Feasibility of colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) carried out by endoscopists with no or little experience in gastric ESD.

Background And Aim: Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is recommended to be carried out only by endoscopists with sufficient experience in gastric ESD. However, early gastric carcinoma is less common in Western countries than in Japan, and endoscopic maneuverability differs between the stomach and colorectum. We assessed the feasibility of colorectal ESD carried out by endoscopists with no or little experience in gastric ESD.

Coexisting COPD in elderly asthma with fixed airflow limitation: Assessment by DLco %predicted and HRCT.

Background: Asthma patients with fixed airflow limitation (FL) are theoretically classified into two phenotypes, that is, coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthmatic airway remodeling. However, the precise percentages of such patients are not known.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of patients with both FL and COPD components in elderly asthma.

Three cases of endoscopic resection for synchronous early colon cancers after self-expandable metallic stent placement for obstructive colon cancer.

The feasibility of endoscopic resection for synchronous early colon cancer after placement of self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) for malignant colorectal obstruction is unknown. Herein we evaluated 3 cases of endoscopic resection for synchronous early colorectal cancers after SEMS placement. Patient 1 was an 82-year-old man with obstructive sigmoid colon cancer.

Biomarker-based detection of asthma-COPD overlap syndrome in COPD populations.

Asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS) was proposed by the science committees of both Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). However, the definition of ACOS has remained unclear all over the world, and the prevalence rate of ACOS is basically dependent on the patient's symptoms or the physician's opinion, based on questionnaire testing. In the current case report, we investigated the prevalence rate of COPD patients with high levels of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) or immunoglobulin E (IgE) as candidate markers of ACOS in COPD, as a multicenter, cross-sectional study.

Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) performed by experienced endoscopists with limited experience in gastric ESD.

Purpose: Since colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) requires higher-level skills than endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), it is recommended to acquire sufficient experience in gastric ESD prior to attempting colorectal ESD. We evaluated the ability of experienced endoscopists with limited experience in gastric ESD to perform colorectal ESD.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 120 colorectal ESDs performed by two endoscopists who had expertise in colonoscopy and colorectal EMR but experience of fewer than five gastric ESDs.

Clinical impacts of additive use of olmesartan in hypertensive patients with chronic heart failure: the supplemental benefit of an angiotensin receptor blocker in hypertensive patients with stable heart failure using olmesartan (SUPPORT) trial.

We examined whether an additive treatment with an angiotensin receptor blocker, olmesartan, reduces the mortality and morbidity in hypertensive patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, β-blockers, or both. In this prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint study, a total of 1147 hypertensive patients with symptomatic CHF (mean age 66 years, 75% male) were randomized to the addition of olmesartan (n = 578) to baseline therapy vs. control (n = 569).

The Effectiveness of Self-Expandable Metallic Stent Insertion in Treating Right-Sided Colonic Obstruction: A Comparison between SEMS and Decompression Tube Placement and an Investigation of the Safety and Difficulties of SEMS Insertion in Right Colons.

Objectives. Self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) is widely used to treat malignant colonic obstruction. However, most reports about SEMS insertion have concentrated on the left colon.

[Anomalous systemic arterial supply to left basal lung with anomalous return of V6].

The patient was 52-year-old woman. Her chief compliant was bloody sputum. The computed tomography revealed an anomalous artery from descending aorta running into left lung basal segment and anomalous left V6 return to superior pulmonary vein.

A prospective study of surgical procedures for patients with oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Purely localized, oligometastatic, and widely metastatic tumors are likely to require different therapeutic strategies. Although surgical procedures for isolated pulmonary, brain, or adrenal metastases from lung cancer have been extensively evaluated, most data are from retrospective studies; accordingly, we conducted a prospective multicenter trial.

Methods: Patients were eligible if they had previously untreated clinical T1-2N0-1 lung cancer with single-organ metastasis, or single-organ metachronous metastasis after complete resection of pathologic T1-2N0-1 lung cancer.

[Chordoma which was found as a solitary lung tumor].

We report a rare case of chordoma which was found as a well-circumscribed lesion on chest X-ray films without any symptoms, and removed surgically. According to immunohistochemical examination, it has both of epithelial and mesenchymal cell nature, with characteristically positivestaining of S-100. Therefore, it was diagnosed as a lung metastasis of chordoma.

[A case of metastatic tumor of penis from esophageal carcinoma].

We report a 68-year-old man with a metastatic tumor of the penis originating from an esophageal carcinoma that had been removed two years ago. Multiple metastases were present on the liver, brain, eye and penis for the past year. He consulted with our department complaining of severe penile pain and dysuria.

Soluble Fas and soluble FasL in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome complicating diffuse peritonitis.

The FasL-Fas system has been recognized as one of the apoptosis-inducing systems in the body. We studied the association between the serum levels of sFas, sFasL and TNF-alpha and the severity of the pathophysiological condition in 20 patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) complicating generalized peritonitis. The serum levels of sFas and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in the patients who died than in those who survived.

Effect of phenytoin on cortical Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in global ischemic rat brain.

Na(+)K(+)-ATPase activity, water content, and Na+/K+ concentrations in the parietal cortex were measured in untreated and phenytoin-treated rats following global cerebral ischemia. Inhibitory effects of phenytoin treatment on brain edema and changes in Na(+)-K+ concentration with ischemia or ischemia followed by recirculation of varying intervals were assessed. The cortical Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity increased in the phenytoin-treated group during and after ischemia.

[Home chemotherapy for peritoneal carcinomatosis].

Nineteen patients diagnosed with peritoneal carcinomatosis were treated by in-home chemotherapy over a period of four years from August, 1990 to July, 1994. Primary diagnoses of the four male and 15 female patients included 12 cases gastric cancer (four males, eight females), five cases of ovarian cancer, one case (female) of appendicular cancer, and one case (female) of breast cancer. In addition to oral administration of UFT-E and 5'-DFUR, chemotherapy included weekly intravenous injection of a massive dose of 5-FU (1,000 mg/m2), subselective intraaortic infusion and intraperitoneal infusion using a reservoir.