Trends in endemic of respiratory syncytial virus infection during COVID-19 pandemic and difficulty in obtaining optimal timing of palivizumab prophylaxis.

Objective: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. This study assessed whether or not palivizumab prophylaxis was appropriate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This prospective study included children <24 months old who were hospitalized for RSV infection between April 2019 and March 2023.

[Poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma with sarcomatous change causing intraparenchymal rupture and rapid turnaround: a case report].

The patient was a 73-year-old man who had undergone surgery for gastric cancer in January 2020 and was subsequently attending an outpatient clinic. In May, he presented with right upper abdominal pain. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed an intraparenchymal rupture of a pseudoaneurysm in a segmental branch of the hepatic artery, and a transcatheter arterial embolization was performed.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis with metachronous isolation of three distinct species.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is an inflammatory disease induced by exaggerated immune responses to species. Although ABPA has a high recurrence (48%), its instances with sequential isolation of distinct species are sporadic. Only one case report has documented the metachronous isolation of and .

[Re-Administration of Anti-EGFR Antibody Drugs for Unresectable Colorectal Cancer-Focusing on Tumor Markers].

The 2022 edition of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer described rechallenge therapy as a backward treatment for unresectable colorectal cancer, but currently, there is no evidence to support its benefit. We reviewed 6 cases of rechallenge therapy in which tumor marker trends could be followed in our department. Two cases had a rapid decline in tumor markers that was maintained for 7-8 months.

Anti-survival motor neuron complex antibodies as a novel biomarker for pulmonary arterial hypertension and interstitial lung disease in mixed connective tissue disease.

Objective: The presence of anti-U1 RNP antibodies (Abs) is critical for diagnosing MCTD. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical relevance of anti-survival motor neuron (SMN) complex Abs, which often coexist with anti-U1 RNP Abs.

Methods: A total of 158 newly diagnosed consecutive cases of SLE, SSc or MCTD with anti-U1 RNP Abs were enrolled in this multicentre observational study between April 2014 and August 2022.

Evaluation of the usefulness of culture of induced sputum and the optimal timing for the collection of a good-quality sputum sample to identify causative pathogen of community-acquired pneumonia in young children: A prospective observational study.

Background: The usefulness of an induced sputum in the identification of causative bacteria of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in young children is controversial. This study aimed to investigate the significance of the implementation of an induced sputum culture among children with CAP and the impact of prior use of antimicrobial agents on the quality of the sample and result of the culture.

Methods: This prospective study included 96 children hospitalized for acute bacterial CAP whose sputum samples were collected by suctioning from the hypopharynx through the nose.

[A Case Of An Elderly Patient With Blake's Pouch Cyst].

Blake's pouch cyst is a congenital disease in which the ventricle enlargement is a non-communicating hydrocephalus. Some elderly patients have a process of the idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (communicating hydrocephalus). We report an elderly patient with Blake's pouch cyst.

Fatal limbic encephalitis as paraneoplastic neurological syndrome in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma positive for antiamphiphysin antibody after durvalumab treatment.

A 69-year-old Japanese male with advanced lung adenocarcinoma developed neurological symptoms after chemoradiotherapy and durvalumab maintenance therapy. He was positive for serum antiamphiphysin antibody, which is rarely seen in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Additionally, his brain magnetic resonance images showed limbic encephalitis which led to the diagnosis of classic paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS).

Alagille-like syndrome with surprising karyotype: a case report.

Background: Chromosome 5p partial monosomy (5p-syndrome) and chromosome 6p partial trisomy are chromosomal abnormalities that result in a variety of symptoms, but liver dysfunction is not normally one of them. Alagille syndrome (OMIM #118450) is a multisystem disorder that is defined clinically by hepatic bile duct paucity and cholestasis, in association with cardiac, skeletal, and ophthalmologic manifestations, and characteristic facial features. Alagille syndrome is caused by mutations in JAG1 on chromosome 20 or NOTCH2 on chromosome 1.

Denosumab prevented periprosthetic bone resorption better than risedronate after total hip arthroplasty.

Introduction: Periprosthetic fracture caused by periprosthetic bone loss is an important concern in total hip arthroplasty (THA). Denosumab has been approved for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk of fracture. In this randomized controlled trial, we compared the effects of denosumab and risedronate on periprosthetic bone mineral density (BMD) after THA.

Usefulness of Cervical Computed Tomography Hounsfield Units to Differentiate Kawasaki Disease From a Deep-neck Abscess.

We measured the Hounsfield units (HUs) value of cervical plain computed tomography images to differentiate between Kawasaki disease (KD) and a deep-neck abscess (DNA). The HUs value was significantly lower in KD than in DNA, making it a useful marker for differentiating between these 2 diseases.

The possible association between epidemics of hand-foot-and-mouth disease and responsiveness to immunoglobulin therapy in Kawasaki disease.

Background: Enterovirus causing hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) has been reported to be associated with the development of Kawasaki disease (KD), whereas the involvement of enterovirus in the clinical course of KD is uncertain. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the clinical course of KD and HFMD epidemics.

Methods: This study included 108 patients who developed KD during HFMD epidemic seasons (July and August) from 2010 to 2014 and who were initially treated with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

A Case Report of Primary Unresectable Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma Causing Colonic Obstruction Due to Peritoneal Dissemination.

Although surgical resection is the only available treatment to achieve long-term survival in biliary tract cancer, many cases are often identified at an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Radiotherapy may be an alternative option to prolong survival in cases with locally advanced unresectable disease. While there are some reports of long-term survival after radiotherapy for unresectable biliary tract cancer, it is rare that clinical symptoms are exhibited by peritoneal dissemination more than 8 years after radiotherapy and that resection can be performed.

Nailfold microvascular abnormalities are associated with a higher prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with MCTD.

Objective: MCTD manifests with microvasculopathy and overlapping clinical features of SLE, SSc and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of microvasculopathy in patients with MCTD using nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC).

Methods: Fifty patients with newly diagnosed and untreated MCTD were enrolled in this multicentre, prospective and observational study.

[Segmental Bronchoalveolar Lavage Provided a Favorable Clinical Course in a Case of Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis].

A 49-year-old man was diagnosed with autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed typical CT findings of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis: thickening of septa with ground-glass opacities in both lung fields. The diagnosis of autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) was based on findings of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid with milky appearance and elevated serum titer of anti-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor antibody.

Unusual giant multilocular thymic cyst with mature teratoma including a carcinoid component in the mediastinum.

Background: Teratoma is the second most common mediastinal neoplasm, but malignant transformation in mature teratomas is uncommon, and cases of carcinoid tumor with teratoma are described in only a few studies. In addition, multilocular thymic cyst associated with mature mediastinal teratoma is also a rare entity. There have been no reports of case with the coexistence of these three pathological lesions.

Case Report: Japanese Siblings of Cystic Fibrosis With a Novel Large Heterozygous Deletion in the Gene.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare disease in the Japanese. The most common variant in Japanese CF patients is a large heterozygous deletion that can easily avoid detection by standard gene sequencing methods. We herein report a novel large heterozygous deletion in the gene in Japanese siblings with CF.