Background：Although octreotide is effective in the relief of symptoms of gastrointestinal obstruction, it is also effective for gastrointestinal bleeding. It has been reported that octreotide reduced the splanchnic blood flow, and reduced the bleeding from esophageal varices, peptic ulcer and the tumor of gastrointestinal tract. We experienced four cases of end―stage cancer patients admitted to a palliative care unit whose symptoms of gastrointestinal bleeding were alleviated by octreotide（300μg／day）. Case：Case 1；A 75―year―old woman with gastric cancer developed melena and received octreotide. After octreotide was discontinued, melena and hematemesis recurred. Octreotide was restarted subsequently, and hematemesis resolved. Case 2；An 87―year―old woman with gastric cancer received octreotide for increase of bloody drainage from a stomach tube. She had epigastric pain and emotional distress from the blood. These symptoms were alleviated following the administration of octreotide. Cases 3 and 4；A 76―year―old man with gastric cancer and a 62―year―old man with bile duct cancer received octreotide for massive vomiting of blood. After the administration of octreotide, there was no reoccurrence of hematemesis in both patients. Conclusion：Octreotide may alleviate symptoms of gastrointestinal bleeding in end―stage cancer patients.

ObjectiveDouble-outlet right ventricle,which often associated with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection and complete endocardial cushion defects,has been considered a risk factor for biventricular repair procedure.To reviewed cases treated by biventricular repair for endocardial cushion defects with double outlet right ventricle.MethodsFrom July to November of 2009,6 patients (3 males and 3 females) aged from 7 to 24 (16.17±5.98) years and with endocardial cushion defects and double outlet right ventricle underwent operation of biventricular repair The duration of follow-up ranged from 10 days to 2 years(median,16 months).Endocardial cushion defects were repaired with a 2-patch technique.The artificial vascular patch was implanted to connect the ventricular septal defects and the aorta for draining the blood stream from the left ventricle to the aorta.The other patch was used to repair the ostium primum atrial septal defects.Right ventricular outflow tract obstructions was released and reconstructed by transplanting a bovine pericardium patch.If the size of pulmonary valve annulus was far more below the normal,a transannular pericardial patch was used.Rastelli procedure with a valved conduit between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery would be performed if the obstruction in the right ventricular outfolw tract was severe.ResultsOne death occurred 2 days after the operation,resulting in a mortality rate of 16.6%.The case,a boy of 7 years old,had a mirror-image dextrocardia,complete endocardial cushion defect ( C type),anomalous pulmonary venous drainage and single atrium.In this case,the operation lasted for 8 hours,acute renal failure happened next day to the operation,the effect of CRRT was unsatisfied,and eventually cardiac arrest occurred as a result of hyperkalemia.The remaining cases had survived.Follow-up examinations showed that the systolic pressure gradients across the pulmonary valves decreased,with a range of 14 to 40 mm Hg,(23.9 ± 11.03) mm Hg.Mild mitral and tricuspid regurgiration were identified in 4 cases and moderate mitral regurgitation was identified in one case.The cardiac function in all patients was classified as NYHA class Ⅰ/Ⅱ,Conclusion Endocardial cushion defects with double outlet right ventricle can be corrected by means of biventricular repair procedure.The procedure was associated with a low mortality,The interim life quality of patients may be improved.The longterm outcomes should be further studied.

Purpose and Methods: Infection and neoplastic fever is one of the common complication in patients with advanced cancer. To develop a novel method to differentiate neoplastic fever from infection, we performed a retrospective study of hospitalized terminally ill cancer patients at Seirei Hospice from April 2009 to August 2011. Results: We identified a consecutive sample of 12 patients with neoplastic fever and 12 patients with infection as a control. We extracted demographic data, laboratory data, vital signs and symptoms from medical charts. We found significant differences in difference in C-reacive protein value between afebrile and febrile period (p＜0.001), difference of white blood cell count between afebrile and febrile period (p=0.0017), percentages in neutrophil counts (p=0.023), percentages in lymphocyte counts at base line (p=0.011) and the presence of delirium (p=0.012). Conclusion: These findings suggest that we might differentiate neoplastic fever from infection with common laboratory data and their longitudinal change.

Ceftriaxone is one of the easily administrative antibiotics, but little is known about their role in palliative care settings. The aim of this study is to show the effect and the safety of ceftriaxone subcutaneous infusion to infection among advanced cancer patients. Consecutive patients who received ceftriaxone subcutaneous infusion at the Seirei Hospice from January 2013 to January 2014 were enrolled in this retrospective analyses. Primary outcome was the response rate of ceftriaxone, determined by improvement of symptoms within 3 days of ceftriaxone use. Secondary outcomes are inflammatory site reaction, and a comparison of the response rate between ceftriatone and other antibiotics. Among a total of 100 admitted patients, 10 patients used ceftriaxone subcutaneous infusion (4 for urinary tract infection, 4 for pneumonia, 2 for soft tissue infection). The response rate was 70% (95% confidence interval, 39－89). There was no inflammatory symptom at the insertion site observed. For comparisons, 16 patients used other antibiotics with the response rate of 74% (51－88).In conclusion, subcutaneous infusion of ceftriaxone can be useful in the treatment of infections of end－of－life cancer patients, and randomized controlled trial is promising.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the immunogenicity of bovine jugular vein conduits (BJVCs) treated with different cross-linking methods. METHODS: The BJVCs were treated with glutaradehyde (GA), dye-mediated photooxidation (DMP) and polyepoxy compound (PC) (n = 10). The tissue homogenates obtained from BJVCs treated with PC, GA, DMP, and fresh BJVCs, were mixed with the complete Freand adjavant to form the emulsive antigen, which were used to immunize rabbits correspondently. The antibody concentrations to BJVCs in those rabbits' serum were measured by counter double immuno diffusion. The immunologic responses to the BJVCs in different groups were measured with Western blotting. RESULTS: The positive bands appeared when the sera of rabbits were immunized by fresh BJVCs reacted with antigens of fresh BJVCs, but no bands appeared when the sera of rabbits were immunized by fresh BJVCs reacted with those antigens of the BJVCs treated with GA, DMP, and PC in Western blotting. CONCLUSION The immunogenicity of BJVCs treated with PC, DMP, and GA can be reduced significantly and meet the clinical standard.
Animals ; Bioprosthesis ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Cattle ; Cross-Linking Reagents ; Glutaral ; pharmacology ; Jugular Veins ; immunology ; Prostheses and Implants ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation