Changes in sagittal alignment after surgical excision of thoracic spinal cord tumors in adults.

Study Design: Retrospective chart audit.

Objectives: This study investigated changes in sagittal alignment in adults after excision of thoracic spinal cord tumors without spinal fixation.

Setting: Single-center study at an academic orthopedic department in Japan.

Presence of increased inflammatory infiltrates accompanied by activated dendritic cells in the left atrium in rheumatic heart disease.

Aims: Left atrial (LA) structural remodelling develops in rheumatic heart disease (RHD) according to the disease severity of the mitral valve and the presence of atrial fibrillation. Sustained active inflammation has been previously reported in the LA of patients with RHD, suggesting a direct role of cell-mediated immunity in the pathogenesis of LA remodelling. Dendritic cells (DCs) have a major antigen-presenting role, and are known as crucial modulators of innate and adaptive immunity.

Decrease in exhaled hydrogen as marker of congestive heart failure.

Objective: Hydrogen excretion is thought to be related to systemic antioxidation activity. H selectively reduces the hydroxyl radical of free hydrogen (·OH), a highly cytotoxic form of reactive oxygen species, in cultured cells.

Methods: We investigated whether exhaled H decreased during night sleep, reflected ·OH production and was associated with heart failure severity.

Possible associations between palliative care conferences and positive outcomes when performing palliative care for patients with end-stage heart failure: a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Palliative care for end-stage heart failure should be provided by a multidisciplinary team. However, the influence of each occupational category on patients receiving palliative care for end-stage heart failure remains unclear. Thus, this study investigated the relationships between palliative care conferences and positive outcomes of palliative care for end-stage heart failure patients.

A cross-sectional survey of methods for controling hand-foot syndrome in patients receiving capecitabine treatment.

Medical personnel actively provide patients taking capecitabine with information on the items to prevent and treat hand-foot syndrome (HFS). However, they are typically unable to ascertain the extent of patient compliance with the recommended items. Thus, the aim of the present study was to ascertain the association between patient compliance with preventative measures for HFS and the development of HFS.

Pharmacokinetics and Safety After a Single Dose of Imarikiren in Subjects with Renal or Hepatic Impairment.

Background And Objective: Imarikiren hydrochloride (TAK-272; SCO-272) is a novel direct renin inhibitor. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of renal impairment (RI) or hepatic impairment (HI) on the pharmacokinetics and safety of imarikiren.

Methods: This phase I, open-label, parallel-group comparative study evaluated the pharmacokinetics and safety of a single 40 mg oral dose of imarikiren in RI [mild, moderate, severe, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and on hemodialysis] or HI (mild or moderate) subjects compared with subjects with normal renal or hepatic function.

Visualization of injectate spread of intercostal nerve block: a cadaveric study.

Introduction: Intercostal nerve block and neurolysis are widely used procedures, but their injectate spread has not been well understood. Previous studies have reported unexpected outcomes (paravertebral or epidural anesthesia) and spinal cord injury after intercostal nerve block and neurolysis. To investigate a possible mechanism for these complications, we aimed to visualize the flow of liquid injected near the intercostal nerve, using cadavers.

Baloxavir Marboxil for Uncomplicated Influenza in Adults and Adolescents.

Background: Baloxavir marboxil is a selective inhibitor of influenza cap-dependent endonuclease. It has shown therapeutic activity in preclinical models of influenza A and B virus infections, including strains resistant to current antiviral agents.

Methods: We conducted two randomized, double-blind, controlled trials involving otherwise healthy outpatients with acute uncomplicated influenza.

The tendinous septum of the semispinalis capitis muscle spatially separates the dorsal ramus between C3 and C4.

Local anesthetic injection into the medial head of the semispinalis capitis muscle can anesthetize the greater occipital nerve (GON) and third occipital nerve (TON) simultaneously (greater and third occipital nerve block: GTO block). Alternatively, inter-semispinal plane (ISP) block can anesthetize the dorsal rami of the cervical spinal nerves from C4 to T4. The GON, TON, and the dorsal rami of the inferior level cannot be blocked with a single injection.

Influenza vaccine showed a good preventive effect against influenza-associated hospitalization among elderly patients, during the 2016/17 season in Japan.

The 2016/17 influenza season in Japan was characterized by a predominance of influenza A (H3N2) activity; with H3N2 accounting for 85% of all detected influenza virus infections. We assessed the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of an inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine (IIV4) in adult patients, using a test-negative case-control design study based on the results of a rapid influenza diagnostic test (RIDT). Between November 2016 and March 2017, a total of 1048 adult patients were enrolled: including 363 RIDT positive for influenza A, 9 RIDT-positive for influenza B, and 676 RIDT-negative.

Inactivated influenza vaccine effectiveness and an analysis of repeated vaccination for children during the 2016/17 season.

Objectives: We assessed the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) in children 6 months to 15 years of age during the 2016/17 season. In addition, we estimated the impact of repeated vaccination in children on VE.

Methods: Our study for VEs in preventing influenza and admission due to influenza were conducted according to a test-negative case-control design (TNCC) based on influenza rapid diagnostic test results.

Development of the End-of-Life Care Nursing Attitude Scale for Japanese Geriatrics.

This study aimed to develop an end-of-life (EOL) care nursing attitude scale for Japanese geriatric nurses (ELNAS-JG). The items of the ELNAS-JG were developed to cover important topics related to EOL care (eg, motivation for providing EOL care, pain and symptom management, and decision-making support care for older adults). Participants were 1663 nurses employed in 32 institutions across Japan.

[Resection of a Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor-Producing Anaplastic Carcinoma of the Pancreas, Associated with Humoral Hypercalcemia of Malignancy].

We herein report the case of a 65-year-old man who presented with an anaplastic carcinoma of the pancreas, producing granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). The patient's laboratory data showed an increase in his serum CA19-9 levels 1 year after he had undergone surgery for transverse colon cancer. Computed tomography (CT) showed a mass in the pancreatic head.

[USE OF MULTIPLE DOSES OF ADRENALINE FOR FOOD-INDUCED ANAPHYLAXIS].

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the rate, characteristics, and risk factors in patients who required multiple doses of adrenaline for treatment of anaphylaxis.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the positive oral food challenges (OFCs) with anaphylaxis in pediatric patients at Saitama City Hospital between January 2013 and November 2014, analyzing age, sex, comorbid allergic disease, specific IgE level, food, symptoms, and treatment.

Result: There were 42 positive challenges with anaphylaxis, and the median age of the patients was 4 years old.

Vitamin K1 and Vitamin K2 immunopharmacological effects on the peripheral lymphocytes of healthy subjects and dialysis patients, as estimated by the lymphocyte immunosuppressant sensitivity test.

What Is Known And Objective: Renal transplant recipients receive immunosuppressive therapy to prevent acute rejection. We evaluated the immunopharmacological efficacy of vitamin K1 (VK1) and vitamin K2 (VK2) on T-cell mitogen-activated-peripheral lymphocytes of dialysis patients and healthy subjects.

Methods: The effects of VK1 and VK2 on the T-cell mitogen-stimulated proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 12 healthy subjects and 12 dialysis patients were estimated.

Effects of epidural anesthesia on postoperative nausea and vomiting in laparoscopic gynecological surgery: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecological surgery are susceptible to postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We hypothesized that a combination of epidural and general anesthesia to minimize intraoperative opioid administration would reduce the incidence of PONV following laparoscopic gynecological surgery.

Methods: Women undergoing elective laparoscopic gynecological surgery were randomly assigned to receive general anesthesia alone (group G, n = 45) or general anesthesia with epidural anesthesia (group GE, n = 45).

Effectiveness of inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine in the 2015/2016 season as assessed in both a test-negative case-control study design and a traditional case-control study design.

Unlabelled: Both traditional case-control studies (TCCSs) and test-negative case-control studies (TNCCSs) are commonly used to assess influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE). To compensate for the fact that observational studies are susceptible to bias, we combined both methods to assess VE in one geographical area during the 2015/2016 season, when influenza A (H1N1)pdm was dominant. Our TNCCS covered 331 children aged 6 months to 15 years who visited our hospital with fever, including 182 with influenza, and our TCCS covered 812 pediatric outpatients aged 6 months to 15 years, including 214 with influenza.

Distribution of ossified spinal lesions in patients with severe ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and prediction of ossification at each segment based on the cervical OP index classification: a multicenter study (JOSL CT study).

Background: In patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in the cervical spine, it is well known that the thoracic ossified lesions often coexist with the cervical lesions and can cause severe myelopathy. However, the prevalence of OPLL at each level of the thoracic and lumbar spinal segments is unknown. The aims of this study were to investigate how often OPLL occurs at each level in the thoracolumbar spine in patients with a radiological diagnosis of cervical OPLL and to identify the spinal levels most likely to develop ossification.

Invasive Solid Papillary Carcinoma of the Nipple With Pagetoid Extension and Nodal Metastasis.

We report a case of invasive solid papillary carcinoma (SPC) of the nipple with Pagetoid extension to the skin and lymph node metastasis. SPC is an uncommon primary breast cancer accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers. Only 2 cases occurring in the nipple have been reported.

Perforation of abdominal esophagus following nasogastric feeding tube intubation: A case report.

Introduction: Perforation of the abdominal esophagus caused by nasogastric tube (NGT) intubation has been rarely reported in adults.

Presentation Of Case: A 73-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with pneumonia. He had been bedridden long-term and had previously undergone a gastrectomy for gastric ulcer.