Efficacy and safety of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in Japanese patients with chronic genotype 2 hepatitis C virus infection.

Glecaprevir (nonstructural protein 3/4A protease inhibitor) and pibrentasvir (nonstructural protein 5A inhibitor) (G/P), a coformulated once-daily, all oral, ribavirin (RBV)-free, direct-acting antiviral regimen, was evaluated for safety and efficacy in hepatitis C virus genotype 2 (GT2)-infected Japanese patients, including those with compensated cirrhosis. CERTAIN-2 is a phase 3, open-label, multicenter study assessing the safety and efficacy of G/P (300/120 mg) once daily in treatment-naive and interferon ± RBV treatment-experienced Japanese patients without cirrhosis but with GT2 infection. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive 8 weeks of G/P (arm A) or 12 weeks of sofosbuvir (400 mg once daily) + RBV (600-1000 mg weight-based, twice daily) (arm B).

Segmental Aplasia of Bilateral Internal Carotid Arteries Accompanied by Intracranial Aneurysms: A Case Report.

A 68-year-old woman presented with segmental aplasia of bilateral internal carotid arteries accompanied by unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The abnormality was discovered incidentally at the age of 44 years. Cerebral angiography showed occlusion of bilateral internal carotid arteries, and the carotid territory was supplied by each posterior communicating artery with small intracranial aneurysms.

Elevated serum uric acid level was a notable adverse event during combination therapy with sofosbuvir and ribavirin.

Aim: Combination therapy with sofosbuvir and ribavirin (SOF/RBV) has been recently available for chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 (CHG2) in Japan. The domestic phase III clinical trial showed a high antiviral effect with a relatively safe adverse event (AE) profile. Our aim was to report an important AE detected during treatment.

Association between Skeletal Muscle Depletion and Sorafenib Treatment in Male Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

The effect of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) on the outcomes of sorafenib treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been established. We measured the SMM in HCC patients treated with sorafenib, evaluated the patients' survival, and evaluated the association between skeletal muscle depletion and sorafenib treatment. Of the 97 HCC patients treated with sorafenib at our institution in the period from July 2009 to February 2015, our study included 69 patients (51 males, 18 females) who had received sorafenib for ≥ 8 weeks and whose follow-up data were available.

A phase II study of combination therapy with oral S-1 and cisplatin in elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Background: A combination of S-1 and cisplatin is recognized as one of the standard first-line chemotherapy regimens for patients with advanced gastric cancer. However, demographic analyses of pivotal phase III studies have showed that only a minority of treated patients were aged 76 years or older. The purpose of this phase II study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combination therapy with S-1 and cisplatin in elderly patients with chemotherapy-naive advanced gastric cancer.

Retrospective analysis of prognostic factors for Waldenstrӧm macroglobulinemia: a multicenter cooperative study in Japan.

Although population-based cancer registries have reported lower incidence of Waldenstrӧm macroglobulinemia (WM) in East Asia than in Western countries, previous retrospective analyses have found the clinical features of WM to be similar in these two populations. To clarify the characteristics of Japanese WM patients, we retrospectively analyzed clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatments, outcomes, and prognostic factors in 93 patients with WM. Based on the Second International Workshop on WM (IWWM-2) criteria, symptomatic WM was found in 73 (78.

The approval of revised diagnostic criteria for DIC from the Japanese Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis.

As proposed diagnostic criteria for DIC from the Japanese Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis has been approved and revised, the contents and changes are informed.

Isolated Gastric Varices Refractory to Balloon-occluded Retrograde Transvenous Obliteration (BRTO) Successfully Treated by Shunt-occluded Endoscopic Injection Sclerotherapy (SO-EIS): A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) is widely used to treat isolated gastric varices (IGVs) in Japan. However, BRTO is difficult to perform for IGVs with many small collateral veins, and no secondary treatment has been established. We herein report a rare case of IGVs refractory to BRTO successfully treated by shunt-occluded endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (SO-EIS), which is a combination therapy of major shunt occlusion by a balloon catheter and endoscopic injection sclerotherapy.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of acquired hemophilia A: experience at a single center in Japan.

Acquired hemophilia A (AHA), which is caused by autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) is a rare, life-threatening bleeding disorder, the incidence of which appears to be increasing in Japan as the population ages. However, the clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of AHA remain difficult to establish due to the rarity of this disease. We retrospectively analyzed data from 25 patients (median age 73 years; range 24-92 years; male n = 15) diagnosed with AHA between 1999 and 2015 at Gunma University Hospital.

Does successful rotator cuff repair improve muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration of the rotator cuff? A retrospective magnetic resonance imaging study performed shortly after surgery as a reference.

Background: Muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration in the rotator cuff muscles are often observed in patients with chronic rotator cuff tears. The recovery from these conditions has not been clarified.

Methods: Ninety-four patients were included in this study.

Decreased Expression of hsa-miR-4274 in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Mimics with Parkinsonian Syndromes.

Background: Patients presenting with the classical idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) triad often show additional parkinsonian spectrum signs. Accurate differential diagnosis strongly influences the long-term outcome of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunting.

Objective: The aim of this study was to find potential CSF microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for NPH mimics with parkinsonian syndromes that can reliably distinguish them from iNPH patients.

Histology is a Prognostic Indicator After Pulmonary Metastasectomy from Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Objectives: There are only a few detailed reports concerning the prognosticators following surgical resection of pulmonary metastases (PMs) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We investigated the prognosis of patients with RCC PMs undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy and identified prognostic factors in a multi-institutional retrospective study.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 84 patients who underwent resection of PMs from RCC between 1993 and 2014.

Bone turnover markers and the factors associated with atypical femur fractures among Japanese patients.

Many previous reports have indicated that atypical femur fractures (AFFs) are associated with the administration of bisphosphonates (BPs). A number of risk factors and hypotheses regarding the pathogenesis of AFFs have been reported to date. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors associated with AFFs in Japanese individuals and to elucidate the association between bone metabolism and AFFs by evaluating bone turnover markers (BTMs).

Enzymatic characterization of recombinant rat DDHD2: a soluble diacylglycerol lipase.

DDHD2 has been reported to exhibit phospholipase A, triacylglycerol (TG) lipase and diacylglycerol (DG) lipase activities. However, the detailed enzymatic properties of DDHD2 have not yet been elucidated. In the current study, the substrate specificity of DDHD2 towards DG, TG and phosphatidic acid (PA) has been examined using highly purified recombinant rat DDHD2 (rDDHD2) with a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer.

Evaluation of the Diagnostic Criteria for the Basic Type of DIC Established by the Japanese Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis.

We evaluated the diagnostic criteria for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), which was published by the Japanese Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (JSTH), in 232 patients with suspected DIC without hematopoietic injury or infection. The diagnoses of the patients were as follows: DIC (n = 116), pre-DIC (n = 54), and non-DIC (n = 63). The efficacy of the diagnostic criteria for DIC was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Proposal for new diagnostic criteria for DIC from the Japanese Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a serious disease that, in the presence of underlying disease, causes persistent, generalized, marked coagulation activation. Early treatment based on an appropriate diagnosis is very important for improving patients' prognosis, to which end diagnostic criteria play a key role. Several criteria have been proposed, but each has its strengths and weaknesses, and improved criteria are needed.

[A Case of Rectal Neuroendocrine Carcinoma with Metachronous Liver Metastasis Treated with Multimodality Therapy].

A 6 2-year-old woman visited our hospital with a complaint of anal bleeding and was diagnosed with rectal cancer. She underwent low anterior resection and D3 lymphadenectomy. The pathological diagnosis was shown as follows: Ra, Circ, type 2, por1, pSS, ly3, v1, pN2, pStage III b, and KRAS wild type.

Daclatasvir/asunaprevir/beclabuvir fixed-dose combination in Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection.

Background: DCV-TRIO, a fixed-dose combination of daclatasvir (pangenotypic NS5A inhibitor), asunaprevir (NS3/4A protease inhibitor), and beclabuvir (non-nucleoside NS5B inhibitor), has achieved high rates of sustained virologic response at post-treatment Week 12 (SVR12) in phase 3 studies.

Methods: In this phase 3 study, DCV-TRIO for 12 weeks and daclatasvir plus asunaprevir (DUAL) for 24 weeks were studied in Japanese patients infected with HCV genotype 1 (99 % genotype 1b).

Results: SVR12 rates ≥95 % were achieved in both treatment-naive (N = 152) and interferon-experienced (N = 65) cohorts treated with DCV-TRIO for 12 weeks and were comparable across patient subgroups, including patients aged ≥65 years and those with cirrhosis.

Enhanced pregenomic RNA levels and lowered precore mRNA transcription efficiency in a genotype A hepatitis B virus genome with C1766T and T1768A mutations obtained from a fulminant hepatitis patient.

The viral factors associated with the development of fulminant hepatitis B are not fully understood. We recently found four unique mutations [G to A at nucleotide 1742 (G1742A), C1766T, T1768A and T1809C] in the basal core promoter (BCP) region of a genotype A hepatitis B virus (HBV) strain (FH) obtained from a 53-year-old man with fatal fulminant hepatitis. To elucidate the association of the mutations of the FH genome with the disease, we constructed a 1.

The morphologic change of the ulnar collateral ligament of elbow in high school baseball pitchers, with and without symptoms, by sonography.

Background: Few reports in the literature relate morphologic changes of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) to prior elbow symptoms. This study used ultrasonography (US) to assess the ulnohumeral joint space width, with and without stress, and elucidate morphologic changes of the UCL of the elbow in high school pitchers with and without a history of elbow symptoms.

Methods: Each of 122 high school baseball pitchers who underwent US of the medial aspect of both elbows completed a self-administered questionnaire related to the self-satisfaction score (0-100) for pitching performance and throwing-related elbow joint pain sustained during the prior 3 years.

Clinical and virological features of acute hepatitis E in Gunma prefecture, Japan between 2004 and 2015.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical and virological features of acute hepatitis E (AH-E) in Gunma prefecture and focus on the hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in immunocompromised patients.

Methods: A total of 30 patients with AH-E diagnosed at our Gunma University Hospital, and located in 3-39-15 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511 Japan, and its affiliated hospitals from 2004 to 2015, were studied. We evaluated the detailed medical histories, laboratory examinations and virological features of these participants.

Fatal fulminant hepatitis caused by infection with subgenotype A1 hepatitis B virus with C1766T/T1768A core promoter mutations.

Adults initially infected with the hepatitis B virus develop various types of hepatitis ranging from asymptomatic to fulminant, and the clinical course of infection is influenced by a variety of host and viral factors. The viral risk factors associated with fulminant hepatitis reportedly include subgenotype B1, negative HBe antigen, and mutations in the precore and core promoter regions. Here, we present a case of fatal fulminant hepatitis caused by infection with subgenotype A1 hepatitis B virus with C1766T/T1768A double mutations in the core promoter region.

[A case of idiopathic portal hypertension associated with nodular regenerative hyperplasia-like nodule of the liver and mixed connective tissue disease].

A 51-year-old woman was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) in 2011. She underwent treatment with prednisolone. Her hepatobiliary enzyme level increased, and multiple nodules were found in both liver lobes in abdominal imaging studies.

Association of trunk control with mobility performance and accelerometry-based gait characteristics in hemiparetic patients with subacute stroke.

Trunk control plays an important role in movement control and postural balance during functional activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of trunk control early after stroke with mobility performance and quantitative gait characteristics derived from trunk accelerations. Fifteen patients with hemiparesis following stroke (median age, 61 years [range, 56-78 years]; median time since stroke, 9 days [range, 7-15 days]) participated in this cross-sectional observational study.