Acute massive pulmonary thromboembolism is life-threatening and requires vigorous treatment. Anticoagulation is the most traditional treatment for pulmonary thromboembolism, but may not be sufficient for massive thromboemboli. Systemic thrombolytic therapy and surgical thrombectomy are the traditional therapeutic options in this situation. Catheter-directed thrombolysis, percutaneous embolectomy and, more recently, percutaneous thrombus fragmentation techniques using specialized devices are now available to treat the most severe cases of massive pulmonary thromboembolism. The success of these techniques depends on a thorough understanding of the mechanism of action of each of the devices and familiarity with the relevant catheterization techniques. We present a review of currently available equipment and techniques, and describe our work with hybrid treatment using a combination of mechanical fragmentation, localized fibrinolysis and clot aspiration.

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Background: We assessed the outcome and prognostic factors in men with prostate cancer after luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist monotherapy. Methods: Between April 1998 and August 2002, 62 men with prostate cancer who were treated with monotherapy at our institution were included in this analysis. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure-free (bNED) survival was calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Prognostic factors were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: We reviewed the data of patients, with a median follow-up from the commencement of monotherapy of 26 months. The overall survival rate at 3 years was 89.9%. The bNED survival rate was 63.7% at 3 years. Of the 20 patients with clinical stage B, 2 progressed to PSA failure, whereas PSA failure was seen in 8 of 30 patients with stage C and 8 of 12 patients with stage D. The significant factors for bNED status were an initial PSA level of <30 ng/ml (p=0.0044), achievement of PSA nadir level of <2.0 ng/ml (p<0.001), and Gleason score of ≤6 (p<0.001). Conclusions: Patients with high clinical stage, a high initial PSA level of ≥30 ng/ml, and high Gleason score of ≥7 are at increased risk for PSA failure. Failure to achieve PSA nadir level of <2.0 ng/ml is an important predictor of the progression. The use of PSA nadir can provide useful guidelines for the reconsideration of treatment in patients who have received monotherapy.

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Clinical symptoms affecting the lower extremities are common among lumber spinal disorder patients. Pain, numbness and sensory disturbance are major signs of these symptoms, and have been suggested to be related to sympathetic nerve disturbance. This study was designed to examine whether these patients experience a difference in sympathetic nerve flow in terms of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSA) compared to healthy subjects. Five patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation of the spine (LIDH) and four patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) were examined along with six healthy volunteers. Basic MSAs for IDH and SCS patients that were introduced from a common peroneal nerve were found to be statistically higher than those of the control subjects. MSA behavior and muscle blood flow introduced from the tibialis anterior muscle over 30 seconds while performing the Valsalva maneuver, a well-known technique used to artificially facilitate MSA, were examined for all subjects, and showed relatively slower changes for LIDH and LSCS patients compared to the normal subjects. Muscle blood flow was inversely proportional to MSA for the normal subjects, and this relationship was observed for IDH patients as well as SCS patients. However, MSA and the muscle blood flow of patients gradually changed while performing the Valsalva maneuver relative to the control subjects. This suggests that the systemic physiological response to the maneuver is maintained, but that, some local modification mechanisms exist.

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Reanimation of longstanding facial paralysis is a difficult clinical problem commonly tackled with the method of pedicled muscle flap transfer. The temporalis muscle has been the most popular. In the past, one common problem was that the flap was not long enough to reach parts of the face distant from the affected area. To overcome this disadvantage, we have devised a flap consisting of the pedicled temporalis muscle, temporal fascia and galea together and have achieved good static results in paralyzed faces. From June, 1996 to May, 2003, we used this procedure with 38 longstanding facial paralysis patients (16 male and 22 female); 23 had right-sided and 15 had left-sided facial paralysis. The patients were followed-up over three years. Our results were recorded as "Excellent", "Good", "Fair" or "Poor". Excellent or good results were obtained in 33 patients (87%). In these patients, the static results are very good. The oral commissure on the affected side maintained a favorable position and almost complete symmetry of expression was attained. We have acheived dynamic reconstruction by using a temporalis muscle-galea pedicled flap in 38 longstanding facial paralysis patients. Our results show that this is a good option in treating such patients.

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Hirschsprung's disease in the adult is a rare and frequently misdiagnosed cause of long-standing refractory constipation. We report a case of Hirschsprung's disease in a 23-year-old man and review the literature. The patient had a history of chronic constipation that required daily enemas, since early infancy, but he had remained in good health until intestinal obstruction developed. As a subemergency operation, right transverse colostomy was performed, to relieve the constipation. Histological examination, by a biopsy, showed absence of ganglion cells in the myenteric plexus in the rectum. One year later, Ikeda's modification of the Duhamel procedure was successfully performed as definitive surgery. The postoperative course was uneventful, and complete resolution of the symptoms without complications has been confirmed by a 22-year follow-up. A review of 229 cases of adult Hirschsprung's disease in the literature suggested that the Duhamel procedure is the operation of choice because of the lower postoperative morbidity rate and better functional outcome.

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We describe an inflammatory tumor in the Spiegel lobe of the liver of an 81-year-old woman. The patient was referred to our hospital for evaluation of a fever of over 39°C and upper abdominal pain. Both conditions had persisted for five days in spite of antibiotic treatment. Initial laboratory tests revealed a serum C-reactive protein concentration of 20.9 mg/dL and white blood cell count of 15,500/μL. Abdominal ultrasound showed a hypoechoic lesion measuring 4 cm in diameter in the Spiegel lobe of the liver. A follow-up abdominal ultrasound revealed that the hypoechoic lesion was not decreased in size. Computed tomography showed a moderate-to-high-density area in the arterial phase and a low-density area in the Spiegel lobe on delayed phase. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a faint low-intensity lesion on T1-weighted imaging and moderate-to-high-intensity lesion on T2-weighted imaging in the Spiegel lobe. Angiography showed a slight hypervascularity in the area of the Spiegel lobe. Antibiotics and ν-globulin were commenced soon after admission and the fever gradually improved. Ultrasound-guided liver biopsy revealed that the hepatic parenchyma was almost completely replaced by dense hyalinized fibrous tissue and inflammatory cells. These findings were construed to indicate a benign lesion, but the tumor remained unchanged. Malignant disease could not be completely ruled out. Segment 1 of the liver was resected. Macroscopic examination of the resected specimen revealed a gray, fibrotic, solid tumor. The border of the tumor was well-circumscribed but not encapsulated. Microscopically, the tumor showed a marked fibrotic background with infiltration by a mixed population of lymphocytes, plasma cells, histiocytes, and reactive, plump spindle cells. The postoperative course was uneventful. The patient has remained well in the 10 months since the resection without recurrence.

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The mitochondrial respiratory activities and energy metabolism in the fetal rat brain were measured at the end of 30 minutes of intrauterine ischemia and after 2 and 4 hours of recirculation. The transient ischemia was associated with a delayed deterioration of cellular bioenergetic state and mitochondrial activities. The deterioration was not prevented by a free radical scavenger, 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one (MCI-186), given immediately after recirculation.

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