Internal medicine
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It is difficult to obtain sufficient material from pulmonary thin-walled cavitary lesions filled with air by conventional percutaneous aspiration biopsy in order to make a diagnosis. In these cases, we performed percutaneous needle washing (PNW) and ascertained the diagnostic significance of this method. ⋯ PNW may be an appropriate diagnostic procedure for pulmonary thin-walled cavitary lesions whose diagnosis can not be established by other techniques.
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Motorization and supermarket-proliferation affect lifestyles. About 15 years ago, Okinawans went to several shops on foot, but now they go to supermarkets by car. The influences of these changes on the prevalence of diabetes are uncertain. OBJECTIVE AND MEASUREMENTS: The influence of motorization and supermarket-proliferation on the prevalence of diabetes was studied in the inhabitants of a town on Okinawa, Japan. Measurements were composed of anthropometry and blood chemistry. Participants were asked where they buy food and daily necessities (several shops or a supermarket) and how they get there (by car or on foot). ⋯ About 15 years ago, Okinawans went to shops on foot, but now they go to supermarkets by car. The prevalence of diabetes is increasing. Motorization and supermarket-proliferation are associated with the increases of the prevalence of diabetes. The increase in diabetes prevalence was higher in men than in women.
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Case Reports
Candida dubliniensis isolated from the sputum of a patient with end-stage liver cirrhosis.
Candida dubliniensis is rare and very similar to C. albicans. To date, detailed clinical reports on C. dubuliniensis recovered from an immunocompromised patient have not been described in Japan. ⋯ C. dubliniensis, isolated from the sputum, was eliminated by selective digestive decontamination and supportive therapy. This case emphasizes the need to recognize this emerging Candida sp., C. dubliniensis in cases of opportunistic infection.
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We report a 46-year-old male patient with late-onset vacuolar myopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy. Acid maltase activity of the muscle was normal, but the biopsied muscle specimen stained for lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (LAMP-2), which has recently been reported to be deficient in muscles of patients with Danon disease. The clinical features of the patient are distinct from X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy, infantile autophagic vacuolar myopathy and autophagic vacuolar myopathy with late-onset and multiorgan involvement (Kaneda).