Internal medicine
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Case Reports
Past Endemic Izumi Fever or Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infection Which Sporadically Reappears.
Izumi fever (IF), also known as Far East scarlet-like fever (FESLF), is caused by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and it has clinical features resembling those of Kawasaki disease (KD). As both diseases are rare in adolescents and young adults, it is challenging to recognize them, thus often leading to a delayed diagnosis. ⋯ The second case was recognized earlier owing to our experience with the first case. Although cultures were negative in both cases, presumably due to the prior use of antimicrobial agents, our clinical suspicion and a paired serological assay for anti-Y. pseudotuberculosis antibodies finally led to a successful diagnosis.
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An elderly woman showed positive conversion of myeloperoxidase (MPO)-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) following the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and glomerular hematuria and subsequently experienced slowly progressive glomerulonephritis. A kidney biopsy revealed chronic damage and necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis with mesangial MPO deposits. ⋯ This case is similar to recently reported cases of slowly progressive ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis. ILD likely triggered the production of MPO-ANCAs, and the accumulation of MPO deposits in the glomeruli may have contributed to the progression of her renal disease.
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Observational Study
Incidence of Arterial Thrombotic and Bleeding Events in Patients Who Develop Cancer After ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction.
Objective Cancers increase the risk of both arterial thrombosis and bleeding. The present study investigated whether or not comorbid new-onset cancers increase arterial thrombosis and bleeding events in patients after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods Among 918 consecutive STEMI patients, excluding 300 who used mechanical hemodynamic supportive devices, the 67 with cancer and 851 without cancer were compared with respect to the frequency of thrombotic events, consisting of myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke, and bleeding events during the trackable observation period in this observational study. ⋯ Bleeding events were observed in 26.9% of patients with cancer and 7.6% of patients without cancer (p<0.01; incidence rates, 4.4 vs. 2.4/100 person-years). The C-statistics for predicting bleeding events in patients with and without cancer were 0.65 vs. 0.71 using the ARC-HBR criteria and 0.67 vs. 0.71 using the PRECISE-DAPT scores, respectively. Conclusion Cancers increase unpredictable bleeding but not arterial thrombotic events in patients after STEMI.
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Objective Due to the increasing elderly population and number of dementia patients, the current number of psychiatrists and neurologists remains insufficient to treat dementia in Japan. Therefore, a simple method for accurately performing a dementia diagnosis, including that of primary care physicians, is sought in clinical practice. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients who made their first visit due to amnesia between October 2020 and October 2022. ⋯ Comparing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), the difference between the MMSE and CDT scores was significantly greater in patients with DLB. Conclusion To quickly screen for dementia, a combination of CCT and CDT is recommended for the highest sensitivity (78.4%). In addition, the difference between the CDT and MMSE scores is considered to be useful for differentiating DLB from AD.