Some problems on Palaeozoic-Mesozoic tectonics inSouthwest Japan: Tectonics of metamorphic belts of high-pressure type

Tectonics of the Sangun belt and Sambagawa belt in Southwest Japan, which belong to the metamorphic belt of high-pressure type, have been discussed in this paper. Regarding the Sangun belt, the tectonics of the phases when the original rocks of the Sangun belt were deposited and the Sangun metamorphic field appeared have been analysed. As for the Sambagawa belt, the tectonics of the phases when the Sambagawa metamorphic field was placed under the condition of the highest temperature and then its collapse began have been analysed

Physiological myocardial 18F-FDG uptake pattern in oncologic PET/CT: comparison with findings in cardiac sarcoidosis

Objective(s): Physiological myocardial 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake in oncologic positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is commonly observed with multiple variations under clinical fasting conditions. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate physiological myocardial 18F-FDG uptake pattern by comparing with the results in cardiac sarcoidosis.Methods: A total of 174 examinations in 174 patients without cardiac disease and 27 examinations in 17 patients with cardiac sarcoidosis were performed. The polar map images generated from 18F-FDG PET/CT data were visually assessed as “basal-ring,” “focal,” and “focal on diffuse” patterns. Semi-quantitative analysis was also performed using the regional relative 18F-FDG uptake (% uptake).Results: On visual analysis, the “focal on diffuse” pattern was the most common in both examinations (43% and 59%, respectively). The physiological % uptake in the lateral and basal septal walls tended to be higher. Subgroup analysis showed significantly higher uptake in the mid-wall and left circumflex territory. In cardiac sarcoidosis patients, there was a significant difference only between segments 2 and 15 (p=0.04). No significant differences were observed between the base-mid-apical territory and coronary artery branch territory.Conclusion: High 18F-FDG uptake in the basal septal walls is likely to be observed as both physiological uptake in patients without cardiac disease and pathological uptake in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis

Experimental Evaluation of Effects of Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumping (IABP) on Ischemic Heart

The intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP) has been widely empoyed in the management of ventricular power failure. The effects of IABP were studied in a large number of reports. However, the efficacy of IABP has not been certified with reference to the severity of myocardial ischemia. Experimentally augmentation of coronary blood flow were observed on acute ischemic heart by ligation of the anterior descending artery. It has shown from the view of increased coronary blood flow that excess of 50ml/min/kg of coronary blood flow were obtained in functional reserved myocardium with ischemia. However, the efficacy of IABP on acute ischemic heart can not be precipitated by severe damage of the myocardium. The usefulness of IABP was elucidated by functional myocardial level of at least 50mmHg of LVP, 40mmHg of LVEDP and 1000mmHg/sec of max dp/dt respectivelly and it is emphasized that immediate application of IABP for cardiogenic shock allows to improve the further myocardial depression

An Experimental Functional Evaluation of End to Side Anastomosis Related to Operative Procedures of Tracheobronchial Reconstruciotn

End to side anastomosis between the trachea and the bronchus was widely employed as one of bronchial reconstructed method. However, functional evaluation undergone bronchial reconstruction did not completely display its superiority functionally. This study was undertaken to determine whether end to side anastomosis was far superior in regard to reserved pulmonary function by means of observation on changes in size of anastomotic area on xp film delineated during inspiration and exspiration simultaneously and also by intrabronchial pressure tracing. The results were as follows. 1) The creation of window defect on the tracheal wall prior to anastomosis was necessary to maintain an adequate anastomotic area. 2) The end to side anastomosis obliquely results in an excellent ventilation functionally. In contrast, the ill effects were disclosed by moderate angulation as far as exceeded 45 degree against tracheal wall owing to loss of rigidity in bronchial wall. From the present study, we concluded that end to side anastomosis obliquely with moderate degree should be avoided because of bronchial stenosis produced by bronchial collapse due to loss of supporting ability of bronchial cartilage

Transcatheter Embolization for Systemic-pulmonary Artery Collaterals after Correction of Extreme Tetralogy of Fallot

The selective obliteration of systemic-pulmonary arterial collaterals by wire coil embolization, usually recognized in cyanotic congenital disease, is described in this report. A 11 year-old boy, who had received Blalock-Taussig shunt for extreme tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) at 1.5 year-old, had total correction and ligation of Blalock-Taussig shunt. After cardiac surgery, two times successful collateral transcatheter embolizations were performed for difficulty of weaning from left heart failure. We stressed that post operative transcatheter embolization was very effective and had many merits in these cases than the ligations of collaterals by means of thoracotomy

Clinical Evaluation of Immune Response in Patients with Cancer

Immune response was clinically evaluated in 25 patients with carcinoma compared with 26 of non cancer patients by means of lymphocyte transformation against PHA which was shown as stimulation index. In patients with cancer, stimulation index showed apparently as low as an average of 38 compared with 82 of non-cancer patients. Furthermore, the level of stimulation index was a corresponding correlation to age in which low activation was presented in the elderly. According to diseased organs, the weak response of stimulation index against PHA were observed in patients with the carcinoma of the esophagus and the lung. The response of skin test for PPD, PHA, SK-SD and candida were inhibited in patients with advanced cancer of stage III and IV compared with that of stage I and II. These responses were also suppressed in postoperative course until at least 6 months after surgery. From these results, it was noted that operative procedures provoked the induced weakness against host defense immunologically. However, it was certified that the use of immunopotentiator faciliated the activity of immune response during postoperative period for the patients with no severely advanced lung cancer of stage I and II despite of little effects for patients with advanced lung cancer of stage III and IV. It was concluded that immune response of patients with cancer was inhibited by advancing carcinoma and by operative procedures but the use of immunopotentiator was beneficial to promote the host defense during postoperative period

A Functional Evaluation of Bronchial Reconstructed Lung with Special Reference to Denervation

Bronchoplastic procedures for lung cancer were suitable operative method to reserve pulmonary function and to enlarge the resected area. However, functional evaluation is not necessarily achieved in bronchial reconstructed lung, especially with reference to denervation. In this study the influence of denervation was investigated experimentally by pulmonary perfused wedge method in which vascular tonus was directly illustrated and by measurement of oxygen saturation (Sao2) of pulmonary venous blood in which the ability of oxygen uptake was elucidated. When comparing the results of denervation with regard to operative procedures of bronchoplasty, bronchoplasty with sleeve anastomosis of pulmonary artery and autotransplantation respectively, the deteriorate effects related to bronchoplasty were not observed as compared to autotransplantation

Some Factors Concerning the Distribution of Bronchial Glands

It is well known that the secretion from bronchial glands play an important role to make the airway clean up against sticky bronchial secret. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the functional modality of bronchial glands and occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complication due to difficulty of expectoration. However, the noteworthy development of bronchial glands was proved histologically with a distribution index (DI) in each circumstances of either the elderly more than 40 of age or existing inflammation of bronchial trees. Based on histochemical examination by means of PAS stain, the almost same attitudes in regard to magnitude of secretion were not necessarily documented even among bronchial glands with marked development. It was of note that the intimate correlation between secretory behavior of bronchial glands and development of bronchial glands was not certified in the series of this study and that secretory function of bronchial glands did not compatible with pronounced distribution and marked development of them. As a result of this study, the preventive role of bronchial glands from occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complication has not been substantiated by morphological and biochemical study

Clinical Evaluation of Immune Response in Patients with Lung Cancer

In patients with lung cancer, the immune response was observed with an analysis of various factors which mostly related to its prognosis. Its response was extremly depressed in the course of following surgery in advanced cases of stage III and IVas well as in unresectable cases for lung cancer, compared with those of stage I and II . Furthermore, it showed that the high levels of immune response were seen in those of long term survivors given OK-432 during follow-up period. It was obvious from this study that the use of OK-432 was suitable for activation of the immune reaction against host as one of the immunopotentiators. Meanwhile, from the immunological mechanism of view, the hyperactivity of immune response enable the patient to be free from recurrence of cancer for a long term following surgery, in contrast the low level of the immune response showed to be poor prognosis owing to early appearance of recurrence. Furthermore, the effectiveness in use of OK-432 was clinically presented in patients with malignant pleural effusion, which showed direct cytocidal action of OK-432 given intrapleurally with a 10 or 14 days interval

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia with t(6;9)(p23;q34) dramatically improves the patient prognosis: A matched-pair analysis

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(6;9)(p23;q34) is well known to have a poor prognosis treated with chemotherapy and autotransplantation. The presence of this karyotype is an indicator for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); however, the impact of t(6;9)(p23;q34) on the HSCT outcome remains unclear. We conducted a matched-pair analysis of de novo AML patients with and without t(6;9)(p23;q34) using data obtained from the Japanese HSCT data registry. A total of 57 patients with t(6;9)(p23;q34) received transplants between 1996 and 2007, and 171 of 2056 normal karyotype patients matched for age, disease status at HSCT and graft source were selected. The overall survival, disease-free survival, cumulative incidence of relapse and the non-relapse mortality in t(6;9)(p23;q34) patients were comparable to those for normal karyotype patients. A univariate analysis showed that t(6;9)(p23;q34) had no significant impact on the overall survival. These findings suggest that allogeneic HSCT may overcome the unfavorable impact of t(6;9)(p23;q34) as an independent prognostic factor. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved