Thallium-201 SPECT with triple-headed gamma camera for differential diagnosis of small pulmonary nodular lesion 20 mm in diameter or smaller

AIM: Although thallium-201 (201Tl) has been used for the diagnosis of lung cancer, its detectability of small pulmonary nodules is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of 201Tl SPECT for the differential diagnosis for the pulmonary nodules 20 mm in diameter or smaller. METHODS: 201Tl SPECT was performed in 31 patients suspected of having primary lung cancer. The final diagnosis was established by histology, and tumor size was 10 to 20 mm in diameter. Twenty of 31 patients had malignant tumors, including squamous cell lung cancer (n = 5), adenocarcinoma (n = 14) and small cell lung cancer (n = 1), but in none of them was there mediastinal lymphnode involvement. RESULTS: Ten of 20 malignant tumors and 1 of 11 benign lesions demonstrated significant 201Tl uptake, so that the positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of lung cancer were 90.9% (10/11), 50.0% (10/20), 50.0% (10/20) and 90.9% (10/11), respectively. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that sensitivity for detecting lung cancer 20 mm or less in diameter may be insufficient, but even in patients with small pulmonary nodules, a positive 201Tl result is highly predictive of lung cancer.     

Surgical treatment for infective endocarditis with multiple embolic complications

A 59-year-old man was transferred to our hospital because of severe right leg pain, dyspnea and anuria. Due to severe cyanosis of the legs below the knees and severe hyperkalemia, he had undergone embolectomy of the right femoral artery and hemodialysis. Medical treatment for infective endocarditis was started after the first operation, because transesophageal echo cardiography revealed severe aortic regurgitation and massive vegetation of the aortic valve. Amputation of the right leg below the knee and of the left leg below the Lisfranc joint was performed after 19 days and aortic valve replacement with patch closure of a perivalvular abscess was performed one month after the first operation. The post-operative course was uneventful. He was weaned from hemodialysis and the follow-up echocardiographic study revealed no vegetation.     

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective review of 162 patients.

PURPOSE: We present results of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with proton beam therapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We reviewed 162 patients having 192 HCCs treated from November 1985 to July 1998 by proton beam therapy with or without transarterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection. The patients in the present series were considered unsuitable for surgery for various reasons, including hepatic dysfunction, multiple tumors, recurrence after surgical resection, and concomitant illnesses. The median total dose of proton irradiation was 72 Gy in 16 fractions over 29 days. RESULTS: The overall survival rate for all of the 162 patients was 23.5% at 5 years. The local control rate at 5 years was 86.9% for all 192 tumors among the 162 patients. The degree of impairment of hepatic functions attributable to coexisting liver cirrhosis and the number of tumors in the liver significantly affected patient survival. For 50 patients having least impaired hepatic functions and a solitary tumor, the survival rate at 5 years was 53.5%. The patients had very few acute reactions to treatments and a few late sequelae during and after the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Proton beam therapy for patients with HCC is effective, safe, well tolerable, and repeatable. It is the useful treatment mode for either cure or palliation for patients with HCC irrespective of tumor size, tumor location in the liver, insufficient feeding of the tumor with arteries, presence of vascular invasion, impaired hepatic functions, and coexisting intercurrent diseases.     

Prolonged oral treatment with an essential amino acid L-leucine does not affect female reproductive function and embryo-fetal development in rats.

L-leucine, an essential amino acid, is one of the most popular ingredients in dietary supplements. To investigate a possibility of its embryo-fetal toxicity in rats, 11- to 12-week old dams were orally administered an aqueous solution of L-leucine at doses of 300 or 1000 mg/kg body weight on gestational days 7-17. Body weight and feed intake was evaluated throughout the whole course of pregnancy (days 0-20). L-Leucine did not influence body weight, but at a dose of 1000 mg/kg, slightly enhanced feed intake on days 14 and 18 of pregnancy. Caesarean section (day 20) revealed no influences on the litter size and weight of live-born fetuses, the number of corpora lutea, implantation index or the quality of placenta, and the minor increase in feed intake was considered irrelevant to the pregnancy outcomes. Fetuses were evaluated in a battery of external, visceral and skeletal examinations. No effects of L-leucine on gender ratio and external abnormalities, and no significant treatment-related variations in visceral and skeletal pathologies were observed. These results suggested that L-leucine, administered orally during organogenesis at doses up to 1000 mg/kg body weight, did not affect the outcome of pregnancy and did not cause fetotoxicity in rats.     

Effect of single bout downhill running on the serum irisin concentrations in rats

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the effect of different running modes on serum irisin concentrations in rats. A total of 18, 10-week-old rats were divided into three groups; control group, 16° uphill running group (concentric exercise; CON) and, ?16° downhill running group (eccentric exercise; ECC). The running group’s rats ran on the inclined treadmill at 16?m/min, for a total of 90?min. Blood was drawn from the rats, 48?h after running, after which the rats were anesthetized. The serum concentrations of irisin were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Vastus intermedius was collected for immunohistochemical analysis. After multiple comparisons, the ECC showed a significantly high serum irisin concentration (ECC: 28.42?±?6.31?ng/ml, CON: 21.27?±?3.03?ng/ml) and a larger irisin antibody reactive cross-sectional area in vastus intermedius compared to the CON (p?<?0.05). This is the first study to reveal that single bout downhill running increases serum irisin concentrations in rats.