Characteristics of Fecal Incontinence in Male Patients in Japan.

Objectives: Although community studies have shown no difference between the sexes in the prevalence of fecal incontinence (FI), few direct comparisons of disease characteristics between male and female patients have been reported. The aim of this study was to determine whether characteristics of FI differ between male and female patients in Japan.

Methods: Included in the study were 408 (149 men, 259 women) patients with FI who visited the Matsushima Hospital Coloproctology Center between October 2016 and September 2017.

A Novel Surgical Technique for Anal Fistula Surgery Designed to Preserve the Anal Sphincter Function and Anoderm.

Objectives: We reviewed surgical outcomes after introducing a novel surgical technique for anal fistula surgery designed to preserve anal sphincter function and the anoderm.

Methods: We studied 200 male patients who underwent a functional preservative operative technique (FPOT group) for anal fistulas and 200 patients who underwent resection of trans-sphincteric anal fistulas (fistulectomy group) between February 2014 and September 2015. We compared complications, such as those affecting anal sphincter function, recurrence, and incontinence.

Evaluation of Mucopexy-Recto Anal Lifting (MuRAL): A New Method for Treating Hemorrhoids.

Objectives: Ligation and excision remain the commonly recognized standard surgical modality for treating hemorrhoids. Further, impediments to surgical treatment owing to social factors and the need for minimally invasive procedures and other confounders have resulted in the adoption of the mucopexy-recto anal lifting (MuRAL) method which is associated with favorable outcomes. The objective of this study was to describe the procedure and report the outcomes in patients who underwent MuRAL.

A Case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease with Stroke-Like Onset.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a prion disease characterized by rapidly progressive dementia that is often followed by behavioral disturbances, ataxia, myoclonus, and akinetic mutism. The initial symptoms of CJD reportedly vary, but the onset is usually gradual. Here, we report a case of CJD with a sudden, stroke-like onset of right hemiparesis to alert readers that CJD can mimic a stroke during its early stage.

Enhancement of ordinal CoMFA by ridge logistic partial least squares.

Conventional comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) requires at least 3 orders of experimental data, such as IC 50 and K i, to obtain a good model, although practically there are many screening assays where biological activity is measured only by rating scale. To improve three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) analysis, we developed in this study a modified ordinal classification-oriented CoMFA using partial-least-squares generalized linear regression and ridge estimation. The modified Logistic CoMFA was validated using a corticosteroid binding globulin receptor binding data set, a benchmark for 3D-QSAR, and an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor data set.

Non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve with multiple arterial abnormalities.

Non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (NRILN) is a rare embryologic anomaly that can increase the risk of injury during thyroid surgery. Although the association between the NRILN and an aberrant right subclavian artery has been reported, to date there have been no reports describing cases of NRILN with multiple vascular abnormalities. A 60-year-old man with papillary thyroid carcinoma and a history of right internal carotid artery occlusion by thrombosis was examined with magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

A preliminary study of the draining lymph node basin in advanced lower rectal cancer using a radioactive tracer.

Purpose: This study was designed to examine the draining lymph node basin at highest risk of metastasis in lower rectal cancer using 99 mTc-tin colloid.

Methods: In 43 patients, the area with highest hot nodes density was defined as the draining lymph node basin using a gamma probe. Metastatic states of all removed lymph nodes were examined histologically.

Secretory phospholipases A2 stimulate mucus secretion, induce airway inflammation, and produce secretory hyperresponsiveness to neutrophil elastase in ferret trachea.

Secretory phospholipases A(2) (sPLA(2)) are increased in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with asthma and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Intratracheal sPLA(2) instillation induces acute lung injury in the rat and guinea pig. We hypothesized that sPLA(2) would stimulate mucus secretion in vitro and that intratracheal sPLA(2) exposure would induce mucus hypersecretion and airway inflammation in the ferret trachea in vivo.

Pulmonary function is negatively correlated with sputum inflammatory markers and cough clearability in subjects with cystic fibrosis but not those with chronic bronchitis.

Background: Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN)-dominated inflammation is prominent in the airways of subjects with cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic bronchitis (CB). Interleukin (IL)-8, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and DNA are markers of neutrophilic inflammation. We hypothesized that sputum MPO, DNA, and IL-8 concentrations would negatively correlate with pulmonary function and sputum transportability.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide stimulates mucus secretion, but nitric oxide has no effect on mucus secretion in the ferret trachea.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and nitric oxide (NO) are neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of bronchial and pulmonary vascular tone. Published studies of the effects of VIP on airway mucus secretion have yielded conflicting results. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of VIP on mucus secretion in the ferret trachea and if this effect was influenced by NO.

Hyperosmolar solutions stimulate mucus secretion in the ferret trachea.

Study Objectives: Inhalation of hypertonic saline or mannitol solutions acutely increases mucociliary clearance. Because increased clearance is often coupled with increased mucus secretion, we hypothesized that hyperosmolar agents would stimulate mucus secretion.

Setting And Subjects: The isolated tracheae of healthy young adult ferrets were studied in a basic research laboratory.