Search

This article discusses a case of Immunoglobulin-A vasculitis (IgAV) in an adult patient presenting with edema in the scalp, face, and sternocleidomastoid muscle. IgAV is a small-vessel vasculitis that primarily affects children and is characterized by IgA deposits in the vessel walls. While subcutaneous edema in the scalp and face is rare in adults, it has been occasionally reported in children. Muscle involvement in IgAV is also uncommon and typically occurs in the lower extremities. This case highlights the importance of considering exacerbating IgAV and intensifying treatment when adult patients present with edema in the head and neck. Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and optimize treatments for similar cases. [Extracted from the article]

Key Clinical Message: Negative myoclonus may present in the early stages of cefepime neurotoxicity. Cefepime neurotoxicity typically presents as reduced consciousness, myoclonus, and seizures; however, negative myoclonus is uncommon. This video shows an older woman with cefepime neurotoxicity that presented as a negative myoclonus of the upper limbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses into a rare case of microgeodic disease emerging in an elderly woman, marked by redness, swelling, and pain in the fingers, providing insights into its diagnosis and treatment. It mentions that study focused on fostering positive attitudes toward dementia, aiming to identify the factors influencing societal perceptions of dementia and encouraging social participation, emphasizing the need for informed strategies to facilitate inclusion of individuals with dementia.

Elevation of ALP is an abnormal feature in TAFRO syndrome, but the cause is unknown. This article is the first report that histologically showed intrahepatic cholangitis may be the cause of ALP elevation in TAFRO syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium marneffei (Talaromyces marneffei) infection sometimes occurs in HIV‐infected patients in South‐East Asia. However, reports on asymptomatic cases are rare. Herein, we report a case of a 27‐year‐old Burmese HIV‐positive woman with pulmonary penicilliosis. Chest radiography showed a lung mass; however, the patient did not have any respiratory symptoms. Cultures of bronchoalveolar lavage and lung tissue grew P marneffei. The patient was diagnosed with penicilliosis and successfully treated with amphotericin B and itraconazole. Our findings suggest that P marneffei infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a lung mass in HIV‐infected patients, even when asymptomatic for respiratory symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wernicke encephalopathy is caused by vitamin B1 deficiency. It presents as a triad consisting of altered mental status, oculomotor dysfunction, and gait ataxia. Early vitamin B1 administration alleviates symptoms. We present a video of gaze‐evoked nystagmus in an elderly patient with Wernicke encephalopathy. It is often difficult to evaluate the mental and ambulatory states of frail elderly patients with dementia. In such cases, nystagmus is the only useful physical finding in the diagnosis of Wernicke encephalopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapidly destructive coxarthrosis is a rare entity of unknown etiology that is characterized by rapid hip joint destruction. Blood tests are thought to be non‐specific. However, we herein show a patient with rapidly destructive coxarthrosis, which was accompanied by fluctuating C‐reactive protein level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antihistamines are known risk factors for restless legs syndrome (RLS). However, reports on RLS associated with fexofenadine or its combinations are rare. Here, we report a 30‐year‐old woman with RLS that was induced by fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine. She had been taking fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine for three months and felt a strong urge to move her legs at night, which was relieved by movement. Her condition improved by taking pramipexole, which she discontinued subsequently because of dizziness. One month later, she quitted taking fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine, after which her symptoms disappeared a week later. This case study demonstrates that RLS can be induced by fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine and we should always consider the possibility of drug‐induced RLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the relationship between changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and T1ρ and T2 values in vivo. The ECM is composed of proteoglycan (PG), collagen, and water. It has been unclear which of the ECM constituents affects T1ρ and T2 mapping in living human cartilage. Materials and Methods: Sagittal T1ρ and T2 maps were preoperatively obtained from 20 knee osteoarthritis patients. Osteochondral samples harvested from the resected tibial plateaus during total knee arthroplasty were consistent with the MRIs of the patients' knees. Parameters that included histological grading of cartilage degeneration, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content (which constitutes PG), presence of collagen anisotropy and water content were evaluated along with T1ρ and T2 values, and statistical analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis. Results: T1ρ and T2 values were significantly correlated with the degree of cartilage degeneration (β = 0.397 and 0.357, respectively) and the GAG content (β = −0.340 and −0.244, respectively). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that T1ρ and T2 values reflect the GAG content of the cartilage and can indicate cartilage degeneration in vivo. Use of these parameters can facilitate the noninvasive diagnosis and evaluation of cartilage degeneration. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;35:147-155. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemodialysis techniques have improved remarkably in recent decades and the number of long-term survivors among patients with end-stage renal disease has increased. The mortality rate of hemodialysis patients has been reported to be low in Japan. However, the long-term survival rate of dialysis patients is still low: 23.6% for 15 years and 17.4% for 20 years, even in Japan, and background information on patients undergoing hemodialysis therapy for more than 20 years is scarce in this country. In the present study, we investigated the characteristics of 20-year survivors undergoing maintenance hemodialysis at our medical center. We compared the characteristics of hemodialysis patients who had survived for more than 20 years after the initiation of hemodialysis with those of patients who started hemodialysis at the same time and had already died. No patient among those who were still alive had diabetes mellitus while 15% of patients who had died had diabetes mellitus at the time of initiation of hemodialysis. Age, cardiothoracic ratio, and serum levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride 6 months after the initiation of hemodialysis, as well as decreases in body weight per year were significantly lower in those who had survived than in those who had died. These results suggest that long-term hemodialysis survivors are characterized by (i) initiation of hemodialysis at a young age (ii) being free of diabetes mellitus (iii) a well-controlled cardiothoracic ratio (iv) small successive change in body weight, and (v) being free of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulties in gaining vascular access have become one of the major problems in long-term hemodialysis patients. We report a case with an extreme vascular access problem, which was solved by the placement of a permanent central vein catheter after successful angioplasty to the right subclavian and inominate vein stenosis. A 78-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease due to diabetic nephropathy had been on hemodialysis since 1982. She had a history of four procedures that created an arteriovenous fistula during the first four years. In 1986 she was switched to peritoneal dialysis. However, hemodialysis was restarted with a regular arteriovenous fistula in 1991 because of repeated peritonitis, and from 1993 a superficialized brachial artery was used until the artery was exhausted. Since 1997, a permanent central vein catheter was utilized and reinsertion was required four times due to catheter infection during a 6-year period. In 2004, difficulty was experienced in reinserting a new central venous catheter because of multiple stenotic and occlusive lesions of the central veins. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was carried out in the stenotic right subclavian and inominate veins, and after successful angioplasty, a permanent central vein catheter could be placed into the right subclavian vein as a vascular access for hemodialysis. Pretreatment with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the stenotic central veins before inserting a permanent catheter may be a useful strategy in patients that experience difficulty in the insertion of a catheter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renaming, which is a process to convert a set of clauses to a set of Horn clauses, has been derived by heuristic methods. Recently, Nishioka [5-8] devised a renaming method based on 0-1 programming and other methods. Those methods indicate how to execute a systematic renaming, but complex algorithms are required, such as the 0-1 programming or matrix operations. In this paper, the bit sequence is defined according to each predicate symbol contained in the set of clauses. It is shown that by executing the bit sequence operations based on such definition, all renamings to convert the set of clauses to the Horn set can be derived based on the result of operation. In contrast to the past renaming methods, the proposed method is an efficient method of computation which can derive all renamings simultaneously in parallel. Another advantage of the proposed methods is that no special processing system is required, since the renaming can be derived based only on the combination of the parallel bit operations among the bit sequences. In other words, the computation among the bit sequences. In other words, the computation can be executed using any programming language that can handled the operations among bit sequences. It should also be pointed out that the number of operations needed in the renaming can easily be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In resolution theory, logical formulas of a theorem and axioms must be converted to a form of a clause set (a set of clauses). For more efficient proof, it is desirable that an original clause set is a Horn set. Renaming is one of the operations which can convert a given clause set to a logically equivalent Horn set. To perform the operation for a clause set, negation signs of all literals that have the same predicate symbol should be inverted simultaneously. However, it is difficult to perform the operation systematically and efficiently. In this paper, a symbolic matrix called ‘literal reverse matrix’ is defied for each literal in a clause. Moreover, the definition of reverse matrix is extended for a clause. All renamings which convert a given claims to a Horn clause are derived from clause reverse matrix. Consequently, all renamings which convert a given clause set to a Horn set are synthesized from renamings for each clause in the set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the resolution-based theorem proving, logical formulas to be proved are ex- pressed in the form of a closure set (a set of clauses). For proof efficiency, it is desirable that a clause set be reduced to a Horn set by renaming if possible. Several reducing methods have been proposed for this transformation. This paper defines a new reducing method which uses propositional formulas and is related to a method using 0 - 1 programming. The new method generates a propositional clause set for renaming from the original predicate clause set. A set of logical formulas generated in the method is called a "structural clause set," because each element in this set indicates the distribution of positive/negative literals in the original predicate clause. An interpretation which satisfies a structural clause set corresponds to a renaming which transforms the original predicate clause set into Horn set. Furthermore, a procedure is presented which determines satisfiability of a structural clause set, and then its time complexity is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]