Ryoukeigomikanzoto is a Kampo formulation originally described in the text Kinkiyouryaku. This formulation has also been described as an indication for respiratory disease in some texts, because it was classified under respiratory diseases in the Kinkiyouryaku.
The authors, however, considered that indications for ryoukeigomikanzoto could be wider than previously thought. The composition of this formulation is very similar that of ryokeimikanto and ryokeijutsukanto. And we have prescribed ryokeigomikanzoto for patients with a reddish face and coldness of the legs, whose chief complaints were a reddish nose, coldness of the leg, dysuria, spioncerebellar degeneration and ringing of the ears. Moreover, we have obtained good results from the current trial. This report is intended to elucidate indications for this formulation by means of past clinical results and our own experience.

Previously, the authors reported that a painful point at the epigastrium may be closely related with the term “shinkashiketsu” for the Kampo formulation saikokeishito (SKT) which was described in the textbook, shoukanron. In order to find conclusive evidence for our hypothesis, we tried SKT in four patients, whose chief complaints were headache, epigastralgia with headache, irritable bowel syndrome, and anorexia due to Behcet's disease. In this trial, we obtained satisfactory clinical results, which strongly suggest that the symptom of a painful epigastral point correlates with the term shinkashiketsu in the shoukanron description.

A 67 year-old women who suffered from painful palms and soles with burning sensation for 2 years was treated. At first, she visited the department of dermatology and then consulted our department. The authors considered these symptoms as already being described in the great classic Kinkiyoryaku (Chin Keiu Yao Lueh). We then prescribed shokenchuto, which resulted immediate clinical improvement. The authors have again realized that the classical textbook is based on proper clinical observations that are useful today.

We evaluated the efficacy of combined antegrade and retrograde intermittent cold cardioplegia for patients with prolonged aortic cross-clamping. Thirty patients with cross-clamping time of more than 4h were divided into three groups according to the method of cardioplegia. Antegrade crystalloid cardioplegia was performed in 9 cases, combined antegrade and retrograde crystalloid cardioplegia was performed in 5 cases, and combined antegrade and retrograde cold blood cardioplegia was performed in 16 cases. There was no statistical difference in mean aortic cross-clamping time among the three groups. The hospital mortality was 33% in the antegrade crystalloid group, 20% in the combined crystalloid group, and 0% in the combined blood group. There was a significant statistical difference in the hospital mortality between the antegrade crystalloid and combined blood group. The incidence of low cardiac output syndrome (LOS) was 67% in the antegrade crystalloid group, 20% in the combined crystalloid group, and 6% in the combined blood group. There was a significant difference in the incidence of LOS between antegrade crystalloid and combined blood groups. The recovery rate of spontaneous rhythm after the release of the cross-clamp was also significantly greater in the combined blood group than in the antegrade crystalloid group. In conclusion, combined antegrade and retrograde intermittent cold cardioplegia provides excellent myocardial protection for patients with prolonged aortic cross-clamping.

Lecithinized superoxide dismutase (L-SOD) has a higher affinity for cell membranes than recombinant human superoxide dismutase has. The purpose of this study, is to evaluate the protective effects of L-SOD against ischemia/reperfusion injury in blood-perfused isolated rat heart subjected to 30-min global normothermic ischemia. Fifteen isolated hearts were divided into three groups: group I (n=5), the untreated control group, group II (n=5) received 3, 000 units of L-SOD administered into the perfusion circuit at the beginning of reperfusion, and group III (n=5) received 3, 000 units of L-SOD administered into the perfusion circuit 10min after reperfusion. Left ventricular developed pressure, maximum positive and negative dp/dt, coronary vascular resistance and myocardial water content were assessed in each group. The percent recovery of left ventricular developed pressure in group II was significantly higher than that in group I and group III (77.4±11.1% in group II, 38.2±4.4% in group I, 40.2±4.1% in group III, p<0.01). The percent recovery of maximum positive dp/dt in group II was significantly higher than that in group I and group III (70.0±11.2% in group II, 41.8±7.8% in group I, 38.0±5.7% in group III, p<0.01). The percent recovery of maximum negative dp/dt in group II was also significantly higher than that in group I and group III (74.9±11.0% in group II, 41.3±8.0% in group I, 46.3±5.9% in group III, p<0.01).There was no significant difference of coronary vascular resistance or myocardial water content among the three groups. These results suggest that L-SOD administered at the time of reperfusion has protective effects against ischemia/reperfusion injury in the isolated rat heart.

We report a case of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome effectively treated with Hange-koboku-to. A 32-year-old male suffered from globus syndrome (globus hystericus), excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring. He underwent uvulopalatopharyngoplasty at the age of 27, but the symptoms did not improve after surgery. Nocturnal polysomnography, performed before administration of Hange-koboku-to, confirmed the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. After 1-month-administration of Hange-koboku-to extract (Tsumura Co. Ltd., 7.5g/day), his complaints almost disappeared. After 5-month-administration of Hange-koboku-to, nocturnal polysomnography was performed again. As a result, the apnea index fell from 19.2 events/hour to 10.3 events/hour, and the apnea-hypopnea index also fell from 19.2 events/hour to 12.8 events/hour. He was not obese (body mass index: 23.0kg/m²), and no significant body weight change was observed after administration. No adverse effect was observed. To our knowledge, there is no other report on the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders with Hange-koboku-to. We presume that Hange-koboku-to may decrease the upper airway resistance, especially at the lower part of the upper airway.

We collected and analyzed large-scale data concerning the fall of stroke inpatients in convalescent rehabilitation wards. Three hundred seventy-four of 1,107 inpatients experienced one fall or more, and 16 factors associated with falls were clarified by the chi-square test. To extract the significant item from a multifactor, the logistic regression analysis of 16 factors was carried out, and we developed an assessment sheet for the risk degree of first fall prediction in stroke inpatients. We selected eight variables as the items on the assessment sheet : history of previous falls, central paralysis, visual impairment, sensory disturbance, urinary incontinence, use of psychotropic medicines, mode of locomotion, and cognitive impairment. The total score of the assessment sheet was ranged from 0 to 10 and the mean score of fallers (6.4±1.5) among subjects was significantly higher than that of non-fallers (5.1±1.9) (p <0.001). When the subjects were classified into three groups, a significant difference (p<0.001) in the tendency of fall incidence in term of days after admission was found among the three groups on the basis of the Kaplan-Meier survival curve.

We investigated the history and indications of Toenho, Kinseiho, and Cho-Sanshaku-Shinteiho, which are different formulae with the same name of seishoekkito. According to the description in “Futsugoyakushitsuhokankuketsu” written by Sohaku Asada, Kinseiho exhibits an immediate effect, while Toenho has preventive effects. However, according to the original text, Kinseiho was formulated such that it could be administered regularly in the summer for prophylaxis. Furthermore, Kinseiho is regarded as a simplified formula with the central structure of Toenho. This implies that Kinseiho is composed of selected crude drugs used in Toenho that are responsible for the main effects of Toenho, such as invigorating spleen energy, clearing fever and generating body fluids. Moreover, there is an instruction to arrange Kinseiho to fit each patient’s condition. In this study, it was found that Cho-Sanshaku-Shinteiho described in “Futsugoyakushitsuhokankuketsu” is a modification of Kinseiho prescribed by Katsuki Gyuzan for patients with fever, consistent with the concept of personalized medicine. The medical extract preparation seishoekkito, which is currently widely used, is Kinseiho. We may use it with heat-clearing formula, fluid-regulating formula or some modifications to make the appropriate formulation based on the patient's symptoms.

This research aims to investigate the impact of fever on total mechanical ventilation time (TVT) in critically ill patients. Subgroup analysis was conducted using a previous prospective, multicenter observational study. We included mechanically ventilated patients for more than 24 hours from 10 Korean and 15 Japanese intensive care units (ICU), and recorded maximal body temperature under the support of mechanical ventilation (MAX(MV)). To assess the independent association of MAX(MV) with TVT, we used propensity-matched analysis in a total of 769 survived patients with medical or surgical admission, separately. Together with multiple linear regression analysis to evaluate the association between the severity of fever and TVT, the effect of MAX(MV) on ventilator-free days was also observed by quantile regression analysis in all subjects including non-survivors. After propensity score matching, a MAX(MV) ≥ 37.5℃ was significantly associated with longer mean TVT by 5.4 days in medical admission, and by 1.2 days in surgical admission, compared to those with MAX(MV) of 36.5℃ to 37.4℃. In multivariate linear regression analysis, patients with three categories of fever (MAX(MV) of 37.5℃ to 38.4℃, 38.5℃ to 39.4℃, and ≥ 39.5℃) sustained a significantly longer duration of TVT than those with normal range of MAX(MV) in both categories of ICU admission. A significant association between MAX(MV) and mechanical ventilator-free days was also observed in all enrolled subjects. Fever may be a detrimental factor to prolong TVT in mechanically ventilated patients. These findings suggest that fever in mechanically ventilated patients might be associated with worse mechanical ventilation outcome.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Temperature ; Critical Illness* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Linear Models ; Observational Study ; Propensity Score ; Prospective Studies ; Reference Values ; Respiration, Artificial*

OBJECTIVEWe conducted a study to develop an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients that is handy and reliable to help ward staff to devise a fall prevention strategy for each inpatient immediately upon admission.

METHODSThe study consisted of three steps: (1) developing a data sampling form to record variables related to risk of falls in stroke inpatients and conducting a follow-up survey for stroke inpatients from their admission to discharge by using the form; (2) carrying out analyses of characteristics of the present subjects and selecting variables showing a high hazard ratio (HR) for falls using the Cox regression analysis; (3) developing an assessment sheet for fall prediction involving variables giving the integral coefficient for each variable in accordance with the HR determined in the second step.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION(1) Subjects of the present survey were 704 inpatients from 17 hospitals including 270 fallers. (2) We selected seven variables as predictors of the first fall: central paralysis, history of previous falls, use of psychotropic medicines, visual impairment, urinary incontinence, mode of locomotion and cognitive impairment. (3) We made 960 trial models in combination with possible coefficients for each variable, and among them we finally selected the most suitable model giving coefficient number 1 to each variable except mode of locomotion, which was given 1 or 2. The area under the ROC curve of the selected model was 0.73, and sensitivity and specificity were 0.70 and 0.69, respectively (4/5 at the cut-off point). Scores calculated from the assessment sheets of the present subjects by adding coefficients of each variable showed normal distribution and a significantly higher mean score in fallers (4.94 +/- 1.29) than in non-fallers (3.65 +/- 1.58) (P = 0.001). The value of the Barthel Index as the index of ADL of each subject was indicated to be in proportion to the assessment score of each subject.

CONCLUSIONWe developed an assessment sheet for fall prediction in stroke inpatients that was shown to be available and valid to screen inpatients with risk of falls immediately upon admission.