Tirzepatide has demonstrated greater efficacy than semaglutide in improving glycemic control and reducing body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the optimal tirzepatide dose following a switch from 1.0 mg of semaglutide remains unclear. This retrospective study included 15 T2DM patients who switched to tirzepatide due to inadequate weight loss. All patients started tirzepatide at 2.5 mg, with escalation to either 7.5 mg (n=10) or 10 mg (n=5). Changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and body weight were assessed over a 3-month period. The 10 mg group experienced a significant reduction in HbA1c (−0.7%±0.3%, P<0.01) and a non-significant trend toward weight loss (−6.6±5.4 kg, P=0.07). In contrast, no significant changes were observed in the 7.5 mg group. There were no statistically significant differences between groups. Since 10 mg of tirzepatide significantly improved glycemic control after switching from 1.0 mg of semaglutide, early escalation to 10 mg may be beneficial for patients who respond inadequately to semaglutide.

A 79-year-old woman presented to our hospital with high energy trauma. Enhanced CT revealed injury to the aortic arch. The left carotid artery was pulled out due to extension force and a drawing out lesion formed. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established with cannulation of the right femoral artery and the right atrium, and systemic cooling was started. We opened the aortic arch with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, and detected a 10 mm drawing out lesion at the bottom of the left carotid artery. Aortic arch was transected at the distal of the left carotid artery to exclude the drawing out lesion, and partial arch replacement was performed. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged from our hospital without any complication.

A 51-year-old man was referred to our hospital with pain and coldness of the upper left extremity. Contrasted computed tomography revealed a silhouette protruding into the aortic arch. Peripheral embolism in upper left extremity by tumor or thrombosis was suspected. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mobile mass in the aortic arch. To prevent recurrent embolization, the mass and the aortic arch to which the mass was attached were excised and partial arch replacement was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass. Histologically, the mass was a fibrin thrombus with no malignancy. The aortic wall showed only mild atherosclerosis of the intima. No thrombotic predisposition such as protein S or C deficiency or antiphospholipid antibody syndrome was observed. Anticoagulant therapy was started and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 10 without recurrent thromboembolism. Three years have passed since the operation and there is no recurrence of thromboembolism.

Blunt traumatic rupture of the heart carries a high mortality rate. Anatomical injuries have included the atrium, appendage and ventricle but injury to the left appendage has been reported very rarely. We present the case of a 71-year-old female who was a driver in a motor collision with major front-end damage where air bags were deployed. After being intubated and receiving pericardiocentesis for cardiac tamponade at an advanced critical care and emergency medical center, the patient was taken to our hospital and emergently to the operating room for exploration. There was brisk bleeding coming from a 2 cm laceration on the left atrial appendage. The injury was repaired using 4-0 polypropylene felt pledget-supported horizontal mattress sutures on the beating heart with the assistance of cardiopulmonary bypass. The present report describes this patient and our findings from a literature review.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms as well as suicide-related ideation among Japanese university students during the stay-home order necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Japan, and offer evidence in support of future intervention to depression and suicide prevention strategies among college and university students. METHODS: The data for this cross-sectional study were derived from the Student Mental Health Survey conducted from May 20 to June 16, 2020 at a national university in Akita prefecture. Among the 5111 students recruited, 2712 participated in this study (response rate, 53%; mean age ± standard deviation, 20.5 ±3.5 years; men, 53.8%). Depressive symptoms were identified by using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). RESULTS: The prevalence of moderate depressive symptoms based on a PHQ-9 score ≥10 and suicide-related ideation based on question 9 of PHQ-9 ≥1, which encompasses thoughts of both suicide and self-harm, was 11.7% and 6.7%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that risk factors for depression included being a woman, smoking, alcohol consumption, and social network communication using either video or voice. For suicide-related ideation, alcohol consumption was the only risk factor. Exercise and having someone to consult about worries were associated with decreased risk of both depressive symptoms and suicide-related ideation. CONCLUSIONS Negative lifestyles of smoking and drinking, and being a woman, may be important risk factors for depressive symptoms, whereas exercise and having someone to consult about worries may be protective factors.
Adolescent ; Alcohol Drinking ; COVID-19/psychology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pandemics ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Students/psychology* ; Suicidal Ideation ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

An 87-year-old man underwent a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for severe aortic stenosis. Approximately 8 months later, he was readmitted to our institution because of a cerebral infarction. Viridans Streptococcus was identified from the blood culture, and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mobile mass on the leaflet. Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) was diagnosed and we initially administered intravenous antibiotic therapy for 4 weeks, after which the patient underwent surgical aortic valve replacement. Herein, we report on the surgical AVR in the patient using a pericardial valve after successful removal of the infected prosthetic valve, and discuss some issues related to this rare complication after TAVI.

OBJECTIVE: Reports on the repeated administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) for intrauterine recurrence after fertility-preserving therapy for atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) and early grade 1 endometrioid carcinoma (G1) are lacking. We aimed to clarify the outcomes of repeated MPA therapy in cases of intrauterine recurrence after fertility-preserving therapy with MPA against AEH/early G1. METHODS: Patients with AEH or stage IA well-differentiated endometrioid carcinoma without myometrial invasion who underwent first-line MPA therapy for primary lesions or intrauterine recurrence were divided into initial treatment and repeated treatment groups (162 and 82 patients, respectively). Oral MPA administration (400−600 mg/day) was continued until pathological tumor disappearance. Data regarding clinicopathological factors, adverse events, and outcomes following the initial and repeated hormonal treatments were extracted from medical records and analyzed. RESULTS: Complete response rates in the initial and repeated treatment groups were 98.5% and 96.4%, respectively, among patients with AEH, and were 90.7% and 98.1%, respectively, among patients with G1. In the initial treatment group, 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 53.7% and 33.2% among patients with AEH and G1, respectively. In the repeated treatment group, RFS rates were 14.0% and 11.2% among patients with AEH and G1, respectively. Among patients with AEH, the pregnancy rate tended to be lower in the repeated treatment group than in the initial treatment group (11.1% vs. 29.2%; p=0.107), while no significant group difference was observed among patients with G1 (20.8% vs. 22.7%). CONCLUSION: Repeated treatment is sufficiently effective for intrauterine recurrence after hormonal therapy for AEH/early G1.
Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Endometrial Hyperplasia* ; Endometrial Neoplasms* ; Female ; Fertility Preservation ; Fertility* ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Medroxyprogesterone Acetate* ; Medroxyprogesterone* ; Pregnancy Rate ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVE: Diagnosis of sporadic cerebellar ataxia is a challenge for neurologists. A wide range of potential causes exist, including chronic alcohol use, multiple system atrophy of cerebellar type (MSA-C), and sporadic late cortical cerebellar atrophy. Recently, an autosomal-dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) mutation was identified in a cohort of patients with non-MSA-C sporadic cerebellar ataxia. The aim of this study is to genetically screen genes involved in SCA in a Japanese single-hospital cohort. METHODS: Over an 8-year period, 140 patients with cerebellar ataxia were observed. There were 109 patients with sporadic cerebellar ataxia (no family history for at least four generations, 73 patients with MSA-C, and 36 patients with non-MSA-C sporadic cerebellar ataxia) and 31 patients with familial cerebellar ataxia. We performed gene analysis comprising SCA1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, 31, and dentatorubro-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) in 28 of 31 non-MSA-C sporadic patients who requested the test. Familial patients served as a control. RESULTS: Gene abnormalities were found in 57% of non-MSA-C sporadic cerebellar ataxia cases. Among patients with sporadic cerebellar ataxia, abnormalities in SCA6 were the most common (36%), followed by abnormalities in SCA1 (7.1%), SCA2 (3.6%), SCA3 (3.6%), SCA8 (3.6%), and DRPLA (3.6%). In contrast, gene abnormalities were found in 75% of familial cerebellar ataxia cases, with abnormalities in SCA6 being the most common (29%). For sporadic versus familial cases for those with SCA6 abnormalities, the age of onset was older (69 years vs. 59 years, respectively), and CAG repeat length was shorter (23 vs. 25, respectively) in the former than in the latter (not statistically significant). CONCLUSION: Autosomal-dominant mutations in SCA genes, particularly in SCA6, are not rare in sporadic cerebellar ataxia. The reason for the frequency of mutations in SCA6 remains unclear; however, the reason may reflect a higher age at onset and variable penetrance of SCA6 mutations.
Age of Onset ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Atrophy ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Cohort Studies* ; Diagnosis ; Family Characteristics ; Genetic Testing* ; Heredity ; Humans ; Multiple System Atrophy ; Penetrance ; Spinocerebellar Ataxias*

We report a case of a 24-year-old woman who presented with orthopnea, in whom an echocardiographic exam showed a very large mass in the left atrium. We diagnosed this as cardiac failure due to the tumor occupying it. Although the tumor malignancy remained unclear, we had to perform emergency surgery to excise the tumor. The tumor was excised in its entirety, including the interatrial septum and a large segment of the left atrial wall. We reconstructed them with the autologous pericardium. The pathological diagnosis was undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. Conventional adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy was performed. Primary cardiac malignant tumor prognosis is very poor, but she has survived over 1 year without recurrent symptoms after complete excision and adjuvant therapy. In addition to reporting this case, we discussed the diagnosis and treatment of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.

We describe successful surgical treatment of a right coronary artery aneurysm associated with a fistula to the right atrium (RA). The patient was a 50-year-old man who complained of palpitations. ECG showed supraventricular extrasystole, and coronary CT revealed a remarkably dilated and undulating fistulous tract originating from the region corresponding to the orifice of the normal right coronary artery (RCA). The fistulous tract detoured to the posterior wall of the RA. An RCA of normal size originating from the midway of the fistulous tract was observed. The patient was operated on under cardio-pulmonary bypass. An aortocoronary bypass was performed, using a radial artery graft to section of the RCA that had a normal diameter. The RCA was subsequently ligated at the proximal side of the anastomosis. The orifice of the fistulous tract from the aorta was closed with a patch, and the entrance to the RA was also closed with mattress sutures. The postoperative recovery was uneventful, and he was discharged on the 19th postoperative day. Currently, the patient has been doing well without any complaints at 2 years postoperatively.