Changes of cancer diagnosis disclosure to children in Japan in the last 20 years

International Journal of Clinical Oncology - The practice of cancer diagnosis disclosure to children has been changed with the times. The regulations of clinical trials in the 2000s might change...     

Regional fractional ventilation mapping in spontaneously breathing mice using hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI

The feasibility of ventilation imaging with hyperpolarized (HP) ¹²⁹Xe MRI has been investigated for quantitative and regional assessment of ventilation in spontaneously breathing mice. The multiple breath ventilation imaging technique was modified to the protocol of spontaneous inhalation of HP ¹²⁹Xe delivered continuously from a ¹²⁹Xe polarizer. A series of ¹²⁹Xe ventilation images was obtained by varying the number of breaths before the ¹²⁹Xe lung imaging. The fractional ventilation, r, was successfully evaluated for spontaneously breathing mice. An attempt was made to detect ventilation dysfunction in the emphysematous mouse lung induced by intratracheal administration of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE). As a result, the distribution of fractional ventilation could be visualized by the r map. Significant dysfunction of ventilation was quantitatively identified in the PPE‐treated group. The whole‐lung r value of 0.34 ± 0.01 for control mice (N = 4) was significantly reduced, to 0.25 ± 0.07, in PPE‐treated mice (N = 4) (p = 0.038). This study is the first application of multiple breath ventilation imaging to spontaneously breathing mice, and shows that this methodology is sensitive to differences in the pulmonary ventilation. This methodology is expected to improve simplicity as well as noninvasiveness when assessing regional ventilation in small rodents. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fit and fill analysis of a newly designed femoral stem in cementless total hip arthroplasty for patients with secondary osteoarthritis

The fit and fill of the femoral canal are critical to the success of cementless femoral stems in total hip arthroplasty. It is difficult for conventional stems to provide a good fit and fill for the femora of patients with secondary osteoarthritis. Based on measurements of 100 femora of these patients, we designed two types of Fukui Medical School (FMS) stems with a proximal lateral flare that differed in the medial radius. We compared the fit and fill of the FMS stems with those of four conventional stems, using computer simulation. The mean proximal fit and total fit of the FMS stems were 46% and 53% respectively, a significant improvement compared with the other stems examined. The mean fill of FMS stems was 82% at the lower end of the lesser trochanter and 84% at the upper end of the isthmus, values that were significantly higher than those of the other stems. Since September 1995, we have implanted FMS stems in 15 hips with secondary osteoarthritis. Radiographic evaluations showed that the canal fill of the FMS stems was significantly greater in the proximal femur compared with other stems previously inserted at our department. A summary of this paper was presented at the 9th Symposium on Computer-Assisted Radiology; June 1995, Berlin, and at the 8th International Symposium on Technology in Arthroplasty; September 1995, Puerto Rico.     

Successful catheter ablation for incessant ventricular tachycardia in a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

A 35-year-old man was referred to Nihon University Hospital because of repetitive ventricular tachycardia (VT) at 180-200 beats/min. QRS morphology of the VT was right bundle branch block with a northwest axis. Transthoracic echocardiography showed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Coronary angiography was normal and left ventriculography showed neither obstruction in the left ventricle (LV) nor any pressure gradients within the LV or between the LV and aorta. Hemodynamic deterioration occurred during VT. Intracardiac mapping showed that the VT originated from the posteroseptal portion of the LV near the apex and Purkinje potentials that preceded the onset of the QRS complex by 58-70 ms were documented. Radiofrequency ablation at these sites terminated the VT, which has not recurred for 25 months.     

Aggressive resection for advanced pancreatic carcinoma

An aggressive pancreatectomy was performed on a 53 year old Japanese man with advanced cancer of the pancreas. The tumor originated from the body of the pancreas and invaded the stomach, duodenum, left kidney, transverse colon and common hepatic artery. An unexpected cancer was also found in the head of the pancreas during the operation. Therefore, total pancreatectomy, total gastrectomy, left adrenonephrectomy, resection of the left transverse colon and dissection of the regional lymph nodes were performed. Resection of the common hepatic artery was also performed, followed by an end-to-end anastomosis between the common hepatic artery and celiac trunk. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was doing well until nine months after the operation when multiple metastatic lesions were noted in the liver. He died 391 days after the operation from hepatic failure.     

Effect of cystathionine beta-synthase variant 844ins68bp and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase A1298C polymorphisms in xenografts on 5-FU efficacy and doubling time

The association of MTHFR and CBS variants with the doubling time and responsiveness to several chemodrugs was analyzed in 26 human cancer xenografts. The tumors homozygous for the absence of insertion (NN) for the CBS 844ins68bp were more chemosensitive than those with insertion (NI) to TS-1 (P=0.0048), suggesting a potential effect of this variant on fluoropyrimidine efficacy. Furthermore, the doubling time of tumors with a variant C allele (AC or CC) in MTHFR-A1298C was significantly longer than that of tumors with a normal allele (AA) (P=0.0008). Twenty-nine cellular proliferation-related genes were associated with MTHFR-A1298C genotyping and with the doubling time.