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Biomedical subjects

M Ando

Publications and source records attributed to M Ando.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Axial symptoms and cervical alignments after cervical anterior spinal fusion for patients with cervical myelopathy.

This retrospective clinical study was designed to examine the relation between cervical alignment and axial symptoms developing after cervical anterior spinal fusion. Sixty patients with myelopathy treated with cervical anterior spinal fusion were reviewed. For radiographic evaluation, lordosis, enlargement of the fused segments and neural foramen, radiographic union, and degeneration of adjacent segment were reviewed before or after surgery or both. Twenty-three patients had axial symptoms. Only local kyphosis and narrowing of the neural foramen at the fused segment were recognized more often in patients with axial symptoms than in those without such symptoms. No less than 2 mm and < or = 5 mm in enlargement of the anterior disc space immediately after surgery resulted in maintenance of cervical lordosis. These findings suggest that > or = 2 mm and < or = 5 mm in enlargement of anterior vertebral body height during operation results in prevention of axial symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Present situation of medical care for foreigners at medical facilities in Chiba City].

OBJECTIVE: The number of foreigners residing in Japan has increased during the past decade. The aim of this survey was to clarify the present situation and the disadvantages in the medical care for foreigners. METHODS: In October 1997, we mailed a questionnaire to all clinics and hospitals in Chiba City. The questionnaire included questions regarding the number of foreign patients who visited during the past three months, the proportion of patients who have any health insurance, procedures for handling foreign patients, and the disadvantages in medical care for them. RESULTS: Of the 210 respondents (183 clinics and 27 hospitals), 133 facilities (63.3%) provided medical care for foreign patients during the past three months, and 187 (89.0%) during the past year. In 102 facilities (76.7%), the number of foreign patients was fewer than 10 during the past three months. The mean number of foreign patients was 13.8 per facility (12.2 per clinic, and 23.5 per hospital). Of these foreign patients, 68.6% had any health insurance. In 172 facilities (81.9%), foreign patients were accepted in the same way as the Japanese. The main disadvantages in medical care for foreigners were difficulty in understanding because of communication problems, and default in payment of medical expenses for the foreigners with no health insurance. In 154 facilities (73.3%), no special preparation to communicate with foreign patients was provided, and few facilities could understand foreign languages except for English. In 20 facilities, fees for medical care had been left unpaid by foreign patients during the past year, and the total outstanding amount was about 23,800,000 yen. CONCLUSION: In Chiba City, many medical facilities provide medical care for foreign patients. This study suggests that support for communication with foreigners and compensation for default in medical expenses are necessary.

Communication↗
PubMed1999

Volar dislocation of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the ring finger. Report of two cases.

Volar dislocation of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the finger is a rare injury. Two cases of an isolated volar dislocation of the ring finger metacarpophalangeal joint are reported. The dislocation was treated successfully by closed reduction shortly after injury in both cases. Closed reduction should be attempted in all cases of this injury because successful reduction may be possible.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Pharmacological analysis of etoposide in elderly patients with lung cancer.

To analyze the pharmacological characteristics of etoposide in elderly patients, we conducted a Phase I trial of a 14-day administration of oral etoposide on 12 chemotherapy-naive patients, ages 75 years or older, with lung cancer. The pharmacological profiles of etoposide in elderly patients were compared with those of younger patients in our previous studies (H. Minami et al., J. Clin. Oncol., 11: 1602-1608, 1993; H. Minami et al., J. Clin. Oncol., 13: 191-199, 1995; Y. Ando et al., Jpn. J. Cancer Res., 87: 200-205, 1996). The sigmoid Emax model and logistic regression model were used for pharmacodynamic analysis. The maximum tolerated dose for elderly patients was 75 mg/body/day. The apparent oral clearance in elderly patients was 37+/-10 (mean +/- SD) ml/min, which was not different from that in younger patients (44+/-12 ml/min). The area under the concentration-versus-time curve of etoposide over the treatment period (total AUC) that produced a 50% decrease in absolute neutrophil counts was significantly different between elderly and younger patients, 14.3+/-2.5 and 21.6+/-2.7 mg x min/ml, respectively (P = 0.048). The incidence of grade 3 or 4 neutropenia at total AUC of 30 mg x min/ml (corresponding to a plasma concentration of 1.5 microg/ml for 14 days) was 81% in elderly patients but only 48% in younger patients. Although there was no pharmacokinetic difference between elderly and younger patients, equivalent exposure to etoposide resulted in severer myelosuppression in elderly patients. These findings suggest that prolonged etoposide administration with plasma concentration maintained at 1-2 microg/ml may cause severe myelotoxicity in elderly patients.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

[Susceptibilities of bacteria isolated from patients with lower respiratory infectious diseases to antibiotics (1997)].

The bacteria isolated from the patients with lower respiratory tract infections were collected by institutions located throughout Japan, since 1981. Ikemoto et al. have been investigating susceptibilities of these isolates to various antibacterial agents and antibiotics, and analyzed some characteristics of the patients and isolates from them each year. Results obtained from these investigations are discussed. In these 17 institutions around the entire Japan, 512 strains of presumably etiological bacteria were isolated mainly from the sputa of 440 patients with lower respiratory tract infections during the period from October in 1997 to September in 1998. MICs of various antibacterial agents and antibiotics were determined against 100 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, 81 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, 85 strains of Haemophilus influenzae. 71 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (non-mucoid strains), 27 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (mucoid strains), 33 strains of Moraxella subgenus Branhamella catarrhalis, 17 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae etc., and the susceptibilities of these strains were assessed except for those strains that died during transportation. S. aureus strains for which MICs of oxacillin (MPIPC) were higher than 4 micrograms/ml (methicillin-resistant S. aureus: MRSA) accounted for 55.0%. The frequency of the drug resistant bacteria decreased comparing to the previous year's 67.3%. Arbekacin (ABK) and vancomycin (VCM) showed the most potent activities against MRSA. Imipenem (IPM) and panipenem (PAPM) of carbapenems showed the most potent activities with MIC80S of 0.063 microgram/ml against S. pneumoniae. The frequency of penicillin (PC)-intermediate S. pneumoniae (PISP)+PC-resistant S. pneumoniae (PRSP) had decreased gradually, that is, in 1995 the frequency of it was 40.3%, but that was 30.9% in 1997. Against H. influenzae and M.(B.) catarrhalis, all the drugs showed good activities. But the sensitive strains of them against ceftazidime (CAZ) had decreased in 1997, compared those in 1995 and 1996. Meropenem (MEPM), IPM and tobramycin (TOB) showed the most potent activity against P. aeruginosa (mucoid strains). And TOB and ciprofloxacin (CPFX) showed the most potent activities against P. aeruginosa (non-mucoid strains). All drugs except ampicillin (ABPC) were more active against K. pneumoniae in 1997 than that in 1996. Also, we investigated year to year changes in the characteristics of patients, their respiratory infectious diseases, and the etiology. The examination of age distribution indicated that the proportion of patients with ages over 70 years was 45.5% of all the patients showing a slight increase year by year. About the proportion of diagnosed diseases, not so particular changes were recognized as follows: Bacterial pneumonia and chronic bronchitis were the most frequent with 33.6% and 29.1%, respectively. Number of strains isolated from patients before administration of antibiotics were more than those after administration of them in chronic bronchitis, but these had reversed in bacterial pneumonia. The tendency in bacterial pneumonia had been acknowledged since 1995. The increase of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa (both mucoid and non-mucoid strains) isolated after administration of antibiotics, has suggested the decrease of the susceptibility of these strains against antibiotics. Administration of antibiotics has changed the results of the frequency of isolation of bacterial species. Bacterial isolations before administration of antibiotics were as follows: S. pneumoniae 24.5%, H. influenzae 21.4%, S. aureus 18.4% and P. aeruginosa 12.2%. The frequencies of S. aureus decreased after antibiotics administration over 15 days, but the frequencies of P. aeruginosa was not affected. The frequencies of P. aeruginosa was 47.8% after administration over 15 days. From patients administered antibiotics of penicillins and cephems. S. aureus was mainly detected with 31.7-58.3%, and from patients administere

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[A study of the long-term effectiveness of an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program].

Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the most important components of comprehensive care for patients with significant disability due to chronic respiratory failure. Because pulmonary rehabilitation has not been popular in Japan, the long-term effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation has rarely been reported. We therefore examined the long-term effectiveness of an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program for patients with chronic respiratory failure. Our program was composed of a once-a-week introduction program for 2 months and a support program that was continued every 4 weeks as long as possible. Thirty stable patients with chronic respiratory failure were enrolled in the program; 21 patients (COPD: 15, lung complications of tuberculosis: 6) completed the 9-week introduction program and the ensuing 6-month support program. Good compliance with the home training regimen was maintained during the period. The introduction program significantly alleviated dyspnea (Fletcher's grade: 3.3 to 3.0, p < 0.01) and improved the data for activity (Spector's score: 5.3 to 5.8, p < 0.01) and 6-minute walking distance (319 to 384 m, p < 0.01). These benefits were sustained during the 6-month support program. We concluded that outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation can alleviate dyspnea and improve the activity and exercise tolerance of patients with chronic respiratory failure, and that the effectiveness of training can be well maintained with a minimal support program.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

[Clinical analysis of thrombocytopenia in chronic dialysis patients].

Thrombopoietic status in dialysis patients is controversial. This study addressed this issue by analyzing factors associated with thrombopoiesis. One hundred and fifty-one dialysis patients(119 HD and 32 CAPD) and 41 age-matched control subjects were studied. Thrombocytopenia was defined as a platelet count less than 150 x 10(9)/l. Reticulated platelets(RET), a marker for marrow megakaryopoiesis, were measured using thiazole orange dye by flowcytometry. Serum thrombopoietin (TPO) level was measured by ELISA. Hepatitis C virus(HCV) antibody, platelet-associated IgG(PAIgG), and other clinical parameters were examined in the patients. The platelet counts in the HD patients were significantly lower than those in the CAPD or controls. The incidence of thrombocytopenia was 30.0% in the HD patients. Thrombocytopenia was more prominent in the HCV-infected HD patients in whom PAIgG was mostly positive(81.8%) and its titer was remarkably high(102.9 +/- 92.7 pg/ml). There were significant differences in the RET counts between patients with and without thrombocytopenia. None of the other parameters, such as iPTH, beta 2 microglobulin, and Kt/V, nor any prescribed drugs were related to thrombocytopenia. Serum TPO was significantly higher in HD patients(135.9 +/- 60.1 pg/ml) than in the controls(97.0 +/- 53.4 pg/ml). In conclusion, thrombocytopenia is frequent in HD patients, especially in HCV-infected HD patients. Reduced marrow magakaryopoiesis is mostly responsible for thrombocytopenia and peripheral destruction of platelets could be, in part, involved. Mild elevation of serum TPO possibly indicates a counter-response to decreased mass of megakaryocyte in bone marrow.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Minimum 10-year results of Sugioka's osteotomy for femoral head osteonecrosis.

Sugioka's transtrochanteric rotational osteotomy was performed on 14 hips (12 patients) before 1987 for avascular necrosis of the femoral head involving a large part of the weight-bearing area. Three hips required a secondary total hip arthroplasty within 5 years after the osteotomy. The remaining 11 hips were examined at a mean of 13.2 years after surgery (range, 10-17.7 years). The clinical and radiologic results were related to the preoperative radiographic stage of the disease. In the hips with less than 2 mm of collapse, highly satisfactory results were maintained more than 15 years after surgery, with minimal development of degenerative changes. In hips with 2 mm or more of collapse or with acetabular changes, the results tended to deteriorate gradually during the long course of observation but were fairly acceptable. This study shows the osteotomy can enable hip joints to survive and function well for more than 10 years with proper patient selection and operative procedure.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Nitric oxide inhalation as an effective therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome due to near-drowning: a case report].

A 16-year-old boy with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to near-drowning was admitted to our hospital. ARDS was treated with low-level nitric oxide (NO) inhalation (ranging from 4 ppm to 1 ppm) for 24 days. Oxygenation was improved and pulmonary hypertension was reduced after NO inhalation, but systemic blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output were not affected. PaO2 improved from 153 Torr to 354 Torr under identical ventilating conditions (F1O2 1.0), and mean pulmonary arterial pressure fell from 40 mm Hg to 27 mmHg. It has been reported that NO inhalation alleviates ventilation-flow mismatch and pulmonary hypertension. It is unclear, however, whether this therapy improves the prognosis for ARDS. In our patient, NO inhalation was effective in alleviating the oxygenation impairment and pulmonary hypertension associated with ARDS.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

In vitro biotransformation of atrazine by rat liver microsomal cytochrome P450 enzymes.

We studied atrazine (ATZ) metabolism in male and female rat liver microsomes in vitro, and the major metabolite was deisopropylatrazine (DeiPr-ATZ) with deethylatrazine (DeEt-ATZ) and 1-hydroxyisopropylatrazine (iPrOH-ATZ) as minor metabolites in both sexes. The enzyme kinetics of ATZ biotransformation were examined by means of Eadie-Hofstee analyses. Although no remarkable sex difference of Michaelis Menten values for each pathway was observed, Cl(int)S (Vmax/Km) for DeiPr-ATZ, DeEt-ATZ and iPrOH-ATZ were slightly higher in female than in male rats. The formation of DeiPr-ATZ, DeEt-ATZ and iPrOH-ATZ from ATZ was substantially inhibited by SKF-525A, metyrapone, diallyl sulfide, 7-ethoxycoumarin, benzphetamine, nicotine, testosterone and lauric acid in both sexes. Cimetidine effectively inhibited the formation of all metabolites in male rats. On the other hand, the inhibition rates of the formation of DeiPr-ATZ and iPrOH-ATZ by cimetidine in female rats were lower than those in male rats, and DeEt-ATZ was hardly affected by the chemicals. In contrast with the results for cimetidine, the inhibition of ATZ biotransformation by bufuralol was more effective in female than in male rats. Anti-rat CYP2B1 and CYP2E1 antibodies effectively inhibited DeiPr-ATZ, DeEt-ATZ and iPrOH-ATZ formations in both sexes. Anti-rat CYP2C11 antibody also inhibited the three metabolites in both sexes, with the inhibition rates higher in male than in female rats, similar to cimetidine. In the case of anti-rat CYP2D1 antibody, the inhibitory effect on ATZ biotransformation in male rats was less than that in female rats. On the other hand, anti-rat CYP1A2, CYP3A2 and CYP4A1 antibodies did not affect the ATZ biotransformation in either sex. There was no significant correlation between the formation rate of ATZ metabolites and P450 isoform levels in either sex. These results may mean that CYP2B2, CYP2C11, CYP2D1 (only iPrOH-ATZ formation) and CYP2E1 in male rats, and CYP2B2, CYP2D1 and CYP2E1 in female rats are involved ATZ metabolism in liver, and that the substrate specificity of P450 isoforms for ATZ is broad.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Indication and clinical results of laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy caused by disc herniation with developmental canal stenosis.

STUDY DESIGN: The outcome of a herniated disc in patients with cervical myelopathy treated by laminoplasty without discectomy and in those treated conservatively was studied by magnetic resonance imaging. OBJECTIVES: To compare the surgical results of laminoplasty with those of anterior spinal fusion in patients with myelopathy caused by to cervical disc herniation and to make a treatment strategy for cervical disc herniation depending on these results. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Anterior discectomy and spinal fusion have had acceptable surgical results, but many complications have been reported, especially adjacent segment degeneration and bone graft complications. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with cervical disc herniation were examined in this study. Of them, 32 patients (mean age, 56 years) underwent laminoplasty without resection of the herniated disc. Seven patients with mild cervical myelopathy and 8 patients with radiculopathy (mean age, 53 years) were treated conservatively. As a control group, 44 patients (mean age, 50.3 years) who underwent anterior spinal fusion were examined. All patients in the laminoplasty group also had congenital spinal canal stenosis in which the ventrodorsal canal diameter was less than 13 mm. The association between the outcome of a herniated disc and clinical features was investigated. The severity of myelopathy was evaluated according to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association's scoring system. Surgical outcomes were evaluated by the system of Hirabayashi for determining recovery rate. RESULTS: The recovery rate averaged 67.9% in laminoplasty and 68.8% in anterior spinal fusion. There were no significant differences between the groups. No patients underwent anterior spinal fusion after laminoplasty. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging showed regression of the size of the herniated disc in 15 of the 20 patients in the laminoplasty group and in 12 of 15 patients treated conservatively. In the MRI studies of the natural course of disc herniation, the size of the herniated disc decreased to almost half in 1 to 2 months and almost disappeared within 3 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The size of the herniated disc in cervical lesions regressed as it does in the lumbar lesions. Laminoplasty for patients with narrowed spinal canals showed favorable surgical results. Therefore, the therapeutic method for cervical disc herniation should be chosen after taking the natural history of the disc herniation into consideration.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1998

Post-translational modification of transthyretin in plasma.

To determine the behavior of transthyretin (TTR) in blood circulation, TTR purified from normal subjects' plasma was injected to rats, and blood and urine were collected time dependently. Although TTR in plasma was proven to be a predominantly cysteine (Cys) conjugated form by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis, it was gradually converted into free, 32 Da (dihydroxylation), 80 Da (phosphorylation), and 306 Da (glutathionylation), increased forms in molecular weight of TTR. The plasma levels of TTR were decreased in a time-dependent manner with the half life of 72.4 min. No secretion of TTR into the urine was observed by ESI-MS. In conclusion, this method can be simply performed without loading a radioactive molecule to the targeted protein. It offers a possibility to determine natural protein behaviors in the blood stream.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Transglutaminase activity in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a possible use as an indicator of extent of the motor neuron loss.

The activity of transglutaminase (TGase), a marker enzyme for tissue degeneration, was examined in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS), and compared to those from patients without SALS. When the serum TGase activity values from SALS patients were compared against the 'ALS-scale', which is used for clinical evaluation of the progression of ALS, the TGase activity values were higher at the initial stage of the disease than in non-ALS subjects, whereas they became extremely low at the late stage of ALS. The TGase activity in the CSF taken at later than middle stage from ALS patients with definite clinical motor dysfunctions was significantly lower than in that from non-ALS subjects. We have previously demonstrated marked reduction of tissue TGase activity in all regions of spinal cord tissue transections from ALS patients, not only in ventral but also lateral and dorsal regions, relative to that in non-ALS patients. These results suggest that some TGase may be leaked out of the spinal cord tissue into the CSF and then into the blood-stream during the progression of ALS, and the enzymic activity finally becomes depleted at the terminal stages of the disease when most of the spinal motor neuronal perikarya have been destroyed.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Inwardly rectifying K+ currents in intermediate cells in the cochlea of gerbils: a possible contribution to the endocochlear potential.

The stria vascularis in the cochlea generates the endocochlear potential (EP) and secretes K+-rich endolymph; both are indispensable for normal sound transduction by hair cells. K+ conductance in the intermediate cell, one of the several types of cells constituting the stria vascularis, was investigated by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Inwardly-rectifying K+ (Kir) currents were the major currents observed. The currents were inhibited dose-dependently by Ba2+, quinine, verapamil and Cs+, but not by tetraethylammonium (20 mM), 4-aminopyridine (5 mM) or Cd2+ (1 mM). The similarity between the effect of inhibitors on Kir currents and on the EP (Takeuchi et al., Hearing Res., 101 (1996) 181-185) suggests a direct contribution of the Kir conductance to the generation of the EP.

4-Aminopyridine↗
PubMed1998

High-Resolution X-ray Diffraction of Muscle Using Undulator Radiation from the Tristan Main Ring at KEK.

High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Japan.High-resolution X-ray diffraction studies on striated muscle fibres were performed using a hard X-ray undulator installed in the Tristan main ring at KEK, Tsukuba, Japan. The performance of the undulator, along with an example experiment which exploited the unique characteristics of undulator radiation, are reported. The vertical divergence angle of the first harmonic of the undulator was approximately 10 micro rad under 8 GeV multi-bunch operating conditions and the peak photon flux density was estimated to be approximately 3 x 10(16) photons s(-1) mrad(-2) (0.1% bandwidth)(-1) (10 mA)(-1). The well collimated X-ray beam from the undulator made it possible to resolve clearly, with high angular resolution ( approximately 700 nm), the closely spaced diffraction peaks on the meridional axis in the X-ray patterns arising from the thick filaments of a striated muscle under static conditions. By fitting the meridional intensity pattern, a model for the molecular arrangement of the constituent proteins in the thick filaments is proposed. These studies of muscle demonstrate the promise of undulator radiation from third-generation sources for high-resolution diffraction studies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

A high-temperature environmental chamber for nuclear-resonant Bragg scattering studies.

A compact environmental chamber with a furnace operating in the range from room temperature to about 900 K has been built for a high-temperature nuclear-resonant Bragg scattering study. The compact size (75 mm diameter and 70 mm depth) allows an external magnetic field to be applied from outside permanent Nd-Fe-B alloy magnets; a magnetic field up to 1000 G has been obtained. The chamber can be mounted on a precise theta-2theta goniometer so that in situ observations of X-ray diffraction from a single crystal can be carried out. The temperature is measured by two thermocouples placed at the top and back of the sample and controlled by a PID controller. The temperature fluctuation of the chamber is less than +/-1 K.

Journal Article↗