Objective This study was designed to determine the SYNTAX score under different fasting plasma glucose (FPG) states in Chinese patients undergoing coronary angiography, particularly subjects with impaired FPG.
Methods Four hundred and forty-six subjects undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled in this study and divided into four groups based on the FPG level or a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM): normal FPG, impaired FPG, known and previously unknown T2DM.
Results The angiographic SYNTAX scores were higher in the subjects with known (p<0.001) or previously unknown (p<0.001) T2DM than in those with normal FPG. There were significant differences in the number of diseased coronary artery vessels between the subjects with known (p<0.01) or unknown T2DM (p<0.05) and the subjects with normal FPG. However, there were no significant differences in the SYNTAX score or the number of diseased coronary artery vessels between the subjects with impaired FPG and those with normal FPG. The subjects with impaired FPG (2.917-fold, p=0.004) and known (3.064-fold, p=0.000) or previously unknown (3.301-fold, p=0.000) T2DM exhibited a significantly elevated risk of having an intermediate or high SYNTAX score compared with the subjects with normal FPG.
Conclusion Chinese subjects with impaired FPG have a significantly elevated risk of having an intermediate or high SYNTAX score, indicating a risk of severe coronary artery lesions. Subjects with known or previously unknown T2DM may have severe coronary artery lesions. These findings suggest the importance of achieving better glycemic control in order to prevent coronary atherosclerosis and improve the cardiovascular prognosis.

View full abstract

Objective Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of hematological neoplasms associated with ineffective hematopoiesis and that transform to acute leukemia. Distinguishing MDS from other cytopenias is sometimes difficult even for trained hematologists. WT1, the gene mutated in Wilms' tumor, was found expressed in acute myeloid leukemia and MDS. The amount of WT1 in peripheral blood and bone marrow (BM) is low in low-risk MDS subtypes, and is high in high-risk MDS subtypes. However, the role of WT1 in the differential diagnosis between MDS and other diseases showing cytopenia has not been fully addressed. The present study evaluated whether WT1 expression level can assist in the differential diagnosis of MDS from other cytopenias.
Methods The amount of WT1 message was evaluated among 56 MDS patients and 47 patients with cytopenia for various other reasons (cytopenia VR) at the Nagasaki University Hospital.
Results The level of WT1 was significantly related to the percentage of blasts in BM among MDS cases, and the type of French-American-British classification of MDS; refractory anemia (RA) cases showed significantly lower WT1 level than patients with RA with excess blasts. WT1 level was significantly related to the prognostic risk categories of MDS by the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) and the revised IPSS. Although the blast percentage in the BM of RA and cytopenia VR were both less than 5%, there was a significant difference in the level of WT1 between MDS and cytopenia VR.
Conclusion WT1 might be a good marker to differentiate low blast percentage MDS and cytopenia VR.

View full abstract

Objective Haptoglobin (Hpg) is known to have several functional properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In addition, it has been shown that the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), involves inflammation as well as oxidative stress. However, evidence suggesting an association between the serum Hpg level and AD is lacking. Therefore, we conducted this study in order to investigate whether serum Hpg is associated with AD.
Methods We compared the serum Hpg levels of 121 patients with newly diagnosed AD, 58 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 43 healthy controls. We also evaluated the relationship between the severity of cognitive impairment in patients with AD and the serum Hpg level.
Results The mean serum Hpg level of the patients with AD was significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (p=0.042), although it was not significant different from that observed in the PD group (p=0.613). We also found a significant positive association between the serum Hpg level and the severity of cognitive impairment, as measured using several neuropsychological tests, in the patients with AD. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of the patients with AD grouped according to the Hpg level was 2.417 (95% confidence interval=1.134-5.149).
Conclusion We observed a significantly higher mean serum Hpg level among the patients with AD compared to the healthy controls. These results support the hypothesis that oxidative stress and neuroinflammatory reactions play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.

View full abstract

Objective Warfarin is known to interact with many drugs; however, there are currently no descriptions of an interaction with linezolid in the literature. It was recently brought to our attention, however, that several warfarin-medicated patients have experienced an increase in the prothrombin time international normalized ratio (PT-INR) following the administration of linezolid. We therefore performed a retrospective survey in order to investigate the possibility of an interaction between warfarin and linezolid.
Methods The survey items included age, gender, underlying disease, type of surgery, type of infectious disease, duration of linezolid administration, laboratory values and the dose of warfarin. The PT-INR was observed over time before treatment and at days 4 or 5 and 10, completion and one week after the end of concomitant therapy.
Patients The subjects included six patients who were recovering from recent heart-related surgery.
Results The PT-INR increased from 1.62±0.32 before concomitant linezolid administration to 3.00±0.83 at day 4 or 5 after concomitant administration (p<0.01) and significantly decreased from 1.65±0.45 at the completion of the regimen to 1.26±0.1 one week later (p<0.05). With respect to the relationship between the dose of warfarin and the PT-INR in five cases, the PT-INR increased following concomitant linezolid treatment in all cases.
Conclusion Although it has been reported that linezolid does not influence the metabolism or protein binding of warfarin, our data showed potential drug interactions between warfarin and linezolid. Our data suggest that PT-INR monitoring after the completion of concomitant warfarin and linezolid therapy is important.

View full abstract

Objective Patients undergoing haemodialysis for chronic renal failure-hemodialysis (CRF-HD) are at risk of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). The effectiveness of using blood IP-10 production capacity to diagnose LTBI in CRF-HD patients was analysed.
Methods The study enrolled 50 CRF-HD patients. Interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) was done using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube (QFG-IT) system. Blood IP-10 production capacity was measured using the QFG-IT system tubes. Tuberculin skin testing (TST) was performed on the same day and the test results were compared.
Results TST turned out to be positive in 36.4% of the patients and QFG-IT in 54% of them. After stimulation with specific tuberculosis antigens, blood IP-10 levels increased noticeably. The antigen-stimulated blood IP-10 level was significantly higher in patients who were either TST or QFG-IT positive than in patients whose tests were negative (p=0.0001). Using 4.02 pg/mL as the threshold for stimulated blood log-transformed IP-10 level, good agreement was observed between IP-10 and QFG-IT results (κ=1).
Conclusion Blood IP-10 level, which can be measured simply, provides results equivalent to IGRAs for the diagnosis of LTBI in CRF-HD patients.

View full abstract

Most cases of esophageal benign stricture can be successfully managed with dilation; however, refractory stricture is often unresponsive to repeated dilation. Endoscopic incision is a novel technique for treating refractory esophageal stricture, although recurrence is noted in patients with stricture measuring greater than 1.5 cm, thus requiring the use of repeated incisions and/or preventive dilation. We herein report a case of refractory esophageal stricture treated with an endoscopic incision and esophageal stenting, which successfully allowed the gastrostomy tube to be removed.

View full abstract

Cushing's syndrome (CS) is characterized by the overproduction of cortisol that may result in significant morbidity and mortality if left untreated. CS is very rarely caused by ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone production from several tumors, although pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are the most common etiology. It is controversial whether such tumors are more clinically aggressive than other pNETs. We herein report an unusual case of severe ectopic CS caused by a small pulmonary carcinoid in the lung with massive neoplastic dissemination to the liver. We highlight and discuss the unusual clinical onset, with diagnostic and therapeutic criticism, of this rare entity.

View full abstract

A 66-year-old woman with an 11-year history of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for diabetic nephropathy and renal failure exhibited a movable tumor in the left atrium on echocardiography. Tumor resection was performed due to the difficulty in diagnosing the tumor and the future risk of heart failure and embolization. Light microscopy showed a calcified amorphous tumor (CAT), a rare intracardiac mass characterized by the presence of a pedicle and diffuse calcification. An increased calcium-phosphate product level was suspected as an etiology, although degeneration, inflammation and/or mineral balance disorders may also induce the development of CAT. We herein report the first known case of CAT in a PD patient.

View full abstract

A 21-year-old man twice developed sudden dyspnea during running examinations for promotion. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed lobular ground-glass opacity and centrilobular shadows bilaterally. The bronchoscopy findings were consistent with alveolar hemorrhage, and echocardiography showed severe hypokinesia a few hours later. A mass was subsequently identified along the abdominal aorta on enhanced CT and iodine-131 metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy. Catecholamine oversecretion, which was later confirmed, may have increased the pulmonary vein pressure, thus resulting in the development of an alveolar hemorrhage, and damaged the cardiac muscles as manifested by hypokinesia. Since the patient had not previously developed alveolar hemorrhage during usual exercise, emotional stress superimposed on the physical activity may have triggered the paraganglioma to secrete excessive catecholamines, thus resulting in the observed symptoms.

View full abstract

Summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis includes a spectrum of granulomatous lung diseases that result from the inhalation of Trichosporon species in the summer. Hot tub lung is a granulomatous lung disease caused by the inhalation of water aerosols containing non-tuberculous mycobacteria. We herein describe a case of hot tub lung that deteriorated during the winter season. Every winter, the patient's symptoms, laboratory findings and chest images worsened. Genetically identical Mycobacterium avium strains were detected in his sputum and bathtub. The circulation of bathtub water during the winter months only exacerbated his symptoms in the winter.

View full abstract

The patient was a 5-year-old boy who was transported to our hospital for a paroxysmal cough, disturbance of consciousness, tonic-clonic convulsions and labored breathing. The patient's respiratory failure persisted after the convulsions remitted, and the presence of an endobronchial foreign body was suspected based on the findings of chest CT performed the following day. A peanut was subsequently removed from the right main bronchus using a bronchoscope with tracheal intubation and bag valve mask ventilation. Immediately after removal, the patient rapidly developed exacerbated hypoxemia, and a reduction in right lung lucency was noted on chest radiography. He was therefore diagnosed with type II postobstructive pulmonary edema, and his condition improved within a short period of time.

View full abstract

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG) is an angiocentric and angiodestructive lymphoproliferative disease involving extranodal sites. Although LYG cerebral lesions are usually located adjacent to LYG pulmonary lesions, few reports have described the occurrence of primary cerebral LYG. We herein discuss a case of a 40-year-old Japanese woman with primary cerebral LYG that caused various neurological symptoms for more than five years and progressed to methotrexate-associated lymphoproliferative disease under treatment with immunosuppressive therapy. This case suggests that primary cerebral LYG should be considered a lymphoid neoplasm manifesting as a primary brain tumor and a component of the differential diagnosis of chronic neuroinflammatory disorders.

View full abstract

We herein describe four cases of patients with Parkinson's disease who were treated with istradefylline (ISD) in the evening and had severe daytime sleepiness. The time to onset of sleepiness varied between 2 weeks to 3 months. All patients recovered after changing the timing of the ISD dosage from evening to morning. ISD is an A2A receptor antagonist with a caffeine-like arousal effect that may worsen the quality of sleep and thus increase daytime sleepiness. This report provides the first evidence of daytime sleepiness induced by evening ISD treatment. We propose that ISD should therefore only be used in the morning, particularly if taken by professional drivers.

View full abstract

Polyradiculopathy (PRP) is a rare but serious neurologic complication of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We herein report three cases of CMV PRP in patients with AIDS. Although providing a prompt diagnosis and initiating anti-CMV therapy may achieve clinical improvements, administering single-drug treatment may result in virologic failure. Therefore, introducing antiretroviral therapy is a key step for improving the treatment outcomes of CMV PRP.

View full abstract

Antisynthetase syndrome is a disorder belonging to the dermatomyositis/polymyositis group, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. We herein present the case of a 71-year-old man who was diagnosed with antisynthetase syndrome and treated with rituximab. Almost three years later, the patient showed right-sided hemiparesis that ultimately progressed to complete hemiplegia and advancing cognitive deterioration with a poor clinical outcome. The neuropathological diagnosis was progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Treatment with rituximab for antisynthetase syndrome itself plays a fundamental role in the development of infectious complications.

View full abstract

A 34-year-old man with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DiGeorge syndrome) concurrently suffered from myopathy and eosinophilic pneumonia shortly after receiving daptomycin (DAP) for right-sided infective endocarditis. The simultaneous occurrence of these phenomena in relation to DAP therapy has not been previously well described. An allergic reaction was suspected as a possible etiology of these DAP-related complications. This case highlights the need for close observation in order to detect both musculoskeletal and respiratory disorders from the start of DAP therapy. Physicians should pay more attention to this new drug, which is expected to be frequently used in various clinical settings.

View full abstract