Biomedical subjects

Akira Tangoku

Publications and source records attributed to Akira Tangoku.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

[An autopsy case of sepsis following radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for metastatic liver carcinoma after bile duct reconstruction].

An autopsy case of sepsis following radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for metastatic liver carcinoma after bile duct reconstructive operation is reported. A 72-year-old man underwent pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy and reconstruction with the Suzuki-method (PD-III) for extrahepatic bile duct cancer in October 1998. A metastatic lesion was recognized in the liver (S3) in November 2001. Percutaneous RFA was performed for a recurrent lesion. A metastatic lesion was recognized again in the same segment in February 2002. Percutaneous RFA was performed again on February 26 and March 12. The patient was discharged without hemorrhage, infection, or hepatic failure on March 22. He complained of general fatigue on March 26. He was diagnosed with liver abscess, sepsis, acute renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation, and received intensive care, but died on April 1. The autopsy revealed liver necrotic abscess at the RFA locus and multiple microabscesses of the liver, heart, and kidney.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Telomerase activity and Nm23-H2 protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Telomerase activity is up-regulated in most hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Nm23-H2 has been shown to promote the expression of the c-myc gene, a candidate transcriptional activator of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene. Therefore, this study was undertaken to clarify the relationship between nm23-H2 expression and telomerase activity in HCCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Telomerase activity and nm23-H2 protein expression in 24 HCCs were analyzed by telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay and immunohistochemistry, respectively. RESULTS: The incidence of positive telomerase activity was significantly higher in tumor tissues than in normal liver tissues (18 out of 24 vs. 7 out of 24, p = 0.0015), and nm23 -H2 protein was more abundantly expressed in tumors than in corresponding normal liver tissues. Tumor nm23-H2 immunoreactivity was associated positively with tumor telomerase activity (p = 0.0037). CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that tumor nm23-H2 expression might be associated positively with telomerase activity in HCC and suggest the value of tumor nm23-H2 linked to telomerase activity as a therapeutic target for HCC.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Risk factors for postoperative liver failure after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Selection of patients for hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma conventionally has been based upon Child-Pugh grading. However, postoperative liver failure after hepatectomy is a major cause of hospital mortality. A new predictor of postoperative liver failure is required. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for postoperative liver failure after hepatectomy. METHODOLOGY: Perioperative risk factors for liver failure after hepatectomy were analyzed in 112 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma Eight of these patients died of liver failure. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate significant independent factors among 17 variables, including the serum alkaline phosphatase ratio (ALPR) on the first day after hepatectomy. ALPR was calculated as the postoperative ALP level divided by the ALP level before surgery. RESULTS: Significant risk factors of postoperative liver failure were ALPR on postoperative day 1 (ALPR1), sex, operative blood loss, and operative procedure. As an indicator of liver failure, the diagnostic accuracy of the ALPR1 was 93.7% when the ALPR was less than 0.4 on the first postoperative day. The ALPR and the serum total bilirubin concentration after hepatectomy were uncorrelated. CONCLUSIONS: ALPR1 is a useful predictor of liver failure after hepatectomy.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

False-positives in fine-needle aspiration cytology of breast disease can be reduced with p63 immunostaining--a preliminary report.

Myoepithelial cells of the mammary gland are considered to be a key to distinguishing benign from malignant disease in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. However, identification of these cells with Papanicolaou staining is not easy. The identification of myoepithelial cells was investigated using p63 antibodies to carry out immunostaining of FNA specimens that had been used at the time of Papanicolaou staining for 37 patients who yielded false-positives in FNA. Positively-stained cells were observed in overlying cell clusters or the background in 67.6% of the patients. There is a possibility that over-diagnosis could have been avoided by performing p63 staining for these patients. The controls consisted of stamp samples of fresh specimens obtained from 23 patients at the time of surgery for invasive carcinoma and the results of p63 immunostaining did not reveal any positive staining of tumor cells. Accordingly, these results indicate that there is a strong likelihood that there is no invasive carcinoma when many p63-positive cells are observed in the tumor cell population or the background and that p63 immunostaining has the potential to aid in reducing false-positives at the time of FNA diagnosis of breast disease.

Biopsy, Needle↗