This study aimed to examine the effects of an 8-week physical activity program, which mainly comprised home-based bench-stepping exercise training at the intensity of lactate threshold (LT), on mental health (MH), health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and physical fitness in Japanese returnees from China. Thirty Japanese returnees (63 ± 9 y) participated in the exercise program. Another six subjects were enrolled as the control group. The subjects performed 212 ± 57 min of training, and their daily step counts were increased. Aerobic capacity (LT: 4.5 ± 0.8 vs. 5.5 ± 1.1 METs), lower limb strength (30-s chair stand test [CS-30]: 19.1 ± 5.5 vs. 21.3 ± 5.1 times), and sit-and-reach flexibility (sitting-posture body anteflexion: 36.1 ± 9.4 vs. 39.0 ± 8.4 cm) were significantly increased after the intervention compared with before the intervention. Furthermore, MH, as assessed by the total score of the GHQ-28 (3.4 ± 4.4 vs. 0.3 ± 0.8 points), and the mental component score (MCS) of HRQOL, as evaluated by the SF-36v2 (55.1 ± 11.4 vs. 58.5 ± 10.0), were significantly changed in a positive manner. However, a two-way repeated measures ANOVA (group × period) showed significant interactions for LT and MCS (p<0.05), and a tendency for interactions of CS-30 (p=0.063) and the total score of the GHQ-28 (p=0.098). These results indicate that this bench-stepping exercise program could become a useful health support program for improving physical fitness, as well as MH and HRQOL, in Japanese returnees.

A 46-year-old man had a 3-week history of persistent cough. Chest radiography showed a mass in the left pulmonary hilum and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed an infiltrative mass extending from the main pulmonary trunk to the left hilar region into the lung. He was referred to our hospital for multidisciplinary treatments. Echocardiography showed that the proximal side of the tumor reached the pulmonary valve. CT revealed that the heterogeneous low-density tumor extended from the main pulmonary trunk to the left and right pulmonary arteries, and the left side of the tumor extended beyond the left pulmonary hilum into the left lung. A mass shadow of 54 mm in length was also seen in the lower lobe of the left lung along the pulmonary artery. Although the left bronchus was compressed by the tumor, there was no obvious intratracheal invasion. Direct invasion to the descending thoracic aorta was suspected. He underwent the resection of the main pulmonary trunk and the left pulmonary artery along with the tumor concomitant with total left pneumonectomy. Reconstruction of the pulmonary artery and right ventricular outflow tract were performed as follows: The right ventricular outflow tract was reconstructed by using a semilunar shaped bovine pericardial patch. The pulmonary artery was replaced by using a composite graft with a Dacron tube graft and an aortic bio-prosthesis. He was discharged on the 22nd postoperative day. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma. Although there are various reconstruction methods for pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma depending on the affected site, reconstruction of the pulmonary artery and the right ventricular outflow tract by using a composite graft are considered to be a useful method.