Assessment of malnutrition-related risk in patients with idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis.

Background: Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) is characterised by upper lobe-dominant fibrosis involving the pleura and subpleural lung parenchyma, with advanced cases often complicated by progressive weight loss. Therefore, we hypothesised that nutritional status is associated with mortality in IPPFE.

Methods: This retrospective study assesses nutritional status at the time of diagnosis and 1 year after diagnosis in 131 patients with IPPFE.

Predictors of poor clinical outcomes including in-hospital death and low ability to perform activities of daily living at discharge in hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Many patients with COPD experience exacerbations that require hospitalization, which is associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death and impaired ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Declining ability to perform ADL is a critical issue for these patients.

Evaluation of causal heart diseases in cardioembolic stroke by cardiac computed tomography.

Cardioembolic stroke is a potentially devastating condition and tends to have a poor prognosis compared with other ischemic stroke subtypes. Therefore, it is important for proper therapeutic management to identify a cardiac source of embolism in stroke patients. Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) can detect the detailed visualization of various cardiac pathologies in the cardiac chambers, interatrial and interventricular septum, valves, and myocardium with few motion artifacts and few dead angles.

Cytokine profiling identifies circulating IL-6 and IL-15 as prognostic stratifiers in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy.

Whether circulating levels of specific cytokines at baseline link with treatment efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer remains unknown. In this study, serum samples were collected in two independent, prospective, multicenter cohorts before the initiation of ICB. Twenty cytokines were quantified, and cutoff values were determined by receiver operating characteristic analyses to predict non-durable benefit.

Gallbladder perforation following peroral cholangioscopy-guided lithotripsy: A case report.

Peroral cholangioscopy-guided lithotripsy is highly effective in clearing difficult bile duct stones. It can cause adverse events, such as cholangitis and pancreatitis; however, gallbladder perforation is extremely rare. Herein, we describe the case of a 77-year-old woman who developed gallbladder perforation following peroral cholangioscopy -guided lithotripsy.

Choice of and response to treatment in patients with early-diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis: Real-world data from an inception cohort in Japan (NICER-J).

Objective: Various guidelines recommend that patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) try to achieve clinical remission within 6 months, and early therapeutic intervention is important to this end. This study aimed to investigate short-term treatment outcomes of patients with early-diagnosed RA in clinical practice and to examine predictive factors for achieving remission.

Methods: Of the 210 patients enrolled in the multicenter RA inception cohort, 172 patients who were followed up to 6 months after treatment initiation (baseline) were included.

Real-world efficacy of anti-IL-5 treatment in patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.

Despite standard treatment with systemic corticosteroids and/or antifungal triazoles, a substantial proportion of patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) experience frequent relapses and require long-term treatment despite unfavorable adverse effects. We investigated the efficacy and safety of anti-interleukin (IL)-5/IL-5 receptor α chain (Rα) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in patients with ABPA complicated by asthma. ABPA cases treated with anti-IL-5/IL-5Rα mAbs were collected from 132 medical institutes in 2018 and published case reports in Japan.

Revision surgery following long lumbopelvic constructs for adult spinal deformity: prospective experience from two dedicated databases.

Purpose: Pan Lumbar Arthodesis (PLA) are often required for Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD) correction, reducing significantly the compensatory capacity in case of postoperative sagittal malalignment. Few papers have investigated outcomes and complications in this vulnerable subset of patients. The objective of this study was to assess revision surgery rate for PLA in ASD, its risk factors and impact on clinical outcomes.

An autopsy case of disseminated Cunninghamella bertholletiae infection in an immunocompetent patient: a case report.

Background: Recently, deaths due to mucormycosis in immunocompromised hosts have increased; however, the clinical and pathological features of mucormycosis are not fully understood, especially in view of the associated high mortality and rare incidence in immunocompetent patients.

Case Presentation: We have described a rare autopsy case of a 67-year-old Japanese man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who contracted mucormycosis. He had not been on any immunosuppressants, and his immune functions were intact.

A case of severe thrombocytopenia after the first exposure to rifampicin.

Severe immune thrombocytopenia is a rare side-effect of rifampicin (RFP) and can be life-threatening. Here, we report the case of a 74-year-old male with tuberculous pleurisy who developed severe thrombocytopenia after first exposure to RFP. Platelet count decreased to 1 × 10/μL after 7 days of treatment with RFP, isoniazid, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide.

Clinical Significance of Trace Element Zinc in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

The trace element zinc is essential for diverse physiological processes in humans. Zinc deficiency can impair growth, skin reproduction, immune function, maintenance of taste, glucose metabolism, and neurological function. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are susceptible to zinc deficiency, which is associated with erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) hypo-responsive anemia, nutritional problems, and cardiovascular diseases as well as non-specific symptoms such as dermatitis, prolonged wound healing, taste disturbance, appetite loss, or cognitive decline.

Risk factors and drugs that trigger the onset of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis: A population-based cohort study using the Shizuoka Kokuho database.

Background: Evidence of factors associated with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) from population-based studies is scarce.

Objective: We aimed to identify the incidence, risk factors, and drugs that trigger the development of SJS/TEN in the general population.

Methods: A regional, population-based, longitudinal cohort with 2,398,393 Japanese individuals was analyzed using the Shizuoka Kokuho Database from 2012 to 2020.

Prevention of ureteral injury during laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery with horseshoe kidney using fluorescent ureteral catheters: a case report.

Background: Horseshoe kidney is one of the most common congenital renal fusion anomalies and is characterized by abnormalities in the position, rotation, vascular supply, and ureteral anatomy of the kidney. When performing surgery for colorectal cancer in patients with horseshoe kidneys, anatomical identification is important to avoid organ injuries. Several reports on surgery for colorectal cancer with horseshoe kidneys have described the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) angiography for detecting abnormalities in vascular supply.

A Case of Primary Epithelioid Sarcoma of the Pleura.

BACKGROUND Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare tumor and that is extremely rare as a primary pleural neoplasm. On imaging, it may appear similar to malignant pleural mesothelioma; thus, it can be difficult to diagnose. CASE REPORT A 64-year-old Asian woman, who had a treatment history of cervix adenocarcinoma, was admitted with dyspnea and right massive pleural effusion.

Young's moduli of subcutaneous tissues and muscles under different loads at the gluteal region calculated using ultrasonography.

[Purpose] Young's modulus distributions for subcutaneous and muscle tissues in a large sample of healthy individuals, based on ultrasonography and compression testing, remains uninvestigated till date. This study aimed to separately estimate the hardness of subcutaneous tissues and muscles in the human gluteal region under a range of loads in terms of mean Young's moduli and associated distributions. [Participants and Methods] Data of 21 males aged 20-22 years were acquired using synchronous compression testing and ultrasonography.

Comprehensive evaluation of three-dimensional anatomy of perigastric vessels using enhanced multidetector-row computed tomography.

Background: To perform laparoscopic gastrectomy safely, we aimed to comprehensively re-evaluate perigastric vessel anatomies using a three-dimensional angiography reconstructed from enhanced multidetector-row computed tomography data.

Methods: Perigastric vessel anatomy was preoperatively analyzed using a multidetector-row computed tomography-based three-dimensional angiography reconstructed in 127 patients undergoing gastric surgery.

Results: Of the 67 left gastric veins that ran along the dorsal side of the arteries, 59 (88.

Prognostic significance of radiological pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis in complex lung disease: a multicentre retrospective cohort study.

Background: complex (MAC) causes chronic respiratory infectious diseases with diverse clinical features and prognoses. Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) is a rare disease characterised by pleural fibrosis with subjacent intra-alveolar fibrosis and alveolar septal elastosis, with unique chest high-resolution CT (HRCT) features (radiological PPFE). An association between recurrent respiratory infections and PPFE formation has been hypothesised; however, the clinical significance of PPFE in MAC lung disease remains unclear.

Revision Surgery Due to Proximal Junctional Failure and Rod Fracture in Adult Deformity Surgery at a Single Institution in Japan.

Introduction: Proximal junctional failure (PJF) and rod fracture (RF) are the primary reasons for revision surgery after a long corrective fusion for the adult spinal deformity (ASD). However, many recent studies on ASD are multicenter studies from the US and European racial characteristics may differ from those of Asians. Therefore, the risk factors for revision surgery because of PJF and RF after ASD surgery were evaluated in Japanese patients.