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Biomedical subjects

R Kasukawa

Publications and source records attributed to R Kasukawa.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Pulmonary hypertension in MCTD: report of two cases with anticardiolipin antibody.

We report on 2 patients with well-documented mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) accompanied by severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to thrombosis or thromboembolism. In a previous report we indicated (1) that patients with MCTD complicated by PH have a significantly worse prognosis than patients with other connective tissue disease (CTD) complicated by PH. Both our patients had anticardiolipin antibody (a-CL) in the initial stages of the disease. We also studied the relationship of a-CL to PH in patients with other CTD. Patients of either MCTD or SLE with high levels of a-CL had significantly higher values of mean pulmonary arterial pressure than patients without a-CL. Several factors were suggested for the pathogenesis of PH such as vasospasm, arteritis, platelet dysfunction, and thrombosis or thromboembolism. The presence of a-CL may be one of important factors in development of PH among patients with MCTD with recurrent pulmonary thrombosis or thromboembolism.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Risk factors in the pregnancy of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association of hypocomplementaemia with poor prognosis.

Fetal wastage is still high in the pregnancies of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We examined retrospectively the cases of 38 patients with inactive SLE in whom pregnancy was either desired or had already been obtained. The prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in the group with fetal loss was high. The antibodies were, however, also detected in five of 14 patients who had had a live birth. It was noted that low levels of serum complement activity (CH50 less than 25 U/ml) occurred in five of six patients with fetal loss, but in only two of 22 with a live birth. Serial studies also confirmed a close association between decreased serum complement activity and poor fetal prognosis in lupus pregnancy. Treatment with increased doses of prednisolone may help to achieve successful live births. Thus hypocomplementaemia may be associated with a worse prognosis for the fetus in the pregnancies of some patients with SLE in remission.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Carbamazepine-induced systemic lupus erythematosus-like disease.

A 14-year-old female developed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-like symptoms, rash, fever, leukopenia and positive anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) two weeks after administration of carbamazepine (CBZ; Tegretol) used against benign Rolandic epilepsy. Clinical symptoms and leukopenia normalized after discontinuation of CBZ and administration of prednisolone at 40 mg. The cases of CBZ-induced SLE reported in the literature were reviewed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Anti-centromere antibody and CREST syndrome in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Anti-centromere antibodies (ACA) in 41 sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) were analyzed by an immunoblotting method and the correlation between the presence of ACA and the clinical features in these PBC patients was studied. In 10 of 16 ACA-positive PBC patients, one or more clinical features of CREST syndrome (PBC-CREST) were found. Statistical differences were observed in age at disease onset, serum levels of IgM and total bilirubin and titer of anti-M2 antibody, between PBC-CREST patients and the PBC patients without CREST symptoms (PBC-non CREST). By immunoblotting analysis, three major epitopes of ACA were identified at 18 kD, 80 kD and 140 kD polypeptides. The 18 kD polypeptides were detected in all 16 ACA-positive PBC patients. From these results, it is suggested that ACA-positive PBC-CREST patients can be separated from ACA-negative PBC-CREST and PBC-non CREST patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Cyclosporin for inflammatory pseudotumour.

Dramatic efficacy of cyclosporin was observed in a patient with inflammatory pseudotumour in the liver. The 30-year-old male patient had suffered several attacks of high fever, polyarthralgia and lymph node swelling since 1981. In February 1989, abdominal CT showed multiple space-occupying lesions in his liver, and histopathology of the biopsied liver showed infiltration of plasma cells and lymphocytes with proliferation of collagen fiber, which was comparable to an inflammatory pseudotumour. In May 1990, a treatment regimen of cyclosporin A along with prednisolone was begun because he had been diabetic since March 1990. Within a few days of treatment, the high fever and polyarthralgia subsided, and leucocytosis of 32,000/mm3 and the increased CRP of 17.7 mg/dl were normalised within one month. A reduction of the size of the space-occupying lesions in the liver was observed on abdominal CT taken one month after cyclosporin treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[A case of late-onset SLE complicated with EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia].

A 57-year-old man was admitted to our clinic with complaints of proximal myalgia in extremities. He was diagnosed as late-onset SLE based on the findings of pleuritis, pericarditis, arthritis and antibodies to DNA and cardiolipin. Aggregation of the platelets and the decreased counts of platelets were observed when EDTA was used as anticoagulant for the blood tests. However, the platelet aggregation was not noted with normal counts of platelets when Heparin-Theophylline was used as anticoagulant. From this observation, EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia was diagnosed and IgM class of EDTA-dependent anti-platelet antibody was detected by means of flow cytometry. Administration of prednisolone at 40mg/day reduced the symptoms and EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia, and EDTA-dependent anti-platelet antibody disappeared. His clinical course suggested that EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia was closely associated with the disease activity of SLE.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1992

Preliminary criteria for classification of adult Still's disease.

We have attempted to design classification criteria for adult Still's disease by analyzing the data obtained through a multicenter survey of 90 Japanese patients with this disease and of 267 control patients. The proposed criteria consisted of fever, arthralgia, typical rash, and leukocytosis as major, and sore throat, lymphadenopathy and/or splenomegaly, liver dysfunction, and the absence of rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibody as minor criteria. Requiring 5 or more criteria including 2 or more major criteria yielded 96.2% sensitivity and 92.1% specificity. However, an exclusion process will be needed for an accurate classification, since this disease is relatively rare.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Pregnancy-associated a2-glycoprotein in rheumatoid arthritis.

Pregnancy-associated alpha2-glycoprotein (PAG) was found to be increased in sera and synovial fluids of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis tested in the single radial immunodiffusion. The PAG levels in rheumatoid sera correlated well with the activity of arthritis in the patients. The purified PAG inhibited clearly the 3H-thymidine uptake of normal lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin and also the spontaneous attachment of sheep erythrocytes to normal lymphocytes. 17 of 19 rheumatoid plasmas inhibited the 3H-thymidine uptake of normal lymphocytes and intensity of their inhibitory effects correlated with serum PAG levels.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1978

Reactions of rabbit antisera to human beta2-microglobulin (beta2-M) with platelets.

Reactions of rabbit antisera to human beta2-M against human platelets and man-mouse hybrid cells were studied by MA tests and cytolysis tests. Evidence is presented that the beta2-M act as species-specific cell surface antigens, some of which are most likely shared by cell surface proteins determined by genes on chromosomes other than the chromosome 15.

Absorption↗