Cervical Mesonephric Adenocarcinoma Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: A Case Report and a Literature Review.

Introduction: Cervical mesonephric ductal adenocarcinoma (MA) is an HPV-independent adenocarcinoma that occurs in middle-aged women. MA originates from remnants of the Wolffian duct that usually regress in females once the induction of sex differentiation is activated. MA is a rare disease that accounts for less than 1% of all cervical adenocarcinomas.

Validation of a new instrument for measuring disease-specific quality of life: A pilot study among patients with chronic kidney disease and hyperkalemia.

Background: To prepare for a longitudinal study of the effects of potassium-lowering treatment on quality of life (QOL), we quantified the validity of a new disease-specific instrument for measuring QOL, using data from patients who had hyperkalemia (HK) due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) or chronic heart failure, and were also being treated with potassium binders (PBs).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the participants were 98 patients at five outpatient clinics in Japan. The outcome measures were the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form (SF-36), a widely used generic measure of QOL, and the Quality of Life Disease-specific Impact Scale (QDIS-7), a recently-developed disease-specific measure of QOL.

Sensitive New Assay System for Serum Agglutinin-Reactive Ceruloplasmin That Distinguishes Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma from Endometrioma.

agglutinin (WFA)-reactive ceruloplasmin (CP) is a candidate marker for ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) reported in our previous paper. Herein, a new measurement system was developed to investigate its potential as a serum marker for CCC. Site-specific glycome analysis using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry showed that WFA-CP from CCC binds to WFA via the GalNAcβ1,4GlcNAc (LDN) structure.

Prediction of recurrent stroke among ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation: Development and validation of a risk score model.

Background: There is currently no validated risk prediction model for recurrent events among patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and atrial fibrillation (AF). Considering that the application of conventional risk scores has contextual limitations, new strategies are needed to develop such a model. Here, we set out to develop and validate a comprehensive risk prediction model for stroke recurrence in AIS patients with AF.

PPARα activation directly upregulates thrombomodulin in the diabetic retina.

Two large clinical studies showed that fenofibrate, a commonly used peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) agonist, has protective effects against diabetic retinopathy. However, the underlying mechanism has not been clarified. We performed genome-wide analyses of gene expression and PPARα binding sites in vascular endothelial cells treated with the selective PPARα modulator pemafibrate and identified 221 target genes of PPARα including THBD, which encodes thrombomodulin (TM).

A change in the steroid metabolic pathway in human testes showing deteriorated spermatogenesis.

During androgen biosynthesis, the human testes normally produce only small quantities of Δ-C steroids as these are products of the Δ-pathway and healthy human testes preferentially use the Δ-pathway. However, the Δ-C steroid progesterone accumulates in the thickened lamina propria of the seminiferous tubules in testes with deteriorated spermatogenesis. The objectives of this study were to analyse the pregnenolone metabolites in testes with deteriorated spermatogenesis and to establish whether the androgen biosynthesis pathway changes in this condition.

The Significance of Lactate and Lipid Peaks for Predicting Primary Neuroepithelial Tumor Grade with Proton MR Spectroscopy.

Purpose: H-MRS is a non-invasive technique used to assess the metabolic activity of brain tumors. The technique is useful for the preoperative prediction of tumor grade, which is important for treatment planning and accurate prognosis. We used H-MRS to study the lactate peak, which appears in various conditions, including hyperglycemia, ischemia, and hypoxia and lipid peak, which is associated with necrotic cells.

Serum Aberrant N-Glycan Profile as a Marker Associated with Early Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Patients Receiving a Living Donor Kidney Transplant.

We determined if the serum -glycan profile can be used as a diagnostic marker of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) in living donor kidney transplant (LKTx) recipients. Glycoblotting, combined with mass spectrometry, was used to retrospectively examine -glycan levels in the postoperative sera of 197 LKTx recipients of whom 16 recipients had ABMR with or without T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR), 40 recipients had TCMR, and 141 recipients had no adverse events. Multivariate discriminant analysis for prediction of ABMR was performed by inputting an ABMR event as an explanatory variable and sex, age, and serum N-glycan level as objective variables.

Genotype-Phenotype Correlation of Mutation for the Clinical and Electrocardiographic Characteristics of Probands With Brugada Syndrome: A Japanese Multicenter Registry.

Background: The genotype-phenotype correlation of mutations as a predictor of cardiac events in Brugada syndrome remains controversial. We aimed to establish a registry limited to probands, with a long follow-up period, so that the genotype-phenotype correlation of mutations in Brugada syndrome can be examined without patient selection bias.

Methods: This multicenter registry enrolled 415 probands (n=403; men, 97%; age, 46±14 years) diagnosed with Brugada syndrome whose gene was analyzed for mutations.

Intraosseous tumors of the skull. A pictorial review.

Radiologists often encounter intraosseous tumors of the calvarium. Compared with parenchymal lesions, information is limited. In this review, we list the calvarial tumors and correlate the radiologic appearance with the pathologic findings.

[Measurement techniques of body fat volume, body fat percentage, fat distribution and intracellular lipid content].

Obesity is primarily defined by excess of body fat. Skinfold test, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry are useful clinicial tests for determining body fat volume or rate. It has shown that visceral fat or abdominal obesity strongly correlated with insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases.

Relationship between sleep-disordered breathing level and acute onset time of congestive heart failure.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is frequently observed in patients with congestive heart failure. Recent studies have shown that SDB negatively affects the onset of congestive heart failure; however, no studies have addressed the relationship between the level of SDB and the onset time of acute dyspnea. We hypothesized that SDB affects the acute onset time of dyspnea (AOT) and investigated the relationship between SDB and AOT.

Efficacy of daily compared to intermittent administration of IL-1Ra for protection against bone and cartilage destruction in collagen-challenged mice.

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) on bone and cartilage destruction in the induction phase of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: DBA/1J mice were immunized with type II collagen for induction of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and simultaneously given different intraperitoneal doses of IL-1Ra daily, thrice weekly or once a week. Clinical symptoms of arthritis were noted daily and assessed using a scoring system during the course of disease.

Specialty-related disparities of readmission in patients with chronic heart failure: the importance of hospital-clinic cooperation.

Object: The purpose of this study was to elucidate differences in readmission rates and late outcome in outpatients with chronic heart failure treated in different clinical settings.

Patients And Methods: This study included 65 consecutive patients who were admitted to our CCU due to acute heart failure for the first time and discharged from our institution. After their discharge, 31 were cared for by a cardiologist in the outpatient clinic of our institution (group A) and the other 34 were cared for by a general practitioner in a clinic (group B).

Beneficial effects of mechanical reperfusion therapy on left ventricular remodeling and late outcome following myocardial infarction.

The long-term relative benefits of thrombolysis and mechanical reperfusion therapy following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have not been established. The purpose of this study was to compare left ventricular function, left ventricular remodeling and late outcome after AMI for different reperfusion therapies. Thirty consecutive patients suffering their first anterior wall myocardial infarction with coronary stenoses limited to the left anterior descending coronary artery were studied.

[Clinical and bacteriological effects of cefetamet pivoxil against community-acquired respiratory tract infections. Part II].

We investigated clinical and bacteriological effects of cefetamet pivoxil (CEMT-PI) in community-acquired respiratory tract infections and obtained the following findings. That method was approximately equal to that of investigation in 1994. 1.

[Clinical and bacteriological effects of cefetamet pivoxil against community-acquired respiratory tract infections].

We investigated clinical and bacteriological effects of cefetamet pivoxil (CEMT-PI) in community-acquired respiratory tract infections and obtained the following findings. 1. Of the 420 respiratory tract infection cases that were treated with CEMT-PI according to a same protocol at a total of 42 institutions in Tokyo, Kanagawa-ken, Saitama-ken and Chiba-ken from February to the beginning of April 1994, 359 cases in which clinical evaluations were considered possible were selected as the subjects of the clinical study.

[Interferon therapy for acute hepatitis C; changes in serum markers associated with HCV and clinical effects].

In order to prevent the progression to chronicity of acute hepatitis C, we treated 22 patients with natural human alpha or beta interferon (IFN) in varying doses (3-6 megaunit) daily, for 4 weeks everyday or TIW for 8 weeks. 14 (63.6%) of the 22 patients was cured with IFN therapy.

Disease and pregnancy in adolescent girls.

The frequency of visits to the outpatient clinic, chief complaints, and pregnancies of adolescent girls were analyzed. The age distribution of adolescent girls who visited the clinic showed that the higher the age, the higher the frequency of menstrual cycle abnormalities. Recently, increased sexual activity has been seen in teenagers and has caused problems, especially the increase in teenage pregnancies, contributing to increases in induced abortion.