Cecal volvulus caused by endometriosis in a young woman.

BACKGROUND: Cecal volvulus is relatively rare. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, a case of cecal volvulus caused by endometriosis has not yet been reported. CASE PRESENTATION: A 41-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a 14-day history of subacute intermittent right lower quadrant abdominal pain. Simple abdominal radiography and abdominal computed tomography findings were suggestive of sigmoid volvulus, and she underwent an emergency colonoscopy. Following colonoscopic reduction, the patient's symptoms resolved quickly, and elective laparoscopic surgery was scheduled 2 weeks after admission. Intraoperative examination revealed a significantly distended cecum and ascending colon, which was twisted around a short rope-like adhesion that connected the cecum and the mesentery of the transverse colon, whereas the sigmoid colon was neither twisted nor extended. We laparoscopically performed an ileocecal resection. The postsurgery histopathological examination revealed the presence of endometrial tissue in the short rope-like adhesion. This finding confirmed that cecal volvulus in this patient was caused by endometriosis. CONCLUSION: Cecal volvulus should be considered in relatively young women who present with atypical right lower abdominal pain. Whenever possible, secondary factors should be evaluated preoperatively, especially in relatively young patients.

[Heat illness in children].

A child's heatstroke is an unexpected accident; however, we are able to prevent it analyzing the situation which occurred, and its cause. The large-scale research about a child's heatstroke had not been carried out to the past in Japan. According to Heatstroke STUDY, more than 90% of a child's heatstroke were aged 6 and over; furthermore, 70% of those children were doing sports. I expect that this result will lead to prevention of a child's heatstroke further from now on.

[Pediatric basic life support].

The new international consensus and guidelines were published by American Heart Association in October 2010. These guidelines include many important changes in pediatric basic life support(BLS) based on many evidences. Especially in children, asphyxial cardiac arrest has been more common than cardiac arrest and only one third to one half victims can receive bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR). According to new guidelines, "CAB" (Chest compressions/Circulation, Airway, and Breathing/ventilation) is recommended instead of "ABC" sequence. In addition, pediatric chain of survival is revised and the section of "Look, Listen, Feel" is deleted. These changes are recommended in order to simplify training with the hope that more pediatric victims will consequently receive bystander CPR.

Biobased polymer system: miniemulsion of poly(alkyl methacrylate-graft-lactic acid)s.

To broaden the application scope of lactic acid polymers, a new miniemulsion of poly(alkyl methacrylate-graft-lactic acid)s has been developed. The graft copolymer synthesis was based on a poly(lactic acid) macromonomer having a methacryloyl polymerizable group. The macromonomer and a comonomer of n-butyl methacrylate together with a suitable surfactant formed a miniemulsion of the comonomers in water. A radical copolymerization of the comonomers took place to produce the graft copolymer as a stable miniemulsion. The copolymer showed elastic polymer properties. The miniemulsion system may find useful applications as a new biobased polymer material that is environmentally desirable.

Bone formation ability of carbonate apatite-collagen scaffolds with different carbonate contents.

Hydroxyapatite and carbonate apatites with different carbonate contents were synthesized, mixed with atelocollagen, and made into sponge scaffolds. The scaffolds were implanted into the bone sockets of the femurs of male New Zealand white rabbits for 2, 3, 12 and 24 weeks. carbonate apatite-collagen scaffold with 4.8 wt% carbonate content appeared to have similar crystallinity and chemical composition to human bone. When the scaffolds were implanted into the rabbit femurs, histological observation indicated that the carbonate apatites-collagen scaffolds with relatively higher carbonate contents were gradually deformed throughout the implantation period, and showed uniform surrounding bone after 24 weeks and could not be distinguished. The carbonate apatite-collagen scaffold with 4.8 wt% carbonate content showed the highest bone area ratio of all of the scaffolds. It is suggested that a carbonate apatite-collagen scaffold with carbonate content similar to that of human bone may have optimal bone formation ability.