Urethrocutaneous fistula and subcutaneous abscess in the inguinal region with bacteremia caused by in a Japanese patient: A case report.

is an anaerobic, gram-negative bacillus commonly associated with acute appendicitis. However, bacteremia is exceedingly rare. Herein, we report a case of bacteremia associated with a urethrocutaneous fistula and a subcutaneous abscess in the left inguinal region.

Gel immersion in endoscopy: Exploring potential applications.

The challenge of effectively eliminating air during gastrointestinal endoscopy using ultrasound techniques is apparent. This difficulty arises from the intricacies of removing concealed air within the folds of the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in artifacts and compromised visualization. In addition, the overlap of folds with lesions can obscure their depth and size, presenting challenges for an accurate assessment.

Development of a non-invasive heart rate measurement method for sea turtles with dense keratinous scutes through effective electrode placement.

Measuring the heart rate of sea turtles is important for understanding their physiological adaptations to the environment. Non-invasive methods to measure the electrocardiogram (ECG) of sea turtles have been developed by attaching electrodes to their carapace. However, this method has only been applicable to sea turtles with sparse keratin on their shell surfaces, such as loggerhead turtles, and it is difficult to detect heartbeats in sea turtles with dense keratinous scutes, including green sea turtles.

Health utility value of overactive bladder in Japanese older adults.

Objectives: To determine the health utility values (HUVs) of overactive bladder (OAB), defined as urinary urgency, usually accompanied by urinary daytime or nocturnal frequency, with or without urinary incontinence, among adults aged ≥65 years and to assess the HUV decrements (disutilities) of OAB according to its severity.

Methods: This cross-sectional Internet-based study was conducted between 2 and 9 November 2023, with quota sampling with equal probability for each sex and age group (age 65-74 years and ≥75 years). OAB was defined as an urgency score of ≥2 points and a total score of ≥3 points based on the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score.

Predictive role of ABC transporters in the efficacy of enfortumab vedotin for urothelial carcinoma.

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter expression and therapeutic efficacy of enfortumab vedotin (EV), an antibody-drug conjugate targeting Nectin-4, in urothelial cancer, as only a few studies have been conducted on this topic.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study included 20 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC), including bladder and upper urinary tract cancers, who were treated with EV at Dokkyo Medical University Hospital between 2022 and 2024. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples.

SPIRIT-DEFINE explanation and elaboration: recommendations for enhancing quality and impact of early phase dose-finding clinical trials protocols.

Unlabelled: Transparent and accurate reporting in early phase dose-finding (EPDF) clinical trials is crucial for informing subsequent larger trials. The SPIRIT statement, designed for trial protocol content, does not adequately cover the distinctive features of EPDF trials. Recent findings indicate that the protocol contents in past EPDF trials frequently lacked completeness and clarity.

CONSORT-DEFINE explanation and elaboration: recommendations for enhancing reporting quality and impact of early phase dose-finding clinical trials.

Unlabelled: Early phase dose-finding (EPDF) trials are key in the development of novel therapies, with their findings directly informing subsequent clinical development phases and providing valuable insights for reverse translation. Comprehensive and transparent reporting of these studies is critical for their accurate and critical interpretation, which may improve and expedite therapeutic development. However, quality of reporting of design characteristics and results from EPDF trials is often variable and incomplete.

Impact of different pathogen classes on the serum -glycome in septic shock.

The morbidity and mortality of sepsis remain high. Clinicians lack effective markers to rapidly diagnose sepsis and identify the underlying pathogen infection particularly for patients with candidaemia or cases of culture-negative sepsis where culture-based diagnostics are inadequate. In our search for new lines of potential sepsis biomarkers, we here explore the impact of various classes of infectious agents on the serum -glycome in a septic shock cohort.

Acute transient choroidal elevation induced by hyperpermeability of asymmetrical pachyvessel over-crossed watershed zone.

Purpose: To describe a case of an elderly woman who presented with acute choroidal elevation, and the elevation disappeared without any treatment a month after the onset.

Observation: A 64-year-old woman presented to the clinic with complaint of blurred vision in her left eye. Her left visual acuity was 20/32 and choroidal elevation in the macular and subretinal fluid of the left eye was observed with optical coherence tomography (OCT), and no abnormalities in her right eye.

Serous retinal detachment secondary to bilateral choroidal osteoma successfully treated with subscleral sclerectomy: A case report.

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral choroidal osteoma successfully treated with subscleral sclerectomy for secondary serous retinal detachment (SRD).

Observations: A 52-year-old Japanese woman first diagnosed with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and treated with steroids for 9 years was referred to our clinic. SRD in both eyes recurred frequently and was uncontrolled with adalimumab subcutaneous injections and oral cyclosporine, in addition to steroids.

High implantation of a balloon-expandable valve above the left ventricular outflow calcification improves the prosthetic valve function without increasing complications: a case series.

Background: The initial outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with left ventricular outflow tract calcification are poor. Furthermore, balloon-expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement is associated with an increased risk of annular rupture, and self-expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement is associated with worse post-operative residual paravalvular leakage grades. Therefore, developing an optimal method for transcatheter aortic valve replacement for patients with left ventricular outflow tract calcification is desirable.

Long-term effect of short-term exercise instructions in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes: observation study after randomized controlled study.

Aims: To clarify the long-term effects of short-term exercise instructions by physical therapists in Japanese people with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: This was a follow-up study of 2 years after randomized controlled study of short-term exercise instructions included 18 patients (5 in the non-intervention and 13 in the intervention groups). Motor skills, including 6 min walk test scores, and transtheoretical model was evaluated at baseline (week 0) the end of the study of the previous study (week 8), and 2 years after (2 years).

Impact of angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor on serum C-peptide levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Sacubitril/valsartan, an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), is becoming more common in the treatment of heart failure and hypertension. Neprilysin is highly expressed in the renal tubules, and reports have shown increases in urinary C-peptide reactivity (CPR) levels after administration of ARNI. However, the effect of ARNI on serum CPR levels, a critical marker of insulin secretion in diabetes, remains underexplored.

Acetonemic vomiting: a potential complication of treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists especially in lean type 2 diabetes patients.

Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are now widely used for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. We examined their association with acetonemic vomiting, especially when given to patients with low body weight, in hopes of achieving early recognition of this complication which is potentially life-threatening if not dealt with appropriately.

Methods: Cases identified incidentally are described and discussed referring to prior reports.

Blood cell HbA1c measured by enzymatic assay show higher than whole blood HbA1c in patients with iron deficiency anemia.

In Japan, most HbA1c measurements by enzymatic assays or immunoassays represent the HbA1c levels in the blood cell fraction obtained after centrifugation of the blood samples. The present study investigated that the blood cell enzymatic HbA1c assay (EA-HbA1c) was compared with whole blood HbA1c in patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Study 1: EA-HbA1c levels using blood cell samples (blood cell EA-HbA1c) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-HbA1c levels using whole blood samples (whole blood HPLC-HbA1c) were measured in 15 IDA patients with Hb < 8 g/dL and transferrin saturation (TSAT) < 20%, and the correlations between the blood cell EA-HbA1c/whole blood HPLC-HbA1c ratio (%) and various IDA indicators [mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), TSAT, and logarithmically transformed ferritin (log-FER)] were examined.

Combined associations of education and health literacy with preventive dental visits in patients with diabetes: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

Aim: Oral health is important in patients with diabetes. While health literacy may promote preventive dental visits, the evidence is sparse among them. Additionally, because education is indicated as a determinant of health literacy, none clarified whether health literacy can mitigate educational inequalities in healthcare-seeking behaviors.

Factors associated with the recurrence of foot ulcers in Japanese patients with diabetes.

Aim: Patients with diabetes are frequently complicated with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) which are vulnerable to recurrence after healing. We retrospectively surveyed the recurrence of foot ulcer and related factors in Japanese patients with DFUs.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-two feet of 39 patients were initially recruited in this study.

Analysis of thyroid autoantibodies and the risk of insulin depletion after the clinical onset of acute-onset type 1 diabetes in Japanese patients: the TIDE-J study.

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes is often accompanied by autoimmune thyroid disease. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of Japanese patients with acute-onset type 1 diabetes and thyroid autoantibodies, focusing on decreased endogenous insulin secretion.

Materials And Methods: We examined 80 patients with acute-onset type 1 diabetes, classifying them into two groups with and without thyroid autoantibodies and compared the clinical characteristics of the two groups.

Cost-effective analysis focused on hypoglycemia of intermittent-scanning continuous glucose monitoring in type 1 diabetes adults: a ISCHIA randomized clinical trial.

Background: This study aimed to compare the economic value of intermittent-scanning continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) with self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Methods: Participants were placed on either an isCGM or SMBG arm for 84 days, in a randomized, crossover setup with a 28-day washout period. Clinically relevant hypoglycemia (<54 mg/dL) and severe hypoglycemia (SH) risks were calculated by analyzing the data from isCGM.

Protective effect of CK2 against endoplasmic reticulum stress in pancreatic β cells.

Unlabelled: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress due to obesity or systemic insulin resistance is an important pathogenic factor that could lead to pancreatic β-cell failure. We have previously reported that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) is highly induced by ER stress in pancreatic β cells. Moreover, its accumulation hampers the response of these cells to ER stress by inhibiting the induction of the molecular chaperone 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78).

Diabetes mellitus and peripheral artery disease.

Atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease (PAD), that is, arteriosclerosis obliterans, is pathologically rooted in atherosclerosis, similar to other cardiovascular diseases. In addition to smoking, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor. People with diabetes mellitus have an elevated risk of developing PAD.

Prevalence and risk factors for skeletal muscle mass loss in individuals with type 1 diabetes.

This study aimed to the investigate prevalence and factors associated with reduced skeletal muscle mass in non-elderly adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Ninety-nine patients (65 women, mean age: 43 ± 11 years, range 20-65 years) with acute-onset T1D who underwent body component analysis between October 2016 and April 2018 were studied. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to calculate the skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) of the limbs.

High levels of serum dihomo-γ-linolenic acid are associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetic patients.

An elevated level of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). While n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were shown to improve NAFLD, the effects of n-6 PUFAs in the liver have not been fully elucidated. We examined the association between NAFLD and n-6 PUFAs, particularly dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA), in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Long-term effects of esaxerenone in patients with type 2 diabetes, diabetic kidney disease, and hypertension (JDDM77).

Objectives: This clinical study assessed the three-year, long-term effects of esaxerenone, a non-steroidal aldosterone receptor blocker, on Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, diabetic kidney disease, and hypertension who were receiving renin-angiotensin system inhibitors.

Materials And Methods: Data from a computerized diabetic care database were used to retrospectively compare esaxerenone users (Group A) with non-esaxerenone users (Group B). Propensity score weighting was applied to Group B.