Placebo is commonly used in clinical trials but it is also used in clinical practice. However, it is difficult to get informed consent for the placebo use from patients in clinical practice. Thus, placebo use in such occasion can lead to an ethical problem. We have previously reported the current use of placebo and the psychological conflict of doctors and nurses about the use of placebo treatments in the actual medical settings. However, to date, no study has reported the perception of pharmacists, some of whom prepare and explain the use of placebo medicines to patients, as their medication. We conducted a survey of the current use of placebo in clinical practice and the perception of pharmacists regarding its use in 3 hospitals based on anonymous self-report questionnaire as a pilot study prior to a nationwide survey. We administered the questionnaire to 92 pharmacists belonging to 3 hospital pharmacies between July 2 and 24, 2012. Of the 92 pharmacists, 84 (91.3%) returned the questionnaire, then we analyzed the data by descriptive statistics and a contingency table. Our results showed that 54.8% of the pharmacists had experience of placebo use in medical settings, and 9.9% of them had instructed on the use of placebo ; while 43.2% of them (answered that they feel uncomfortable with the use of placebos in clinical settings) tended to feel antipathy toward the use of placebos in clinical practice. While the use of placebos in medical setting may have a potential ethical issue, 66.7% of the pharmacists considered that placebo use in clinical settings is not necessarily unethical. Pharmacists who had previously discussed this issue with other staff thought that placebo use in clinical practice is unethical (p＝0.009).

Between March 1985 and May 1988 we performed valve replacement to 86 cases using 92 Duromedics prosthetic valves in the atrioventricular position. Long term results were obtained, we examined the problem (especially thrombosed valve). The cumulative follow-up was 313.6 patients-year (p-y). The 6-year actuarial survival rate including early mortality was 83.4±4.1%. The valve-related complications were as follows; peripheral embolism 3 cases (1.0%/p-y), thrombosed valve 7 cases (2.2%/p-y), hemorrhage and paravalvular leakage each 1 case (0.3%/p-y). All valve-related complications were 12 cases (3.8%/p-y). Reoperation for valve-related complications were 5 cases (1.6%/p-y), it was all to thrombosed prosthetic valve. Thrombosed valve were seen 7 cases (4 cases in mitral, 3 cases in tricuspid position). The event free rate of thrombosed valve was 89.1±4.0%. It was high incidence in tricuspid position. We concluded that it was necessary to be done early reoperation the time of fixed with one leaflet alone.

Purpose: We evaluated the oncological outcomes of bridge to surgery (BTS) using stent compared with surgery alone for obstructive colorectal cancer. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent curative resection for stages II to III obstructive colorectal cancer at our institution from January 2009 to March 2020, were registered retrospectively and divided into 43 patients in the BTS group and 65 patients in the surgery alone group. We compared the surgical and oncological outcomes between the 2 groups. Results: Stent-related perforation did not occur. One patient in whom the stent placement was unsuccessful underwent emergency surgery with poor decompression (clinical success rate, 97.7%). The pathological characteristics were not significantly different between the groups. The following surgical outcomes in the BTS group were superior to those in the surgery alone group; nonemergency surgery (P<0.001), surgical approach (P=0.006), and length of hospital stay (P=0.020). The median follow-up time was 44.9 months (range, 1.1–126.5 months). The 3-year relapse-free survival rates were 68.4% and 58.2% (P=0.411), and the overall survival rates were 78.3% and 88.2% (P=0.255) in the surgery alone and BTS groups, respectively. The 3-year locoregional recurrence rates were 10.2% and 8.0% (P=0.948), and distant metastatic recurrence rates were 13.3% and 30.4% (P=0.035) in the surgery alone and BTS groups, respectively. Conclusion This study revealed that BTS with stent may be associated with a higher frequency of distant metastatic recurrence. Stent for stages II to III obstructive colorectal cancer potentially worsens oncological outcomes.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Left-sided diverticulitis is increasing in Japan, and many studies report that left-sided diverticulitis is more likely to be severe. Therefore, it is important to identify the features and risk factors for left-sided diverticulitis. We hypothesized that left-sided diverticulitis in Japan is related to obesity and conducted a study of the features and risk factors for this disorder in Japan. METHODS: Right-sided diverticulitis and left-sided diverticulitis patients (total of 215) were compared with respect to background, particularly obesity-related factors to identify risk factors for diverticulitis. RESULTS: There were 166 (77.2%) right-sided diverticulitis patients and 49 (22.8%) left-sided diverticulitis patients. The proportions of obese patients (body mass index > or =25 kg/m2, p=0.0349), viscerally obese patients (visceral fat area > or =100 cm2, p=0.0019), patients of mean age (p=0.0003), and elderly patients (age > or =65 years, p=0.0177) were significantly higher in the left-sided-diverticulitis group than in the right-sided-diverticulitis group. The proportion of viscerally obese patients was significantly higher in the left-sided-diverticulitis group than in the left-sided-diverticulosis group (p=0.0390). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that obesity, particularly visceral obesity, was a risk factor for left-sided diverticulitis in Japan.
Aged ; Diverticulitis ; Humans ; Japan ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Following the revision of the structure and content of the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education to be more outcome-based and the legal status of the medical practice performed by medical students in the clinical clerkship, we have revised the Guideline for Participatory Clinical Clerkship. The following items were revised or newly described : significance of enhancing the participatory clinical clerkship, scope of medical practice, confidentiality, patient consent, patient consultation and support service, objectives of the clinical clerkship, simulation education, departments where the clinical clerkship is conducted, assessment in the clinical practice setting, CC-EPOC, and entrustable professional activities. A foundation has been established to promote seamless undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. However, future work is needed to examine the specific level of performance expected at the end of the clinical clerkship and department-specific clinical practice goals and educational strategies.

In this revision, we have attempted to align the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education competency, "problem-solving ability based on specialized knowledge," with the "Standards of National Examination for Medical Practitioners." The major diseases and syndromes in "Essential Fundamentals" correspond to the basic diseases in Table 1 of the Core Curriculum, symptoms, physical and laboratory examinations, and treatment in "General Medicine" correspond to the items in Table 2 of the Core Curriculum, and the diseases in "Medical Theory" correspond to the diseases in PS-02 of the Core Curriculum. The validity of the diseases in the Core Curriculum was verified using the evaluation results of the examination level classification of the "Research for Revision of National Examination Criteria." Approximately 690 diseases were conclusively selected. This revision mentions the number of diseases in the Core Curriculum for the first time. Hopefully, this will lead to a deeper examination of diseases that should be studied in medical schools in the future.