Non-robotic minimally invasive gastrectomy as an independent risk factor for postoperative intra-abdominal infectious complications: A single-center,retrospective and propensity score-matched analysis

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer(GC) has gained widespread use as a safe curative procedure especially for early GC.AIM To determine risk factors for postoperative complications after minimally invasive gastrectomy for GC.METHODS Between January 2009 and June 2019, 1716 consecutive patients were referred to our division for primary GC. Among them, 1401 patients who were diagnosed with both clinical and pathological Stage Ⅲ or lower GC and underwent robotic gastrectomy(RG) or laparoscopic gastrectomy(LG) were enrolled. Retrospective chart review and multivariate analysis were performed for identifying risk factors for postoperative morbidity.RESULTS Morbidity following minimally invasive gastrectomy was observed in 7.5% of the patients. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that non-robotic minimally invasive surgery, male gender, and an operative time of ≥ 360 min were significant independent risk factors for morbidity. Therefore, morbidity was compared between RG and LG. Accordingly, propensity-matched cohort analysis revealed that the RG group had significantly fewer intra-abdominal infectious complications than the LG group(2.5% vs 5.9%, respectively; P = 0.038), while no significant differences were noted for other local or systemic complications.Multivariate analyses of the propensity-matched cohort revealed that non-robotic minimally invasive surgery [odds ratio = 2.463(1.070–5.682); P = 0.034] was a significant independent risk factor for intra-abdominal infectious complications.CONCLUSION The findings showed that robotic surgery might improve short-term outcomes following minimally invasive radical gastrectomy by reducing intra-abdominal infectious complications.     

Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery after Preoperative CT-Guided Lipiodol Marking of Small or Impalpable Pulmonary Nodules

Purpose: Small pulmonary lesions that include ground-glass attenuation have been increasingly discovered because of progressive imaging diagnostic technologies. Despite the detection of such small lesions, sometimes it is quite difficult to localize them because of their size or considerable depth from the visceral pleura. In the present study, we examined the usefulness of computed tomography-guided lipiodol marking for thoracoscopic resection of impalpable pulmonary nodules.Methods: Fifty-six patients with an undiagnosed peripheral lesion(s) of the lung who had undergone preoperative computed tomography-guided lipiodol marking followed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were studied.Results: All of the nodules were successfully marked by computed tomography-guided lipiodol marking, and all except for one case were localized by means of intraoperative fluoroscopy as clear spots. With regard to complications, pneumothorax occurred in 21 patients (37.5%), and only one patient required transient drainage. Although hemorrhaging in the lung parenchyma and hemosputum occurred in nine patients (16.1%) and one patient (1.8%), respectively, no patients were in serious condition. No intra- or postoperative mortality or morbidity was observed.Conclusion: Preoperative computed tomography-guided lipiodol marking of small or impalpable pulmonary nodules is a safe and useful procedure for thoracoscopic resection of the lung.     

Higher melatonin secretion is associated with lower leukocyte and platelet counts in the general elderly population: the HEIJO‐KYO cohort

Circulating white blood cell (WBC) and platelet (PLT) counts are widely available and inexpensive cellular biomarkers of systemic inflammation and have been associated with a risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. Melatonin may reduce systemic inflammation through its direct and indirect antioxidative effect; however, the associations of melatonin secretion with systemic inflammation remain unclear. In this cross‐sectional study on 1088 elderly individuals (mean age, 71.8 years), we measured overnight urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin excretion (UME) and WBC and PLT counts as indices of melatonin secretion and systemic inflammation, respectively. UME was naturally log‐transformed for linear regression models because of skewed distribution (median, 6.8 μg; interquartile range, 4.1–10.6 μg). Univariate models revealed that higher log‐transformed UME levels were significantly associated with lower WBC and PLT counts (P = 0.046 and 0.018). After adjusting for potential confounding factors significantly associated with WBC or PLT counts, higher log‐transformed UME levels were significantly associated with lower WBC and PLT counts (WBC: β, ?0.143; 95% confidence interval, ?0.267 to ?0.020; P = 0.023; PLT: β, ?6.786; 95% confidence interval, ?12.047 to ?1.525; P = 0.012). Furthermore, the adjusted mean differences in WBC and PLT counts between the lowest and highest UME tertile groups were 0.225 × 10⁹/L and 9.480 × 10⁹/L, respectively. In conclusion, melatonin secretion was significantly and inversely associated with WBC and PLT counts in the general elderly population. The associations were independent of several major causes of systemic inflammation, including aging, obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and physical inactivity.     

Voluntary ambulation using voluntary upper limb muscle activity and Hybrid Assistive Limb® (HAL®) in a patient with complete paraplegia due to chronic spinal cord injury: A case report

Context: We sought to describe our experience with the Hybrid Assistive Limb® (HAL®) for active knee extension and voluntary ambulation with remaining muscle activity in a patient with complete paraplegia after spinal cord injury.

Findings: A 30-year-old man with complete paraplegia used the HAL® for 1 month (10 sessions) using his remaining muscle activity, including hip flexor and upper limb activity. Electromyography was used to evaluate muscle activity of the gluteus maximus, tensor fascia lata, quadriceps femoris, and hamstring muscles in synchronization with the Vicon motion capture system. A HAL® session included a knee extension session with the hip flexor and voluntary gait with upper limb activity. After using the HAL® for one month, the patient’s manual muscle hip flexor scores improved from 1/5 to 2/5 for the right and from 2/5 to 3/5 for the left knee, and from 0/5 to 1/5 for the extension of both knees.

Conclusion/clinical relevance: Knee extension sessions with HAL®, and hip flexor and upper-limb-triggered HAL® ambulation seem a safe and feasible option in a patient with complete paraplegia due to spinal cord injury.     

Japanese Versus Non-Japanese Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack or Minor Stroke: Subanalysis of TIA registry.org

BackgroundTIAregistry.org is an international cohort of patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke within 7 days before enrollment in the registry. Main analyses of 1-year follow-up data have been reported.⁵ We conducted subanalysis on the baseline and 1-year follow-up data of Japanese patients.MethodsThe patients were classified into 2 groups based on Japanese ethnicity, Japanese (345) and non-Japanese (3238), and their baseline data and 1-year event rates were compared. We also determined risk factors and predictors of 1-year stroke.ResultsCurrent smoking, regular alcohol drinking, intracranial arterial stenosis, and small vessel occlusion; and hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, and extracranial arterial stenosis were more and less common among Japanese patients, respectively. Stroke risk was higher and TIA risk was lower at 1-year follow-up among Japanese patients. The baseline risk factors for recurrent stroke were diabetes, alcohol drinking, and large artery atherosclerosis. Independent predictors of 1-year stroke risk were prior congestive heart failure and alcohol consumption.ConclusionsThe two populations of patients featured differences in risk factors, stroke subtypes, and outcome events. Predictors of recurrent stroke among Japanese patients included congestive heart failure and regular alcohol drinking. Strategies to attenuate residual risk of stroke aside from adherence to current guidelines should take our Japanese-patient specific findings into account.     

Influence of SNPs in cytokine-related genes on the severity of food allergy and atopic eczema in children

Although many single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) studies have reported an association of atopy, allergic diseases and total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, almost all of these studies sought risk factors for the onset of these allergic diseases. Furthermore, many studies have analyzed a single gene and hardly any have analyzed environmental factors. In these analyses, the results could be masked and the effects of other genes and environmental factors may be decreased. Here, we described the correlation between four genes [interleukin (IL)-4 (C-590T), IL-4 receptor (A1652G), FCER1B (G6842A) and STAT6 (G2964A)] in connection with IgE production; the role of IL-10 (C-627A) as a regulatory cytokine of allergy; and the severity of food allergy (FA) and atopic eczema (AE) in 220 Japanese allergic children. In addition to these SNPs, environmental factors, i.e., patient's attitude, indoor environment, and so on, were also investigated in this study. Our study was retrospective, and the correlation was analyzed by our defined clinical scores divided into three terms: worst symptoms, recent symptoms and general amelioration at the most recent examination during the disease course. Our results indicated that IL-10 AA, the genotype with lower IL-10 production, is associated with higher IgE levels in the serum (p < 0.0001, estimate; 0.912). Marginal liver abnormalities were observed in the subject group with both FA and AE (p < 0.1191, estimate; 0.1490). Our defined clinical scores enabled evaluation of various aspects of disease severity. Based on the scores, while no single SNP selected in this study determined severity, the combination of the SNP with laboratory data and environmental factors appeared to determine severity.