Intern Med

In vitro study of neutrophil apoptosis in liver cirrhosis.

Year 1998
Kusaba N. Kumashiro R. Ogata H. Sata M. Tanikawa K.
Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka.
Cirrhotic patients frequently manifest neutropenia and are predisposed to bacterial infections. We examined neutrophil apoptosis to determine if neutrophil survival in cirrhotic patients is shortened. Neutrophils isolated from 10 cirrhotic patients and 10 healthy volunteers were cultured for 24 hours. The time course of neutrophil viability was assessed by the trypan blue dye exclusion test and apoptosis was determined morphologically by light and electron microscopy. Apoptotic cells were also confirmed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick and labeling (TUNEL) and DNA gel electrophoresis. Fas expression of neutrophils was examined by flow cytometry. Viabilities were significantly decreased in liver cirrhosis (p

Interferon-alpha-induced thyroid dysfunction in patients with chronic active hepatitis C: a transient, reversible and self-limited dysfunction.

Year 1998
Tsuboi K. Katayama M. Yuasa R. Matoba H. Nagayama T. Ihara F. Ooya T. Matsuo K. Otsuka S. Miyachi Y.
First Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo.
To survey the prognoses of interferon-alpha (IFNalpha)-induced thyroid dysfunction, a total of 100 patients (49 males and 51 females) with biopsy-proven chronic active hepatitis C were studied. Either during or after IFNalpha therapy, 29 patients (33.7%) revealed suppression/elevation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or both, transient thyrotoxicosis (TSH less than 0.1 microU/ml) or transient hypothyroidism (TSH 5.0-190.95 microU/ml). However, the thyroid function normalized without supplementation of the thyroid hormone in the follow-up period. In the same period, one of the 14 control patients (7.1%) developed thyroid dysfunction. Thyroid abnormalities developed significantly more in patients with IFNalpha therapy than in those without IFNalpha therapy. The findings suggest that the occult autoimmune disorder becomes overt with IFNalpha treatment in patients with pre-existent autoimmune thyroid disease. IFNalpha-induced thyroid dysfunction is transient, reversible and self-limited. It is not necessary to discontinue IFNalpha therapy when thyroid dysfunction develops.

Secondary aortoduodenal fistula complicating aortic grafting, as a cause of intermittent chronic intestinal bleeding.

Year 1998
Yabu M. Himeno S. Kanayama Y. Furubayashi T. Kiriyama K. Nagasawa Y. Takakura R. Katata T. Iwao N. Orino A.
Department of Internal Medicine, Ashiya Municipal Hospital, Hyogo.
Intermittent intestinal bleeding persisted in a 77-year-old male, who had undergone grafting for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Each attack lasted for a few weeks and spontaneously resolved. Only a minute abnormality was found in the third portion of the duodenum; barium studies showed a segmental narrowing, but endoscopy disclosed only a small erosion in that portion. Massive and fatal gastrointestinal hemorrhage broke out 6 months after the onset of bleeding. Autopsy revealed an adhesion area with a small fistula formation between the duodenum and aorta. Even slight endoscopic findings should be considered suggestive of aortoenteric fistula in patients after aortic surgery.

Peliosis hepatis associated with idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy.

Year 1998
Yoshioka K. Sato T. Ishii T. Tanaka S. Kioka K. Harihara S. Imamoto S. Haze K. Inoue T. Fujii S.
Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City General Hospital, Miyakojima, Osaka.
A rare case of peliosis hepatis associated with idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy is reported. A 75-year-old man was admitted for evaluation of marked edema and jaundice. Serum total bilirubin was elevated above 20 mg/dl. The liver biopsy under laparoscopy revealed marked sinusoidal dilatation and retention of red blood cells, which was consistent with a diagnosis of peliosis hepatis. Cardiac catheterization revealed right ventricular filling disturbance without specific findings on endomyocardial biopsy, suggesting idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy. The level of serum total bilirubin decreased in association with improvement of edema after drip infusion of furosemide therapy.

Rheumatoid arthritis associated with renal amyloidosis and crescentic glomerulonephritis.

Year 1998
Murakami H. Ura N. Nagao K. Tsuchihashi K. Nakata T. Agata J. Satoh M. Shimamoto K.
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine.
A 43-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), renal amyloidosis and crescentic glomerulonephritis had severe abdominal pain, melena and progressive renal failure. Autopsy findings revealed vasculitis of small and middle size of vessels and there was a deposition of amyloid in the small intestines. Although there were no findings of vasculitis in the kidney, amyloid deposition was noticed and 70-80% of glomeruli showed a crescentic formation. No immunological abnormality was found in glomeruli. Although the immunological mechanisms of crescentic glomerulonephritis were not necessarily eliminated, amyloid deposition may play a role in crescent formation.

Incidence and characteristics of thyroid dysfunction following interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Year 1998
Amenomori M. Mori T. Fukuda Y. Sugawa H. Nishida N. Furukawa M. Kita R. Sando T. Komeda T. Nakao K.
Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Thyroid functions were analyzed before, during and after interferon (IFN) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. According to the results of routine thyroid function tests and measurements of the levels of anti-thyroid autoantibody prior to the therapy, patients were divided into 2 groups; Group A (19 patients) had at least one abnormal finding related to the thyroid, and Group B (40 patients) did not show any abnormality. Five patients (26%) in Group A and 4 (10%) in Group B showed thyroid dysfunctions which were very clearly reflected by thyrotropin (TSH) measurements. Interestingly, the time of peak TSH elevation in Group A (mean +/- SD, 4.3 +/- 0.8 months) was significantly earlier than that in Group B (6.8 +/- 0.8). Most patients in Group B were diagnosed as having destructive thyroiditis. These findings may suggest that the pathogenesis of IFN-induced thyroid dysfunction consists not only of exacerbation of pre-existing thyroid autoimmunity but also of de novo destructive changes even in the intact thyroid before IFN therapy.

Correlations between interleukin-8, and myeloperoxidase or luminol-dependent chemiluminescence in inflamed mucosa of ulcerative colitis.

Year 1998
Anezaki K. Asakura H. Honma T. Ishizuka K. Funakoshi K. Tsukada Y. Narisawa R.
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata University School of Medicine.
Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a peptide which induces not only chemotaxis of neutrophils but also the release of reactive oxygen metabolites from the neutrophils. There are few reports which clarify the relationships between IL-8 and mucosal infiltration of neutrophils or reactive oxygen metabolites produced by neutrophils in the colonic mucosa of ulcerative colitis (UC). Biopsy specimens of colonic mucosa obtained from 26 patients with active UC and 21 patients with inactive UC were studied in order to clarify the relationships among the inflammation factors in UC. Levels of IL-8 and myeloperoxidase in organ culture media of the biopsy specimens from active UC (measured by ELISA and EIA) were significantly higher than those from inactive UC and controls. Reactive oxygen metabolites of biopsy specimens in active UC (measured by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence) were also markedly increased compared to those in inactive UC and controls. The levels of IL-8 were closely correlated to luminol-dependent chemiluminescence or myeloperoxidase levels. However, the levels of IL-8 and myeloperoxidase did not correlate with the grades of activity on colonoendoscopic findings. These findings suggest that IL-8 may play a role in the pathophysiology of UC but it does not define the endoscopic activity grades of UC.

Multiple pulmonary metastases with cavitation from gallbladder cancer.

Year 1998
Oshikawa K. Ishii Y. Hironaka M. Kitamura S.
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Minamikawachi, Tochigi.
We report a rare case of multiple pulmonary metastases with cavitation from gallbladder cancer. A 77-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of productive cough and exertional dyspnea. Chest X-ray film showed multiple nodular shadows with some cavitation. Computed tomography showed multiple cavities, up to 2 cm in diameter, as well as nodules, in bilateral lung fields. Under a survey of primary focus, the ultrasonographic test of the abdomen revealed a hypoechoic mass in the hepatic hilum. The patient died of respiratory failure. Autopsy findings revealed that that multiple lung tumors had metastasized from papillary adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder and that cavitation of the lung was formed by bronchioloectasis.

Islet cell tumor in von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Year 1998
Mizuno N. Naruse S. Kitagawa M. Ishiguro H. Nakae Y. Ieda H. Iizuka N. Ito O. Seki Y. Ko SB. Yoshikawa T. Hayakawa T. Sano T. Kamiya J. Nimura Y. Nagasaka T.
Department of Internal Medicine II, Nagoya University School of Medicine.
We describe a 42-year-old man with von Hippel-Lindau disease and islet cell tumor of the pancreas. He had retinal and cerebellar hemangioblastomas. His sister had pheochromocytoma. A pancreatic tumor was detected by ultrasonography at his periodical medical checkup. Contrast enhanced computed tomography and abdominal angiography revealed a hypervascular tumor in the pancreatic head. Histological examination of the resected tumor revealed characteristics of islet cell tumor of the pancreas, which was positive for chromogranin-A, S-100 protein, and pancreatic polypeptide, but was negative for insulin, gastrin, glucagon, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, serotonin, and adrenocorticotropic hormone.

Evaluation of bronchoscopic findings in patients with metastatic pulmonary tumor.

Year 1998
Oshikawa K. Ohno S. Ishii Y. Kitamura S.
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Minamikawachi.
To clarify the bronchoscopic findings in metastatic spread to the bronchi, we analyzed the records of 65 cases of metastatic pulmonary disease in which fiberoptic bronchoscopy had been done. Forty-five patients (69.2%) had abnormal bronchoscopic findings. These patients could be divided into three groups, according to bronchoscopic findings and route of metastatic spread to the bronchi: endobronchial metastasis (n=15), bronchial involvement (that is, direct extension to the bronchi from adjacent metastatic foci, n=15), and lymphangitis carcinomatosa (n=15). Breast cancer and colon cancer were common in cases of endobronchial metastasis, and the bronchial tumor often presented as a polypoid or nodular lesion covered with necrotic material. Submucosal swelling with an irregular margin and narrowing of the bronchial lumen were seen in cases of bronchial involvement. In conclusion, each type of primary extrapulmonary tumor is associated with characteristic endobronchial findings of pulmonary metastases such as endobronchial metastasis and bronchial involvement, which should be discriminated if possible, because of their different metastatic process.

Retroperitoneal malignant fibrous histiocytoma causing variegated colonic lesions.

Year 1998
Kobayashi S. Goto K. Shiraki S. Okayama Y. Ando H. Okumura F. Nakamura S. Hattsutori T. Joh T. Itoh M.
Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Prefectural Tajimi Hospital.
A 68-year-old man visited our hospital because of heartburn. A firm mass was palpated in the left upper abdominal quadrant. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a large left sided retroperitoneal tumor. A barium enema examination showed shallow irregularly depressed or elevated lesions. Colonoscopy revealed an irregularly shaped ulcer and multiple submucosal masses suggesting invasion by an extrinsic malignant tumor. Although colonoscopic biopsy was negative, a resected tumor was histologically diagnosed as a malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH). When such varigated lesions are detected in the colon, MFH should be considered, and an attempt to sample the submucosal layer may be necessary.