An 8-year-old girl had been found to have a congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD), based on the presence of a cardiac murmur from birth. She had a history of infective endocarditis and lung abscess when she was 2 years old. Mild aortic regurgitation was revealed by an echocardiogram in August 2004. Right-heart catherization revealed a step up in the oxygen saturation of the right ventricle, aortography showed a deformity of the noncoronary cusp and mild aortic regurgitation, and Doppler color-flow echocardiography detected progression of aortic regurgitation. The patient underwent surgical repair of the VSD with a cardiopulmonary bypass. Following direct suturing combined with pledgets for perimembranous VSD, infusion of cardioplegia revealed the aneurysmal sac extruding from the wall of the right atrium. The final diagnosis was an aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva from the noncoronary aortic sinus into the right atrium (type IV of Konno). The aneurysm was sutured by polyethylene strings with pledgets. The postoperative course was uneventful, and echocardiography performed before discharge showed no deformity of the sinus of Valsalva and trivial aortic regurgitation which was less than before surgery. She was discharged on the 7th postoperative day.

1) To our knowledge, medical student abuse has not previously been studied in Japan.
2) In our survey, 68.5% of respondents experienced medical student abuse.
3) Several students reported that they had been frequently neglected or ignored by teaching physicians during clinical clerkships and that such attitudes discouraged them and decreased their motivation.
4) To improve the learning environment, medical educators must take action to resolve this serious issue.

Restrictions on the use of antimicrobial agents are reported to lead to a reduction in the use of carbepanem (CP) antiobiotics and in the detection of resistant bacteria. Our hospital began monitoring the use of specific antimicrobial agents in June 2014. In the present study, we examined changes in the use of injectable broad-spectum antibiotics and in the susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa before and after introducing our antimicrobial use monitoring system (pre-and post-monitoring). We obtained a total of 301 specimens taken before the introduction of the system (January 2012-May 2014,143 specimens) and after after the introduction (June 2014-December 2016, 158 specimens). We then examined antimicrobial use density (AUD) and P. aeruginosa sensitivity per 100 patient-days.Comparisons of pre-monitoring results (2012) and post-monitoring results (2016) show that AUD decreased for imipenem/cilastatin (IPM/CS;0.26 to 0.1), meropenem (0.46 to 0.19), CAZ(0.52 to 0.16), and CZOP (0.17 to 0.09) and increased for tazobactam/piperacillin (0.67 to 1.16). Susceptibility of P. aeruginosa tended toward recovery (IPM/CS:0.8 to 0.87, piperacillin: 0.89 to 0.92, ceftazidime: 0.87 to 0.93,and cefozopran: 0.8 to 0.94). Our antimicrobial use monitoring system reduced the use of CP antibiotics and helped to restore the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa.

Objective：To assess the effects of increased financial incentives in medical fee revisions on acute rehabilitation quality by elucidating the changes in the timing and quantity of rehabilitation services provided after total knee arthroplasty.Methods：The analysis was conducted using nationwide Diagnosis Procedure Combination data from 2010 to 2017. Hospitals were divided into two groups (≥1,000 cases and＜1,000 cases), and the differences in basic characteristics, clinical findings/course, and rehabilitation practices were analyzed according to medical fee revision years. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed with the following dependent variables：duration before postoperative rehabilitation initiation and the number of rehabilitation therapy units provided. Independent variables included medical fee revision years and case volume.Results：Throughout the 8-year study period, there were reductions of 0.4 days (hospitals with ≥1,000 cases) and 1.3 days (hospitals with＜1,000 cases) before rehabilitation initiation. There were also significant increases in rehabilitation therapy units provided in the first 2two weeks after surgery. Earlier rehabilitation initiation was associated with case volume and medical revision year. Similarly, increases in rehabilitation therapy units were associated with case volume, medical revision year, and comprehensive rehabilitation plan evaluation fees.Conclusion：Higher reimbursements to hospitals, especially hospitals with＜1,000 cases, were associated with earlier rehabilitation interventions, and increased rehabilitation services provided within a short duration. These medical fee revisions appeared effective in raising the quality of acute rehabilitation therapy.

Objective：To assess the effects of increased financial incentives in medical fee revisions on acute rehabilitation quality by elucidating the changes in the timing and quantity of rehabilitation services provided after total knee arthroplasty.Methods：The analysis was conducted using nationwide Diagnosis Procedure Combination data from 2010 to 2017. Hospitals were divided into two groups (≥1,000 cases and＜1,000 cases), and the differences in basic characteristics, clinical findings/course, and rehabilitation practices were analyzed according to medical fee revision years. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed with the following dependent variables：duration before postoperative rehabilitation initiation and the number of rehabilitation therapy units provided. Independent variables included medical fee revision years and case volume.Results：Throughout the 8-year study period, there were reductions of 0.4 days (hospitals with ≥1,000 cases) and 1.3 days (hospitals with＜1,000 cases) before rehabilitation initiation. There were also significant increases in rehabilitation therapy units provided in the first 2two weeks after surgery. Earlier rehabilitation initiation was associated with case volume and medical revision year. Similarly, increases in rehabilitation therapy units were associated with case volume, medical revision year, and comprehensive rehabilitation plan evaluation fees.Conclusion：Higher reimbursements to hospitals, especially hospitals with＜1,000 cases, were associated with earlier rehabilitation interventions, and increased rehabilitation services provided within a short duration. These medical fee revisions appeared effective in raising the quality of acute rehabilitation therapy.

Early detection of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria in blood culture tests influences the choice of antimicrobial agents. We report on our hospital’s system for early reporting of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria and its utility. The hospital operates a 24-h simple cefpodoxime (CPDX) testing system, where the content of a sample container with a positive blood culture result is smeared on a CA Sheep Blood Agar/VCM Chocolate EX II fractionation medium, and an antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) disk (Sensi-Disk CPDX) is placed at the center of the medium and incubated. The presence or absence of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria is estimated from the diameter of the growth inhibition zone. The physician in charge of AST makes comments on the chart based on the simple CPDX test results. The sensitivity of the simple CPDX test for detecting third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria, based on AST results, was 95.5%. Among patients with failed antimicrobial therapy, the rate of switching antimicrobials before the AST results were known was 57.9% in cases where there were comments made by the physicians in charge of AST, compared with 42.9% in cases without comments. These results suggest that the simple CPDX test enables early and accurate detection of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant bacteria, facilitating early switching of antimicrobial agents through collaboration with physicians in charge of AST.