A ranula is a pseudocyst that originates from the sublingual gland after trauma. Acute cases of ranulas that progress rapidly and cause respiratory distress are rare. Holoprosencephaly is a complex brain malformation caused by incomplete cleavage of the prosencephalon. Children with holoprosencephaly may experience upper airway obstruction due to the associated dentoalveolar malformations and oromotor dysfunctions. We present the case of an eight-year-old female patient with holoprosencephaly and a plunging ranula that manifested as an acute course due to difficult airway management. She required gastrostomy for oromotor dysfunctions related to feeding and swallowing and difficulty managing oral secretions. The sublingual gland and ranula were removed under general anesthesia. Postoperatively, urgent reintubation and close monitoring in the intensive care unit were required due to upper airway obstruction. We successfully managed the patient with close cooperation of a pediatrician and an anesthetist, and no recurrence was observed at the one-year follow-up. A ranula can be caused by trauma to the floor of the mouth in association with lingually inclined mandibular teeth, a type of dentoalveolar compensation seen in maxillary hypoplasia associated with holoprosencephaly. Careful consideration is needed in such cases since airway management can be difficult due to postoperative swelling and oromotor dysfunctions.

Objective: Lenvatinib is an oral multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor (mTKI) and is recommended for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with Child-Pugh A liver function, who are not amenable to surgical resection, locoregional treatment, or transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Hepatogastric fistula is a rare complication with a poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Previous reports on fistula formation during mTKI therapy for HCC were all associated with sorafenib. Here, we report the first case of recurrent hepatogastric fistula during lenvatinib therapy for advanced HCC managed using an over-the-scope clip (OTSC).Patient: We present the case of a 73-year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis who was treated for multiple HCC for 7 years. HCC was treated using repetitive transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, and sorafenib. Owing to disease progression, lenvatinib treatment was started. During lenvatinib treatment, recurrent hepatogastric fistulas developed. An OTSC was useful for fistula closure and prevention of recurrence.Results: The major cause of fistula formation is considered to be the direct invasion of HCC; however, HCC treatment might also be a contributing factor in our case. In addition, OTSC was useful for fistula closure.Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the fatal complications during HCC treatment.

Objective: Because patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) were forced to stay indoors during the state of emergency, resulting in stress and a lack of physical activity, concerns about their glycemic control were raised.Patients and Methods: The 165 patients’ glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were compared during the following periods: the 4 months that were selected as a representative condition 1 year before the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2018, March 2019, June 2019, and July 2019) and the latter 3 months as a 1-year follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2019, March 2020, June 2020, and July 2020).Results: The patients’ HbA1c levels were 7.32 ± 1.23, 7.44 ± 1.20, 7.16 ± 1.06, 7.01 ± 1.05, 7.23 ± 1.06, 7.45 ± 1.18, 7.15 ± 10.7, and 7.11 ± 1.17 in May 2018, March 2019, June 2019, July 2019, May 2019, March 2020, June 2020, and July 2020, respectively (expressed as mean ± standard deviation).Conclusion: The analysis showed that HbA1c levels did not worsen during the self-restraint period.

We report two cases of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with predominant constipation successfully treated with daijokito and then diagnosed as Alzheimer's dementia. [Case 1] An 82-year-old man. He had been treated for IBS with probiotic and purgative. However, the symptom of IBS did not get cured and he had suffered from digestive symptom with iracund mental condition. [Case 2] A 74-year-old man. He suffered from abdominal pain and constipation so he needed enema and stool extraction frequently. He sometimes angered if he could not get treatment without delay. In both cases, their bowel and mental condition improved after treatment with daijokito. After their conditions improved, we checked their cognitive function, and found the levels of their cognitive function were low. We diagnosed them as Alzheimer's dementia. The patients probably had felt the difficulty and gotten mental stress on usual days because of dementia, so the mental stress could complicate the symptoms of IBS. Daijokito probably improved the digestive symptom due to IBS and the mental stress from dementia of these patients, and after the treatment we could diagnose the dementia. Elderly patients with constipation and iracund mental condition might have dementia.

A 76-year-old man who suffered from consistent back pain was admitted for anti-hypertensive therapy to strictly manage the early thrombosed acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD). On admission, his blood pressure could not be controlled well ; soon he complained of recurrent severe back pain. The second thoracoabdominal enhanced computed tomography revealed the progression of AAAD from DeBakey type II to type I with thrombosed pseudolumen at the descending thoracic aorta ; therefore, emergent surgical intervention by primary central repair was conducted. Paraplegia was diagnosed eight hours after surgery, then cerebrospinal fluid drainage and intravenous administration of Naloxone were started immediately followed by keeping the systemic blood pressure more than 120 mmHg. However, paraplegia had never improved and been persistent with neurological deficit of the lower extremities. We herein report a complicated surgical case of an AAAD patient with paraplegia and review the complex clinical settings.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether hydrodistention with fulguration of Hunner lesions (HD/FUL) plus maintenance dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) therapy prolongs the recurrence-free time in patients with Hunner type interstitial cystitis (IC).METHODS: The study enrolled patients with Hunner type IC who required repeat HD/FUL due to recurrence of IC symptoms after the first HD/FUL at our institution. All patients received a second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy. The maintenance DMSO therapy was performed every 2 weeks for a total of 8 instillations, and then once every 4 weeks thereafter. The recurrencefree time from HD/FUL to therapeutic failure was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The recurrence-free time between the first HD/FUL and second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was statistically compared using the log-rank test.RESULTS: A total of 21 patients (mean age, 66.3±10.8 years) with Hunner type IC were evaluated. The recurrence-free time for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was significantly longer than that for the first HD/FUL (P<0.0001). The median recurrence-free time for the first HD/FUL was 10.1 months, while that for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy has yet to be reached. The recurrence-free rate for the first HD/FUL was 81.0% at 6 months, 38.1% at 1 year, 9.5% at 2 years, and 4.8% at 3 years. In contrast, the rate for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was 100% at 6 months, 94.7% at 1 year, 82.6% at 2 years, and 82.6% at 3 years. There were no significant differences in efficacy between the first and second HD/FUL.CONCLUSIONS: HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy clearly prolongs the recurrence-free time compared with HD/FUL alone in Hunner type IC.
Cystitis, Interstitial ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Humans ; Methods ; Pilot Projects ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVES: Sarcopenia and osteoporosis affects activities of daily living and quality of elderly people. However, little is known about its impact on elderly locomotor diseases, such as osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF). There is no report investigating the influence of both sarcopenia and osteoporosis on outcomes of OVF. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of OVF in elderly patients from sarcopenic perspectives. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted with 396 patients, aged 65 years or more, hospitalized for the treatment of OVF (mean age, 81.9 ± 7.1 years; 111 males, 285 females). The primary outcome was the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score for lumbar disease (at first visit, hospital discharge, and 1 year after treatment) and Barthel index (at the same time and before hospitalization). The second outcome was living place after discharge. Susceptibility to sarcopenia and osteoporosis were evaluated and clinical results of conservative treatment were compared. RESULTS: Sarcopenia significantly affected Barthel index at first visit and discharge. Sarcopenia patients had significantly higher rate for discharge to nursing home and living in nursing home after 1 year than patients without sarcopenia. Osteoporosis significantly affected the JOA score at the first visit and the Barthel index before hospitalization, at the first visit, discharge, and after 1 year. Osteoporosis did not affect the living place at discharge and after 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Sarcopenia and osteoporosis affected outcomes of conservative treatment for OVF; moreover, sarcopenia affected the living place of OVF patients at discharge and after 1 year.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing Homes ; Osteoporosis ; Prospective Studies ; Sarcopenia

Secondary abdominal fascial closure by abdominal vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy is required for abdominal organ protection and prevention of infection due to abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) developing after the surgery. In this paper, we present our experience with abdominal VAC therapy for two cases that required open abdominal management after surgical repair for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, with favorable outcomes. Case 1 involved a 72-year-old man who underwent endovascular aortic repair for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Abdominal VAC therapy was started after decompression laparotomy because he developed ACS immediately after surgery. Secondary abdominal fascial closure was performed on day 4 postoperatively, and he had no complications. Case 2 involved a 71-year-old man who underwent emergency Y-graft replacement for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. We considered secondary abdominal fascial closure necessary because of prominent intestinal edema and massive retroperitoneal hematoma, and performed abdominal VAC therapy. We changed the VAC system on day 4, postoperatively and performed secondary abdominal fascial closure on day 7, postoperatively. Abdominal VAC therapy is considered effective and safe for patients requiring secondary abdominal fascial closure after abdominal surgery.

    Clinical research is essential for the practice of evidence-based medicine. This study reports on our current practice of clinical research support in Mito Kyodo General Hospital and discusses future challenges. In April 2013, the University of Tsukuba hired a clinical research assistant to provide clinical research support in Mito Kyodo General Hospital. The clinical research assistant worked full-time in the hospital in collaboration with 3 university faculty members. The target population for this study comprised 450 medical personnel including doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. From April 2014, 1 of the 3 faculty members visited the hospital once a month to offer clinical research consultations and deliver a lecture on nursing research. We analyzed past records of clinical research support and conducted a questionnaire survey to explore the level of satisfaction of the medical personnel. Four-hundred and ninety records of 91 research topics proposed by 68 medical personnel were identified. Of these, 93.4% were proposed by doctors or nurses. Most studies employed an observational study design (64.8%) and were conducted in order to make a presentation at an academic conference (51.1%). The consultation sessions were held 1–5 times, for 40–405 min, and lasted from 1–84 days per research topic. Consultations mostly pertained to research design and protocol planning (57.1%). Forty-seven clients were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey, 30 of whom provided valid responses. The results showed that 96.6% of the clients were satisfied with the consultations. The number of clients who participated in the consultations comprised only 15.1% of the target population. These practice biases need to be addressed in future. However, nearly all respondents were satisfied with the consultations. These findings suggest that our clinical research support was beneficial to medical personnel.

A 14-year-old women who had a history of aortic root replacement at 7 years old admitted our hospital due to dilatation of aortic arch aneurysm. Loeys-Dietz syndrome was diagnosed when she was 10 years old. Computed tomography showed 70 mm proximal arch aneurysm. Operative findings revealed brachiocephalic artery and left common carotid artery branched from aneurysm. Partial arch replacement was performed and distal anastomosis was made between left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery. Close observation by CT regularly is necessary and undergo aortic repair not to miss the timing of surgery.