Background： While the number of older cancer patients increases as the society ages, the current status of the pain control is not well characterized among older patients. To improve the quality of care, it is necessary to understand the current status. Objectives： The aim of this study was to describe the pain control for older cancer patients in comparison to younger counterparts and characterize it. Methods： During four months in 2013, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital started asking all hospitalized cancer patients about their pain every day using a standardized pain questionnaire. In addition, a questionnaire adopted to the outpatient setting was distributed to the patients who visited outpatient department of the hospital. The information about pain, quality of life (QOL) and the medical histories were included in the data analyses. Their responses were compared between outpatients versus inpatients and older ( ≥65 years) versus younger (＜65 years) patients. Results： The response rate was 57.0％. Pain management was less adequate among outpatients than among inpatients, with pain relief rate of 28.9％ for the former and 52.6％ for the latter (P＜0.001). Among outpatients, the pain relief rate for the older patients was particularly low (older：24.7％ vs younger：35.8％, P＜0.01). Conclusion： Pain management for older patients in the outpatient settings needs a particular attention for improvement. Resources should be allocated to enable better detection and relief of pain among outpatients.

Parkinson’s disease is often complicated by psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatrists are caught in a dilemma between such symptoms and physical treatment since Parkinson’s disease sometimes shows treatment resistance based on pharmacological treatment-induced dopamine dysfunction. Here, we report on a 64-year-old woman with a 15-year history of Parkinson’s disease with stage IV severity based on the Hoehn and Yahr scale. She was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder with psychotic features. Unfortunately, her treatment course for depression was complicated by neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Because we were concerned about the persistence of her depressive symptoms, the risk of psychotropic drugs causing adverse effects, and progressive disuse syndrome, we administered modified electroconvulsive therapy. Her symptoms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome and depression sufficiently improved after five sessions of modified electroconvulsive therapy. Additionally, the primary motor symptoms of her Parkinson’s disease also markedly improved. The improvement of neuroleptic malignant syndrome and her motor symptoms based on dopamine dysfunction can be explained by electroconvulsive therapy’s effectiveness in activating dopamine neurotransmission. Besides, the marked improvement of her depressive episode with psychotic features was presumed to involve dopamine receptor activation and regulation. Because advanced Parkinson’s disease can sometimes be refractory to treatment based on pharmacological treatment-induced dopamine dysfunction, psychiatrists often have difficulty treating psychiatric symptoms; electroconvulsive therapy may stabilize the dopaminergic system in such cases, presenting a possible non-pharmacologic treatment option for Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is often complicated by psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatrists are caught in a dilemma between such symptoms and physical treatment since Parkinson’s disease sometimes shows treatment resistance based on pharmacological treatment-induced dopamine dysfunction. Here, we report on a 64-year-old woman with a 15-year history of Parkinson’s disease with stage IV severity based on the Hoehn and Yahr scale. She was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder with psychotic features. Unfortunately, her treatment course for depression was complicated by neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Because we were concerned about the persistence of her depressive symptoms, the risk of psychotropic drugs causing adverse effects, and progressive disuse syndrome, we administered modified electroconvulsive therapy. Her symptoms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome and depression sufficiently improved after five sessions of modified electroconvulsive therapy. Additionally, the primary motor symptoms of her Parkinson’s disease also markedly improved. The improvement of neuroleptic malignant syndrome and her motor symptoms based on dopamine dysfunction can be explained by electroconvulsive therapy’s effectiveness in activating dopamine neurotransmission. Besides, the marked improvement of her depressive episode with psychotic features was presumed to involve dopamine receptor activation and regulation. Because advanced Parkinson’s disease can sometimes be refractory to treatment based on pharmacological treatment-induced dopamine dysfunction, psychiatrists often have difficulty treating psychiatric symptoms; electroconvulsive therapy may stabilize the dopaminergic system in such cases, presenting a possible non-pharmacologic treatment option for Parkinson’s disease.

Background: The demand for palliative care in Japan has risen over recent years, and training of palliative care physicians is an important problem. However, little is known about unmet needs for education and training systems as well as career development among young physicians who wish to specialize in palliative care. Purpose: To explore unmet needs among palliative care physicians in training. Method: We held group discussions in a forum for physicians of postgraduate year≦15, and analyzed their opinion on topics such as "what are unmet needs?" using theme analysis. Results: Forty physicians participated. Theme analysis revealed the following unmet needs among young physicians; "securing of manpower", "securing of quality of training programs/education", "improvement of network", "removal of many barriers to keeping on a palliative care physician", and "establishment of career models for a specialist". Conclusions: We should discuss solutions for the unmet needs to secure more palliative care physicians.

The case was a 77-year-old man. He had dizziness and dysphagia for 2 years, and underwent detailed screening at the internal medicine department for general malaise and bloody sputum. He was hospitalized for aspiration pneumonia due to dysphagia of unknown origin. This time, he visited a local doctor with palpitations and shortness of breath. Echocardiography indicated a left atrial tumor involving the mitral valve and arrhythmia. Emergency surgery was performed to remove the left atrial myxoma and close the patch at our hospital's cardiovascular surgery department. After the excision, swallowing function was restored, and the patient was diagnosed with postoperative Ortner's syndrome. We report a case where echocardiography was considered important as a detailed investigation of the cause of swallowing dysfunction and dizziness.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have expanded therapeutic options for advanced malignancies, offering new hope for conditions once deemed untreatable. However, the advent of ICIs has introduced a spectrum of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV), a rare but significant complication. This case report describes development of LCV after treatment with nivolumab and ipilimumab in a 70-year-old man with malignant melanoma, highlighting the diagnostic and management challenges of such irAEs. Despite extensive investigation, conventional pathology failed to identify the immune complexes typically associated with LCV. The clinical presentation, alongside a detailed medical history and the exclusion of infections, medications, and autoimmune diseases, was crucial in establishing a diagnosis. Ulcer resolution following discontinuation of ICI therapy and initiation of steroids further support the conclusion that LCV was an irAE in this patient. This case underscores the need for vigilant monitoring for irAEs for the variable onset after ICI therapy and the importance of thorough history-taking to guide diagnosis and treatment. With ICIs becoming increasingly prevalent in oncology, the incidence of ICI-induced ulcers like LCV is expected to rise, necessitating heightened awareness and multidisciplinary approaches to patient care.

Methods: A total of 224 consecutive patients with OVFs aged ≥65 years who received treatment within 2 weeks after the occurrence of injury were enrolled. The patients were followed up for 6 months thereafter. The criteria for evaluating the degree of independence were applied to evaluate ADLs. Multivariable analysis with a logistic regression model was performed to evaluate the risk factors for ADL decline. Results: In total, 49/224 patients (21.9%) showed a decline in ADLs. Of these, 23/116 patients (19.8%) in the rest group and 26/108 patients (24.1%) in the no-rest group experienced a decline in ADLs. In the logistic regression analyses, a diffuse low signal on T2- weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (odds ratio, 5.78; 95% confidence interval, 2.09–16.0; p=0.0007) and vertebral instability (odds ratio, 3.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.32–11.4; p=0.0135) were identified as independent factors in the rest and no-rest groups, respectively. Conclusions In patients with acute OVFs, a diffuse low signal on T2-weighted MRI and severe vertebral instability were independently associated with ADL decline in patients treated with and without initial bed rest, respectively.

In Japan, based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s “Pharmacy Vision for Patients” (2015), there has been a growing need to shift from “drug-centered, physical work” to “patient-centered, interpersonal work.” Medication counseling is one of the most important tasks of pharmacists. In the present study, we focused on the questions asked by patients during medication counseling, and statistically analyzed the content of the questions and the patient attributes obtained from the patient medication profile. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 on patients who visited two pharmacies. Data from a total of 3,300 patients was collected, of which 859 asked questions during medication counseling, accounting for about 26% of the total. Attributes that significantly influenced the asking of questions included gender, new prescriptions, and who was being instructed, especially for women and parents of infants. In terms of topic, questions about the duration and timing of taking the medication and about the medication itself were common in all departments. In terms of medication effects, there were many questions about topical and central nervous system medications, but there were also questions about non-medication matters such as tests. When providing medication counseling, it is expected that pharmacists will actively provide instructions to resolve patients’ questions based on the characteristics of each pharmacy and on patient demographics, as well as improve the quality of interpersonal services according to the patient’s background.