No abstract available.
Antigens, Surface*

The results obtained from a survey of balneal treatment and medical researches made at Hanezawa Spa in Yamagata Prefecture are summarized as follows.
1) Visitors to this spa vary in age, include both sexes in equal number and are, by far, farmers.
2) Visitors are mostly from the local area and surrounding villages and towns, 70% of whom come to the spa for recreation and 20% for therapeutic treatment and recuperation. The figures mentioned here greatly depend upon the time this survey was made, and it is quite probable that the number of visitors for balneal treatment should always be much larger.
3) In this survey, short-time visitors are largest in number, coming to the spa for recreation. Long-time visitors come there for balneal treatment. Visitors are mostly those with diseases of the digestive organs and those with the skin diseases.
4) The larger number of visitors bathe four to five times a day and about 40% of them drink hot-spring waters. Because of the presence of a large number of short-time visitors, the effect of balneal treatment and bathing reaction could not be made clear.
5) Only 4.4% of visitors came there under doctor's directions.
6) Observation of the effect of drinking hot-spring waters on the excretion of gastric juice revealed that it has power to neutralize acid in the stomach and to control the excretion of gastic juice. Such should naturally be the case because this spa is of alkaline muriated spring.
7) With a view to find the effect of drinking hot-spring waters at this spa, examinations were made of renal function. The results obtained from the dilution tests show that the urinary excretion has been delayed and the power of dilution has declined. It is advisable, therefore, that visitors should see whether they are afflicted with the diseases of kidney or circulatory system before they resort to drinking hot-spring waters at this spa.

Our overall surveys of medical consultations for balneal therapy and of balneal curation at the Namekawa Spa, Yamagata Prefecture may be summarized as follows.
1) The Namekawa Spa is one in the Iegatayama Spa family located in the border of Fukushima and Yamagata Prefecture, which is saline hydrogen sulphide spring in character.
There is only one hot-spring inn in this resort (Fukushimaya Inn). It is rich in natural scenery, without the atmosphere of an amusements center and isolated from the wordly things. It is purely a spa for balneal treatment.
2) The larger number of visitors to this spa are from within the prefecture, especially from the towns and villages around the spa, but, because of its nearness to Fukushima Prefecture, quite a number of visitors are from this prefecture.
The visitors are mostly farmers, especially those of advanced age.
Half the visitors have been at the spa before and many of them are in the habit of revisiting the spa year after year.
3) A majority of visitors come to the spa for therapy of diseases and for recuperation, which shows that this spa has the character of balneal therapy.

A 47 year-old man with frequent attacks of ventricular tachycardia (VT) due to arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) developed severe right heart failure following cryoablation of the multiple VT focuses. Inotropic support and intraaortic balloon pumping failed to maintain the systemic circulation, so that we performed the right heart bypass (RHB) using a heparin-coated tube and roller pump. With the use of RHB, systemic circulation improved. We attempted to wean the patient off after 14 days RHB support. However this was unsuccessful because of poor RV function, and RHB was recommenced. The patient finally died of multiple organ failure on the 21st postoperative day, but the major organ function was well maintained for at least two weeks. The heparin-coated tube and roller pump system is easy to handle, and is suitable as a short term lifesaving adjunct for severe right ventricular failure.

We applied a new circulatory support system to three patients with descending aortic operation between 1989 and 1990. The new system consisted of a polyvinylchloride tube coated with hydrophilic heparinized polymer and a roller pump. Low doses of heparin (0.5mg/kg) were administered in two patients and none in one patient before aortic bypass. The aortic crossclamping time ranged between 52 and 64 minutes. In two patients, whose inflow cannulae were 18Fr. or 20Fr., successful bypass flow exceeded 2l/min and optimal distal aortic pressure were maintained during aortic cross-clamping. The postoperative courses of these patients were uneventful, free from thromboembolic episodes and subsequently discharged from hospital. Furthermore, postoperative careful examination revealed no thrombus formation occurred in the three devices. In conclusion, our new simple, antithrombogenic circulatory system is extremely useful for descending aortic operations.

A minimally invasive approach to coronary artery revascularization without cardiopulmonary bypass has been performed recently and its feasibility and effectiveness have been proved. However, occlusion of the coronary artery during anastomosis in the beating heart is liable to cause myocardial ischemia or infarction. To prevent these and to perform minimally invasive coronary artery bypass on the beating heart safely, intra-coronary shunt was developed and applied in animal experiments. Materials and methods: The left internal mammary artery was harvested endoscopically and anastomosed to the left anterior descending coronary artery in the beating heart without cardiopulmonary bypass in seven pigs. Three of them utilized intracoronary shunt tubes (group S) and the other did not (group C). Results: Use of an intracoronary shunt tube facilitated non-blood exposure of the coronary artery during anastomosis. In group C, three pigs out of four had ventricular fibrillation during occlusion for the anastomosis. In group S the anastomosis was accomplished without change of ECG except one case and without any elevation of CPK-MB and Troponin T during and after the anastomosis. Conclusion: These results showed that an intra-coronary shunt can prevent myocardial ischemia and may be very useful especially to those who do not develop collateral branches from other coronary arteries.

Objective: In Japan, the healthcare authority encourages physicians to prescribe generic drugs in order to reduce the copayments by the patients for pharmaceutical expenses and to improve the financial status of the national medical insurance system.  In accordance with this governmental policy, we have been actively involved in switching original to generic formulations.  Thus, Utemerine® 50 mg injection was replaced with Ritodrine hydrochloride 50 mg intravenous injection produced by Nichiiko.  There have been some reports on adverse events caused by the generic formulations of Ritodrine hydrochloride.  Factors contributing to these adverse effects may include different additives and/or vehicles and the exemption of demonstrating some conditions for approval, including clinical trials.  Therefore, in order to assess the efficacy and safety of a generic formulation of Ritodrine hydrochloride injection formulation compared with the original formulation and to decide on its continued use, we carried out a retrospective cohort study.
Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study in order to assess the efficacy and safety of a generic formulation of Ritodrine hydrochloride injection formulation compared with the original formulation.
Results: There were no significant differences in the length of hospital stay, rate of emergency transport to other institutions, gestational week of delivery, rate of stillbirth, rate of abortion, or incidence of adverse events between the two formulations.
Conclusion: Our results may contribute to the safe and secure use of the generic formulations of Ritodrine hydrochloride in the current situation of the increasing use of generic drugs in health care.  Although there are some limitations in our study, the results suggest that there are no particular problems with the continued use of Ritodrine hydrochloride 50 mg intravenous injection produced by Nichiiko.

Objective: Macrolide therapy has been recommended as an effective treatment for pediatric otolaryngology patients with conditions such as chronic sinusitis and otitis media with effusion.  However, in many cases, a relapse may occur after cessation of treatment.  Therefore, patients are compelled to continue taking antibiotics.  In this paper, we examined the relationship between the duration of therapy and period to relapse on the basis of prescription information and literature research.
Methods: To evaluate the therapeutic doses, we investigated the clinical doses of erythromycin and clarithromycin used for pediatric patients in a community pharmacy from January 2009 to July 2009.  Further, we performed literature searches on the doses of both drugs using Igaku-Chuo-Zasshi databases (from 1983 to 2011) and compared the data obtained with the clinical doses.  Accordingly, the oral doses of macrolides were classified as a low dose or normal dose.  We analyzed the relationship between the administration period and the cessation period, which was defined as the period from the cessation of the treatment to relapse.
Results: Review of the 17 selected reports and the clinical doses showed that the maximum dose of erythromycin was 15 mg/kg/day and that of clarithromycin was 8 mg/kg/day during therapy.  When both cephem or penicillin antibiotics and low-dose macrolides were taken continuously during the administration period, a weak correlation was observed between the administration period and the cessation period.
Conclusion: These results may be useful for the appropriate use of antibiotics and for preventing relapse in pediatric otolaryngology patients.

Background/Aims: The accurate assessment of the depth of invasion of early gastric cancer (EGC) is critical to determine the most appropriate treatment option. However, it is difficult to distinguish shallow submucosal (SM1) invasion from deeper submucosal (SM2) invasion. We investigated the diagnostic performance of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) using a miniature probe for EGC with suspected SM invasion. Methods: From April 2008 to June 2018, EGCs with suspected SM invasion were analyzed retrospectively. The EGCs examined by a 20 MHz high-frequency miniature probe was included in our study. Esophago-gastric junction cancers and patients treated by chemotherapy before resection were excluded. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of SM2 invasion by EUS were compared with those of white light imaging (WLI).Additionally, factors related to depth underestimation or overestimation were investigated using multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 278 EGCs in 259 patients were included in the final analysis. The sensitivity and specificity for SM2 or deeper by EUS were 73.7% (87/118) and 74.4% (119/160), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity by WLI were 47.5% (56/118) and 68.1% (109/160), respectively. The sensitivity of EUS was significantly superior to that of conventional endoscopy (p<0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that an anterior location of the EGC was an independent risk factor for underestimation by EUS (odds ratio, 3.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 9.8; p=0.03). Conclusions The depth diagnostic performance for EGCs with suspected SM invasion using EUS was satisfactory and superior to that of conventional endoscopy. Additionally, it is important to recognize factors that may lead to misdiagnosis in thoselesions.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Oral mesalazine is an important treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC), and non-adherence to mesalazine increases the risk of relapse. Controlled-release (CR) mesalazine has 2 formulations: tablets and granules. The relative acceptabilities of these formulations may influence patient adherence; however, they have not been compared to date. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptabilities of the 2 formulations of CR mesalazine in relation to patient adherence using a crossover questionnaire survey. METHODS: UC patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups in a 1:1 ratio. Patients in each group took either 4 g of CR mesalazine tablets or granules for 6 to 9 weeks, and then switched to 4 g of the other formulation for a further 6 to 9 weeks. The acceptability and efficacy were evaluated by questionnaires, and adherence was assessed using a visual analog scale. The difference in acceptabilities between the 2 formulations and its impact on adherence were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients were prospectively enrolled and 33 patients were included in the analysis. Significantly more patients found the tablets to be less acceptable than the granules (76% vs. 33%, P=0.0005). The granules were preferable to the tablets when the 2 formulations were compared directly (73% vs. 21%, P=0.004), for their portability, size, and numbers of pills. The adherence rate was slightly better among patients taking the granules (94% vs. 91%) during the observation period, but the difference was not significant (P=0.139). CONCLUSIONS: CR mesalazine granules are more acceptable than tablets, and may therefore be a better option for long-term medication.
Colitis, Ulcerative ; Drug Compounding ; Humans ; Medication Adherence ; Mesalamine ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care ; Patient Compliance ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Tablets ; Ulcer ; Visual Analog Scale