Radiographic changes in patients with pseudarthrosis after posterior lumbar interbody arthrodesis using carbon interbody cages: a prospective five-year study.

Background: The aim of this study was to demonstrate longitudinal radiographic changes at up to five years in patients with pseudarthrosis after posterior lumbar interbody arthrodesis using carbon interbody cages.

Methods: From 2003 to 2006, prospective longitudinal radiographic and CT (computed tomography) scan evaluations were made at up to five years after posterior lumbar interbody arthrodesis using carbon interbody cages at one or two levels in 153 consecutive patients. At the one-year evaluation, seventeen patients with early pseudarthrosis at nineteen levels were selected as subjects on the basis of one or more of the following characteristics: complete absence of osseous bridging between the upper and lower vertebrae, angular motion of ≥5°, and/or radiolucent zones surrounding the implant.

Association of postoperative shoulder balance with adding-on in Lenke Type II adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design: A retrospective, multicenter study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between postoperative shoulder balance and adding-on in Lenke type 2 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Summary Of Background Data: Postoperative shoulder imbalance (PSI) and adding-on are the main postoperative complications occurring at the proximal to upper instrumented vertebra and the distal to the lower instrumental vertebra (LIV), respectively.

Selection of lower instrumented vertebra in treating Lenke type 2A adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design: A retrospective, observational, and multicenter study.

Objective: To identify the ideal lower instrumented vertebra (LIV) to prevent distal adding-on after surgical correction of Lenke type 2A curve.

Summary Of Background Data: LIV level may affect the risk of postsurgical adding-on.

[Off-pump surgery for coronary-pulmonary artery fistula with giant coronary aneurysm; report of a case].

A 60-year-old male was referred to our hospital due to suspected chronic heart failure. He also had a symptom of ischemic heart disease. The multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) demonstrated the coronary-pulmonary artery fistula with a giant coronary aneurysm, which was partly thrombosed.

Predictive factors for a poor surgical outcome with thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum by multivariate analysis: a multicenter study.

Study Design: Retrospective multi-institutional study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the surgical outcomes in patients with ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) and determine the influence of an ossified anterior longitudinal ligament (OALL) on the clinical features and surgical outcomes in thoracic OLF.

Summary Of Background Data: Detailed analyses of surgical outcomes of thoracic OLF have been difficult because of rarity of this disease.

Surgically treated cases of lumbar spondylolysis and isthmic spondylolisthesis: a multicenter study.

Study Design: Prospective database study.

Objectives: To grasp the characteristics of surgically treated cases with lumbar spondylolysis or isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Summary Of Background Data: A detailed analysis of surgically treated cases with spondylolysis or isthmic spondylolisthesis has never been reported.

Postoperative distal adding-on and related factors in Lenke type 1A curve.

Study Design: A retrospective, multicenter study.

Objective: To investigate the occurrence of and factors related to postoperative adding-on in Lenke type 1A curve.

Summary Of Background Data: Although several studies have investigated factors associated with adding-on in Lenke type 1A curve, these factors have not been elucidated in a large study population.

Scoliosis associated with airflow obstruction due to endothoracic vertebral hump.

Study Design: A retrospective clinical study of scoliosis-associated airflow obstruction due to endothoracic vertebral hump.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and present anatomical features of patients with scoliosis who showed airflow obstruction caused by endothoracic vertebral hump.

Summary Of Background Data: It is well known that severe scoliosis causes airflow restriction due to thoracic cage deformity.

Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome with scoliosis.

Study Design: Case report.

Objective: The authors present the case of a 14-year-old boy with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) presenting scoliosis.

Summary Of Background Data: There have been no reports on surgery for RSTS presenting scoliosis.

[Coronary artery bypass grafting after total esophagectomy].

A 69-year-old male with a history of total esophagectomy and substernal placement of the gastric tube for esophageal carcinoma was admitted due to an unstable angina. Cardiac catheterization revealed a severe stenosis just proximal to the left anterior descending coronary artery and a 75% stenosis of the right coronary artery. Intraaortic balloon pumping was started in the catheter laboratory.

Lactoferrin in gastrointestinal disease.

Lactoferrin, a major whey protein, is a red iron-binding protein present mainly in external secretions such as breast milk and in polymorphonuclear neutrophils. The presence of lactoferrin in body fluids is proportional to the flux of neutrophils and its assessment can provide a reliable biomarker for inflammation. In gastrointestinal diseases increased fecal lactoferrin is a sensitive and specific surrogate marker for inflammatory bowel diseases in patients with chronic diarrhea and pain, and ascites lactoferrin can also provide a promising and reliable biomarker for bacterial peritonitis.

Classification of congenital scoliosis and kyphosis: a new approach to the three-dimensional classification for progressive vertebral anomalies requiring operative treatment.

Study Design: We reviewed three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) images of congenital spinal deformities and proposed a new classification based on the information obtained.

Objectives: The purposes of this article were to clearly illustrate the limitations of two-dimensional classification, to summarize the clinical significance of 3D analysis of congenital vertebral anomalies, and to propose a new 3D classification of congenital vertebral anomalies.

Summary Of Background Data: The classification of congenital scoliosis or kyphosis were based on radiographic findings of plain radiograph images of congenital vertebral anomalies, it is sometimes difficult in classifying the large variety of anomalous vertebrae or severely twisted 3D curves.

Metastasis of breast cancer to a uterine leiomyoma.

Metastasis of breast cancer to a uterine leiomyoma is rare. We review the clinicopathological features of breast cancer metastasis to a uterine leiomyoma and discuss possible effective treatment. We describe a case of a woman who presented with abdominal discomfort after undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer.

Traction versus supine side-bending radiographs in determining flexibility: what factors influence these techniques?

Study Design: Prospective clinical, radiologic study of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Objective: We evaluated a Cobb angle in standing position, patient age, the level of the apex, and the number of involved vertebrae in patients with AIS to determine whether the corrective ability of traction or side-bending radiographs was superior.

Summary Of Background Data: Side-bending and traction radiographs are used to evaluate curve flexibility during corrective surgery for AIS despite notable differences in the flexibilities of identical curves.

Pitfalls with MRI evaluation of prostate cancer detection: comparison of findings with histopathological assessment of retropubic radical prostatectomy specimens.

Introduction: To assess differences between MRI findings and histopathologically defined prostate cancer localization, we compared clinical results with mapping of radical prostatectomy specimens, and conducted a retrospective MRI cancer localization re-assessment by a urologist-technician after surgery.

Methods: We performed MRI for a total of 37 suspected prostate cancer patients. Subsequently, all underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy after prostate biopsy for confirmation of the diagnosis.

Noninvasive detection of alterations in chromosome numbers in urinary bladder cancer cells, using fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Background: Bladder cancers have a high potential for recurrence and sometimes become invasive even in superficial cases. In this process, gene mutations in tumor suppressor genes such as p53, on chromosome 17, or p16, on chromosome 9, are thought to be important. In order to investigate whether the detection of alterations in chromosome number might be used as an alternative to invasive techniques for the assessment of clinical bladder cancer, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was employed to analyze chromosome numbers in a series of patients.

[Late-onset of idiopathic paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis: a case report].

A case of late-onset idiopathic paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis (PKC) is described herein. A 50-year-old right-handed Japanese man with no family history of neurological disease or consanguinity was referred to our neurological unit because of paroxysmal involuntary movement of his right extremities. Physical examination findings were normal.

[Hypoalgesia and hypothermesthesia in a lower extremity due to compression of the medulla oblongata by an elongated vertebral artery].

We describe the case of a 54-year-old man who presented with hypoalgesia and hypothermesthesia (pain and thermal numbness) in the left lower extremity. The patient first noticed a warm sensation in his left leg. By the time he first visited our neurological unit, the symptoms had been present for several weeks.

[A case of umbilical endometriosis].

A 54-year-old female was referred to us for a nodule under her umbilical region. The nodule had enlarged slowly and reached a size of 20 mm in diameter over the last 2 years. She had no symptoms and there was no oozing of blood or pain during menstruation.

Urethral metastasis from renal cell carcinoma.

A case of metastasis to the prostatic urethra after transurethral resection of the prostate from a previously resected renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is reported here. Solitary urethral metastasis from RCC is extremely rare. Only four cases of urethral metastasis from RCC have been previously reported in the literature.

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-refractory superficial bladder cancers: focus on pretreatment episodes.

Background: Reasons for development of bacillus Calmette-Guerin(BCG)-refractory superficial bladder cancers are unknown. In the present study, a series of cases was therefore analyzed, focusing on the influence of treatment before BCG application.

Patients And Methods: A total of 96 patients with superficial bladder cancers received six weekly intravesical instillations of BCG followed in some cases by a further six applications at monthly intervals.

[A case of CA19-9-positive retroperitoneal mucinous adenocarcinoma].

We report a case of retroperitoneal mucinous adenocarcinoma in a 44-year-old woman, who was admitted to our hospital complaining of low grade fever. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a cystic tumor located at the lower pole of left kidney with irregular wall, which was enhanced by contrast medium. Open surgery was performed.

Massive mucinous carcinoma of the breast untreated for 6 years.

We report a patient with a massive mucinous carcinoma of the breast that had been untreated for 6 years. A 47-year-old premenopausal woman presented with a large right-breast mass. Although she had noticed a lump in the right breast 6 years previously, she had not sought treatment.

The efficacy of a serum carboxyterminal pyridinoline cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen as a quantitative screening marker for bone metastases in patients with urological malignancies.

In order to ascertain whether carboxyterminal pyridinoline cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) might be useful as a serum screening parameter for bone metastases from non-prostate urological malignancies as well as prostate cancers, as series of 210 patients were examined. In addition to ICTP, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and also prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the prostate cancer cases were assayed using commercial kits. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.