Objective Peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients have an increased cardiovascular burden. In this study, we aimed to compare certain PD solutions (Physioneal^® and Dianeal^®) in terms of the ambulatory blood pressure, echocardiographic parameters (ECHO), carotid atherosclerosis, endothelial function and serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) level.
Methods A total of 45 PD patients were enrolled in this prospective randomized controlled study: 23 patients in the Dianeal^® group and 22 patients in the Physioneal^® group. Ambulatory blood pressure measurements, echocardiography, carotid artery intima-media thickness measurements and flow mediated dilatation (FMD) and ADMA values were obtained at baseline and 12 months.
Results The baseline parameters were similar between the groups with respect to the echocardiographic parameters, 24-hour ambulatory blood monitoring measurements and ADMA and FMD levels. All 24-hour blood pressure monitoring measurements, except for the average daytime systolic blood pressure, were significantly decreased in both groups at the first year. In the Physioneal^® group, a significant decrease was observed with regard to the ADMA levels. Considering the FMD values, significant augmentation was seen at the end of the first year in both groups. Improvements in the FMD measurements were prominent in the Physioneal^® group; however, this finding was not statistically significant.
Conclusion The use of solutions with a neutral pH in PD patients results in decreased ADMA levels, which may be an important contributor to reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular events and deaths in this population.

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Objective This study was performed to investigate the clinical significance of detecting Elizabethkingia meningoseptica in the bile.
Methods We herein report a case series of biliary colonization or infection with E. meningoseptica. Twenty patients with E. meningoseptica recovered from the bile were treated at a 4,300-bed teaching hospital in China between January 2009 and December 2012. The clinical information for the cases of E. meningoseptica recovered from the bile and the microbiological data of the E. meningoseptica isolates were examined.
Results Most of the 20 patients were not immunocompromised, although they had cholelithiasis and had recently received antimicrobial agents. All cases were treated with indwelling nasobiliary tubes and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and/or endoscopic sphincterotomy prior to the detection of E. meningoseptica in the bile. The average time between the placement of the nasobiliary tube and the detection of E. meningoseptica in the bile was 6.6 days. E. meningoseptica caused cholangitis in five cases, one of which also involved secondary septicemia, and colonized the nasobiliary tubes or biliary tract in the remaining 15 cases. All but two patients recovered and were discharged. Two patients died of septicemia; E. meningoseptica and Escherichia coli were the causative pathogens in one case and other organisms were the causative pathogens in the other.
Conclusion E. meningoseptica is an unusual causative pathogen of healthcare-associated cholangitis. Cholangitis resulting from this bacterium is generally associated with good outcomes, although secondary septicemia can be life-threatening.

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Objective The efficacy of combined treatment consisting of enalapril and folic acid (FA) was compared to that of enalapril alone in reducing the serum uric acid (UA) levels in adult hypertensive patients in China.
Methods Patients with mild to moderate hypertension (n=480) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) 10 mg enalapril (control group), (2) 10 mg enalapril plus 0.4 mg FA (low-FA group) or (3) 10 mg enalapril plus 0.8 mg FA (high-FA group) daily for eight weeks. The primary outcome was the UA ratio (week 8 UA: baseline UA).
Results The final analysis included 450 patients (43.1% men, 27-75 years of age). An adjusted multivariable regression analysis revealed no significant differences in the UA ratio between the three groups after eight weeks of treatment. In the subgroup analysis stratified according to the baseline UA level, the high-FA group demonstrated a significantly greater UA-lowering response among the patients with an elevated baseline UA concentration (UA ≥310 μmol/L) [median UA ratio (25th percentile, 75th percentile): 0.94 (0.83, 1.01)], compared with that observed in the control group [0.97 (0.90, 1.00), p=0.025]. Similar results were found in the participants with baseline hyperuricemia (HUA; UA: men >420 μmol/L, women >350 μmol/L).
Conclusion In this sample of adult hypertensive patients, the administration of a daily dose of 10 mg of enalapril combined with 0.8 mg of FA had a greater beneficial effect on the serum UA levels than did that of 10 mg of enalapril alone in patients with either an elevated UA concentration or HUA.

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A 67-year-old man presented for an evaluation after experiencing right hypochondrial pain lasting for two months. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a hepatic tumor in the right liver and extremely mild hepatic steatosis. The imaging findings indicated that the tumor (43 mm in size) was ischemic, and the lesion was surgically resected and examined. The histopathological findings demonstrated 95% necrosis with moderately differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The diagnosis was HCC with spontaneous regression. There was also pathological evidence of thrombus formation in the peripheral arteries and portal veins. In addition, the non-cancerous regions of the liver were diagnosed as exhibiting non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The pathological findings obtained after resection of the HCC lesion showed spontaneous regression.

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Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a disorder characterized by left ventricular apical ballooning with preceding emotional and/or physical stressors. This condition is also an important differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. We herein describe a case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a significant clinical phenomenon, triggered by delayed-onset rhabdomyolysis following the administration of long-term statin treatment, without any preceding stressors or changes in the patient's medical condition, in association with complaints of non-specific muscle-related symptoms. Although an electrocardiogram showed remarkable ST-segment elevation, a careful reading of the electrocardiogram findings revealed the features of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Withdrawing the statin therapy improved the patient's cardiac function.

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An 81-year-old woman was admitted with chest pain. An electrocardiogram demonstrated ST segment elevation in leads II, III and aVF, and echocardiography revealed left ventricular apical asynergy with a left-to-right ventricular shunt. Meanwhile, emergent coronary angiography showed no significant coronary artery stenosis, whereas left ventriculography indicated apical ballooning and a left-to-right ventricular shunt. We therefore diagnosed the patient with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicated by ventricular septal perforation and cardiogenic shock. An electrocardiogram disclosed a prolonged QT interval over time, and the patient became hemodynamically stable under treatment with inotropes; however, she suddenly developed fatal ventricular fibrillation three days after hospitalization. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicated by ventricular septal perforation is a critical condition that requires careful monitoring.

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Pericardial mesothelioma is a very rare pericardial tumor. Diagnosing pericardial disease can be challenging, and obtaining an antemortem diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma is particularly difficult. We herein report the case of a 60-year-old man with pericardial mesothelioma diagnosed on endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). Chest computed tomography showed a mass surrounding the pericardium, and EBUS-TBNA of the right inferior paratracheal and subcarinal stations was consequently performed. No uptake was noted on ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxy glucose positron emission tomography, other than in the pericardial mass. The results of histological and immunohistochemical examinations indicated the features of malignant mesothelioma. We therefore diagnosed the patient with pericardial mesothelioma, which was subsequently confirmed at autopsy.

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A 33-year-old Japanese woman at 40 weeks gestation visited the maternity hospital after imminent labor had begun. After the delivery, persistent bleeding developed resulting in hemorrhagic shock. Although the hemorrhage was eventually controlled, hepatic and renal dysfunction occurred, leading to acute kidney injury (AKI). The patient's clinical presentation was suggestive of amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). We subsequently initiated continuous renal replacement therapy (RRT) for AKI. The patient's condition improved, she discontinued RRT, and her renal function recovered. We herein report a patient who successfully recovered from AKI caused by AFE.

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A 53-year-old man with an asymptomatic anterior mediastinal tumor undergoing hemodialysis was referred to our institution. He was diagnosed with thymic basaloid carcinoma based on the findings of a chest tomography-guided biopsy and successfully treated with carboplatin (300 mg/m²/day) and paclitaxel (200 mg/m²/day) on day 1 for six three-week cycles. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the efficiency of a carboplatin dose-definition method based on the body surface area with paclitaxel in a hemodialysis patient. This report may therefore be useful for treating hemodialysis patients who are candidates for carboplatin and paclitaxel therapy.

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A 50-year-old man with a history of smoking of 45 pack-years underwent right lower lobectomy after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed on a bronchial biopsy and standard imaging examinations, including chest-abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and whole-body F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT. Left orchiectomy was performed simultaneously to treat the slightly swollen left testis, which had remained unchanged for over five years. The thoracic tumor was proven to be in pathological complete remission and the testicular lesion was pathologically diagnosed as an embryonal carcinoma. Furthermore, a pathological reevaluation of the preoperative bronchial biopsy specimen revealed the lung tumor to be a metastatic embryonal carcinoma.

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A 55-year-old man was transferred to our hospital with unilateral lung lesions, a persistent fever and vague chest pain with arthralgia lasting for three months. He had been treated for end-stage renal disease with hemodialysis for 15 years and had a medical history of recurrent subcutaneous calciphylaxis due to secondary hyperparathyroidism. Transbronchial biopsied specimens demonstrated metastatic pulmonary calcification, and a bone marrow biopsy showed Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although metastatic calcification often lacks specific symptoms, the lungs is a primary site for deposition. This is the first report of unilateral metastatic pulmonary calcification associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

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A 47-year-old man with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive T/NK- cell lymphoproliferative disease (EBV-T/NK-LPD) developed acute-onset weakness. A nerve conduction study showed a conduction block in both the proximal and most distal segments. Although the patient's neuropathy transiently responded to intravenous immunoglobulin, it was progressive for at least 25 days until the start of prednisolone (PSL) administration, after which it remarkably improved. The neuropathy further improved after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The present patient's clinical course is not consistent with that of typical Guillain-Barré syndrome. This case suggests that EBV-T/NK-LPD can cause progressive immune-mediated neuropathy as a result of chronic EBV antigen presentation and can be treated with PSL and BMT.

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A 38-year-old woman experienced numbness in both lower extremities and spastic paralysis a few months after undergoing living-donor renal transplantation. The patient was negative for human T lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) antibodies prior to the procedure; however, she was diagnosed with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) based on positive serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibody titers after the surgery. Because the donor was also positive for HTLV-1 antibodies, the infection likely originated from the transplanted kidney. Clinical and imaging improvements were noted following the administration of interferon-α. HAM has been reported to occur after living-donor renal transplantation; however, there are no previous reports of onset within such a short period.

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We experienced a unique case of familial prion disease with a prion gene mutation that caused pan-autonomic failure, sensory neuropathy and mild cognitive impairment. No abnormal sites of intensity were observed on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI) over six to 11 years or fluid attenuated inversion recovery MRI at six or nine years. However, ^99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) showed a decreased cerebral blood flow in the bilateral parietal and occipital lobes at nine years, which then expanded at 11 years, corresponding to mild atrophy in these areas on MRI. In some cases of prion mutations, particularly the slowly progressive type, SPECT may show abnormalities, while MRI does not.

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A 62-year-old woman complained of diarrhea and vomiting after receiving chemotherapy for cervical cancer in association with high doses of corticosteroids. Two months later, the patient developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, and numerous Strongyloides stercoralis parasites were found in the intrabronchial discharge. Ivermectin was administered daily until nematodes were no longer detected in the sputum, and the patient's condition was successfully rescued. Antibodies for human T-cell lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1) were positive. HTLV-1 infection and the administration of corticosteroids are known risk factors for strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome. Therefore, physicians should consider this disease in the differential diagnosis of patients from endemic areas who present with gastrointestinal symptoms under these risk factors.

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