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Open in new tab Download slide OBJECTIVES To validate or refute the hypothesis that non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) with ground-glass areas (GGA+) within the tumour on high-resolution computed tomography are associated with a more favourable prognosis than those without GGA (GGA−). METHODS We analysed data from a multicentre observational cohort study in Japan including 5005 patients with completely resected pathological stage I NSCLC, who were excluded from the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) 0707 trial on oral adjuvant treatment during the enrolment period. The patients' medical and pathological records were assessed retrospectively by physicians and re-staged according to the 8th tumour, node, metastasis edition. RESULTS Of the 5005 patients, 2388 (48%) were ineligible for the JCOG0707 trial and 2617 (52%) were eligible but were not enrolled. A total of 958 patients (19.1%) died. Patients with GGA+ NSCLC and pathological invasion ≤3 cm showed significantly better overall survival than others. In patients with tumours with an invasive portion ≤4 cm, GGA+ was associated with better survival. The prognoses of patients with GGA+ T2a and GGA− T1c tumours were similar (5-year overall survival: 84.6% vs 83.1%, respectively). The survival with T2b or more tumours appeared unaffected by GGA, and GGA was not prognostic in these larger tumours. CONCLUSIONS Patients with GGA+ NSCLC on high-resolution computed tomography and ≤4 cm invasion size may have a better prognosis than patients with solid GGA− tumours of the same T-stage. However, the presence or absence of radiological GGA has little impact on the prognosis of patients with NSCLC with greater (>4 cm) pathological invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Asthma and obesity are common health problems in children. This study investigated the impact of obesity on children hospitalized with acute asthma exacerbation. Methods We obtained the hospital discharge records of inpatients aged 3-8 years with a diagnosis of asthma using a national inpatient database in Japan. The patients were classified into underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese groups using weight for height and body mass index for age provided by the World Health Organization. We compared 30-day re-admission, need for intensive care, mean total hospitalization costs, and length of hospital stay between the 4 groups using multivariable regression models. Results Overall, 38 679 patients were identified, including 3177 underweight, 28 904 normal weight, 3334 overweight, and 3264 obese patients. The obese group showed significantly higher 30-day re-admission (adjusted odds ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.54) and longer length of stay (adjusted difference, 0.12 days; 95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.20 days) than the normal weight group. The threshold was a 91st percentile of weight for length or body mass index for the relationship with 30-day re-admission. No significant difference was observed between the 4 groups regarding the need for intensive care and total hospitalization costs. Conclusion These findings demonstrated that obesity was a risk factor for repeated admissions caused by asthma in children, indicating the importance for the prevention of pediatric obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: A relevant relationship exists between the upper and lower airway, indicating the concept of a unified airway. This study aimed to evaluate whether rhinitis has an association with asthma in children. METHODS: A cross-sectional nationwide survey was performed among children 6-7, 13-14, and 16-17 years old, using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) questionnaire in Japan. According to the responses to the ISAAC core questions, a child who had experienced nasal symptoms in the past 12 months in the absence of a cold was defined as having current rhinitis. RESULTS: After excluding 11,475 children because of incomplete data, 136,506 children were analyzed. Even after adjusting for demographics, sex, and obesity, children with current rhinitis were more likely to have asthma (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 3.10 [95% CI, 2.92-3.30] in children aged 6-7 years; OR, 3.76 [95% CI, 3.45-4.10] in children aged 13-14 years; and OR, 3.59 [95% CI, 3.33-3.88] in children aged 16-17 years). Children whose daily activities were more impaired by rhinitis symptoms had a significantly higher prevalence of severe asthma. The adjusted ORs for severe asthma among asthmatic children whose daily activities were severely impaired by rhinitis symptoms were 3.66 (95% CI, 2.29-5.85) in children aged 6-7 years, 2.55 (95% CI, 1.64-3.96) in children aged 13-14 years, and 1.87 (95% CI, 1.24-2.82) in children aged 16-17 years compared with asthmatic children whose daily activities were not impaired at all. CONCLUSION: There was a close association between rhinitis and asthma in young children to adolescents. Asthma should be examined in children with rhinitis symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies regarding the association of obesity with asthma have been performed in the Western countries. This study is a nationwide survey conducted in Japan. A cross-sectional and questionnaire-based survey was performed among children aged 6-7, 13-14, and 16-17 years, using the ISAAC questionnaire. Overweight was defined as BMI ≥ 90th according to the reference values for Japanese children obtained during 1978-1981. Of a total of 179 218 children, 149 464 replied to the questionnaire (response rate 83.4%). After omitting incomplete data, 139 117 were analyzed. In all the age groups, being overweight was associated with current asthma after adjustment for confounding factors (adjusted OR: 1.24 in children 6-7 years of age, 1.31 in those 13-14 years, and 1.32 in those 16-17 years). These tendencies were observed in both genders. Overweight was a risk factor for nocturnal cough, independent of current asthma in the older age groups (adjusted OR: 1.21 in children 13-14 years, and 1.17 in those 16-17 years). There is a clear association between obesity and current asthma in Japanese school-aged children. Mechanisms through which obesity related with nocturnal cough might be different from those of obesity-associated asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane cultivation in Japan has not yet focused on suppressing plant-parasitic nematodes. For proper nematode management, it is essential to know the spatial distribution of economically important plant-parasitic nematodes and free-living nematodes that play important roles in terrestrial ecosystems. We aimed to reveal nematode fauna and soil properties in 85 sugarcane fields of three major sugarcane producing islands in Japan, and to examine their relationship by using the mixed-effect model and by visualizing the spatial distributions using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) approach. The nematode community structures were analyzed by non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Among plant-parasitic nematodes in sugarcane, the root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus sp.) and the stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchus sp.) were widely distributed in these islands, yet the abundance and the species varied geospatially. Soil pH was significantly correlated with the abundance of Pratylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus species. The abundance of Pratylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus species were significantly correlated with soil pH. The abundance of Pratylenchus was significantly correlated with the abundance of free-living nematodes, the number of free-living nematode species, and exchangeable cation K+, as were the abundance of Tylenchorhynchus to the clay content and that of non-Tylenchorhynchus. This study also revealed that the three islands had different nematode faunas, which were explained especially by soil pH, texture, and exchangeable basic cations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen food Syndrome (PFS) to Rosaceae fruits and soybean, related to Bet v 1 homologue sensitization has been reported increasingly throughout Japan, possibly due to the wide distribution of alder. In 2015, we conducted a school-based questionnaire survey among two age groups; students in primary school (Years 1–2) and secondary school (Years 8–9) from each of the 47 prefectures of Japan. We analyzed the prevalence, demographic and clinical characteristics of children with oral symptoms to Rosaceae fruits/soybean; defined as oral symptoms occurring shortly after ingesting apple, peach, cherry or soybean. Additionally, we assessed the correlation between the prevalence and external data on alder sensitization rates by prefecture. Responses from 41,264 primary and 35,302 secondary school students were analyzed. The prevalence of oral symptoms to Rosaceae fruits/soybean was 0.99%, 95%CI: 0.89–1.09% and 2.75%, 95%CI: 2.59–2.93% among each age group, respectively. Children with oral symptoms were more likely to have parental and personal history of allergic disease compared to those without symptoms. Oral symptoms were experienced more often in children with severe spring allergic rhinitis or have both allergic rhinitis and wheeze. There was a strong correlation between the prevalence of oral symptoms and alder sensitization rates by prefecture among both age groups (r = 0.63, p < 0.001 and r = 0.76, p < 0.001, respectively). Oral symptoms to Rosaceae fruits/soybean, which is suggestive of PFS was reported by 1–3% Japanese school children. It was associated with the geographic alder sensitization rate, supporting the underlying sensitization to Bet v 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global surveys and cohort studies have been conducted to evaluate the prevalence of allergic disease in childhood, but only a few nationwide surveys have been conducted in Japan. We aimed to report the prevalence of childhood allergic disease in Japan and determine the prevalence distribution by sex and prefecture. In 2015, we conducted a school-based questionnaire survey using the Japanese version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire among two age groups: primary school students (PS, 6–8 years old) and middle school students (MS, 13–15 years old). The schools were randomly selected from each prefecture. Valid responses were obtained from 42,582 PS and 36,638 MS. Among PS and MS, the prevalence of wheeze was 10.2% and 8.2%, that of allergic rhino-conjunctivitis was 18.7% and 26.7%, and that of eczema was 14.6% and 9.7%, respectively. In terms of sex, the prevalence of wheeze and rhino-conjunctivitis was higher in male PS while that of rhino-conjunctivitis and eczema was higher in female MS. In terms of prefecture, there was a two-fold difference in the prevalence of wheeze and eczema and a four-fold difference in the prevalence of rhino-conjunctivitis, with each disease showing different distribution patterns. We demonstrated the prevalence of allergic disease among PS and MS in 2015. The prevalence tended to be higher in male PS and female MS. Each disease exhibited different prevalence ranges and distributions. Identifying the factors behind these differences is a topic for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some patients with food protein-induced enterocolitis (FPIES)-like allergy do not completely fulfill the diagnostic criteria of the international consensus guideline for FPIES. However, it is unclear whether such FPIES-like patients represent a completely different population from FPIES., Objective: This study aimed to clarify differences in characteristics between patients with FPIES who fully met diagnostic criteria and those who partly met them., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using data at the time of registration in multicenter, prospective studies of patients with FPIES in Japan. Children who had delayed emesis within 1 to 4 hours and/or diarrhea within 5 to 10 hours after ingestion of food were recruited between March 2020 and February 2022. We examined their compatibility with the diagnostic criteria of the international consensus guideline and their detailed clinical characteristics, including trigger foods, the serving size that elicited symptoms, and antigen-specific IgE antibody titers., Results: Of the 225 patients with FPIES, 140 fully met the diagnostic criteria whereas 79 patients did not fully meet them but demonstrated reproducible symptoms. The frequencies of pallor, lethargy, and diarrhea were significantly higher in those who met the criteria fully, whereas the age at onset, trigger foods, comorbidity, and perinatal information were comparable. Analysis of patients with FPIES to hen's egg revealed significantly higher levels of egg white- and egg yolk-specific IgE in patients who partly met criteria, whereas the serving size eliciting symptoms was comparable., Conclusions: Patients who partly met the diagnostic criteria may have a milder phenotype of FPIES, but this needs to be validated in further studies using biomarkers reflecting the pathophysiology., (Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) and exercise-induced asthma (EIA) are common in asthmatic children, and exercise is the most common trigger other than infection for acute onset asthma attack in children. We examined whether AD is related to exercise-induced wheezing (EIW), some proxy for EIA., Methods: Japanese version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaires were used. For 12,405 asthmatic school children, AD was defined as itchy rash coming and going for at least 6 months at any time in the last 12 months with affecting places of flexural parts of body, and severity of AD was rated according to frequency of being kept awake at night with the itch as follows: never in the past 12 months, less than one night per week and one or more nights per week., Results: Adjusted for frequency of asthma attack, odds ratios (OR) of children with current AD as compared to those without AD for having EIW were 1.32 (95% confidence interval = 1.15-1.52), 1.35 (1.14-1.68) and 1.10 (0.92-1.31) for primary school, junior high school and high school children, respectively. EIW was more likely observed in accordance with increasing severity of AD in the primary school children with ORs of 1.12, 1.59 and 1.54 (p for trend < 0.01), and in the junior high school ones with ORs of 1.18, 1.31, 2.03 (<0.01), respectively., Conclusions: AD may be possibly related to EIW. Further studies investigating effect of AD treatment on EIW may be required., (Copyright © 2018 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adjuvant tegafur/uracil (UFT) chemotherapy is recommended for patients with completely resected Stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Japan. A Phase III trial, the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) 0707, comparing the survival benefit of UFT and S-1 (tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil) for this population is being conducted. However, the selection of patients in the randomized clinical trial (RCT) may not represent the real-world population. The present study aimed to investigate the pattern of care for patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for completely resected NSCLC., Methods: Patients with completely resected pathological Stage I (T1 > 2 cm and T2 in 6th TNM edition) NSCLC eligible for the JCOG0707 trial but excluded from it during the enrollment period (2008-13) were eligible for this study. Physicians from institutions that participated in the JCOG0707 retrospectively assessed the medical records of each patient., Results: This study enrolled 5006 patients, 85% of those initially considered for participation in the JCOG0707 trial (5006 of 5923 patients). Among them, 2389 were ineligible for the trial and 2617 had not been enrolled despite being eligible. The most frequent reason for non-enrollment despite eligibility was the decline in patients' participation, and the major reasons for trial ineligibility were concomitant malignancy and comorbidities. Of all the patients enrolled in our study, 1659 received adjuvant chemotherapy, mainly UFT., Conclusions: Our study indicates that only 15% of the real-world patients with completely resected NSCLC were enrolled into the adjuvant chemotherapy RCT, and among those not participating in the trial, one-third received adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Recent surveys have shown that many patients with asthma experience uncontrolled symptoms and decreased quality of life due to their disease. However, few large population-based studies have evaluated asthma control in Japanese children., Objective: To show the reality of asthma control and the pattern of asthma controller medication use among Japanese children., Methods: In 2012, a web-based survey was conducted to identify children aged 6 to 11 years with asthma in Japan. Among children with current asthma, we collected information regarding their asthma controller medication use and evaluated the control level of asthma using the Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT). In this study, a C-ACT score of 19 or less, 20 to 22 and over 22 were classified as uncontrolled asthma, well-controlled asthma, and optimally controlled asthma, respectively., Results: Among the 3,033 children with current asthma, 442 (14.6%), 635 (20.9%), and 1,956 (64.5%) children had uncontrolled, well-controlled, and optimally controlled disease, respectively. In the past 1 month, 1,387 (45.7%) reported receiving at least 1 asthma controller medication with 638 (21.0%) reported receiving inhaled corticosteroid. Among the children with uncontrolled asthma, 67 (15.2%) were not receiving any asthma controller mediations. Among children receiving asthma controller medication, 27.0%, 31.4% and 41.5% had uncontrolled, well-controlled, and optimally controlled asthma, respectively., Conclusions: Although more than half of children with current asthma had optimally controlled disease, some children without any controller medications and more than a quarter of the children receiving asthma controller medications had uncontrolled disease.

Background: The use of asthma control guidelines and anti-inflammatory drugs have significantly decreased the number of severe asthma cases including death from asthma. However, there are few prospective cohort studies among pediatric asthma patients in Japan describing the course of asthma symptoms with the treatment taken into consideration., Method: We recruited a total of 851 children diagnosed with asthma through 90 hospitals and clinics in 2004 to 2006. Questionnaires were posted annually to collect data on their asthma symptoms, treatment and environmental exposures. We analyzed the disease course in the first 5 years among the children who were registered at age 4 or younger., Results: The disease course of a total of 641 children, aged 2.8+/-1.1 (mean+/-SD) at registration were analyzed. The proportion of children who had intermittent symptoms increased from 37.6% at registration to 86.5% at 5 years, and the proportion of children with intermittent severity increased from 7.0% to 38.9%, showing a significant decrease in the overall severity. The proportion of children using β 2 stimulants decreased from 87.8% at registration to 53.5% at 5 years, while the use of inhaled cortico-steroids were 41.6% at registration and 38.1% at 5 years., Conclusion: Most of the children with pre-school onset asthma had their symptoms controlled, and had decreased severity over 5 years.

Background: Although achieving and maintaining control of asthma is considered to be the goal of asthma treatment, determinants of asthma control are not fully understood. Our aim was to assess factors associated with asthma control among paediatric patients in the general population., Methods: In June 2012, a Web-based survey was conducted to identify Japanese children aged 6 to 11 yr who currently have asthma and evaluate control of their disease using the Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT). Associations were evaluated among uncontrolled asthma (C-ACT score <20) between environmental factors, demographics and comorbid allergic diseases., Results: Among the 3066 children with current asthma, 447 (14.6%) had uncontrolled asthma. Multivariable analysis identified factors such as low birthweight (adjusted OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.25-2.18), obesity (adjusted OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.05-1.99) and pet ownership before birth (adjusted OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.24-2.29) to be associated with uncontrolled disease. Comorbid allergic diseases, especially rhinitis were a significant risk of uncontrolled asthma (adjusted OR for severe rhinitis: 3.88, 95% CI 2.50-6.00). The severity of rhinitis symptoms was inversely correlated with the C-ACT score (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: A population-based Web survey showed an association between several factors and the control of paediatric asthma. The assessment of these factors may help identify the children at risk with uncontrolled asthma., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Epidemiologic studies have shown seasonal variations in responses to the written questionnaire for rhinitis symptoms., Objective: To evaluate whether the timing of data collection affected responses to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire in a Web-based study., Methods: The Web-based ISAAC questionnaires were completed by parents with children 6 to 12 years old using an online research system. The authors conducted surveys of asthma symptoms every month for 1 year and surveys of rhinitis and eczema symptoms every season throughout 1 entire year., Results: There was a significant fluctuation in the positive responses to questions about wheezing in the past 12 months (P < .001) but not in the positive responses to questions about exercise-induced wheezing in the past 12 months and asthma ever (P = .75 and P = .15, respectively). The positive responses to questions about rhinitis and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in the past 12 months and pollinosis ever exhibited significant seasonal variations (P = .002, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). In contrast, there were no significant variations in positive responses regarding eczema in the past 12 months and eczema ever (P = .33 and P = .55, respectively)., Conclusion: There were time-dependent fluctuations in responses to the Web-based questionnaire regarding allergic symptoms. Timing of data collection should be taken into account when evaluating prevalence of asthma and rhinitis in children., (Copyright © 2014 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Exercise-induced wheezing (EIW) may be a symptom of asthma and is a predictor of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, transient narrowing of the lower airway following exercise in the presence or absence of diagnosed asthma. Population-based studies with a large sample of EIW in relation to age, sex, current asthma severity and medication usage have been sparse., Methods: International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaires were distributed at 885 nurseries, 535 primary schools, 321 junior high schools and 190 high schools, respectively, across Japan, and the corresponding data on 46,597, 41,216, 45,960 and 51,104 children were analyzed., Results: Prevalence of EIW was 4.8, 4.7, 17.9 and 15.4% for each of the four educational facility types, respectively. Among 24,103 current asthmatics, 20.9, 28.7, 76.1 and 73.6% of subjects for the 4 educational facility groups reported to have experienced EIW, respectively. Severity of current asthma was associated with the risk of EIW; odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of children with asthma attack every day for having EIW once a week or more, using intermittent asthmatics as reference group, were 24.48 (19.33 to 31.01) adjusted for other covariates. Among current asthmatic kindergartners, increase in risk for EIW due to ascending severity of current asthma was mitigated by daily use of leukotriene receptor antagonist (p for interaction = 0.071)., Conclusions: EIW was not rare among current asthmatic children. An increased risk for EIW was in accordance with increasing severity of current asthma and this relation was mitigated with leukotriene receptor antagonist daily use among kindergartners.

The National Clinical Database (NCD) was developed to determine the present status of surgical treatment in Japan. All surgeries should be input in this database, and improvements in technique and specialists are expected after analyzing the cumulative data. Prospective data are useful in understanding the current quality levels in all surgical specialties and can become a powerful source of risk-adjusted outcomes and scientific contributions to healthcare. In the field of general thoracic surgery, the number of thoracoscopic surgeries for lung cancer has recently increased significantly. However, the indications and surgical procedures appear to differ by institution. Analysis of numerous prospective data on lung cancer surgeries in the NCD should provide invaluable information for setting standard procedures and policies.

Obesity may increase the risk of subsequent asthma. We have previously reported that there is a clear association between obesity and asthma in Japanese school-aged children. To evaluate whether a similar association exists in younger children, a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was performed focusing on children aged 4-5 yr. A child who had experienced wheezing during the past 12 months and had ever been diagnosed with asthma by a physician was defined as having current asthma. Overweight and underweight were defined as BMI ≥90th percentile and ≤10th percentile, respectively, according to the reference values for Japanese children from 1978 to 1981. After excluding 2547 children because of incomplete data, 34,699 children were analyzed. Current asthma was significantly more prevalent in overweight children compared with underweight and normal weight children (13.2% for overweight vs. 10.5% for underweight and 11.1% for normal weight; both p < 0.001). Even after adjusting for other variables, such as gender, other coexisting allergic diseases, and parental history of asthma, there was an association between overweight and current asthma (adjusted odds ratio: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.10-1.38, p < 0.001). Even in preschool children, obesity is already associated with asthma, and there was no gender effect on this association. Physicians should consider the impact of obesity when managing asthma in younger children., (© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)

Purpose: The da Vinci Surgical System has been used in only a few cases for treating mediastinal tumors in Japan. Recently, we used the da Vinci Surgical System for various types of anterior and middle mediastinal tumors in clinical practice. We report our early experience using the da Vinci Surgical System., Methods: Seven patients gave written informed consent to undergo robotic surgery for mediastinal tumor dissection using the da Vinci Surgical System. We evaluated the safety and feasibility of this system for the surgical treatment of mediastinal tumors., Results: Two specialists in thoracic surgery who are certified to use the da Vinci S Surgical System and another specialist acted as an assistant performed the tumor dissection. We were able to access difficult-to-reach areas, such as the mediastinum, safely. All the resected tumors were classified as benign tumors histologically. The average da Vinci setting time was 14.0 min, the average working time was 55.7 min, and the average overall operating time was 125.9 min. The learning curve for the da Vinci setup and manipulation time was short., Conclusion: Robotic surgery enables mediastinal tumor dissection in certain cases more safely and easily than conventional video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and less invasively than open thoracotomy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the palatability of 15 bottled nutritive drinks, all commercially available in the Japanese market, using data from artificial taste and odor sensors. In gustatory sensation tests, well-trained healthy volunteers were asked to score the drinks in terms of palatability and of the four basic tastes. The results suggest that overall palatability is positively correlated with sourness intensity and fruitiness (R=0.82 and 0.86, respectively) and negatively correlated with bitterness intensity and the tasting of medicinal plants (R=-0.85 and -0.80, respectively). The sourness and bitterness intensity could be predicted by taste sensor and fruitiness could be predicted by odor sensor, respectively. By performing principal component analysis of the taste sensor data, the 15 drinks could be classified into four groups. The group classified as being predominantly sour had the highest palatability score, 3.8. By principal component analysis of odor sensor data, the drinks could also be classified into four groups and this time the group with a fruity flavor (smell) showed the highest palatability score, 3.4. In the combined analysis of both taste and odor data, products containing medicinal plants showed the lowest palatability. Finally, the combined usage of the taste and odor sensors gave rise to a three-group classification. Thus, not only the taste sensor but also the odor sensor may be useful in evaluating the palatability of bottled nutritive drinks.

Purpose: To investigate the epidemiologic relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and cataract., Setting: Yoshida Eye Clinic, Fukuoka, Japan., Methods: This study included 492 patients with age-related cataract and 2624 controls who had a municipal mass health screening. All subjects were 60 years or older and inhabitants of Chikugo City (population 45000), Fukuoka, Japan. Each subject was serologically tested for HCV using the third-generation enzyme immunoassay. Seropositivity was compared in subgroups consisting of patients by decade; that is 60 to 69 years of age, 70 to 79 years of age, and 80 to 90 years of age., Results: The prevalence of HCV in the cataract group and health-screening (control) group was 18.3% and 7.1%, respectively, in the 60- to -69 year subgroup; 17.8% and 6.6%, respectively, in the 70- to 79-year subgroup; and 15.1% and 3.7%, respectively, in the 80- to 90-year subgroup. In each subgroup, the prevalence of HCV was significantly higher in the cataract group than in the control group (P <.01, chi-square test). In the cataract group, the HCV seropositive and seronegative groups did not differ significantly in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (P =.548, Fisher exact probability test)., Conclusions: Patients with age-related cataract had significantly higher seropositivity for HCV than an age-matched general population. This suggests that HCV infection may play a role in the development and/or progression of cataract.