A man in his fifties was diagnosed with retrograde type A acute aortic dissection. He underwent total arch replacement using the Gelweave Lupiae graft and staged thoracic endovascular aortic repair. Five days after discharge from the hospital, he was referred to our institution because of severe hemolytic anemia. Electrocardiography-gated computed tomography angiography demonstrated significant kinking of the graft adjacent to the proximal anastomotic site. Cine cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed that graft kinking deteriorated during systole. We concluded that his hemolytic anemia was caused by graft kinking and surgical repair was required. The graft was transected at the kinking site and then reconstructed. After surgical repair, the hemolytic anemia improved immediately.

Methods: Sixty patients with PCSA who underwent surgical treatment of the cervical spine were enrolled. The radiological findings on plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were evaluated. The cervical lordotic angles, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), and T1 slope were assessed on a lateral radiograph in the neutral position. CT was used to assess the width of the intervertebral foramen and the anterior protrusion of the superior articular process on the axial view. MRI was used to determine the number of levels of compression (NLC) and the presence of a high-intensity area in the spinal cord in the T2- weighted midsagittal view. The preoperative and postoperative strengths of the most atrophic muscles were evaluated using manual muscle testing. Improvements in strength were classified as excellent (five grades recovered), good (more than one grade recovered), fair (no improvement), or poor (worsened). Results: The prevalence of C5 palsy was 17% (10/60). Patients with poor outcomes had higher NLC and Δ C2–C7 SVA than patients with excellent, good, and fair outcomes (p =0.015; odds ratio [OR], 5.758; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.397−23.726 for a change of 10% and p =0.048; OR, 1.068; 95% CI, 0.992−1.141 for a change of 10%, respectively). Conclusions ΔC2–C7 SVA and NLC may be used as prognostic factors for achieving a poor outcome following surgery in patients with PCSA. More focus is needed on preventing the increase in ΔC2–C7 SVA.

Background/Aims: Crosstalk between the gut microbiota and bile acid plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disorders. We investigated the relationship between microbial structure and bile acid metabolism in the ileal mucosa of Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods: Twelve non-CD controls and 38 CD patients in clinical remission were enrolled. Samples were collected from the distal ileum under balloon-assisted enteroscopy. Bile acid composition was analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: The Shannon evenness index was significantly lower in endoscopically active lesions than in non-CD controls. β-Diversity, evaluated by the UniFrac metric, revealed a significant difference between the active lesions and non-CD controls (P=0.039). The relative abundance of Escherichia was significantly higher and that of Faecalibacterium and Roseburia was significantly lower in CD samples than in non-CD controls. The increased abundance of Escherichia was more prominent in active lesions than in inactive lesions. The proportion of conjugated bile acids was significantly higher in CD patients than in non-CD controls, but there was no difference in the proportion of primary or secondary bile acids. The genera Escherichia and Lactobacillus were positively correlated with the proportion of conjugated bile acids. On the other hand, Roseburia, Intestinibacter, and Faecalibacterium were negatively correlated with the proportion of conjugated bile acids. Conclusions Mucosa-associated dysbiosis and the alteration of bile acid composition were identified in the ileum of CD patients. These may play a role in the pathophysiology of ileal lesions in CD patients.

Objective：The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a four-week short-term intensive rehabilitation on ataxia in patients with ambulatory spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD), using the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) total score and sub-score.Methods：This study included 23 SCD patients；we considered those with a SARA gait score of＜3 points. Our program included a one-hour training session with individualized instructions and a one-hour self-balance training session. Additionally, occupational or speech-language-hearing therapy was performed for one hour daily. Our program was conducted five days weekly for four weeks. We assessed the SARA total score and sub-score findings immediately, before the first and after the last interventions.Results：The SARA total, gait, stance, and heel-shin scores showed more significant improvement after intervention than before intervention (p＜0.05). The other SARA sub-scores were not significantly different between “before and after” interventions.Conclusion：The four-week short-term intensive rehabilitation on ataxia in patients with ambulatory spinocerebellar degeneration improved the SARA total score and ataxia of the trunk and lower limbs.

Objective：The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a four-week short-term intensive rehabilitation on ataxia in patients with ambulatory spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD), using the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) total score and sub-score.Methods：This study included 23 SCD patients；we considered those with a SARA gait score of＜3 points. Our program included a one-hour training session with individualized instructions and a one-hour self-balance training session. Additionally, occupational or speech-language-hearing therapy was performed for one hour daily. Our program was conducted five days weekly for four weeks. We assessed the SARA total score and sub-score findings immediately, before the first and after the last interventions.Results：The SARA total, gait, stance, and heel-shin scores showed more significant improvement after intervention than before intervention (p＜0.05). The other SARA sub-scores were not significantly different between “before and after” interventions.Conclusion：The four-week short-term intensive rehabilitation on ataxia in patients with ambulatory spinocerebellar degeneration improved the SARA total score and ataxia of the trunk and lower limbs.