An 82-year-old male patient who had a history of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and Debranching Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) (right axillary artery-left axillary artery-left common carotid artery) was admitted to our hospital due to sudden chest pain. The diagnosis revealed acute coronary syndrome: 2-vessel lesions, including the left main trunk (LMT) (right coronary artery (RCA) #2 75%, #3 90%, LMT #5 50%, and left anterior descending (LAD) branch #7 75%). Plain Old Balloon Angioplasty (POBA) was performed on the responsible lesion, RCA (#2-3). Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (OPCAB) was initially planned for the remaining lesion. However, cardiogenic shock occurred, and an emergency OPCAB (SVG-LAD, SVG-#4PD) was performed via partial sternotomy (inverted L-shaped incision on the left side), using intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP). The patient underwent revascularization using great saphenous vein grafts due to the potential for postoperative pleuroperitoneal communication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis, as well as the risk of impaired internal thoracic artery (ITA) flow caused by debranching in future involving internal shunts for dialysis. It is important to consider not only the graft but also the thoracotomy, taking into account the perspectives of early weaning and the prevention of perioperative complications.

Objective：We identified the factors that influenced the effect of the Wearable Cyborg Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Methods：The subjects were patients with ALS who were admitted to our hospital, and all of them underwent HAL intervention. The changes in 2-minute walking distance (2 MD) before and after 1 course of HAL intervention were investigated. Next, we examined the factors that influence the degree of 2 MD improvement using patient attributes and indices of body composition, nutritional status, respiratory function, and ADL (Activities of Daily Living) before HAL intervention.Results：Thirteen subjects showed significant improvement in 2 MD measured before and after the HAL intervention (median 2 MD [quartile] before intervention－median 2 MD [quartile] after intervention：36.0 [32-94.49] m－74.1 [32.75-117.8] m, p＝0.001). The Barthel Index (BI) and phase angle were identified as the factors that influenced the degree of 2 MD improvement (ANOVA：p＝0.004).Conclusion：The results suggest that the degree of improvement in 2 MD by HAL intervention in patients with ALS was the most affected by their BI and phase angle before the intervention. Thus, BI and phase angle may be useful as predictors in the degree of 2 MD improvement by HAL intervention in patients with ALS.

The case is that of a 90-years-old man. A previous doctor performed abdominal graft replacement for an abdominal aortic aneurysm 5 years earlier and continued outpatient CT follow-up. Follow-up CT showed the right aortic arch and dilation of the thoracic aortic aneurysm, and the patient was referred to our hospital. Contrast-enhanced CT showed an aortic arch aneurysm ; the aneurysm diameter was 62 mm in major axis and 60 mm in minor axis, which was judged to be suitable for surgery. It was a rare right-sided aortic arch with no congenital heart malformation and no situs inversus. Endovascular treatment was considered because he was 90 years old and very elderly, but there were concerns about the risk of embolism, irregular manipulation and central landing. For the surgical method, we selected total arch replacement using a frozen elephant trunk technique. We succeeded in avoiding serious complications by selecting an appropriate treatment method through careful evaluation.

Background : This study was performed to evaluate surgical outcomes after cardiovascular surgery (including urgent surgery) in patients 85 or older. Methods : A retrospective analysis was performed on 39 patients (mean age, 86.3 years ; age range, 85-90 years) who underwent total arch replacement (n=4), ascending aorta replacement (n=4), descending aorta replacement (n=1), aortic valve replacement (AVR ; n=13), mitral valve replacement or valvuloplasty (n=3), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG ; n=9), CABG+AVR (n=4), tumor resection (n=1) between June 2008 and December 2012 at Dokkyo Medical University Hospital. Results : Six hospital deaths occurred. One patient died due to bleeding from a ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm, and another patient died due to gastrointestinal perforation from non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) after urgent AVR. The other deaths were related to various complications, including lung cancer, cholecystitis, myocardial infarction, and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, during the postoperative period. Overall 30-day mortality was 2.6%, hospital mortality was 12.8%, duration of hospital stay after surgery was 41.3 days, duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 3.8 days and ventilator time was 49.1 h. Twenty patients underwent elective surgery, and 19 patients underwent urgent surgery. The two groups had similar preoperative characteristics, except for the number of patients with aortic disease. No significant difference was evident in hospital mortality (26.3% vs. 5%, p=0.065) or 30-day mortality (0% vs. 5.3%, p=0.3) when comparing the two groups. However, the duration of hospital stay (58.9 days vs. 27.5 days, p=0.049), ICU stay (6.74 days vs. 1.05 days, p=0.002) and ventilator time (89.9 h vs. 8.2 h, p=0.006) was significantly longer in the urgent surgery group than in the elective surgery group. Fourteen patients (70%) in the elective surgery group and four patients (21.1%) in the urgent surgery group were able to be discharged from the hospital to their homes within 30 days after surgery. These data demonstrated that cardiovascular surgery in patients 85 years of age or older was associated with satisfactory outcomes, and outcomes associated with elective surgery were even better than those associated with urgent surgery. Conclusions : Therefore, advanced age does not represent a contraindication of conventional cardiovascular surgery. Rather, the decision for surgery should take the patient's preoperative condition, the severity of concurrent medical disease, the wishes of the patient, and the predicted functional outcomes into account.

The 15th international conference of ICMART was held from the 25th to 27th of May 2012 in Athens, Greece, under the theme of "The Point where all Different Ideas Meet."There were 210 participants. In addition to lectures on general subjects, eight topics were examined in depth during eight separate sessions. Ten workshops were held. The overall quality of the presentations appeared to be high. For visitors who were unable to attend some of the lectures because of lectures being held at the same times, the meeting time was managed in such a way that time for providing summarized explanations on the contents of all lectures was arranged every day. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was conducted on visitors'motives for attending the conference and on the current situation of acupuncture in various countries. On the basis of the aggregate survey results, discussions were conducted. Starting this year, participation in the conference has been restricted to only physicians and veterinarians. I was allowed to attend the conference at the request of The Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, for news coverage. The topic of my report was "the diagnostic results and treatment of the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake based on traditional medicine."

Europe has a long history with its own traditional medicines. In Germany, the practice of traditional European and Asian medicine along with modern medicine is called Integrative Medicine. The pain clinics at Munich University, TCM Klinik Bad Kotzting, Immanuel Klankenhaus and Zen Haus Klinik are well-known centers of Integrative Medicine in Germany. We visited these hospitals and clinics and report on the state of their treatment.
Four-week programs in chronic pain, traditional Chinese medicine, natural therapy, and traditional Japanese medicine with aromatherapy are given at these facilities. Moreover, Complementary and Alternative medicines are widely covered by public or private insurance. And one reason for the spread of Integrative Medicine may be these social conditions, in addition to historical background.

The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 seriously destroyed Japanese social activities the medical system included. We provided medical support to the damaged area, and mainly performed Oriental medicine. Traditional methods using physical diagnoses and the treatments with herbs, acupuncture, and massage were effective, where any infrastructure had suffered or any modern medical facilities had been destroyed. Acute phase infectious disease, common colds, and hypothermia were dominant. Allergies increased two weeks later, and there was much mental distress, and chronic pain symptoms one month later. We prescribed Kampo herbal medicines for common colds, hypothermia, allergies, and mental distress. Moreover, we also performed acupuncture and kneaded patients' body to reduce pain, stiffness, and edema. These treatments were effective for both physical and mental distress. Thus we believe that Oriental medicine is valuable in disaster situations.

Traditional Japanese medicine, Kampo, is used by over 80% of medical doctors in Japan. Owing to its high quality and safety, Kampo has been integrated into modern medicine, and there are 345 randomized controlled trials using Kampo in Japan as of 2010. Although there are a number of articles in top journals about basic science research, we can find only small numbers of high-quality clinical evidence. Since undergraduate education on Kampo has been established, integrative approach with the balanced combination of modern medicine and Kampo is expected to generate good clinical evidence in the near future.
Biomedical Research ; methods ; trends ; Education, Medical ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Japan ; Medicine, Kampo ; history ; trends ; Medicine, Traditional ; history ; trends ; Models, Biological

Immunobiological roles of schistosome eggs during murine experimental infection were investigated with special reference to the induction of basophilic leukocytes. After single- or bisexual infection with Schistosoma mansoni in BALB⁄c mice, splenomegaly and liver granulomas were observed only in bisexual infection in parallel with deposition of mature parasite eggs. Comparison of the kinetics of basophil response revealed a marked increase in number in the bone marrow of mice with bisexual infection at the 7^th week post infection as opposed to a marginal increase in single- sex infections. In the spleen, bimodal response was observed in the basophil responses; a small but repeatable peak at the 4^th week after infection, increasing again at the 8^th week, which corresponded to the initiation and maturation of parasite eggs in the affected organs of infected mice. The same time course was observed for IL-4 production by the splenocytes from mice of bisexual infection. To obtain more concrete evidence of the role of eggs in the induction of basophils, we tested using the intravenous egg injection model. Injection of eggs induced basophilia, and it was accompanied by the up-regulation of IL-4 production in splenocytes from the 8^th day. Basophils induced in this model showed a high level of IL-4 production confirmed by flow cytometry, while faint levels of IL-4 production were observed for CD4⁺ T cells at this time point. In addition, we demonstrate that egg deposition is the trigger of basophil induction and activation in the murine experimental model of S. mansoni infection, which might play an essential role in the initiation of Th1⁄2 conversion during the course of S. mansoni infection in vivo.