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.

Current Trends in the Surgical Management of Intramedullary Tumors: A Multicenter Study of 1,033 Patients by the Neurospinal Society of Japan.

Objective: We performed a retrospective observational study to demonstrate the surgical risks and long-term prognoses of intramedullary tumors in Japan using a multicenter registry authorized by the Neurospinal Society of Japan.

Methods: Data from 1,033 consecutive patients with intramedullary tumors, treated between 2009 and 2020, were collected from 58 centers. Patients with spinal lipomas or myxopapillary ependymomas were excluded.

Chemotherapy for patients with advanced lung cancer with interstitial lung disease: a prospective observational study.

Introduction: Although recent advances in chemotherapy for lung cancer are remarkable, most clinical trials have excluded patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) due to the concern of developing acute exacerbation (AE) of ILD. Hence, accumulating original evidence of cancer treatment for this population is important.

Methods: Between 2016 and 2020, a prospective observational study was conducted across 11 Japanese hospitals.

Perampanel for the treatment of patients with myoclonic seizures in clinical practice: Evidence from the PERMIT study.

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of perampanel (PER) in treating myoclonic seizures in clinical practice, using data from the PERaMpanel pooled analysIs of effecTiveness and tolerability (PERMIT) study.

Methods: PERMIT was a pooled analysis of 44 real-world studies from 17 countries, in which patients with focal and generalised epilepsy were treated with PER. This post-hoc analysis included patients with myoclonic seizures at baseline.

Clinical Factors Associated With Pathological Grade Group 1 Patients in D'Amico Intermediate-Risk Group Following Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study in Japan (The MSUG94 Group).

Introduction: We aimed to examine the relationship between D'Amico intermediate-risk and pathological grade group 1 (pGG1) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective multicenter cohort study, D'Amico intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy, and underwent RARP at 10 institutions in Japan were examined for preoperative factors associated with pGG1.

Results: In total, we enrolled 1161 D'Amico intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients.

Omitting Hyperventilation in Electroencephalogram during the COVID-19 Pandemic May Reduce Interictal Epileptiform Discharges in Patients with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.

Background: To prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), hyperventilation (HV) activation has been avoided in electroencephalograms (EEGs) since April 2020. The influence of omitting HV in EEG on epilepsy diagnosis remains uncertain for patients with epilepsies other than child absence epilepsy. We hypothesized that EEGs with HV would show more interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) than EEGs without HV in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).

Intra-abdominal Hemorrhage Due to Splenic Vein Aneurysm Rupture Caused by Invasive Aspergillosis during Treatment for Advanced Non-small-cell Lung Cancer.

A 71-year-old man was admitted for left-sided chest pain. He had a history of diabetes, treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, and corticosteroid treatment for underlying lung diseases. Chest computed tomography showed consolidations in the bilateral lower lobes, and Aspergillus fumigatus was detected by bronchoscopy.

Very low birth weight infants with congenital heart disease: A multicenter cohort study in Japan.

Background: The frequency, mortality, and morbidity of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Asian countries are limited. In addition, little is known about the risk factors of death in these infants.

Methods: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted.

Baseline clinical features predicting macrophage activation syndrome in patients with systemic adult-onset Still's disease receiving interleukin-6 inhibitor treatment.

Aim: Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), a severe complication of systemic adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), has been reported to occur during interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitor treatment. However, predictors for MAS development are unknown. Therefore, this study investigated predictive features for MAS development after starting IL-6 inhibitor treatment in systemic AOSD patients.

Accidental epidural catheter removal rates and strength required for disconnection: a retrospective cohort and laboratory study.

Background: Epidural catheters are associated with certain risks such as accidental epidural catheter removal, including dislodgement and disconnection. Globally, neuraxial connector designs were revised in 2016 to provide new standardization aimed at decreasing the frequency of misconnections during the administration of medications. However, no studies have investigated accidental epidural catheter removal after the revised standardization.

Effects of water chestnut ( Roxb.) extract/lutein on fingertip-measured advanced glycation endproduct/carotenoid levels.

This pilot study tested the effects of the supplements containing water chestnut extract and carotenoids on antiglycation and carotenoid levels. Twenty Japanese subjects (mean age, 67 ± 7 years; 13 men) ingested 200 mg of Roxb. extract (containing >50 mg of polyphenols), 20 mg of lutein, and 3 mg of zeaxanthin daily for 3 months.

Impact of dysphagia and its severity on long-term survival and swallowing function outcomes in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies other than inclusion body myositis.

Objective: To investigate the impact of dysphagia on long-term survival and swallowing function outcomes in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy other than inclusion body myositis.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy other than inclusion body myositis to investigate the impact of dysphagia and its severity assessed using the Food Intake LEVEL Scale on survival and swallowing function outcomes. Time-to-event analyses were used, including Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank (trend) test, cumulative incidence with Gray's test, and Cox proportional hazards models.

Procedural results and in-hospital outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction: Sub-analysis of the Japanese CTO-PCI Expert Registry.

Objectives: To evaluate the procedural results and in-hospital outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO) in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

Background: While the technical success of general CTO-PCI has improved, CTO-PCI patients with reduced LVEF remain at high-risk for adverse events.

Methods: The data of 820 patients with LVEF ≤ 35% (Group 1), 1816 patients with LVEF = 35%-50% (Group 2), and 5503 patients with LVEF ≥ 50% (Group 3), registered in the Japanese CTO-PCI Expert Registry from January 2014 to December 2019, were retrospectively analyzed.

Mutation Profiles of Ovarian Seromucinous Borderline Tumors in Japanese Patients.

Ovarian seromucinous tumors (SMBTs) are relatively rare, and their carcinogenesis is largely unknown. In this study, the molecular features of SMBTs in Japan are assessed. DNA was extracted from microdissected paraffin-embedded sections from 23 SMBT cases.

Doppler Waveform Analysis of Intertwin Venous Blood Flow in Twin Reversed Arterial Perfusion (TRAP) Sequence with a Rudimentary Heart.

Twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence is a rare anomaly in 1% of monochorionic twin pregnancies. Few TRAP sequence cases have a rudimentary heart with cardiac motion in the acardiac twins. Herein, we investigated the venous Doppler waveform in two cases of TRAP sequence with a rudimentary heart with cardiac motion in the acardiac twin.

Incidence and Skeletal Features of Developmental Cervical and Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To report the prevalence and relationship of developmental cervical and lumbar spinal stenosis (DCSS and DLSS) with the bone parameters of the skull and extremities.

Overview Of Literature: DCSS and DLSS are found occasionally in daily practice.

Short-term oncological and surgical outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: A retrospective multicenter cohort study in Japan (the MSUG94 group).

Introduction: We evaluated oncological outcomes of patients undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer (PCa) and their perioperative complications in Japan. We investigated clinical and pathological covariates to predict biochemical recurrence (BCR) after RARP.

Methods: A retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted in RARP patients with PCa at 10 institutions in Japan.

Coincidence of Sarcoidosis and a COVID-19 vaccine-associated hypermetabolic lymphadenopathy in a patient with a history of invasive breast cancer: A case report.

Introduction And Importance: Vaccine-associated hypermetabolic lymphadenopathy (VAHL) after a COVID 19 vaccination is a common adverse event and also a diagnostic challenge especially in patients with a history of a malignancy.

Case Presentations: A 47-year-old woman presented with enlarged lymph nodes in the right hilar, subcarinal, and right supraclavicular regions detected by computed tomography as a postoperative follow-up study of thyroid cancer. Fluorine-18 fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) performed 3 weeks later revealed an FDG uptake in those swollen lymph nodes and in the novel lymphadenopathy in the left axilla and left subclavicular regions.

Influence of daily versus alternate-day dosing of vonoprazan on intragastric pH, serum gastrin, and the antiplatelet function of clopidogrel : Influence of alternate-day dosing of vonoprazan.

Background: Vonoprazan, a potassium-competitive acid blocker, inhibits gastric acid secretion and attenuates the antiplatelet function of clopidogrel more potently than esomeprazole. We investigated whether alternate-day dosing of vonoprazan might avoid this interaction with clopidogrel while providing sufficient gastric acid inhibition.

Methods: Following 24 h of pH monitoring (control regimen), 12 healthy volunteers received three regimens (clopidogrel-only regimen: clopidogrel 75 mg daily [q.

Relationship between visual acuity and visual field and its reproducibility in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

Background/objectives: To investigate the association between visual acuity (VA) and visual field (VF) and its reproducibility in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Subjects/methods: The study cohort comprised 227 eyes of 227 patients with RP. The reproducibility of two Humphrey VF tests (10-2 Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm [SITA] tests) performed within a period of 3 months was calculated using the root mean squared error (RMSE) of each VF test point's sensitivity.