Using the double blind method, Mexazolam (a new minor tranquilizer) and placebo were compared in 298 surgical patients. Three or five mg Mexazolam or the inert placebo were orally given to the patients, once a day, for 3 or 5 days before the surgical procedures. The following results were obtained :
1) Mexazolam exerted an anti-anxiety activity in the high or moderate anxiety group classified according to Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) .
2) Mexazolam was proved to have a very favorable effect on sleep disturbance by earlier falling asleep, better sleeping conditions, and less frequent awakening in the night.
3) Patients given 5 mg Mexazolam tended to show slightly more often unpleasant signs after treatment than those given the placebo. However, they was no significant difference in this respect on the patients given 3 mg Mexazolam.

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Relationship between hepatotoxicity and erythrocyte membrane effect of clinically used drugs was investigated and the present studies were undertaken to clarify whether these methods are a useful model for screening of hepatotoxicity.
Isolated rat hepatocytes were prepared using collagenase. Cytotoxicity to isolated rat hepatocytes of various drugs was determined by the leakage of GOT, GPT and OCT into the surrounding media. Inhibition of hypotonic hemolysis of rat erythrocytes was measured as hemoglobin concentration.
The drugs such as tricyclic antidepressant and local anesthetics (dibucaine), which have both a membrane stabilizing effect on erythrocytes in lower concentrations and a hemolytic effect in higher concentrations, induced enzyme leakage from hepatocytes. The drugs such as iproniazid which only have a hemolytic effect or drugs such as β-blocker which only have a membrane stabilizing effect on erythrocytes, did not produce any direct hepatic cell damage. Iproniazid, isoniazid and their metabolite, acetylhydrazine did not induce enzyme leakage from hepatocytes. Aspirin and indomethacin caused only a slight enzyme leakage at the concentration of 1 × 10^-3M. β-blockers did not have a direct damaging effect on hepatocyte membrane at the concentration of 1 × 10^-3M. The order of membrane stabilizing and lytic potency of tricyclic antidepressants was chlorimipramine>amitriptyline>desipramine>imipramine. The agents, which have a membrane stabilizing effect on erythrocytes in lower concentrations and also have a hemolytic effect in higher concentrations, caused hepatic cell damage. These results suggest that membrane effects on erythrocytes of various drugs are useful for screening of hepatotoxicity in vitro.

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Autopsy cases of myocardial infarction (MI) were divided into two groups, that is, the first attack group (FAG) consisting of 34 cases of transmural infarction and the reattack group (RAG) consisting of 24 cases. Pathomorphological changes of the hearts of RAG were studied in comparison with those of FAG. Roentgenological distribution of calcified foci of coronary arteries and sites of stenosis of those by angiography were all examined.
The results obtained were as follows.
1) As to the distribution of sites of MI in RAG, the recent MI were located in the same cardiac wall as before in 5 case, in the partially overlapped wall in 12 cases and in the different wall in 7 cases. The size of recent MI was larger than the old MI in 10 cases, about the same extent in 5 cases and smaller in 5 cases, while in 4 cases the comparison of the extent of MI was impossible.
2) The mean heart weight was 430 g in FAG and 448 g in RAG, respectively. In FAG the heart weight was above 400 g in 64.7 %, while in FAG it was so in 75.0 %. As to the pattern of cardiac hypertrophy, the concentric hypertrophy was more frequent than the dilatation hypertrophy in FAG, but the results were reserve in RAG.
3) The calcification of the coronary arteries was not revealed in 3 cases of under 60 years old in FAG, but it was present in all cases of RAG. The severity of calcification increased with age after the first attack and this changes may play innegligible role in the development of the reattack.
4) In FAG one branch stenosis was seen in 15 cases, two branches stenosis in 13 cases and three branches stenosis in 5 cases. In RAG all cases showed stenosis of above 75 % and one branch stenosis was in 3 cases, two branches stenosis in 12 cases and three branches stenosis in 9 cases. The majority of death cases within a month in FAG revealed one branch stenosis and widespread infarcted area with cardiorrhexis. In RAG the extent of freshly infarcted area was related with the anatomical distribution of stenosis of the coronary arteries.
5) The degree of injury of coronary arteries in FAG was the most marked in case of one branch stenosis and became less marked in cases of two and three branches stenosis. But in RAG the degree of arterial injury was all higher with no relation to the distribution of stenosis.
6) The sclerosis of small arteries in the myocardium was shown in about one third cases in FAG and in one half ones in RAG. The sclerosis seemed to be more related with the severity of injury of the coronary arteries than the anatomical distribution of stenosis.
7) Chronological changes such as necrosis of myocardial tissue, removal of necrotic tissue and replacement by granulation tissue and scarring in order were regularly discernible in FAG, while in RAG fresh changes of infarction were intermingled with dilatation of blood vessels, hemorrhage and ischemic change of neighboring muscles.
8) As to complication of MI, the incidence of cardiorrhexis war 15 cases among 34 cases in FAG, while only 4 cases among 24 cases in RAG. The cardiorrhexis was much more frequent in FAG and had the tendency to occure in cases of widespread MI.

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A comparison was made on the excretion levels and pattern of free amino acids between 19 patients with upper urinary stone (14 men and 5 women), who revealed that their stones contained more than 90 % of calcium oxalate by means of infrared spectroanalysis, and 47 normal controls (30 men and 17 women) . Both male and female patients of calcium oxalate stone group showed to tendencies of the amount of excetion and excretion pattern of neutral amino acids, especially glycine, toward decreased, and taurine toward increased. Since these tendencies were almost same as the result obtained from division of the amount of each amino acid by 24h. C. cr., especially in the female patients, it was suggested that these changes in the calcium oxalate stone formers might be occured not by renal demages but by metabolic disorders of amino acid on kidney or liver.

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The activity of purified prolyl hydroxylase was enhanced about 3-fold by addition of bleomycin in the assay mixture. Various members of the bleomycin family, their derivatives and degradation products were investigated for activities against prolyl hydroxylase together with their activities of DNA chain breakage to determine relationships between the structure of bleomycin and its various actions. All the bleomycins with various terminal amine parts and desamide bleomycin stimulated the enzymatic activity but, did not exhibit an effect on DNA chain breakage. The stimulatory activity of bleomycin was not decreased by hydrolysis with 0.3 N H₂SO₄ at 80°C for 6 hours, conditions which liberates the sugar moiety, but was eliminated by hydrolysis with 6 N HCl at 105°C for 24 hours. On the other hand, both treatments decreased the DNA chain breakage activity of bleomycin. Column chromatographic studies showed that bleomycin formed a complex with ferrous ion, one of the cofactors of prolyl hydroxylase. Optical spectral studies revealed that all the bleomycins and their hydrolysates which stimulated the prolyl hydroxylase activity made complexes with ferrous ion. From these results it seems that bleomycin may interact with ferrous ion and that bleomycin-ferrous ion may affect the rate of peptidyl proline hydroxylation and DNA chain breakage.

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Head circumference, head length, head breadth, auricular height and biacromial breadth were measured with 84 profoundly retarded adults living at home (39 males and 45 feamales), and the values were compared with those of 163 normal adults (82 males and 81 feamales) . Two values, cranial capacity and brain weight, were calculated by Lee-Pearson's formula and Gladstone's formula, respectively.
Each of the averaged value of the profoundly retarded persons was significantly lower than the corresponding value of the normal persons, but the standard deviations of these averages were significantly greater. Among the head length, head breadth and auricular height, the head length differed most remarkably between the retarded and normal persons.
Profoundly retarded persons were divided into three groups according to the degree of retardation : Group I, the most ; Group II, the second ; and Group III, the third profoundly retarded persons. In the head size measurements, the smallest averages were observed always in Group I and the largest in Group III. When all of the measured values in Groups I and II are compared with those of the normal persons, the values of the former was always found to be significantly smaller than those of the latter. There was no significant difference in the averages of the walues between Group III and the normal persons.
Both the biacromial breadth and the ratio of head size to biacromial breadth of profoundly retarded persons were significantly smaller than those of the normal persons.

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Gardner's syndrome (a familial disease, characterized by colonic polyposis, osteoma and soft tissue tumor) was categorized by Gardner (1950) . To the best of our knowlage, 14 cases of this disease were reported in Japan. A case of 28-year-old man of Gardner's syndrome was presented. He was admitted with complaints of gastric discomfort, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Gastrointestinal endoscopiy and X-ray examination showed colonic polyposis, gastric polyposis and osteosclerotic change of the right mandibles bone, no tumor was found in soft tissue. Total resection of the colon was performed. Colectomized specimen showed ulcerated lesions in transvers colon and diffuse polyposis. It was demonstrated that the ulcerated lesions was adenocarcinoma and diffuse polyposis were adenomatous polyp, histologically differentiation of Gardner's syndrome from familial polyposis coli was discussed.

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A 66-year-old woman, suffering from occasional lower abdominal pain and abdominal distention, was admitted to Isuzu Hospital. Since the tumor was suspected in the ileocecal region by barium enema, operation was preformed.
And post-operatively it was revealed to be carcinoid tumor, which histopathologically showed classic type and trabecular pattern. The values of 5-HT and 5-HIAA were within normal range.

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A 51-year-old male was admitted to the hospital because of diplopia and ataxia. Two weeks before admission he had headache and fever of 39 degrees centigrade. As fever subsided the patient began to complain diplopia and unsteady gait. Neurological examination revealed complete paralysis of lateral gaze, vertical eye movements being intact. Gait was impossible because of ataxia. Cerebrospinal fluid showed cell count of 38/mm³ and a protein of 69 mg/dl.
About two months later, when the patient was discharged, eye movements were normal, except slight restriction of abduction of the left eye. Gait became possible, although still slightly unsteady.
The disease was diagnosed as brain-stem encephalitis (Bickerstaff) . Previous reports on brain-stem encephalitis were reviewed and the significance of ocular symptoms in this case was discussed.

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A case of a large leiomyoma of the esophagus associated with pancreatic carcinoma was reported.
The patient was 75 year-old man, who was admitted to the hospital with the chief complaint of hemosputum and a tumor on the right anterior thorax. At the time, a hard tumor of little finger size was found on the left neck. Chest x-ray film showed abnormal shadow in the right upper lung field and it was diagnosed as lung carcinoma.
The tumor on the thorax and the shadow of the right lung disappeared after radiation therapy (4000 rad) .And then, he complained of dysphagia and a tumor like shadow was revealed by esophageal examination with Ba-meal. Though this tumor was irradiated 4000 rad, its radiation response was scarcely found.
He died from weakness following dysphagia and abdominal pain.
Pathologic anatomically, tumor of the neck was neurinoma, tumors in the right upper lung and on the right anterior thorax were diagnosed as metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma. The tumor of the esophagus was histopathologically diagnosed as benign leiomyoma.
Genellary, as well as other reports, esophageal leiomyoma associated with malignant tumor is difficult to diagnose clinically, even in using x-ray and radioisotopic examinations.
Cautious reading of x-ray films and clinical observation are important to the patient with double or triple tumors.

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