Comparative study on osteoconductivity by synthetic octacalcium phosphate and sintered hydroxyapatite in rabbit bone marrow.

Octacalcium phosphate (OCP) is thought to be a precursor of the mineral crystals in biological apatite. Synthetic OCP has been shown to be converted into an apatite structure when implanted in murine calvarial bone, to enhance bone regeneration more than synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA), and to degrade faster than biodegradable beta-tricalcium phosphate. This study was designed to investigate whether OCP implantation enhances the formation and resorption of new bone (remodeling) concomitant with OCP degradation when implanted intramedullary in a rabbit femur for 12 weeks, compared to sintered HA ceramic.

Thoracoscopic treatment for primary chylopericardium: report of a case.

We used video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to successfully treat primary chylopericardium, a very rare disease. A 27-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for investigation of cardiomegaly and dyspnea on exertion. Echocardiography showed severe peri-cardial effusion.

Clinical and experimental aspects of olmesartan medoxomil, a new angiotensin II receptor antagonist.

Olmesartan medoxomil is a new orally active angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptor antagonist. It is a prodrug and is rapidly de-esterified during absorption to form olmesartan, the active metabolite. Olmesartan is a potent, competitive and selective Ang II type 1 receptor antagonist.

Clinical relationship of myocardial sympathetic nervous activity to cardiovascular functions in chronic heart failure: assessment by myocardial scintigraphy with 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine.

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between cardiac sympathetic nervous activity (SNA) assessed by radioiodinated metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG), an analogue of norepinephrine and cardiovascular functions in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Subjects were 17 patients with CHF. A dose of 111 MBq of 123I-MIBG was administered intravenously, and 5-minute anterior planar images were obtained 15 minutes (early image) and 3 hours (delayed image) after the injection.

A case of influenza subtype A virus-induced fulminant myocarditis: an experience of percutaneous cardio-pulmonary support (PCPS) treatment and immunohistochemical analysis.

A 64-year-old man was admitted to the emergency center of Furukawa City Hospital because of common cold-like symptoms and hypotension. He was diagnosed as fulminant myocarditis with cardiogenic shock and arrhythmia elicited by influenza virus subtype A. Cardiac angiography, echocardiography and biopsy also showed myocarditis, and serum antibody titer to influenza virus subtype A was increased to 4-fold in paired serums.

Idiopathic giant cell granulomatous hypophysitis with hypopituitarism, right abducens nerve paresis and masked diabetes insipidus.

A 38-year-old man presented with headache, fever, and double vision associated with right abducens nerve paresis. He had neither nuchal rigidity nor visual field defect. Laboratory data revealed elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), eosinophilia, and lymphocytic pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Effects of endothelin-induced nitric oxide on venous circulation and renal water-electrolyte handling.

To assess the interaction of endothelin (ET) with nitric oxide (NO) and the effects on venous circulation and handling of renal water and electrolytes, ET (1.0 ng/kg/min) or saline was administered with or without three doses (0.27, 2.

Cystic adventitial disease of the popliteal artery--a case of young boy.

Cystic adventitial disease (CAD) of the popliteal artery (PA) is rare but one of the well-recognized causes of intermittent claudication. Now more than 200 case reports are available in the world, but there are only 6 cases younger than 15 years old. In this paper, we report a case of 14-year-old boy with CAD of the PA found by intermittent claudication.

Solitary mastocytoma with massive eosinophilic infiltration.

An 11-month-old girl had a yellowish brown nodule that histologically had an unexpectedly massive infiltrate of eosinophils in the dermis. This histologic feature made determining the correct diagnosis of cutaneous solitary mastocytoma difficult until we performed specific histochemical staining for mast cells.