Acupuncture is one of the most popular complementary therapies in the world. Pneumothorax due to perforation of the lungs by needle insertion is one of the most common and serious complications of acupuncture treatment. Although there have been several case studies of pneumothorax induced by acupuncture, as far as we know there have been no reports on the pathological findings of autopsy cases.
In this report, we describe the pathological findings of an autopsy case of bilateral tension pneumothorax after acupuncture. The patient suffered dyspnea and chest pain soon the completionof an acupuncture treatment, and died 90 min later. Several ecchymoses were macroscopically observed on the parietal pleura in the left and right thoracic cavity, suggesting that needles were inserted into the thoracic cavity and that the lungs were perforated. The many black spots we observed on the parietal pleura along the vertebral column microscopically consisted of a number of dust-like black pigments and macrophages containing these pigments. These spots seemed to have appeared because of the previous insertion of needles.

Objective: Pharmacists need to know at what positioning a drug is recommended in clinical practice guidelines when they make prescription proposals.  However, the format of guidelines and the definition of recommendation grades differ between academic societies, making it difficult to comprehensively extract only the information one needs.  Therefore, we developed a guideline utilization system to support prescription proposals by pharmacists.
Methods: We built a database comprised of clinical practice guidelines on pharmacological therapy for breast cancer and breast cancer-related conditions.  FileMaker®was used in the development of the system.
Result: This system allows the comprehensive extraction of clinical questions and recommendations from multiple guidelines by means of standardized keywords.
Conclusion: This system supports prescription proposals by pharmacists when generating pharmacological therapy protocols or when in discussions with healthcare professionals as information on the positioning of therapeutic agents in different guidelines and recommended drugs is readily available.

Methods: Thirty patients with LSS scheduled for spine surgery participated in this study. Lower limb pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the patients were divided into two groups based on the mean scores (patients with scores above and below the mean were classified as the high-VAS and low-VAS groups, respectively). The kinematics of the spine, pelvis, and hip joints during gait were then measured using a 3D motion analysis system. Student paired t -tests were used to compare the angles of the spine, pelvis, and hip during gait between the two groups. Results: Compared to those in the low-VAS group, the spine was significantly extended and bent toward the more painful lower limb side, and the pelvis was significantly anteriorly tilted among individuals in the high-VAS group. Conclusions Patients with LSS experiencing severe pain in their lower limb tend to keep the spine in a more extended position, bend laterally toward the painful side, and have an anteriorly tilted pelvic posture. The dynamic spinal and pelvic alignment was closely related to the intensity of the lower limb pain.

Methods: Thirty patients with ASD aged ≥50 years who were admitted to our hospital between July 2016 and September 2019 were included in this study. X-ray parameters (i.e., sagittal vertical axis, pelvic tilt, and pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis) were evaluated from the full-length standing radiographs of the subjects. Trunk and hip extensor strength was evaluated using a hand-held dynamometer. Dynamic postural changes (i.e., sagittal trunk shift during standing, sagittal trunk shift during gait, and delta sagittal trunk shift) were assessed using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. The relationships between dynamic postural change and various X-ray parameters, as well as trunk and hip extensor strength, were examined using multivariable analysis. Results: Multivariable analysis showed that hip extensor strength is the factor most strongly associated with dynamic postural change among the X-ray parameters and physical functions assessed in this study (β=−0.41, R2=0.12). Conclusions We demonstrated the association between dynamic postural change and hip extensor strength in patients with ASD. Our results may be useful to healthcare providers treating patients with ASD. Interventions for dynamic postural change in patients with ASD should focus on hip extensor strength.

BACKGROUNDMultislice helical computed tomography (MSCT) has been used to depict coronary anatomy noninvasively, and proved useful for evaluating ventricular function. The aim of our study was to assess the accuracy of ventricular volume as measured by MSCT.

METHODSFourteen human left ventricular (LV) and 15 right ventricular (RV) casts were scanned by MSCT. A series of LV and RV short-axis images were reconstructed later with slice thickness of 2.0 mm, 3.5 mm, 5.0 mm, 7.0 mm, and 10.0 mm. Ventricular volume was calculated by the multislice tomographic Simpson's method. True LV and RV cast volumes were determined by water displacement.

RESULTSBoth calculated LV and RV volumes correlated highly with the corresponding true volumes (all r >0.95, P <0.01). But with slice thickness from 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm, MSCT scanning overestimated the corresponding true volume by (3.21 +/- 5.95) ml to (12.58 +/- 8.56) ml for LV and (10.22 +/- 8.45) ml to (23.91 +/- 12.24) ml for RV (all P <0.01). There was a very high correlation between the overestimation and the selected slice thickness for both LV and RV volume measurements (r=0.998 and 0.996, P <0.01, respectively). However, when slice thickness was reduced to 5.0 mm, the overestimation for both LV and RV volume measurements became nonsignificant for slice thickness from 2.0 mm to 5.0 mm.

CONCLUSIONSBoth LV and RV volumes can be accurately estimated by MSCT. Thinner slice has more accurate calculated volume. However, 5.0 mm slice thickness is thin enough for an accurate measurement of LV or RV volume.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cardiac Volume ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, Spiral Computed ; methods

Palliative care outreach in communities without specialists is important, but its effectiveness has not yet been clarified in Japan. The current study aimed to identify interventional targets of palliative care outreach in home care in a community without specialists. We conducted a questionnaire survey (five-point scale) of home care nurses’ attitudes, difficulties, and practices for palliative care among 39 nurses working at five visiting nurse stations in Tome city. Difficulties in “symptom palliation” and “communication with medical practitioners” were high. Nurses tended to have low confidence and high motivation. Items with particularly low confidence were “communication with home care physicians” and “staff support”. Practices in “communication with physicians” and “coordination with care person” were low. Our survey identified enhancement of face to face relationships and support for home care nurses to improve their skills and confidence as interventional targets for palliative care outreach.

Methods: Cases of 50 patients with ASD who underwent long spinal fusion (>9 levels) with S2AI screws were retrospectively reviewed. Loosening of S2AI screws and S1 pedicle screws and bone fusion at the level of L5–S1 at 2 years after surgery were investigated using computed tomography. In addition, risk factors for loosening of S2AI screws were determined in patients with ASD. Results: At 2 years after surgery, 33 cases (66%) of S2AI screw loosening and six cases (12%) of S1 pedicle screw loosening were observed. In 40 of 47 cases (85%), bone fusion at L5–S1 was found. Pseudarthrosis at L5–S1 was not significantly associated with S2AI screw loosening (19.3% vs. 6.3%, p=0.23), but significantly higher in patients with S1 screw loosening (83.3% vs. 4.9%, p<0.001). On multivariate logistic regression analyses, high upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) level (T5 or above) (odds ratio [OR], 4.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0–18.6; p=0.045) and obesity (OR, 11.4; 95% CI, 1.2–107.2; p=0.033) were independent risk factors for S2AI screw loosening. Conclusions High UIV level (T5 or above) and obesity were independent risk factors for S2AI screw loosening in patients with lumbosacral fixation in surgery for ASD. The incidence of lumbosacral fusion is associated with S1 screw loosening, but not S2AI screw loosening.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pilot usability used in a telenursing-based cancer pain monitoring system. Health care providers and advanced cancer patients who visited a hospital as outpatients (n=10/group) used and evaluated the system using a Web Usability Scale (WUS) and free description. Of the WUS seven factors, “comprehensibility” and “content reliability” received good evaluation, and “ease of operation”, “visual effects”, “responsiveness”, “usefulness”, and “acceptablity” didn’t received good evaluation. In the free description, the system was evaluated to enhance self-management of cancer pain, a request for expansion of operation, and social issues were shown. Improving patient usability is an issue, and sufficient orientation is required to verify the effects.

Objective : Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disease treated by polytherapy. This time, the authors report the role of pharmacists in one of the few Parkinson’s disease facilities in Japan (https://sunwels.jp/pdhouse/; abbreviated as PD House), which was born from the voices of PD patients. Methods : The backgrounds of 52 patients admitted to the PD House and prescriptions for them were analyzed to mainly clarify: the percentages of patients aged 75 or over and those using 7 or more prescribed drugs; and frequently used drugs to be carefully administered to the elderly. The approaches provided by pharmacists through interprofessional collaboration were also analyzed. Results : The percentages of patients aged 75 or over and those receiving benefits for individuals requiring care were 71.2 and 92.3%, respectively. Those using 7 or more prescribed drugs accounted for 75.0%. In multidisciplinary collaboration, pharmacists were involved in not only pharmacotherapy but also nutritional evaluation of patients with severe nutritional disorders, proposal of appropriate nutritional therapy, understanding of swallowing function, and appropriate medication teaching. Conclusion : The actual situation of PD patients, where they used multiple drugs, and their backgrounds suggest that interprofessional collaboration is indispensable for PD treatment, and the roles of pharmacists were shown to be important.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the details of inpatient cancer rehabilitation interventions provided by designated cancer hospitals in Japan. Methods: This questionnaire-based survey asked specialists regarding the outline of their facilities’ inpatient cancer rehabilitation, Dietz classification, disease, and intervention details. Results: Restorative interventions were the most common, and the most common cancer was lung cancer followed by colorectal cancer; hematologic malignancy; gastric cancer; and liver, gallbladder, and pancreatic cancer. Intervention proportions for colorectal and gastric cancer were significantly higher in general hospitals than in university hospitals and cancer centers; in contrast, those for hematological malignancy were significantly higher in university hospitals than in general hospitals. For bone and soft tissue sarcomas, intervention proportions in cancer centers were significantly higher than those in university and general hospitals; and for oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers, they were significantly higher in university hospitals and cancer centers than in general hospitals. The most common intervention was walking training, followed by resistance training, basic motor training, activities of daily living training, and respiratory rehabilitation. Respiratory rehabilitation was performed significantly more frequently in university and general hospitals than in cancer centers.Conclusion: The diseases had differed according to the characteristics of the facilities, and the interventions were considered accordingly. In future, it will be necessary to verify the effectiveness of inpatient cancer rehabilitation according to facility characteristics and to disseminate information on inpatient cancer rehabilitation.