Abstract
Objective : The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the emotional response to “pleasant conversation” and “reading aloud”, on the autonomic nervous system of elderly subjects, in addition to the value of conversational exchange and its usefulness as part of a care strategy in the elderly.
Methods : Twelve elderly subjects aged 65 years and over were included in this study. Three kinds of interventions were used including : (1) reading aloud, (2) pleasant conversation and (3) silent reading, respectively. Each task was carried out daily and the resulting effects were recorded. A task typically lasted 20 minutes in duration followed by 10 minutes of rest after which, the task was repeated for another 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes of rest. We examined changes in the autonomic nervous system by using a power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability.
Results : Strong stimulation of the autonomic nervous system occurred with the implementation of the five-minutes of “pleasant conversation” in keeping with the results of previous studies. Following completion of this task, the sympathetic activity decreased with a subsequent increase in parasympathetic nervous activity which was different compared to “reading aloud”. It is considered that changes of parasympathetic activity impact on the relaxation and satisfaction centers of the brain in the elderly.
Conclusion : This study identified that the introduction of “pleasant conversation”, activates a function of the autonomic nervous system involved in stimulating brain relaxation and satisfaction centers within a short time period compared to “reading aloud”. It is considered that changes in emotion brought about by the interventions in this study occurred in a short period of time and can potentially be used in clinical practice. It is suggested that “pleasant conversation” is introduced as part of a comprehensive care plan in the elderly.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to examine the diagnostic ability of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) for major vascular invasion in pancreatic cancer and to evaluate the relationship between EUS findings and pathological distance. METHODS: In total, 57 consecutive patients who underwent EUS for pancreatic cancer before surgery were retrospectively reviewed. EUS image findings were divided into four types according to the relationship between the tumor and major vessel (types 1 and 2: invasion, types 3 and 4: non-invasion). We also compared the EUS findings and pathologically measured distances between the tumors and evaluated vessels. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of EUS diagnosis for vascular invasion were 89%, 92%, and 91%, respectively, in the veins and 83%, 94%, and 93%, respectively, in the arteries. The pathologically evaluated distances of cases with type 2 EUS findings were significantly shorter than those of cases with type 3 EUS findings in both the major veins (median [interquartile range], 96 [0–742] µm vs. 2,833 [1,076–5,694] µm, p=0.012) and arteries (623 [0–854] µm vs. 3,097 [1,396–6,000] µm, p=0.0061). All cases with a distance of ≥1,000 µm between the tumors and main vessels were correctly diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: Tumors at a distance ≥1,000 µm from the main vessels were correctly diagnosed by EUS.
Arteries ; Diagnosis ; Endosonography ; Humans ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Veins

Background/Aims: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA; EUS-FNA) allows for diagnostic tissue specimens from various regions to be analyzed. How-ever, diagnosing recurrent pancreaticobiliary cancer after surgery is sometimes difficult. We evaluated the efficacy of EUS-FNA in the diagnosis of local recurrence of pancreatico-biliary cancer and analyzed the factors associated with falsenegative results. Methods: Fifty-one consecutive patients who underwent EUS-FNA due to suspected recurrence of pancreaticobiliary cancer after surgery in an academic cen-ter were retrospectively analyzed. The criteria for EUS-FNA were a resected margin or remnant pancreas mass, round swollen lymph node (≥10 mm in diameter), and soft-tissue enhancement around a major artery. Patients with suspected liver metastasis or malignant ascites were excluded. Results: Thirty-nine of the 51 patients had pancreatic cancer; the remaining 12 had biliary cancer. The target sites for EUS-FNA were the soft tissue around a major artery (n=22, 43%), the resected margin or remnant pancreas (n=12, 24%), and the lymph nodes (n=17, 33%). The median size of the suspected recurrent lesions was 15 mm (range, 8 to 40 mm). The over-all sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EUS-FNA for the diagnosis of recurrence was 84% (32/38), 100% (13/13), and 88% (45/51), respectively. FNA of the soft tissue around major arteries (odds ratio, 8.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 166.7; p=0.033) was significantly associated with a falsenegative diagnosis in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions EUS-FNA is useful for diagnosing recurrent cancer, even after pancreaticobiliary surgery. The diagnoses of recurrence at soft-tissue sites should be interpreted with caution.

Rectal irritative symptoms in cancer patients are often refractory to treat and exacerbate their quality of life. We experienced a peadiatric case of rectal irritative symptoms treated by Yokukansan. A 9 year-old boy developed rectal irritative symptoms as itching sensation in rectum caused by relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma in pelvis. Oral Yokukansan, which is common Japanese Kampo medicine for temper tantrum of children, was administered and relieved his symptoms. Yokukansan is known as adjuvant drug for neuropathic pain. It could be one of the adjuvant drugs for refractory symptoms in palliative care setting.

Background: Cancer may have impacts on parents for child rearing. There has been few reports regarding what support is needed for them. The aim of this study is to investigate the needs of support system for cancer patients who have young children. Methods: First, we retrospectively studied records of specialized support for patients who had young children by palliative care team in National Cancer Center Hospital (NCCH) from April 2013 to September 2015. The data was collected from the NCCH electronic medical records. Next, we qualitatively classified the concerns about child-rearing of patients and their family. Results: A total of 131 (Male/Female: 41/90) cases received specialized support for patients who had young children during study period. The average age of patients was 43.3. Top three of primary sites of the patients were gastrointestinal tract, lung and breast. Approximately eighty percent of the patients were in the state of the recurrence and/or progressive cancer. The average age of their young children (n=239) was 9.6 (ages 0-17). The parents’ perceptions of child-related stressors were classified into three subcategories: 1. How to tell children about illness and treatment, 2. How to manage children’s reaction and emotion after having told them about illness, and 3. How to keep the parents’ role of child-rearing. Discussion: We found that patients who have children (age 0-17) have various types of concerns depending on their condition or age of children. Therefore, multi-disciplinary team approach for improving an effective support system was needed.

Although palliative sedation therapy (PST) is considered to alleviate intolerable and refractory symptoms in dying patients with advanced cancer, there have been few studies regarding the situation of tertiary cancer center. We conducted a retrospective survey of the medical records of the patients who died between April 2015 and March 2016 at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Japan. PST was conducted in 75 out of 431 patients (17.4%). The patient demographics were as follows: sex (male/female), 48/27; median age, 61 years (range 5-83; 11 patients (14.7%) were aged under 39 years); and primary sites were lung, 18 (24.7%)/ pancreas, 11 (14.7%)/ hematopoietic organs, 11 (14.7%)/ bones and soft tissues, 8 (10.7%)/ and the others, 27 (36.0%). The main target symptoms for PST were dyspnea (38, 50.7%) and delirium (30, 40.0%). The most commonly used sedative agent was midazolam (72, 96.0%). Continuous deep sedation was intended in 61 patients (81.3%) at the death. Median survival from the start of PST were 2 days (range 0-54). The differences between palliative care team (PCT) intervention group and control group were lower age (58 vs. 62.5, P=0.048) and uniformity of initial midazolam dose (5-12 vs. 9.6-25.2 mg/day). Distinctive feature in this study was large proportion of adolescent and young adult patients with rare cancers. PCT might have different approaches to sedation in comparison to non-PCT medical staffs.