This study aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin treatment for neuropathic pain.
Design:Long-term simulations based on state transition models.
Methods:We examined the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin for treatment of three common peripheral neuropathic pains, postherpetic neuralgia(PHN), painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN), and radiculopathy, using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio(ICER). We used quality-adjusted life years(QALYs)as an index of effectiveness, and also estimated medical costs. For PHN and DPN, we constructed state transition models comprising two states, with and without pregabalin treatment, and performed 52-week simulations. The pain scores reported in Japanese phaseIII studies were used to set patients' weekly pain scores. The results of utility surveys conducted overseas were used as utility scores, while values randomly sampled from probability distributions were used to set weekly pain scores and drop-out rates. In base-case analyses, we performed 1000 1st-order Monte Carlo simulations using 1000 values randomly sampled from probability distributions, and calculated QALYs and medical costs for 52 weeks for each group. For radiculopathy, the ICER was calculated from changes in QALYs for 12 weeks reported overseas and medical costs estimated separately for the identical period.
Results:The ICERs for PHN, DPN, and radiculopathy were 1,116,886 Yen/QALY, 1,100,420 Yen/QALY, and 1,095,943 Yen/QALY, respectively, which were well below the upper limits of ICER ranges for treatments considered cost-effective. There were no cases in which ICERs obtained from scenario and sensitivity analyses differed significantly.
Conclusion:Pregabalin was shown to be cost-effective treatment for neuropathic pain.

A 43-year-old woman underwent aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation causing aortitis syndrome. The postoperative course had been uneventful and inflammation was controlled by steroid therapy. She developed a moderate degree of dyspnea with cardiomegaly. Two years after the first aorta valve replacement (AVR), severe aortic regurgitation was observed on both echocardiography and aortography. Dehiscence of the prosthetic valve was suspected and an emergency operation was performed. To secure the reimplanted prosthetic valve, we applied the technique of passing felt-pledgeted sutures through the aortic wall in the vicinity to the right coronary cusp and the noncoronary cusp and others through the left coronary cusp with everting mattress sutures. The postoperative course of the second AVR has been uneventful for two months. Since prosthetic valve detachment can occur even if inflammation of aortitis is well controlled, strict management of inflammation is recommended for a prolonged period to prevent reccurence of aortitis and subsequent valve dehiscence.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy and lumbar segmental motion. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The pathogenesis of LF thickening is unclear and whether the thickening results from tissue hypertrophy or buckling remains controversial. METHODS: 296 consecutive patients underwent assessment of the lumbar spine by radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Of these patients, 39 with normal L4-L5 disc height were selected to exclude LF buckling as one component of LF hypertrophy. The study group included 27 men and 12 women, with an average age of 61.2 years (range, 23-81 years). Disc degeneration and LF thickness were quantified on MRI. Lumbar segmental spine instability and presence of a vacuum phenomenon were identified on radiographic images. RESULTS: The distribution of disc degeneration and LF thickness included grade II degeneration in 4 patients, with a mean LF thickness of 2.43±0.20 mm; grade III in 10 patients, 3.01±0.41 mm; and grade IV in 25 patients, 4.16±1.12 mm. LF thickness significantly increased with grade of disc degeneration and was significantly correlated with age (r=0.55, p<0.01). Logistic regression analysis identified predictive effects of segmental angulation (odds ratio [OR]=1.55, p=0.014) and age (OR=1.16, p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Age-related increases in disc degeneration, combined with continuous lumbar segmental flexion-extension motion, leads to the development of LF hypertrophy.
Aging* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertrophy* ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; Ligamentum Flavum* ; Logistic Models ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine ; Vacuum

Using the data of 139 ovarian cancer cases at our hospital, we investigated the effect of jingizai on prognosis when it was combined with standard therapy for ovarian cancer and prognosis by histopathological types. Combining jingizai with standard therapy was not effective in cases of stage I-II ovarian cancer, but it was effective in cases of stage III-IV ovarian cancer. Upon examination the effectiveness of jingizai according to histopathological types, we observed some improved prognosis in serous adenocarcinoma and mucinous adenocarcinoma cases ; however, prognosis didn't improve in endometrioid adenocarcinoma and clear cell adenocarcinoma. These results indicate that the effectiveness of combining jingizai with standard therapy may differ depending on histological type of ovarian cancer. When we investigated the difference between the distribution of histopathological types by cancer staging, we frequently found clear cell adenocarcinoma in stage I-II cancer cases. Also, serous adenocarcinoma and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma had a high frequency among stage III-IV cancer cases. This difference may be the reason that the effectiveness of jingizai is different depending on the advances of each stage. However, no statistical difference was confirmed due to the small number of subjects analyzed. Analysis of larger sample size, which can be collected by performing collaborative studies with other facilities, will be required for more detailed investigation.