Malignant pleural effusion is characterized by fluid buildup between the lung and the chest wall due to cancer cells in the pleura. Most cases are caused by lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or malignant lymphoma. Urothelial carcinoma is a rare cause of malignant pleural effusions and is difficult to diagnose by cytological examination. We report a case of malignant pleural effusion due to urothelial carcinoma. An 80-year-old man presented with right back pain. After close examination, he was diagnosed with ureteral cancer. During the course of treatment, a unilateral pleural effusion was found, and cytological and histological examinations were performed on suspicion of malignant pleural effusion. Cytological examination revealed numerous round-to-ovoid cells with irregularly enlarged nuclei. Immunohistological studies were performed on cell block specimens, and urothelial carcinoma was diagnosed. Cytological examination of malignant pleural effusions may require estimation of the primary site. It is important to take a multifaceted approach that considers not only the cytological findings but also the clinical findings and medical history.

Objective: Management of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) is important for patients with type 2 diabetes merger hyperlipidemia. Pemafibrate (PF) has different characteristics from conventional fibrates. In this study, we retrospectively compared the efficacy and safety of PF and bezafibrate (BF) in patients with type 2 diabetes merger hypertriglyceridemia.Methods: Patients who were administered PF (0.2 mg/day) or BF (400 mg/day) for 24 weeks or longer were included. Twenty patients in each group were extracted using propensity score matching (PS). PS was calculated using the patient background (before the start of administration) of PF or BF. We investigated lipid-related parameters (TG, high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], and LDL-C) and other laboratory test parameters pre administration and 24 weeks post administration.Results: TG decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the TG treatment target (<150 mg/dL) achievement rate (p =1.00), TG change rate (p=0.84), and TG change amount (p=0.77). In addition, there were no significant changes in HDL-C and LDL-C in both groups. In the PF group, alanine transaminase (ALT) (p< 0.05), alkaline phosphatase (p<0.05) decreased. In the BF group, ALT (p<0.05) and γ-GTP (p<0.05) decreased. Both groups showed improvement in liver function after 24 weeks. eGFR (p<0.05) significantly decreased only BF group. There were no significant changes in renal function, creatine kinase (CK), or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in either group.Conclusion: Our study suggests that there is no difference in the TG lowering effect and safety of PF and BF in type 2 diabetic patients.

　　In recent years, favorable therapeutic outcomes have been reported for arterial injection chemoradiotherapy for tongue cancer. The present case involves an 80-year-old woman in our palliative care department who had high-grade, advanced tongue cancer. Because there was a request for surgery to prevent airway occlusion due to growth of the tumor, she was referred to our department in April 2009. As a treatment policy for controlling tumor growth in high-grade, advanced tongue cancer, arterial injection chemoradiotherapy was carried out through the superficial temporal artery, with a tongue artery catheter in place on both sides. Therapeutic effect was obtained, and it was possible to avoid airway occlusion through tumor regression. Dysphagia and dysphemia were improved, which in turn improved quality of life. In this case, there was an opportunity to carry out multidisciplinary team medicine, including support from the oral care and palliative care teams as part of the process of cancer therapy. Here, we present our findings in this case.

　　Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) involves the administration of anticancer treatment at high doses that exceed the patient’s maximum required dose for total body irradiation, to eliminate malignancy and achieve myeloablation. Hematopoietic stem cells are then transfused to re-establish the lost hematopoietic function. The use of radiation, anticancer drugs, and immunosuppressive drugs can cause adverse events in the oral cavity such as mucositis, bleeding, opportunistic infections, and graft versus host disease. This collaborative report by the departments of hematology and oncology as well as dentistry and oral surgery at our institution discusses the perioperative oral functional management of patients undergoing HSCT. Subjects enrolled were 191 transplantation patients (52 autologous, 139 allogeneic) between 2008 and 2015. The subjects underwent professional tooth cleaning before commencing a transplant conditioning regimen. When the professional oral health care (POHC) treatment was completed, professional tooth cleaning (PTC), professional mechanical tooth cleaning (PMTC), and treatment with a dental drug delivery (3DS) system were provided. This perioperative oral functional management resulted in a decrease in the frequency of oropharyngeal candidiasis from 19.3% to 4.3%. We devised a standardized supportive oral care program from the preoperative period onward to minimize adverse oral events associated with HSCT. The program could effectively improve the quality of life of patients undergoing HSCT.

BACKGROUND: Epidural anesthesia is widely used to provide pain relief, whether for surgical anesthesia, postoperative analgesia, treatment of chronic pain, or to facilitate painless childbirth. In many cases, however, the epidural catheter is inserted blindly and the indwelling catheter position is almost always uncertain. METHODS: In this study, the loss-of-resistance technique was used and an imaging agent was injected through the indwelling epidural anesthesia catheter to confirm the position of its tip and examine the migration rate. Study subjects were patients scheduled to undergo surgery using general anesthesia combined with epidural anesthesia. Placement of the epidural catheter was confirmed postoperatively by injection of an imaging agent and X-ray imaging. RESULTS: The indwelling epidural catheter was placed between upper thoracic vertebrae (n = 83; incorrect placement, n = 5), lower thoracic vertebrae (n = 123; incorrect placement, n = 5), and lower thoracic vertebra-lumbar vertebra (n = 46; incorrect placement, n = 7). In this study, a relatively high frequency of incorrectly placed epidural catheters using the loss-of-resistance technique was observed, and it was found that incorrect catheter placement resulted in inadequate analgesia during surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although the loss-of-resistance technique is easy and convenient as a method for epidural catheter placement, it frequently results in inadequate placement of epidural catheters. Care should be taken when performing this procedure.
Analgesia ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia, General ; Catheters ; Catheters, Indwelling ; Chronic Pain ; Humans ; Parturition ; Spine ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; Triiodobenzoic Acids