Laparoscopic Hepatectomy: Current State in Japan Based on the 4th Nationwide Questionnaire

Purpose. Since laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) became covered by national health insurance in April 2010 in Japan, the numbers of applied cases and institutions performing it have increased and the indication has expanded. We surveyed the current state and safety of LH in Japan. Methods. A questionnaire survey was performed in 41 institutions related to the Japanese Endoscopic Liver Surgery Study Group and 747 institutions certified by the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery, and responses concerning all 2962 cases of LH performed by August 2011 were obtained. Results. The surgical procedure employed was hemihepatectomy in 234 (8%), segmentectomy in 88 (3%), left lateral segmentectomy in 434 (15%), segmentectomy in 156 (5%), and partial resection in 1504 (51%) cases. The approach was pure laparoscopy in 1835 (63%), hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery in 201 (7%), and laparoscopy-assisted surgery in 926 (31%). Regarding perioperative complications, surgery was switched to laparotomy in 59 (2.0%), reoperation was performed in 4 (0.1%), and surgery-related death occurred in 2 (0.07%). Intraoperative accidents occurred in 68 (2.3%), and postoperative complications developed in 94 (3.2%). Conclusions. When the selection of cases is appropriate, LH for liver diseases can be safely performed

Optimization of attenuation and scatter corrections in sentinel lymph node scintigraphy using SPECT/CT systems

Objective: Although SPECT/CT systems have been used for sentinel lymph node (SLN) imaging, few studies have focused on optimization of attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC). While SLNs could be detected in conventional planar images, they sometimes do not appear in SPECT/CT images. The purpose of this study was to investigate the optimal AC and SC and to improve the detectability of SLNs in examinations using SPECT/CT systems. Materials and methods: The study group consisted of 56 female patients with breast cancer. In SPECT/CT imaging, four kinds of images were created with and without AC and SC; namely, AC−SC−, AC+SC−, AC−SC+ and AC+SC+. Five nuclear medicine physicians interpreted the planar and SPECT/CT images with five grades of confidence levels (1–5). The detection rate was calculated as the number of patients whose average confidence levels of interpretation were more than 4, divided by the total number of patients. Results: The confidence level of interpretation and the detection rate provided by the planar images were 4.76 ± 0.49 and 94.6 %, respectively. In SPECT/CT imaging, the AC+SC− provided the best detection rate (confidence level of interpretation, 4.81 ± 0.38; detection rate, 98.2 %), followed by the AC−SC− (4.70 ± 0.55, 89.3 %), and the AC−SC+ (4.39 ± 1.2, 78.6 %). The lowest values were obtained for the AC+SC+ (4.36 ± 1.22, 78.6 %). Regarding the confidence levels of interpretation, significant differences were observed between AC+SC− and AC−SC−, AC+SC− and AC+SC+, AC+SC− and AC−SC+, and between planar images and AC+SC+ (P = 0.0021, 0.0009, 0.0013, and 0.0056, respectively). Conclusions: When SPECT/CT was used, AC improved the detection of SLNs. SC caused disappearance of a faint SLN in some cases and should not be performed. © 2014, The Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine

Defective function of GABA-containing synaptic vesicles in mice lacking the AP-3B clathrin adaptor

AP-3 is a member of the adaptor protein (AP) complex family that regulates the vesicular transport of cargo proteins in the secretory and endocytic pathways. There are two isoforms of AP-3: the ubiquitously expressed AP-3A and the neuron-specific AP-3B. Although the physiological role of AP-3A has recently been elucidated, that of AP-3B remains unsolved. To address this question, we generated mice lacking μ3B, a subunit of AP-3B. μ3B−/− mice suffered from spontaneous epileptic seizures. Morphological abnormalities were observed at synapses in these mice. Biochemical studies demonstrated the impairment of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release because of, at least in part, the reduction of vesicular GABA transporter in μ3B−/− mice. This facilitated the induction of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus and the abnormal propagation of neuronal excitability via the temporoammonic pathway. Thus, AP-3B plays a critical role in the normal formation and function of a subset of synaptic vesicles. This work adds a new aspect to the pathogenesis of epilepsy

Sulfamethoxazole / Trimethoprim confer no change on the clinical course of Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease (KD) is one of the most common vasculitis in childhood, but its etiology is still unknown. We hypothesized that Sulfamethoxazole / Trimethoprim (S/T) would inhibit overproduction of cytokine due to heat shock protein produced by intestinal bacteria in patients with KD and improve the clinical course of KD indirectly. We have conducted a prospective study to assess the usefulness of S/T for KD. For patients with KD (S/T group, N=23), we use S/T in addition to the standard treatment in the guidelines such as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and moderate dose aspirin. The control group (non S/T group, N=32) is patients with KD treated with the standard treatment in the guidelines. The baseline characteristics did not demonstrate notable differences between the two groups. We compare duration of fever, rate of initial IVIG failure, the day of illness membranous desquamation appeared, and the occurrence of coronary artery lesion (CAL) between two groups. Membranous desquamation appeared rather earlier in S/T group than in non S/T group (11.4±3.0 day of illness vs 12.9±3.5 day of illness, P=0.078), but there was no statistically significant difference. Duration of fever (39±59 hours vs 42±57 hours, P=0.41), rate of initial IVIG failure (26% vs 31%, P=0.30), and number of CAL (8.6% vs 9.3%, P=0.87) were found no significant difference between two groups. These data indicated that the use of S/T in acute phase of KD didn\u27t improve any clinical course of KD

Long-term survival with RAS-associated autoimmune leukoproliferative disorder with somatic KRAS mutation:A case report

　RAS -associated autoimmune leukoproliferative disorder (RALD) is a recently reported rare nonmalignant autoimmune disorder. The characteristic clinical findings of RALD include monocytosis, leukocytosis, lymphoproliferation, and autoimmune phenomena. RALD is defined by somatic mutations in KRAS or NRAS . It is a new disease that was reported by Niemela and Takagi in 2011. The prognosis and incidence are currently unknown and the treatment strategy has not yet been established.　Here we describe the long-term survival of a patient with who displayed a somatic KRAS G12D mutation. His clinical features and labolatory data were overlapped with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Mercaptopurine hydrate, hydroxycarbamide and azacitizine were administered to control white blood cell count and improve clinical symptoms. He had a long survival time without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Large Right Pulmonary Vein Is a Predictor of Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence after Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Pulmonary vein isolation（PVI）is an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation（AF）. However, outcomes differ between paroxysmal AF and persistent AF. We analyzed the predictors of recurrence by examining the recurrence group after ablation. Of 372 consecutive patients with AF who underwent PVI between June 2016 and December 2018, we evaluated 250 patients（age, 67±12y, 65％ men）whose left atrium（LA）was constructed using the PENTARAY catheter（BioSense Webster, Los Angeles, CA）, a multipolar electrode catheter with a novel shape and excellent mapping capability. We measured the LA total volume（LATV）, right pulmonary vein＋antrum volume（RPAV）, left PV＋antrum volume（LPAV）, LA central volume（LACV）, and LA bipolar voltage. Of the 250 patients, 78 had persistent AF（recurrence, 20）and 172 had paroxysmal AF（recurrence, 16）. In all patients, LATV, LACV, RPAV, and LPAV were significantly larger in patients with persistent AF than those with paroxysmal AF. The mean LA bipolar voltage in patients with persistent AF was significantly lower than those with paroxysmal AF. In cases of persistent AF, RPAV was significantly larger in the recurrence group than that in the non-recurrence group（15.9±4.8 vs 13.4±5.4ml; P＜0.05）. In cases of paroxysmal AF, there were no differences in any volume between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups. In conclusion, larger right PV is a predictor of AF recurrence after PVI in patients with persistent AF. The right PV is close to the atrial septum and the septopulmonary bundle, and the expansion of RPAV reflects the disruption of these structures, which may be involved in this result

“Feeling of psychotherapeutic drug” of people with schizophrenia

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