[A CASE OF MILIARY TUBERCULOSIS ORIGINATED FROM CUTANEOUS INFECTION].

An 86-year-old woman with severe dementia had been treated with oral prednisolone at 2 mg/day for autoimmune bullous dermatosis for several years. One year ago, she referred to our hospital due to an ulcerative skin lesion over the right tibial tuberosity. The lesion was treated by an iodine-containing ointment, but did not heal. Subsequently, a new skin lesion appeared in the right popliteal fossa. One month ago, the patient had increased sputum production that was accompanied by fever, anorexia, and dyspnea; consequently, she visited our department. Chest computed tomography revealed diffuse micronodules with ground-glass attenuation. Acid-fast bacteria staining of the sputum was positive and the polymerase chain reaction detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition, the bacilli were also found in the skin lesions of the right limb. Therefore, a diagnosis of cutaneous, and miliary tuberculosis was made. Although the anti-tuberculous combination chemotherapy consisting of isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol was immediately initiated, her condition did not improve. She died on day 19 of hospitalization. Drug susceptibility testing revealed no resistance to all the three drugs; hence, it was concluded that the time-delay in diagnosis of cutaneous tuberculosis lead to the progression to miliary tuberculosis and subsequent death.

[THREE CASES OF DRUG-INDUCED PNEUMONIA CAUSED BY MESALAZINE].

We report three cases of drug-induced pneumonia caused by mesalazine. They were all diagnosed as ulcerative colitis and treated with mesalazine orally. Our three cases and literature review revealed that mesalazine-induced pneumonia resemble like eosinophilic pneumonia or organizing pneumonia and that have good prognosis with drug cessation or administration of corticosteroid. The patient of ulcerative colitis is increasing every year and it is anticipated that the patient with mesalazine-induced pneumonia may also increase. In the treatment of ulcerative colitis with mesalazine, we should pay attention with patient's cough or fever for early detection of drug-induced pneumonia.

Fabrication and conductive properties of multilayered ultrathin films designed by layer-by-layer assembly of water-soluble fullerenes.

Fullerene ultrathin films were fabricated by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of an anionic fullerene C(61)(COO(-))(2) (FDCA) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) or a cationic fullerene C(60)C(2)H(4)N(CH(3))(2)(+) (FMAC) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS). The dynamic light scattering and zeta-potential measurements revealed that both water-soluble fullerenes are stably dispersed as polyelectrolytes with a diameter of 20-70 nm for FDCA and 60-180 nm for FMAC in aqueous solutions. In spite of such large fullerene aggregates, the thickness of fullerene LbL films increased regularly by a few nanometers with each deposition, and the resultant LbL films were homogeneous. For FMAC/PSS LbL films, the monolayer thickness was evaluated to be 4 nm for FMAC and 0.5 nm for the PSS layer. In other words, the volume fraction of the fullerene moiety is as high as approximately 80 vol %. The conductivity of fullerene LbL films was comparable to that of a C(60)-dispersed polystyrene film with a similar fullerene fraction, suggesting that there exist effective percolating networks due to the high fullerene fraction in the LbL films. The electron mobility of FMAC/PSS LbL films was as high as 3 x 10(-5) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), which is comparable to the hole mobility of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) LbL films reported previously.

Distinctive impact of pre-existing interstitial lung disease on the risk of chemotherapy-related lung injury in patients with lung cancer.

PURPOSE: Pre-existing interstitial lung disease (pre-ILD) increases the risk of chemotherapy-related lung injury (CRLI). However, whether the risk varies by type of anti-cancer cytotoxic agent in patients with pre-ILD is unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine agent, is associated with a smaller CRLI risk than docetaxel (DTX) and investigated these agents together with radiological evaluations of pre-ILD via pre-treatment chest computed tomography (CT). METHODS: After reviewing 234 and 352 patients who underwent evaluable chest CT within 6 months prior to the administration of S-1 or DTX, respectively, from January 2006 to October 2014, 60 and 89, respectively, of these patients with pre-ILD were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: In total, 2 persons administered S-1 (3 %) and 16 treated with DTX (18 %) developed CRLI (p = 0.007) after the initial treatment (mean, 61 days), of whom 1 and 7, respectively, died because of respiratory failure. Pre-treatment CT revealed that 9 S-1-treated patients (16 %) and 15 DTX-treated patients (17 %) had pre-ILD occupying more than 25 % of the lung field. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that DTX administration increased the risk of CRLI by 6.47-fold versus S-1 therapy (p = 0.016). Of note, the area occupied by pre-ILD was also associated with the risk of CRLI (<25 %; odds ratio 0.309, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that S-1 is associated with a smaller risk of CRLI than DTX. The area occupied by pre-ILD should also be noted when administrating anti-cancer agents.

Impact of Preexisting Interstitial Lung Disease on Acute, Extensive Radiation Pneumonitis: Retrospective Analysis of Patients with Lung Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the clinical characteristics and predictive factors for developing acute extended radiation pneumonitis with a focus on the presence and radiological characteristics of preexisting interstitial lung disease. METHODS: Of 1429 irradiations for lung cancer from May 2006 to August 2013, we reviewed 651 irradiations involving the lung field. The presence, compatibility with usual interstitial pneumonia, and occupying area of preexisting interstitial lung disease were retrospectively evaluated by pretreatment computed tomography. Cases of non-infectious, non-cardiogenic, acute respiratory failure with an extended bilateral shadow developing within 30 days after the last irradiation were defined as acute extended radiation pneumonitis. RESULTS: Nine (1.4%) patients developed acute extended radiation pneumonitis a mean of 6.7 days after the last irradiation. Although preexisting interstitial lung disease was found in 13% of patients (84 patients), 78% of patients (7 patients) with acute extended radiation pneumonitis cases had preexisting interstitial lung disease, which resulted in incidences of acute extended radiation pneumonitis of 0.35 and 8.3% in patients without and with preexisting interstitial lung disease, respectively. Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that the presence of preexisting interstitial lung disease (odds ratio = 22.6; 95% confidence interval = 5.29-155; p < 0.001) and performance status (≥2; odds ratio = 4.22; 95% confidence interval = 1.06-20.8; p = 0.049) were significant predictive factors. Further analysis of the 84 patients with preexisting interstitial lung disease revealed that involvement of more than 10% of the lung field was the only independent predictive factor associated with the risk of acute extended radiation pneumonitis (odds ratio = 6.14; 95% confidence interval = 1.0-37.4); p = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment computed tomography evaluations of the presence of and area size occupied by preexisting interstitial lung disease should be assessed for safer irradiation of areas involving the lung field.