A 66-year-old man presented to a local doctor with a chief complaints of episodes of dizziness lasting several seconds. Electrocardiographic findings were suggestive of arrhythmia and old myocardial infarction, and the patient was therefore referred to our hospital. Left ventriculography showed an aneurysm at the posteroinferior wall of the left ventricle, while coronary angiography showed chronic total occlusion of the left circumflex branch (segment 13) and a coronary-pulmonary artery fistula with a coronary aneurysm. On computed tomography, the orifice of the ventricular aneurysm was small, measuring approximately 10 mm. Magnetic resonance imaging showed wall thinning and mural thrombus in the ventricular aneurysm, with aneurysmal dilatation during systole. Suspecting a ventricular false aneurysm resulting from old myocardial infarction, left ventricular reconstructive surgery and resection of the coronary artery aneurysm were performed. Intraoperatively, myocardial necrosis of the posteroinferior wall accompanied by the ventricular aneurysm was seen. There was no pericardial adhesion to the ventricular aneurysm, and the diameter of the orifice of the aneurysm was approximately 10 mm. The ventricular aneurysm was cut open and then closed using a direct suture combined with patch repair. As for the coronary artery aneurysm, the inflow and outflow arteries were each clipped before the wound was closed. The patient had a favorable postoperative course and was discharged from the hospital on the 15th day after surgery. The pathological examination showed residual cardiomyocytes within the aneurysmal wall, thereby establishing the diagnosis of a pseudo-false aneurysm. Our experience with this rare case is reported.

Introduction: We report three cases of women who developed secondary lower-extremity lymphedema after surgery for endometrial cancer. The cancer stage was 2 as per the International Society of Lymphology risk stratification. Case Reports: We performed intensive lymphdrainage of two-phase complex decongestive physiotherapy in each case during a 1-week hospitalization period. The average leg circumference at discharge improved to 92～96% from baseline. Case 1: After primary treatment, a 35-year-old woman presented with temporarily poor self lymphatic drainage during maintenance therapy, and her leg circumference progressively enlarged. However, the patient received reeducation for self lymphatic drainage and outpatient service for lymphedema regularly. Since then, the leg lymphedema has improved. Case 2: A 63-year old woman improved to 92% of baseline and continued an excellent self lymphatic drainage, maintaining 83% with her depression recovered 2.5 years after this hospitalization. Case 3: This case involved a 70-year-old woman in whom maintenance therapy progressed well without aggravation of lymphedema; however, she died in 1.2 years after the first phase treatment due to cancer recurrence. Discussion: Intensive care under short-term hospitalization (for one week) for lower-extremity lymphedema was effective. However, there was one patient in whom self lymphatic drainage became poor. The patients required long-term care for maintenance therapy after primary treatment.

We report a case of redo aortic valve replacement by right minithoracotomy approach for aortic stenosis after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). An 81-year-old man was followed-up once a year for 9 years after CABG. He complained of increasing respiratory distress, showed narrowing of the aortic valve area, elevation of the aortic valve pressure gradient, and tricuspid valve regurgitation by echocardiography. He was admitted for surgery. We considered minimally invasive operation would be better for him and performed aortic valve replacement (Carpentier-Edwards Perimaunt valve 19 mm) by a right minithoracotomy approach because graft injury could occur by median sternotomy after CABG, and he had the risks of advanced age, low activities of daily living, and mild dementia. His postoperative course was uneventful. On echocardiography performed at postoperative days 9, the ejection fraction recovered to 75% from 53% before surgery and the mean aortic valve pressure gradient was 8 mmHg. He was discharged on postoperative day 12. Right minithoracotomy approach with port access is a good option for redo operation for aortic valve stenosis after CABG.

Purpose: Bone is one of the most common sites of metastases in patients with advanced lung cancer. Skeletal complications may cause significant morbidity and decrease performance status (PS). Such complications, referred to as skeletal related events (SREs), include severe bone pain, pathological fractures, spinal cord compression, and hypercalcemia of malignancy. We assessed the clinical impact of SREs in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with bone metastases. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the clinical records of all 120 patients who were diagnosed advanced NSCLC with bone metastases between June 1998 and March 2009. Results: A total of 23 patients (26.7%) were found to have SREs at the time of initial diagnosis. The median survival time (MST) was 123 days for patients with SREs, while it increased to 276 days for those without SREs. The MST of the patients with SREs were significantly shorter than that of the patients without SREs (p<0.001). We also studied the SREs during clinical courses of 89 patients whose records were available over 3 months. A total of 39 patients (43.8%) were found to have SREs during clinical courses. Conclusion: The patients in NSCLC with bone metastases were often found to have SREs. SREs cause significant morbidity and deterioration of PS. Systemic chemotherapy could not decrease SREs during their clinical courses. Further studies evaluating bisphosphonates in combination with chemotherapy are warranted. Palliat Care Res 2010; 5(2): 145-151

Background: Although several dexamethasone phosphate preparations are commercially available and frequently administered with octreotide acetate, their compatibility remains unknown. Aim: We investigated the effect of pH and sodium bisulphate on the stability of octreotide acetate. Measurement design: Octreotide acetate percentage was measured 3 and 10 days after it was mixed with 2 dexamethasone phosphate preparations containing different concentrations of sodium bisulphate as an additive, and in one that did not contain sodium bisulphate. Solutions were also analysed after they were prepared using phosphate buffer to achieve pH values of 4.0, 7.0, and 9.0. The initial octreotide acetate concentration was 41.7 g/mL. High-performance liquid chromatography was used for measurement. Results: The octreotide acetate percentage in the mixture with dexamethasone phosphate without sodium bisulphate was maintained at 95% for up to 10 days. However, mixing octreotide acetate with the other 2 agents resulted in a significant decrease to 85%. The octreotide acetate percentage was ＜90% after sodium bisulphate-containing solution was stored at room temperature under light-protected conditions for 3 days. The percentage of octreotide acetate in the pH 7.0 solution was ＜90% three days after preparation; however, in the pH 4.0 solution, it was maintained at 95% for up to 10 days. Conclusions: Our results suggest that octreotide acetate is hydrolysed in the presence of sodium bisulphate, leading to a decrease in the percentage of octreotide acetate in the solution, which can be avoided using sodium bisulphate-free dexamethasone phosphate preparations.

Objective: Glycemic control varies based on lifestyle factors and stress coping mechanisms, which are influenced by personality. The psychological factors associated with glycemic control have not yet been established in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The relationship between a 5-factor model of personality and glycemic control was evaluated in individuals with T2DM. Methods: The subjects were 503 Japanese outpatients with T2DM. Glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, depressive status, insomnia and personality traits were assessed. Lifestyle factors of the patients, such as habitual alcohol consumption and smoking, were also included in the analyses. Results: Because the influence of insulin therapy on HbA1c is so strong, we stratified the patients according to insulin use. Simple regression analysis showed a significant correlation between HbA1c and neuroticism in patients who did not use insulin. After adjustment for confounders, multiple regression analyses revealed that none of the personality factors, including neuroticism, were found to be associated with HbA1c. Conclusion These findings suggest that personality traits do not have a large impact on glycemic control. Further studies are required to confirm the relationships between psychological factors and glycemic control using a longitudinal study design.

Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland mucosa type (GA-FGM) was proposed as a new variant of gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type (GA-FG). However, at present, the influence of Helicobacter pylori and the speed of progression and degree of malignancy in GA-FGM remain unclear. Herein, we report the first case of intramucosal GA-FGM that was endoscopically observed before and after H. pylori eradication over 15 years. The lesion showed the same tumor size with no submucosal invasion and a low MIB-1 labeling index 15 years after its detection using endoscopy. The endoscopic morphology changed from 0-IIa before H. pylori eradication to 0-IIa+IIc and then 0-I after H. pylori eradication. These findings suggest that the unaltered tumor size reflects low-grade malignancy and slow growth, and that the endoscopic morphology is influenced by H. pylori eradication.

Purpose: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) who undergo dental procedures during radiotherapy (RT) face an increased risk of developing osteoradionecrosis (ORN). Accordingly, new tools must be developed to extract critical information regarding the dose delivered to the teeth and mandible. This article proposes a novel approach for visualizing 3-dimensional planned dose distributions on panoramic reconstruction computed tomography (pCT) images. Materials and Methods: Four patients with HNC who underwent volumetric modulated arc therapy were included. One patient experienced ORN and required the extraction of teeth after RT. In the study approach, the dental arch curve (DAC) was defined using an open-source platform. Subsequently, pCT images and dose distributions were generated based on the new coordinate system. All teeth and mandibles were delineated on both the original CT and pCT images. To evaluate the consistency of dose metrics, the Mann-Whitney U test and Student t-test were employed. Results: A total of 61 teeth and 4 mandibles were evaluated. The correlation coefficient between the 2 methods was 0.999, and no statistically significant difference was observed (P>0.05). This method facilitated a straightforward and intuitive understanding of the delivered dose. In 1 patient, ORN corresponded to the region of the root and the gum receiving a high dosage (approximately 70 Gy). Conclusion The proposed method particularly benefits dentists involved in the management of patients with HNC. It enables the visualization of a 3-dimensional dose distribution in the teeth and mandible on pCT, enhancing the understanding of the dose delivered during RT.

Ankle exercises are useful for preventing deep vein thrombosis, as they increase venous blood flow velocity. The cause for the increased venous blood flow velocity during ankle exercises may be the skeletal-muscle pump, but the mechanism is not clearly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the dorsiflexion angle and gastrocnemius muscle contraction on venous blood flow velocity during ankle exercises and to investigate the mechanism of the increase in venous blood flow velocity. The blood flow velocity in the popliteal vein, ankle joint angle, and surface electromyographic activity of the gastrocnemius muscle were measured at rest and during ankle exercises in the prone position in young healthy volunteers. The significant increase in venous blood flow velocity was observed during dorsiflexion phase, max dorsiflexion and during planter flexion phase. The peak venous blood flow velocity was different in each subject and classified into four types. The correlations of venous blood velocity to ankle joint angle and with the surface electromyographic activity of the gastrocnemius muscle were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that venous blood flow velocity increases not only during plantar flexion and dorsiflexion.

To clarify the educational effect of the acupuncture and moxibustion practical training for a short time, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 112 fifth-year medical students gathering clinical experience for one hour of acupuncture and moxibustion practical training, including the therapeutic experience before and after the practical training. In 8 items out of 10, the percentage of “positively yes” responses after the practical training were significantly higher than before the practical training. The items that showed a large difference (range of change) in the percentage of “positively yes” responses before and after the practical training were “Do you think it is scientific? (+ 47.4% after the practical training),” “What is your general image? (+ 39.3%),” and “Do you want to use acupuncture and moxibustion in the future? (+ 39.3%).” Securing more opportunities to learn traditional medicine is desirable; however, the problem of limited time and personnel requires improvement. This survey showed a beneficial educational effect in a short time signifying the importance of implementing acupuncture and moxibustion practical training. Additionally, the possibility of expecting similar effects in other medical students and overall students in the medical field can also be expected.