Radical esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer is invasive and frequently results in postoperative pulmonary complications. Postoperative pneumonia is the most common such complication and affects hospital mortality and survival rates. Oral care has been very effective in reducing pneumonia. In Japan, preoperative professional oral care is highly recommended. However, there are few studies on the effect of preoperative improvements in oral hygiene as a result of intervention on the incidence of postoperative pneumonia. The primary end-point of this retrospective study was the incidence of postoperative pneumonia after radical esophagectomy. The oral health levels of 46 patients were individually categorized, and then patients were grouped according to whether they maintained or improved their oral hygiene. At the first dental examination, oral health levels were classified as good in 22 patients and bad in 24. Of the 46 patients studied, 39 patients maintained or improved their oral hygiene (good control group), whereas 7 showed no improvement (bad control group). Postoperative pneumonia occurred in eight patients: four in the good control group and four in the bad control group. Statistical analysis with postoperative pneumonia as a dependent variable showed a significant effect of oral hygiene improvement on the incidence of pneumonia. Logistic regression analysis with this factor as an independent variable demonstrated that the risk of postoperative pneumonia was reduced in the good control group (OR 0.086, 95% CI 0.014–0.529). Therefore, preoperative professional oral care may improve oral hygiene and oral health, which may in turn reduce the incidence of postoperative pneumonia.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, affecting 1 in 100 babies. Among CHDs, single ventricle (SV) physiologies, such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tricuspid atresia, are particularly severe conditions that require multiple palliative surgeries, including the Fontan procedure. Although the management strategies for SV patients have markedly improved, the prevalence of ventricular dysfunction continues to increase over time, especially after the Fontan procedure. At present, the final treatment for SV patients who develop heart failure is heart transplantation; however, transplantation is difficult to achieve because of severe donor shortages. Recently, various regenerative therapies for heart failure have been developed that increase cardiomyocytes and restore cardiac function, with promising results in adults. The clinical application of various forms of regenerative medicine for CHD patients with heart failure is highly anticipated, and the latest research in this field is reviewed here. In addition, regenerative therapy is important for children with CHD because of their natural growth. The ideal pediatric cardiovascular device would have the potential to adapt to a child’s growth. Therefore, if a device that increases in size in accordance with the patient’s growth could be developed using regenerative medicine, it would be highly beneficial. This review provides an overview of the available regenerative technologies for CHD patients.

Living organisms enantioselectively employ L-amino acids as the molecular architecture of protein synthesized in the ribosome. Although L-amino acids are dominantly utilized in most biological processes, accumulating evidence points to the distinctive roles of D-amino acids in non-ribosomal physiology. Among the three domains of life, bacteria have the greatest capacity to produce a wide variety of D-amino acids. In contrast, archaea and eukaryotes are thought generally to synthesize only two kinds of D-amino acids: D-serine and D-aspartate. In mammals, D-serine is critical for neurotransmission as an endogenous coagonist of N-methyl D-aspartate receptors. Additionally, D-aspartate is associated with neurogenesis and endocrine systems. Furthermore, recognition of D-amino acids originating in bacteria is linked to systemic and mucosal innate immunity. Among the roles played by D-amino acids in human pathology, the dysfunction of neurotransmission mediated by D-serine is implicated in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Non-enzymatic conversion of L-aspartate or L-serine residues to their D-configurations is involved in age-associated protein degeneration. Moreover, the measurement of plasma or urinary D-/L-serine or D-/L-aspartate levels may have diagnostic or prognostic value in the treatment of kidney diseases. This review aims to summarize current understanding of D-amino-acid-associated biology with a major focus on mammalian physiology and pathology.

Obturator hernia (OH) is a rare condition that accounts for 0.073–1% of abdominal hernias and 0.48% of bowel obstructions. OH frequently occurs in elderly women, with an incidence that increases with age. The only treatment for OH is surgical intervention, and the approaches used vary greatly. Consequently, a well-defined consensus has not yet emerged. We assessed the efficiency and safety of the midline extraperitoneal approach for OH. Six patients with OH repaired using the midline extraperitoneal approach at KKR Sapporo Medical Center between April 2011 and January 2016 were included in the study. We retrospectively evaluated the patient characteristics, intraoperative findings, and the postoperative course. All patients were elderly women [median age, 90 (range, 79–92) years], with a median body mass index of 17.0 (range, 15.6–18.3) kg/m² at presentation. All had symptoms associated with bowel obstruction: two patients presenting with leg pain had the Howship–Romberg sign. In two patients, bowel resection was required because of irreversible ischemic changes. Five patients had coexisting femoral and inguinal hernias that were repaired by bilateral mesh repair. One patient had aspiration pneumonia as a postoperative complication. All patients were discharged alive, without infection or recurrence. OH can be efficiently and safely repaired using the midline extraperitoneal approach. This approach establishes the diagnosis of OH, avoids injuring obturator vessels, gives improved exposure of the obturator canal, enables identification and simultaneous repair of other pelvic hernias, and facilitates bowel resection. This approach reduces the risk of mesh infection in patients undergoing bowel resection.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have generated great interest in the fields of regenerative medicine and immunotherapy because of their unique biological properties. Among MSCs, amniotic fluid stem cells (AFS) have a number of characteristics that make them attractive candidates for tissue engineering and cell replacement strategies, particularly for perinatal medicine. If various neonatal conditions, including birth asphyxia, preterm birth, and congenital abnormalities, which result in long-lasting severe impairments, could be predicted during pregnancy, it would allow collection of small samples of amniotic fluid cells by amniocentesis. In vitro culture of these autologous AFS during pregnancy would make them available for use soon after birth. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and myelomeningocele (MMC) are neonatal conditions that cause permanent neurological disability, for which the treatment options are extremely limited. Experiments using animal models of HIE and MMC and human clinical trials have demonstrated that MSCs, including AFS, have beneficial effects on the central nervous system through paracrine influences, indicating that autologous AFS treatment may be applicable for intractable neurological diseases, including HIE and MMC, during the perinatal period. In this review, we focus on recent research related to the therapeutic potential of AFS for perinatal neurological diseases such as HIE and MMC.