Cerebellar Blood Flow and Gene Expression in Crossed Cerebellar Diaschisis after Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats

Crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) is a state of hypoperfusion and hypometabolism in the contralesional cerebellar hemisphere caused by a supratentorial lesion, but its pathophysiology is not fully understood. We evaluated chronological changes in cerebellar blood flow (CbBF) and gene expressions in the cerebellum using a rat model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). CbBF was analyzed at two and seven days after MCAO using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). DNA microarray analysis and western blotting of the cerebellar cortex were performed and apoptotic cells in the cerebellar cortex were stained. CbBF in the contralesional hemisphere was significantly decreased and this lateral imbalance recovered over one week. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that a gene set for "oxidative phosphorylation" was significantly upregulated while fourteen other gene sets including "apoptosis", "hypoxia" and "reactive oxygen species" showed a tendency toward upregulation in the contralesional cerebellum. MCAO upregulated the expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the contralesional cerebellar cortex. The number of apoptotic cells increased in the molecular layer of the contralesional cerebellum. Focal cerebral ischemia in our rat MCAO model caused CCD along with enhanced expression of genes related to oxidative stress and apoptosis

Pyogenic Ventriculitis After Anterior Skull Base Surgery Treated With Endoscopic Ventricular Irrigation And Reconstruction Using a Vascularized Flap

Ventriculitis is a rare, serious complication of neurosurgery. A 59-year-old man who had undergone a craniotomy for a paranasal adenocarcinoma, developed a right frontal cystic lesion. We performed a bifrontal craniotomy to remove the lesion. The dura was repaired with non-vascularized free fascia lata in watertight fashion. Ventriculitis occurred 3 days postoperatively. Ventricular drainage, craniectomy, and endoscopic irrigation were undertaken to remove an abscess. The dura and the resection cavity were reconstructed using a vascularized anterolateral thigh adipofascial flap. His symptoms disappeared, indicating that endoscopic irrigation and reconstruction can effectively address ventriculitis even in patients in critical clinical condition

Association of schizophrenia onset age and white matter integrity with treatment effect of D-cycloserine : a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study

Background: It has been reported that drugs which promote the N-Methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor function by stimulating the glycine modulatory site in the receptor improve negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients being treated with antipsychotic drugs. Methods: We performed a placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study involving 41 schizophrenia patients in which D-cycloserine 50 mg/day was added-on, and the influence of the onset age and association with white matter integrity on MR diffusion tensor imaging were investigated for the first time. The patients were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), and other scales. Results: D-cycloserine did not improve positive or negative symptoms or cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The investigation in consideration of the onset age suggests that D-cycloserine may aggravate negative symptoms of early-onset schizophrenia. The better treatment effect of D-cycloserine on BACS was observed when the white matter integrity of the sagittal stratum/ cingulum/fornix stria terminalis/genu of corpus callosum/external capsule was higher, and the better treatment effect on PANSS general psychopathology (PANSS-G) was observed when the white matter integrity of the splenium of corpus callosum was higher. In contrast, the better treatment effect of D-cycloserine on PANSS-G and SANS-IV were observed when the white matter integrity of the posterior thalamic radiation (left) was lower. Conclusion: It was suggested that response to D-cycloserine is influenced by the onset age and white matter integrity

Intracranial Pressure Monitoring for Pediatric Acute Encephalopathy

Newly published clinical practice guidelines recommend intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in critical care for the management of pediatric acute encephalopathy (pAE), but the utility of ICP monitoring for pAE has been poorly studied. We recently performed direct ICP monitoring for two patients. We observed that although the direct ICP monitoring had clinical benefits with less body weight gain and no vasopressor use in both cases, this monitoring technique is still invasive. Future studies should determine the utility of non-invasive ICP monitoring systems in pAE to further improve the quality of intensive-care management

4年制大学における保育士養成教育の研究 : 保育所実習における「ゆらぎ」と「気づき」

In 2003 the Department of Social Welfare program of clinical social work at Kyushu University of Health and Welfare (KUHW) began a course in child care practice. The course provides instruction in child care social work and helps prepare students to qualify for the national child care license. This research evaluates the effectiveness of the KUHW child care social work program from 2003 until 2005 in its role, in assisting students become more professionally aware, and increasing their self-confidence in the practice of child care

Fertility-sparing radical resection of juvenile clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix by pneumovaginal endoscopic surgery

Vaginoscopy has been mainly used diagnostically due to the lack of adequate equipment for performing complicated surgeries (Johary et al., 2015). However, herein, we report therapeutic vaginal endoscopic surgery (pneumovaginoscopy) for secondary malignant vaginal tumors using the vNOTES technique and devices (Kita et al., 2021; Yokoe et al., 2022).To our knowledge, this report and surgical video demonstrate the first case of successful fertility-sparing R0 tumor resection of a rare primary cervical clear cell adenocarcinoma using pneumovaginoscopy.A 12-year-old girl was referred to our outpatient clinic with a chief complaint of a genital tumor and possible clear cell carcinoma on biopsy. There was no history of diethylstilbestrol exposure. MRI and CT images suggested a polypoid cervical tumor without metastatic lesions. Therefore, we performed therapeutic pneumovaginoscopic surgery with diagnostic laparoscopy and hysteroscopy.The cervical tumor was resected completely, and hysteroscopy and laparoscopy revealed no abnormalities. The total surgical time was 123 min, and the blood loss volume was minimal. R0 resection was achieved microscopically.Postoperatively, we performed a partial cervical resection around the first surgical scar to confirm no residual tumor.There were no postoperative complications, and a 2-year follow-up revealed no recurrence.The standard treatment for early-stage cervical cancer (IA2-IB1) remains radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. However, fertility-sparing minimally invasive surgery has recently been introduced for clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix (Su et al., 2020). Our report supports the possibility of this minimally invasive surgery under exceptional conditions. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Kansai Medical University. Written and signed informed consent was obtained from the patient’s legal guardian