The growing prevalence of outpatient chemotherapy highlights the vital role that community pharmacists have in patient care. An online interaction meeting was held annually over a three-year period that aimed to foster mutual understanding between patients with cancer and community pharmacists. Each session involved six pharmacists and seven to eight cancer patients, with the same pharmacists participating each year. These meetings highlighted the potential of community pharmacists to reduce patient anxiety and provide treatment guidance, underscoring the importance of connecting patients with pharmacists.

In Japan, there are insufficient measures to ensure that women can maintain good health while working. In addition, many women have limited health literacy, making it difficult for them to access information on physical and mental health problems that are specific to them. In this context, it is essential for pharmacists to become the first point of contact for women seeking information about their physical health, as they are familiar with healthcare providers in the community. To address this issue, we organized a Women's Health Care Cafe for pharmacy students to provide them with an opportunity to learn about women's health.

Purpose: This study aimed to summarize the impact of neck and head radiation treatment on maxillofacial structures detected on panoramic radiographs. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review, the authors searched PubMed Central, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for original research studies up to February 2020 that included the following Medical Subject Headings keywords: words related to “radiotherapy” and synonyms combined with keywords related to “panoramic radiography” and “oral diagnosis” and synonyms. Only original studies in English that investigated the maxillofacial effects of radiotherapy via panoramic radiographs were included. The quality of the selected manuscripts was evaluated by assessing the risk of bias using Cochrane's ROBINS-I tool for non-randomized studies. Results: Thirty-three studies were eligible and included in this review. The main objectives pertained to the assessment of the effects of radiation on maxillofacial structures, including bone architecture alterations, periodontal space widening, teeth development abnormalities, osteoradionecrosis, and implant bone loss. The number of participants evaluated ranged from 8 to 176. Conclusion The interaction between ionizing radiation and maxillofacial structures results in hazard to the tissues involved, particularly the bone tissue, periosteum, connective tissue of the mucosa, and endothelium. Hard tissue changes due to radiation therapy can be detected on panoramic radiographs.

BACKGROUND: We previously demonstrated that continuous exposure to nitrous acid gas (HONO) for 4 weeks, at a concentration of 3.6 parts per million (ppm), induced pulmonary emphysema-like alterations in guinea pigs. In addition, we found that HONO affected asthma symptoms, based on the measurement of respiratory function in rats exposed to 5.8 ppm HONO. This study aimed to investigate the dose-response effects of HONO exposure on the histopathological alterations in the respiratory tract of guinea pigs to determine the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) of HONO. METHODS: We continuously exposed male Hartley guinea pigs (n = 5) to four different concentrations of HONO (0.0, 0.1, 0.4, and 1.7 ppm) for 4 weeks (24 h/day). We performed histopathological analysis by observing lung tissue samples. We examined samples from three guinea pigs in each group under a light microscope and measured the alveolar mean linear intercept (Lm) and the thickness of the bronchial smooth muscle layer. We further examined samples from two guinea pigs in each group under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). RESULTS: We observed the following dose-dependent changes: pulmonary emphysema-like alterations in the centriacinar regions of alveolar ducts, significant increase in Lm in the 1.7 ppm HONO-exposure group, tendency for hyperplasia and pseudostratification of bronchial epithelial cells, and extension of the bronchial epithelial cells and smooth muscle cells in the alveolar duct regions. CONCLUSIONS These histopathological findings suggest that the LOAEL of HONO is < 0.1 ppm.
Alveolar Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; Animals ; Bronchi ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Emphysema ; chemically induced ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; Guinea Pigs ; Hyperplasia ; chemically induced ; Inhalation Exposure ; adverse effects ; Lung ; drug effects ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; drug effects ; Nitrous Acid ; toxicity

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the current status of the national health insurance system (HIS) for advanced radiation technologies in Korea and Japan. Materials and methods: The data of the two nations were compared according to the 2019 guidelines on the application and methods of medical care benefit from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea and the 2020 medical fee points list set by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. Results: Both countries have adopted the social insurance system and the general payment system which is fee-for-service for radiotherapy. However, for proton and carbon ion therapy, the Japanese system has adopted a bundled payment system. Copayment for radiotherapy is 5% in Korea and 30% (7–69 years old) in Japan, with a ceiling system. A noticeable difference is that additional charges for hypofractionation, tele-radiotherapy planning for an emergency, tumor motion-tracking, purchase price of an isotope purchase price, and image-guided radiotherapy are allowed for reimbursement in the Japanese system. There are some differences regarding the indication, qualification standards, and facility standards for intensity-modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, and proton therapy. Conclusion Patterns of cancer incidence, use of radiotherapy and infrastructure, and national HIS are very similar between Korea and Japan. However, there are some differences in health insurance management systems for advanced radiation technologies.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been reported to be effective for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). This is a case report of a patient with CRPS who was successfully treated with a combination of temporary SCS lead placement and physical therapy. A 19-year-old man presented with severe pain for a few months since receiving plaster cast fixation as treatment for an ankle sprain injury at the previous hospital. At his first visit to our pain center, he could not walk without crutches because of severe pain accompanied by symptoms such as allodynia, decreased skin temperature, redness, edema, muscle weakness, and changes in the appearance of the affected area. The symptoms met the diagnostic criteria for CRPS. Temporary SCS lead placement was performed to alleviate the pain and peripheral circulatory disorder, along with physiotherapy to improve the flexibility and restore the normal appearance of the affected limb. The interdisciplinary treatment effectively improved our patient's leg edema and walking ability, which consequently led to pain relief.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been reported to be effective for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). This is a case report of a patient with CRPS who was successfully treated with a combination of temporary SCS lead placement and physical therapy. A 19-year-old man presented with severe pain for a few months since receiving plaster cast fixation as treatment for an ankle sprain injury at the previous hospital. At his first visit to our pain center, he could not walk without crutches because of severe pain accompanied by symptoms such as allodynia, decreased skin temperature, redness, edema, muscle weakness, and changes in the appearance of the affected area. The symptoms met the diagnostic criteria for CRPS. Temporary SCS lead placement was performed to alleviate the pain and peripheral circulatory disorder, along with physiotherapy to improve the flexibility and restore the normal appearance of the affected limb. The interdisciplinary treatment effectively improved our patient's leg edema and walking ability, which consequently led to pain relief.

An adult Japanese man who had just returned from Thailand developed dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). A primary infection of dengue virus (DENV) was confirmed, specifically DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2), on the basis of the detection of the virus genome, a significant increase in the neutralizing antibody and the isolation of DENV-2. DHF is often observed following a secondary infection from another serotype of dengue virus, particularly in children, but this case was a primary infection of DENV. Japan is a non-endemic country for dengue disease. In fact, only Japanese encephalitis (JE) is known to be a member of the endemic flavivirus family. In this study, IgG antibody against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) was detected. JEV belongs to the family of dengue virus and prevails in Japan, particularly Kyushu. Among many risk factors for the occurrence of DHF, a plausible candidate could be a cross-reactive antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) mechanism caused by JEV antibody. This indicates that most Japanese travelers who living in dengue non-endemic areas, particularly Kyushu, should be aware of the occurrence of DHF.

A patient, an adultJapanese traveler who had just returned from Thailand, had developed denguehemorrhagic fever (DHF). A primary infection of dengue virus (DENV) wasconfirmed, in particular, DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2) via the detection of the virusgenome, a significant increase in its specific neutralizing antibody and the isolationof DENV-2. DHF is often observed following a secondary infection from another serotypeof dengue virus, particularly in children, but this case was a primaryinfection of DENV. Japan is a non-endemic country of dengue disease. Instead,only Japanese encephalitis (JE) is known to be an endemic flavivirus family. Inthis study, IgG antibody against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) was detected.JEV belongs to the family of dengue virus and prevails in Japan, particularly inKyushu. Among many risk factors for the occurrence of DHF, a plausiblecandidate could be a cross-reactive antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)mechanism by JEV antibody. This indicates that most Japanese travelers, wholive in non-endemic areas of dengue, particularly in Kyushu, should payattention to the occurrence of DHF.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively evaluate the frequency and risk factors for developing thrombus in a systemic vein such as the infrarenal inferior vena cava or the iliac vein, in which a balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO) catheter was indwelled. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-nine patients who underwent B-RTO for gastric varices were included in this study. The B-RTO procedure was performed from the right femoral vein, and the B-RTO catheter was retained overnight in all patients. Pre- and post-procedural CT scans were retrospectively compared in order to evaluate the development of thrombus in the systemic vein in which the catheter was indwelled. Additionally, several variables were analyzed to assess risk factors for thrombus in a systemic vein. RESULTS: In all 49 patients (100%), B-RTO was technically successful, and in 46 patients (94%), complete thrombosis of the gastric varices was achieved. In 6 patients (12%), thrombus developed in the infrarenal inferior vena cava or the right common-external iliac vein. All thrombi lay longitudinally on the right side of the inferior vena cava or the right iliac vein. One of the aforementioned 6 patients required anticoagulation therapy. No symptoms suggestive of pulmonary embolism were observed. Prothrombin time-international normalized ratio and the addition of 5% ethanolamine oleate iopamidol, on the second day, were related to the development of thrombus. CONCLUSION: Development of a thrombus in a systemic vein such as the inferior vena cava or iliac vein, caused by indwelling of the B-RTO catheter, is relatively frequent. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of pulmonary embolism due to iliocaval thrombosis.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Balloon Occlusion/*methods ; Catheters, Indwelling/*adverse effects ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/etiology/*therapy ; Female ; Femoral Vein ; Humans ; International Normalized Ratio ; Iopamidol/administration & dosage ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oleic Acids/administration & dosage ; Prothrombin Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Venous Thrombosis/drug therapy/*etiology/*radiography