This article is a short report on the third Japan-UK Primary Care Exchange Programme. Japanese delegates visited Scotland in September of 2015. They watched GP surgeries and attended the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Annual Primary Care Conference. The following topics are covered as some of the most insightful experiences: NHS Cancer screening programmes, support for people with cancer and their families, working conditions for GPs, and the Half-Day Release Programme for GP specialist training. In addition, the delegates reflected on their experiences.

A 65-year-old woman was admitted with a diagnosis of unstable angina after PTCA. She was diagnosed with acromegaly 8 years ago. She underwent an emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (LITA-LAD, SVG-HL-Cx). Serum growth hormone (GH) levels were 65.5ng/ml (normal limit<5ng/ml) before the operation. During a cardiopulmonary bypass GH levels elevated to 92.7ng/ml, but decreased to 15.9ng/ml after the operation. After 3 postoperative days GH levels increased gradually again and blood sugar levels became unstable. Finally it was necessary to increase the dose of bromocriptine. To our knowledge, there are only a few patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting associated with acromegaly. This case suggests it is important to control GH levels at the operation and during the postoperative period.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Decreased trough levels of infliximab (TLI) and antibodies to infliximab (ATI) are associated with loss of response (LOR) in Crohn's disease. Two prospective studies were conducted to determine whether TLI or ATI better correlates with LOR (Study 1), and whether TLI could become a predictor of mucosal healing (MH) (Study 2). METHODS: Study 1 was conducted in 108 patients, including those with LOR and remission to compare ATI and TLI in discriminating the 2 conditions based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Study 2 involved 35 patients who were evaluated endoscopically. RESULTS: In Study 1, there were no differences between the 2 assays in ROC curve analyses; the TLI cutoff value for LOR was 2.6 µg/mL (sensitivity, 70.9%; specificity, 79.2%), and the ATI cutoff value was 4.9 µg/mL (sensitivity, 65.5%; specificity, 67.9%). The AUROC (area under the ROC curve) of TLI was greater than that of ATI. AUROC was useful for discriminating between the 2 conditions. In Study 2, the TLI was significantly higher in the colonic MH group than in the non-MH group (2.7 µg/mL vs. 0.5 µg/mL, P=0.032). CONCLUSIONS: TLI is better than ATI for clinically diagnosing LOR, and a correlation was observed between TLI and colonic MH.
Antibodies ; Cohort Studies* ; Colon ; Crohn Disease* ; Humans ; Infliximab* ; Prospective Studies* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colonic diverticular hemorrhage (DH) was a rare disease until the 1990s, and its incidence has increased rapidly since 2000 in Japan. In recent years, colonic DH has been the most frequent cause of lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB). Nearly all cases of DH are mild, with the bleeding often stopping spontaneously. Some cases, however, require surgery or arterial embolization. In this study, using a cohort at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital, we investigated factors associated with severe colonic DH. METHODS: Among patients with LGIB who underwent colonoscopy at our hospital between 1995 and 2013, DH was identified in 273 patients. Among them, 62 patients (22.7%) were defined as having severe colonic DH according to recurrence of bleeding in a short period, and/or the necessity of transfusion, arterial embolization, or surgery. We then evaluated risk factors for severe DH among DH patients in this retrospective cohort. RESULTS: Among the 273 patients with DH, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (odds ratio [OR], 2.801; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.164–6.742), Charlson Risk Index (CRI) ≥2 (OR, 3.336; 95% CI, 1.154–7.353), right-sided colonic DH (OR, 3.873; 95% CI, 1.554–9.653), and symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion (such as light-headedness, dizziness, or syncope) (OR, 2.926; 95% CI, 1.310–6.535) showed an increased risk of severe DH even after controlling for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: Severe DH occurred in 23% of DH patients, and NSAID use, CRI ≥2, right-sided colonic DH, and symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion are suggested to be predictors of severe DH.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Cohort Studies ; Colon* ; Colonoscopy ; Dizziness ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Japan ; Rare Diseases ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors*