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Biomedical subjects

K Tatara

Publications and source records attributed to K Tatara.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Echocardiographic evaluation of the development of aortic valve prolapse in supracristal ventricular septal defect.

UNLABELLED: The development and timing of aortic valve prolapse (AoVP) and aortic regurgitation (AR) was studied by two-dimensional echocardiography in 99 consecutive patients with supracristal ventricular septal defect (VSD). Thirty patients (30%) had aortic valve prolapse (VSD + AoVP group), and 31 patients (31%) had AoVP with AR (VSD + AoVP + AR group). In the VSD + AoVP group, AoVP was detected first by echocardiography at the age of 6.8 +/- 4.2 years (mean +/- SD). In the VSD + AoVP + AR group, the interval from detection of AoVP to the appearance of AR was 3.4 +/- 2.0 years. The configuration of the prolapsed aortic valve was echocardiographically classified into two types: tear-drop type (small) prolapse and box type (large) prolapse. The frequency of tear-drop type prolapse was not significantly different between VSD + AoVP and VSD + AoVP + AR groups (43% versus 32%, respectively), indicating that even minor AoVP can result in AR. Four infants (4%) had AoVP at the ages of 1, 5, 7, and 11 months, respectively. All infants had tear-drop type prolapse. Two infants developed AR by colour flow mapping at the ages of 3 and 11 months, and the interval from prolapse to AR was only 2 and 4 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Aortic valce involvement can develop under the age of 1 year in supracristal VSD. Regular evaluation by two-dimensional echocardiography with colour flow mapping is important in the follow-up of children with supracristal VSD.

Age of Onset↗

The association of health management with the health of elderly people.

To assess the effect of health management on the health of a community-based sample of people aged 65 years and over, a cross-sectional survey was carried out of 1491 people aged 65 years and over (22.3%) randomly drawn from the computerized age-sex register in Settsu City, Osaka. A total of 1473 people were contacted and complete responses were obtained from 1383 of these (a response rate of 93.9%). The proportion of the sample who had been receiving regular health checks or had been taking care of their health decreased with a decline in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). This trend was more pronounced among the younger subjects aged 65-74 years. For disability, those who had been receiving regular health checks had lower overall severity scores in both the 65-74 years and 75 years and over age groups. There were no significant differences in the severity scores for those practising health maintenance (watching diet and exercise) in both age groups, but those practising health maintenance tended to have less disability. The percentage of those who were socially active and thought life worth living also decreased with the decline in ADL for both age groups. These psycho-social factors were also associated with a lower overall severity score. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that health checks, social activity and the presence of aspects of life subjectively evaluated as making it worth living (Ikigai) were shown to have statistically significant negative associations with disability when other factors were controlled for.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Time course of oxygen uptake and heart rate during Bruce treadmill test in patients following surgery for tetralogy of Fallot.

Exercise performance was examined in 14 patients with a prior history of surgical repair for tetralogy of Fallot. Using a Bruce protocol, we evaluated the time course of oxygen uptake and heart rate in these patients and compared them with a standard curve obtained from 63 sex- and age-matched healthy children. Five of the 14 patients had unusual findings. The heart rate increased rapidly in four of them, while the oxygen uptake increased gradually (95% confidence lower limit). It is hypothesized that a reduction in stroke volume during exercise was responsible for these abnormal findings. The remaining unusual finding was in a patient who was known to have myocardial fibrosis and vacuolization. In this particular case, the time course of oxygen uptake and heart rate were both below the 95% coefficient of variation from the beginning to the end of exercise. In patients who have undergone surgical repair for tetralogy of Fallot, the analysis of oxygen uptake time course and the heart rate may provide valuable information for the long-term follow-up.

Adolescent↗

Post-transfusion chronic hepatitis C in children.

Two hundred and twenty-six patients who received blood products for open-heart surgery in childhood were screened by a second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and with surrogate markers for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Twenty-two (14%) of the 161 recipients who received blood products before 1989 and none of the subjects who had received blood products after 1990 (the year that the blood bank began to screen for HCV antibody) were HCV seropositive. Virologic and histologic studies showed that 10 (45%) of 24 seropositive patients had persistent hepatitis C virus infection, many with ongoing hepatitis. The remaining 12 seropositive patients with absent HCV RNA had normal ALT levels, indicating resolved hepatitis C infection. Enrolment in screening is important to detect chronic hepatitis C in children who received blood products prior to screening of blood donors for HCV antibody.

Acute Disease↗

Importance of recall and follow-up screening for chronic hepatitis C in children receiving blood products prior to 1990 in Japan.

The objective was to detect chronic hepatitis C virus infection in recipients of blood products using retrospective analysis by recall and enrollment of recipients. 226 patients who received blood products for open heart surgery from January 1983 to June 1992 were examined for HCV antibody by using a second generation assay and liver function test. 22 (14%) of the 161 patients who received blood products before November 1989 had detectable HCV antibody, but none of the 65 recipients receiving blood products after 1990, the year the Japanese blood bank began to screen for HCV-antibody. Abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, more than 25 iu/L, during the chronic phase of HCV infection was recognized in nine of 22 (41%) seropositive patients. The liver function test and second generation HCV antibody in the serum are effective markers to screen for chronic hepatitis C in blood product recipients transfused before 1990.

Adolescent↗

Exercise performance in children with hyperthyroidism.

An attempt was made to define exercise performance in children with untreated hyperthyroidism using treadmill stress testing. Data were obtained for five female patients and the results were compared with those obtained for 16 normal female subjects. There were no significant differences at rest between the hyperthyroidism group and the control group in oxygen uptake, minute ventilation and respiratory rate. On the other hand, heart rate in the hyperthyroidism group was significantly higher than that in the control group. During exercise, there were significant differences between the two groups in oxygen uptake, heart rate, minute ventilation and respiratory rate. Hyperthyroid patients did not show an abrupt increase in heart rate during the first 30 s of exercise. Exercise stress testing can therefore reveal cardiopulmonary abnormalities that are not evident at rest in children with hyperthyroidism.

Adolescent↗

Heart disease deaths in a Japanese urban area evaluated by clinical and police records.

BACKGROUND: By national statistics, Japanese ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality is one of the lowest of all industrialized countries, and the proportion of deaths due to heart failure in heart disease is the highest. There may be a difference in diagnostic preference between Japan and other industrialized countries. METHODS AND RESULTS: IHD deaths according to the death certificates were reevaluated with World Health Organization MONICA criteria for those 25 to 74 years old by use of clinical and police records in a Japanese city with a population of 347,000. Their cause of death was given on the death certificates as IHD (International Classification of Diseases [ICD], ninth revision, codes 410-414), heart failure (428), or other heart diseases (393-405, 415-427, 429) in 1984 through 1986. Some deaths in 1985 through 1986 from stroke (430-438) or other diseases (250, 272, 278, 440-448, 797-799) were added. Of 409 subjects, 397 (97%) could be examined. Reevaluation of the 106 deaths originally diagnosed as IHD yielded 73 IHDs and 11 sudden deaths of unknown origin (SD), and reevaluation of 160 deaths originally called heart failure yielded 26 IHDs and 50 SDs. In total, reevaluation of all 397 deaths yielded 101 IHDs and 69 SDs. Some 88% of SD cases were originally certified as heart failure (72%) or IHD (16%). Only two SDs were originally certified as stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming that 30% of SDs were due to IHD, the number of IHD deaths would be 122, which is 11% larger than the number of IHD deaths according to the death certificates. After reevaluation, the IHD mortality in this study area still was the lowest in the industrialized countries.

Adult↗

[Analysis of tuberculosis cases among students reported from Osaka prefectural high schools and counter--measures for tuberculosis].

The number of newly registered cases of tuberculosis has been increasing in the age group 15-19 year-old and over. To investigate the prevention of tuberculosis among young people under 20 years old, a survey was conducted on reported cases of tuberculosis among Osaka Prefectural high school students during the period from April, 1989 to May, 1994. Altogether 67 cases were reported from their schools during this period. Although there was a decrease in the total number of students since 1990, there was no corresponding decrease in the number of cases of tuberculosis. Of the total number of cases among high school students registered at public health centers in Osaka, only 23% were reported from the high schools. Cases confirmed bacteriologically positive consisted 13% of all cases. Male students accounted for 61% of reported cases. The methods of detection included medical consultation due to symptoms (75%), mass radiography (18%) and pre-employment health checkup (7%). 46% of cases reported during the first school year were discovered by mass radiography. While 24% of all cases were detected in April, no less than 46% of cases among those in the first school year were detected in April. Compared with those detected in any other school years, cases detected in the first school year showed some characteristic differences with regards to detection and bacteriological results. There has been one tuberculosis epidemic which accounted for six cases during the past five years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Serologic, virologic, and histologic characteristics of chronic phase hepatitis C virus disease in children infected by transfusion.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the time course of hepatic dysfunction, seropositivity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies, viremia, and histologic evidence of hepatic injury to evaluate the course of HCV infection in children infected by blood transfusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients (ages 4 to 18 years) who underwent open-heart surgeries for congenital heart disease were grouped into three categories based on alterations in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels: Group A, acute infection; Group B, subacute infection; and Group C, chronic infection. RESULTS: In Group C, all 13 patients had detectable HCV RNA in serum. In contrast, all patients in Group A had no detectable HCV RNA: In Group B, one of nine patients had detectable HCV RNA and two of four patients examined had persistent chronic hepatitis by histologic criteria. Antibodies directed against C100-3 antigen or core-antigen were more useful than second-generation HCV antibody assays in determining the relationship between viremia and immunologic response. Infection with HCV genotype II and the presence of higher HCV RNA copy numbers were associated with histologic evidence of hepatic damage. CONCLUSION: An abnormal ALT value is frequently associated with viremia, and biochemically resolved acute infection reflects clearance of HCV. However, a normal ALT does not always reflect an absence of hepatocyte damage and HCV replication in patients with subacute disease. The measures outlined in this study are useful indicators of disease activity during the chronic

Acute Disease↗

[Demand by the elderly for "meals-on-wheels" services].

A survey was performed to assess the demand for "meals-on-wheels" services by elderly persons living alone in N. city (Osaka Prefecture). The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which are related to the demand for such services. Subjects of this study were 1,853 elderly persons of whom responses were received from 1,783 (95.2%). The percentage of the subjects who needed meal delivery services was 64.5%. Physical condition, living conditions, and dietary habits all correlated significantly with the demand. Elderly who were in poor health, were less affluent, or had trouble preparing meals and performing other housework, expressed a need for "meals-on-wheels" services and asked for more services than others. Those who requested meal delivery services had poorer dietary habits than those who did not. Also, there was more demand for these services by elderly male, as well as those elderly with poor dietary habits. The poorer the quality of life of the elderly person correlated with a greater desire for "meals-on-wheels" services. This study showed that there was a great demand among the elderly living alone for "meals-on-wheels" services. While food is one of the basic elements in life, it is often taken for granted, and meal delivery services for the elderly have been largely neglected. The need for urgent improvement and expansion of meal delivery services for this population is indicated by this study.

Aged↗

Scintigraphic monitoring of coronary artery occlusion due to Kawasaki disease.

Noninvasive monitoring of the process of coronary occlusion will probably aid in determining the timing of therapeutic interventions for Kawasaki disease. A pair study of coronary angiography and thallium scintigraphy after dipyridamole infusion-single-photon emission computed tomography with dipyridamole infusion (Dp-SPECT) was repeated at least twice at intervals of several years in 29 patients, and these findings were compared and analyzed in a chronologic manner. The current study demonstrated that angiographic stenosis was more severe, with an increase in the severity of the perfusion defect. Positive rates determined by Dp-SPECT increased with increasing severity of stenosis on angiography. Angiographic findings from the first to the second serial study that showed worsening, no change and improvement were correctly diagnosed from scintigraphic changes in 94% of coronary arterial lesions. About half of the arteries with progression in stenotic severity could be found before complete occlusion by scintigraphic monitoring. It is concluded that Dp-SPECT can be used as a noninvasive monitor of the occurrence and progression of coronary stenoses due to Kawasaki disease.

Coronary Aneurysm↗

Main trends in hospital use in different cities in Japan.

In this study, trends in hospital use were identified in Japanese cities. Data for all inpatient care in May 1985 (9,555 patients) and in May 1988 (11,205 patients) paid for by National Health Insurance in 12 cities in Osaka Prefecture were analyzed. The main factor affecting differences in inpatient days per insured person of all ages (hospital use) among the cities were differences in hospital use by long-stay patients aged 70 years or older, which depended not on inpatient days per patient but on the rate of hospital admission. The main factor affecting change in mean hospital use from May 1985 to May 1988 seemed to be an increase in hospital use by long-stay patients 70 years of age or older, which did not depend on increases in the rate of hospital admission, but did depend on the number of insured persons 70 years of age or older. Calculation showed that an increase of 13 long-stay patients 70 years of age or older for 10,000 insured persons 70 years of age or older per year was to have accounted for about 40% of the increase in hospital use by all patients. If the trend for increasing hospital use in Japan is to be altered, the first step might be the careful planning for this comparatively small increase in long-stay elderly patients by promotion of a non-hospital-based care system.

Age Factors↗

Contribution of pulmonary hemodynamics on manifestation of allergic asthma in patients with congenital heart disease.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pulmonary hemodynamic abnormalities relate to manifestations of allergic asthma. In 448 patients with congenital heart disease the relationships between asthma and age or pulmonary arterial blood (PA) flow were studied. Asthma (allergic and non-allergic) was more common in 39 (19%) of 201 patients with high PA flow, compared with the incidence in those with normal PA flow (6/117, 5%; P < 0.001) and reduced PA flow (1/130, 1%; P < 0.05). In the high PA flow group, the frequency of asthma declined significantly (P < 0.01) with age, from 25-26% in the 6 month-5 year patient group to 5% in the 6-12 year old patients. The frequency of asthma, including allergic type, was significantly (P < 0.01) greater in patients with pulmonary hypertension (15/24, 63%) than in those without (10/77, 13%) at the age of 6 months to 1 year. Asthma in the high PA flow group was associated with other allergic diseases in 30 (77%) of 39 patients, including food allergy in nine (23%), atopic dermatitis in 14 (36%), allergic rhinitis in seven (18%) and abnormally high total IgE levels in 14 (36%). These findings suggest that high pulmonary flow or pulmonary hypertension enhances the manifestation of allergic disease, particularly asthma.

Asthma↗

Mortality of frail elderly people living at home in relation to housing conditions.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The study was undertaken to identify any relationship between the mortality of frail elderly people living at home and their housing conditions. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cohort of frail elderly people living in Yao City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan was followed for six years. Data on demographic variables, activities of daily living, the disease that was the main cause of the disability, medical treatment, the feasibility of continuing family care, and some housing conditions were collected in December 1983 by interview during home visits. Deaths were checked for each year for five years. SUBJECTS: Altogether 423 people aged 65 years or more living at home in Yao City who were disabled and housebound for at least three months were studied. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Life table analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were done. The cumulative survival rates of old people with good housing conditions were higher than those with poor housing conditions in each group stratified by age, sex, or the activities of daily living level. The odds ratio for poor housing conditions compared with good housing conditions for five year mortality remained highly significant after adjustment for potential confounding factors including age, sex, and the activities of daily living level by logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality of frail elderly people living at home is affected by housing conditions. Programmes to improve housing conditions of the disabled are important for home care of the elderly.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty for infants with severe tetralogy of Fallot.

Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty was performed in 3 infants with severe tetralogy of Fallot at days 24, 54 and 86 because of progressive hypoxemia. In two patients, the balloon catheter (4 cm long, 5-8 mm diameter) could not pass through the pulmonary valve. This necessitated a smaller balloon and required a two-step procedure. Initially, a coronary artery balloon (2 cm long, 3.5 mm diameter) was used. Following balloon valvuloplasty, arterial oxygen saturation increased from 63 to 83% in case 1, from 69 to 85% in case 2 and 63 to 86% in case 3. Immediate postvalvuloplasty right ventricular cineangiography revealed that the maximal opening diameter of the pulmonary valve leaflets increased from 1-2 mm to 3-4 mm in cases 1 and 3, and from 2-3 mm to 4-5 mm in case 2. No significant complications occurred. Echocardiographic follow-up data showed that the diameter of the right ventricular outflow tract and pulmonary arteries increased with age. The present results show that the pulmonary valvuloplasty is an effective procedure for relief of pulmonary valve stenosis in tetralogy of Fallot and to improve oxygenation and growth of the pulmonary arteries and right ventricular outflow tract without the need of an immediate aortopulmonary shunt.

Cardiac Catheterization↗

[Study of suitable analyzed signal duration and criteria for abnormal signal averaged electrocardiogram on frequency-domain analysis in patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy].

We investigated the optimal condition to detect abnormalities on the fast-Fourier transformation of the signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SA-ECG) by studying the effects of analyzed signal duration, attenuation of low frequency components by using filtering processing and the criteria for abnormal SA-ECG. Subjects were 23 patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD) and were divided into two groups by the presence of ventricular tachycardia (VT). Age-matched healthy volunteers were obtained as controls. Abnormal SA-ECG was identified from the data in the controls as over 97 percentile of H/L ratio. Frequency domain analysis from last 40 ms of QRS wave to 80 ms of ST segment was most capable to distinguish the DMD patients with VT from the patients without VT, compared to analysis from last 20 ms. Whereas, analysis from QRS onset failed to detect VT patients. Although filter processing reduce the power of low frequency and increase the H/L ratio, sensitivity for predicting VT was not enhanced significantly. In conclusion, the frequency-domain analysis during the terminal 40 ms of the QRS complex and 80 ms of ST segment was most optimal condition to distinguish the DMD patients with VT.

Adolescent↗