Assessment of the Physical Invasiveness of Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy during the Perioperative Period Based on Changes in Energy Metabolism.

A novel treatment method for achalasia of the esophagus and related disorders is known as peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). This study aimed to calculate the resting energy expenditure (REE) and evaluated the degree of physical invasiveness based on metabolic changes during the perioperative period of POEM. Fifty-eight patients who underwent POEM were prospectively enrolled; REE, body weight (BW), and basal energy expenditure were measured on the day of POEM, postoperative day 1 (POD 1), and three days after POEM (POD 3). The median REE/BW increased from 19.6 kcal/kg on the day of POEM to 24.5 kcal/kg on POD 1. On POD 3, it remained elevated at 20.9 kcal/kg. The stress factor on POD 1 was 1.20. Among the factors, including the Eckardt score, operation time, and the length of myotomy, the length of myotomy was associated with changes in REE/BW. During the perioperative period of POEM, the level of variation in energy expenditure was lower than that of esophageal cancer surgeries performed under general anesthesia. However, because the length of myotomy is a factor affecting changes in energy expenditure, careful perioperative management is desirable for patients with longer myotomy lengths.

Evaluation of Crohn's Disease Small-Bowel Mucosal Healing Using Capsule Endoscopy and Usefulness of Leucine-Rich α2-Glycoprotein.

Recently, the importance of achieving clinical and deep remissions with mucosal healing (MH) has been demonstrated as a therapeutic goal to avoid Crohn's disease (CD) surgical operations. Although ileocolonoscopy (CS) is considered the gold standard, there are increasing reports on the benefits of capsule endoscopy (CE) and serum leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG) for evaluating small-bowel lesions in CD. We evaluated the data of 20 patients with CD who underwent CE in our department between July 2020 and June 2021 and whose serum LRG level was measured within 2 months. Concerning the mean LRG value, there was no significant difference between the CS-MH and CS-non-MH groups. Conversely, the mean LRG level was 10.0 µg/mL in seven patients in the CE-MH group and 15.2 µg/mL in 11 patients in the CE-non-MH group with a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.0025). This study's findings show that CE can sufficiently determine total MH in most cases, and LRG is useful for evaluating CD small-bowel MH because of its correlation with CE-MH. Furthermore, satisfying CS-MH criteria and a cut-off value of 13.4 µg/mL for LRG suggests its usefulness as a CD small-bowel MH marker, which could be incorporated into the treat-to-target strategy.

Bacterial exposure risk to the endoscopist's face while performing endoscopy.

Objectives: Gastrointestinal endoscopy increases the risk of bacterial exposure to endoscopists. However, before 2019, most endoscopists did not pay attention to microorganism transmission from patients. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of bacterial exposure to endoscopists' faces during gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures using the bacterial culture method. Methods: This was a single-centered, retrospective study including endoscopists who performed various gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures at the Division of Endoscopy, Hirosaki University Hospital between August 31 and October 6, 2020. Endoscopists wore surgical masks and affixed pre-sterilized films over them. Following the gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures, attached microbes were collected from the endoscopists' surface films using sterilized swabs. Collected microorganisms were cultured on tryptic soy agar and 5% sheep blood agar, and the incidence of bacterial exposure was determined by bacterial culture positivity. Cultured bacteria were identified by gram staining and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Bacterial culture positivity was 12.6%, and it was significantly higher in therapeutic than in diagnostic endoscopy. Notably, therapeutic endoscopy increased bacterial culture positivity in colonoscopy, but not in esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Staphylococci, including Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus capitis, were the most commonly found bacteria in samples identified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Conclusions: The risk of bacterial exposure to the endoscopist's face was increased in colonoscopy treatment procedures. Therefore, endoscopists should be aware of the significant risk of microbial infection from scattering fluid that comes from the endoscopy's working channel.

Development of independent dose verification plugin using Eclipse scripting API for brachytherapy.

In this study, an independent dose verification plugin (DVP) using the Eclipse Scripting Application Programming Interface (ESAPI) for brachytherapy was developed. The DVP was based on the general 2D formalism reported in AAPM-TG43U1. The coordinate and orientation of each source position were extracted from the translation matrix acquired from the treatment planning system (TPS), and the distance between the source and verification point (r) was calculated. Moreover, the angles subtended by the center-tip and tip-tip of the hypothetical line source with respect to the verification point (θ and ß) were calculated. With r, θ, ß and the active length of the source acquired from the TPS, the geometry function was calculated. As the TPS calculated the radial dose function, g(r), and 2D anisotropy function, F(r,θ), by interpolating and extrapolating the corresponding table stored in the TPS, the DVP calculated g(r) and F(r,θ) independently from equations fitted with the Monte Carlo data. The relative deviation of the fitted g(r) and F(r,θ) for the GammaMed Plus HDR 192Ir source was 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. The acceptance range of the relative dose difference was set to ±1.03% based on the relative deviation between the fitted functions and Monte Carlo data, and the linear error propagation law. For 64 verification points from sixteen plans, the mean of absolute values of the relative dose difference was 0.19%. The standard deviation (SD) of the relative dose difference was 0.17%. The DVP maximizes efficiency and minimizes human error for the brachytherapy plan check.

Influence of Esophageal Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection on the Changes of Energy Metabolism during the Perioperative Period.

Esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is considered to be more complex than gastric ESD. This study aimed to assess the physical invasiveness of esophageal ESD during perioperative periods by measuring resting energy expenditure (REE). The factors affecting REE that could be used to identify patients requiring perioperative management were also investigated. Overall, 75 patients who had undergone esophageal ESD were prospectively enrolled. REE, body weight, and basal energy expenditure were measured on the day of and the day following ESD. The mean REE/body weight was 20.2 kcal/kg/day on the day of ESD and significantly increased to 23.0 kcal/kg/day one day after ESD. The stress factor on the day after ESD was 1.11. White blood cell, neutrophil, and C-reactive protein levels increased on the day after ESD and correlated with the changes in REE. Among the factors including age, body mass index, total resection area, operation time, and sarcopenia, only the total resection area was associated with changes in REE. In conclusion, energy metabolism increases during the perioperative period for esophageal ESD. The increase in the stress factor for esophageal ESD was higher than that in gastric and colorectal ESD. Furthermore, patients with large resection areas require greater attention in perioperative management.

Endoscopic and histopathologic features of Anti-PD-1-related collagenous colitis.

Objectives: Cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors occasionally show persistent diarrhea accompanied by endoscopic features of ulcerative colitis. The endoscopic mucosal inflammation may appear mild in some patients compared to the clinical severity, which can make choosing a treatment challenging. In this study, we evaluated the factors that support the continuation of chemotherapy by assessing the endoscopic and histopathological characteristics of patients who experienced diarrhea after immune checkpoint inhibitor administration. Methods: This study included eight patients who were diagnosed with collagenous colitis based on pathological assessments. We retrospectively investigated these patients' backgrounds, laboratory data, and computed tomography images that were extracted from their medical records. We also summarized their endoscopic and pathologic findings. Results: All eight patients were being treated with anti-programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death-ligand 1 therapeutic agents and had a recent history of oral proton pump inhibitor therapy. The anti-programmed cell death-1-related collagenous colitis in these cases was characterized by endoscopically mild mucosal inflammation, high fecal calprotectin levels, and a lower frequency of intestinal wall thickening on computed tomography. Histological assessments showed CD8+ lymphocytes predominantly infiltrating the lamina propria and crypts of the colonic mucosa. Suspending the proton pump inhibitor therapy relieved the patients' symptoms and allowed the continuation of the anti-programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death-ligand 1 therapy. Conclusions: Anti-programmed cell death-1-related collagenous colitis is reversible; appropriate diagnosis of adverse events is crucial for the continuation of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Toward High-Resolution Soil Moisture Monitoring by Combining Active-Passive Microwave and Optical Vegetation Remote Sensing Products with Land Surface Model.

The assimilation of radiometer and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is a promising recent technique to downscale soil moisture products, yet it requires land surface parameters and meteorological forcing data at a high spatial resolution. In this study, we propose a new downscaling approach, named integrated passive and active downscaling (I-PAD), to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution soil moisture datasets over regions without detailed soil data. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and Phased Array-type L-band SAR (PALSAR) data are combined through a dual-pass land data assimilation system to obtain soil moisture at 1 km resolution. In the first step, fine resolution model parameters are optimized based on fine resolution PALSAR soil moisture and moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) leaf area index data, and coarse resolution AMSR-E brightness temperature data. Then, the 25 km AMSR-E observations are assimilated into a land surface model at 1 km resolution with a simple but computationally low-cost algorithm that considers the spatial resolution difference. Precipitation data are used as the only inputs from ground measurements. The evaluations at the two lightly vegetated sites in Mongolia and the Little Washita basin show that the time series of soil moisture are improved at most of the observation by the assimilation scheme. The analyses reveal that I-PAD can capture overall spatial trends of soil moisture within the coarse resolution radiometer footprints, demonstrating the potential of the algorithm to be applied over data-sparse regions. The capability and limitation are discussed based on the simple optimization and assimilation schemes used in the algorithm.

Vimentin-positive gastric adenocarcinoma arising in a hyperplastic polyp.

We report a case of vimentin-positive early gastric adenocarcinoma arising in a hyperplastic polyp (HP). A 72-year-old Japanese man was admitted for the detailed examination of a gastric polyp. He had a subtotal gastrectomy due to acute abdomen 12 years ago. Upper endoscopy revealed a pedunculated polyp measuring approximately 2 cm on the greater curvature of upper body of the remnant stomach. Magnifying endoscopy revealed that the microsurface pattern was irregular and partially absent accompanied with irregular microvessels at the upper end of the polyp. We speculated that the lesion was an adenocarcinoma arising in the HP. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was performed. Histological examination of the ESD specimen revealed that the lesion consisted of well- to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma at the protruding lesion and foveolar hyperplastic epithelia at the base of the polyp. Immunohistochemically, most of tumor cells that comprised poorly-differentiated adenocarcinoma were positive for both cytokeratin and vimentin. Although carcinomas have occasionally been found in HPs, the histological features of the present case are considered extremely unusual. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of vimentin-positive early gastric carcinoma arising in a HP.

Assessment of interfractional prostate motion in patients immobilized in the prone position using a thermoplastic shell.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the interfractional prostate motion of patients immobilized in the prone position using a thermoplastic shell. A total of 24 patients with prostate calcifications detectable using a kilo-voltage X-ray image-guidance system (ExacTrac X-ray system) were examined. Daily displacements of the calcification within the prostate relative to pelvic bony structures were calculated by the ExacTrac X-ray system. The average displacement and standard deviation (SD) in each of the left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and superior-inferior (SI) directions were calculated for each patient. Based on the results of interfractional prostate motion, we also calculated planning target volume (PTV) margins using the van Herk formula and examined the validity of the PTV margin of our institute (a 9-mm margin everywhere except posteriorly, where a 6-mm margin was applied). In total, 899 data measurements from 24 patients were obtained. The average prostate displacements ± SD relative to bony structures were 2.8 ± 3.3, -2.0 ± 2.0 and 0.2 ± 0.4 mm, in the SI, AP and LR directions, respectively. The required PTV margins were 9.7, 6.1 and 1.4 mm in the SI, AP and LR directions, respectively. The clinical target volumes of 21 patients (87.5%) were located within the PTV for 90% or more of all treatment sessions. Interfractional prostate motion in the prone position with a thermoplastic shell was equivalent to that reported for the supine position. The PTV margin of our institute is considered appropriate for alignment, based on bony structures.

Radiation-induced reduction of osteoblast differentiation in C2C12 cells.

Therapeutic radiation causes bone damage and may increase fracture risks in treatment for head-and-neck cancer and in pelvic irradiation. These properties can also be used for prevention of heterotopic ossification in hip arthroplasty. To evaluate the effects of ionizing radiation on osteoblast differentiation, C2C12 cells were directed into an osteogenic lineage by treatment with a combination of bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP-2) (100 ng/ml) and heparin (30 mug/ml) 6 h after irradiation (2 and 4 Gy). Osteoblast differentiation was evaluated based on alkali phosphatase (ALP) activity and expression of mRNA encoding ALP and collagen type I. Ionizing radiation suppressed the growth of C2C12 cells and decreased expression of ALP and collagen type I mRNAs with concomitant reduction of the ALP activity. Although further studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanism, our findings suggest that ionizing radiation at therapeutic doses interferes with bone formation by reducing ALP activity and expression of mRNA encoding ALP and collagen type I.