Recent reports have described several cases of double muscle transfers to restore natural, symmetrical smiles in patients with long-standing facial paralysis. However, these complex procedures sometimes result in cheek bulkiness owing to the double muscle transfer. We present the case of a 67-year-old woman with long-standing facial paralysis, who underwent two-stage facial reanimation using two superficial subslips of the serratus anterior muscle innervated by the masseteric and contralateral facial nerves via a sural nerve graft. Each muscle subslip was transferred to the upper lip and oral commissures, which were oriented in different directions. Furthermore, a horizontal fascia lata graft was added at the lower lip to prevent deformities such as lower lip elongation and deviation. Voluntary contraction was noted at roughly 4 months, and a spontaneous smile without biting was noted 8 months postoperatively. At 18 months after surgery, the patient demonstrated a spontaneous symmetrical smile with adequate excursion of the lower lip, upper lip, and oral commissure, without cheek bulkiness. Dual-innervated muscle transfer using two multivector superficial subslips of the serratus anterior muscle may be a good option for long-standing facial paralysis, as it can achieve a symmetrical smile that can be performed voluntarily and spontaneously.

Recent reports have described several cases of double muscle transfers to restore natural, symmetrical smiles in patients with long-standing facial paralysis. However, these complex procedures sometimes result in cheek bulkiness owing to the double muscle transfer. We present the case of a 67-year-old woman with long-standing facial paralysis, who underwent two-stage facial reanimation using two superficial subslips of the serratus anterior muscle innervated by the masseteric and contralateral facial nerves via a sural nerve graft. Each muscle subslip was transferred to the upper lip and oral commissures, which were oriented in different directions. Furthermore, a horizontal fascia lata graft was added at the lower lip to prevent deformities such as lower lip elongation and deviation. Voluntary contraction was noted at roughly 4 months, and a spontaneous smile without biting was noted 8 months postoperatively. At 18 months after surgery, the patient demonstrated a spontaneous symmetrical smile with adequate excursion of the lower lip, upper lip, and oral commissure, without cheek bulkiness. Dual-innervated muscle transfer using two multivector superficial subslips of the serratus anterior muscle may be a good option for long-standing facial paralysis, as it can achieve a symmetrical smile that can be performed voluntarily and spontaneously.

A 54-year-old female had left femoral incarcerated hernia. One month later, she received a radical operation for it, but was admitted to our hospital twice because of ileus. Various tests showed no mechanical intestinal obstruction, but small-intestinal edema. She was transferred to our department to receive Kampo medicine. She could not eat any food and her weight decreased from 47 to 37.5 kg. We therefore administered intravenous hyperalimentation. She had a cold sweat on her face and was prone to bed rest because of severe abdominal pain as if in labor, and general fatigue. Her skin was dry, her radial pulse was weak and her abdominal tonus was weak. In addition, lower abdominal tension was more intense than upper and we could observe bowel movements from her skin. At first, we administered bushikobeito, but it had no effect. Referring to her abdominal findings, we considered that daikenchuto and tokikenchuto were compatible in her case, and after changing to chukenchutokatoki her abdominal pain disappeared in 5 days. Thus, Kampo medicine was effective for post-operative pseudo-obstruction.

A 61-year-old man underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the right coronary artery. However, he had an acute onset of right neck pain and swelling after PCI. Contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed extravasation into the mediastinum and aberrant right subclavian artery. After transfer to our hospital, we performed emergency endovascular repair for iatrogenic arterial injury. His postoperative course was uneventful.

　　Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has recently been reported to be an independent risk factor for stroke. However, a detailed analysis was yet to be conducted according to stroke subtype. We attempted to determine the risk factors for stroke using data from the “specific health checkup” for metabolic syndrome conducted by the 9 hospitals affiliated with the Akita Prefectural Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, and evaluate and determine the risk factors for stroke. There were 401 patients who had undergone metabolic syndrome checkups from 2007 and 2010 and suffered from stroke afterwards within 3 years after the screening. The controls were all 69,407 subjects who were screened during the same period. The predictors examined were sex, age, blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol values (HDL・LDL), history of diabetes mellitus, presence of atrial fibrillation, CKD, and drinking and smoking habits. Analysis was conducted using logistic regression. The risk factors for stroke as a whole were male sex, age, blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, CKD, and smoking history. For cerebral infarction, the risk factors were male sex, age, blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, CKD, and smoking habit. The risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage were age, blood pressure, and CKD. For subarachnoid hemorrhage, the risk factors were female sex, age, blood pressure, low HDLemia, and CKD. In conclusion, CKD is an independent risk factor for the 3 subtypes of stroke, and in particular plays an important role as a higher risk factor for cerebral hemorrhage. Smoking cessation and controls of blood pressure, diabetes and atrial fibrillation are the important measures for stroke prevention. In addition, the further intervention should also be targeted to those with the result of CKD revealed by specific health checkups.

We report a case of a caseous calcification lesion originating from a calcified anterior mitral annulus. A 59-year-old woman on chronic hemodialysis was referred to our hospital due to an elevated brain natriuretic peptide value. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated moderate aortic valve stenosis with regurgitation and a pendulous mass in the left ventricular outflow tract, and therefore we perfomed. The patient underwent resection of the mass with aortic valve replacement. Pathological examination of the mass revealed interstitial calcium deposits but without tumors or inflammatory cells. We speculated that the cardiac mass was caseous calcification which originated from a severely calcified mitral annulus based on its echocardiographic and pathological features.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate MRI findings for the shoulder pain in hemiplegic stroke patients in relation to clinical characteristics. We studied 18 hemiplegic patients with first-ever stroke presenting with shoulder pain in the affected side (mean age±SD=67.6±10.1years ; 8 men and 10 women ; 12 right and 6 left hemiplegia). All patients had shoulder pain during passive movements and 4 also had pain at rest. The mean duration from stroke onset to MRI was 67±42 days. MRI revealed abnormal findings in all patients. Tendinosis of the long head of the biceps and supraspinatus tendon injuries were most frequently found. The tendinosis of the long head of the biceps was related to hemihypesthesia and a reduced range of motion for external rotation of the shoulder. The supraspinatus tendon injuries were related to older age and lower Fugl-Meyer (FM) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores. The mean number of abnormal findings per patient was 3.2±1.4. The patients with more than 3 abnormal findings were significantly older, had shorter duration from stroke onset and lower FM and FIM scores than those with less findings. It was suggested that those patients with more severe paresis might have more abnormal findings on their MRIs for shoulder pain.

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the usefulness of the stepping rate for assessing the time spent in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). In the present investigation, 11 young men wore two pedometers (LIFECORDER EX ; KZ, Walking Style ; WS) during controlled walking and jogging, as well as during free-living conditions for 3 days. In addition to the number of steps, the KZ determined the time spent in physical activity based on the intensity of the physical activity (light intensity physical activity (LPA); below 3 METs, and MVPA ; above 3 METs), and the stepping rate (≧60, ≧80, or ≧100 steps·min^-1). In contrast, the WS was defined as the physical activity for a stepping rate of 60 steps·min^-1 or more, continuously for longer than 10 min as the time spent in physical activity. Regarding the results, under continuous walking/jogging, the KZ-assessed LPA and MVPA well reflected the intensity of the physical activity. On the other hand, the WS accumulated the time spent in physical activity for longer than 90% of the actual exercise duration, regardless of the walking speed. Furthermore, the stepping rate corresponding to 3 METs was 102 steps·min^-1. Under free-living conditions, however, the KZ-detected MVPA differed significantly in comparison to the time of the physical activity as determined by the other algorithms, except for the time spent in a stepping rate of 80 or higher steps·min^-1. In conclusion, these results indicate that 100 steps·min^-1 is a useful stepping rate for the assessment of MVPA. However, under free living conditions, the stepping rate should be determined at a higher frequency than a one minute interval length in order to improve the accuracy of the MVPA assessment.

We report a case of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A 24-year-old woman with SLE had been treated with steroids and immunosuppressive agents for 7 years. The patient was admitted to Kumamoto University Hospital for the management of unstable angina. CABG was successfully performed using bilateral internal thoracic arteries and postoperative 3D-CT demonstrated good patency of both arterial grafts. The patient experienced no significant postoperative complications, and has remained well to date (8 months postdischarge).