山下 武志

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is often accompanied by numerous medical complications and mental disorders. There are few specialized AN facilities in Japan, resulting in the unmet medical needs of patients with AN. A 37-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to the hospital after experiencing a disturbance of consciousness. Her body mass index was 10.2 kg/m2. She developed the following serious medical concomitants associated with extremely severe AN: hypothermia, shock liver, refractory hypoglycemia, acute gastric mucosal bleeding, gelatinous marrow transformation, catheter-related bloodstream infection and infective endocarditis due to β-lactamase-negative Staphylococcus aureus, aspiration pneumonia, intracranial hemorrhage, candidemia, and osmotic demyelination syndrome in the pons, which led to a fatal condition that quickly worsened after we started treatment. The patient was able to overcome several serious concomitants and be discharged from the hospital after multidisciplinary treatment team care. AN is associated with increased rates of all-cause mortality. It is important to take an interdisciplinary approach with emergency physicians, intensivists, hematologists, gastroenterologists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, a nutrition support team with a nationally registered nutritionist and hospitalists, and hospitalization as required based on appropriate medical evaluation with good patient and family rapport. Furthermore, social and educational efforts aimed at preventing the development of AN are necessary.

A 37year old Japanese man experienced severe sore throat. He was infected by the Omicron variant of SARSCoV2. The posterior pharyngeal wall in the left showed closely aggregated multiple milletsized white spots with surrounding redness.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, an etiological agent associated with periodontitis, endocarditis, and other infections, has rarely been implicated in spondylitis. A 70-year-old man with aortic valve replacement presented with a 4-month history of lower back pain and was diagnosed with spondylitis. Prolonged incubation of blood cultures and a biopsy yielded A. actinomycetemcomitans. Concurrent infective endocarditis (IE) was probable considering the infectious organism and the patients' prosthetic valve. The patient was treated with ceftriaxone and recovered well. Pyogenic spondylitis with possible concurrent IE may be caused by A. actinomycetemcomitans. Extended incubation and repeated cultures should be considered if Haemophilus spp., Aggregatibacter spp, Cardiobacterium spp, Eikenella spp, and Kingella spp. (HACEK) infection is suspected.

Our case patient was a 38-year-old pregnant Japanese woman who underwent emergency Caesarean section because of massive vaginal bleeding due to a low-lying placenta. Immediately after delivery, she presented with rapidly progressive dyspnea. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed bilateral pleural effusion, lung nodules, multiple liver tumors, and multiple osteolytic lesions. Accordingly, epidermal growth factor receptor-mutant advanced lung adenocarcinoma was diagnosed. This report highlights the occurrence of rapid progression of lung cancer following delivery that led to postpartum acute respiratory failure, rather than due to pulmonary thromboembolism associated with the existing deep venous thrombosis of the inferior vena cava.

We herein report a case of a 31-year-old Japanese man who simultaneously had a positive influenza A virus antigen test result and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKHD), demonstrated by both diffuse multiple early hyperfluorescent points on fluorescein fundus photography and serous retinal detachments on optical coherence tomography. He had meningitis. It was difficult to determine whether the main cause of meningitis was influenza A or VKHD. After initial treatment with peramivir for influenza A and then methylprednisolone pulse with subsequent corticosteroid therapy for VKHD, his symptoms improved gradually. These findings suggest that influenza A virus infection contributes to the onset or exacerbation of VKHD.

Talaromyces marneffei is a dimorphic fungus endemic mainly in southeast and south Asia. It causes severe mycosis, usually in immunocompromised individuals, such as those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Concomitant infection with T. marneffei and other opportunistic pathogens is plausible because the majority of T. marneffei infections occur in patients with advanced HIV infection. Nonetheless, coinfection in the same site has rarely been reported, and poses a considerable diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We report the case of an HIV-infected Japanese patient who had lived in Thailand for 6 years. The patient developed T. marneffei and Mycobacterium tuberculosis coinfection, and both pathogens were isolated from the same sites: a blood specimen and a lymph node aspirate. Clinicians should be aware of concomitant infection with T. marneffei and other pathogens in patients with advanced HIV disease who are living in or who have visited endemic areas.

We report the case of a 71-year-old Japanese woman with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) in whom macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) developed despite therapy with oral high-dose prednisolone and intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy twice. She was successfully treated with tocilizumab (TCZ). Soon afterward, her fever ceased and high levels of both ferritin and C-reactive protein levels decreased. Her course was complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation, cytomegalovirus infection, and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. After these were resolved, AOSD-associated MAS was well controlled. She was discharged on hospital day 87. Although biologics such as TCZ are becoming established for the treatment of AOSD, there is no recommended therapy for AOSD-associated MAS. Several biologics have been tried for this complication, but their efficacy and safety remain controversial. We reviewed reported cases of AOSD-associated MAS successfully treated with various biologics. TCZ initiation after adequate nonselective immunosuppressive therapy, such as methylprednisolone pulse therapy or a prednisolone-based combination of immunosuppressants, can be an effective treatment for AOSD-associated MAS. On the other hand, biologics given after insufficient immunosuppressive therapy may cause MAS. A strategy combining adequate immunosuppression and a biologic could be safe if special attention is given to adverse events such as opportunistic infections or biologic-associated MAS.

A 78-year-old man with abdominal pain was diagnosed with a rupture of a gastric artery aneurysm. The serum Na level promptly decreased from 135 to 110 mmol/L within several days. Brain magnetic resonance angiography revealed severe vasoconstriction of the cerebral basilar artery and anterior cerebral artery. There was neither dehydration nor edema. The plasma arginine vasopressin level was 3.3 pg/mL, despite hypoos-molality. These findings indicated a diagnosis of syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) derived from severe vasoconstriction of the cerebral arteries. The administration of 7.5 mg of tolvaptan rapidly increased the serum Na level from 123 to 138 mmol/L within the first 24 hours, thereafter continuously maintaining a normal level. Treatment with tolvaptan corrected the patient's dilutional hyponatremia.

A 74-year-old man with a history of asymptomatic right internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion experienced amaurosis fugax in the left eye. Angiography showed left cervical ICA stenosis in addition to right cervical ICA occlusion. The right anterior and middle cerebral artery (MCA) territories were perfused from the left ICA via the anterior communicating artery. Brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography revealed reduced cerebral blood flow and reduced cerebrovascular reactivity to acetazolamide only in the right cerebral hemisphere. The patient underwent left carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Transcranial Doppler monitoring showed microembolic signals in the left MCA during dissection of the left ICA, but intraoperative monitoring suggested absence of global hypoperfusion or ischemia in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres during left ICA clamping. Transient and slight motor weakness of the left upper extremity was noted on recovery from anesthesia. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated the development of new spotty ischemic lesions only in the right cerebral hemisphere. The present case suggests that intraoperative cerebral embolism causing postoperative neurological deficits can develop exclusively in the cerebral hemisphere contralateral to CEA if the hemisphere has preoperative hemodynamic impairment and collateral circulation via the anterior communicating artery from the ICA ipsilateral to CEA.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine whether preoperative cerebral blood flow (CBF) or cortical central benzodiazepine receptor binding potential as measured by brain perfusion or I-123-iomazenil (IMZ) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging, respectively, can predict cognitive improvement after uncomplicated carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Methods: Neuropsychological testing was performed preoperatively and after 1 month postoperatively in 140 patients who underwent CEA for unilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis (>= 70%). Brain perfusion SPECT using N-isopropyl-p-[I-123]-iodoamphetamine and IMZ SPECT was also performed before surgery. SPECT data were analyzed using a 3-dimensional stereotaxic region-of-interest template. Results: Fourteen patients (10%) showed improved cognitive function postoperatively. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that, among the variables tested, low relative CBF in the cerebral hemisphere ipsilateral to surgery was significantly associated with postoperative cognitive improvement (95% confidence interval: 0.623-0.868; P = 0.0003). The combination of reduced relative CBF and moderately reduced relative uptake of IMZ identified development of postoperative cognitive improvement with 100.0% sensitivity, 84.9% specificity, a positive predictive value of 42.4%, and a negative predictive value of 100%. Further, in a subgroup of patients with reduced relative CBF and moderately reduced relative uptake of IMZ, the difference between these 2 values was significantly greater in patients with postoperative cognitive improvement than in those without (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: The combination of preoperative CBF and cortical central benzodiazepine receptor binding potential as determined by SPECT can predict cognitive improvement after CEA.

PURPOSE: Cerebral hyperperfusion following carotid endarterectomy (CEA) occurs in patients with preoperative impairments in cerebral hemodynamics. The aim of the present study was to determine whether late images/early images on preoperative brain (123)I-iomazenil (IMZ) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which correlate with oxygen extraction fraction images on positron emission tomography, could identify patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion following endarterectomy for unilateral cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. METHODS: In 80 patients, preoperative brain SPECT scans were initiated immediately after (early images) and 180 min after (late images) administration of (123)I-IMZ. A region of interest (ROI) was automatically placed in the middle cerebral artery territory in both the cerebral hemispheres using a three-dimensional stereotaxic ROI template. Transcranial regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO(2)) was monitored using near-infrared spectroscope throughout carotid endarterectomy, and a patient was defined as having cerebral hyperperfusion when a ratio of rSO(2) at the end of the surgery to rSO(2) before ICA clamping was ≥ 1.1. RESULTS: Cerebral hyperperfusion was observed on intraoperative rSO(2) monitoring in eight patients (10%). Preoperative increase in affected side-to-contralateral side asymmetry on late/early (123)I-IMZ value was the only significant independent predictor of cerebral hyperperfusion (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.606 to 8.710; P = 0.0010). The preoperative late/early (123)I-IMZ asymmetry corresponded to an 88% sensitivity and 89% specificity, with 47% positive- and 98% negative-predictive values for the development of cerebral hyperperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative late/early (123)I-IMZ images can identify patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion following endarterectomy for unilateral cervical ICA stenosis.

Background: While the combination of an angiotensin receptor blocker with thiazide diuretics produces a clinically beneficial reduction in blood pressure in patients who otherwise only partially respond to monotherapy with an angiotensin receptor blocker, blood pressure-lowering therapy with combination antihypertensive drug regimens in patients with cerebral hemodynamic impairment may adversely affect cerebral hemodynamics. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to determine whether blood pressure-lowering therapy with the combination of the angiotensin receptor blocker losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide (LPH) worsens brain perfusion in patients with both hypertension and cerebral hemodynamic impairment due to symptomatic chronic major cerebral artery steno-occlusive disease. Methods: Patients with losartan-resistant hypertension and reduced cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to acetazolamide due to symptomatic chronic internal carotid artery (ICA) or middle cerebral artery (MCA) steno-occlusive disease were prospectively entered into the present study and received 50 mg/day of losartan plus 12.5 mg/day of hydrochlorothiazideat 14 weeks after the last ischemic event. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and CVR were measured before and 12 weeks after initiating LPH using N-isopropyl-p-[I-123]iodoamphetamine single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). A region of interest (ROI) was automatically placed in the MCA territory on each SPECT image using a three-dimensional stereotactic ROI template. Results: None of the 18 patients who participated in the study experienced any new neurological symptoms or adverse effects related to antihypertensive drugs. Systolic (p < 0.001) and diastolic (p < 0.001) blood pressures were significantly reduced after the administration of LPH, with average reductions of 11 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and 10 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure. While in the affected hemisphere CBF did not differ between measurements taken before and after the administration of LPH, CVR was significantly higher after the administration of LPH than before (p = 0.007) and was significantly improved in 5 of 18 patients. In the contralateral hemisphere, CBF and CVR did not differ between measurements taken before and after the administration of LPH. There were no patients who experienced a significant deterioration in CBF or CVR in the affected or contralateral hemisphere after the administration of LPH. Conclusions: Although the present study was exploratory and its results were preliminary due to the small sample size, the current data suggest that blood pressure-lowering therapy with LPH apparently does not result in worsening of cerebral hemodynamics in patients with both hypertension and cerebral hemodynamic impairment due to symptomatic chronic ICA or MCA steno-occlusive disease. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel