Objective: To examine the usefulness of inquiries made by hospital pharmacists.
Methods: This study was conducted a survey about the actual condition of inquiries at 5 hospitals.
Results: The prescriptions subjected to inquiry accounted for 1.5% of the inpatient prescriptions and 0.3% of the injection prescriptions.  In cases of “Incomplete entry in the prescription” for the subcategory of “Question about safety,” drug costs without the impact of pharmaceutical inquiries were calculated on the assumption that the concerned drugs should have been generally prescribed.  Our results showed that the total savings in medical costs were 30,673 yen for the inpatient prescriptions and 159,212 yen for injection prescriptions, which suggested that pharmaceutical inquiries are effective for saving medical costs for either type of prescriptions.  In the case of patients in whom adverse drug reactions (ADRs) might have occurred without prescription changes, medical cost savings realized by preventing ADRs were estimated using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination/Per-Diem Payment System (DPC/PDPS).  Our results showed that the savings were 1,428,710 yen for inpatient prescriptions (6 patients), which indicated that a large amount of medical costs was saved.
Conclusions: Our results suggested that similar to pharmaceutical inquiries made by community pharmacists, those made by hospital pharmacists not only result in the proper delivery of drug therapy but also are useful in terms of medical economics.

Methods: In total, 155 consecutive patients who underwent muscle-preserving consecutive double laminectomies for cervical spondylotic myelopathy from 2005 to 2013 were included in this study. The imaging parameters included the C2–C7 angle, range of motion, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), C7 slope, C2–C5 angle, C5-C7 angle, local disk angle caudal to the decompression level, and the disk height between C2/C3 and C7/Th1. Results: The caudal disk angle of the decompression level decreased after consecutive double laminectomies, thus suggesting that the extension unit maintained the local lordosis at the lower disk of the decompression level. Postoperatively, in the C3–4 decompression cases, the C2–C7 angle decreased by 7.3°, and the C2–C7 SVA increased by 8.6 mm, thus indicating the appearance of an alignment disorder. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that cephalad laminectomy was a risk factor for C2–C7 angle decreases >10°. However, the postoperative recovery rate of Japanese Orthopedic Association scores after consecutive double laminectomies was reasonable, and the overall cervical alignment was well maintained in all decompression levels except C3–C4. Conclusions The cervical extension unit maintained lordosis at the disk caudal to it. The extension unit was found to contribute more to the maintenance of lordosis of the entire cervical spine at the cephalad side.

Methods: The images of 83 patients with cervical single-level spondylolisthesis were studied. We looked at 52 slipped levels for anterior slippage and 31 for posterior slippage. The imaging parameters included slippage in the neutral, flexed, and extended positions, axial facet joint orientation, sagittal facet slope, global cervical alignment, C2–C7 angle, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis, range of motion (ROM), and slipped disc angle ROM. Results: With the narrowing of the intervertebral disc height, slippage in the flexed position of both anterior and posterior spondylolisthesis increased. However, in both anterior and posterior spondylolisthesis, disc height narrowing did not show stability. The narrowing of the intervertebral disc height was found to be a risk factor for a translation of slippage of 1.8 mm or more in flexionextension motion in anterior spondylolisthesis in multivariate regression analysis. Conclusions Narrowing the intervertebral disc height did not stabilize the translation of slippage in flexion-extension motion in cervical spondylolisthesis. Instead, narrowing of the disc height was associated with a translation of slippage of 1.8 mm or more in flexion-extension motion in cases of anterior slippage. Therefore, we discovered that degenerative cascade stabilization for cervical spondylolisthesis was difficult to achieve.

Clinical training programs play an extremely important role in the new postgraduate clinical training system introduced in 2004 because facilities for clinical training now include various health-related institutions in addition to the university hospitals and special hospitals for clinical training used in the previous system. Although educational goals have been established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, trainees may have difficulty achieving these goals, even under the guidance of staff at the various facilities. There are differences in the function and quality of health-related institutions in the community. For the practical and convenient application of educational goals, we have attempted develop a “model program” to supplement the objectives indicated by the learning goals with more specific objectives. These supplementary objectives can be modified by individual institutions. We hope that this “model program” contributes to the development of objectives for each institution and helps improve the quality of the postgraduate training system in Japan.

A retrospective observational study was performed.

Background/Aims: Crosstalk between the gut microbiota and bile acid plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disorders. We investigated the relationship between microbial structure and bile acid metabolism in the ileal mucosa of Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods: Twelve non-CD controls and 38 CD patients in clinical remission were enrolled. Samples were collected from the distal ileum under balloon-assisted enteroscopy. Bile acid composition was analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: The Shannon evenness index was significantly lower in endoscopically active lesions than in non-CD controls. β-Diversity, evaluated by the UniFrac metric, revealed a significant difference between the active lesions and non-CD controls (P=0.039). The relative abundance of Escherichia was significantly higher and that of Faecalibacterium and Roseburia was significantly lower in CD samples than in non-CD controls. The increased abundance of Escherichia was more prominent in active lesions than in inactive lesions. The proportion of conjugated bile acids was significantly higher in CD patients than in non-CD controls, but there was no difference in the proportion of primary or secondary bile acids. The genera Escherichia and Lactobacillus were positively correlated with the proportion of conjugated bile acids. On the other hand, Roseburia, Intestinibacter, and Faecalibacterium were negatively correlated with the proportion of conjugated bile acids. Conclusions Mucosa-associated dysbiosis and the alteration of bile acid composition were identified in the ileum of CD patients. These may play a role in the pathophysiology of ileal lesions in CD patients.

A retrospective observational study was performed.

Methods: This study analyzed 143 patients who underwent decompression surgery between 2012 and 2014, who had symptomatic cervical disorders and MRI evidence of spinal cord or nerve compression but had no history of cervical spine surgery. Patient demographics, disease type, Japanese Orthopedic Association score, and follow-up periods were recorded. Spinal surgeons conducted radiological evaluations to determine stenosis levels using computed tomography myelography or MRI in neutral and extended positions. Measurements such as dural tube and spinal cord diameters, cervical alignment, range of motion, and various angles and distances were also analyzed. The residual space available for the spinal cord (SAC) was also calculated. Results: During extension, new stenosis frequently appeared caudal to the stenosis site in a neutral position, particularly at C5/C6 and C6/C7. A low SAC was identified as a significant risk factor for the development of new stenosis in both the upper and lower adjacent disc levels. Each 1-mm decrease in SAC resulted in an 8.9- and 2.7-fold increased risk of new stenosis development in the upper and lower adjacent disc levels, respectively. A practical SAC cutoff of 1.0 mm was established as the threshold for new stenosis development. Conclusions The study identified SAC narrowing as the primary risk factor for new stenosis, with a clinically relevant cutoff of 1 mm. This study highlights the importance of local factors in stenosis development, advocating for further research to improve outcomes in patient with cervical spine disorders.

Methods: This study included 99 men (mean age, 74.9 years; range, 28–93 years) who visited Qiball Clinic for BMD and body composition examinations. The osteoporosis group consisted of 24 patients (mean age, 72.5 years; range, 44–92 years), and the control group consisted of 75 individuals (mean age, 74.9 years; range, 28–93 years). Whole-body skeletal muscle mass was measured using a bioelectrical impedance analyzer. BMD was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Skin autofluorescence (SAF), a marker of dermal AGE accumulation, was measured using a spectroscope. Osteoporosis was defined as a bone density T score of –2.5 or less. Physical findings, skeletal muscle mass, BMD, grip strength, and SAF were compared between the osteoporosis and control groups. Results: The osteoporosis group had significantly lower trunk muscle mass (23.1 kg vs. 24.9 kg), lower leg muscle mass (14.4 kg vs. 13.0 kg), and skeletal mass index (7.1 kg/m2 vs. 6.7 kg/m2) than the control group (all p<0.05). Lower limb muscle mass was identified as a risk factor for osteoporosis in men (odds ratio, 0.64; p=0.03). Conclusions Conservative treatment of osteoporosis in men will require an effective approach that facilitates the maintenance or strengthening of skeletal muscle mass, including exercise therapy with a focus on lower extremities and nutritional supplementation.

Methods: A total of 14 patients with unilateral radicular symptoms and five healthy subjects were subjected to simultaneous apparent T2 mapping and neurography with nerve-sheath signal increased with inked rest-tissue rapid acquisition of relaxation enhancement signaling (SHINKEI-Quant) using a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score for neck pain and upper arm pain was used to evaluate clinical symptoms. T2 relaxation times of the cervical dorsal root ganglia of the brachial plexus were measured bilaterally from C4 to C8 in patients with radicular symptoms and from C5 to C8 in healthy controls. The T2 ratio was calculated as the affected side to unaffected side. Results: When comparing nerve roots bilaterally at each spinal level, no significant differences in T2 relaxation times were found between patients and healthy subjects. However, T2 relaxation times of nerve roots in the patients with unilateral radicular symptoms were significantly prolonged on the involved side compared with the uninvolved side (p<0.05). The VAS score for upper arm pain was not significantly correlated with the T2 relaxation times, but was positively correlated with the T2 ratio. Conclusions In patients with cervical radiculopathy, the SHINKEI-Quant technique can be used to quantitatively evaluate the compressed cervical nerve roots. The VAS score for upper arm pain was positively correlated with the T2 ratio. This suggests that the SHINKEI-Quant is a potential tool for the diagnosis of cervical nerve entrapment.