Effectiveness of bronchial thermoplasty in patients with asthma exhibiting overweight/obesity and low quality of life.

Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is effective in some severe asthma patients; however, the specific asthma phenotypes that produce a good response to BT are not fully understood. Clinical data were retrospectively reviewed in severe asthma patients who underwent BT at a single institution in Japan. At the follow-up assessment, the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) scores (P = 0.003), maintenance oral corticosteroid doses (P = 0.027), and exacerbation frequency (P = 0.017) were significantly improved, while prebronchodilator-forced expiratory volume in 1 second (% predicted) did not significantly change (P = 0.19). When we grouped the patients into 2 groups according to their body mass index levels, the AQLQ scores were more improved in patients with overweight/obesity than those with normal weight (P = 0.01). This study showed that patients with non-controlled severe asthma exhibiting overweight/obesity and low quality of life had potential benefits from BT.

[EFFECTIVENESS OF ADD-ON SUBLINGUAL IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF JAPANESE CEDAR POLLINOSIS-ASSOCIATED ALLERGIC ASTHMA IS IT POSSIBLE TO REDUCE THE DOSE OF INHALED CORTICOSTEROID BY ADDING SUBLINGUAL IMMUNOTHERAPY?]

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effect of adjuvant sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) on inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose in patients with pollinosis-associated asthma. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated patients with cedar pollinosis-associated asthma who initiated pharmacotherapy with or without adjuvant SLIT therapy from December 2014 to December 2016 and who continued treatment for 3 years. Changes in ICS dose (fluticasone propionate or its equivalent), antihistamine use, leukotriene antagonist use and intranasal corticosteroid (INCS) use over the 3-year period were compared. RESULTS: The study included 36 and 35 patients in the add-on SLIT and standard treatment groups, respectively. At 3 years, the add-on SLIT group showed a significant decline in ICS dose (p = 0.024). Although leukotriene antagonist use and INCS use did not differ between the two groups, the percentage of patients using antihistamines at 3 years was significantly lower in the add-on SLIT group than in the standard treatment group (p = 0.009); one in three patients on adjuvant SLIT therapy was able to discontinue ICS treatment. Patients who discontinued ICS treatment were younger (44.6±13.3 years vs. 55.0±14.1 years, p = 0.042), had a higher FEV1% predicted (109.9±14.4 vs. 94.8±18.6, p = 0.02), and were on a lower treatment step (2.1±0.7 vs. 3.0±0.8, p = 0.002) than those who did not. CONCLUSION: The addition of SLIT to standard pharmacotherapy resulted in a significant reduction in ICS dose at 3 years.

Pembrolizumab-associated bronchiolitis in an elderly lung cancer patient required the treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid, erythromycin and bronchodilators.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been used to treat lung cancer. Several types of ICI-related interstitial lung diseases have been reported, including organizing pneumonia, non-specific interstitial pneumonia, and diffuse alveolar damage. However, pembrolizumab-associated bronchiolitis requiring treatment for persistent cough has not yet been reported. Here, we describe a patient who developed dry cough while being treated with pembrolizumab for lung adenocarcinoma. Radiography and lung biopsy findings indicated bronchiolitis. His cough improved after the discontinuation of pembrolizumab and treatment with erythromycin, an inhaled corticosteroid, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist, and a long-acting ß2 agonist.

Interstitial Lung Disease as an Initial Manifestation of Giant Cell Arteritis.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) has rarely been reported as a manifestation of giant cell arteritis (GCA). We herein report a unique case of GCA in a 76-year-old woman who presented with ILD as an initial manifestation of GCA. Ten years before admission, she had been diagnosed with granulomatous ILD of unknown etiology. Corticosteroid therapy induced remission. One year after the cessation of corticosteroid therapy, she was admitted with a persistent fever. After admission, she developed left oculomotor paralysis. Positron emission tomography with 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-D-glucose integrated with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) proved extremely useful in establishing the diagnosis. Our case promotes awareness of GCA as a possible diagnosis for granulomatous ILD with unknown etiology.

Impact of body mass index on the location of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Although there have been some reports regarding body mass index (BMI) and subtypes of stroke, there have been few concerning the relationship between BMI and location of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Determining the location of spontaneous ICH is important because outcome is thought to be affected by its location. The aim of this study was to determine whether location of spontaneous ICH varied according to BMI level. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 463 patients with spontaneous ICH were divided into 3 groups according to BMI (kg/m(2)): <18.5 (underweight), 18.5 to 24.0 (normal weight), 24.0 to 29 (overweight), and >29.0 (obesity). We compared the clinical characteristics among patients with putaminal, thalamic, lobar, pontine, or cerebellar hemorrhage on univariate and multinominal logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the 5 locations, BMI level was lowest in patients with lobar hemorrhage and highest in those with pontine hemorrhage. Compared to patients with nonlobar hemorrhage, patients with lobar hemorrhage showed a higher proportion of individuals who were underweight, female, and age >70 years and a lower proportion who were hypertensive. Compared with patients with nonpontine hemorrhage, those with pontine hemorrhage showed a higher proportion of individuals who were obese. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that BMI can affect the location of spontaneous ICH.

Differences in vertebrobasilar artery morphology between spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissections with and without subarachnoid hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Patients with spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection (siVAD) developing subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) have been observed to have poor outcomes. Factors predisposing siVAD patients to SAH are not well known. We aimed to investigate the clinical and vertebrobasilar artery morphological characteristics associated with SAH in patients with siVAD. METHODS: We reviewed 103 consecutive patients with siVAD managed at our facility between July 2003 and June 2012. We divided the patients into groups, with (n = 22) and without (n = 81) SAH, and compared clinical and vertebrobasilar artery morphological characteristics between them. The vertebral-union-basilar angle (VUBA) was defined as the most acute angle between the line of the basilar artery trunk and the line of the vertebral artery at the vertebral union on 3-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomographic angiography, or digital subtraction angiography. 'Steep vertebral artery' was defined as VUBA >45°. Basilar artery bending was defined as the longest distance from the line which connected the basilar top and vertebral artery union to the greatest bending point of the basilar artery. RESULTS: Stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed using variables that were marginally or significantly associated with SAH on univariate analysis (p < 0.10) and that were thought to be clinically important for SAH. It showed SAH patients to have significantly higher proportions of current smoking (OR: 7.7; 95% CI: 2.7-22; p = 0.0015), dissection of the dominant vertebral artery (OR: 4.9; 95% CI: 1.8-13; p = 0.043), steep vertebral artery of the dissecting side (OR: 7.2; 95% CI: 2.6-20; p = 0.0023), posterior inferior cerebellar artery involvement (OR: 4.0; 95% CI: 1.3-13; p = 0.011), basilar artery bending <3 mm (OR: 3.4; 95% CI: 1.3-9.5; p = 0.0040), and pearl-and-string sign (OR: 5.7; 95% CI: 2.0-16; p = 0.0033). CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the clinical and vertebrobasilar artery morphological characteristics demonstrated in the present study may be related to SAH induced by siVAD. Although all patients with siVAD should be closely monitored, those with siVAD who have these characteristics should perhaps be more closely followed than those who do not have such features.

The effectiveness of a multidisciplinary QI activity for accidental fall prevention: staff compliance is critical.

BACKGROUND: Accidental falls among inpatients are a substantial cause of hospital injury. A number of successful experimental studies on fall prevention have shown the importance and efficacy of multifactorial intervention, though success rates vary. However, the importance of staff compliance with these effective, but often time-consuming, multifactorial interventions has not been fully investigated in a routine clinical setting. The purpose of this observational study was to describe the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary quality improvement (QI) activity for accidental fall prevention, with particular focus on staff compliance in a non-experimental clinical setting. METHODS: This observational study was conducted from July 2004 through December 2010 at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The QI activity for in-patient falls prevention consisted of: 1) the fall risk assessment tool, 2) an intervention protocol to prevent in-patient falls, 3) specific environmental safety interventions, 4) staff education, and 5) multidisciplinary healthcare staff compliance monitoring and feedback mechanisms. RESULTS: The overall fall rate was 2.13 falls per 1000 patient days (350/164331) in 2004 versus 1.53 falls per 1000 patient days (263/172325) in 2010, representing a significant decrease (p = 0.039). In the first 6 months, compliance with use of the falling risk assessment tool at admission was 91.5% in 2007 (3998/4368), increasing to 97.6% in 2010 (10564/10828). The staff compliance rate of implementing an appropriate intervention plan was 85.9% in 2007, increasing to 95.3% in 2010. CONCLUSION: In our study we observed a substantial decrease in patient fall rates and an increase of staff compliance with a newly implemented falls prevention program. A systematized QI approach that closely involves, encourages, and educates healthcare staff at multiple levels is effective.

Intraventricular hemorrhage on computed tomography and corpus callosum injury on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with isolated blunt traumatic brain injury.

OBJECT: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is widely regarded as one element of a complex involving severe blunt traumatic brain injury (TBI); corpus callosum injury (CCI) is recently considered to be one factor associated with poor outcome in patients with TBI. Although postmortem studies have focused on the relationship between IVH and CCI, there have been few investigations of IVH evidenced on CT scans as a predictor of CCI evidenced on MRI. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed prospectively collected data from 371 patients with blunt TBI, without trauma to the face, chest, abdomen, extremities, or pelvic girdle, requiring immediate therapeutic intervention. Their aim was to investigate whether IVH found on CT predicts CCI on MRI. Clinical and radiological data were collected between June 2003 and February 2011. First, the authors classified patients into groups of those with CCI and those without CCI, and they compared clinical and radiological findings between them. Then, they investigated prognostic factors that were related to the development of disability at 6 months after injury. The outcomes at 6 months after injury were evaluated using the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E). Finally, the authors evaluated the correlation between the severity of the IVH on CT and the number of CCI lesions on MRI. The severity of the IVH was defined by the number of ventricles in which IVH was seen, and the number of CCI lesions was counted on the MRI study. RESULTS: On multivariate logistic regression analysis, Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 9 (OR 2.70 [95% CI 1.10-6.27]), traffic accident (OR 2.59 [95% CI 1.37-4.93]), and IVH on CT (OR 3.31 [95% CI 1.25-8.49]) were significantly related to CCI. Multivariate analysis also showed that older age (p = 0.0001), male sex (OR 3.26 [95% CI 1.46-8.08], p = 0.0065), Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 9 (OR 8.27 [95% CI 3.39-21.4], p < 0.0001), evidence of IVH on CT (OR 4.09 [95% CI 1.45-11.9], p = 0.0081), and evidence of CCI on MRI (OR 8.32 [95% CI 3.89-18.8], p < 0.0001) were associated with future development of disability (GOS-E score ≤ 6). Furthermore, simple regression analysis revealed the existence of a strong correlation between the severity of IVH and the number of CCI lesions (r = 0.0668, p = 0.0022). CONCLUSIONS: The authors' results suggest that evidence of IVH on CT may indicate CCI, which can lead to disability in patients with isolated blunt TBI.

Relationships among hematoma diameter, location categorized by vascular territory, and 1-year outcome in patients with cerebellar hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: Some studies have investigated the relationship between anatomic location and outcome in patients with cerebellar hemorrhage (CH), but not as yet the relationship between location of CH, as categorized according to vascular territory, and outcome. Furthermore, other studies have shown that taking antithrombotics was related to having CH; however, there have been no studies assessing the relationship between antithrombotics and the location of CH. The aim of this study was to determine whether the outcome of patients with CH at 1-year after onset differed depending on antithrombotic use and lesion location. METHODS: A retrospective, single-institution study involving 53 patients with CH was conducted. Location of the CH, categorized by vascular territory, was classified as either superior cerebellar artery hemorrhage (SCAH), anterior inferior cerebellar artery hemorrhage, or posterior inferior cerebellar artery hemorrhage. Outcome was evaluated using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) and mRS was divided into good (mRS ≤2) or poor (mRS ≥3). RESULTS: Thirty-four patients had SCAH, 5 had anterior inferior cerebellar artery hemorrhage, and 14 had posterior inferior cerebellar artery hemorrhage. Patients with poor outcome had higher proportions of Glasgow coma scale score ≤8, SCAH, intraventricular bleeding, hydrocephalus, and maximal transverse diameter ≥30 mm by univariate analysis. After multivariate analysis, Glasgow coma scale score ≤8 and SCAH showed a significant association with poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome at 1-year after onset differed by location of the CH lesion as categorized according to vascular territory. SCAH was related to poor outcome by a larger maximal transverse diameter of hematoma and hydrocephalus.

Vasopressin secretion by hypertonic saline infusion during hemodialysis: effect of cardiopulmonary recirculation.

BACKGROUND: Intradialytic hypotension is the most common and severe acute complication of hemodialysis therapy. In our previous study, infusion of 20 mL of 10% saline into the venous line of a dialyzer increased blood pressure during dialysis hypotension by stimulating arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion, independent of its effect on plasma volume (PV). This study examines the mechanism by which a small amount of hypertonic solution stimulates AVP secretion. METHODS: Hemodialysis patients were infused with 20 mL of 2.5 M saline (100 mOsm) over 5 (Protocol 1) or 2 min (Protocol 2) or with isotonic saline (Protocol 3) into the venous line. RESULTS: Arterial plasma osmolality (Posm) increased by 28.1 and 16.0 (P < 0.0001), while peripheral venous Posm increased by only 8.6 and 8.9 mOsm/kg H(2)O (P < 0.001) in Protocols 2 and 1, respectively. Plasma AVP (P(AVP)) increased significantly by 18.6 and 5.6 pg/mL, PV by 7.2 and 5.5% and mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 15.0 and 7.2 mmHg in Protocols 2 and 1, respectively. Thus, there were large differences in Posm between arterial and peripheral venous blood; osmolar gap, P(AVP) and MAP increased in proportion to the infusion rate. Isotonic saline (30.8 mOsm) infusion increased PV by 8.7% and MAP by 7.2 mmHg. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that by a mechanism similar to cardiopulmonary recirculation, hypertonic saline infusion caused a striking increase in arterial Posm that enhanced AVP secretion and raised blood pressure. The effect of hypertonic saline on PV was less than one-third of isotonic saline under similar osmolar loads.

Genu of corpus callosum as a prognostic factor in diffuse axonal injury.

OBJECT: Previous studies have shown a relationship between a patient's stage of diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and outcome. However, few studies have assessed whether a specific lesion or type of corpus callosum injury (CCI) influences outcome in patients with DAI. The authors investigated the effect of various DAIs and CCIs on outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed 78 consecutive patients with DAI who were seen between May 2004 and March 2010. Outcome was evaluated using the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (EGOS) 1 year after TBI. Patients with single DAIs had only 1 of the 3 lesions (lobar, CC, or brainstem). Patients with dual DAIs had 2 of these lesions, and those with triple DAIs had all of these lesions. Furthermore, the authors defined single, dual, and triple CCIs by using 3 lesions (genu, body, splenium) in the same way among patients with single (CC) DAIs. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationships between these lesions and outcome in patients with DAI. RESULTS: Fifty patients had single DAIs: 34 in the lobar area, 11 in the CC, and 5 in the brainstem. Twenty had dual DAIs, and 8 had triple DAIs. Of the 11 CCIs, 9 were single and 2 were dual CCIs. Among these lesions, only those in the genu were related to disability. The authors dichotomized patients into those with and without genu lesions, regardless of other injuries. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that a genu lesion (OR 18, 95% CI 2.2-32; p = 0.0021) and a pupillary abnormality (OR 14, 95% CI 1.6-24; p = 0.0068) were associated with disability (EGOS ≤ 6) in patients with DAI. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of the number of lesions, the existence of a genu lesion suggested disability 1 year after TBI in patients with DAI.

Genu of corpus callosum in diffuse axonal injury induces a worse 1-year outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown a relationship between diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and unfavorable clinical outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), but it remains unclear whether the type of DAI lesion influences outcome after TBI. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether 1-year outcome after TBI differed between patients with different types of lesions. METHODS: A retrospective, single-institution study involving 261 patients with TBI was carried out between April 2003 and December 2009. Outcome was measured using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 1 year after TBI. DAI lesions occurred in the lobar region, corpus callosum (CC), and brainstem. CC lesions were subdivided into three types: genu, body, and splenium. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationships between clinical characteristics and outcome for each type of DAI lesion and each type of CC lesion in patients with TBI. FINDINGS: Sixty-nine patients had DAI lesions: 34 in the lobar region, 30 in the CC, and five in the brainstem. Of the 30 patients with CC lesions, ten each were found in the genu, body, and splenium. Each DAI, CC, and genu lesion was significantly associated with unfavorable outcome 1 year after TBI by multivariate analysis using variables that were significantly associated with unfavorable outcome as determined by univariate analysis after adjustment for age. CONCLUSIONS: CC lesions, especially those in the genu, were related to unfavorable 1-year outcome in patients with TBI.

Comparison of clinical characteristics and MR angiography appearance in patients with spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection with or without subarachnoid hemorrhage.

OBJECT: It is well known that spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection (siVAD) is an important cause of nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The factors that influence whether SAH develops, however, remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether clinical characteristics and imaging findings are different in patients with siVAD with SAH compared to those with siVAD without SAH. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective, single-institution study involving patients in whom siVAD developed with or without SAH, between July 2003 and November 2010. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate clinical characteristics and MR angiography findings. The vertebral-union-basilar angle (VUBA) was defined as the most acute angle between line of the basilar artery trunk and line of the vertebral angle (VA) at the vertebral union on 3D MR angiograms. RESULTS: Among 58 patients with siVAD, 21 developed SAH. The presence of siVAD and SAH was significantly associated with higher rates of current smoking (OR 13; 95% CI 3.6-38; p < 0.0001), dissection of the dominant VA (OR 9.2; 95% CI 2.5-19; p = 0.0004), and unruptured supratentorial nondissecting saccular aneurysms (OR 11; 95% CI 2.1-19; p = 0.0025), and the VUBA of the dominant VA was significantly larger (p < 0.0001, univariate analysis). Multivariate analysis showed that these differences were still significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A larger VUBA of the dominant VA, the presence of unruptured supratentorial nondissecting saccular aneurysms, and current smoking may be factors that predict which patients with siVAD will develop SAH by dominant VAD.

Antiplatelet agents are risk factors for cerebellar hemorrhage in patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage.

Some reports have suggested that the location of primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is affected by oral antithrombotic agents (ATs). This is important, given the increasing use of ATs to treat arteriosclerotic disease. The aim of this study was to explore whether oral AT therapy increase the incidence of any specific location of primary ICH. A retrospective, single-institution study involving 410 Japanese patients with primary ICH was conducted between July 2003 and June 2009. Bivariate analyses (ie, Fisher's exact 2-tailed test, Student's t test, Welch's test, Wilcoxon's rank-sum test, Pearson's χ(2) test) and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed for clinical characteristics of these patients. Of the 410 patients, 20% were taking ATs before the onset of primary ICH. The incidence of cerebellar hemorrhage (CH) exceeded that of other types of hemorrhage in patients taking ATs, and the difference was statistically significant on bivariate analysis (P < .0001). On multivariate analysis, only antiplatelet (AP) therapy was found to significantly increase the frequency of CH in patients with primary ICH (P = .0035). Our data indicate that taking APs before the onset of ICH a related factor for CH in Japanese patients with primary ICH.

Relationship between nursing workloads and patient safety incidents.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between nursing workloads and patient safety incidents in inpatient wards of a general hospital. METHODS: A retrospective data analysis was conducted involving the internal medicine wards in a teaching hospital in Japan between July 1st and December 31st, 2006. To assess associations between nursing workloads and patient safety incidents, we analyzed the following: the relationships between the level of patients' dependency and the number of incident reports; and the relationships between the presence of accidental falls and the presence of patients transferred from the intensive care unit to the wards. RESULTS: Fifty-five nurses worked on the wards (105 beds). The total number of incidents was 142 over the 184 days of this study. There was a positive trend between the number of incidents and the total patient dependency score. The presence of accidental falls in the wards was associated with the presence of transfers from the intensive care unit to the wards (odds ratio 3.14, 95% confidence interval: 1.48, 6.65). CONCLUSION: Greater nursing workloads may be related to the higher number of patient safety incidents in inpatient wards of hospitals.

Desmoplastic malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: autopsy reveals asbestos exposure.

Desmoplastic mesothelioma is a rare subtype of diffuse malignant mesothelioma, and is often difficult to distinguish from reactive pleural fibrosis because of associated extensive collagen fibrosis. An 82-year-old woman with a severe cough was revealed to have pleural effusion and diffuse pleural thickening on the right side. Antibiotics were ineffective, and a compression fracture of the ninth and tenth thoracic vertebral bodies was recognized on X-ray. Autopsy revealed a diffuse pleural thickening with hyalinized collagen tissue in the central part of the pleura. However, the peripheral part of the fibrous tissue was composed of spindle and polygonal cell proliferation that were immunohistochemically positive for antibodies against cytokeratin and vimentin. In addition, the ninth and tenth thoracic spines were infiltrated by similar cells. The condition was diagnosed as desmoplastic mesothelioma with bone metastases. Asbestos bodies were detected in the thickened pleura and fibrosed alveolar septa, and it was suggested retrospectively that the patient had been exposed to asbestos. Thus, autopsy analyses of fibrous pleurisy are necessary to detect a desmoplastic variant of mesothelioma of the pleura and its association with asbestos exposure.