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M Harada

Publications and source records attributed to M Harada.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources

Hepatic and splenic sarcoidosis evaluated by multiple imaging modalities.

We present a case of hepatosplenic sarcoidosis. A 51-year-old Japanese male, who was diagnosed to have sarcoidosis 4 years previously, was presented to our hospital because of dry cough and anorexia with weight loss. He had tender hepatosplenomegaly. A dynamic abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed multiple small low-density areas in both liver and spleen, as well as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The laparoscopic photographs showed many small whitish nodules surfacing on the liver and several tumorous nodules on the spleen. Multiple imaging modalities including dynamic CT and MRI are valuable for detecting focal hepatic and splenic lesions of sarcoidosis.

Biopsy↗

Unusual accumulation of glycogen in liver parenchymal cells in a patient with anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a fear of weight gain and a preoccupation with body image. Although hepatic involvement has been reported in patients with anorexia nervosa, the mechanism is not fully understood. We describe a patient with anorexia nervosa with liver function abnormalities. Light and electron microscopic observations revealed a remarkable accumulation of glycogen in hepatocytes. These results suggest that adaptive responses to starvation may alter carbohydrate metabolism in patients with anorexia nervosa.

Adult↗

Effects of myosin isozyme shift on curvilinearity of the left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relation of In situ rat hearts.

Recently we have shown that the left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relation (ESPVR) of in situ rat hearts is an upward convex curve in contrast to the linear left ventricular ESPVR in dog and human hearts. Within the smaller left ventricular volume range, the left ventricular end-systolic pressure rose steeply with increases in left ventricular volume, but it gradually reached a plateau at the larger left ventricular volumes. In adult rat hearts, the myosin isozyme is V1, unlike V3 in dog and human hearts. To investigate whether myosin isozyme affects the curvilinearity of the left ventricular ESPVR, we evaluated the left ventricular ESPVR in hypothyroid rats in which the left ventricular myosin isozyme had been shifted to V3. In the hypothyroid rats, the left ventricular contractility was depressed and the ESPVR became closer to linear. However, after dobutamine administration the ESPVR returned to curvilinear. In nor-mal rats the curvilinearity of the left ventricular ESPVR was decreased by negative inotropic agents such as adrenergic blockers. These results indicate that the depressed left ventricular contractility in the hypothyroidism make ESPVR linear and that the enhanced left ventricular contractility from dobutamine make it curvilinear. We concluded that the curvilinearity of the rat left ventricular ESPVR is not determined by myosin isozyme per se, but by the left ventricular contractility.

Animals↗

Hyperperfusion syndrome following carotid endarterectomy: evaluation using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging--case report.

A 65-year-old female developed hyperperfusion syndrome following carotid endarterectomy for severe stenosis of the left internal carotid artery. Transcranial Doppler monitoring showed a sharp increase in flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging demonstrated diffuse hyperintensity in the region of the left MCA, which diminished markedly 9 days later. The abnormal hyperintensity decreased as the patient's symptoms improved, suggesting that diffusion-weighted MR imaging can be used for evaluating the course of hyperperfusion syndrome.

Aged↗

Suppressive effects of antihistaminic and/or anti-PAF agents on passive anaphylactic shock in mice sensitized with allogeneic monoclonal IgE and IgG1 antibodies and hyperimmune serum.

For the immunopharmacological characterization of murine passive anaphylactic shock, the effects of antihistaminics and/or anti-platelet-activating factor (anti-PAF) agents were studied on the shock mediated by allogeneic monoclonal IgE and IgG1 antibodies and hyperimmune serum. IgE antibody-mediated shock was strongly suppressed by cyproheptadine (10 mg/kg, ip) in every strain regardless of the age and sex of the mice and the presence or absence of a shock potentiator. As far as tested with CTS, DS, and B6D2F1 mice, IgE antibody-mediated shock was also suppressed by the other two antihistamines, triprolidine (10 mg/kg, ip) and oxatomide (100 mg/kg, po). This type of shock was not suppressed by an anti-PAF agent, CV-6209 (3.3 mg/kg, iv), when tested on aged CTS mice given no shock potentiator and young DS mice given a potentiator such as Bordetella pertussis organisms or DL-propranolol. IgG1 antibody-mediated shock was also suppressed by cyproheptadine in general except for CTS mice. Suppression in the DL-propranolol-treated DS and C3H/He mice was not very marked on sensitization with undiluted or slightly diluted IgG1 ascites but quite striking on sensitization with properly diluted ascites. In contrast with the effect of cyproheptadine, suppression by CV-6209 was obvious in aged CTS mice but not in young DL-propranolol-treated DS mice. The shock in DL-propranolol-treated DS mice sensitized with undiluted or slightly diluted ascites was completely abolished by the combined use of these two agents. These results suggest that histamine and/or PAF play a major role in IgE antibody- and IgG1 antibody-mediated shock. However, so far as tested in young DS mice, the shock mediated by hyperimmune serum differed in drug susceptibility from that mediated by the monoclonal antibodies. In the absence of shock potentiators, prevention was produced by cyproheptadine in the males which had been sensitized with the 1:4 or 1:8 dilution of the immune serum. In the presence of DL-propranolol, prevention was not produced even by the combined treatment with cyproheptadine and CV-6209. Therefore, it is likely that some mediators other than histamine and PAF, whose release is triggered by antibody isotypes other than IgE and IgG1, play a greater role for the shock mediated by hyperimmune serum than for the shock mediated by IgE or IgG1 antibody, especially in the presence of shock potentiators.

Anaphylaxis↗

Relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia previously treated with all-trans retinoic acid: clinical experience with a new synthetic retinoid, Am-80.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a potent differentiating drug for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), induces a high incidence of complete remission (CR) in patients with APL and is now established as a first-line therapy. However, ATRA resistance has become a clinical problem. Patients who relapsed after ATRA-induced CR have had difficulty in obtaining a second CR with ATRA therapy. Although several mechanisms have been postulated, treatment strategies to overcome resistance have not been established. We used a new synthetic retinoid, Am-80, as reinduction therapy for APL relapse after from ATRA-induced CR. Am-80 was several times more potent than ATRA in inducing differentiation in vitro. At a 6 mg/m2 dose, there were 24 evaluable patients; 14 (58%) achieved CR between days 20 and 58 (median, 37 days). Clinical response correlated with the in vitro response to Am-80. Adverse effects included retinoic acid syndrome (n = 1), hyperleukocytosis (n = 1), xerosis (n = 9), cheilitis (n = 8), hypertriglyceridemia (n = 16), and hypercholesterolemia (n = 15). Am-80 is active in APL after relapse from ATRA-induced CR. Further clinical trials are needed to establish strategies to overcome ATRA resistance.

Adult↗

[A case of the atrial dissociation after maze procedure: the coexistence of the sinus node potential and the focal atrial potential in high right atrium].

In a 58-year-old man, who was suffered from atrial fibrillation for a period of 20 years due to mitral stenosis and aortic valve regurgitation, mitral and aortic valve replacement and maze procedure were underwent. We have, whenever possible, substituted the cryoablation for the incision in the maze procedure in attempt to prevent massive bleeding. We found the oscillation of the baseline in lead I, II, III, aVL, aVF on postoperative surface electrocardiogram. We recognized the coexistence of 90/min sinus node potential and 375/min independent focal atrial potential in high right atrium (HRA) of intra-cardiac recording and only the sinus node potential in middle and lower right atrium of that. It was thought that the incision of maze procedure and cryoablation occurred to the atrial dissociation which coexisted segmental atrial fibrillation and sinus rhythm by electrophysiological block. In the postoperative electrophysiological study the sinus node automaticity and sinoatrial conduction were within normal limit and atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation were not induced. A wave of both atria was recognized in transesophageal echocardiography, though the segmental atrial fibrillation was left in a small region of HRA. It was supposed to be useful for maze procedure at the point of cardiac function, which included the maintenance of sinus rhythm with segmental atrial fibrillation, atrial kick and the recovery of the atrio-ventricular synchrony.

Aortic Valve Insufficiency↗

Can the liver with Gilbert's syndrome be used as graft of living-related liver transplantation?

Gilbert's syndrome is the common cause of non hemolytic unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia with a prevalance of 3-7%. Gilbert's syndrome may introduce a selection of potential liver donors from brain death patients. We present a case of living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) from a donor with Gilbert's syndrome. A 22-year-old woman had been diagnosed as having liver cirrhosis at the age of 5. She underwent liver transplantation with the donor's left lobe as the graft. The donor, who was the father of the patient, had been diagnosed with Gilbert's syndrome. Although the recipient was well until 11 months after surgery, she died of subacute fulminant hepatitis 16 months after surgery. However, it was clear that the liver with Gilbert's syndrome could be used as a graft of living-related liver transplantation for adult recipients.

Adult↗

[Prognostic significance of clinical stage including extent of disease (EOD) in prostate cancer].

We analyzed the prognostic significance of clinical stage using extent of disease (EOD) grading system in 288 patients with prostate cancer between 1970 and 1994. The cause-specific survival rate for EOD4 was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than that for the other EOD categories. On the other hand, the cause-specific survival rate for EOD1 was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of the other EOD categories, and moreover, it was similar to the cause-specific survival rates for stage C and D1. The cause-specific survival rate of EOD1 and poorly differentiated cases was higher than that of EOD2 or 3 and well or moderately differentiated cases until 2 years after treatment, but after 3 years, the cause-specific survival rate for EOD1 and poorly differentiated cases was lower than that for EOD2 or 3 and well or moderately differentiated cases. These findings suggest that the volume of cancer is associated with the prognosis of prostate cancer that failed in radical treatment and that in stage D2, histological grade is more closely associated with the prognosis after treatment for 3 years.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Assessment of the biological malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma: relationship to clinicopathological factors and prognosis.

It is difficult to determine the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Assessment of the clinicopathological and biological malignancy of HCC may help in determining treatment strategies and predicting outcome. The tumor DNA content, p53 protein expression, proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index, and argyrophilic proteins of nuclear organizer regions were used as markers of biological malignancy. A correlation between these biological parameters and clinicopathological factors was sought. DNA aneuploidy was observed in 31 of 80 tumors (38.8%). Aneuploidy increased as differentiation decreased. The overall survival rate of patients with aneuploid tumors was significantly poorer than that of patients with diploid tumors. p53 overexpression was observed in 18 of 80 tumors (22.5%). The incidence of p53 positivity increased significantly with increasing tumor size and poorer differentiation. The overall survival rate of p53-positive patients was significantly worse than that of p53-negative patients. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index and the mean number of argyrophilic proteins of nuclear organizer regions were higher in more poorly differentiated lesions. We conclude that DNA ploidy and p53 expression are useful prognostic indicators in HCC. Cell proliferation increases as HCC progresses. With progression, tumors tend to become more poorly differentiated.

Adult↗

[Aortic and mitral valve aneurysms complicated with infective endocarditis: a case report].

A rare case of aortic and mitral valve aneurysms complicated with infective endocarditis was accurately diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography. A 57-year-old man with severe aortic regurgitation due to infective endocarditis was admitted to our hospital. Transthoracic echocardiography showed an aortic valve aneurysm on the right coronary cusp and perforations on the other cusps. Transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated a small aneurysm on the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve which was not clearly visualized by transthoracic echocardiography. Color Doppler echocardiography revealed severe aortic regurgitation and mild mitral regurgitation without perforation of the mitral valve aneurysm. Aortic valve replacement and mitral valvuloplasty of the anterior mitral leaflet were performed. The right coronary cusp of the aortic valve showed marked thinning with infiltration of inflammatory cells. The postoperative clinical course was uneventful.

Aortic Valve↗

Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for standard-risk leukemia. A multicenter pilot study: Japanese experience. Japan Blood Cell Transplantation Study Group.

A multicenter phase II study of allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) was conducted. Twenty-two patients (median age, 36 years) with standard-risk leukemia were transplanted with G-CSF-mobilized PBSC from an HLA-identical sibling donor, and received cyclosporine and methotrexate for GVHD prevention. Median days to ANC >500/microl and platelets >50,000/microl were 12 (9-20) and 16 (11-32), respectively. Grade II-IV acute GVHD developed in 6/21 (29%) and extensive chronic GVHD in 12/20 (60%). These observations indicate that allo-PBSCT is characterized by rapid hematologic engraftment, no increase of acute GVHD and an increased risk of chronic GVHD, and can be used as an alternative to allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Adolescent↗

[Detection of coronary artery disease by adenosine triphosphate stress echocardiography: comparison with adenosine triphosphate stress thallium myocardial scintigraphy and coronary angiography].

The clinical feasibility and usefulness of adenosine triphosphate-2Na (ATP) stress echocardiography for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) were assessed. Two-dimensional echocardiography and thallium-201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) during ATP infusion were performed simultaneously in 58 consecutive patients (41 men and 17 women; mean age 66 +/- 12 years) with suspected CAD. ATP was infused intravenously at 0.16 mg/kg/min for 5 min and thallium was injected at 4 min. All patients underwent coronary angiography within 2 weeks of ATP echocardiography and ATP SPECT. An ischemic response during ATP infusion was detected by echocardiography as the development or worsening of a wall motion abnormality compared with the baseline and by SPECT as a perfusion defect that filled totally or partially during redistribution. Significant coronary artery stenosis was defined as > or = 75% diameter stenosis in a major epicardial vessel. The severity of the stenosis was classified as follows: Group A, lesions with significant coronary artery stenosis (> or = 75%, < 90%); Group B, lesions with severe coronary artery stenosis (> or = 90%) without collateral circulation; Group C, lesions with severe coronary artery stenosis (> or = 90%) with collateral circulation. Significant CAD was present in 43 of 58 patients. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of ATP echocardiography for detecting significant CAD were 70%, 100% and 78%, respectively, and those of ATP SPECT were 98%, 87% and 95%, respectively. In patients without previous myocardial infarction, the sensitivity of ATP echocardiography was 67%. The sensitivity of ATP echocardiography and ATP SPECT for detecting myocardial ischemia were 59% and 95% in patients with 1-vessel disease, 75% and 100% in those with 2-vessel disease, and 88% and 100% in those with 3-vessel disease, respectively. The induction of wall motion abnormality by ATP echocardiography was highly concordant with ATP SPECT imaging in patients with multivessel disease. Although the sensitivity of ATP echocardiography improved in patients with multivessel disease more than in those with single-vessel disease, detection of all diseased vessels was achieved in only 10% of patients with multivessel disease. The sensitivity of ATP echocardiography and ATP SPECT for detecting myocardial ischemia in individual vessels were: right coronary artery, 58% and 74%; left anterior descending artery, 59% and 97%; left circumflex artery, 27% and 68%. ATP-induced transient perfusion defects were associated with transient wall motion abnormality in only 57% of segments. The sensitivity of ATP echocardiography and ATP SPECT for detecting myocardial ischemia in patients with severe coronary stenosis were: Group A, 32% and 66%; Group B, 60% and 93%; Group C, 80% and 95%. The sensitivity of ATP echocardiography was significantly higher in the lesions with collateral circulation than in those without collateral circulation. ATP stress echocardiography is useful for detecting myocardial ischemia in patients with multivessel disease and in patients with severe coronary artery stenosis (> or = 90%). In particular, transient wall motion abnormality tends to be detected in the segments perfused by collateral circulation.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

[Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis effectively treated with itraconazole].

A 23-year-old man with bronchial asthma presented with fever, cough, and sputum. A chest X-ray examination showed pulmonary infiltrations in the left upper and lower lung fields with central bronchiectasis. Although his temperature came down with antibiotics, pulmonary infiltrations persisted with cough and sputum. Following bronchoscopy and an allergological examination, the patient was given a diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) based on Rosenberg's criteria, including peripheral blood eosinophilia, a high serum IgE level, immediate skin reaction to Aspergillus antigen, positive precipitating antibodies, and Aspergillus fumigatus in sputum. The patient was treated with itraconazole instead of corticosteroids. His respiratory symptoms, eosinophilia, and pulmonary infiltration then disappeared, and his IgE serum level gradually decreased. An antifungal agent alone was effective in treating this ABPA patient.

Adult↗

[Does left ventricular wall motion of akinetic segment improve after reperfusion therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction?: assessment by myocardial contrast echocardiography].

The relationship between myocardial perfusion and left ventricular wall motion was studied by myocardial contrast echocardiography in 22 patients with acute myocardial infarction treated by successful direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Myocardial contrast echocardiography was performed 4 times to assess the serial changes of wall motion score and opacification score, before and immediately after PTCA, and 2 weeks and 3 months after the onset of infarction, by injecting 2 ml Albunex into the infarct-related artery. Two-dimensional echocardiography was visualized at the level of the papillary muscle on the short-axis view or apical long-axis view. Wall motion score was graded visually as grade 0: dyskinesis/akinesis, to 3: normokinesis/hyperkinesis and opacification score was graded as grade 0: no opacification, to 2: homogeneous opacification using the 6-segment model of the short-axis view or 5-segment model of the apical long-axis view. Immediately after PTCA, we observed 30 segments with the dyskinesis/akinesis, which were divided into 3 groups (no opacification group, partial opacification group and homogeneous opacification group) by opacification score immediately after PTCA. The recovery of left ventricular wall motion in the partial opacification group (10 segments) and homogeneous opacification group (7 segments) were significantly better than the no opacification group (13 segments). Six (46%) of 13 segments in the no opacification group had improved contrast enhancement 3 months later, and 4 of these 6 segments showed improved left ventricular wall motion. The area opacified immediately after PTCA showed recovery of left ventricular wall motion in the chronic stage. However, some segments of the no-opacified area immediately after PTCA also showed improved myocardial opacification as well as improved left ventricular wall motion in the chronic stage. The results suggest that myocardial contrast echocardiography is an important method to predict myocardial viability, but it is difficult to assess the viability by contrast enhancement performed only in the acute stage of acute myocardial infarction.

Adult↗

[The effects of low-doses of fentanyl, buprenorphine and pentazocine on circulatory responses to endotracheal intubation].

This study evaluates the effects of low-doses i.v. fentanyl, buprenorphine and pentazocine on circulatory responses of endotracheal intubation in 70 scheduled surgical patients. Patients were allocated to 5 groups randomly and 2 (n = 11) or 4 (n = 13) micrograms.kg-1 of fentanyl, 0.5 mg.kg-1 of pentazocine (n = 13), 5 micrograms.kg-1 of buprenorphine (n = 10) and saline as a control (n = 23) were administered 5 minutes before the administration of thiopental, respectively. Then, patients were intubated with 0.1 mg.kg-1 of vecuronium. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded. Only 4 micrograms.kg-1 of fentanyl diminished circulatory responses of systolic blood pressure on the stimuli of endotracheal intubation.

Adjuvants, Anesthesia↗

Significance of ventricular myocytes and nonmyocytes interaction during cardiocyte hypertrophy: evidence for endothelin-1 as a paracrine hypertrophic factor from cardiac nonmyocytes.

BACKGROUND: In cardiac hypertrophy, both excessive enlargement of cardiac myocytes and progressive interstitial fibrosis are well known to occur simultaneously. In the present study, to investigate the interaction between ventricular myocytes (MCs) and cardiac nonmyocytes (NMCs), mostly fibroblasts, during cardiocytes hypertrophy, we examined the change in cell size and gene expression of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in cultured MCs as markers for hypertrophy in the neonatal rat ventricular cardiac cell culture system. METHODS AND RESULTS: The size of cultured MCs significantly increased in the MC-NMC coculture. Concomitantly, secretions of ANP and BNP into culture media were significantly increased in the MC-NMC coculture compared with in the MC culture (with the possible contamination of NMC <1% of MC). Moreover, in the MC culture, enlargement of MC and an increase in ANP and BNP secretions were induced by treatment with conditioned media of the NMC culture. A considerable amount of endothelin (ET)-1 production was detected in the NMC-conditioned media. BQ-123, an ET-A receptor antagonist, and bosentan, a nonselective ET receptor antagonist, significantly blocked the hypertrophic response of MCs induced by treatment with NMC-conditioned media. Angiotensin II (Ang II) (10(-10) to 10(-6) mol/L) and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) (10(-13) to 10(-9) mol/L), both of which are known to be cardiac hypertrophic factors, did not induce hypertrophy in MC culture, but both Ang II and TGF-beta1 increased the size of MCs and augmented ANP and BNP productions in the MC-NMC coculture. This hypertrophic activity of Ang II and TGF-beta1 was associated with the potentiation of ET-1 production in the MC-NMC coculture, and the effect of Ang II or TGF-beta1 on the secretions of ANP and BNP in the coculture was significantly suppressed by pretreatment with BQ-123. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that NMCs regulate MC hypertrophy at least partially via ET-1 secretion and that the interaction between MCs and NMCs plays a critical role during the process of Ang II- or TGF-beta1-induced cardiocyte hypertrophy.

Angiotensin II↗