Internal Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-7235
Print ISSN : 0918-2918
ISSN-L : 0918-2918
Volume 53, Issue 1
Displaying 1-16 of 16 articles from this issue
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
  • Kazuyuki Matsumoto, Yasuhiro Miyake, Morihito Nakatsu, Tatsuya Toyokaw ...
    2014 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 01, 2014
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Objective To improve the prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis, preventing infectious complications, particularly infected pancreatic necrosis, is important. The present study evaluated the efficacy of peritoneal lavage for improving the prognosis of patients with severe acute pancreatitis.
    Patients We retrospectively reviewed the cases of 23 consecutive patients with severe acute pancreatitis who were treated with peritoneal lavage.
    Results Peritoneal lavage was started within 72 hours after the initial onset of symptoms in 20 patients (87%). The duration of peritoneal lavage, which was significantly correlated with the number of prognostic factors according to the revised Japanese criteria, Ranson score and serum C-reactive protein level at the start of peritoneal lavage, was a median of seven (3-22) days. There were no adverse events associated with the peritoneal lavage. Eight patients (35%) concurrently underwent continuous regional arterial infusion. Five days after starting peritoneal lavage, the patients' clinical conditions significantly improved. Overall, the survival rate was 96%. One patient (4%) died due to rupture of a pseudoaneurysm of the splenic artery. Complications occurred in seven patients (30%). Infectious complications were observed in three patients (13%) (one patient developed infected pancreatic necrosis and bacteremia, and two patients developed bacteremia). Pseudocysts and pancreatic fistulas developed in five and one patient, respectively. The incidence of complications was lower in the patients receiving peritoneal lavage within 72 hours from the initial onset of symptoms than in the remaining patients (20% vs. 100%; p=0.005).
    Conclusion We speculate that peritoneal lavage reduces the mortality and incidence of complications in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.
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  • Koichiro Imai, Hiroyuki Okura, Tomoko Tamada, Kenzo Fukuhara, Terumasa ...
    2014 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 7-12
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 01, 2014
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Objective Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of congestive heart failure (CHF) as well as ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical predictors of CHF in patients with non-valvular AF (NVAF).
    Methods Three hundred and forty-seven patients (derivation cohort) with NVAF were retrospectively evaluated between 2004 and 2005. The associations between potential risk factors and CHF were tested using a Cox proportional hazards analysis, and a risk score for predicting CHF was created. The model was then validated in 161 patients (validation cohort) enrolled between 2008 and 2010. During the follow-up period, 41 patients in the derivation cohort developed CHF requiring hospitalization due to New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV disease. Four independent risk factors were identified, each of which was assigned a number of points as follows: Age ≥72 years (1 point), heart rate ≥80 bpm (1 point), hypertension (1 point), and a previous history of congestive heart failure (2 points). The patients were grouped into one of three risk categories according to the calculated risk score (ARC2H score): low risk (0 points), intermediate risk (1-3 points) and high risk (4-5 points).
    Result In the derivation cohort, the annual rates of CHF in these risk categories were 0%, 2.5% and 18% per year respectively. In the validation cohort, the corresponding rates were 0.8%, 8% and 35% per year respectively.
    Conclusion A simple clinical risk score, the ARC2H score, was developed to predict CHF in patients with NVAF and validated in an independent cohort.
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  • Yoshifumi Yamada, Junichi Uchida, Hisa Izumi, Yoko Tsukamoto, Gaku Ino ...
    2014 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 13-19
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 01, 2014
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Objective Although caloric restriction is a widely used intervention to reduce body weight and insulin resistance, many patients are unable to comply with such dietary therapy for long periods. The clinical effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets was recently described in a position statement of Diabetes UK and a scientific review conducted by the American Diabetes Association. However, randomised trials of dietary interventions in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of a non-calorie-restricted, low-carbohydrate diet in Japanese patients unable to adhere to a calorie-restricted diet.
    Methods The enrolled patients were randomly allocated to receive a conventional calorie-restricted diet or low-carbohydrate diet. The patients received consultations every two months from a registered dietician for six months. We compared the effects of the two dietary interventions on glycaemic control and metabolic profiles.
    Results The HbA1c levels decreased significantly from baseline to six months in the low-carbohydrate diet group (baseline 7.6±0.4%, six months 7.0±0.7%, p=0.03) but not in the calorie-restricted group (baseline 7.7±0.6%, six months 7.5±1.0%, n.s.), (between-group comparison, p=0.03). The patients in the former group also experienced improvements in their triglyceride levels, without experiencing any major adverse effects or a decline in the quality of life.
    Conclusion Our findings suggest that a low-carbohydrate diet is effective in lowering the HbA1c and triglyceride levels in patients with type 2 diabetes who are unable to adhere to a calorie-restricted diet.
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  • Michiaki Kinoshita, Yasufumi Kondo, Kunihiro Yoshida, Kazuhiro Fukushi ...
    2014 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 21-27
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: January 01, 2014
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Objective Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with neuroaxonal spheroids (HDLS) is an adult-onset white matter disease that presents clinically with cognitive, mental and motor dysfunction. Several autopsy reports have indicated that the corpus callosum (CC), the largest bundle of white matter, is severely affected in patients with HDLS. The aim of this study was to evaluate corpus callosum atrophy (CCA) quantitatively in HDLS patients.
    Methods We assessed CCA in six genetically-proven HDLS patients (HDLS group), in comparison with that observed in 20 patients with vascular dementia (VaD group) and 24 age-matched patients without organic central nervous system (CNS) disease (non-CNS group). Using midsagittal MR images, five measurements of the CC were obtained: the width of the rostrum (aa'), body (bb') and splenium (cc'), the anterior to posterior length (ab) and the maximum height (cd). Next, the corpus callosum index (CCI) was calculated as (aa' + bb' + cc')/ab.
    Results All HDLS patients had white matter lesions in the CC and frontoparietal lobes on the initial MRI scans. Compared with that observed in the VaD and age-matched non-CNS groups, the CCI was significantly decreased in the HDLS group (with VaD group, p<0.01; with non-CNS group, p<0.01).
    Conclusion This study showed significant atrophy of the CC in all HDLS patients on the initial MRI scans obtained 6-36 months after onset. We propose that the early appearance of CCA, frequently accompanied by high-intensity in the genu and/or splenium, on T2 images is an important diagnostic clue to HDLS.
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