A strong earthquake (magnitude 6.8) off the Sea of Japan struck the Chuetsu area of Niigata Prefecture on July 16, 2007. By way of investigating the impact of the earthquake on the health of maintenance hemodialysis patients, we examined several biochemical parameters including nutritional markers and psychological stress markers and checked up on the incidence of earthquake-induced complications (heart failure and shunt obstruction). Blood samples were collected and the values of several biochemical parameters were measured. Incidences of clinical complications one, three and six months after the quake were scrutinized. Significant decreases in the nutritional markers and a significant increase in the incidence of complications were found one month after the quake. During this period, the supplies of electricity, city gas and water were completely recovered one after another. The significant changes in the nutritional levels and the incidence of complications coincided with the time of the complete recovery of these utilities. The levels of these parameters recovered and the incidence of complications reduced three months after the quake. However, the serum albumin level did not recover and remained significantly lower even six months after. The psychological stress markers increased significantly three months after. These suggested that there was the time lag between the decrease in the nutritional markers, the increase in the incidence of complications (1 month after earthquake) and the increases in the psychological stress markers (3 months after earthquake). We concluded that these findings provided important information for the total medical plan to maintain the physical and psychological states of hemodialysis patients in an earthquake- stricken district.
month ; Complications Specific to Antepartum or Postpartum ; Earthquakes ; incidence of cases ; Hemodialysis

Pancoast tumor is a relatively rare form of non-small cell lung cancer. Due to its invasion of the brachial plexus, it often causes severe pain and sometimes it is difficult to control the pain. Radiotherapy is often chosen not only for the treatment of the cancer but also for pain relief in Pancoast tumors. However, radiotherapy requires the patient to be kept in a resting supine position, which can cause severe pain during treatment or make it impossible to continue treatment due to pain. In this article, we report our experience with a patient who presented with severe pain in the shoulder and upper extremities due to a Pancoast tumor. Although patient had difficulty in maintaining a resting supine position, continuous cervical epidural anesthesia enabled him to complete radiotherapy under pain control. Despite the risk of infection and bleeding from catheterization, it is important to consider the indication of continuous epidural anesthesia when pain control is poor.

Health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) after a radical prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) has not been studied in conjunction with oncological outcomes in relation to disease risk stratification. Moreover, the long-term outcomes of these treatment approaches have not been studied. We retrospectively analyzed oncological outcomes between consecutive patients receiving RP (n=86) and EBRT (n=76) for localized prostate cancer. HRQOL and functional outcomes could be assessed in 62 RP (79%) and 54 EBRT (79%) patients over a 3-year follow-up period (median: 41 months) using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the University of California Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index (UCLA PCI). The 5-year biochemical progression-free survival did not differ between the RP and EBRT groups for low-risk (74.6% vs. 75.0%, P=0.931) and intermediate-risk (61.3% vs. 71.1%, P=0.691) patients. For high-risk patients, progression-free survival was lower in the RP group (45.1%) than in the EBRT group (79.7%) (P=0.002). The general HRQOL was comparable between the two groups. Regarding functional outcomes, the RP group reported lower scores on urinary function and less urinary bother and sexual bother than the EBRT group (P<0.001, P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively). With risk stratification, the low- and intermediate-risk patients in the RP group reported poorer urinary function than patients in the EBRT group (P<0.001 for each). The sexual function of the high-risk patients in the EBRT group was better than that of the same risk RP patients (P<0.001). Biochemical recurrence was not associated with the UCLA PCI score in either group. In conclusion, low- to intermediate-risk patients treated with an RP may report relatively decreased urinary function during long-term follow-up. The patient's HRQOL after treatment did not depend on biochemical recurrence.
Aged ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatectomy ; methods ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Quality of Life ; Radiotherapy ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome