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Leaks involving the anesthesia circuit can cause significant complications including hypoxia and hypoventilation. We present a case of a circuit leak caused by damage to the corrugated tubing attributed to improper use of the tube holder. A 58-year-old male was scheduled for resection of a palatal tumor under an intubated general anesthetic. After successful nasotracheal intubation, the anesthesiologist inserted the corrugated tubing of the anesthetic circuit into the tube holder. A leaking sound was heard and a tear in the corrugated tubing was promptly discovered. The corrugated tubing of the anesthetic circuit presumably tore because it was inserted into the groove of the tube holder at an inappropriate angle with excessive force. Anesthesiologists should be aware of potential leaks if the anesthesia circuit is damaged, which may be caused by improper use of tube holders.

A 54-year-old woman with a history of multiple cardiac surgeries suffered from hypoxemia caused by a right-to-left intra-cardiac shunt due to coronary sinus (CS) anomaly with persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). Both the contrast echocardiography and enhanced computed tomography (CT) provided conclusive diagnosis of this rare congenital anomaly, which was overlooked for a long time. However, an important diagnostic clue was left-arm injection of the contrast media. In the present case, previously performed enhanced CT with its routine manner, i.e., contrast through the right arm, missed this anomaly. It is crucial to note that the unusual type of unroofed CS with PLSVC, presenting with an entirely right-to-left intra-cardiac shunt, cannot be delineated on an enhanced routine chest CT if the contrast media is injected through the right arm.

Background and aims Patients with pneumonia, a common cause of empyema, are stratified based on their risk factors, and the treatment of empyema might benefit from this risk stratification. Methods The etiology, bacteriologic profile and outcome of patients diagnosed with empyema in Shinko Hospital between May 2005 and October 2013 were retrospectively studied. The patients were stratified according to whether they had community-acquired empyema (CAE), health-care-associated empyema (HCAE) or hospital-acquired empyema (HAE). Results The study included 81 patients, 25 CAE, 40 HCAE and 16 HAE. The comorbidity rate was highest among HAE patients (100%), followed by 95% of HCAE and 72% of CAE patients (P = 0.005). The rates of cancer and central nervous system (CNS) disease were higher in patients with HCAE and HAE than in patients with CAE (P = 0.030, P = 0.018, respectively). Pleural fluid cultures were positive in 58/81 patients. Streptococcus species were the most common organisms cultured from CAE (12/15) and HCAE patients (17/30), but not from HAE patients (3/13). Anaerobic organisms were cultured from 3 CAE, 5 HCAE and 3 HAE patients. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were only cultured from HCAE and HAE patients. The mortality rates were higher in HCAE (18%) and HAE (50%) than in CAE (4%) patients (log-rank test: P = 0.0012). Conclusions Half of patients with empyema were HCAE patients, who had comorbidities, bacteriological profile and outcome different from CAE patients. The patient with HCAE should be differentiated from CAE patient, and the stratification of patients based on risk factors may be useful for treatment strategy.

Aim. To delineate a possible correlation between clinical course and EEG abnormalities in non-infectious “smoldering” limbic encephalitis. Methods. Long-term clinical data, including video-EEG monitoring records, were analysed in two patients. Results. The two patients were positive for anti-voltage-gated potassium channel complex antibody and unspecified antineuronal antibody, respectively. The latter patient had small cell lung carcinoma. Both patients had memory impairment and clinical seizures. EEG showed frequent subclinical seizure patterns in the bilateral temporal regions. Subclinical seizure patterns and memory impairment persisted over one to two years after clinical seizure remission. Therapy (prednisolone and chemoradiation in the two patients, respectively) resulted in decreased occurrence of subclinical seizure patterns and memory improvement. Conclusions. EEG seizure patterns may persist years after clinical seizure remission in “smoldering” limbic encephalitis and lead to memory impairment.

Background: Autoimmune involvement in the pathogenesis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been proposed, and autoantibodies are a hallmark of autoimmunity. Autoantibody assessment may help to better characterize asthma and COPD. Aims: Determine autoantibody profiles, and the relationship between autoantibodies and features of asthma and COPD. Methods: We recruited 102 asthma patients and 88 COPD patients prospectively. Six autoantibody types were evaluated: antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-cytoplasmic antibodies, rheumatoid factor (RF); anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody; myeloperoxidase-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA); proteinase 3–ANCA. Results: ANA prevalence was significantly higher in asthma than in COPD (24% vs . 10%, p=0.01). Low eosinophil counts in blood (ECB) were related to positive ANA in asthma and COPD. Conversely, high ECB and high levels of immunoglobulin-E were associated with RF in asthma but not in COPD. There was no relationship between ANA or RF and disease severity, including asthma control test, COPD assessment test, exacerbations in 1 % predicted. Prevalence of anti-cytoplasmic antibodies and anti-CCP antibody was low, and no patient harbored ANCA. Conclusions: It is possible asthma tends to involve autoimmunity more frequently than COPD because the prevalence of ANA is higher in asthma than in COPD. ANA and RF are associated with eosinophilic responses, but they do not work as biomarkers for disease severity.

Background Autoimmune involvement in the pathogenesis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been proposed, and autoantibodies are a hallmark of autoimmunity. This study aimed to compare the autoantibody profiles of asthma and COPD, and the relationship between autoantibodies and features of these diseases. Methods We recruited 110 asthma patients and 92 COPD patients for a prospective study. Six autoantibody types were evaluated: antinuclear antibody, anti-cytoplasmic antibodies, rheumatoid factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, myeloperoxidase–anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (MPO-ANCA) and proteinase 3-ANCA. Other clinical data were also recorded concurrently. Results An antinuclear antibody titre of ≥1:160 presented only in asthma but not in COPD (10% vs . 0%, p = 0.0002). Eosinophil counts in blood were negative predictors of antinuclear antibody in asthma. Conversely, eosinophil counts in blood and immunoglobulin-E levels of ≥100 IU/mL were positively associated with rheumatoid factor in asthma but not in COPD. There was no relationship between antinuclear antibody or rheumatoid factor and disease severity. Conclusions It is possible that asthma tends to involve autoimmunity associated with antinuclear antibody more frequently than COPD because asthma is the more robust factor for antinuclear antibody positivity. Antinuclear antibody and rheumatoid factor are associated with eosinophilic responses, but they do not work as biomarkers for disease severity.

The concurrent diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS) (overlap syndrome), can contribute to worsening respiratory symptoms, but whether the severity of COPD is associated with co-morbid SAHS is unknown. We investigated whether the severity of COPD is associated with the complication of SAHS by examination of nocturnal oximetry as an alternative to polysomnography. Patients with COPD concurrently completed nocturnal oximetry, pulmonary function tests, a COPD assessment test, an Epworth sleepiness scale and a hospital anxiety and depression scale to evaluate the severity of COPD and possible concurrent presence of SAHS. We retrospectively analysed the data to assess correlation between the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and each clinical variables and evaluated the predictors of ODI ≥ 15. This study included 103 patients (91 males, 88%) with a mean age of 72 ± 8 years and body mass index of 22 ± 3 kg/m(2). ODI was positively correlated with FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEV1% predicted, which meant that ODI was inversely correlated with airflow limitation. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that FEV1% predicted and FEV1/FVC were predictors of ODI ≥ 15. ODI is inversely correlated with airflow limitation and milder COPD patients may have co-morbid SAHS.

Although several studies have indicated that persons with a high ruminative coping style experience higher depression after the loss of a loved one, the relationship between ruminative coping and the occurrence of clinical depression and anxiety disorders after a loss has not been thoroughly investigated. This study investigated the relationship between response styles (ruminative coping v distractive coping) and the onset of major depression and anxiety disorders in a sample of parents who had experienced sudden child-loss (N = 106). The incidence of major depression after the loss of a child was very high (69%). After controlling for demographic variables and psychiatric history, ruminative coping was significantly associated with the onset of major depression, as defined by DSM-IV, but not with the onset of anxiety disorders. Thus ruminative coping after the loss of a child appears to be a risk factor specifically for major depression.

We evaluated chewing function in 120 patients with TMJ disorders by scoring the ability of dietary intake, assigning scores of 0 to 40 for 20 kinds of food, and by calculating dietary intake rate for each food.The overall average score was 27.4±9.8 before treatment. The score increased to 36.0±5.6 after treatment.Evaluation of the score with respect to treatment efficacy showed a significant difference between the group that responded to treatment (37.2±4.9) and the group that did not (33.8± 5.9).As for the relation to the clinical classification of the Japanese Society of TMJ (1996), the average score before treatment was significantly higher in type III patients with clicking (33.8±6.8) than in other types (23.0 to 26.4). After treatment, there was no significant difference among the types, although the score increased significantly in every type.Studies of dietary intake rate showed that patients were severely limited in their intake of solid, elastic, and large foods and slightly limited in their intake of soft food before treatment. After treatment, the dietary intake rate increased for all food groups. The rate was almost 100% for group I foods, 88% to 100% for group If, about 80% for group DI, and 68% to 90% for group W. These results showed limitations in intake of solid and elastic foods remained after treatment.As for dietary intake, chewing function in patients with TMJ disorders improved satisfactorily after treatment, and the evaluation of chewing function may reflect the response to treatment of patients with TMJ disorders.

We describe an 86-year-old woman with a large parotid tumor. Ten years previously, she had first noticed a tumor about the size of the tip of the little finger in the right parotid region.The tumor had become very large. Her Hematological examination showed a pattern of severe anemia and undernourishment. Excision of the tumor was carried out, and the excised tumor measured 200×180×150mm and weighed 900g. Histological examination revealed that the tumor was a carcinoma in pleomorphic adenoma. There has been no evidence of recurrence after 3.5 years of follow up.

Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin (370 residues) is a major virulence factor in the pathogenesis of gas gangrene. The toxin is composed of an N-terminal domain (1–250 residues) where lies the catalytic site and a C-terminal domain (251–370 residues), the Ca2+-binding domain, responsible for binding to membranes. The role of Tyr-57 and Tyr-65 close to the catalytic pocket (site) in the N-domain was investigated. Replacement of Tyr-57 and -65 with alanine, leucine, or phenylalanine did not affect the sphingomyelinase activity of the toxin for sodium deoxycholate-solubilized shingomyelin. However, the substitution of Tyr-57 and -65 with alanine or leucine resulted in a radical reduction in the hemolysis of sheep erythrocytes, the release of carboxyfluorescein from shingomyelin-cholesterol (1:1) liposomes, and a significant decrease in binding to the liposomes. The binding of variant toxins, Y57C/C169L and Y65C/C169L, labeled with the environmentally sensitive fluorophore, acrylodan, to the liposomes suggested insertion of the variants in a hydrophobic environment in the bilayer. These observations suggested that Tyr-57 and -65 play a role in the penetration of the toxin into the bilayer of membranes and access of the catalytic site to sphingomyelin in membranes, but do not participate in the enzymatic activity.

Possible involvement of endothelium was examined in the vasorelaxation of rat aorta in response to NIP-121 ((+)-7,8-dihydro-6,6-dimethyl-7-hyroxy-8-(2-oxo-1-piperidinyl)-6 H -pyrano[2,3- f ]benz-2,1,3-oxadiazole), an ATP-sensitive K + (K ATP ) channel opener. The NIP-121-induced vasorelaxation was greater in endothelium-intact preparations than in endothelium-denuded ones. In the presence of glibenclamide, which inhibits K ATP channels, NIP-121-induced vasorelaxations were of a similar extent in both endothelium-intact and -denuded preparations. These findings suggest that the presence of endothelium plays a role in the vasorelaxation in response to K ATP channel openers.