Purpose: As integrated medicine has been receiving more attention, therapeutic effect of plants has become more evident in recent years. However, many hospitals in Japan have not taken advantage of horticultural therapy in their palliative care unit yet. In the present study, we examined the role and the experience of horticulture as an individual therapy for patients in palliative care unit. Results and Discussion: More smiles were observed on the patients as evident from their Face scale score changes on days horticultural therapy was conducted. Coming into contact with the vital force of plants, through germination, flowering, and seed setting seemed to act as an effective care for the patients. Comparison of the nurses' daily journal and horticultural therapists' logbook showed difference in the nature of conversations recorded, indicating a specific role of horticultural therapists in palliative care. Conclusion: The study suggested a potential for individual therapy of patients with horticulture in palliative care as a part of integrated medicine that requires involvement of multiple medical disciplines.

A 59-year-old man was admitted to our hospital, complaining of fever and left lumbago. He was diagnosed with primary left iliopsoas abscess and treated with draining the abscess percutaneously and antibiotics. Chest x-rays taken on admission showed multiple round nodules in both lung fields. CT scans of the chest revealed a wedgeshaped lesion abutting the pleura in the left lower lung field and multiple nodules of various sizes in both peripheral lung fields. Some nodules had cavities with thin walls and feeding vessels. Follow-up CT scans to the chest demonstrated that some old nodules had vanished and new nodules developed in both lung fields. The diagnosis of septic pulmonary embolism secondary to iliopsoas abscess was established, because organized pneumonia was detected in the transbronchial lung biopsy specimens and the cultures of the pus from the abscess and the sputum on admission showed Enterococcus faecium.

Background/Aims: Dual red imaging (DRI) is a new, image-enhanced endoscopy technique. There are few reports about the usefulness of DRI during gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). We aimed to examine the usefulness of DRI in endoscopic hemostasis during gastric ESD. Methods: We enrolled a total of 20 consecutive patients who underwent gastric ESD. Five endoscopists compared DRI with white light imaging (WLI) for the visibility of blood vessels and bleeding points while performing endoscopic hemostasis. Results: The visibility of blood vessels was increased in 56% (19/34) of the cases, and the visibility of bleeding points was improved in 55% (11/20) of the cases with the use of DRI compared with the use of WLI. Conclusions DRI improved the visibility of blood vessels and bleeding points in cases with oozing bleeding, blood pooling around the bleeding points, and multiple bleeding points.