Risk Factors for Colorectal Adenoma and Cancer in Comprehensive Health Checkups: Usefulness of Gamma-Glutamyltransferase.

Background/objectives: In this study, we aimed to determine the risk factors for colorectal adenoma/cancer by studying patients who underwent comprehensive health checkups and were referred to a hospital because of positive fecal occult blood.

Methods: A total of 529 patients were referred to hospital for a positive fecal occult blood test after a comprehensive health checkup at the participating center over a period of 5 years, from January 2018 to December 2022. Patients diagnosed with colorectal adenoma or cancer using colonoscopy were included in the case group, while those diagnosed with no abnormality, diverticulum, or hemorrhoids were included in the control group.

Medical Record Survey after Comprehensive Health Checkup Referral and Its Contribution to the Early Detection of Cancer.

Comprehensive health checkups in Japan are a preventive method to detect cancer and metabolic diseases. Unlike group medical examinations, individual examinations in health checkups are possible, with additional tests possible for disease detection. However, it is difficult to accurately ascertain the results from only the report after referral to a medical institution in individuals suspected of having cancer who need to be examined.

Is administration of anti-MRSA drugs recommended for patients with pneumonia when MRSA is isolated from respiratory specimens? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

It is unclear whether anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) drugs should be uniformly administered to patients with pneumonia when MRSA is isolated from respiratory specimens. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the uniform administration of anti-MRSA drugs. Two researchers independently searched the literature as of December 2022, extracted relevant papers, and performed a meta-analysis.

Efficacy and Safety of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Combined with Iron on Skeletal Muscle Mass Index and Physical Performance of Patients with Sarcopenia: A Multicenter, Double-Blinded, Randomized-Controlled Trial (ALADDIN Study).

Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome characterized by decreased physical performance, muscle mass, and strength. Since the intake of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) with iron can increase muscle mass and mitochondria in mice and elevate physical exercise performance in humans, the beneficial effects of ALA in patients with sarcopenia are expected, but this remains unexplored in the literature. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and dose dependency of ALA combined with iron in sarcopenia by measuring skeletal muscle mass index (SMI).

Effectiveness and Safety of Linezolid Versus Vancomycin, Teicoplanin, or Daptomycin against Methicillin-Resistant Bacteremia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Vancomycin (VCM) and daptomycin (DAP) are standard therapies for methicillin-resistant (MRSA) bacteremia, despite concerns regarding clinical utility and growing resistance. Linezolid (LZD) affords superior tissue penetration to VCM or DAP and has been successfully used as salvage therapy for persistent MRSA bacteremia, indicating its utility as a first-choice drug against MRSA bacteremia. In a systematic review and meta-analysis, we compared the effectiveness and safety of LZD with VCM, teicoplanin (TEIC), or DAP in patients with MRSA bacteremia.

Progression of hemolysis in a patient with hereditary spherocytosis after the second dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

Herein, we report the case of a 22-year-old woman with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) whose condition worsened after administration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), mRNA vaccine 'BNT162b2 Pfizer-BioNTech.' The woman had been diagnosed with HS in 2005, and her condition remained stable until February 2021. In March 2021, she received the first dose of the above vaccine and experienced pain at the injection site.

Deep Learning with a Dataset Created Using Kanno Saitama Macro, a Self-Made Automatic Foveal Avascular Zone Extraction Program.

The extraction of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) from optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images has been used in many studies in recent years due to its association with various ophthalmic diseases. In this study, we investigated the utility of a dataset for deep learning created using Kanno Saitama Macro (KSM), a program that automatically extracts the FAZ using swept-source OCTA. The test data included 40 eyes of 20 healthy volunteers.

Identification and molecular analysis of RNF31 Q622H germline polymorphism.

The linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC), which is composed of RING finger protein 31 (RNF31), RANBP2-type and C3HC4-type zinc finger containing 1 and SHANK-associated RH domain interactor subunits, is the only ubiquitin ligase to generate Met1-linked linear ubiquitin chains. Linear ubiquitin chains regulate canonical NF-κB activation and cell death. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in RNF31, such as Q584H and Q622L, are known to cause the activated B cell-like subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL) because of enhanced LUBAC-mediated NF-κB activation.

Can Outpatient Rehabilitation Be Continued During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Report from a Japanese Regional Medical University Hospital.

Objective: To describe the operation of an outpatient rehabilitation practice at a Japanese hospital severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design: Analytical observational study.

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation department in Saitama, Japan.

Evaluation of the clinical performance of noninvasive prenatal testing at a Japanese laboratory.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in high-risk pregnant women.

Methods: Pregnant women who underwent GeneTech NIPT, the most commonly used NIPT in Japan, between January 2015 and March 2019, at Japan NIPT Consortium medical sites were recruited for this study. The exclusion criteria were as follows: pregnant women with missing survey items, multiple pregnancy/vanishing twins, chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus other than the NIPT target disease, and nonreportable NIPT results.

Ependymoma-like tumor with mesenchymal differentiation harboring C11orf95-NCOA1/2 or -RELA fusion: A hitherto unclassified tumor related to ependymoma.

Recurrent fusion genes involving C11orf95, C11orf95-RELA, have been identified only in supratentorial ependymomas among primary CNS tumors. Here, we report hitherto histopathologically unclassifiable high-grade tumors, under the tentative label of "ependymoma-like tumors with mesenchymal differentiation (ELTMDs)," harboring C11orf95-NCOA1/2 or -RELA fusion. We examined the clinicopathological and molecular features in five cases of ELTMDs.

Improvement of Low Luminance Visual Acuity in Patients with Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy after Half-Dose Verteporfin Photodynamic Therapy.

Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) often complain of visual difficulties under low luminance conditions. In this study, we evaluated low luminance visual acuity (LLVA) after half-dose verteporfin photodynamic therapy (hdPDT) in eyes with CSC. The study included eight eyes of eight patients with chronic CSC that underwent hdPDT.

Heads-Up 3D Surgery under Low Light Intensity Conditions: New High-Sensitivity HD Camera for Ophthalmological Microscopes.

Purpose: To determine the feasibility of performing intraocular surgeries in a heads-up position with low illuminance conditions by observing a display of the surgical field created by a three-dimensional imaging (3D) system.

Methods: Seventy-four eyes of 56 patients underwent cataract surgery (72 eyes) with the heads-up 3D surgery system; 60 eyes with cataract surgery alone, 7 eyes with combined cataract and glaucoma microdevice implant surgery, 5 eyes with combined cataract and vitrectomy surgery, and two eyes with vitrectomy surgery alone were studied. The illuminance from the surgical microscope was set to be dimmer (Leica M822F40 main light 2%; otto-flex 6%) than the usual setting to minimize the discomfort and glare for the patient.

The impact of visceral adipose tissue as best predictor for difficult colonoscopy and the clinical utility of a long small-caliber scope as rescue.

Background: There have been many reports about a variety of factors associated with incomplete colonoscopy or difficult colonoscopy with long cecal intubation time (CIT). The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze the factors related to difficult colonoscopy under conscious sedation and demonstrate the clinical utility of a small-caliber scope as rescue by using the data from a large number of subjects who underwent health check-ups.

Methods: Consecutive 1036 cases over a 12-month period (April 2015 to March 2016) were enrolled and 619 subjects were divided into two groups: Easy colonoscopy (CS) Group (CIT ≤ 10 min); Difficult CS Group (CIT > 10 min or incomplete colonoscopy by a standard scope).

Astroblastoma: a distinct tumor entity characterized by alterations of the X chromosome and MN1 rearrangement.

Astroblastoma is a rare, enigmatic tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) which shares some clinicopathologic aspects with other CNS tumors, especially ependymoma. To further clarify the nature of astroblastoma, we performed clinicopathologic and molecular genetic studies on eight cases of astroblastoma. The median age of the patients was 14.

The effects of presence of a backside screw hole on biotribological behavior of phospholipid polymer-grafted crosslinked polyethylene.

One of the important factors in determining the success of joint replacement is the wear performance of polyethylene. Although highly crosslinked polyethylene (CLPE) is presently used, it is still not adequate. We have developed a surface modification technology using poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC) in an attempt to improve wear performance.

Clinical safety and wear resistance of the phospholipid polymer-grafted highly cross-linked polyethylene liner.

To reduce the production of wear particles and subsequent aseptic loosening, we created a human articular cartilage-mimicked surface for a highly cross-linked polyethylene liner, whose surface grafted layer consisted of a biocompatible phospholipid polymer, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine). Although our previous in vitro findings showed that poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)-grafted particles were biologically inert and caused no subsequent bone resorptive responses, and poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) grafting markedly decreased wear in hip joint simulator tests, the clinical safety, and in vivo wear resistance of poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)-grafted highly cross-linked polyethylene liners remained open to question. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated clinical and radiographic outcomes of poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)-grafted highly cross-linked polyethylene liners 5 years subsequent to total hip replacement in 68 consecutive patients.

Generalized seizure with falling and unresponsive staring provoked by somatosensory stimulation: a video-EEG study.

We report a 4-year-old boy with generalized seizures with abrupt falling and unresponsive staring provoked by somatosensory stimuli of the face. Ictal manifestation comprised a sudden fall immediately after wiping the face, followed by unresponsive staring for around 10 seconds, during which time the video-EEG recorded paroxysmal 3-Hz diffuse spike-wave complexes, which were followed by high-voltage 3.5 to 4-Hz delta wave discharges, predominantly appearing in the bilateral frontal areas.

Localization of hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α in the nucleolus and nucleus is regulated by its C-terminus.

Unlabelled: Aims/Introduction:  Mutations in hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF4α) lead to various diseases, among which C-terminal deletions of HNF4α are exclusively responsible for maturity onset diabetes of the young 1 (MODY1). MODY is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by a primary defect in insulin response to glucose, suggesting that the C-terminus of HNF4α is important for pancreatic β-cell function. To clarify the role of the C-terminus of HNF4α, changes in cellular localization and the binding ability to its regulator were examined, specifically in the region containing Q268, which deletion causes MODY1.