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Biomedical subjects

E Takazakura

Publications and source records attributed to E Takazakura.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Primary cardiac lymphoma diagnosed by percutaneous needle biopsy.

We diagnosed a case of primary cardiac lymphoma using transthoracic needle biopsy. A 70-year-old man was admitted because of dyspnea. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a tumor mass in the right ventricular free wall. We performed ultrasound guided transthoracic needle biopsy using an 18-G needle, and diagnosed as malignant lymphoma by the biopsy specimen. This method may be useful for the diagnosis of cardiac lymphoma.

Aged↗

Necrotizing bronchial aspergillosis as a cause of hemoptysis in sarcoidosis.

The case history is presented of a patient with recurrent massive hemoptysis caused by necrotizing bronchial aspergillosis associated with sarcoidosis. The involved segments (right IX and X) were resected for treatment of the life-threatening hemoptysis. Histologic examination of the resected specimen confirmed the diagnosis. Necrotizing bronchial aspergillosis is a rare variant form of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and has not been described previously as a cause of hemoptysis in sarcoidosis.

Aspergillosis↗

Light chain deposition disease detected by antisera to a variable region of the kappa1 light chain subgroup.

A 59-year-old male started maintenance hemodialysis, and 80 months later died of congestive heart failure. Just before death he had no urine, and no monoclonal immunoglobulin could be demonstrated in the serum on immunoelectrophoresis. An autopsy showed deposition of periodic acid-Schiff-positive and Congo red-negative material in the interstitium and vessel walls of almost all organs and tissues. In the glomeruli there was a multifocal nodular accumulation of the material. Electron microscopy showed finely granular, not fibrillar deposits. In spite of these impressive lesions on light microscopy, the material was not stained with commercially available antisera to light chains. However, the material was positive for antisera to the variable region of the kappa1 light chain subgroup. This is the first case with light chain deposition disease that showed positive staining only with antisera to the variable region of the light chain.

Amyloidosis↗

Methylprednisolone pulse therapy in two clinical types of crescentic glomerulonephritis.

To clarify the effectiveness of methylprednisolone pulse therapy on crescentic glomerulonephritis (CresGN), data of 46 patients was retrospectively studied. According to the slope of reciprocals of serum creatinine (s-Cr) the patients were divided into acute and insidious types, and each type was further divided into pulse (P) and conventional (C) therapy groups. In group C, s-Cr improved more frequently in the acute type (8/10) than in the insidious type (1/9, p<0.05), and the renal survival rate was somewhat higher in the former (p=0.09). In the acute type there was no difference in the improvement rate of s-Cr between the two therapy groups, whereas in the insidious type, the improvement rate was higher in group P (9/15) than in group C (1/9, p<0.05) and the renal survival rate was higher in the former (p<0.01). These results suggest that methylprednisolone pulse therapy may be highly effective for the insidious type of CresGN.

Acute Disease↗

[Legionella pneumonia successfully treated despite late diagnosis].

Status asthmaticus developed in a 72-year-old man who was being treated with oral prednisolone for severe persistent asthma. The dosage of prednisolone was increased, and amikacin was injected to treat pneumonia that had developed in the right lung. Progressive pulmonary infiltrates, respiratory compromise, and hypoxemia developed, and the patient eventually required mechanical ventilation. Antibiotic treatment was changed to imipenem/cilastatin, piperacillin, gentamicin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, and minocycline. Liver injury developed. More than one month after the patient was admitted, Legionella pneumonia was diagnosed. Levofloxacin (400 mg/day) was then given orally, in combination with injected imipenem/cilastatin. Liver function did not deteriorate, and the pneumonia resolved. Most diagnoses of Legionnaires' disease are made retrospectively by examination of serum. In this case, antibiotics active against Legionella pneumophila had been used before the diagnosis was established, which probably contributed to the patient's recovery. When aminoglycosides or beta-lactam antibiotics are ineffective, administration of agents effective against Legionnaires' disease should be considered.

Administration, Oral↗

[Effects of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in the insidious type of crescentic glomerulonephritis].

In a attempt to clarify the effects of methylprednisolone pulse therapy on the insidious (subacute) type of crescentic glomerulonephritis with slow, but steady deterioration of renal function and poor response to treatment, we analyzed the clinical course of 24 patients (male:female = 15:9) with a mean age of 48.5 years. They fulfilled the following criteria: 1) crescents were observed in more than 50% of the glomeruli, 2) the increment of serum creatinine (Cr) could be determined sequentially on three or more occasions before treatment, and reciprocals of serum Cr declined with slopes of less than 1.0 x 10(-2) dl/mg/day, 3) corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressants were administered. The patients were divided into two groups: pulse therapy group (P) (15 patients), to which methylprednisolone 500 or 1,000 mg a day was administered intravenously for three consecutive days, and a conventional therapy group (C) (9 patients). There were no differences between groups P and C in clinical parameters, including sex, age, underlying diseases, urinary protein, blood pressure, serum Cr and slope of 1/Cr before treatment, and pathological findings, including percentages of glomeruli with crescents and degree of interstitial lesions. However, improvement of serum Cr, which was defined as a decline to the normal range or less than half of the pretreatment level, was observed in 9 (60%) in group P vs. only 1 (11%) in group C (p < 0.05). Re-biopsies were performed after treatment in 6 patients of group P with an improvement of serum Cr, and showed a decrease in the rate of crescent formation and almost complete loss of cellular crescents. At 1, 2 and 3 years follow-up, the renal survival rates were 86, 70 and 53%, respectively, in group P vs. 67, 14 and 14% respectively, in group C (p < 0.05). No serious side effects were observed in group P. These results suggest that methylprednisolone pulse therapy may be very effective for the insidious type of crescentic glomerulonephritis.

Adolescent↗

Interventricular septal dissection in a patient with an old myocardial infarction.

We observed an unusual case of interventricular septal wall dissection in a patient with a prior myocardial infarction. Echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and left ventriculography revealed separation of the right-side and left-side walls of the interventricular septum with an accessory chamber between the two walls. Morphologic findings were consistent with interventricular septal dissection.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Ethosuximide-induced lupus-like syndrome with renal involvement.

A 20-year-old man developed fever and urinary abnormalities with positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) two months after the start of ethosuximide. A renal biopsy showed mild mesangial cell proliferation and cellular crescents predominantly occupying a vascular pole in 7 out of 80 (8.8%) glomeruli. In the arteriole, mainly in close proximity to the glomerulus, proliferation of smooth muscle cells and luminal narrowing were observed. Discontinuation of ethosuximide led to the disappearance of fever, ANA and urinary abnormalities. These findings are strongly suggestive of a causal relationship between ethosuximide and a lupus-like syndrome with peculiar renal involvement.

Adult↗

[Abnormalities in pulmonary perfusion scans after transcatheter arterial embolization of the liver].

Thirteen patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) were studied to evaluate the incidence of pulmonary embolism and methods for diagnosing this complication. Pulmonary perfusion scans and changes in indexes of coagulation and of fibrinolysis, and in the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood were evaluated as possible signs of pulmonary embolism complicating TAE. In 3 out of 13 patients (23%), perfusion lung scans showed perfusion defects. These 3 patients were asymptomatic and their perfusion defects had disappeared by 4 weeks later. TAE was followed by significant decreases in platelet counts (p < 0.01) and in serotonin levels (p < 0.05); and by increases in A-aDO2 (p < 0.01), in levels of fibrinogen in plasma (p < 0.01), and in levels of thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) (p < 0.05), with no significant increase in levels of D-dimer in plasma. Similar hematologic changes were observed in patients without perfusion defects after TAE. In 3 patients with perfusion defects, plasma levels of TAT before TAE were significantly higher than the levels in patients without perfusion defects (p < 0.01). Perfusion defects that occur after TAE may be caused by pulmonary thromboemboli, by pulmonary fat emboli, and by microatelectasis or discoid atelectasis, and the most common cause is probably pulmonary thromboemboli. We conclude that the risk of pulmonary embolism complicating TAE is higher in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have high levels of TAT in plasma.

Aged↗

Histological features of the thyroid gland in a patient with lithium induced thyrotoxicosis.

A 26 year old woman with lithium induced thyrotoxicosis is reported. The thyrotoxicosis was associated with a non-tender diffuse goitre and a low radioiodine uptake by the gland. The thyrotoxicosis was reversible and remitted on withdrawal of the drug. The histopathological alterations of the thyroid glad were characterised by extensive follicular cell disruption with no lymphocytic infiltration. It is postulated that lithium might directly damage thyroid follicular cells and that subsequent release of thyroglobulin into the circulation might be a cause of transient thyrotoxicosis.

Adult↗

Tubulointerstitial nephritis in a patient with eosinophilic fasciitis and IgA nephropathy.

We report a tubulointerstitial nephritis in a patient with eosinophilic fasciitis and IgA nephropathy. Urinalysis revealed mild proteinuria and microscopic hematuria, and renal biopsy disclosed diffuse interstitial infiltrations of lymphocytes and plasma cells with few eosinophils in spite of mild mesangial proliferation with IgA deposits, indistinguishable from those of primary tubulointerstitial nephritis. Immunohistochemical examination showed a predominance of helper/inducer T cells infiltrating the renal interstitium and the fascia. Corticosteroid treatment led to a decrease of infiltrating cells in both tissues. Therefore, eosinophilic fasciitis and tubulointerstitial nephritis in our patient seemed to be interdependent phenomena.

Adult↗

I-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine cardiac scintigraphy in patients with an implanted permanent pacemaker.

T1 scintigraphic abnormalities have been reported in patients with an implanted permanent pacemaker, but little is known about the MIBG scintigraphic findings in such patients. This study was performed to assess the MIBG scintigraphic findings in patients with an implanted permanent pacemaker, and to test the hypothesis that imaging characteristics of MIBG scintigraphy differ according to its mode. Twelve patients (4 men and 8 women, mean age: 72.4 +/- 9.5 years), who had undergone the implantation of a permanent pacemaker for bradyarrhythmias, underwent MIBG scintigraphy. The patients were divided into VVI pacemaker and DDD pacemaker groups. The tomograms were divided into nine segments and the MIBG defect in each segment scored on a scale ranging from 0 (normal uptake) to 3 (no uptake). Total MIBG defect scores were generated by summing the scores for the nine segments in each patient. MIBG scintigraphic abnormalities were found in ten of the twelve patients. The six patients with the VVI pacemaker manifested MIBG scintigraphic abnormalities. These MIBG scintigraphic abnormalities were observed in all segments, particularly in the posterior segments. The mean total defect score of the VVI group was higher than that of the DDD group (14.8 +/- 9.8 vs 3.0 +/- 3.5, respectively p < 0.05). Therefore, we conclude that despite several limitations of the study, MIBG scintigraphic abnormalities occur in patients with implanted permanent pacemakers, and that such abnormalities are more prominent with the VVI than DDD pacemaker.

3-Iodobenzylguanidine↗