Phase II study of adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and nedaplatin for uterine cervical cancer with lymph node metastasis.

The purpose of this phase II trial was to assess the efficacy and toxicity of paclitaxel and nedaplatin (TN) as the initial postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for uterine cervical cancer with lymph node metastases (LNM). Patients with FIGO stage IB1-IIA2 squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were enrolled. Histological confirmation of LNM was mandatory.

Efficacy and Long-Term Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in POEMS Syndrome: A Nationwide Survey in Japan.

POEMS syndrome is a rare plasma cell dyscrasia presenting with polyneuropathy, λ-type M protein, vascular endothelial growth factor elevation, and systemic manifestations. The standard treatment has not been established, but autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has exhibited effectiveness in this syndrome. However, the efficacy and long-term outcomes of ASCT have not been systematically studied.

Regulatory T cell inhibition by dasatinib is associated with natural killer cell differentiation and a favorable molecular response-The final results of the D-first study.

We evaluated the effects of regulatory T cell (Treg) inhibition during dasatinib treatment on the anticancer immune response, particularly on natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Fifty-two newly diagnosed Japanese patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase were enrolled in the D-first study; all received 100 mg of dasatinib once daily and were followed for at least 36 months. The cumulative deep molecular response (DMR, MR4) rate was 65% by 36 months; the 3-year overall survival was 96%.

Incidental ethmoidal dural arteriovenous fistula coexisting with a pituitary adenoma exacerbating post-transsphenoidal epistaxis.

A 64 year-old man with pituitary adenoma developed massive epistaxis after an uneventful endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. Angiography showed extravasation from the sphenopalatine artery, to which embolisation was performed. An incidentally coexisting ethmoidal dural arteriovenous fistula supplied by the ophthalmic artery aberrantly originated from the middle meningeal artery caused increased haemorrhage.

[Cardiac Perforation after Pacemaker Implantation;Report of a Case].

A 71-year-old woman was diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome (SSS) upon her cardiogenic cerebral embolism and underwent pacemaker implantation. Active fixation leads were positioned at the right atrial appendage and ventricular septum. Twenty-one days later at her routine checkup, she was asymptomatic and there were no signs of cardiac tamponade or pacing failure.

Delayed leg paraplegia associated with hyperextension injury in patients with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH): case report and review of the literature.

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is characterized by calcifications and ossification of ligaments and tendon insertions. The patients with DISH are susceptible to spinal column injury with trivial trauma due to immobilization of vertebrae and this easily leads to spinal cord injury. However, only few reports on hyperextension injuries of the thoracolumbar spine with DISH exist.

Microbiomes of the normal middle ear and ears with chronic otitis media.

Objective: The aim of this study was to profile and compare the middle ear microbiomes of human subjects with and without chronic otitis media.

Study Design: Prospective multicenter cohort study.

Methods: All consecutive patients undergoing tympanoplasty surgery for chronic otitis media or ear surgery for conditions other than otitis media were recruited.

Utility of clinico-biological data for long-term prognosis of head and neck terminal cancer.

Objective: The prognosis of terminal head and neck cancer is traditionally determined using indices such as the palliative prognosis index. We aimed to develop an alternative prognosis index using clinico-biological data.

Methods: This retrospective case-series study included 33 head and neck cancer patients whose cancer recurred despite receiving radiation therapy between April 2010 and April 2014.

The TriAGe+ Score for Vertigo or Dizziness: A Diagnostic Model for Stroke in the Emergency Department.

Background: Vertigo or dizziness is a common occurrence, but it remains a challenging symptom when encountered in the emergency department (ED). A diagnostic score for stroke with high accuracy is therefore required.

Methods: A single-center observational study (498 patients) was conducted.

Novel pre-therapeutic scoring system using patient and haematological data to predict facial palsy prognosis.

Objectives: We describe a novel scoring system, the facial Palsy Prognosis Prediction score (PPP score), which we test for reliability in predicting pre-therapeutic prognosis of facial palsy. We aimed to use readily available patient data that all clinicians have access to before starting treatment.

Design: Multicenter case series with chart review.

Risk factors for intervertebral instability assessed by temporal evaluation of the radiographs and reconstructed computed tomography images after L5-S1 single-level transforaminal interbody fusion: A retrospective study.

Intervertebral instability risks following L5-S1 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and causes of bony bridge formation on computed tomography (CT) remain largely unknown. We evaluated the temporal changes on plain radiographs and reconstructed CT images from 178 patients who had undergone single-level L5-S1 TLIF between February 2011 and February 2015. We statistically analyzed temporal changes the L5-S1 angle on radiographs and intervertebral stability (IVS) at the last observation.

Association of pleural effusion with an early molecular response in patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia receiving dasatinib: Results of a D-First study.

Despite the efficacy and safety of dasatinib treatment for chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP), adverse effects such as pleural effusion (PE) are still a serious concern. We determined the clinical significance of PE incidence using patient data derived from the D-First clinical study. In the present study, chest radiography and quantification of specific lymphocyte subsets were performed routinely after initiation of dasatinib treatment.

Targeted use of prednisolone with the second IVIG dose for refractory Kawasaki disease.

Background: Prednisolone (PSL) has been suggested to be useful for the treatment of Kawasaki disease (KD) resistant to i.v. immunoglobulin (IVIG), but much remains to be elucidated regarding its use.

A Cluster Headache Responsive to Ramelteon, a Selective Melatonin MT1/MT2 Receptor Agonist.

Patients with cluster headaches occasionally fail to respond to conventional preventive treatments. We herein report a case of a patient with a cluster headache in which the symptoms were refractory to conventional preventive treatments except for high-dose glucocorticoids. The headache attacks occurred daily while sleeping, thus the patient suffered from insomnia.

Successful continual intratympanic steroid injection therapy in a patient with refractory sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by relapsing polychondritis.

Objective: To report the treatment efficacy of continual intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) therapy in a patient with refractory sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by relapsing polychondritis.

Patient: A 49-year-old female diagnosed with relapsing polychondritis at the age of 45 years and who had been treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants developed sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear.

Intervention: Her unilateral hearing loss did not recover despite receiving one cyclophosphamide pulse treatment, one methylprednisolone pulse treatment, and weekly leukapheresis.

Continuation maintenance therapy with S-1 in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced squamous cell lung cancer.

Objectives Maintenance therapy is a standard therapeutic strategy in non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer. However, there is no consensus regarding the benefit of maintenance therapy for patients with squamous cell lung cancer. We assessed maintenance therapy with S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine agent, following induction therapy with carboplatin and S-1 in patients with squamous cell lung cancer.

Pretreatment Hematologic Findings as Novel Predictive Markers for Facial Palsy Prognosis.

Objective: To examine the relationship between prognosis of 2 different facial palsies and pretreatment hematologic laboratory values.

Study Design: Multicenter case series with chart review.

Setting: Three tertiary care hospitals.

Late onset and high-frequency dominant hearing loss in a family with MYH9 disorder.

MYH9 disorder is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder. We previously reported that it is caused by mutations in the gene for nonmuscle myosin heavy chain IIA (NMMHC-IIA). MYH9 disorder causes congenital macrothrombocytopenia accompanied by progressive sensorineural hearing loss, nephropathy, and cataract.

Modified endoscopic transnasal-transmaxillary-transpterygoid approach to parapharyngeal space tumor resection.

Background: Conventional approaches for removing parapharyngeal space tumors require a cervical skin incision and resection of soft tissues between the skin and parapharyngeal space. The surgical visual field for this conventional approach is limited.

Methods: To decrease invasiveness during removal of benign parapharyngeal space tumors and to enhance the visual field, we devised a new approach called the modified endoscopic transnasal-transmaxillary-transpterygoid approach (MENMAP).

Evaluation of palonosetron and dexamethasone with or without aprepitant to prevent carboplatin-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Although antiemetic management has improved, better control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), particularly during the delayed phase, is needed. The benefit of combination therapy using dexamethasone and the second-generation 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 receptor antagonist palonosetron compared with that of other such receptor antagonists in carboplatin-based chemotherapy is unclear. The effectiveness of adding aprepitant for CINV treatment in moderate emetogenic chemotherapy is also unknown.

Effectiveness of Trivalent Inactivated Influenza Vaccine in Children Estimated by a Test-Negative Case-Control Design Study Based on Influenza Rapid Diagnostic Test Results.

We assessed vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically attended, laboratory-confirmed influenza in children 6 months to 15 years of age in 22 hospitals in Japan during the 2013-14 season. Our study was conducted according to a test-negative case-control design based on influenza rapid diagnostic test (IRDT) results. Outpatients who came to our clinics with a fever of 38 °C or over and had undergone an IRDT were enrolled in this study.

Efficacy and safety of olanzapine combined with aprepitant, palonosetron, and dexamethasone for preventing nausea and vomiting induced by cisplatin-based chemotherapy in gynecological cancer: KCOG-G1301 phase II trial.

Purpose: Olanzapine is effective in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). In patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC), its efficacy was reported as rescue therapy for breakthrough emesis refractory to triplet therapy (palonosetron, aprepitant, and dexamethasone). However, its preventive effects with triplet therapy for CINV are unknown.

Early cytotoxic lymphocyte expansion contributes to a deep molecular response to dasatinib in patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase: results of the D-first study.

Dasatinib is one of the key treatment options for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Increase in lymphocyte counts has been known to be predictive of a good treatment response under dasatinib treatment as a second line therapy. However, clinical significance of lymphocyte dynamics in the upfront setting has yet to be clarified.

A novel frameshift mutation in KCNQ4 in a family with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss.

Mutation of KCNQ4 has been reported to cause autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing loss (DFNA2A) that usually presents as progressive hearing loss starting from mild to moderate hearing loss during childhood. Here, we identified a novel KCNQ4 mutation, c.1044_1051del8, in a family with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss.