Objective To evaluate the effect of a pretreatment geriatric assessment on the clinical outcomes in older patients with unresectable or recurrent pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) scheduled to receive gemcitabine (GEM)/GEM+nab-paclitaxel (GnP).

Patients Older patients with unresectable PDAC scheduled to receive GEM/GnP who visited Kyorin University Hospital and cooperating institutions were enrolled and followed from April 2015 to March 2020. The maximum observation period was two years. All patients underwent a cancer-specific geriatric assessment (CSGA) and optional geriatric assessment (GA) before treatment initiation and two months after the start of treatment. The patients' background characteristics, tumor progression, tumor site, and regimen (GEM/GnP) were examined in a Cox proportional hazards model. The relationship between the overall survival (OS) and GA score was also determined. Eligible patients (age ≥70 years old with histopathologically confirmed unresectable or recurrent PDAC) were scheduled to receive first-line chemotherapy.

Results The performance status (PS) and activities of daily living (ADL)/instrumental ADL (IADL) scores at baseline correlated with the OS. Furthermore, even in cases with normal baseline values, lower Frontal Assessment Battery scores and higher Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form scores after treatment initiation were significantly correlated with OS.

Conclusion The baseline PS, ADL, and IADL may be prognostic factors in older PDAC patients. In addition, a normal frontal lobe function and depression scores prior to treatment initiation that rapidly worsened during treatment were independently associated with a reduced OS. Selecting appropriate interventions and improving the therapeutic environment may prolong the OS in such patients.

Objective Asymptomatic renal immunoglobulin A (IgA) deposition occurs in healthy subjects, but its etiologic role in disease is unclear. Galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) is involved in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy. We investigated Gd-IgA1 deposition in transplanted kidneys that were considered healthy showing subclinical latent IgA deposition one hour after transplantation.

Methods A total of 723 transplanted kidney specimens biopsied 1 h after kidney transplantation from 2009 to 2016 at Nagoya Red Cross Hospital were examined. A total of 81 cases of IgA deposition were extracted, and 41 were ultimately studied. Double immunofluorescence staining for Gd-IgA1 and IgA was conducted to investigate the role of Gd-IgA1 in subclinical IgA deposition.

Results Light microscopy findings for the 41 cases indicated only minor glomerular abnormalities. Immunofluorescence analyses revealed that all cases were positive for IgA. C3, IgG, and IgM positivity rates were 78.0%, 7.3%, and 60.9%, respectively. All 41 cases were positive for Gd-IgA1, which merged with IgA deposition in immunofluorescence double staining. IgA disappeared in 26 of 40 cases (65.0%) 1 year after kidney transplantation. In contrast, IgA redeposition was observed in three cases.

Conclusion Gd-IgA1 was demonstrated in all transplanted kidneys, with latent IgA deposition noted in otherwise healthy kidneys. Deposition of Gd-IgA1 might indicate the initial stage of IgA nephropathy; however, additional factors, such as IgG deposition, are required for the ultimate development of IgA nephropathy.

Objective Pleural infection is a significant disease that continues to pose severe problems for respiratory physicians. However, prognostic factors of pleural infection remain poorly understood. The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score represents the immune-nutrition status of patients with chronic infectious diseases. This study investigated its prognostic value in patients with pleural infections.

Methods We retrospectively analyzed a collected database of 2,363 patients who underwent thoracentesis and pleural fluid analyses between January 2010 and December 2019. Of these, only 335 patients with complicated parapneumonic effusion and empyema defined as pleural infection were included. They were divided into two groups based on the dichotomized CONUT score (i.e. <6 for low scores and ≥6 for high scores). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 90 days from the time of pleural fluid collection.

Results Overall mortality was 8.4% at 3 months (28 out of 335). The incidence of 90-day mortality was higher in patients with higher CONUT scores than in those with lower scores [25.3% (21/84) vs. 2.8% (7/251), p<0.001]. In addition, after adjusting for confounders, a high CONUT score was found to be an independent prognostic factor for 90-day mortality (hazard ratio, 9.30; 95% confidence interval, 3.96-21.87; p<0.001).

Conclusion Our study indicated that a high CONUT score was associated with an increased risk of 90-day mortality in patients with pleural infection and can be considered for clinical evaluations in practice.

Objective Hereditary ATTR (ATTRv) amyloidosis was once an incurable disease; however, in recent years, disease-modifying therapies, such as tafamidis and patisiran, have become available. We herein report the medical care situation in an ATTRv amyloidosis non-endemic area of Japan.

Methods We confirmed the information in the medical records of our department and analyzed the data retrospectively.

Patients Patients with ATTRv amyloidosis who were treated in our department between 2010 and 2021 were included.

Results A total of 15 ATTRv amyloidosis cases (8 men and 7 women) were treated in our department during the study period; 9 patients had a family history, and the transthyretin V30M (p.V50M) gene mutation was present in 66% of cases. The average age of the onset was 57 years old, with 73% of the initial symptoms being dysesthesia and 13% being autonomic dysfunction. Ten patients were treated with tafamidis and nine with patisiran. Although it took a long time to start treatment among our experienced cases, there were some cases in which treatment could be introduced relatively early.

Conclusion ATTRv amyloidosis is treatable and should be included in the differential diagnosis of neuropathy so that it can be diagnosed early and introduced into treatment. In the near future, the presymptomatic diagnosis of ATTRv amyloidosis and genetic counseling will become more important.

We herein report a case of autoimmune gastritis (AIG) with rapid progression after Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy. The patient's previous gastritis had followed the course of type B gastritis before eradication therapy for many years. Immediately after eradication, we diagnosed her with AIG and carefully followed changes in the endoscopic and histopathological findings and serum markers. All of these clinical findings showed significant atrophic progression in the corporal area for approximately three years. We concluded that H. pylori eradication therapy exacerbated AIG in this case.

An 81-year-old man underwent rituximab-containing chemotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Thirteen years after his last chemotherapy, he was diagnosed with hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation. He was then treated with entecavir, and improvement was seen in his liver injury. He developed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after improvement in his hepatitis. Despite chemotherapy, he contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and died of COVID-19. We suspect that HBV reactivation was triggered by DLBCL. When HBV reactivation occurs a long time after chemotherapy has concluded, the onset of DLBCL should be considered.

Primary cystic duct carcinoma is a rare tumor. The curative treatment of cystic duct carcinoma is complete surgical resection, for which the evaluation of local extension is important. We herein report two cases of cystic duct carcinoma in which a preoperative examination was performed using per-oral cholangioscopy (POCS). Both patients underwent POCS due to suspicion of cystic duct carcinoma based on imaging findings. A visual analysis and biopsy were performed to evaluate local extension, which led to surgery. These cases suggest that POCS is useful for the preoperative assessment of local extension in advanced cystic duct carcinoma.

A 74-year-old woman was admitted because of malaise and a low-grade fever. Her C-reactive protein level was 0.96 mg/dL. Computed tomography (CT) revealed diffuse uniform thickening of the arterial wall from the abdominal aorta to the common iliac artery and right hydronephrosis. ¹⁸F-fluordesoxyglucose positron emission tomography-CT showed an accumulation in the same area. These findings suggested Takayasu arteritis and retroperitoneal fibrosis as differential diagnoses. Takayasu arteritis is characterized by thickening of the arterial walls, and retroperitoneal fibrosis is characterized by membranous lesions covering the outer surface of the arterial walls. Thus, Takayasu arteritis was deemed the most likely diagnosis. Steroid treatment was effective.

Micrococcus luteus can cause relapsing and refractory peritoneal dialysis infection because it leads to strong biofilm formation. A 69-year-old woman who had undergone peritoneal dialysis (PD) visited the emergency department complaining of cloudy peritoneal dialysate. She was initially given intraperitoneal cefazolin (1 g/day) and ceftazidime (1 g/day). Micrococcus luteus was detected in a culture test. Thus, ceftazidime was discontinued. She remained disease-free for 22 months until she developed PD-related peritonitis. We administered antibiotics for 21 days and thereafter identified 2 important clinical issues. Micrococcus species-related peritonitis can sometimes be cured without vancomycin. Furthermore, the provision of three weeks of sufficient treatment may be important.

Unilateral hyperhidrosis is an uncommon manifestation, and the majority of cases have been attributed to neurological diseases. There are few cases of unilateral hyperhidrosis associated with thoracic malignant tumors. We herein report a 74-year-old Japanese man with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung who presented with unilateral hyperhidrosis in the right thoracic area as one of the first clinical manifestations. We should consider the possibility of pleural diseases, including metastatic lung cancer, when encountering patients presenting with unilateral thoracic hyperhidrosis.

A chronic expanding haematoma (CEH) is an encapsulated mass that gradually increases in size from repeated internal bleeding and neovascularization. We herein report a 69-year-old man who was admitted with dyspnoea on exertion after undergoing thymic carcinoma resection 17 years ago. Chest computed tomography showed a heterogeneous mass in the anterior mediastinum and compression of the right ventricle, and pulmonary artery. Right cardiac catheterisation revealed pulmonary hypertension that was relieved after resection of the diagnosed CEH mass. This report highlights the mechanism underlying anterior mediastinal CEH-induced stenotic compression of the right ventricle-pulmonary artery outflow and subsequent pulmonary hypertension.

We herein report an 83-year-old woman with filgrastim-associated aortitis during chemotherapy for relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. She had been treated with filgrastim as a prophylaxis for neutropenia during the fourth cycle of chemotherapy from day 9 to 18. On day 21, she developed a fever. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed aortitis of the descending aorta. The fever abated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatment. A literature review identified a small number of aortitis cases all caused by prophylactic use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSFs), among which short-acting filgrastim was rarely encountered. The present and previous findings imply a possible relationship between aortitis and prophylactic G-CSF usage.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders have been previously reported in a paraneoplastic context, although there is no clear consensus on their pathogenesis. We herein report a case of aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder in a 64-year-old woman with colorectal cancer. She underwent tumor resection, resulting in serum aquaporin-4 antibody titers subsequently becoming negative. Serum samples were also positive for glucose-regulated protein 78 antibody, which has recently been suggested to be a novel factor in the disruption of the blood-brain barrier. Serological and pathological investigations in this case highlight the role and involvement of aquaporin-4 and glucose-regulated protein 78 antibodies in paraneoplastic conditions.

The coexistence of leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) and contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2) autoantibodies in the same individual is surprisingly often observed. We herein report the first case of LGI1 encephalitis followed by Isaacs syndrome in which LGI1 and CASPR2 antibodies in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured during the entire disease course. After the resolution of limbic encephalitis, LGI1 antibodies disappeared from the CSF simultaneously with the appearance of CASPR2 antibodies in the serum. The alternating presence of these pathogenic autoantibodies along with the clinical and phenotypic alternations suggested that LGI1 encephalitis was associated with CASPR2 autoantibody production in the peripheral tissue, leading to CASPR2-associated Isaacs syndrome.

IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor is a feature of IgG4-related disease and develops in various organs. Intracranial IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor is rare, and data on the clinical course and response to treatment are insufficient in the literature. We herein report a patient with IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor who had magnetic resonance imaging findings similar to meningioma. Tumorectomy was discontinued because of the intraoperative rapid diagnosis, which revealed the infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells. She received oral prednisolone therapy for IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor, and the tumor size had significantly decreased after six months of treatment.

We herein report a 76-year-old woman who developed lower cranial dystonia with a peculiar appearance of cheek inflation. The patient showed strong contraction of the orbicularis oris muscles. Consequently, her cheeks were passively inflated by expiration without exit. When the dystonic attack persisted, she developed cyanosis but recovered immediately after passive mouth opening. An autopsy revealed progressive supranuclear palsy. We tentatively named this characteristic dystonia "lower cranial dystonia with inflated cheeks" because of its peculiar appearance of inflated cheeks. This dystonia can cause respiratory failure. Therefore, neurologists should recognize such dystonia as a movement disorder emergency.

TAFRO syndrome, a rare systemic inflammatory disorder, commonly develops in an acute or subacute manner, with an aggressive clinical behavior. A substantial number of cases of TAFRO syndrome presenting with abdominal pain, and adrenal abnormalities on imaging have also been reported. A 54-year-old man developed severe acute abdominal pain. Bilateral adrenal swelling was detected on computed tomography. Although the abdominal pain resolved spontaneously, a fever and anasarca were observed. The patient was eventually diagnosed with TAFRO syndrome, and corticosteroid administration resulted in remission. TAFRO syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen and adrenal abnormalities.

We encountered a 57-year-old Japanese woman with encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic sclerosis. The patient was admitted to our hospital because of ascites retention. Administration of tocilizumab, an anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody, for her RA reduced the refractory ascites remarkably; however, she developed sudden acute gastrointestinal bleeding and died a year later. On autopsy, sclerotic thickening of the peritoneum showed diffuse infiltration of podoplanin-positive fibroblast-like cells, and a diagnosis of EPS was made. EPS rarely occurs in SLE, and tocilizumab may be a new treatment candidate for EPS.