A therapeutic approach utilizing animals is said to be effective for emotionally troubled patients. Recently, this animal-assisted therapy has been implemented in psychiatric hospitals. In the present study, patients seeking some kind of benefit from the interaction with animals participated, and their interaction with animals was closely observed. The results clarified the tendencies of those patients requiring this approach and the resulting changes in patients' mood. For the nurses engaged in 24-hour living support for hospitalized patients, environmental improvement is an important aspect of nursing care and “creating a hospital environment that includes animals” may be linked to emotional stability, improved motivation to live and environmental adaptation for patients who like animals.

A 77-year-old woman was given general anesthesia for an ascending aortic aneurysm operation and went into anaphylactic shock. The operation was canceled. Vecuronium, pancuronium, protamine and famotidine revealed positive prick test reactions. Ascending aortic replacement underwent under minimum dose of heparin for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Heparin was injected immediately before CPB (2.5mg/kg) and nafamostat mesilate was injected continuously during CPB (2mg/kg/h). The ACT value was over 1, 400sec during CPB. However, protamine was not used after CPB. The operation time was 4h and 30min. CPB time was 1h and 26min. After the patient returned to the ICU, bleeding from the chest drainage tubes increased temporarily. The bleeding decreased gradually after administration of FFP and MAP.

A 31-year-old woman had an aneurysm of the brachiocephalic artery and aortic regurgitation due to aortitis syndrome. As C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were high (27.5mg/dl), steroid therapy was initiated. After CRP became negative, the brachiocephalic aneurysm was repaired using a GELWEAVE^® Y-graft, and the aortic valve was replaced with an ATS^® mechanical valve. Regional cerebral oxygenation (rSO₂) was monitored during the operative period. The level of rSO₂ did not change during the period when the brachiocephalic artery was clamped, resulting in no cerebral damage after the operation. Homer's syndrome appeared after the operation but the symptoms gradually improved spontaneously. A mechanical valve was chosen because the patient did not want to undergo a reoperation. No cerebrovascular event occurred after the operation and the patient was discharged on the 28th postoperative day.

We report mitral valve replacement (MVR) in a patient who had undergone left pneumonectomy for thoracic empyema 8 years previously. A 75-year-old man had heart failure due to mitral valve regurgitation and medication therapy was initiated. Although the heart had shifted to the right side, MVR was performed using a SJM valve with primary median sternotomy. The tracheal intubation tube was removed 17h after the operation, and the patient was discharged on the 43rd postoperative day. Careful preoperative assessment, preoperative control of heart failure, and careful attention to perioperative fluid management are important components of successful clinical management.

The operation for constrictive pericarditis after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) needs complete pericardiectomy without injury to the bypass graft. A 60-year-old man had pleural effusion a month after CABG. Right atrial pressure (RAP), right ventricular pressure (RVP), and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) were elevated and RVP showed a dip and plateau sign on cardiac catheterization. We diagnosed heart failure due to constrictive pericarditis following CABG. Pericardiectomy was performed using a cardiopulmonary bypass through a median sternotomy. The Harmonic Scalpel was useful for dissecting the pericardium. After the operation, it took a month for the patient to improve. RAP, RVP and PCWP were decreasing, and the dip and plateau sign of RVP was improved. The pleural effusion disappeared and the patient was discharged on the 73rd postoperative day.

The School of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, was founded in 1974 and had graduated 1, 561 students by 1994. From 1980 through 1987, 44% to 73% of graduates became hospital staff, 16% to 40% became university staff, and 0% to 8% became general practitioners. More than 80% of graduates did a 2-year residency (sotsugo-kenshu) at our university hospital and 40% completed a 6-year residency. Almost 10 years of postgraduate training was required to become an established medical practitioner. This length of time indicates that postgraduate training is the most important part of the medical career. About 80% of graduates earned doctor of philosophy (Ph. D.) degrees, whereas 93% became registered specialists, indicating that graduates tended to become specialists rather than to pursue Ph. D. degrees. This difference is more evident among female graduates: 85% became specialists whereas only 53% received a Ph. D. Most graduates considered the School of Medicine to have a good curriculum, but some younger graduates had complaints. The graduates chose their career specialties on the basis of their own interests and aptitudes. We should take these data into account to prepare a system of life-long education and learning.

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of past injuries of female university soccer players in comparison with injuries in male university soccer players.
We investigated past injuries of female players (n=32) and male players (n=24) . A past injury was defined as any injury sustained during soccer that required admission to a team doctor, medical attention or absence from practices or games for more than seven days.
The most frequent injury was Joint Injuries in both female and male players. High occurrence of overuse injuries of lower leg was most apparent in the female players. The 32 female players had experienced 144 injuries, or 4.5 injuries per player, and the 24 male players had suffered 85 injuries, or 3.5 injuries per player. The numbers of injuries per player of female players were 1.3 times higher than the male players. Also, the incidence of injury was 0.64 (injury/player/year) in female players, and 0.27 (injury/player/year) in male players. The incidence of injury of female players was significantly larger than that of male players.
We conclude that the prevention and care of overuse injuries in lower leg is very important for female succor players.

The patient was a 56-year-old male. He had a history of alcoholism since 1975 and diabetes mellitus since 1978. He was treated with insulin therapy. But the control of diabetes mellitus was very poor and he had six hypoglycemic comas attacks. He had diabetic triopathy but no symptoms of gait disturbance, dementia and incontinence. Brain computerized tomography and magneting resonance imaging revealed severe communicating hydrocephalus with mild brain atrophy.¹¹¹In-DPTA cisternography revealed retension of isotope in the ventricle after 48 hours. The pressure of cerebrospinal fluid was normal.
This case report is interesting as it suggests the relationship between normal pressure hydrocephalus and hypoglycemia.

An 78-year-old woman visited our hospital with the chief complaints of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. She was operated on for gastric ulcer when she was 56 years old and complained of abdominal discomfort after operation. One day she wished to take Confrey (Symphytum officinale), but she took digitalis leaves (Digitalis purpurea) by mistake. On admission she was drowsy and the systolic blood pressure was 60 mmHg on palpation. Electrocardiograms showed bradycardia, irregular AV-nodal rhythm and ST depressions and T wave inversions with the shortening of the QT interval. Serum levels were potassium, 6.4 mEq/1 ; BUN, 34.4 mg/di ; creatinine, 1.5 mg/di ; digoxin, 2.0 ng/ml (therapeutic level, up to 2.0 ng/ml); and digitoxin, 111ng/ml (therapeutic level, up to 25 ng/ml). Hemodynamic data showed HR, 49 beats/min ; CO, 2.81/min; CI, 2.31/min/m²; SV, 57 ml/beat and SI, 47 ml/beat/m² on administration of dopamine 7μg/kg/min. So VVI pacing was started at 70 bpm and CO increased to 3.6 1/min after pacing. But unfortunately she died of ventricular fibrillation. The digitalis leaves resemble the Confrey leaves and it is easy to mix up these two plants. Although this is a rare case, digitalis intoxication can be life-threatening. So we should prepared ourselves for the treatment of patients poisoned with digitalis and other poisonous herbs.