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The superior vena cava is usually located only on the right side, but persistence of the left superior vena cavais observed in about 0.3 to 0.5 % of adults. A routine dissection of the cadaver of a 91-year-old Japanese female, whose cause of death was sepsis due to cholecystitis, was performed at Nagasaki University and revealed a double-sided superior vena cava. On the right side, the superior vena cava opened to the right atrium, while on the left, it opened into the extended coronary sinus. Veins in the left head, neck and upper limb regions joined to form the persistent left superior vena cava, with eventual drainage into the expanded coronary vein. An anastomosing branch occurred between each superior vena cava, and two thymic veins opened to the anastomosing branch. The azygos vein in the azygos venous system opened into the right superior vena cava, whereas a hemi-azygos vein opened into the azygos vein. The accessory hemi-azygos vein also opened into the azygos vein and opened cranially into the left superior vena cava. The left supreme intercostal vein also opened into the left superior vena cava. Several studies have reported a persistent left superior vena cava and the various considerations for its occurrence. Here, we propose a new hypothesis for the embryonic development of the persistent left superior vena cava with the thymic vein. This hypothesis essentially states that the left brachiocephalic vein fails to mature due to inadequate venous return from the thymic vein during the embryonic period, and the left superior vena cava then remains to maintain venous return from the left head, neck and upper limb. We also discuss the clinical significance of the persistent left superior vena cava., International Journal of Morphology, 40(1), pp.24-29, 2022

The human skeleton of a young adult male with marked asymmetry of the bilateral upper extremities was excavated from the Mashiki-Azamabaru site (3000–2000 BCE) on the main island of Okinawa in the southwestern archipelago of Japan. The skeleton was buried alone in a corner of the cemetery. In this study, morphological and radiographic observations were made on this skeleton, and the pathogenesis of the bone growth disorder observed in the left upper limb was discussed. The maximum diameter of the midshaft of the humerus was 13.8 mm on the left and 21.2 mm on the right. The long bones comprising the left upper extremity lost the structure of the muscle attachments except for the deltoid tubercle of the humerus. The bone morphology of the right upper extremity and the bilateral lower extremities was maintained and was close to the mean value of females from the Ohtomo site in northwestern Kyushu, Japan, during the Yayoi period. It is assumed that the anomalous bone morphology confined to the left upper extremity was secondary to the prolonged loss of function of the muscles attached to left extremity bones. In this case, birth palsy, brachial plexus injury in childhood, and acute grey matter myelitis were diagnosed. It was suggested that this person had survived into young adulthood with severe paralysis of the left upper extremity due to injury or disease at an early age., BioMed Research International, 2021, art. no. 4884760; 2021

The use of bisphosphonates for osteoporosis patients has markedly decreased the incidence of femoral neck or trochanteric fractures. However, anti-osteoporosis drugs have been reported to increase the incidence of atypical femoral fractures, which involve stress fractures in the subtrochanteric region or the proximal diaphysis. In this study, the morphological characteristics of the cortical bone in human femoral diaphysis samples were analyzed from individuals who lived before bisphosphonate drugs were available in Japan. A total of 90 right femoral bones were arbitrarily selected (46 males and 44 females) from modern Japanese skeletal specimens. Full-length images of these femurs were acquired using a computed tomography scanner. An image processing method for binarization was used to calculate the threshold values of individual bones for determining their contours. The range between the lower end of the lesser trochanter and the adductor tubercle of each femur was divided at regular intervals to obtain 10 planes. The mean value of cortical bone thickness, periosteal border length, and the cortical cross-sectional area was evaluated for all planes. Moreover, the ratio of the area of the cortical bone to the total area of cross-section at the mid-diaphysis was calculated. A comparison between males and females demonstrated that most females had lower cortical bone area ratios at the mid-diaphysis. The femoral outer shape did not differ markedly according to age or sex; however, substantial individual differences were observed in the shape of the inner surface of the cortical bone. The cortical bone thickness and the cross-sectional area decreased with age in the femoral diaphysis; furthermore, in females, the decrease was higher for the former than for the latter. This may be due to a compensatory increase in the circumference of the femoral diaphysis. In addition, in about half of the subjects there was a discrepancy between the region with maximal value of the co, Journal of Anatomy, 235(5), pp.892-902; 2019

A human skeleton of a middle-aged adult male was found in a 5th-6th century Kinoue-Kodo stone coffin excavated from the southwest marginal region of the Oita plains, northeast Kyushu, Japan. The skeleton was buried respectfully in the ancient tomb, and red pigment was applied to his face after death. We report herein findings from computed tomography imaging of the skeleton and discuss the multiple osteoblastic lesions identified in the humerus, scapula, clavicle, vertebra, pelvic bones, and skull of this individual. These lesions comprised cortical bone thickening with periosteal reaction localized to the surface and osteosclerotic changes mainly observed in the trabecular structure of cancellous bone. In particular, a typical sunburst pattern was also noted on the left scapula as another characteristic lesion found in this case. By differential diagnosis, the disease suffered by this individual was most likely to be metastatic bone tumors, especially of prostate cancer. This person may have survived until many bone metastases had developed throughout his whole body., BioMed Research International, 2018, art.no.1659510; 2018