Tumor Lysis Syndrome due to Eribulin Administration for Metastatic Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma of the Buttock

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a complication of cancer treatment that requires urgent intervention. It is extremely rare in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the limbs or trunk, and there are currently no reports of TLS occurrence from eribulin therapy. We report the case of a 78-year-old woman with an undiffer-entiated pleomorphic sarcoma on the right buttock. We initiated chemotherapy with intravenous eribulin mesylate. Deterioration of renal function, mild hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, hypocalcemia, and hyperphos-phatemia were confirmed on examination, suggesting the presence of TLS. We present an extremely rare case of TLS from eribulin for STS

Deep Angiomyxoma of the Thigh That Is Difficult to Diagnose: A Case Report and Literature Review

We present an extremely rare case of deep angiomyxoma (DAM) in the thigh that was misdiagnosed as desmoid-type fibromatosis. A 40-year-old Japanese woman presented with a mass on the left thigh. The histological diagnosis by needle biopsy was desmoid-type fibromatosis; the tumor grew slowly and was resected 4 years later. The histological diagnosis from the resected tumor was DAM. As of 16 months post-surgery, the patient has not noticed any local recurrence. Although DAM in a lower extremity is extremely rare, clinicians must be aware of its possible occurrence in areas relatively close to the pelvis

Novel Treatment Criteria for Persistent Ductus Arteriosus in Neonates

BackgroundThe indications for ductus arteriosus ligation in very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBWIs) with persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are unclear. Increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVDd) is commonly found in patients with PDA. Here, the enlargement of LVDd in term and preterm neonates without congenital heart disease was estimated by two-dimensional echocardiography.MethodsThe value of the measured LVDd was divided by the normal LVDd as an index (LVDd ratio) to compare 30 patients who underwent PDA ligation with 30 patients treated with indomethacin and 30 patients who did not undergo radical therapy.ResultsAn LVDd ratio between 122% and 197% (mean, 142%) was considered to be an indication for the ligation procedure. The proportion of patients exceeding 130% in the LVDd ratio was 87% (26/30) in those patients who underwent ligation. Catecholamines and/or vasodilators were required in 83% patients for the treatment of low ejection fraction or hypertension after operations, suggesting that patients had been in preload and/or afterload remodeling failure during the operation. The percentage of patients with less than 115% in the LVDd ratio was 90% in the non-radical-therapy patients. The LVDd ratios of 130% and 115% were regarded as cut-off values for surgical ligation and indomethacin treatment.ConclusionThe LVDd ratio is a useful measure to determine the treatment of VLBWIs with PDA

Efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab (AvastinTM) for short-term treatment of diabetic macular edema

Purpose : To report the efficacy of intravitreal injections of bevacizumab for diabetic macular edema (DME) in the short-term. Design : Retrospective, noncomparative, interventional case series.Methods : Medical records of 20 eyes of 19 patients who underwent intravitreal injections of bevacizumab for persistent diabetic macular edema were reviewed retrospectively. All eyes received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (1.25 mg/ 0.05 ml). The clinical course of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) using a logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution chart, and averaged foveal retinal thickness using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) were monitored for up to four weeks after the injection. Results : BCVA at one week improved by two lines or more in six eyes (30%) and in nine eyes (45%) at four weeks. However, no significant improvement in the mean BCVA from baseline was observed at one week (P>0.05) and four weeks (P>0.05). Mean retinal thicknesses (RT) were 411±170μm at baseline, 349±102μm at one week after the injection (P0.05). One week after the injection, significant regression of macular edema was seen. However, recurrence occurred at four weeks. No complications such as severe vision loss, endophthalmitis, or systemic events developed. Conclusion : No changes in BCVA and RT were observed in the short-term observation after the intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for DME

Results of submacular surgery to remove diabetic submacular hard exudates

Purpose : To evaluate outcomes of submacular surgery to remove massive submacular hard exudates with diabetic macular edema. Design : Retrospective, noncomparative, interventional consecutive case series. Participants : Fifty-six eyes of 40 patients with massive submacular hard exudates with diabetic macular edema. Intervention : Submacular surgery was performed to remove massive submacular hard exudates. Main Outcome Measures : Preoperative and postoperative visual acuities and clinical findings. All patients were followed for more than 1 year postoperatively. Results : The macular hard exudates underlying the fovea almost disappeared, and macular edema remarkably reduced following surgery. Visual acuities ranged from 0.01 to 0.3 before surgery, and from 0.04 to 1.0 after surgery. Visual acuity improved by two lines or more in 45 eyes (80.4%), remained unchanged in 8 eyes (14.3%) and worsened in 3 eyes (5.3%). Visual acuity improved to 0.3 or more in 24 eyes (42.9%). Better postoperative visual acuity (0.3 or better) was related to hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and the size of hard exudates. Conclusions : Results showed the efficacy of submacular surgery to remove massive hard exudates with diabetic macular edema, and outcomes were satisfactory

The Relationship Between Dialysis Patients' Quality of Life and Caregivers' Quality of Life

Patients on dialysis require caregiving and assistance in their daily lives from family members and/or others for hospital visitation and supervised administration. This places a considerable burden on caregivers, which can in turn influence caregivers' quality of life (QOL). We recruited dialysis patients and their caregivers to elucidate how the QOL of patients relates to that of their caregivers'. Patients completed the EuroQol 5-Dimension scale (EQ-5D) and Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form. Caregivers completed the EQ-5D and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). We calculated utility index values for the EQ-5D, and physical, mental (MCS), and role-social component summary scores for the SF-36. Compared to national norms, the caregivers of dialysis patients tended to have poor physical health-related QOL but normal mental health-related QOL, as also found with patients. The multivariate analysis revealed that ≥ median dialysis period and ≥ average burden of kidney disease were significantly related to caregiver MCS score (odds ratios; 6.79 and 9.89, respectively). Caregivers tended to have lower physical health-related QOL if their patients had high social QOL, and lower mental health-related QOL during the early stage of the patient's dialysis treatment, and when patients experienced low disease-targeted QOL

Adaptability and selectivity of human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) pan agonists revealed from crystal structures

The structures of the ligand-binding domains (LBDs) of human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARα, PPARγ and PPARδ) in complexes with a pan agonist, an α/δ dual agonist and a PPARδ-specific agonist were determined. The results explain how each ligand is recognized by the PPAR LBDs at an atomic level

Coordinated elevation of membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase and matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression in rat uterus during postpartum involution

BACKGROUND: The changes occurring in the rodent uterus after parturition can be used as a model of extensive tissue remodeling. As the uterus returns to its prepregnancy state, the involuting uterus undergoes a rapid reduction in size primarily due to the degradation of the extracellular matrix, particularly collagen. Membrane type-I matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is one of the major proteinases that degrades collagen and is the most abundant MMP form in the uterus. Matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) can degrade type I collagen, although its main function is to degrade type IV collagen found in the basement membrane. To understand the expression patterns of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the rat uterus, we analyzed their activities in postpartum uterine involution. METHODS: We performed gelatin zymography, northern blot analysis and immunohistochemistry to compare the expression levels of MT1-MMP, MMP-2, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and the tissue inhibitors of MMPs-1 and 2 (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2) in the rat uterus 18 h, 36 h and 5 days after parturition with their expression levels during pregnancy (day 20). RESULTS: We found that both MT1-MMP and MMP-2 localized mainly in the cytoplasm of uterine interstitial cells. The expression levels of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 mRNAs and the catalytic activities of the expressed proteins significantly increased 18 h and 36 h after parturition, but at postpartum day 5, their mRNA expression levels and catalytic activities decreased markedly. The expression levels of MMP-9 increased 18 h and 36 h after parturition as determined by gelatin zymography including the expression levels of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. CONCLUSION: These expression patterns indicate that MT1-MMP, MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 may play key roles in uterine postpartum involution and subsequent functional regenerative processes

Development of 3C-SiC MOSFETs, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2007, nr 2

The paper reviews the development of the 3C-SiC MOSFETs in a unique development project combining the material and device expertise of HAST (Hoya Advanced Semiconductor Technologies) and Acreo, respectively. The motivation for the development of the 3C-SiC MOSFETs and the summary of the results from the lateral and vertical devices with varying size from single cell to 3×3 mm2 large devices are reviewed. The vertical devices had hexagonal and square unit cell designs with 2 μm and 4 μm channel length. The p-body was aluminum implanted and the source was nitrogen or phosphorus implanted. Low temperature Ti/W contacts were evaluated