[Japanese clinical statistical data of patients with hepatitis C].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Furuta.
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Aortic calcification was evaluated preoperatively by computed tomography (CT) in 136 of 275 candidates for coronary artery bypass surgery (age range, 30-80) years (mean 60.2 years), including 110 men and 26 women), from April 1989 to March 1991. Calcification in the mid-ascending aortic wall was detected in 20 (14.7%) cases, calcification in all regions of the aorta was more common in patients older than 60 years (22.5%, n = 71), than younger (6.2%, n = 65) (p less than 0.01). Atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta was identified intraoperatively in 25 (18.3%) cases. Practically, the specificity of CT findings was excellent (98.3%), but the sensitivity was less satisfactory (72.0%) due to the presence of atherosclerosis without calcification. In cases of arteriosclerosis of the ascending aorta, great care was taken to prevent embolism secondary to a dislodged atheromatous plaque. The "aortic no-touch technique", with in situ internal thoracic artery and right gastroepiploic artery anastomosis under ventricular fibrillation, was performed in 6 cases, a single aortic cross-clamp was applied in 19 cases, and conventional methods were employed when the ascending aorta was normal or the "no-touch" or "single-clamp" procedure could not be used (control, 111 cases). No neurologic complications occurred in the "no-touch" group, while 2 cerebral infarctions occurred in the single-clamp group (10.5%) and the control group (1.8%) respectively. These differences between groups was not significant. Patients with a calcified ascending aorta are at higher risk for neurologic complications of coronary bypass. The risk can be decreased by minimizing surgical trauma to the ascending aorta by the use of "no-touch" techniques.
After aorto-coronary bypass grafts surgery plasma level of myosin light chain I, determined with monoclonal antibodies to myosin light chain I (LC-I), were studied in 12 patients (pts) without electrocardiographical perioperative myocardial infarction. Rest 201Tl myocardial images were collected before and after surgery. LC-I increased and reached peak levels (15 +/- 7 ng/ml) at 91 +/- 29 minutes after the aortic declamp. From peak levels LC-I rapidly decreased with fast half-time disappearance (1.4 +/- 0.9 hours). In 5 pts of 12 pts LC-I recovered to normal range and MB reached maximum levels (34 +/- 23 IU/L) at 18 +/- 9 hours after declamp. In 4 pts 201Tl images showed improvement and in one 201Tl images showed no changes. In 7 pts of 12 pts LC-I decreased to minimum levels (2.7 +/- 0.6 ng/ml) at 12 +/- 6 hours and then gradually increased to peak levels (5.6 +/- 0.9 ng/ml) on day 3 +/- 0.9. MB reached maximum level (61 +/- 20 IU/L) at 3.2 +/- 1 hours. In 201Tl images 3 pts showed suspected new lesion, 2 pts showed no changes and 2 pts showed improvement. No correlation was noted between peak LC-I level and duration of aortic declamp. No significant relation was suspected between early LC-I peak and irreversible myocardial cell injury. From close relationship between aortic declamp and appearance of LC-I peak, it was concluded that LC-I, accumulated during aortic clamp, was washed out by aortic declamp. Relation was suspected between early LC-I peak and myocardial injury during myocardial protection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A 19 year-old girl with an unusual type of coarctation of the aorta terminating in complete obstruction is presented. At the age of 5 years, she was diagnosed by aortography to have coarctation of the aorta of type IV C according to Edward's classification. No surgical treatment was performed at that time because her growth was good and she didn't have hypertension. During the follow-up period, marked hypertension developed, and she was readmitted. The aortogram revealed a bicuspid aortic valve and total obstruction of the descending thoracic aorta at the site where coarctation was noticed previously. The abdominal aorta distal from the obstruction site was filled through rich collateral circulation. As these angiographic interval changes are very rare, we discussed the genesis of obstruction and operative indication by reviewing the literature.
An amyloid tumor of the duodenum is a rare occurrence. A patient who presented with epigastric discomfort, in whom a barium meal study revealed a tumor of the duodenum is described. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a submucosal location of the tumor, and examination of a biopsy revealed amyloid deposition of the AL type. Diffuse tumor involvement of adjacent tissues of the duodenum and also deposits of amyloid fibrils in the liver and skin with no evidence of a chronic pre- existing disease in the patient led to the diagnosis of primary systemic amyloidosis. The distinguishing feature of this case was the formation of a solitary and relatively large tumor in the duodenum mimicking a submucosal tumor, which is in contrast to most reported cases of multiple and smaller amyloid tumors in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
We report a case of primary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma arising in the liver. There were no specific findings or signs except for the deformity and multiple lesions of the liver at imaging procedures, which included magnetic resonance imaging. The key to the diagnosis was histological examination of liver biopsy specimens obtained under laparoscopy. Plasma factor VIII activity was elevated, which was also helpful in the diagnosis.
We performed coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in a 80-year-old male with calcified ascending aorta and severe varicose veins utilizing the bilateral internal thoracic arteries and the right gastroepiploic artery under fibrillatory arrest without aortic cross-clamp (aortic no-touch technique). After triple coronary artery bypass grafting was completed, heart failure occurred. Additional Bioflow graft to the circumflex artery restored good cardiac function. The aortic no-touch technique is a useful method for CABG in patients with severe calcified ascending aorta. This experience suggests that the Bioflow graft is a helpful conduit at an urgent situation in CABG.
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The nephrotic syndrome is often accompanied by hyperlipidemia associated with an increased risk of accelerated atherosclerosis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of pravastatin, a novel competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, on the serum lipids and apolipoproteins in patients with this syndrome and marked hyperlipidemia. Eleven adult patients received 10 mg of pravastatin twice daily for 4 to 8 weeks. The total serum cholesterol decreased from 426 +/- 44 to 309 +/- 18 mg/dl (-27.4%, mean +/- S.E.; p less than 0.01) following administration of pravastatin. The serum triglyceride decreased from 332 +/- 122 to 229 +/- 50 mg/dl (-30.9%), although this change was not significant. Despite the fact that the HDL cholesterol level was barely changed (51 +/- 7 to 51 +/- 6 mg/dl), the LDL cholesterol fell from 313 +/- 30 to 211 +/- 16 mg/dl (-32.5%; p less than 0.005), and the LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio fell from 7.57 +/- 1.59 to 4.94 +/- 0.88 (-34.8%; p less than 0.05). These changes caused the atherogenic index to decline from 9.6 +/- 2.4 to 6.1 +/- 1.2 (-36.5%; p less than 0.05). No significant alterations could be found among apolipoproteins A-1, A-2, B, C-2, C-3, and E. During the present study period, pravastatin was well tolerated and did not affect the serum protein, albumin, serum urea nitrogen, creatinine levels, or urine protein excretion. Also, there were no serious adverse effects. Pravastatin appears to be effective for treating patients with hyperlipidemia of the nephrotic syndrome.
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In Japan, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers, with a reported fatality rate showing a consistent and significant increase in the last decade. At most, only 25% of HCC cases are positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). To investigate a potential role for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the development of HCC, sera from 105 HBsAg-negative HCC patients were collected from five districts of Japan and assayed for antibody to HCV antigen (HCVAb). A large number of these patients (76.2%) were found to be positive for the HCVAb in comparison with the reported prevalence in sera from blood donors (1.1%). A history of blood transfusion was found in 39.6% of the cases positive for HCVAb, which was significantly different to the lower rate (4.7%) observed in HCC patients who were both positive for HBsAg and negative for HCVAb (P less than 0.001).
To clarify the intrafamilial transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), the prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) in 107 index patients with type C chronic liver disease was studied and compared with the prevalence of anti-HCV antibody in their 296 family members. Of the 85 index patients who were positive for anti-HCV, 15 (8%) of 196 of their family members were also HCV antibody positive, whereas of the 22 index patients who were anti-HCV antibody negative, none of the family members of the 100 evaluated was positive for anti-HCV antibody, a statistically significant difference between groups (P less than 0.02). No specific relative (spouse, child, parent, and sibling) was linked to HCV positivity in the index cases making it difficult to identify the route of infection that is believed to occur via the parenteral route in the home or community.
In a retrospective study, antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV antibody) was measured in 80 patients with acute viral hepatitis (type A, 18; type B, 21; type non-A,non-B, 41). Anti-HCV antibody was found in 12 of 20 patients (60%) with non-A,non-B post-transfusion hepatitis (NANB-PTH) and in 9 of 21 patients (43%) with sporadic NANB hepatitis (NANB-SPO). Patients with acute hepatitis type A or type B did not have anti-HCV antibody. The number of patients who developed chronic hepatitis was greater in the group with anti-HCV antibody than in the anti-HCV negative group in both NANB-PTH and NANB-SPO. The difference was significant in those with NANB-PTH (P less than 0.05). To investigate the relationship between the long-term prognosis of NANB-PTH and the course of anti-HCV, we studied anti-HCV antibody in 12 patients who developed chronic type C hepatitis (C-CH) after PTH and followed them for more than 5 years after the development of PTH. One year after the development of PTH, all 12 had anti-HCV antibody. Five lost anti-HCV antibody (group 1) while 7 remained positive (group 2) at the final examination. Four of the 5 patients in group 1 had normal serum transaminases; however, abnormal transaminase persisted in all 7 patients in group 2 until the end of follow-up (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In order to determine the incidence and risk of central nervous system damage (CNSD) which accompanies cardiovascular surgery, a retrospective analysis was carried out on 1386 patients who received surgery utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass. CNSD occurred in 32 of the 1386 patients, the total incidence being 2.3 per cent. The major risk factors which led to a high incidence of CNSD were found to be reoperation, thrombus in the left atrium (TLA) and calcification of the ascending aorta (Cal aAo). In the primary surgical series, CNSD was found in only 29 of 1350 patients (2.2 per cent), however, of a total 36 patients who underwent reoperation, 3 (8.3 per cent) patients developed CNSD (p less than 0.05). In a surgical series done on 562 patients with mitral valve disease, the prevalence of CNSD was much higher in patients who suffered TLA than in those who did not, being 4/85 cases (4.7 per cent) vs 11/477 cases (2.3 per cent), respectively. Moreover, a significantly higher incidence of CNSD was noted in patients with Cal aAo, occurring in 6/10 cases (60 per cent) with Cal aAo vs 4/333 cases (1.2 per cent) without Cal aAo (p less than 0.001). The results of this study showed that patients with CNSD, who had received coronary artery bypass surgery and aortic arch replacement tended to follow a poor clinical course, suggesting that atheromatous plaque embolization may be the leading cause of the poor prognosis following CNSD in patients having undergone cardiopulmonary bypass.
A 48-year-old woman with Caroli's disease accompanied by hepatolithiasis, choledocholithiasis, and cholangiocarcinoma is reported. Magnetic resonance imaging was useful for the diagnosis of the cholangiocarcinoma. The relationship between cholangiocarcinoma and hepatolithiasis, choledocholithiasis, and chronic cholangitis in Caroli's disease is discussed.
Intraoperative coronary angiography using fluorescein was applied to evaluate the patency of saphenous vein grafts just after completion of the distal anastomosis. By this technique, the area of the revascularized myocardium was well estimated in real time. This intraoperative direct-vision examination gives us more timely and precise information during coronary artery bypass grafting.