 grades (A, minor; B, moderate; C, severe; and D, extreme) by partially modifying Schizas classification (m-Schizas).

[A Questionnaire Survey on the Levels of Perception and Implementation on Diagnostic Reference Levels in Japan (Japan DRLs 2015)].

In June 2015, Japanese diagnostic reference levels (Japan DRLs 2015) was released by Japan Network for Research and Information on Medical Exposures (J-RIME). After six months the release of Japan DRLs 2015, we have conducted a questionnaire and received 222 responses from hospital staff regarding their perception level, and implementation on Japan DRLs 2015 at their facilities. 131 people (59.

Risk stratification and clinical course of hepatitis B virus reactivation in rheumatoid arthritis patients with resolved infection: final report of a multicenter prospective observational study at Japanese Red Cross Hospital.

Background: The prophylaxis for hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation assumes that hepatic injury after reactivation is often rapidly progressive and can evoke fulminant hepatitis. The incidence and prognosis of reactivation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be different from those receiving organ transplantation and cancer chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the incidence, risk factors, and clinical course of HBV reactivation and develop a scoring system for risk stratification in RA patients with resolved infection.

Correction to: IAPP/amylin and β‑cell failure: implication of the risk factors of type 2 diabetes.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s13340-018-0347-1.].

IAPP/amylin and β-cell failure: implication of the risk factors of type 2 diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes (T2D), the most significant pathological change in pancreatic islets is amyloid deposits, of which a major component is islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), also called amylin. IAPP is expressed in β-cells and co-secreted with insulin. Together with the inhibitory effects of synthetic human IAPP (hIAPP) on insulin secretion, our studies, using hIAPP transgenic mice, in which glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was moderately reduced without amyloid deposit, and hIAPP gene-transfected β-cell lines, in which insulin secretion was markedly impaired without amyloid, predicted that soluble hIAPP-related molecules would exert cytotoxicity on β-cells.

Challenging Anterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery in Retrosigmoid Vestibular Schwannoma Removal.

Objective: Referring to the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) traversing a cerebellopontine angle tumor during retrosigmoid vestibular schwannoma (VS) removal as a challenging AICA (c-AICA), we describe incidence, anatomic characteristics, mechanism of development of c-AICA, and surgical techniques used to remove VS while preserving the AICA.

Methods: Review of surgical records and videos of 150 patients who underwent retrosigmoid VS removal revealed 10 patients (7%) with c-AICAs. Retrospective analysis of these 10 patients was performed.

Safety and effectiveness of abatacept in Japanese non-elderly and elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis in an all-cases post-marketing surveillance.

To investigate the safety, effectiveness, and risk-benefit balance of intravenous abatacept (ABA) in non-elderly (<65 years: NEG) and elderly (≥65 years: EG) rheumatoid arthritis patients. This sub-analysis of an all-cases postmarketing surveillance in Japan assessed safety in all enrolled patients and effectiveness in those with Disease Activity Score 28 based on C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) measurements at ≥2 time points including baseline. Risk-benefit was evaluated based on infections and DAS28-CRP improvement >1.