Objective : To evaluate the long-term benefit and risk of interferon (IFN) therapy for chronic hepatitis C.
Methods : Seventy-five patients with chronic hepatitis C who were treated with IFN at our hospitals in 1992 and 1993 were enrolled. Observation of general condition, incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and all events were followed up for ten years.
Results : HCC was observed in 12 patients (16%), six of whom died. In two cases, HCC was suspected and could not be ruled-out, and four patients died of other causes. Adverse events which needed continuous treatment or follow-up were observed in 34 cases (45%). No HCC was observed in cases whose ALT was maintained within the normal range. Sixteen cases (19%) have been in stable good condition, free from HCC or adverse events.
Discussion : Adverse events including drug adverse reactions after IFN were varied and some were irreversible. Patients who had such adverse reactions were forced to continue some treatments for adverse reactions and had difficulties in daily life. It is desirable that treatments for refractory cases are developed, but there are also new risks with long-term treatment. Monitoring and analysis of the adverse events and the total death rate will be more important.

Objective: In Japan, the healthcare authority encourages physicians to prescribe generic drugs in order to reduce the copayments by the patients for pharmaceutical expenses and to improve the financial status of the national medical insurance system.  In accordance with this governmental policy, we have been actively involved in switching original to generic formulations.  Thus, Utemerine® 50 mg injection was replaced with Ritodrine hydrochloride 50 mg intravenous injection produced by Nichiiko.  There have been some reports on adverse events caused by the generic formulations of Ritodrine hydrochloride.  Factors contributing to these adverse effects may include different additives and/or vehicles and the exemption of demonstrating some conditions for approval, including clinical trials.  Therefore, in order to assess the efficacy and safety of a generic formulation of Ritodrine hydrochloride injection formulation compared with the original formulation and to decide on its continued use, we carried out a retrospective cohort study.
Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study in order to assess the efficacy and safety of a generic formulation of Ritodrine hydrochloride injection formulation compared with the original formulation.
Results: There were no significant differences in the length of hospital stay, rate of emergency transport to other institutions, gestational week of delivery, rate of stillbirth, rate of abortion, or incidence of adverse events between the two formulations.
Conclusion: Our results may contribute to the safe and secure use of the generic formulations of Ritodrine hydrochloride in the current situation of the increasing use of generic drugs in health care.  Although there are some limitations in our study, the results suggest that there are no particular problems with the continued use of Ritodrine hydrochloride 50 mg intravenous injection produced by Nichiiko.

PURPOSE: The pathological mechanism of lumbar spinal stenosis is reduced blood flow in nerve roots and degeneration of nerve roots. Exercise and prostaglandin E1 is used for patients with peripheral arterial disease to increase capillary flow around the main artery and improve symptoms; however, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), an estimation of blood flow in the main artery in the leg, does not change after treatment. Lumbar spinal nerve roots contain somatosensory, somatomotor, and unmyelinated autonomic nerves. Improved blood flow by medication with prostaglandin E1 and decompression surgery in these spinal nerve roots may improve the function of nerve fibers innervating muscle, capillary, and main vessels in the lower leg, resulting in an increased ABI. The purpose of the study was to examine whether these treatments can improve ABI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seven patients who received conservative treatment such as exercise and medication (n=56) or surgical treatment (n=51) were included. Low back pain and leg pain scores, walking distance, and ABI were measured before treatment and after 3 months of conservative treatment alone or surgical treatment followed by conservative treatment. RESULTS: Low back pain, leg pain, and walking distance significantly improved after both treatments (p<0.05). ABI significantly increased in each group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This is the first investigation of changes in ABI after treatment in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Improvement of the spinal nerve roots by medication and decompression surgery may improve the supply of blood flow to the lower leg in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alprostadil/therapeutic use ; *Ankle Brachial Index ; Decompression, Surgical/methods ; Female ; Humans ; Low Back Pain/drug therapy/physiopathology/surgery/*therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae/physiopathology/*surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain/surgery ; Spinal Nerve Roots/physiopathology ; Spinal Stenosis/physiopathology/*surgery/*therapy ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of conservative and surgical treatments for nocturnal leg cramps in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Nocturnal leg cramps is frequently observed in patients with peripheral neuropathy. However, there have been few reports on the relationship between nocturnal leg cramps and LSS, and it remains unknown whether conservative or surgical intervention has an impact on leg cramps in patients with LSS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects were 130 LSS patients with low back and leg pain. Conservative treatment such as exercise, medication, and epidural block was used in 66 patients and surgical treatment such as decompression or decompression and fusion was performed in 64 patients. Pain scores and frequency of nocturnal leg cramps were evaluated based on self-reported questionnaires completed before and 3 months after treatment. RESULTS: The severity of low back and leg pain was higher and the incidence of nocturnal leg cramps was significantly higher before treatment in the surgically treated group compared with the conservatively treated group. Pain scores improved in both groups after the intervention. The incidence of nocturnal leg cramps was significantly improved by surgical treatment (p=0.027), but not by conservative treatment (p=0.122). CONCLUSION: The findings of this prospective study indicate that the prevalence of nocturnal leg cramps is associated with LSS and severity of symptoms. Pain symptoms were improved by conservative or surgical treatment, but only surgery improved nocturnal leg cramps in patients with LSS. Thus, these results indicate that the prevalence of nocturnal leg cramps is associated with spinal nerve compression by LSS.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Humans ; Leg/*pathology ; Low Back Pain/epidemiology/etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain/*epidemiology/*etiology ; Prospective Studies ; Questionnaires ; Spinal Stenosis/*complications/*physiopathology/surgery

Pneumonia is common among elderly patients and the incidence among older adults is increasing in aging societies. If pulmonologists were to treat all cases of pneumonia, their work volume would be immense and the risk of burnout would increase. We reviewed cases of consecutive patients 70 years of age or older who were treated for pneumonia between November 2017 and October 2018 at Akita Kousei Medical Center. Of a total of 372 patients recruited for this study (214 men, mean age 85.6 years), 288 patients recovered and 84 (29.2%) died. The duration of admission differed significantly between the cardiovascular department and surgery department (p=0.03), between the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the neurosurgery department (p=0.01), and the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the surgery department (p=0.0005). Outcome was not significantly different among departments. It is crucial that pulmonologists and non-pulmonologists collaborate to treat pneumonia in old adults.