We describe a case of Inose-type hepatic encephalopathy due to congenital gastro-renal shunt that was effectively treated with balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO). An 80-year-old woman repeatedly experienced syncope. Her plasma concentration of NH₃ was elevated to 2363 level and syncope attacks improved after the gastro-renal shunt was closed by B-RTO. Although a congenital gastro-renal shunt is usually treated by surgical ligation, B-RTO is can be effective and less invasive treatment for such cases.

Spinal tuberculosis usually occurs in a single vertebral body or two to three adjacent vertebrae; it rarely occurs in multiple vertebral bodies. Surgery is indicated in cases that do not improve with conservative therapy, or when paralysis is evident. Two cases regarding patients with spinal tuberculosis in multiple vertebral bodies on whom surgery was performed are reported. Case 1, the patient was a 77-year-old woman with spinal tuberculosis in four vertebral bodies from the lower thoracic to the lumbar spine. As she had pronounced lower back pain, posterolateral fusion with a pedicle screw was performed. Case 2, the patient was a 29-year-old Indonesian man with spinal tuberculosis in 17 vertebral bodies of the spine who was unable to stand due to paralysis of both legs, thus posterolateral fusion with a pedicle screw was performed. Good results were obtained from tuberculostatic drug therapy and surgical instrumentation.
Adult ; Aged ; Antitubercular Agents ; Female ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; male ; Paraplegia ; Spine ; Surgical Instruments ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Spinal

We experienced a case of paranoid schizophrenia whose negative symptoms such as fatigue and depression were successfully treated with kamishoyosan and hochuekkito. The combination of medical herbal extracts did not affect positive symptoms. Herbal medicine may play not only a supporting role in treating mental disorders in general but also an important role in improving negative symptoms of schizophrenia.