We describe three cases of calf cramps successfully treated with shimbuto. Case 1 was a 74-year-old female who suffered from calf cramps and knee pain caused by gonarthrosis. She was treated with boiohito, but did not respond. When she complained of diarrhea, shimbuto was substituted for boiohito. After taking shimbuto, her knee pain improved, and her cramps disappeared. Case 2 was a 77-year-old female who suffered from leg edema and calf cramps. Tokishakuyakusan was prescribed, but she complained of an upset stomach. Tokishakuyakusan was replaced with shimbuto, and her cramps improved together with a decrease in the coldness and edema in her legs. Case 3 was a 79-year-old female who took kososan for uneasiness and restlessness after the death of her husband. She had edema and coldness in her legs, and suffered from calf cramps during the daytime and early in the morning. Shimbuto was added to kososan, and her coldness improved ; subsequently the leg edema diminished, and finally her cramps disappeared.
These cases suggest that shimbuto is indicated for patients with calf cramps, who report internal coldness caused by kidney deficiency with gastrointestinal dysfunction.

The mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa (MAIF) is a fibrous skeleton between the mitral and aortic valves. We describe a case of a pseudoaneurysm of MAIF (MAIFPsA) 3 months after an aortic valve replacement. A 75-year-old man had undergone aortic valve replacement using a bioprosthesis (SJM Trifecta 23 mm). He developed congestive heart failure 3 months after surgery. Trans-esophageal echocardiography and multi-detector computed tomography detected a MAIFPsA and severe paravalvular leakage. The patient underwent a new operation. After the aortic prosthesis was removed, an orifice of the pseudoaneurysm, which was composed of the anterior mitral leaflet and the aortic annulus, were revealed. The defect was repaired with a bovine pericardial patch, sutured to the anterior mitral leaflet and aortic annulus. A new bioprosthesis (Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT 21 mm) was implanted in the supra-annular position. His postoperative course was uneventful.

Case report：A 69 year-old man with an end-stage lung carcinoma had difficulty to come to our out-patient clinic due to severe pain and familial reasons. The reports from his sister were limited and his condition seemed no improvement. A certified palliative care pharmacist visited his home to assess his current status and situation in detail in order to provide better care for him. Result：Direct and accurate assessment of his pain status and compliance to his medication allowed our palliative team to provide tailored instructions and alleviate his suffering. Home visit helped to create better communication between the patient and the team and relieve his anxiety. The information from the visit provided his doctor with objective assessment of his current situation, which resulted in tailored prescriptions. This whole process was also effective to his smooth admission when he finally deteriorated. Summary：Home visit assessment and management by hospital pharmacists was very useful to the patients who have difficulty to come to the clinic by improving his quality of home life and sharing his social and clinical information between the out-patient clinic and the hospital. The home visit can be a good option for such patients.

In Kampo, respiratory symptoms are treated with prescriptions related not only to “lung”, but also other parenchymatous viscera. We report 2 patients whose stress-induced chronic cough was ameliorated by hachimijiogan. Case 1 was a 25-year-old female who was working under stressful circumstances at her company and reported an oppressive feeling in the chest. She was initially prescribed hangekobokuto because of a feeling that something was stuck in the pit of her stomach on abdominal examination, but her cough did not get better. As she also noted a dull feeling in her back ; she was switched to hachimigan, and her cough disappeared. Case 2 was 42-year-old female who suffered from depression, sore throat and an obstructive feeling in the throat ; she had been receiving infertility treatment for several years. Hangekobokuto and bakumondoto showed insufficient effect on her persistent cough. Her coughing stopped when she was prescribed hachimigan for back pain. Neither of these patients showed lack of resistance of the lower abdomen on abdominal examination.
Chronic ki (qi) stagnation under stressful conditions may cause ki deficiency, especially kidney deficiency. The symptom of stress-induced cough in our cases was considered to be due to kidney deficiency, and therefore hachimijiogan, but not hangekobokuto, was effective. The short duration of the complaints and relatively young age (20-40's) of the patients may account for the absence of the typical abdominal sign of kidney deficiency. Back stiffness and pain may also be important signs for cough due to kidney deficiency.

By means of indirect sphygmomanometer called “volume compensation technique” systolic and diastolic blood pressure in finger arteries were noninvasively and continuously measured during and after the “doshi” which is the acupuncture of the carotid sinus. After 15-min resting, 2-min puncture of the right and left carotid sinus was carried out in 23 healthy subjects (8 males and 15 females, aged 18-55). Finger arterial blood pressure was measured during the rest and the in-situ puncture, and then at 30 minutes after the withdrawing. For the control the dodged puncture of the carotid sinus was also made in other 6 healthy subjects (2 males and 4 females, aged 23-55).
Decreasing in blood pressure were observed during and after the doshi in 87% of the subjects. The mean magnitude of the decrease in the systolic and diastolic pressure at 15-21 minutes after the withdrawal of the needle were 12 and 10mmHg, respectively. Pulse pressure and heart rate showed little changes during the experiment. To the control dodged puncture, the maximum change in the systolic and diastolic pressure were 3.4 and 5.0mmHg, respectively, which were within the range of the physiological blood pressure variation. These data suggests that the blood pressure response to the “doshi” may not be induced by the vagal cardiac inhibition but by the change in peripheral vascular resistance.

During and after the “Toshi” which is the acupuncture of the carotid sinus, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured in the basal pharanx of finger arteries by means of indirect sphygmomanometer called the “volume compensation method”. After 15 minutes resting, 2 minutes acupuncture on both sides of the carotid sinus was carried out in 16 hypertensive subjects. Finger arterial pressure showed a significant decrease by about 14mmHg (mean) in systolic pressure and by 9mmHg (mean) in diastolic pressure during and after the acupuncture (p<0.05). The decrease in blood pressure showed a maximum at 15-20 minutes after the withdrawal of needles. Pulse pressure and heart rate did not show a significant change. These results were almost similar to those obtained in normotensive subjects. These data suggests that hypertensive subjects are also responsible to “Toshi” and that this effect may not be caused by the cardiac inhibition refrex but the change in vascular tonus.

Cestode zoonosis cases confirmed by PCR-based mitochondrial DNA analysis were investigated. The cestodiosis included taeniasis, cysticercosis, alveolar echinococcosis, cystic echinococcosis, sparganosis mansoni, diphyllobothriasis and diplogonoporiasis. DNA samples were extracted from the ethanol-fixed, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections, HE-stained, and the PAS- or acetocarmine-stained samples submitted for histopathology. For PCR-based analysis, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and⁄or cytochrome b genes were amplified by multiplex PCR or conventional PCR coupled with DNA sequencing. Although DNA molecules were degraded in most formalin-fixed samples, smaller gene fragments were successfully amplified and the species causing cestodiosis could be identified by DNA sequence analysis of the amplicons. This review describes cestode zoonosis cases in which mitochondrial DNA analysis was useful not only for routine and retrospective diagnosis, but also for genetic polymorphism analysis and molecular identification of the species associated with pathogenicity. The significance of molecular diagnosis using histopathological specimens for cestode zoonoses is also discussed.

This study reports the efforts of acupuncturists to promote multidisciplinary cooperation in our laboratory. We conducted a questionnaire survey involving all employees of our laboratory in December 2013 to investigate problems regarding multidisciplinary cooperation, and identified a lack of information and problems concerning treatment plans and costs. After implementing measures to tackle these problems between January and November 2014, we conducted the questionnaire survey again. As the results, 79% of the employees responded that they had gained more information about acupuncture compared to the previous year, and 72% of them responded that treatment plans and costs were appropriate. Compared to the number of new patients who sought acupuncture treatment between January and November 2013 (n = 273), there was an increase of 40% in the same period of 2014 (n = 385). These results showed that employees' understanding of acupuncture and multidisciplinary cooperation were promoted.

We present two cases of aged males with cold-induced colic successfully treated with tokishigyakukagoshuyushokyoto. The first case is a 74-year-old male with bilateral sciatic neuralgia, who had a history of right leg amputation following a traffic accident. The second case is an 80-year-old male with chills of the lower body, who has undergone excision of biliary duct cancer. Their physical status appeared normal to excessive by traditional medical examination, whereas the pulse and abdominal patterns are usually deficient in female cases in whom tokishigyakukagoshuyushokyoto is effective. The common features in our cases are age and history of trauma by injury or surgery. Although males are more tolerant of cold than females, advancing age and history of injury or surgery tend to cause cold-induced colic in males. The number of male cases that can be effectively treated with tokishigyakukagoshuyushokyoto is likely to increase in our aging society, and we conclude that it is important to consider the presence of cold when we examine male cases.