[Effects of radiation therapy for paraaortic lymph node involvement and recurrent lymph node metastases from gastric cancer].

Effects of radiation therapy for lymph node metastases from gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed. The radiation sites were residual paraaortic lymph node involvement and postoperative recurrent lymph node metastases in 10 patients. The size of lymph node swelling was decreased in 6 (60%) patients after radiation therapy using liniac.

[A renocolic fistula due to colonic diverticulitis associated with polycystic kidney].

Renocolic fistulae caused by colonic diverticulitis are rare. We present a case of renocolic fistula caused by colonic diverticulitis associated with polycystic kidney. A 51-year-old male with polycystic kidney on hemodialysis presented with a lasting fever and left lower abdominal pain.

Encircling isolation of pulmonary vein orifice for elimination of persistent atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valve disease.

The authors treated a 70-year-old woman with persistent atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valve stenosis. Restoration of sinus rhythm was achieved with encircling isolation of pulmonary vein orifices concomitant with mitral valve replacement. A vertical incision in the right side of left atrium was extended to the margin of the upper and lower left pulmonary vein orifices.

[Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for octogenarians with acute coronary syndrome].

In recent years, experiences with performing off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) has increased dramatically. Many early reports suggest that this approach may improve outcome by lowering postoperative complications. The benefit of this procedure to elderly patients seems appealing but is not well studied.

Mediastinal bronchial artery aneurysm treated with a stent-graft.

Purpose: To report a rare case of mediastinal bronchial artery aneurysm successfully treated with an endovascular stent-graft.

Case Report: A 79-year-old man with a history of tuberculosis was admitted to our hospital complaining of worsening hoarseness. Examination revealed a large mediastinal bronchial artery aneurysm located near the origin of the artery.

Pathological effects of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy help predict progression of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy.

Background: It is not clear whether pathological changes following neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) prior to radical prostatectomy have any value as predictors of progression in prostate cancer.

Methods: We conducted a study of 100 patients with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy following NHT. We used the Japanese general rule as the criterion to assess the biochemical recurrence rate and pathological changes after NHT.

[Control of accuracy of immunoserological laboratory data on medical network and standardization].

Construction of a medical network for each region and organization has become possible by utilization of information technology. Standardization of the data on the medical network is urgent. Especially, the standardization of immunoserological data is much delayed.

[A case of stage IV gastric carcinoma with lymph nodes metastases of the paraaorta responding markedly to TS-1].

A 64-year-old man had undergone subtotal gastrectomy with a D2 lymphadenectomy for advanced carcinoma of the stomach with paraaortic lymph nodes metastases 12 months earlier. The histopathological findings revealed a well differentiated adenocarcinoma [type 2 macroscopic findings, SE, INF beta, ly2, v1, N2, M1 (LYM)]. On admission, biochemical investigations showed an elevation of CEA, CA19-9, and CA 125.

[Homocysteine as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease].

Hyperhomocysteinemia is currently regarded as a risk factor for the development of ischemic heart disease (IHD). We examined the relation between plasma total homocysteine (tHCY) concentrations and the severity and morphology of coronary stenosis in 238 Japanese patients. Coronary stenosis score (CS) in the first quartile of plasma tHCY levels was 4.

[Pathophysiology and diagnosis for arteriosclerosis obliterans].

Patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans, or peripheral arterial disease have been conventionally diagnosed and treated from only the viewpoint of peripheral arterial circulation. These concepts may have improved the quality of life for patients, but could not contribute the prognosis of life, because peripheral arterial disease is associated with an increased risk of the coronary disease and cerebrovascular disease. Intermittent claudication, the most common symptom of peripheral arterial disease, results from flow-reducing lesions in the arteries of the lower extremity that cause exercise-induced muscle ischemia.

Efficacy and safety of on-pump beating heart surgery for valvular disease.

Background: This study was conducted to assess the efficacy and applicability of on-pump beating heart valvular operations using retrograde coronary sinus perfusion.

Methods: A prospective, randomized study was conducted. A total of 50 patients participated in this study after having been allocated to one of two groups.

[Long-term results after femoral vein valve repair for chronic venous insufficiency].

Objective: Our long-term results with anterior venous sinus plication (AVSP) for femoral vein reconstruction will be presented.

Patients And Methods: Between 1986 and 2001 we treated 2 100 patients in our hospital for chronic venous insufficiency. In 3.

[Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for unstable angina pectoris combined with hypothyroidism and chronic renal failure; report of a case].

Coronary artery bypass grafting for patients with ischemic heart disease and hypothyroidism contains many controversies, and chronic renal failure causes perioperative water-electrolyte balance disorders. We experienced a case of unstable angina pectoris combined with hypothyroidism and chronic renal failure successfully treated by off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB). A 68-year-old man with a history of hypothyroidism and chronic renal failure was hospitalized with chest pain.

Coexistence of sinus rhythm and segmental atrial fibrillation after maze procedure.

We present the case of an 80-year-old man with chronic atrial fibrillation associated with mitral regurgitation. The atrial fibrillation was successfully treated with the maze procedure combined with mitral valve replacement. The electrophysiological data are also reported.

Endoscopic thoracic sympathicotomy for Raynaud's phenomenon.

Purpose: For many years, thoracic sympathectomy via open surgery was not used to treat Raynaud's phenomenon because of the invasiveness of this procedure and the poor long-term outcomes associated with it. However, with the introduction of endoscopic surgery, thoracic sympathectomy (or sympathicotomy) has been performed by some surgeons as a less invasive surgical option for patients with Raynaud's phenomenon. The less invasive procedure has the possibility of emphasizing merits of sympathectomy.

Primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma in a woman after renal transplantation: report of a case.

In contrast to malignant lymphomas or skin cancer, smooth muscle tumors including leiomyosarcoma are rarely associated with transplant recipients. We herein present a 33-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease who received a transplant at 27 years of age. Four years after the transplantation, at age 31, she underwent a mastectomy because of primary right breast cancer, which was found to be a 5-mm-sized mucinous carcinoma with no regional lymph node metastasis.

Effects of endoscopic transthoracic sympathicotomy on hemodynamic and neurohumoral responses to exercise in humans.

Endoscopic transthoracic sympathicotomy (ETS) is a minimal invasive procedure of thoracic sympathetic block and has been used successfully in the treatment of primary palmar hyperhidrosis. To examine the effect of Th 2-3 ETS on hemodynamic responses to submaximal upright treadmill exercise in humans, cardiac output, plasma noradrenaline and adrenaline at rest and during the last 40s of stage 2 in a modified Bruce protocol were measured before and after ETS in 21 patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis. Heart rate, mean arterial pressure, rate-pressure product, and noradrenaline decreased at rest and at submaximal exercise after ETS.

Surgical indications and microsurgical anatomy of the transchoroidal fissure approach for lesions in and around the ambient cistern.

Objective: Opening the temporal part of the choroidal fissure (CF) makes it possible to expose the crural cistern, the ambient cistern, and the medial temporal lobe. We examined the microsurgical anatomy and the surgical indications for use of the trans-CF approach.

Methods: The microsurgical anatomy encountered in the trans-CF approach for lesions in and around the ambient cistern was studied in three cadavers.

MLL gene rearrangement in acute myelogenous leukemia after exposure to tegafur/uracil.

We report a case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) with MLL (myeloid-lymphoid leukemia or mixed-lineage leukemia) gene rearrangement after exposure to tegafur/uracil. Cytogenetic and clinical findings in this patient: t(11;17) (q23;q25), AML-M4 morphology, development of AML within a short latent period after first exposure to tegafur/uracil, and good response to remission induction chemotherapy but short remission duration, have been considered typical features of therapy-related acute myelogenous leukemia (t-AML) after exposure to topoisomerase II-targeting agents. This case report suggests that t-AML may develop after exposure to tegafur/uracil and that MLL gene rearrangement may not necessarily be specific to t-AML after exposure to topoisomerase II-targeting agents.

Hybrid revascularization feasibility in minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting combined with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in patients with acute coronary syndrome and multivessel disease.

Objectives: We reviewed early and midterm outcome of 11 multivessel-disease acute coronary syndrome patients treated by hybrid revascularization, i.e., initial coronary angioplasty followed by minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting.

A pharmacokinetic study of idarubicin in Japanese patients with malignant lymphoma: relationship with leukocytopenia and neutropenia.

To clarify the pharmacokinetic properties of idarubicin (IDA) in Japanese patients and to clarify the relationship between the pharmacokinetic parameters of IDA or idarubicinol (IDAol), an active metabolite of IDA, and leukocytopenia or neutropenia, we examined the pharmacokinetics of IDA in patients with malignant lymphoma. Nine of 21 patients registered in an early phase II study of IDA were enrolled in the pharmacokinetic study. IDA (12 or 15 mg/m2) was administered by intravenous infusion for 5 minutes.