Safety of peritoneal dialysis catheter surgery under dexmedetomidine and local anesthesia for elderly patients in Japan: a single-center prospective cohort study

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology - The number of patients aged ≥ 75 years and who need renal replacement therapy is steadily increasing. The study aimed to determine...     

Correction to: Renal involvement of monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease associated with an unusual monoclonal immunoglobulin A glycan profile

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology -     

The efficacy and safety of mizoribine for maintenance therapy in patients with myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA)-associated vasculitis: the usefulness of serum mizoribine monitoring

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology - The life prognosis of elderly patients with myeloperoxidase–anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis (MPO-AAV) has been improved by...     

Echocardiographic changes in diastolic filling and stroke volume during postural alterations and ankle exercise in a patient with congenital defect of the pericardium

Journal of Echocardiography -     

Limitations and benefits of FDG-PET/CT in NF1 patients with nerve sheath tumors: A cross-sectional/longitudinal study

The purposes of this study were to re-confirm the usefulness of PET/CT in the differentiation of benignity/malignancy of neurogenic tumors in NF1 patients, and to analyze the natural course of plexiform neurofibroma (pNF) and clarify whether PET/CT is also useful for detecting tumors other than neurogenic tumors. PET/CT was prospectively imaged in 36 NF1 patients. There were 14 malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) in 14 patients, and 54 pNFs in 30 patients. Nine patients had both MPNST and pNF. Maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was significantly higher in MPNST (median 7.6: range 4.1-10.4) (P < .001) compared with that of pNF (median 3.7: range 1.6-9.3). The cut-off value of 5.8 resulted in a sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 88.9%. Median age was 29 y, and median maximum tumor diameter was 82 mm in 14 MPNST patients. The 5-y overall survival rate was 46.8%. Three patients with low-grade MPNST were alive without disease at the time of this report. In 9 patients in which pNF and MPNST co-existed, 2 showed a higher SUVmax of pNF than that of MPNST. Natural history analysis of pNF (n = 43) revealed that no factors significantly correlated with increased tumor size. Nine lesions other than neurogenic tumors were detected by PET/CT including 5 thyroid lesions and 3 malignant neoplasms. This study revealed the usefulness and limitation of PET/CT for NF1 patients. In the future, it will be necessary to study how to detect over time the malignant transformation of pNF to MPNST, via an intermediate tumor.     

Clinical usefulness of cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy (CART) in combination with chemotherapy for malignant ascites: a post-marketing surveillance study

International Journal of Clinical Oncology - Cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy (CART) has been suggested to be able to treat malignant ascites more safely and effectively with...     

Prognostic significance of third-line treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: comparative assessments between cabazitaxel and other agents

International Journal of Clinical Oncology - Cabazitaxel has played an important role in the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); however, several...     

17Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in human endometrium and its disorders

In situ estrogen metabolism and synthesis have been considered to play a very important role in the development and progression of human endometrial carcinoma. 17Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (17-HSDs) are enzymes involved in the formation of active sex steroids, including testosterone, estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2). Estrogens are interchanged by two enzymes, 17-HSD types 1 and 2, type 1 converts E1 to E2, and type 2 does reverse actions. 17-HSD type 5 catalyzes the reduction of androstenedione to testosterone. 17-HSD type 2 expression was decreased through normal endometrium, hyperplasia and carcinoma accordingly. There was a significant inverse correlation between intratumoral E2 concentration and the level of 17-HSD type 2 mRNA in endometrial carcinoma. 17-HSD type 5 expression was significantly increased through normal endometrium, hyperplasia and carcinoma accordingly. These results indicated that 17-HSD types 2 and 5 play an important role in the regulation of in situ estrogen production in endometrial carcinoma.     

Normal delivery following an uneventful pregnancy in a Japanese acromegalic patient after discontinuation of octreotide long acting release formulation at an early phase of pregnancy

We report a 35-year-old woman with active acromegaly despite pituitary surgery and irradiation who received continuous octreotide LAR treatment for the control of GH excess until discovery of her pregnancy. The patient delivered a healthy boy following an uneventful pregnancy after discontinuing octreotide LAR as soon as possible at the early phase of pregnancy. Despite a substantial maternal-fetal transfer of octreotide, postnatal development was normal at 3 years of age. In almost all previously described cases, octreotide was discontinued after pregnancy was confirmed. No side-effects of mother or fetus have been reported. Octreotide treatment in pregnancy seems to be feasible and safe. Due to the still-limited number of reported cases treated with octreotide LAR, the potential benefits of octreotide LAR treatment should be weighed carefully against its possible risks.     

Malaria parasites giving rise to recrudescence in vitro

Recrudescences were simulated in vitro with drug treatment to examine how drug-sensitive parasites survive the treatment. Various numbers of cultured parasites were treated with lethal doses of pyrimethamine or mefloquine for various lengths of time. Recrudescences were observed in parasite populations with larger initial numbers of parasites when the treatment duration was prolonged. Equal numbers of parasitized erythrocytes were treated with various concentrations of pyrimethamine or mefloquine. There was no clear linear relationship between the incidence of recrudescence and the drug concentration. Parasites that had recrudesced were continuously allowed to recrudesce in the succeeding recrudescence experiments. Both the duration from the cessation of treatment to the time at which the recrudescent parasitemia level reached 1% and the growth rate of recrudescent parasites were equal among these recrudescences. The recrudescent parasites in these experiments were as sensitive to the drugs as the parasites tested before treatment were. These results suggest that a parasite culture may contain parasites in some phases that are not killed by drug for up to 10 days, which explains the recrudescences that occur even after treatment.