Objective Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is diagnosed by the presence of dysphagia and intraepithelial eosinophilic infiltration of ≥15 per high-power field (HPF). EoE should be distinguished from proton pump inhibitor-responsive esophageal eosinophilic infiltration (PPI-R EEI) in patients that are responsive to PPI treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of EoE and PPI-R EEI in Japanese patients in a multicenter study.
Methods Ten hospitals participated in this study. Esophageal biopsy was performed when the patients had typical EoE symptoms or when endoscopic findings revealed a typical EoE appearance. EEI was defined as the intraepithelial eosinophilic infiltration of ≥15 per HPF. Patients with EEI received rabeprazole for 8 weeks to distinguish EoE from PPI-R EEI.
Results A total of 13,634 subjects that underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy because of further examination or as a routine checkup were enrolled. Seventy-one (0.5%) patients suspected with EoE were examined by biopsy. A histological examination of 7 (9.9%) cases revealed EEI. Two of these 7 patients showed no symptoms and the other 5 were treated with PPI. Two (0.01%) patients were diagnosed with EoE and 3 (0.02%) with PPI-R EEI.
Conclusion EoE and PPI-R EEI were rare in Japanese patients that underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

View full abstract

Objective Examination of sudomotor function is now recommended to assess peripheral autonomic dysfunction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of Neuropad, a simple visual indicator test, for assessment of diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN).
Methods This study examined 87 diabetic patients with a mean age of 61.1±8.8 years, a mean diabetes duration of 13.0±7.5 years and a mean HbA1c of 8.8±1.7%. Diagnosis of DPN was based on clinical examinations using modified Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score (mTCNS). The patients also underwent 4-g monofilament test and heart rate variability by coefficient of variation of R-R intervals (CV_R-R) was determined with the patients at rest. The Neuropad test was applied on the plantar aspect of the great toe and removed after 10 minutes to evaluate the color change as normal (blue to completely pink), patchy (patches of blue and pink) and abnormal (remained blue).
Results Twenty-eight patients showed a normal, 45 patchy and 14 abnormal response to the Neuropad test. Patients with an abnormal response had significantly longer diabetes duration than those with a normal or a patchy response, but HbA1c levels were similar among the three groups. The C_R-R at rest was significantly lower in patients with an abnormal response than those of normal and patchy response, respectively. Abnormal responders showed significantly higher mTCNS and lower monofilament results as well as higher prevalence of orthostatic hypotension, retinopathy or nephropathy than normal responders.
Conclusion The Neuropad test is a useful screening test for detecting DPN.

View full abstract

Objective A number of vasculo-protective roles have been reported for adiponectin. In contrast, higher, rather than lower, plasma adiponectin levels are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). The mechanisms by which high adiponectin levels are associated with adverse outcome are unclear.
Methods This study measured the level of total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectins in 70 patients with HD patients (age: 65.2±8.6 years, man/woman: 30/40), and examined the association between adiponectins, metabolic and echocardiographic parameters.
Results Women had a significantly higher total, HMW levels and HMW to total ratio than men. The levels of total and HMW adiponectin were positively correlated with those of HDL-cholesterol and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, and negatively associated with body mass index (BMI), triglyceride, high sensitive-C reactive protein (CRP) and hemoglobin levels. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that HMW adiponectin had an independent association with BMI (β=-0.270, p=0.003), HDL-cholesterol (β=0.356, p<0.001), hemoglobin (β=-0.180, p=0.034) and BNP (β=0.200, p=0.014) as total did adiponectin.
Conclusion Anemia and BNP levels had independent influence on the total and HMW adiponectin levels in chronic HD patients.

View full abstract

Objective This study of drivers in Tokyo was conducted to clarify the factors related to falling asleep and sleepiness while driving, particularly addressing short sleep duration, loud snoring or apnea witnessed by others and/or subjective sleep insufficiency.
Methods This study was conducted as a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey. Responses from drivers who visited a driver licensing center in Tokyo were evaluated in relation to socio-demographic variables, sleep-related variables and experiences of falling asleep or feeling sleepiness while driving. The analyses included 4,097 experienced drivers.
Results Among the 4,097 drivers, 11.4% had experienced at least one incident of falling asleep while driving during the prior year and 67.6% had some prior experience of feeling sleepiness while driving. Logistic regression analyses revealed that witnessed snoring or apnea, short sleep duration and subjective insufficiency of nocturnal sleep were each independently associated with falling asleep and feeling sleepiness while driving. Subjective sleepiness while driving was associated with a sleep duration of less than six hours. However, falling asleep while driving was associated with a sleep duration of less than seven hours.
Conclusion Drivers with a sleep duration shorter than seven hours have a higher risk of falling asleep while driving without experiencing subjective sleepiness. Irrespective of perceived sleep insufficiency, drivers should sleep more than seven hours, and those suspected of having respiratory pauses during sleep should undergo sleep apnea syndrome screening.

View full abstract

A 57-year-old woman showed frequent premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), and some of the PVCs triggered polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PVT). Structural heart diseases were ruled out by conventional cardiac examinations. Radiofrequency catheter ablation was successful in eliminating the PVCs and subsequent PVT. However, epinephrine infusion unmasked her prolonged QT interval, and a genetic analysis revealed a KCNH2 mutation (R694H) as the cause of latent type-2 long QT syndrome (LQTS). This case suggests that latent LQTS may work as an arrhythmogenic substrate of PVT triggered by a benign form of RVOT-PVCs in patients with a structurally normal heart.

View full abstract

A 41-year-old man was diagnosed with a solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) of the pleura in the posterior mediastinum. Despite two surgeries for excision, the SFT recurred and progressed with direct invasion of the chest wall and bone metastases. He was hospitalized because of cerebral infarction and presented with recurrent severe hypoglycemia fourteen years later. High-molecular-weight (HMW) insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) was identified in the serum and tumor using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. These findings suggested that the cause of the recurrent severe hypoglycemia was SFT production of HMW IGF-II, a mediator of non-islet cell tumor-induced hypoglycemia (NICTH).

View full abstract

A 39-year-old man developed proteinuria, hematuria, and renal insufficiency. A renal biopsy revealed the presence of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal λ-light chain deposits without evidence of immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin A (IgA) or immunoglobulin M (IgM) deposits. Electron microscopy revealed granular electron-dense deposits resembling immune-complex deposits. No monoclonal proteins were detected in the serum or urine. The patient was treated with an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, and his condition was almost stable during the 1-year follow-up. This case shares common pathological characteristics with the newly described entity referred to as "proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits" in which, glomerular deposits are composed entirely of monoclonal IgG. Therefore, we term the unusual form of glomerulonephritis observed in the present case "proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain deposits."

View full abstract

A 61-year-old Japanese woman on hemodialysis with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) was admitted to the hospital with gluteal pain. Radiographs demonstrated a fracture of the left pubis. The serum 1,25(OH)₂-vitamin D and 25(OH)-vitamin D levels were low. A biopsy of the right iliac crest disclosed osteomalacia. Active vitamin D sterol was administered in conjunction with dietary modification. Her gluteal pain was resolved three years later, and healing of the fracture was confirmed by radiology. This case emphasizes that vitamin D deficiency and malnutrition can cause osteomalacia in dialysis patients, even if calcium (Ca) and phosphate (P) levels are controlled by calcium carbonate.

View full abstract

Nocardia concava was identified as a new species in 2005; however, the clinical manifestations of Nocardia concava infection have yet to be clarified. We herein present the case of an immunosuppressed patient who developed disseminated nocardiosis caused by N. concava with multiple abscesses in the lungs, cutis, subcutaneous tissue, skeletal muscles and kidneys accompanied by central nervous system involvement, including meningitis and ventriculitis. The patient was cured with appropriate treatment including linezolid after testing for susceptibility. Linezolid should be considered as an alternative agent for treating disseminated nocardiosis because of its effective distribution to multiple sites.

View full abstract

Infection with Aeromonas species has been reported to occur in neutropenic patients. Necrotizing fasciitis caused by Aeromonas species is uncommon but potentially life-threatening. We herein describe three cases of fulminant necrotizing fasciitis caused by Aeromonas sobria in neutropenic patients. These cases shared many clinical characteristics, including shock, coagulopathy, multiple organ failure and rapidly deteriorating and eventually fatal clinical courses. In all cases, Aeromonas sobria was resistant to most antibiotics, except quinolones. Our experience suggests that necrotizing fasciitis caused by Aeromonas sobria is a distinctive and fatal entity. As the use of quinolones is not usually considered in cases of febrile neutropenia, it is important to adjust the antibiotics in time when culture results become available. In some cases, early treatment with quinolones and surgical intervention should be considered, especially when this complication occurs in patients with profound neutropenia.

View full abstract

A 49-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with complaints of fatigue, epistaxis and a skin rash. The whole blood count revealed isolated thrombocytopenia (4,000/mL), and the patient was admitted to the hematology department with a diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia. He did not respond to steroid treatment for 15 days, and a subfebrile fever developed during this period. A diagnosis of acute brucellosis was considered due to positive serological tests and a blood culture positive for Brucella spp. After starting doxycycline and rifampicin therapy, the patient's thrombocyte count increased to 15,000/mL on the third day, to 41,000/mL on the sixth day and was normal on the 21st day of treatment. A diagnosis of brucellosis must be considered in patients presenting with severe and isolated thrombocytopenia in countries where brucellosis is endemic.

View full abstract

We herein report the first case of infective endocarditis attributable to Rothia aeria, which had a fatal outcome after cerebral hemorrhagic infarction and was not susceptible to vancomycin. If Gram-positive bacillary or filamentous bacteria that form white, coarse, dry colonies are detected, keeping the possibility of Rothia species in mind is advisable because members of this species can cause severe infections.

View full abstract