Two cases of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia syndrome after postoperative irradiation for breast cancer

We report two cases of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) syndrome that developed after postoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer. In both patients, chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) showed multiple consolidations outside the irradiation fields after several months of tangential radiation therapy. These patients were diagnosed as having radiation-associated BOOP syndrome, based on their clinical course and the findings on examination. After treatment with a systemic corticosteroid, radiographic consolidations and symptoms improved rapidly. In cases where consolidations appear outside the irradiated field, it is important to consider BOOP syndrome as a pulmonary complication of radiation therapy for breast cancer

介護技術講習会受講者の意識の変化について

The present study investigated the effects of a workshop on care techniques that has been held since 2005 at our university. We conducted a care awareness survey by administering questionnaires to 39 participants before and after the workshop.Even though the workshop was only 32 h in duration, we found that it implemented following three effects in addition to the acquisition of care techniques: (1) enabling participants to reflect on and evaluate their usual care, (2) enabling understanding of the importance of fundamentals and their practice in actual settings, and (3) promoting awareness of care expertise.The chronic shortage of care personnel is a major social problem. The vast majority of care personnel are certified care workers with work experience who have aspirations to become certified care workers. While the present workshop may only have been one step on the way to becoming certified care workers for the participants, they considered it a meaningful experience

潜在的介護福祉士の介護現場への復帰の可能性 : 介護系大学卒業生に対する調査から

The subjects of the present study were certified care workers who had once been working as care workers but had left their jobs since. A total of 10 university graduates who completed a four-year care worker training program were administered a questionnaire survey. The reasons for leaving the job and views on work were obtained for nine subjects returning the survey. In the present study, we qualitatively investigated the problems usually faced by care workers on the basis of views obtained by conducting phone interviews of six of the nine subjects. The following six factors were identified as causes of care workers leaving their jobs: (1) working conditions, (2) salary, (3) terms of employment, (4) work satisfaction, (5) interpersonal relationships, and (6) private matters. Notable findings were that"low salary"and"employment conditions"were serious factors determining a worker\u27s decision to continue care work. The present survey revealed that many certified care workers who graduated from the university continued to have a very high level of motivation toward care work even after leaving their job. It also revealed that building up a working environment to encourage a sense of purpose and to enable workers to take pride in their work is required

Soluble Endothelial Selectin in Acute Lung Injury Complicated by Severe Pneumonia

<p><b>Background: </b>Pneumonia is still one of the most frequent causes of death in the elderly. Complication of acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) by pneumonia makes patients very ill due to severe respiratory failure. Biomarkers that can discriminate the presence of complicating ALI/ARDS are required for early detection. The aim of this research was to investigate whether soluble endothelial selectin (sES) could be a biomarker for ALI.</p><p><b>Methods: </b>Serum sES levels were measured in 27 pneumonia patients, who were enrolled between April 2006 and September 2007. Among these patients, six had ALI or a condition that was clinically comparable to ALI (cALI). All patients who were enrolled were successfully treated and survived.</p><p><b>Results: </b>Circulating sES levels were elevated in pneumonia patients with ALI/cALI, and sES levels decreased following treatment of their pneumonia. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that sES was the only significant factor for identifying complicating ALI/cALI, independently of C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). By receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the cut-off value for sES was 40.1 ng/mL, with a sensitivity of 0.8 and a specificity of 0.8.</p><p><b>Conclusion: </b>sES may be a useful biomarker for discriminating complicating ALI/cALI in patients with severe pneumonia.</p