A case report of a young patient with invasive bladder cancer

A 29-year-old male with bladder cancer was referred to our hospital. Histological examination of transurethral biopsy showed transitional cell carcinoma with invasion into prostate (T4aN0M0, grade 3). Nerve-sparing radical cystectomy with ileal neobladder reconstruction was performed after 3 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Methotrexate, Epirubicin and Cisplatin. Continence and erectile function were preserved and no recurrence has been observed for 18 months after the operation. This is the sixth case of an invasive bladder cancer in Japanese patients under 30 years old.     

Intermittent oral hormonal chemotherapy using estramustine phosphate and etoposide for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer

Seventeen patients were given lower dose and intermittent oral administration of estramustine phosphate (6 mg/kg/day) and etoposide (30 mg/m2/day) for 7 days. Then administration was discontinued for 7 days. This administration cycle was repeated. Therapy was continued until evidence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Fifteen of the 17 patients were finally evaluated for PSA response. Overall, the pretreatment PSA levels were lowered at least 50% from baseline in 7 (47%) of the 15 patients. The median survival was 65 weeks. Five of the 17 patients complained of anorexia or nausea during the treatment, but none of them showed over grade 2 anorexia, none requiring transfusion or hospitalization. None of the patients showed edema, deep venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, anemia or myocardial infarction. Because of its rare and mild adverse effects, this intermittent administration of oral estramustine and oral etoposide may be a useful and secure regimen for hormone refractory prostate cancer.     

Late massive hemoptysis after transbronchial biopsy of hamartoma: an involvement of pulmonary artery and vein.

Pulmonary hamartoma is a common benign neoplasm that is usually asymptomatic and that arises in the periphery of the lung. However, when the tumor is growing without showing characteristic findings of hamartoma, such as involving calcification, fat density, and chondromatous contents in chest X-rays or computed tomography, the diagnosis is sometimes that problematic and definitive histological diagnosis should be established. We herein report a case with a massive hemoptysis 10 days after a successful transbronchial biopsy. A 69-year-old man who underwent mitral valve plasty 6 years earlier presented a left lung shadow during a routine chest X-ray. The shadow was seen to be growing by a series of chest X-rays. A week after warfarin had been stopped, a bronchoscopic biopsy was performed. No bronchial hemorrhage was observed during the procedure, and warfarin was not restarted. The patient began noticing bloody sputa once or twice a day, and 10 days after the biopsy, 400 mL of hemoptysis was suddenly disgorged. An emergency left upper lobectomy of the lung was performed, and the hemoptysis soon disappeared postoperatively. The patient is well without respiratory symptoms 36 months after the surgery.     

Prognosis of Japanese Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients in the Cytokine Era: A Cooperative Group Report of 1463 Patients

Background

Incidence rate of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) differs among countries. The rates of Asian countries are lower than those of countries in North America or Europe but are exceptionally high in Japanese males. Approximately 30% of patients with RCC have metastasis at initial diagnosis, and another 30% have metastasis after nephrectomy. Clinical studies of risk factors in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC) are mainly based on data from non-Asian patients.

Objectives

We aimed to investigate the prognosis of Japanese patients and their prognostic factors.

Design, setting, and participants

The subjects of this study were 1463 patients who were clinically diagnosed with RCC with metastasis in 40 Japanese hospitals between January 1988 and November 2002.

Measurements

The primary end point was overall survival calculated from first diagnosis of mRCC to death or last follow-up. We also investigated the relationship between survival and clinical features.

Results and limitations

The median overall survival time was 21.4 mo. The estimated survival rates at 1, 3, 5, and 10 yr were 64.2%, 35.2%, 22.5%, and 9.1%, respectively; they contrasted with data from the United States of 54%, 19%, 10%, and 6%, respectively for the same periods. A high percentage of patients had undergone nephrectomy (80.5%) and metastasectomy (20.8%), both of which were shown to prolong survival.

Conclusions

The median survival time in the present study was approximately twice as long as that of previous studies from North America or Europe. Early diagnosis of metastasis, nephrectomy, metastasectomy, and cytokine-based therapy seemed to improve the prognosis of RCC patients in the present study.     

Intravenous ketamine attenuates arterial pressure changes during the induction of anaesthesia with propofol

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the administration of ketamine before induction with propofol produces a smaller decrease in arterial pressure. METHODS: Twenty-two patients were assigned to one of two groups to receive either propofol with ketamine (n = 11) or propofol alone (n = 11, control). Anaesthesia was induced with 2 mg kg-1 propofol and 0.5 mg kg-1 ketamine or 2 mg kg-1 propofol alone. Ketamine was administered 1 min prior to induction with propofol. Immediately after induction with propofol, vecuronium (0.15 mg kg-1) was administered. Four minutes after administration of vecuronium, tracheal intubation was performed. Anaesthesia was maintained using sevoflurane (0.5%) in 66% nitrous oxide until 3 min after intubation. Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded on arrival, directly before induction with propofol, prior to tracheal intubation, immediately after intubation and at 3 min after intubation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Administration of ketamine before induction with propofol preserved haemodynamic stability compared with induction with propofol alone.     

Prolonged hoarseness and arytenoid dislocation after endotracheal intubation

We present a case of prolonged hoarseness after tracheal intubation in a 62-year-old woman with bronchial asthma who underwent a pylorogastrectomy under a combination of epidural and general anesthesia. After the induction of anesthesia, the patient was carefully intubated using a 7.5-mm cuffed endotracheal tube without a stylet to avoid causing an asthma attack; the patient was extubated approximately 6 hours after the tracheal intubation. On the first postoperative day, the patient complained of hoarseness, vocal fatigue, and dysphagia. A direct laryngoscopy performed by an otorhinolaryngologist revealed dyskinesia of the left vocal cord and sufficient arytenoid cartilage mobility. The poor vocal fold mobility was probably caused by the force exerted on the left arytenoid by the convex curvature of the endotracheal tube, which had been inserted from the right side of the mouth, or a backward pressure on the thyroid cartilage during intubation. Early treatment is crucial in such cases, since the cricoarytenoid joint can become fibrosed in an unfavorable position. Fortunately, all the symptoms disappeared after one month in the present case. Although the trigger responsible for the spontaneous healing remains unknown, natural recovery might be associated with proper use of the vocal cords.     

Leg Edema Due to a Mass in the Pelvis After a Large-Diameter Metal-On-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty

We report the case of a patient with leg edema after large-diameter metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty. At 1 year and 2 months after primary left large-diameter metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty, the patient complained of left leg edema. At first, we suspected deep venous thrombosis. However, deep venous thrombosis was not detected by venous ultrasonographic examination. Computed tomography imaging revealed a mass in front of the iliac fossa. The mass compressed the left iliac artery and vein. We therefore believed that this lesion was the cause of the leg edema and performed resection of the mass. The resected mass consisted of necrotic tissue infiltrating inflammation cells, so it was diagnosed as pseudotumor. Unilateral leg edema disappeared gradually after the resection.     

A case of retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma initially diagnosed as malignant fibrous histiocytoma: a case report

We report a case of retroperitoneal tumor which turned out to be liposarcoma by the histological evaluation of its recurrent tumor, although the initial tumor was diagnosed as malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH). A retroperitoneal tumor in a 62-year-old man was removed and pathologically diagnosed as MFH. Five years after the initial surgery, computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a recurrent tumor near the spleen. The tumor was resected together with the spleen, tail of pancreas, and connective tissue due to adhesion and diagnosed as well-differentiated liposarcoma with sclerosing component. Generally dedifferentiated liposarcoma is difficult to distinguish from MFH and the presence of a well-differentiated liposarcoma component in the adjacent adipose tissue leads to the diagnosis of dedifferentiated liposarcoma. The clinical course of the present case indicated that the initial tumor was dedifferentiated liposarcoma and the recurrent tumor developed from the surrounding well-differentiated liposarcoma.