Adenosquamous Cell Carcinoma of the Colon with Severe Hypercalcemia: --Report of Two Cases--

Two patients with adenosquamous cell carcinoma of the colon,who presented severe hypercalcemia, are reported. Adenosquamouscell carcinoma of the colon is relatively rare, and there wereonly two cases among 1,053 patients who were hospitalized withmalignancy in the large intestine at the National Cancer CenterHospital during the past 18 years. Both of these cases presentedlethal hypercalcemia in the absence of osseous metastasis, andthere were no other patients who had malignant tumors of thelarge intestine and presented hypercalcemia. These observationssuggest that there is a close relationship between the squamouscell component and the occurrence of hypercalcemia, as is observedin the case of lung cancer. Radioimmunoactive parathyroid hormonewas undetectable in the plasma and the tumor tissue in thesetwo cases.     

Echographic Detection of Latent Severe Thrombotic Stenosis of the Superior Vena Cava and Innominate Vein in Patients with a Pacemaker: Integrated Diagnosis Using Sonography, Pulse Doppler, and Color Flow

Thrombosis of the innominate vein and SVC is a serious complication in patients with pacemakers, inducing puhnonary embolism or SVC syndrome. Venography is the definitive method for its diagnosis; however, it is too invasive for related studies. The purpose of this study was to validate sonography, pulse Doppler, and color flow in detecting noninvasively innominate vein or SVC thrombosis in patients with pacemakers. In 53 patients with pacemakers, the 1 severe SVC stenosis and 18 severe innominate vein stenoses due to thrombosis were diagnosed by digital subtraction angiography. Sonography accurately showed the severe SVC stenosis due to thrombosis, but had limitations on the innominate vein thrombosis. Color flow demonstrated mosaic flow, indicating poststenotic turbulence due to stenosis of the innominate vein and SVC caused by thrombosis in 15 of 16 patients, and pulse Doppler disclosed absence of flow due to complete occlusion of the innominate vein in 2 of 2 patients. Sensitivity and specificity for detecting severe innominate vein stenosis due to thrombosis using combined color flow and pulse Doppler was 94% and 100%, respectively. In conclusion, sonography, pulse Doppler, and color flow allow accurate detection of severe innominate vein or SVC stenosis due to thrombosis, and are therefore useful for the follow-up of patients with a pacemaker.     

The novel histamine H2 receptor antagonist FRG-8813 prevents delay of wound repair induced by hydrogen peroxide in a rabbit gastric epithelial cell system

Abstract The effects of a novel histamine H₂ receptor antagonist (FRG-8813) on the restoration process of gastric epithelial wounds were assessed using an in vitro wound healing model. FRG-8813 (1, 10 mol/L) was added to a complete confluent monolayer cell sheet after artificial wounding. The restoration process was analysed by a time-lapse video system and cell migration, proliferation and apoptosis were assessed. Hydrogen peroxide (1, 3 mmol/L) inhibited restoration after wounding by suppressing cell migration and proliferation and induced epithelial cell apoptosis around the wound. The addition of FRG-8813 abolished the hydrogen peroxide-induced retardation and prevented apoptosis, although FRG-8813 itself did not enhance wound healing. FRG-8813 may act as a radical scavenger as well as having an anti-secretory action and may have favourable effects on peptic ulcer healing.     

Efficacy of Prophylactic Endoscopic Variceal Sclerotherapy in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract: A setrospective study to determine the influence of prophylactic endoscopic sclerotherapy on the survival rate of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma complicated by esophageal varices was conducted. The subjects included 132 patients without esophageal varices at the time of diagnosis (NV group), 37 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma for whom prophylactic sclerotherapy had been performed for risky esophageal varices (PS group) and 26 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and risky varices for whom prophylaxis was not performed (NPS group). Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting the survival rate of the 132 patients without esophageal varices. A tumor embolus in the primary branch or main trunk of the portal vein adversely affected long-term survival in these patients. The patients were further divided into 2 subgroups, namely those with (Vp3) and without (Vp0-Vp2) tumor emboli in the main trunk and primary branch of the portal vein. In the Vp0– Vp2 emboli subgroup, the patients who received prophylactic sclerotherapy and the patients without varices had similar survival rates. Patients without prophylactic sclerotherapy had a significantly shorter survival rate than the group without varices and the prophylactic sclesotherapy group (p<0.01 and p<0.05). A significant bleeding rate was observed in the group without prophylaxis and not in the group with prophylaxis. However, in the Vp3 subgroup, the survival rate in each group was identical. Thus prophylactic variceal sclerotherapy is indicated for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who do not have tumor emboli in the main trunk or primary branch of portal vein.     

A Report on Experiments with Toyo ‘s Super-Gus-Permeable Hard Contact Lens: Paper presented at the International Contact Lens Congress,Fiji, July 1978.

Among the recent developments in the field of hard contact lenses, attention has been focused on a new type of lenses with high oxygen permeability. In 1977 the staff of the research division of the Toyo Contact Lens Co. Ltd succeeded in developing a new polymer with extremely high oxygen permeability based on an entirely new monomer made of esterifies methacrylic acid. They have named this new material ‘PHCL’, denoting a gas permeable hard contact lens. The PHCL has the following two primary features. The first feature lies in its excellent gas permeability. The permeability of the PHCL is measured to be 1.4×10^--¹⁰ml. cmlcm².sec.mmHg., which is about 2.5 times the permeability of other gas permeable hard contact lenses and about twice that of 2–Hema polymers. The second feature is the good wettability of the new material. The wettability is usually estimated by the contact angle. The contact angle of the PHCL is measured to be 23°, showing a remarkable improvement from the contact angle of PMMA which is about 63“. These two features will definitely contribute to the physiological integrity of the cornea and the comfort in wearing contact lenses. Our report includes the comparison of the PHCL with other gas permeable hard contact lenses and several soft contact lenses with respect to the following points: 1) reduction of glycogen granules in rabbits' eyes; 2) histological studies by HE staining; 3) corneal thickness changes measured by pachornetry with human eyes. The data indicates superior quality of the PHCL to other materials in terms of maintaining the normal metabolism and physiology of the cornea.