This study was designed to assess the role of macrophages in saphenous vein graft disease after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Three newly harvested saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) and 6 SVGs removed from patients 8 to 15 years after CABG (3 were occluded soon after the operation and 3 became diseased after a long period) were immunostained for macrophages and investigated microscopically. No macrophages were detected in the newly harvested SVGs. In the grafts with early occlusion, macrophages were detected only in the superficial layer of the intima. In the grafts that became diseased after a long period, macrophage accumulation was detected at the site of atherosclerotic lesions. In the pathogenesis of arterial atherosclerotic lesions, vascular endothelial cell damage and subsequent subendothelial migration of monocytes/macrophages in the early phase are thought to be very important. This study revealed that macrophage migration into the intima of SVGs occurs soon after surgery and suggested it could be the basis of saphenous vein graft disease occurring long after CABG.

A 48-year-old man complained of hemoptysis. Chest CT scan showed a large cardiac tumor invading the atrial septum and both atria, as well as multiple small nodules in bilateral lung fields. They were diagnosed as a malignant cardiac tumor and its lung metastases. As the tumor in the left atrium was extremely massive, operation was performed to prevent sudden death due to occlusion and to make a pathological diagnosis. The cardiac tumor invaded the atrial septum from the right atrium and occupied the left atrium. After the cardiac tumor was completely removed, the bilateral atria, the atrial septum, SVC, IVC and the right lower pulmonary vein were reconstructed with prosthetic pericardial patches. The tumor was angiosarcoma. During the postoperative period, Interleukin-2 was used as the treatment for angiosarcoma. Unfortunately the patient died of lung failure on the 107th postoperative day. Though IL-2 could not stop the development of lung metastasis in this case, the effectiveness of radiotherapy or IL-2 for angiosarcoma has recently been reported. In such cases where complete resection of the primary cardiac lesion is possible, postoperative radiotherapy or IL-2 administration seems to be effective for cardiac sarcoma.

An 80-year-old male patient had complained of left abdominal pain since 1990, and an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) 5.3cm in diameter was diagnosed by computed tomography (CT). The patient was NYHA class III with complaints of chest pain during exercise. Coronary arteriography showed that he had three-vessel disease. At that time, aneurysmectomy was not anticipated due to his age and because the AAA showed no tendency to enlarge. However, in October 1993, CT showed that the AAA rapidly enlarged to 6.8cm in diameter. Due to the greater risk of rupture of the AAA, aneurysmectomy was considered necessary. The operative mortality associated with aneurysmectomy in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is higher than that in patients without CAD. Therefore, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was indicated prior to aneurysmectomy. The patient underwent CABG (two vessels) in December 1993, and aneurysmectomy was successfully performed in February 1994. He was discharged uneventfully 17 days after the operation.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the significance of the membranous urethral length (MUL), including the thickness of the urethral sphincter, for recovery from postoperative stress urinary incontinence (SUI) following holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). Methods: We analyzed 78 patients who underwent HoLEP between June 2013 and September 2018, all of whom preoperatively received magnetic resonance imaging. MUL was measured using sagittal T2-weighted fast spin-echo images. The clinical and anatomical factors associated with MUL were evaluated. The recovery time of urinary incontinence was compared between patients with a long MUL (≥14 mm) and a short MUL (<14 mm). SUI included both stress and mixed urinary incontinence. Continence was defined as complete dryness. Results: The median MUL in patients without incontinence at 1 month postoperatively was significantly longer than the MUL in patients with incontinence (15.3 mm vs. 12.7 mm, P<0.001). The continence rates at 1 month after HoLEP in patients with longer MULs and shorter MULs were 80.4% and 30.0%, respectively. The recovery time of urinary incontinence in patients with longer MULs (≥14 mm) was significantly shorter than that in patients with shorter MULs (<14 mm) (log-rank test, P=0.001). After 6 months, the continence rates in patients with longer MULs and shorter MULs were similar (97%). MUL was significantly correlated with the recovery period of urinary incontinence (r=-0.459, P<0.001). Conclusions MUL was useful for predicting early recovery from urinary incontinence following HoLEP. This study provides evidence that postoperative urinary incontinence following a transurethral procedure for benign prostatic hyperplasia was associated with anatomical factors. A long MUL was associated with better tolerance to urinary sphincter damage by the transurethral procedure.

PURPOSE: Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type (chief cell predominant type) (GA-FG-CCP) was first reported as a rare adenocarcinoma found in the normal fundic mucosa. Recent studies have proposed the possibility that GA-FG-CCPs were also generated in the atrophic mucosa after Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication therapy. However, little is known on the endoscopic findings of GA-FG-CCP generated in the atrophic mucosa due to its extreme rarity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 8 patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal resection and were diagnosed with GA-FG-CCP generated in the HP-uninfected mucosa (4 cases, HP-uninfected group) or HP-eradicated atrophic mucosa (4 cases, HP-eradicated group) were retrospectively analyzed, and their endoscopic findings, including magnifying endoscopy with narrow band imaging (M-NBI), and pathological features were compared. RESULTS: While GA-FG-CCPs in the 2 groups displayed similar macroscopic appearance, M-NBI demonstrated that characteristic microvessels (tapered microvessels like withered branches) were specifically identified in the HP-eradicated group. Pathological investigation revealed that a decreasing number of fundic glands and thinned foveolar epithelium covering tumor ducts were thought to lower the thickness of the covering layer over tumor ducts in the HP-eradicated group. Moreover, dilation of vessels just under the surface of the lesions contributed to the visualization of microvessels by M-NBI. CONCLUSIONS: The change in background mucosa due to HP infection influenced the thickness of the covering layer over the tumor ducts and M-NBI finding of GA-FG-CCP.
Adenocarcinoma ; Endoscopy ; Epithelium ; Helicobacter pylori ; Helicobacter ; Humans ; Microvessels ; Mucous Membrane ; Narrow Band Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms

1)The Keio ACLS Popularizing and Promoting Association (KAPPA) is an official student organization that promotes advanced life support techniques.
2)KAPPA has provided 29 advanced cardiac life support courses, including 20 official ICLS (immediate cardiac life support) courses of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, which have trained 314 ICLS providers and 61 ICLS instructors during the past 8 years.
3)Peer–led training among students to maintain the quality of the courses has contributed to the activities of KAPPA.

Background/Aims: While Helicobacter pylori (HP)-negative gastric cancer is frequently reported, little is known about the predictors for detecting HP-negative early gastric cancer (EGC). We aimed to evaluate the predictors for the detection of HP-negative EGC. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 13,477 consecutive asymptomatic cases where upper endoscopy was performed by nine physicians from April 2017 to March 2019 and analyzed the detection rate of high-risk lesions (HRLs), including EGC, tubular adenoma, and lymphoma, according to the status of HP infection. The observation time was corrected for multiple regression analyses. Results: For all physicians, the average observation time for screening HP-eradicated and -naïve patients was shorter than that for screening HP-positive patients (p<0.05). Multiple regression analyses revealed that the observation time in the three groups was an independent predictor for detecting HRLs in HP-eradicated patients (p=0.03106, 0.01263, and 0.02485, respectively), while experience of endoscopy was an independent predictor for detecting HRLs in HP-naïve patients (p=0.02638). Conclusions While observation time during screening endoscopy was a quality indicator for detecting HRLs in HP-eradicated patients, experience of endoscopy was a quality indicator for detecting HRLs in HP-naïve patients.

Objective: The benefits of combining cancer screenings with clinical surveys have become increasingly obvious as cancer morbidity and mortality have steadily increased. This paper discusses a study on the current status of and issues surrounding breast cancer screening in a clinical survey. The study also investigated the patients' awareness of the benefits of breast cancer screening. A secondary aim of the study was to promote mammographic screening.;Subjects and Methods: During the 72 months between April 1999 and March 2005, a total of 36,505 women underwent clinical surveys in our hospital. In October 2002, mammographic examination was included as an optional part of the routine physical examination. We evaluated the results of breast cancer screening with or without mammographic examination and used a questionnaire to investigate the patients' awareness of the benefits of breast cancer screening.;Results: Compared with the pre-2001 results, the detection rate of breast cancer significantly increased after 2003 when physical examination was combined with mammographic examination. Our study also found that both elderly patients and those residing in the suburbs of Sapporo City tended to choose physical examination alone rather than combining it with mammographic examination. An analysis of the questionnaires collected from these patients indicates they had a poor understanding of and lacked awareness of the benefits of mammographic examinations during breast cancer screenings.;Conclusions: The inclusion of mammographic screenings with clinical surveys was found to be significantly useful in the detection of breast cancer. Further continued education is needed for women, particularly the elderly and residents in the suburbs, so they understand the benefits of breast cancer screening by mammographic examination for the early detection of breast cancer and, consequently, decreased mortality of the disease.
Breast neoplasm screen NOS ; Clinical ; benefits ; Awareness ; Surveys

Pneumonia is common among elderly patients and the incidence among older adults is increasing in aging societies. If pulmonologists were to treat all cases of pneumonia, their work volume would be immense and the risk of burnout would increase. We reviewed cases of consecutive patients 70 years of age or older who were treated for pneumonia between November 2017 and October 2018 at Akita Kousei Medical Center. Of a total of 372 patients recruited for this study (214 men, mean age 85.6 years), 288 patients recovered and 84 (29.2%) died. The duration of admission differed significantly between the cardiovascular department and surgery department (p=0.03), between the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the neurosurgery department (p=0.01), and the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the surgery department (p=0.0005). Outcome was not significantly different among departments. It is crucial that pulmonologists and non-pulmonologists collaborate to treat pneumonia in old adults.