Primary cardiac myxofibrosarcoma is an extremely rare malignant tumor of the heart, which can be difficult to diagnose. We report such a case, which recurred 7 months after the initial heart surgery. A 63-year-old woman with progressive dyspnea was seen by a physician. A transthoracic echocardiography revealed a large mobile mass in the left atrium, causing severe mitral stenosis. The patient was referred to our hospital for an operation. The tumor, which arose from the anterior mitral annulus, was resected, and mitral and tricuspid annuloplasty were performed. The histopathological diagnosis was myxoma. The postoperative course was uneventful. Seven months later, the patient reported suffering from dyspnea and leg edema. The echocardiography showed multiple recurrences of tumor in the left atrium. A second operation was performed to reduce the mass volume as a palliative treatment because some large fragile tumors occupied the left atrium. The patient died 5 months after the second operation due to metastasis. The final diagnosis by histopathology was myxofibrosarcoma.

Progressive hemifacial atrophy (PHA) is a self-limited atrophy of subcutaneous tissues (and less frequently of hard tissues) on one side of the face. It is a sporadic, slowly progressing disease whose pathogenesis is still unknown. As a rule the asymmetry caused by PHA (usually of soft tissue) is treated by volume augmentation that involves free tissue grafting or a pedicled flap transfer.We describe a rare case of hard tissue PHA. The atrophic changes occurred in the left molar tooth, maxilla and mandible and were associated with moderate soft tissue atrophy. The left side of the patient's mouth was higher on the right side, and the occlusal plane was severely inclined in spite of normal occlusion. After no alteration and no progression of the atrophy were established, the patient was treated with orthodontic surgery. To correct the inclined occlusal plane and asymmetry profile, we performed a Le Fort I and intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy. In the 3-year follow-up, there were good occlusal balance and improved symmetrical profile without relapse or recurrence of the atrophy. Thus, orthodontic surgery was effective as a first procedure to treat hard tissue atrophy that appeared with moderate soft tissue atrophy.

Objective: To investigate the effect on early mobilization in patients undergoing extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and acute blood purification therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: We conducted this multicenter retrospective cohort study by collecting data from six ICUs in Japan. Consecutive patients who were admitted to the ICU, aged ≥18 years, and received mechanical ventilation for >48 hours were eligible. The analyzed were divided into two groups: ECMO/blood purification or control group. Clinical outcomes; time to first mobilization, number of total ICU rehabilitations, mean and highest ICU mobility scale (IMS); and daily barrier changes were also investigated. Results: A total of 204 patients were included in the analysis, 43 in the ECMO/blood purification group and 161 in the control group. In comparison of clinical outcome, the ECMO/blood purification group had a significantly longer time to first mobilization: ECMO/blood purification group 6 vs. control group 4 (p=0.003), higher number of total ICU rehabilitations: 6 vs. 5 (p=0.042), lower mean: 0 vs. 1 (p=0.043) and highest IMS: 2 vs. 3 (p=0.039) during ICU stay. Circulatory factor were most frequently described as barriers to early mobilization on days 1 (51%), 2 (47%), and 3 (26%). On days 4 to 7, the most frequently described barrier was consciousness factors (21%, 16%, 19%, and 21%, respectively) Conclusion The results of this study comparing the ECMO/blood purification group and the untreated group in the ICU showed that the ECMO/blood purification group had significantly longer days to mobilization and significantly lower mean and highest IMS.

Background/Aims: The necessity for pharyngeal anesthesia during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is controversial. This study aimed to compare the observation ability with and without pharyngeal anesthesia under midazolam sedation. Methods: This prospective, single-blinded, randomized study included 500 patients who underwent transoral upper gastrointestinal endoscopy under intravenous midazolam sedation. Patients were randomly allocated to pharyngeal anesthesia: PA+ or PA– groups (250 patients/group). The endoscopists obtained 10 images of the oropharynx and hypopharynx. The primary outcome was the non-inferiority of the PA– group in terms of the pharyngeal observation success rate. Results: The pharyngeal observation success rates in the pharyngeal anesthesia with and without (PA+ and PA–) groups were 84.0% and 72.0%, respectively. The PA– group was inferior (p=0.707, non-inferiority) to the PA+ group in terms of observable parts (8.33 vs. 8.86, p=0.006), time (67.2 vs. 58.2 seconds, p=0.001), and pain (1.21±2.37 vs. 0.68±1.78, p=0.004, 0–10 point visual analog scale). Suitable quality images of the posterior wall of the oropharynx, vocal fold, and pyriform sinus were inferior in the PA– group. Subgroup analysis showed a higher sedation level (Ramsay score ≥5) with almost no differences in the pharyngeal observation success rate between the groups. Conclusions Non-pharyngeal anesthesia showed no non-inferiority in pharyngeal observation ability. Pharyngeal anesthesia may improve pharyngeal observation ability in the hypopharynx and reduce pain. However, deeper anesthesia may reduce this difference.