The purpose of this study was to clarify the current nutritional management of patients receiving home-care services after discharge from Nagano Matsusiro General Hospital and to mull over the future nutritional management in their home.
  A questionnaire survey about nutrition was conducted on 53 home nursing care receivers and rehabilitation program participants.
  Patients with a body mass index of less than 18.5 (low BMI patients) accounted for 39.6%, and the total energy intake was predicted to be lower than necessary for these patients. Therefore, we deemed that it was necessary to calculate their nutritional requirements and evaluate their nutritional status.
  Nutritional evaluation was made in 84.9% of the patients. Weight was seldom measured, especialy among the enteral feeding groups.
  Not measuring weight is known to be related to an unfavorable outcome and hospitalization. Therefore, we thought it necessary to perform somatometry using a nutrition assessment kit, calculate nutritional requirements, and evaluate the nutritional status for risk reduction. Of the 44 patients who were taking food orally, 34.1% had dysphagia, and for 40% of them, there was no specific coping strategy.
  This indicated that dysphagia was not considered to be a major problem. A significantly large number of dysphagia cases were found among low BMI patients.
  For these patients, intervention by a speech therapist, as well as instruction about the risk of aspiration and choking, should be considered.
  There were significantly many a number of users of nutritional supplements among the low BMI patients, but 84.6% of them used products categorized as health foods. This suggested a lack of appropriate information about nutritional supplements. Accurate information should be provided to these patients.
  For nutritional management of home care patients, we concluded that intervention by multiple specialists (including dietitians, speech therapists, and dental hygienists) was necessary. The nutritional support team (NST) should intervene in cooperation with these specialists.

The optimal timing of cardiac surgery for infective endocarditis in patients with severe brain complication remains unclear. We present here the successful surgical treatment of a case of infected mitral endocarditis with intractable heart failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and cerebral infarction with hemorrhage. A 37 year-old woman who received chemotherapy for breast cancer developed mitral infective endocarditis perhaps caused by infection of the implanted central venous access device and was referred to our hospital for an emergency operation. On admission, she had a mild fever and showed motor aphasia and right-sided hemiplegia. Brain CT scan findings revealed a cerebral infarction in the area of the left middle cerebral artery and a cerebral hemorrhage in the right occipital lobe. Echocardiography showed severe mitral regurgitation with huge mobile vegetation. Chest X-ray revealed severe pulmonary congestion and laboratory data showed DIC. After the mitral valve replacement with a bioprosthetic valve following complete excision of infected tissue, she was extubated on the first postoperative day with dramatic improvement of infectious signs and heart failure. Postoperative brain CT showed a new small brain hemorrhage, but no aggravation of the preoperative cerebral lesion. After she underwent surgical drainage for brain abscess on the 15th postoperative day, her postoperative course was uneventful. Even though this report is limited to a single case, only aggressive and prompt surgical intervention could relieve the intractable conditions in such a patient with extremely high risk.

Background: Laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy requires a lot of disposable products. So we compared the cost between laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy and open surgery.Patients and methods: For comparison we used five cases each of open distal gastrectomy (ODG), laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG), open total gastrectomy (OTG) and laparoscopy assisted total gastrectomy (LATG). In this study, we defined the profit of gastrectomy as below and we used the list price for all products. Profit of gastrectomy=Fee for gastrectomy-(Costs of all single use products-Demandable fee for single-use products)Results: Mean profits of ODG and LADG were 278,756.2 yen and 190,292.8 yen. The difference was 88,463.4 yen. Mean profits of OTG and LATG were 395,922.6 yen and 330,653.6 yen. The difference was 65,269 yen. Mean hospital charges, mean length of hospital stay, mean hospital charges per day of ODG, LADG, OTG and LATG were 1,390,464 yen, 21.4 days, 65,140.0 yen and 1,484,254.0 yen, 18.8 days, 80,805.4 yen and 1,956,664.0 yen, 24.4 days, 82,397.1 yen and 1,686,936.0 yen, 18.4 days, 91,894.8 yen, respectively.Conclusion: The turnover of laparoscopic gastrectomy was higher than open gastrectomy, but, the profit was lower because of high costs of disposable products. Hospital charges were not higher but the charge per day was higher because of a shorter hospital stay.
Gastrectomy ; Laparoscopy ; Hospitals ; Mean ; Financial cost

Infectious endocarditis associated with Streptococcus bovis, which is rare in Japan, is a frequently reported complication of gastrointestinal tumors, especially in colon cancer. We report a patient who was successfully treated for the S. bovis-induced infectious endocarditis complication in colon cancer. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for detailed examination of high fever of unknown origin, that had lasted for 2 months. S. bovis was identified in the venous blood culture. An echocardiogram showed severe aortic valve regurgitation of the third degree and vegetation on the aortic valve. We therefore diagnosed infectious endocarditis. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid colon cancer. After endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion, the aortic valve was replaced. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged from the hospital 36 days post operatively.

We report a case of tricuspid infective endocarditis with peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm. A 31-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug abuse was admitted to our institution. Echocardiography showed severe tricuspid valve insufficiency and large vegetation (10 mm) attached to the tricuspid valve. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a right peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm. We operated because of the large amount of vegetation. Before the operation, we performed coil embolization for peripheral pulmonary aneurysm. During the operation, we removed the posterior leaflet with vegetation, and performed tricuspid valve repair. The postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative echocardiography did not show any tricuspid valve insufficiency or vegetation.

Infectious endocarditis associated with Streptococcus bovis, which is rare in Japan, is a frequently reported complication of gastrointestinal tumors, especially in colon cancer. We report a patient who was successfully treated for the S. bovis-induced infectious endocarditis complication in colon cancer. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for detailed examination of high fever of unknown origin, that had lasted for 2 months. S. bovis was identified in the venous blood culture. An echocardiogram showed severe aortic valve regurgitation of the third degree and vegetation on the aortic valve. We therefore diagnosed infectious endocarditis. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid colon cancer. After endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion, the aortic valve was replaced. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged from the hospital 36 days post operatively.

The preparation for influenza pandemic has become very important. However, no standardized educational package against pandemics has been established to date. We developed a simulation–based education drill for Japanese medical students based on the package developed by U.S. medical school. The drill was adapted to 201 medical students, and was evaluated by self–administered questionnaires.
1)More than 90% of the students indicated that the use of this drill is appropriate to experience a simulated pandemic situation, and to learn skills and attitudes such as teamwork and communication.
2)Up to 65% of the students answered they learned a "very clear image" for the "Importance of working as a team with other professionals".
3)The results suggest that this simulation–based education drill make the students aware not only of the need for the preparation for pandemic but also the importance of team–based approach.

PURPOSE: Few reports have been made on the therapeutic effects as well as pathological features of an antithrombin preparation in patients diagnosed with septic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) by the diagnostic criteria for acute DIC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 88 sepsis patients who had received inpatient hospital care during the period from January 2000 through December 2008 were divided into two groups, an antithrombin group and a non-antithrombin group, to study the outcomes. Furthermore, the relationship between sepsis-related factors and DIC in 44 patients was studied. RESULTS: The antithrombin group contained 34 patients, and the non-antithrombin group contained 54 patients. The outcomes were significantly better in the antithrombin group. The levels of protein C were low in DIC patients. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that early administration of antithrombin might improve outcomes of septic DIC patients in the diagnostic criteria for Japanese Association for Acute Medicine acute DIC.
Aged ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents/*therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sepsis/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has a variety of pharmacologic effects, including natriuresis, diuresis, vasodilatation, and suppression of the renin-angiotensin system. A recent study showed that ANP infusion improved hypoxemia and pulmonary hypertension in a lung injury model. On the other hand, the pulse contour cardiac output (PiCCO(TM)) system (Pulsion Medical Systems, Munich, Germany) allows monitoring of the intravascular volume status and may be used to guide volume therapy in severe sepsis and critically ill patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated 10 pulmonary edema patients without heart disease with human ANP (HANP). The patients were divided into two groups: a group with normal Intrathoracic Blood Volume (ITBV) (900-1100 mL/m2) (n = 6), and a group with abnormal ITBV (n = 4), as measured by the PiCCOtrade mark device; the extravascular lung water (EVLW) and pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI) in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The average patient age was 63.9 +/- 14.4 years. The normal ITBV group showed significant improvement of the EVLW (before, 16.7 +/- 2.7 mL/kg; after, 10.5 +/- 3.6 mL/kg; p = 0.0020) and PVPI (before, 3.2 +/- 0.3; after, 2.1 +/- 0.7; p = 0.0214) after the treatment. The abnormal ITBV group showed no significant improvement of either the EVLW (before, 16.3 +/- 8.9 mL/kg; after, 18.8 +/- 9.6 mL/kg; p = 0.8387) or PVPI (before, 2.3 +/- 0.8; after, 2.7 +/- 1.3; p = 0.2782) after the treatment. In both groups, the EVLW and PVPI were strongly correlated with the chest X-ray findings. CONCLUSION: We conclude that HANP supplementation may improve the EVLW and PVPI in pulmonary edema patients without heart disease with a normal ITBV. The PiCCO(TM) system seems to be a useful device for the management of pulmonary edema.
Aged ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Cardiac Output/*drug effects/*physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic/*instrumentation ; Pulmonary Edema/*drug therapy/*physiopathology