Current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan: 1999 survey.

PURPOSE: The eighth annual survey was carried out by mail in February 2000 to investigate the current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan. RESPONDENTS: Questionnaires were sent to 930 ophthalmologist members of the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Data received from 457 (49.1%) of the recipients were cross-analyzed and compared with those from the previous surveys. RESULTS: In cataract surgery, 17% of respondents were doing 51 or more cases per month, 94% preferred phacoemulsification, 58% employed the self-sealing wound closure technique, and 26% used topical anesthesia for phacoemulsification. In refractive surgery, excimer laser surgery and astigmatic keratotomy attracted notably high interest, while less attention was directed toward radial keratotomy and intrastromal corneal ring. Laser in situ keratomileusis, photorefractive keratectomy, phakic intraocular lens, intrastromal corneal ring, and radial keratotomy were judged to be useful refractive surgical procedures by 69.0%, 40.0%, 24.6%, 14.2%, and 8.0% of the respondents, respectively. CONCLUSION: There are trends toward more surgical procedures performed by a surgeon, shorter period of hospitalization, and increasing preference for small incision cataract surgery. Refractive surgery is not yet widely performed, but laser in situ keratomileusis is viewed as the most promising procedure.

Current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan: 1996 survey.

A fifth annual survey was carried out by mail in February 1997 to investigate the current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan. A questionnaire was sent to 867 ophthalmologist members of the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Data received from 440 (50.7%) of the recipients were cross-analyzed and compared with those from the previous surveys. For cataract surgery, there have been trends toward more surgical procedures performed by a surgeon, shorter period of hospitalization, and increased number of outpatient surgery. Ninety percent of respondents preferred phacoemulsification, 42% employed the self-sealing wound closure technique, and 26% used topical anesthesia for phacoemulsification. As for refractive surgery, surgeons remained rather conservative, with 26% and 6% of surgeons doing astigmatic keratotomy and refractive keratotomy, respectively.

Quantitative cytology of nasal secretions and scrapings in Japanese cedar pollinosis patients.

To explore the dynamics of the cellular response to natural allergen exposure, the authors of this study performed quantitative cytology in both the nasal secretions and nasal scrapings of 16 normal control subjects and 23 Japanese cedar pollinosis patients before and during the pollen season. In nasal scrapings, the number of metachromatic cells increased significantly during the pollen season, although there was no significant difference between the normal subjects and the preseason pollinosis patients. The cell differential count in the patients with pollinosis showed that lymphocytes were predominant in scrapings; however, the majority of inflammatory cells in the nasal secretions were neutrophils before the season and eosinophils during the season. The study findings suggest that the appearance of metachromatic cells in nasal scrapings is specific to the pollen exposure and that the cytology in nasal secretions is significantly different from that in nasal scrapings.

Current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan--1995 survey.

A fourth annual survey was carried out by mail in February 1996 to investigate the current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan. A questionnaire was sent to 911 ophthalmologist members of the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Data received from 46.7% of the recipients were cross-analyzed and compared with those from the previous surveys.

[Hepatocellular carcinoma with a complete remission of bone metastasis achieved by arterial chemotherapy].

Reported is the case of a hepatocellular carcinoma with a complete remission of the bone metastasis by arterial chemotherapy. The patient was 60 year old male, with the chief complaint being a tumor at the right side of the chest. The diagnosis was a hepatocellular carcinoma with a bone metastasis at the right 10th rib. The bone tumor showed no decrease in size after an intra-arterial injection of adriamycin, and radiation and or hyperthermia. Therefore, intra-arterial injections of mitomycin C mixed with lipiodol were instituted through the intercostal artery, and no bone tumor was noted after start of this therapy. Although the patient subsequently died, microscopic examination of a specimen obtained at autopsy revealed no malignant cells at the right 10th rib. Intra-arterial injections of anticancer agents mixed with lipiodol therefore are thought to be useful for the treatment of a bone metastasis.

Effects of myringotomy and orally administered drugs on viscosity and elasticity of middle ear effusions from children with otitis media with effusion.

Clinical and rheological studies were performed on 42 children with otitis media with effusion. Twenty-one patients received S-carboxymethylcysteine (group A), and the other 21 patients were administered Kampo medicine (group B), a Japanese traditional herbal medicine, for 4 weeks following myringotomy. At the end of the 4-week treatment period, 47.2% of the ears in group A and 40.5% in group B were regarded as being free from middle ear effusion (MEE). For rheologically thick MEEs, where the viscosity (eta') and elasticity (G') are much greater than the optimal values for mucociliary transport, post-treatment values of eta' for group A decreased significantly, but those of G' did not, in comparison with pre-treatment values. No such changes in either eta' or G' were observed in group B. Results suggests that the combined therapy for myringotomy and oral SCMC is effective for improving the rheological properties of thick MEE in children.

[Chemotherapy with Cisplatin-Phosphatidyl-choline-Lipiodol (CPL) suspension in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma].

Twenty-seven patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were treated with Cisplatin-Phosphatidyl-choline-Lipiodol (CPL) suspension. PR was obtained in two of ten cases (20%) by one shot therapy. AFP decreased in 9 of 10 patients by one shot therapy with a 62.1% rate of decrease. In all of 13 patients by TAE, AFP decreased and the rate of decrease was 64.8%. The concentration of CDDP in the peripheral venous blood was lower and continued longer than that of CDDP on the market. Nausea, vomiting and fever were noted in most cases as adverse effects, but they were slight. These results suggest that CPL agents were very chemotherapeutic for unresectable HCC.