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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia observed in the elderly. Its prevalence rises with age, particularly in individuals over 80 years old. While catheter ablation has emerged as a first line therapy for the patients with symptomatic AF, evidence on its application in elderly patients remains controversial. This study aimed to assess safety and efficacy outcomes of AF ablation in patients aged ≥ 80 years. Consecutive 1327 patients who underwent a first pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for AF were retrospectively analyzed. Patients aged ≥ 80 years (elderly group, n = 107) were compared with patients aged < 80 years (younger group, n = 1220). At 1-year follow-up, there was no significant difference in AF free rate between the elderly and the younger group (72.0% vs. 73.9%, P = 0.786). Regarding major complications, the elderly patients had a greater incidence of periprocedural stroke (1.9% vs. 0.1%, P = 0.018). The rates of cardiac tamponade, phrenic palsy, and vascular complications were not significantly different between the 2 groups. PVI for AF is effective in patients aged ≥ 80 years with a similar success rate, but periprocedural stoke risk was higher compared to the younger population., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: All authors have no relationships to disclose., (© 2024. Springer Nature Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.)

A healthy 16-year-old girl presented with an osteochondral fracture of the posterior aspect of the lateral femoral condyle (LFC) following patellar dislocation. Satisfactory results were obtained with osteochondral fragment fixation and medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the third reported case of an osteochondral fracture of the posterior LFC. However, we believe that the mechanism of injury differed from that in the two previous cases., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Saki Inanaga et al. Case Reports in Orthopedics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The risk of mortality due to serious complications associated with hepatectomy for biliary tract cancer remains high. We aimed to investigate the significance of preoperative functional liver volume in predicting and preventing serious morbidity following hepatectomy with bile duct resection (BDR)., Methods: Seventy-one patients who underwent hepatectomy with BDR for biliary tract cancer were included. Functional future remnant liver volume (fFRLV) was calculated using future liver remnant (FLR) volume and functional score measured using EOB-MRI. Patients with unsatisfactory fFRLV values underwent portal or sequential portal/hepatic vein embolization (PVE/HVE). We assessed relationship between variables for liver-related morbidity (LRM), including posthepatectomy liver failure, bile leakage, and persistent ascites. Additionally, we assessed Clavien-Dindo grade IV complications (CD ≥ IV) as indicators of serious morbidity., Results: LRM and CD ≥ IV occurred in 20 (28.2 %) and 6 (8.5 %) cases, respectively. Preoperative FLR volume (p = 0.021), FLR ratio (p = 0.004), fFRLV (p = 0.008), and ICGK-F (p = 0.023) were associated with LRM. fFRLV (p = 0.017) was predictive for LRM but not independent (AUC:0.704). Preoperative FLR volume (p = 0.005), FLR ratio (p = 0.008), and fFRLV (p < 0.001) were associated with CD ≥ IV. fFRLV (p = 0.017) was an independent predictive factor for CD ≥ IV(AUC:0.914), showing greater predictive power compared to other factors., Conclusion: fFRLV predicts CD ≥ IV in patients undergoing hepatectomy with BDR. A sufficient fFRLV, enhanced by PVE/HVE if necessary, may prevent serious morbidity and mortality., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None declared., (Copyright © 2024 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been reported to detrimentally impact physical and mental health. While experiencing multiple ACEs is common, previous research primarily assessed ACEs by their total count, neglecting the impacts of different experience types. Furthermore, sex-based differences in ACEs and their influences remain unclear. This study employed Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to uncover patterns of ACEs with consideration for sex differences, aiming to elucidate their effects on adult physical and mental health. A geographically nationally representative dataset from the "Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Study (JACSIS)" conducted in 2022 was used. 13,715 men and 14,327 women retrospectively reported their experiences across fifteen ACEs. The analysis revealed four distinct ACE patterns for both sexes: a Multiple Adversities class with a wide range of severe ACEs, a Psychological Abuse class experiencing emotional abuse at home and bullying at school, a Poverty class facing economic hardships, and a Low Adversities class with the fewest ACEs. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that more severe patterns of exposure correlated with heightened adverse adult outcomes. However, the extent of these impacts varied by sex and ACE pattern. For instance, men in Multiple Adversities and Psychological Abuse classes exhibited higher tendencies towards conducting physical and psychological abuse behaviors. While ACEs in men were linked to both underweight (in cases of psychological abuse) and obesity (across all classes), women with ACEs generally leaned towards higher body weight. These findings highlight the importance of developing support strategies sensitive to sex differences and the specific content of ACEs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is a malignant lymphoma of cattle that is mainly caused by bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection. In this study, PCR-RFLP was used to investigate the frequency of the DRB3*009:02 allele in several farms with different herd management practices in Japan. A total of 742 Holsteins (384) and Japanese Blacks (230) were used as the sample size for the study, which was larger than the number of cattle in the study area with a confidence level of 95 % and a margin of error of 8. PBMCs isolated from whole blood from clinically healthy cattle were used for examination. The presence of BLV provirus infection was determined by qPCR targeting the env region. BLV antibodies were detected using a commercial ELISA kit. The results showed that 35 cattle were heterozygous for DRB3*009:02. The frequency on each farm varied between farms, and PCR analysis showed that the prevalence of BLV also varied between farms. The incidence rate (4.7 %) was lower than in previous studies. The BLV seroprevalence (14.4 %) in this study was lower than the BLV infection rate (35 %) in the study. Holstein dairy cows had low levels of BL resistance genes, confirming the spread of the virus within the farm's herd. Cattle on farms with low BLV-positive rates had a resistance gene-carrying rate of 16.9 %, meanwhile, those who did not carry the resistance gene had a rate of 91.4 %. BLV provirus levels vary between farmers, with herds carrying low BL-resistance genes tending to have higher levels of BLV provirus. In light of the current BLV epidemic, herd composition reform, along with aggressive breeding of BL-resistant sires, is a required component to increase the herd of BL-resistant sires and improve livestock productivity., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Katsuro Hagiwara reports financial support was provided by Rakuno Gakuen University. Katsuro Hagiwara reports a relationship with Rakuno Gakuen University that includes: non-financial support. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2025 The Author(s).)

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a prion disease in cattle caused by classical-type (C-), L-type (L-), or H-type (H-) BSE prions. While C-BSE prions are zoonotic agents responsible for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, L- and H-BSE prions are believed not to be connected to human prion diseases. However, L-BSE prions have been shown to transmit to cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), suggesting they may have zoonotic potential. In the present study, we examined whether H-BSE prions are transmissible to cynomolgus monkeys. The monkeys were injected intracranially (n = 2) or given orally (n = 2) with brain homogenates from a cow infected with H-BSE prions. After asymptomatic observation periods of 4-6 years, the monkeys were euthanized for autopsy. Histological examination of the brain did not reveal any pathological changes. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses did not detect disease-associated forms of prion protein (PrP Sc ) in the brain, peripheral neurons, or lymphatic tissues. The unsuccessful transmission indicates an effective barrier against the transmission of cattle H-BSE prions to cynomolgus monkeys. Based on the results obtained in this nonhuman primate model, we estimated that the potential transmission of H-BSE prions to humans is substantially lower than C- and L-BSE prions., (© 2024 The Societies and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)