Evaluation of depression at 6 and 12 months postpartum by examining depressive symptoms and self-harm ideation during the early postpartum period: Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate depression at 6 and 12 months postpartum, using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) total score and its subitem regarding self-harm ideation (SHI) at 1 month postpartum.

Methods: A sample of 12,358 postpartum women answered the EPDS and questionaries at 1, 6, and 12 months postpartum longitudinally.

Results: For participants with postpartum depression (PPD; EPDS total score ≥9) and SHI (SHI sub-score ≥1) at 1 month postpartum, the risk of depression at 6 and 12 months postpartum (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] at 6 and 12 months postpartum: 20.

Blood pressure variability as a risk factor of recurrent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation.

Background: Blood pressure variability has been found to be a predictor of a stroke, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease that is independent of blood pressure control. This study used the variability independent of the mean (VIM) to evaluate the visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in patients previously undergoing catheter ablation (CA) of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), and its relationship with AF recurrence was examined.

Method And Results: The subjects were 274 consecutive PAF patients who underwent CA at our hospital.

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty under awake veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a patient with class III obesity with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension complicated with multiple serious comorbidities.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a chronic disease that can rapidly deteriorate into circulatory collapse when complicated by comorbidities. We herein describe a case involving a 43-year-old woman with class III obesity (body mass index of 63 kg/m) and severe CTEPH associated with total occlusion of the left main pulmonary artery who subsequently developed circulatory collapse along with multiple comorbidities, including acute kidney injury, pulmonary tuberculosis, and catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome. The patient was successfully treated with two sessions of rescue balloon pulmonary angioplasty with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO) support under local anesthesia without sedation, at cannulation and during the V-A ECMO run, to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation.

Diffuse pancreatic parenchymal atrophy, an imaging finding predictive of the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: A case-control study.

Background And Aim: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer, partly because its early detection is difficult. This study aimed to identify computed tomography (CT) findings associated with PDAC prior to diagnosis.

Methods: Past CT images were retrospectively collected from the PDAC group ( = 54) and the control group ( = 90).

A modified minimally invasive surgery for thoracic pyogenic spondylitis: Percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in combination with a vertebral debridement in a separate posterolateral approach-A case report.

In this report, we present a successfully treated case of intractable thoracic pyogenic spondylitis using one-step curettage/bone grafting of spinal anterior segment and less-contaminated percutaneous spinal posterior fixation via separated posterior approaches, which was not compatible with conventional spinal instruments.

Immunohistochemical localization of d--aspartic acid in congenital and acquired middle ear cholesteatoma.

Objective/hypothesis: Middle ear cholesteatoma is characterized by abnormal growth of the keratinizing squamous epithelium of the temporal bone. d--aspartic acid is the major isomer of d-aspartic acid found in elderly tissue. We assessed the immunoreactivity to k--aspartic acid of congenital and acquired middle ear cholesteatomas.

Prediction of Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Deaths Stratified by Sex in the Japanese Population.

Background Lifetime risk is an informative estimate for driving lifestyle and behavioral changes especially for young adults. The impact of composite risk factors for cardiovascular disease on lifetime risk stratified by sex has not been investigated in the Japanese population, which has a much lower mortality of coronary heart disease compared with the Western population. We aimed to estimate lifetime risk of death from cardiovascular disease attributable to traditional risk factors.

Analysis of the circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells during androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

Introduction: The present study showed the involvement of immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells during the disease progression in a 69-year-old man with a prostate cancer.

Case Presentation: The patient with metastatic PC (cT4N1M1ab) was initially treated with primary androgen deprivation therapy for 5 months and then chemotherapy with docetaxel, but he expired at the 8th month. In order to investigate whether myeloid-derived suppressor cells are implicated in the cancer exacerbation during androgen deprivation therapy, we assessed the long-term changes in peripheral blood myeloid-derived suppressor cell fractions by using flow cytometry.

Unusual imaging findings of pancreatobiliary-type intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm.

We experienced a rare case of main duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (MD-IPMN) without overt mucin production. Histological findings classified the tumor as high-grade dysplasia of pancreatobiliary-type IPMN that has been reported to show high malignant potential with a property to disseminate extensively into pancreatic ducts.

Amantadine intoxication despite moderate renal dysfunction: A case of combined use with donepezil.

Amantadine intoxication occurred despite moderate renal dysfunction. This may have been affected by the use of donepezil, and we require careful attention to these combinations.

N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Is a Predictor of Chronic Kidney Disease in an Asian General Population - The Ohasama Study.

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is known to increase in heart failure patients. Given that no reports have described the association between NT-proBNP and chronic kidney disease (CKD) incidence in Asian populations, we investigated this association in the Japanese population. We followed up 867 participants without CKD from the general population of Ohasama, Japan.

Sensitivity and specificity of meningeal signs in patients with meningitis.

Background: Several types of physical examinations are used in the diagnosis of meningitis, including nuchal rigidity, jolt accentuation, Kernig's sign, and Brudzinski's sign. Jolt accentuation was reported to have sensitivity of nearly 100% and to be highly efficient for excluding meningitis, but more recent studies showed that a number of patients with meningitis may present negative in this test.

Methods: We systematically reviewed studies on the above-mentioned physical examination tests and performed meta-analysis of their diagnostic characteristics to evaluate the clinical usefulness.

Brain histamine H receptor occupancy after oral administration of desloratadine and loratadine.

Some histamine H receptor (HR) antagonists induce adverse sedative reactions caused by blockade of histamine transmission in the brain. Desloratadine is a second-generation antihistamine for treatment of allergic disorders. Its binding to brain HRs, which is the basis of sedative property of antihistamines, has not been examined previously in the human brain by positron emission tomography (PET).

Age-Related Trends in Home Blood Pressure, Home Pulse Rate, and Day-to-Day Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate Variability Based on Longitudinal Cohort Data: The Ohasama Study.

Background Home blood pressure is a more accurate prognosticator than office blood pressure and allows the observation of day-to-day blood pressure variability. Information on blood pressure change during the life course links the prediction of blood pressure elevation with age. We prospectively assessed age-related trends in home blood pressure, home pulse rate, and their day-to-day variability evaluated as a coefficient of variation.