Aberrant mediastinal basal pulmonary artery encountered at anatomical lung resection: A case report and review of the literature.

Introduction: Abnormal branching of the pulmonary artery is often encountered in anatomical lung resection, which can potentially result in accidental vessel injury with life-threatening bleeding or extra lung resection. The mediastinal basal pulmonary artery (Arteria Praebronchialis, AP) is a very rare but potentially critical variant.

Presentation Of Case: We present the case of a patient with lung cancer accompanied by the left basal segmental pulmonary artery, independent A, which was liable to be injured during lower lobectomy with poor interlobar fissure development.

Which bioabsorbable sheet is optimal for combined application with fibrin sealant against alveolar air leakage?

Background: There are few basic comparative data on the sealing effect of various bioabsorbable sheets in combination with fibrin sealant (FS), which is a more effective tool for the control of alveolar air leakage than the single use of FS alone. The objective of this study was to investigate which bioabsorbable sheet had the best sealing effect against alveolar air leakage when used in combination with FS, in terms of material quality, weaving pattern, and/or thickness.

Methods: Standardized 20 mm × 30 mm pleural defects were covered with three pieces of the following sheets using the Rub + Soak B technique in an porcine lung model.

Pulse transit time-estimated blood pressure: a comparison of beat-to-beat and intermittent measurement.

Pulse transit time (PTT), which refers to the travel time between two arterial sites within the same cardiac cycle, has been developed as a novel cuffless form of continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in BP parameters, including BP variability, between those assessed by beat-to-beat PTT-estimated BP (eBP) and those assessed by intermittent PTT-estimated BP at fixed time intervals (eBP) in patients suspected of having sleep disordered breathing (SDB). In 330 patients with SDB (average age, 66.

Mode of death in elderly and super-elderly patients with acute heart failure: Insights from Japanese heart failure registry.

Background: In Japan, both the prevalence of the elderly and super-elderly and those of acute heart failure (AHF) have been increasing rapidly.

Methods: This registry was a prospective multicenter cohort, which enrolled a total of 1253 patients with AHF. In this study, 1117 patients' follow-up data were available and were categorized into three groups according to age: <75 years old (nonelderly), 75-84 years old (elderly), and ≥ 85 years old (super-elderly).

Association Between Physical Status and the Effects of Combination Therapy With Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitors and β-Blockers in Patients With Acute Heart Failure.

This study investigated whether combination therapy (CT) with renin-angiotensin system inhibitors and β-blockers improved endpoints in acute heart failure (AHF). AHF patients were recruited to this prospective multicenter cohort study between April 2015 and August 2017. Patients were divided into 3 categories based on ejection fraction (EF), namely heart failure (HF) with reduced EF (HFrEF), HF with midrange EF (HFmrEF), and HF with preserved EF (HFpEF), and a further into 2 groups according to physical status (those who could walk independently outdoors and those who could not).

Living Alone and Gender Differences in Rehospitalization for Heart Failure After Discharge Among Acute Heart Failure Patients.

Home treatment for heart failure (HF) is one of the most important problems in patients after discharge as a secondary preventive measure for rehospitalization for HF. However, there are no detailed studies on gender differences in sociopsychological factors such as living alone for HF rehospitalization among patients with acute HF (AHF).This prospective multicenter cohort study enrolled patients with AHF between April 2015 and August 2017.

The clinical characteristics and outcomes of heart failure patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from the Japanese community-based registry.

Both heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common diseases, but few studies have assessed the relationship between COPD and outcomes in patients with acute HF, especially in relation to age or ejection fraction (EF). The Kitakawachi Clinical Background and Outcome of Heart Failure Registry was a prospective, multicenter, community-based cohort and enrolled a total of 1,102 patients with acute HF between 2015 and 2017 in this study. The primary endpoint was defined as a composite endpoint that included all-cause mortality and hospitalization for HF.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Heart Failure Patients With Long-Term Care Insurance - Insights From the Kitakawachi Clinical Background and Outcome of Heart Failure Registry.

Background: In Japan, the long-term care insurance (LTCI) system has an important role in helping elderly people, but there have been no clinical studies that have examined the relationship between the LTCI and prognosis for patients with acute heart failure (HF).

Methods and results: This registry was a prospective multicenter cohort, 1,253 patients were enrolled and 965 patients with acute HF aged ≥65 years were comprised the study group. The composite endpoint included all-cause death and hospitalization for HF after discharge.

Cold storage conditions modify microRNA expressions for platelet transfusion.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that modulate gene and protein expression in hematopoiesis. Platelets are known to contain a fully functional miRNA machinery. While platelets used for transfusion are normally stored at room temperature, recent evidence suggests more favorable effects under a cold-storage condition, including higher adhesion and aggregation properties.

A decline in activities of daily living due to acute heart failure is an independent risk factor of hospitalization for heart failure and mortality.

Background: Although activities of daily living (ADL) are recognized as being pertinent in averting relevant readmission of heart failure (HF) and mortality, little research has been conducted to assess a correlation between a decline in ADL and outcomes in HF patients.

Methods: The Kitakawachi Clinical Background and Outcome of Heart Failure Registry is a prospective, multicenter, community-based cohort of HF patients. We categorized the patients into four types of ADL: independent outdoor walking, independent indoor walking, indoor walking with assistance, and abasia.

Small-Vessel Vasculopathy Due to Aberrant Autophagy in LAMP-2 Deficiency.

Lysosomal associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP2) is physiologically implicated in autophagy. A genetic LAMP2 defect causes Danon disease, which consists of two major phenotypes of myopathy and cardiomyopathy. In addition, arteriopathy may manifest on rare occasions but the pathological basis remains unknown.

Preventing pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy: An invagination method.

Following an increase in the use of the GIA stapler for treating a pancreatic stump, more techniques to prevent postoperative pancreatic juice leakage have been required. We describe one successful case using our new technique of invaginating the cut end of the pancreas into the stomach to prevent a pancreatic fistula (PF) from occurring. A 50-year-old woman with pancreatic cancer in the tail of the pancreas underwent distal pancreatectomy, causing a grade A PF.

A case of CD10-negative angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma with leukemic change and increased plasma cells mimicking plasma cell leukemia: A case report.

Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) is a peripheral T cell lymphoma, known to express CD3 and CD4, and, frequently, also CD10 and c-Maf-1. Hypergammaglobulinemia is not particularly rare in patients with AITL. However, AITL in conjunction with plasmacytosis in the peripheral blood is rare.

A nuclear factor-κB inhibitor, dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin, ameliorates GVHD in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

GVHD is a crucial mortality factor in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). In this paper, we show that dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ), a novel inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB, suppresses GVHD, resulting in an improved mortality rate in a mouse ABMT model. Bone marrow cells from C57BL/6 mice (B6 mice) were transplanted into lethally irradiated BALB/c mice.

[The findings of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pulmonary arterial hypertension].

Technical advances of multidetector-row computed tomography(MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) made these modalities more important in the evaluation and for differential diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The advantages of CT and MRI are noninvasive examination, wide field of view, excellent reproducibility, high spatial resolution and 3-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction images. Morphological changes of the PAH, which are right ventricular hypertrophy and dilatation of main and central pulmonary artery(PA), right ventricle, right atria, superior and inferior vena cava, and coronary sinus, are depicted well by these modalities.

[Electroencephalographic changes in sisters with infantile-onset dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA)].

We report the clinical course and results of electroencephalographic (EEG) examinations in 2 sisters with infantile dentatorubral pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA). Typical development was seen until the age of 6 months. From that age, however, development was delayed.

Thoracoscopic diaphragmatic procedures under artificial pneumothorax.

Diaphragmatic plication is technically simple using a conventional operative technique, but it requires a large skin incision and rib injury. We present an alternative technique for thoracoscopic plication of the diaphragm and evaluate the advantages of the procedure. Six patients (five with diaphragmatic eventration and one with diaphragmatic hernia with a sac) ranging in age from 8 to 20 months were treated by this method.

[Social support by an academic meeting].

This report is made for the Japanese Society of Child Neurology to determine the social problems regarding handicapped children and youngsters. In 2002, Social Activity and Public Relations Committee was organized in the Society, and immediately pointed out some social problems, such as medical care for severely handicapped children in special schools.

[CT and MRI findings of pulmonary hypertension].

Although computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can not measure the pulmonary arterial pressure, those can depict the morphological changes due to pulmonary hypertension, which are dilatation of main and central pulmonary artery, right ventricular hypertrophy and dilatation of right ventricle, right atrium, vena cava and coronary sinus. Right ventricular volume, mass and ejection fraction are calculated quantitatively by MRI using Simpson method. Thromboembolism can be detected by enhanced CT.