Objective: To keep medical costs down, it is important to promote the use of generic drugs at pharmacies, where prescription volumes are high. However, many parents do not opt for generic drugs. This study examines the effectiveness of pharmacists’ explanations to parents, with the aim of promoting the use of generic drugs among young patients under the age of 20.Method: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted from November 25 to December 1, 2019, at 129 pharmacies.Results: During the survey period, 91 pharmacies received 4,491 prescriptions from young patients. The percentage of generic drugs dispensed per prescription was lower for the young patients than for adult patients (65.4% vs. 70.4%; p < 0.001). Statistically, the percentage of prescriptions dispensed using generic drugs was higher in pharmacies that explained costs, equivalence of quality and efficacy, safety, side effects, and the trial system (divided dispensing), compared to pharmacies that did not use these explanations. Conversely, the percentage of prescriptions dispensed using generic drugs was lower at pharmacies that explained dosage form and ease of swallowing. Many pharmacies explained the equivalence of quality and efficacy (85.7%), with many questions from parents (82.4%). However, only a few pharmacies explained the trial system (divided dispensing) (1.1%), with no questions raised by parents (0.0%).Conclusion: This study found that pharmacists’ explanations are effective in promoting the use generic drugs for young patients. However, there is a lack of awareness among parents about the trial system (divided dispensing), and public institutions and pharmacists are not responding appropriately. To promote generic drug usage among young patients, it is important to develop educational tools regarding the trial system (divided dispensing), create awareness campaigns for parents, and revise medical fee. Furthermore, to ensure safe drug therapy, pharmacists should also provide information on the appearance and taste of generic drugs.

Objective: The proportion of young patients in Japan in whom generic drugs are used is lower than that of other age groups. To promote the use of generic drugs in young patients, we need to change the parents’ attitude toward generic drugs. Therefore, we aimed to contribute to the maintenance and reform of the Japanese social security system by investigating the effects of parent’s sex, patient’s age, and use of the children’s medical expense subsidy system on the selection of generic drugs. Method: We surveyed parents of young patients (<20 years) whose prescriptions were filed at pharmacies from November 25 to December 1, 2019. Results: Of the 712 valid questionnaires retrieved, 74.3% of parents reported using generic drugs for young patients. Approximately 92.2% of the parents reported using the children’s medical expense subsidy system. The highest (51.4%) reason for switching to generics was “recommendation from a pharmacist, etc.” Cognitive methods using online content were higher among male parents than among female parents (28.0% vs. 11.5% ; P<0.001). Regarding catchphrases that make them want to hear, female parents were more likely to hear about generic drugs than male parents were if the catchphrases quality and safety were used (38.1% vs. 23.8% ; P＝0.007). Compared to parents of 7-19-year old children (6.8%), parents of 0-6-year old children (13.1%) reportedly switched to generic drugs because they were easier to ingest (P＝0.022). Conclusion: Recommendations from medical professionals such as pharmacists are effective in convincing parents of young patients to switch to generic drug use. To promote the use of generic drugs in young patients, in addition to explaining and publicizing its financial benefits, pharmacists need to explain the added value of generic drugs such as the ingenuity of its dosage form. In addition, it is essential to adopt a multifaceted approach that considers the parents’ background including (1) publicity using the internet for male parents, (2) reaching out to female parents with preschool children, (3) increasing publicity using tickets for children’s medical expenses subsidy system, and (4) drug education that matches the growth of children.

Objective: Bile duct tumor thrombosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a relatively rare event with a poor prognosis. Furthermore, bile duct tumor thrombus in HCC may be misdiagnosed when only imaging modalities are used. The efficiency of peroral cholangioscopy (POCS) in evaluating bile duct lesions has been reported.Patients: We present three cases of HCC with bile duct strictures in which POCS was performed as a preoperative evaluation.Results: In these three cases, diagnosing whether the lesion was a bile duct tumor thrombus on CT and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was difficult. We performed POCS in three cases and were able to diagnose the presence of bile duct tumor thrombus of HCC, including differentiation from extrinsic compression of the bile duct.Conclusion: POCS for HCC with bile duct features is useful for the preoperative diagnosis of bile duct tumor thrombus, especially in cases where the surgical procedure depends on the presence of bile duct tumor thrombus.

Background: Comparative analysis of virulence factors (VFs) between Pasteurella canis and Pasteurella multocida are lacking, although both cause zoonotic infections. We determined the virulence-associated genome sequence characteristics of P. canis and assessed the toxin gene prevalence unique to P. canis among clinical isolates of P. canis and P. multocida. Methods: We selected 10 P. canis and 16 P. multocida whole-genome sequences (WGSs) from the National Center for Biotechnology database. The VFanalyzer tool was used to estimate P. canis-characteristic VFs. Amino acid sequences of VFs were compared with multiple-aligned sequences. The genome structure containing P. canis-characteristic and adjacent loci was compared to the corresponding P. multocida genome structure. After designing primer sequences and assessing their accuracy, we examined the gene prevalence of the P. canis-characteristic VFs using PCR among clinical isolates of P. multocida and P. canis. Results: Using VFanalyzer, we found virulence-associated cytolethal distending toxin (cdt)A–cdtB–cdtC loci common to all P. canis WGSs that were not found in P. multocida WGSs. Similarities in the multiple alignments of CdtA–CdtB–CdtC amino acid sequences were found among the 10 P. canis WGSs. Shared or similar loci around cdtA–cdtB–cdtC were identified between the P. canis and P. multocida genome structures. The PCR-based cdtA–cdtB–cdtC prevalence differed for P. canis and P. multocida clinical isolates. Conclusions P. canis-specific cdtA–cdtB–cdtC prevalence was identified among clinical isolates. These three loci may be unique toxin genes and promising targets for the rapid identification of P. canis in clinical settings.

Objective: The antitumor effects of anti-PD-1 antibody against mismatch repair deficiency (MMR-D)-associated cancers have been reported. MMR-D is found in approximately 20%–30% of endometrial carcinomas (ECs) and frequently occurs due to MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (MLH1-PHM). ECs with MLH1-PHM are classified according to the molecular screening of Lynch syndrome (LS), but few detailed reports are available. The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinical features of EC with MLH1-PHM. Methods: Immunohistochemistry of MMR proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2) was performed on specimens from 527 ECs treated at our university hospital from 2003 to 2018. MLH1 methylation analysis was added to cases with MLH1/PMS2 loss. ECs were classified as follows: cases that retained MMR proteins as “MMR-proficient;” cases with MLH1/PMS2 loss and MLH1-PHM as “met-EC;” and cases with other MMR protein loss and MLH1/PMS2 loss without MLH1-PHM as “suspected-LS.” The clinical features, including long-term prognosis, of each group, were analyzed. Results: Accordingly, 419 (79.5%), 65 (12.3%), and 43 (8.2%) cases were categorized as “MMR-proficient,” “suspected-LS,” and “met-EC,” respectively. Significantly, “met-EC” had a lower proportion of grade 1 tumors (37.5%) and a higher proportion of stage III/IV tumors (37.2%) than the other groups. The overall and progression-free survival of “met-EC” were significantly worse than those of “suspected-LS” in all cases. Conclusion In ECs with MMR-D, “met-ECs” were a subgroup with a poorer prognosis than “suspected-LS.” “Met-ECs” would be the main target for anti-PD-1 antibody treatment, and its clinical susceptibility should be verified individually.

No abstract available.
Pemphigus* ; Psoriasis*

Objective: To examine the usefulness of inquiries made by hospital pharmacists.
Methods: This study was conducted a survey about the actual condition of inquiries at 5 hospitals.
Results: The prescriptions subjected to inquiry accounted for 1.5% of the inpatient prescriptions and 0.3% of the injection prescriptions.  In cases of “Incomplete entry in the prescription” for the subcategory of “Question about safety,” drug costs without the impact of pharmaceutical inquiries were calculated on the assumption that the concerned drugs should have been generally prescribed.  Our results showed that the total savings in medical costs were 30,673 yen for the inpatient prescriptions and 159,212 yen for injection prescriptions, which suggested that pharmaceutical inquiries are effective for saving medical costs for either type of prescriptions.  In the case of patients in whom adverse drug reactions (ADRs) might have occurred without prescription changes, medical cost savings realized by preventing ADRs were estimated using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination/Per-Diem Payment System (DPC/PDPS).  Our results showed that the savings were 1,428,710 yen for inpatient prescriptions (6 patients), which indicated that a large amount of medical costs was saved.
Conclusions: Our results suggested that similar to pharmaceutical inquiries made by community pharmacists, those made by hospital pharmacists not only result in the proper delivery of drug therapy but also are useful in terms of medical economics.

Introduction : As one of the strategies for the introduction of collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM) into a community healthcare system in Japan, we constructed a ‘positive list’ which was agreed by a family physician in advance, and subsequently validated the effects on healthcare insurance fees, the number of prescription question and the changes of utilization rate for generic drugs.
Methods : The items that replaced prescription questions with regard to ex post facto approval were defined as ‘Resolved Questions’ in our constructed positive list. By adopting the ‘Resolved Questions’, we then examined the effect on healthcare insurance fees, prescription questions and the changes of utilization rates for generic drugs.
Results : Among all prescription questions accepted from January through May 2012 inclusive, 178 (22.7%) were ‘Resolved Questions’, without there being change in the therapeutic strategies by the prescribing physicians. During this period, 17,455 healthcare insurance fees were reduced. In addition, the utilization rate for generic drugs were increased up to 46.6%.
Conclusion : The reduction of healthcare insurance fees, prescription questions and the increased utilization rates of generic drugs were facilitated by prudent pharmacist judgements based on ‘Resolved Questions’.

Spinal cord ischemia is a very rare and unpredictable complication in surgery of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. A 65-year-old man who had a history of CABG (LITA-LAD, LITA-Y composite RA-OM) underwent resection of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Postoperatively, he developed paraplegia and hypoesthesia with associated fecal incontinence. Reduction of collateral flows of patent lumbar arteries probably caused serious ischemia of the spinal cord. A standard infra-renal abdominal aorta surgery still has the risk of postoperative paraplegia, which should be incorporated in the preoperative informed consent.

Videotape feedback reportedly improves communication skills in students learning to conduct medical interviews. We carried out a study of videotape feedback in the undergraduate training program of the department of neuropsychiatry. To evaluate the interviews, we used objective structured clinical examinations and feedback from interviewed patients. The students showed several shortcomings, such as passive investigation into symptoms, past history, family history and explanatory models; poorly expressed empathy; unclear summation; poor explanation about what interviewees should do after the interview; and infrequent use of specific probes and silence skills. Feedback from patients was more favorable than that from instructors. Because our program asking psychiatric patients to participate as interviewees seems to have both advantages and disadvantages, using simulated patients would be helpful for examining the validity of our program.