[in Japanese]

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We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between formation of HCV-bearing immune complexes (HCV-IC) and response to interferon (IFN) therapy for chronic hepatitis C (CH-C). Five CH-C patients with complete response (CR) to IFN therapy and pre-treatment HCV RNA titer measured by Amplicor HCV-monitor and five stage (biopsy proved fibrosis of the liver)-matiched CH-C patients who were non-responders (NR) to IFN therapy were enrolled. Pretretment sera were separated into HCV-IC (supernatant) and anti-HCV antibody-free virions (pellet) by addition of anti-human immunoglobulins and centrifugation. HCV RNA was quantified in the supernatant and the pellet, by real-time PCR and semi-quantitative RT-PCR respectively. There were discrepancies in the HCV RNA titers measured by Amplicor and the results of real-time PCR. We found a larges quantity of HCV RNA in the supernatan and a smaller quantity in the pellet in CR than in NR by using by real-time PCR. Our data indicate that response to interferon therapy for CH-C patients may be associated with the conditions underlying the formation of HCV-IC.

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Radiographic brightness was measured in the proximal tibia and patella of 57 knees before and after high tibial osteotomy (HTO) for osteoarthritis. The brightness was converted to the thickness of a reference Aluminum phantom using NIH Image software. The knees were classified into 4 groups according to the position of the point at which the mechanical axis of the leg intersects the tibial articular surface after HTO, namely “overcorrected”(the position; lateral 0-25%), “adequately corrected”(mid lateral 25-50%), “undercorrected”(mid medial 50-75%), and “correction failure”(medial 75%-). Brightness was high in the lateral and central regions of the proximal tibia in the adequately corrected group, while that of the lateral loading region was high in the overcorrected group. The brightness was broadly high in the undercorrected group, and was not distinctin the correction failure group. In the patella, the brightness of the lateral region was higher than that of the medial region before HTO, and the difference between the two regions was considerably reduced in the adequately corrected group. These findings indicate that adequate correction of leg alignment causes favorable changes in the patellofemoral joint as well as in the femorotibial joint.

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In this study, we experienced a case of an elderly man with clinically undiagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, who died 8 days after a trauma. This case was autopsied because of a question over the causal association between the trauma and death. From the autopsy findings, it was judged that respiratory and metabolic abnormalities due to lung cancer were exacerbated by trauma, and that medically the cause of death should be assessed as death by disease.

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