Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Hiraki.
Coronal fracture of the body of the hamate with associated dorsal subluxation of the bases of the fourth and fifth metacarpals is rare. Two cases of this injury with and without disruption of the dorsal carpometacarpal ligaments treated with open reduction and internal fixation are reported. Oblique roentgenographic views with the hand pronated 30 degrees from the true lateral were helpful in the assessment of the fracture.
Six patients with asymptomatic primary pulmonary Cryptococcosis are reported. In all of the patients, the disease was detected by annual chest X-ray during mass screening for lung cancer or during follow-up for pulmonary tuberculosis or gastric cancer. The chest X-ray findings consisted of a solitary pulmonary nodule in 4 patients and multiple pulmonary nodules in 2. Only one patient who could not be histologically diagnosed by bronchofiberscopy underwent surgical resection. However, the other 5 patients were histologically diagnosed by transbronchial biopsy with bronchofiberscopy. They were treated with oral antifungal agents, namely flucytosine (5-FC) and/or fluconazole, with marked improvement of chest X-ray findings. These results indicate that transbronchial biopsy with bronchofiberscopy and oral administration of antifungal agents instead of initial surgical resection are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of primary pulmonary cryptococcosis.
A patient with pancreatic pleural effusion in whom a fistulous tract was demonstrated by computed tomography (CT) is presented, and reports on 113 cases of this entity in the Japanese literature are reviewed. The most common (99%) underlying cause of this entity was chronic alcoholic pancreatitis. In most cases, the patients complained of chest symptoms (68%), and complained of abdominal symptoms less frequently (24%). It is important to maintain suspicion for this entity in patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis who have unexplained pleural effusion. Surgical intervention was required in 58 of 95 recorded cases. With care, the prognosis of pancreatic pleural effusion was good. Recently, as endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) and CT have been performed more frequently, the mechanisms of the pathogenesis of pancreatic pleural effusion has been determined. We stress that ERP and CT should be performed to direct surgical therapy and learn more about the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic pleural effusions.
In this report, we aimed at examining biochemically the ocular surface damage caused by alkali burn. We used a low concentration of NaOH (less than 0.1 N) and examined the relationship between the ocular surface damage and the concentration of NaOH by examining the changes in components that have been released from corneoconjunctival tissues to the tear fluids by alkali burns, and we also examined the effects of eye rinsing and using topical ophthalmic agents. As a result, NaOH of more than 0.03 N was proven to cause the ocular surface damage. The changes of glutathione in tear fluids showed two peaks during the repair process and that coincided with the morphological changes. By measuring the released quantities of three components (glutathione, ascorbic acid and protein) with the use of three methods of alkali burns (corneoconjunctival pooling method, corneal cylinder method and conjunctival pooling method), we could estimate the slight corneoconjunctival damage using one sample biochemically. Moreover, the importance of eye rinsing was quantitatively demonstrated.
Twenty-seven previously untreated patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer were treated with a 3-drug combination of ifosfamide, cisplatin, and vindesine as a phase II study. Patients received ifosfamide, 1.3g/m2, on days 1 to 5; cisplatin, 20mg/m2, on days 1 to 5; and vindesine, 3mg/m2, on days 1 and 8; with a sufficient parenteral hydration. Courses were repeated every 4 weeks. Twenty males and seven females with a median age of 61 years were treated and fully evaluated. Five patients had stage IIIA, seven had stage IIIB, and 15 had stage IV disease. One patient with adenocarcinoma achieved a complete response and 16 achieved a partial response, for an overall response rate of 63% (95% confidence limit: 45% to 81%). The median duration of response was 34 weeks (range: 9 to 52 weeks). The median survival time was 58 weeks for patients with IIIA/B disease, and 33 weeks for those with IV disease. The major toxicity was myelosuppression, however, it was generally well-tolerated. These results indicate that the 3-drug combination is active against non-small cell lung cancer and warrants further clinical trials.
Development of double cancer was evaluated in 311 small cell lung cancer patients who had received intensive chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. Of those, 10 patients (3.2%) developed a second malignancy:stomach cancer in four, non-small cell lung cancer in three, acute myelogenous leukemia in two, and liver cancer in one. The cumulative risk for the development of double cancer was 1.0% at 1-year, 17.0% at 3-years, and 100% at 8.1 years. The relative risk for the development of double cancer calculated by person-year method utilizing age and sex adjusted cancer incidence in Japan was 2.96-fold (p less than 0.01). The risk of non-small cell lung cancer (6.65-fold) and acute myelogenous leukemia (54.9-fold) was particularly high. Of 21 patients who survived disease-free for more than 2 years, 8 patients died; four patients (50%) died of second malignancy, two died of infectious disease, and only two patients died from recurrent small cell lung cancer. These results indicate that a cautious follow-up program for the detection of double cancer is indicated in patients surviving small cell lung cancer.
The effects of purified plasma fibronectin (FN) in corneal disorders were investigated. Histological findings, the levels of ascorbic acid (AA) and glutathione (GSH) in tear fluids were observed sequentially in rabbits with experimental corneal damage and the degree of corneal lesions was observed. The results indicated that healing of the tissue damage was more promoted in the FN group than in the controls and it was suggested that FN promoted the healing of corneal disorders.
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In order to assess the development of treatments and the curability of SCLC, we analyzed a total of 181 patients entered in our protocol studies since 1976. Between 1976 and 1981, 37 patients (20 LD and 17 ED) were treated with COMP, a 4-drug combination of cyclophosphamide (CTX), vincristine (VCR), methotrexate, and procarbazine. During the period, chest irradiation (RT) was administered optionally to those with LD. Between 1981 and 1986, 112 patients (56 each of LD and ED) were treated with a cyclic alternating chemotherapy of the COMP and VAN, a 3-drug combination of etoposide (VP-16), adriamycin (ADM), and nimustine. In this study, we randomized LD patients either to receive CT alone or CT plus chest RT of 40 Gy to assess the role of chest RT in the treatment of patients in LD. Complete responders were also randomized either to receive prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) or not. Thereafter, a pilot phase II study of a hybrid regimen has been conducted in 32 patients (16 each of LD and ED), in which CTX, ADM and VCR (CAV) was given on day 1, and cisplatine and VP-16 (PVP) on days 8 and 9. Chest RT was administered mandatory to LD in this study. The median survival time (MST) has been prolonged with an improvement in response rate over CT in both LD and ED: MST of LD was 10 months for COMP, 14 months for COMP-VAN, and not achieved for CAV-PVP hybrid regimen (13 of 16 patients alive between 10 and months), while that of ED was 8 months for COMP, 11 months for COMP-VAN, and 13 months for CAV-PVP hybrid regimen. The randomized study comparing CT alone and CT plus chest RT revealed that chest RT played a substantial, but not significant, for long survival in LD. Finally 13 of 149 patients treated between 1976 and 1986 were long-term, disease-free survivors beyond 2 years (12 LD and 1 ED). Two of them who had not received PCI had a relapse in the brain, but the remaining 11 patients are alive and disease-free between 28 and 84 months. These results imply that SCLC is potentially curable, but it will be difficult to achieve a cure in a substantial proportion of patients with the disease.
A pilot phase II study of a hybrid chemotherapy for SCLC has been conducted between October 1986 and March 1988. Dose and schedule of the regimen were as follows: CTX, 700 mg/m2, on day 1; ADM 30 mg/m2, on day 1; VCR, 1.4 mg/m2, on day 1 (CAV); and CDDP, 60 mg/m2, on day 8; VP-16, 100 mg/m2, on days 8 and 9 (PVP). Courses were repeated q. 4 weeks up to 6 cycles. Patients with LD received chest irradiation at a dose of 50 Gy when maximal response was achieved. Thirty-six patients were fully evaluated for tumor response and toxicity. All 18 patients with LD responded to the regimen including 11 CRs (61%); there were 7 CRs (39%) and 9 PRs (50%) in patients with ED. Fourteen of the 18 patients with LD have survived for 7 to 22 months, against 12.8 months in ED patients. The major toxicity was myelosuppression, but it was well tolerated. These results indicate that hybrid chemotherapy is highly effective for SCLC, and warrants further clinical trials.
Between February 1986 and April 1987, we conducted a phase II clinical trial of a three-drug combination of ifosfamide, cisplatin, and vindesine in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The combination consisted of ifosfamide, 1,300 mg/m2, on days 1 through 5, cisplatin, 20 mg/m2, on days 1 through 5, and vindesine, 3 mg/m2, on days 1 and 8. Courses were repeated at 4-week intervals until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Of 21 patients evaluated, one had a complete response and 12 had partial response, with an overall response rate of 62%. The projected median response duration was 30 weeks. The median survival for all patients has not been reached: 14 of 21 patients are still alive with a median follow-up period of 41 weeks (range, 12 to 73 weeks). The major toxicity was myelosuppression. One patient died of septicemia while neutropenic, but the toxicity was well tolerated in the rest. These results indicate that this three-drug combination is active against non-small-cell lung cancer and warrants further clinical trials.
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A new translocation between chromosomes 2 and 8, t(2p-; 8q+), was found in fresh lymphoma cells from a Japanese patient with Epstein-Barr virus-carrying Burkitt's lymphoma, and in a lymphoma cell line derived from this patient. There was no 14q+ translocation, as has been previously described in African and North American Burkitt's lymphomas.
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Human leukemic B-cell (BALL-1), T-cell (TALL-1) and null-cell (NALL-1) lines have been established from three patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To study the heterotransplantability and in vivo growth characteristics, attempts were made to transplant these ALL cell lines into newborn Syrian hamsters treated with rabbit anti-hamster thymocyte serum. Intraperitoneal implantation of 1.8-3.5 x 10(7) cells gave rise to invasive tumors in all recipients after 15 to 41 days. In addition to a common in vivo feature of mesenteric and retroperitoneal tumors, BALL-1 line was characterized by infiltration of the skin, massive ascites and bone marrow invasion. TALL-1 cells infiltrated various organs including the lymph nodes, liver, gallbladder, spleen, bone marrow, central nervous system and eyes. NALL-1 line grew slowly, producing the least tumors, although there were distant metastases in the lungs. Tumor cells were detected in the blood of 2 of 3 BALL-1-bearing hamsters and in the blood of 4 of 5 TALL-1-bearing hamsters. Thus, these three ALL cell lines were found to exhibit a characteristic biological behavior in hamsters, which might be related to the different cell lineage.
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