Multi-institution model (big model) versus single-institution model of knowledge-based volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) planning for prostate cancer.

We established a multi-institution model (big model) of knowledge-based treatment planning with over 500 treatment plans from five institutions in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for prostate cancer. This study aimed to clarify the efficacy of using a large number of registered treatment plans for sharing the big model. The big model was created with 561 clinically approved VMAT plans for prostate cancer from five institutions (A: 150, B: 153, C: 49, D: 60, and E: 149) with different planning strategies.

Medium-vessel Vasculitis Presenting with Myalgia Following COVID-19 Moderna Vaccination.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been delivered worldwide to prevent the spread of the disease, and almost all Japanese have received the mRNA vaccines "BNT162b2" (Pfizer-BioNTech) or "mRNA-1273" (Moderna). These vaccines have shown efficacy and safety with only minor adverse drug reactions. However, some patients develop severe adverse drug reactions, including autoimmune reactions.

New-onset Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Following COVID-19 Vaccination in a Patient with Seronegative Status.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide since 2019, and mRNA vaccines for the disease have been rapidly delivered to limit the severity of infection. However, while these vaccines are effective in reducing the morbidity and severity of the disease, some patients develop severe adverse drug reactions and new-onset autoimmune phenomena, such as myocarditis, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia, and vasculitis. In addition, some patients develop arthritis following vaccination, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Transient Pneumonitis as a Possible Adverse Reaction to the BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has led to rapid progress in vaccine development to prevent the spread of the disease. Although COVID-19 vaccines have excellent effectiveness in reducing morbidity and disease severity with minor adverse reactions, some patients develop late hypersensitivity events as autoimmune reactions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus nephritis, and vasculitis following COVID-19 vaccination. Herein, we describe a case of pneumonitis following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, which resolved spontaneously.

Effective anesthetic management with remimazolam and ketamine without muscle relaxants for parotidectomy in a patient with myotonic dystrophy: A case report.

Rationale: Patients with myotonic dystrophy (DM) are highly sensitive to anesthetics, muscle relaxants, and opioids, necessitating appropriate anesthetic management. Recently, remimazolam, an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine, has been approved for use as a general anesthetic in Japan, and patients with DM have reportedly been treated with remimazolam. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has reported on endotracheal intubation without the use of muscle relaxants under anesthetic management with remimazolam, nor on the combination of remimazolam and ketamine.

Improving Skin Carotenoid Levels in Young Students through Brief Dietary Education Using the Veggie Meter.

The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of carotenoid have been determined to aid in the prevention of a wide range of oxidative disorders, arteriosclerosis, obesity, and various types of cancers. In order to keep high carotenoid levels in the body, much of the vegetable and fruit (V/F) intake is mandatory. However, the actual intake of V/F is not enough in many countries.

Corpus Callosotomy: Editorial.

Since corpus callosotomy (CC) was first reported in 1940 [...

Simultaneous Presence of Campylobacter rectus and Cnm-Positive Streptococcus mutans in the Oral Cavity Is Associated with Renal Dysfunction in IgA Nephropathy Patients: 5-Year Follow-Up Analysis.

Background: The simultaneous presence of Streptococcus mutans expressing the Cnm protein encoded by cnm (i.e., cnm-positive S.

Arthroscopic handlebar technique for the treatment of posterior malleolar fractures.

Treating posterior malleolar fractures of the ankle remains a challenge. The arthroscopic handlebar technique is our novel surgical method used for reduction and fixation of posterior malleolar fractures and involves the restoration of posterior malleolar fractures under anterior arthroscopic guidance and the use of Kirschner wires that penetrates the fractured posterior malleolus. Arthroscopy enables visualization of the intra-articular fracture of the posterior malleolus, and a handlebar reduction bar is used to control the fractured posterior malleolus.

Comparison of clinical utility between digital and analog drainage systems in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: Digital drainage systems can continuously and numerically monitor air leakage, which may lead to a shorter duration of drainage and hospitalization; however, the usefulness of digital drainage systems compared to that of analog drainage systems for patients with primary or secondary spontaneous pneumothorax remains unclear.

Methods: This retrospective study included 108 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax who were successfully treated with chest drainage alone at our institution. We compared the clinical efficacy of digital and analog chest drainage systems.

Effect of ice water injection toward the duodenal papilla for preventing post-ERCP pancreatitis: study protocol for a multicenter, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial (EUTOPIA study).

Background: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is an essential procedure in the diagnosis and treatment of biliopancreatic diseases. The most common adverse event of ERCP is post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP), which can sometimes be severe. Our previous study suggested that injecting ice water at the end of ERCP suppressed PEP, and we decided to investigate this effect in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Corneal irregularity and visual function using anterior segment optical coherence tomography in TGFBI corneal dystrophy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate corneal irregular astigmatism of patients with granular and lattice corneal dystrophy (GCD and LCD). 70 GCD, 35 LCD, and 81 control eyes were included. Anterior and posterior corneal topographic data obtained from anterior segment optical coherence tomography were expanded into four components via Fourier harmonic analysis.

Time resolved DCE-MRI of the kidneys: Evaluation of the renal vasculatures and tumors using F-DISCO with and without compressed sensing in normal and wide-bore 3T systems.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) has been widely used for the evaluation of renal arteries. This method is also useful for tumor and renal parenchyma characterization. The very fast MRI may provide stable and precise information regarding vasculature and soft tissues.

[Clinical Application of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation].

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) refers to stimulation of the vagus nerve through the skin of the left cymba conchae and is a unique strategy that is investigated as a useful therapeutic approach for a variety of conditions including epilepsy, depression, cardiac diseases, tinnitus, and migraine. A randomized double-blind clinical trial was performed in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Although several pilot studies were performed before this trial and showed that taVNS was safe, well tolerated, and feasible for long-term treatment, no statistically significant difference was observed between the high- and low-stimulation groups, and further studies are warranted to gain a deeper understanding of this subject.

A case of ALG11-congenital disorders of glycosylation diagnosed by post-mortem whole exome sequencing.

Introduction: Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are inherited inborn errors of metabolism due to abnormal protein and lipid glycosylation that present with multi-systemic manifestations. The heterogeneity of CDG poses a serious diagnostic challenge; therefore, whole-exome sequencing (WES), which plays an increasingly important role in the molecular diagnosis of CDG, is used for examining patients with CDG.

Case Report: We report the case of a two-month-old male patient who developed developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) with intractable seizures and microcephaly.

The Impact of Gleason Grade 3 as a Predictive Factor for Biochemical Recurrence after Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study in Japan (The MSUG94 Group).

: This study's objective was to examine patients treated with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for intermediate-risk prostate cancer (IR-PCa), and to identify preoperative risk factors for biochemical recurrence (BCR) in these patients in Japan. : We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of patients with PCa who underwent RARP at 10 institutions in Japan. A total of 3195 patients were enrolled in this study.

Association between retinal sensitivity and the presence of quiescent choroidal neovascularization in pachychoroid diseases.

This study was conducted to examine retinal sensitivity (RS) in eyes with pachychoroid diseases and to analyze its association with the presence or absence of quiescent choroidal neovascularization (CNV), that can be protective against retinal dysfunction or atrophy in other macular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. A total of 12 eyes of 12 patients aged ≥45 years having the characteristic findings of central serous chorioretinopathy but not presenting any exudative changes were included in this study. Choroidal vascular hyper permeability (CVH) was identified by indocyanine green angiography, and the presence or absence of CNV was evaluated by optical coherence tomography angiography.

Serum immune modulators associated with immune-related toxicities and efficacy of atezolizumab in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Identifying patients at high risk of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that impede the achievement of durable efficacy of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade therapy is important in improving their management. Identification of a novel predictive factor of therapeutic benefit is also important in improving patient selection for treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Further determinants driving response and linking with irAEs are urgently required.

Stimulus-induced focal motor seizure in a pediatric patient with carbamazepine overdose.

Introduction: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a common antiepileptic drug that may cause overdoses with seizures as a common neurological manifestation. In previous reports, patients with CBZ overdose exhibited stimulus-induced generalized clinical or electrical seizures. To date, no previous cases of focal motor seizures have been reported.

Effectiveness of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in preventing pneumonia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to re-evaluate the effectiveness of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) in the reduction of pneumonia risk. We searched relevant publications in five databases. All studies included patients older than 18 years, who had used ACE-I as an intervention, and had assessed pneumonia.

Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis: three-dimensional computed tomography assessment of upper-lobe lung volume.

Background: Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (iPPFE) is a rare interstitial lung disease characterised by predominant upper-lobe fibrosis involving the pleura and subpleural lung parenchyma. Despite its poor prognosis, there is no consensus on prognostic determinants of iPPFE to date. Because volume loss in the upper lobe is a distinct feature of iPPFE, we hypothesised that the lung volume of the bilateral upper lobes (upper-lobe volume) accurately indicates disease severity and mortality risk in iPPFE patients.