Using a highly concentrated CO₂-bathing, authors studied an effect of the bathing (CO₂: 1, 000ppm, for 10min at 40°C) on circadian blood pressure in six cases of antihypertensive drug-refractory hypertension. The patients were females, ranging from 62 to 70 years old (mean age: 65.8±2.6). All of the patients were diagnosed as the III stage of essential hypertension (according to WHO criteria) and have been treated with captopril, nifedipine or α-methyl DOPA since three to ten years ago. Out of six cases five showed non-dipper pattern in circadian blood pressure. All bathings were done at 16:30 and comparative study of circadian blood pressure between plain water and CO₂-bathing was carried out.
The results obtained were as follows.
1) In five cases of non-dippers CO₂-bathing exerted the therapeutic effect upon the high blood pressure at night and resulted in the significant decrease in hyperbaric indici of systolic, mean and diastolic blood pressure, comparing with plain water-bathing. However, no significant difference of heart rate was observed between plain water and CO₂-bathing.
2) In a case of good responder to antihypertensive drug, a relatively low blood pressure continued all day after CO₂-bathing.
From these results it is expected that a highly concentrated CO₂-bathing is useful as supportive therapy to essential hypertension, specially to non-dipper.

A 69-year-old woman was admitted with fever and dyspnea. We diagnosed the congestive heart failure due to infective endocarditis (IE) with mitral valve regurgitation and stenosis. We immediately started medical therapy in order to control both the heart failure and the infection. However, we had to semi-emergency mitral valve replacement additionally perform a days after the initial hospitalized due to a progression of the heart failure. The operative findings showed an area of vegetation to be incarcerated in the mitral orifice. In cases of IE which are associated with mitral stenosis, we therefore should consider the possibility that vegetation may be present in the mitral orifice and closely follow such patients by echocardiography.

A 20-year-old male was referred to our hospital to undergo operative treatment due to aortic valve insufficiency which had gradually worsened. The patient's chief complaint was a loss of breath upon effort which had progressively worsened after undergoing aortic valve plasty (AVP) for aortic valve insufficiency with infective endocarditis at another institution. AVP by the cusp extension method had been performed because of the patient's youth and there had been no change in the morbid state, except for the presence of a non-coronary cusp. In addition, the aortic valve insufficiency was controlable and postoperative course was also excellent. The cusp extension method was therefore considered to be an appropriate procedure for this case since it would allow the patient to return it to a state with a more normal heart, since the valve organization after this procedure would be able to reach a maximum level.

Objective：To assess the effects of immobilization on the three-dimensional microstructure of cortical and cancellous bone.

Methods：Eight-week-old specific-pathogen-free Wistar rats were divided into two groups：the control (n＝12) and immobilized group (n＝12). The hind limbs of the rats in the immobilized group were fixed using orthopedic casts for 4 weeks. The cortical bone at the mid-shaft and the cancellous bone at the distal metaphysis of the femur were analyzed using micro-computed tomography.

Results：The values of total cross-sectional area, cortical bone area, and cortical thickness in the immobilized group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Meanwhile, the relative bone volume (bone volume/total volume) and mean trabecular thickness in the immobilized group decreased and the structure model index significantly increased compared with the values in the control group (P＜0.05).

Conclusion：Our rat model can evaluate the effects of load-permitting immobilization. The results of this study indicate that structural changes in immobilized osteopenia-affected bone arise mainly from thinning of the cortex and reduction of cancellous bone volume caused by a reduction of trabecular width.

We presented here 2 cases of rare nonvascular tumor involving the aorta. Case 1: A 69-year-old woman. She presented leg edema and dyspnea on admission. Computed tomography revealed abdominal aortic aneurysm perforating left common iliac vein. Abdominal aortic aneurysm replacement and fistula closure were done on an emergency basis. Immunohistologic examination revealed that malignant mesothelioma invaded the aortic wall. Case 2: A 47-year-old woman presented with dyspnea. Enhanced computed tomography revealed rupture of the descending aortic aneurysm (saccular type). Aortic replacement was done on an emergency basis. One year after the operation, computed tomography revealed a giant mass (160×70mm) surrounding the descending thoracic aorta. On biopsy, malignant schwannoma was found to invade the descending aorta. Sometimes nonvascular tumors form aneurysms. So we should be careful in diagnosis before operation.

We report the first case demonstrating an association between Kawasaki disease (KD) and erythema nodosum (EN). A 3-year-old girl presented with EN as an initial manifestation of KD. At the initial visit, she showed high fever of 40℃, injection of the oropharynx, cervical lymphadenopathy, and red-purple cutaneous nodules, particularly on the lower limbs. She complained of severe pain in the neck and cutaneous lesions. Initially, the development of EN was attributed to Salmonella spp infection, which was detected in stool culture. However, the patient did not respond to high-dose ampicillin/sulbactam to which the Salmonella spp is sensitive. Echocardiography performed as screening for fever of unknown origin revealed medium-sized aneurysms of the left anterior descending artery. EN masked the diagnosis of KD, and the patient developed a coronary artery lesion. KD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of refractory EN in pediatric patients.
Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Bacterial Infections ; Child, Preschool ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Echocardiography ; Erythema Nodosum ; Erythema ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fever ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Masks ; Mass Screening ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Neck ; Oropharynx ; Salmonella ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue