山名 隼人

BACKGROUND: The benefit of early corticosteroid use in pediatric bacterial meningitis is uncertain, except for its effect on hearing loss caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) meningitis. We aimed to evaluate the association between early corticosteroid use and the short-term outcomes amid a background of decreased Hib infection incidence. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from a nationwide inpatient database in Japan. We identified children younger than 15 years with bacterial meningitis who were discharged between April 2014 and March 2022. The primary outcome was a composite of in-hospital death and neurological sequelae, defined as tracheostomy during hospitalization or disturbed consciousness, mechanical ventilation, tube feeding, or antiepileptic drugs at discharge. The secondary outcome was a recorded diagnosis of hearing loss. Stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting using propensity scores was performed to compare the outcomes between patients with and without intravenous corticosteroid use on the day of admission. RESULTS: Of the 1310 eligible patients, 454 (35%) received early corticosteroids. Overall, 170 patients (13%) had composite outcomes, including seven deaths (0.5%). Hearing loss was observed in seven patients. After propensity score weighting, no significant difference was observed between patients with and without early corticosteroid use in the composite outcome (14.2% vs 13.5%, respectively; risk difference: 0.7%; 95% confidence interval: -3.3% to 4.6%) or hearing loss (0.7% vs 0.5%, respectively; risk difference: 0.2%; 95% confidence interval: -0.7% to 1.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Early corticosteroid use in children with bacterial meningitis was not associated with reduced deaths or neurological sequelae.

Tetanus remains a major global health issue in both developing and developed countries. Although guidelines are established on tetanus prophylaxis protocol for trauma patients, adherence to tetanus vaccination is unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the administration of tetanus toxoid among trauma patients in Japan, where approximately 100 patients are hospitalized for tetanus annually. Using the JMDC claims database, a large administrative claims database, we identified outpatients with trauma between 2005 and 2020. We divided them into those born before 1968 and those born in 1968 or later, as the routine tetanus immunization program started in 1968 in Japan. We described the characteristics of the patients and whether they received the first dose of tetanus toxoid when they visited a medical institution for any injury. Finally, we followed up the patients who received the first tetanus toxoid dose and had a history of incomplete primary vaccination series to examine whether they completed the recommended three doses of tetanus immunization within 12 months. We identified 85,761 trauma patients from the database, of whom 19,541 (22.8 %) were born before 1968 and not covered by the routine vaccination program. Among the patients covered by the routine vaccination program, 2.1 % (1400/66,220) received tetanus toxoid vaccination at the initial clinic/hospital visit for their injuries, whereas the proportion was 5.8 % (1139/19,541) in the patients not covered by the routine vaccination program. Among the 1139 patients who received tetanus prophylaxis at the time of wound management and were born before the implementation of the routine vaccination program, 31.4 % received the second dose, and 7.0 % completed the third dose within 12 months. Taken together, most trauma patients without a history of primary tetanus immunization did not receive the recommended tetanus prophylaxis. Increased awareness of tetanus prophylaxis is needed among both patients and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic validity of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes for hyponatremia and hypernatremia, using a database containing laboratory data. We also aimed to clarify whether corrections for blood glucose, triglyceride, and total protein may affect the prevalence and the diagnostic validity. METHODS: We retrospectively identified admissions with laboratory values using a Japanese hospital-based database. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive/negative predictive values of recorded ICD-10-based diagnoses of hyponatremia (E87.1) and hypernatremia (E87.2), using serum sodium measurements during hospitalization (<135 and >145 mmol/l, respectively) as the reference standard. We also performed analyses with corrections of sodium concentrations for blood glucose, triglyceride, and total protein. RESULTS: We identified 1 813 356 hospitalizations, including 419 470 hyponatremic and 132 563 hypernatremic cases based on laboratory measurements, and 18 378 hyponatremic and 2950 hypernatremic cases based on ICD-10 codes. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the ICD-10 codes were 4.1%, 99.9%, 92.5%, and 77.6%, respectively, for hyponatremia and 2.2%, >99.9%, 96.5%, and 92.8%, respectively, for hypernatremia. Corrections for blood glucose, triglyceride, and total protein did not largely alter diagnostic values, although prevalence changed especially after corrections for blood glucose and total protein. CONCLUSIONS: The ICD-10 diagnostic codes showed low sensitivity, high specificity, and high positive predictive value for identifying hyponatremia and hypernatremia. Corrections for glucose or total protein did not affect diagnostic values but would be necessary for accurate prevalence calculation.