Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in independent community-dwelling older adults: The Fujiwara-kyo study

AIM

As the Japanese population ages, the number of older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to increase, but the prevalence of COPD in patients aged ≥80 years remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of COPD in independent community-dwelling older adults aged ≥80 years.

METHODS

We investigated the prevalence of COPD in 2862 independent community-dwelling older adults (1504 men, 1358 women, mean age 77.7 ± 7.0 years) who underwent spirometry in the Fujiwara-kyo study, a study of successful aging in older adults. Those participants with airflow limitation (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity <0.7) who indicated on a self-administered questionnaire that they had a history of smoking and did not have bronchial asthma were considered to have COPD.

RESULTS

The prevalence of COPD was 16.9% among all participants and 37.4% among smokers. The prevalence among individuals aged ≥80 years (19.7%) was significantly higher than that among those aged <80 years (16.0%; P < 0.05). When forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity lower limit of normal was used as the criterion for airflow limitation, the prevalence fell to 11.0%. Patients with mild-to-moderate airflow limitation (stage I/stage II) accounted for the great majority (91.2%) of COPD patients aged ≥80 years.

CONCLUSIONS

A high prevalence of mild-to-moderate COPD was observed even in the independent community-dwelling older adults aged ≥80 years. However, the benefits of the spirometric screening and treatment for these patients needs to be determined. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2421-2426.

Evaluation of autologous skeletal muscle-derived factors for regenerative medicine applications

OBJECTIVES

Regenerative medicine is an emerging field aimed at the repair and regeneration of various tissues. To this end, cytokines (CKs), growth factors (GFs), and stem/progenitor cells have been applied in this field. However, obtaining and preparing these candidates requires invasive, costly, and time-consuming procedures. We hypothesised that skeletal muscle could be a favorable candidate tissue for the concept of a point-of-care approach. The purpose of this study was to characterize and confirm the biological potential of skeletal muscle supernatant for use in regenerative medicine.

METHODS

Semitendinosus muscle was used after harvesting tendon from patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions. A total of 500 milligrams of stripped muscle was minced and mixed with 1 mL of saline. The collected supernatant was analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and flow cytometry. The biological effects of the supernatant on cell proliferation, osteogenesis, and angiogenesis in vitro were evaluated using human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

RESULTS

The supernatant contained several GFs/CKs, with especially high levels of basic fibroblast growth factor, and CD34+ cells as the stem/progenitor cell fraction. With regard to biological potential, we confirmed that cell proliferation, osteoinduction, and angiogenesis in hMSCs and HUVECs were enhanced by the supernatant.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study demonstrates the potential of a new point-of-care strategy for regenerative medicine using skeletal muscle supernatant. This attractive approach and readily-available material could be a promising option for tissue repair/regeneration in the clinical setting.Cite this article: M. Yoshikawa, T. Nakasa, M. Ishikawa, N. Adachi, M. Ochi. Evaluation of autologous skeletal muscle-derived factors for regenerative medicine applications. Bone Joint Res 2017;6:277-283. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.65.BJR-2016-0187.R1.

Transplant Procurement Management Model Training: Marked Improvement in the Mindset of In-Hospital Procurement Coordinators at Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

BACKGROUND

The organ donation rate in Japan is much lower than that in other developed countries for several reasons. An advanced educational program for in-hospital procurement coordinators is a possible solution for this. We introduced a Transplant Procurement Management (TPM) educational program at Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

METHODS

Ten healthcare professionals at Hyogo Prefecture participated in the Advanced International TPM course to educate themselves on TPM and held 2 TPM Model Organ Procurement Training Workshops at Hyogo Prefecture for in-hospital procurement coordinators. Furthermore, we held 2 workshops outside Hyogo Prefecture and at the same time undertook a pre-workshop questionnaire survey to evaluate the ability and motivation with respect to organ donation. To evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops, we conducted post-workshop and 3-months-after workshop questionnaire surveys.

RESULTS

The results of the pre-workshop survey revealed that in-hospital procurement coordinators lacked the knowledge regarding the entire organ donation process, the current status of organ donation in Japan, and the definition of brain death. Moreover, they did not completely understand the meaning of "organ donation." The results of the post-workshop questionnaire survey showed that the educational program was effective to improve the knowledge and skills of organ donation and motivated behavioral changes among the participants.

CONCLUSIONS

The survey results showed that our TPM model educational program offered sufficient knowledge and skills to increase organ donation at Hyogo Prefecture. We will continue this program and make an effort to further contribute to the Japanese organ donation activities.

Multi-point measurement using two-channel reflectometer with antenna switching for study of high-frequency fluctuations in GAMMA 10

A two-channel microwave reflectometer system with fast microwave antenna switching capability was developed and applied to the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror device to study high-frequency small-amplitude fluctuations in a hot mirror plasma. The fast switching of the antennas is controlled using PIN diode switches, which offers the significant advantage of reducing the number of high-cost microwave components and digitizers with high bandwidths and large memory that are required to measure the spatiotemporal behavior of the high-frequency fluctuations. The use of two channels rather than one adds the important function of a simultaneous two-point measurement in either the radial direction or the direction of the antenna array to measure the phase profile of the fluctuations along with the normal amplitude profile. The density fluctuations measured using this system clearly showed the high-frequency coherent fluctuations that are associated with Alfvén-ion-cyclotron (AIC) waves in GAMMA 10. A correlation analysis applied to simultaneously measured density fluctuations showed that the phase component that was included in a reflected microwave provided both high coherence and a clear phase difference for the AIC waves, while the amplitude component showed neither significant coherence nor clear phase difference. The axial phase differences of the AIC waves measured inside the hot plasma confirmed the formation of a standing wave structure. The axial variation of the radial profiles was evaluated and a clear difference was found among the AIC waves for the first time, which would be a key to clarify the unknown boundary conditions of the AIC waves.

Abstract P2-01-37: Technical feasibility and validity of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence

Background: The incidence of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) was reported to be approximately 5-10% of breast cancer patients who had breast-conserving surgery. However, the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients with IBTR still remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study wasto evaluate feasibility and validity of sentinel lymph node biopsy for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (second SLNB).

Patients and methods: A prospective database of 1607 patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer who underwent SLNB from January 2005 to May 2015 was analyzed and 46 patients with IBTR underwent SLNB. Lymphatic mapping was performed using a combined method of blue dye and radioisotope. ICG fluorescence imaging was performed in cases with failure of identification by blue dye and radioisotope.

Results: The median age was 52 (range: 36-82) years at the time of second SLNB and the mean size of recurrent tumor was 1.39 ± 0.63 cm. Thirty-one (67.4%) and 10 (21.7%) patients had a history of previous SLNB and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), respectively. Another five (10.9%) patients had no previous axillary surgery for primary tumors. Preoperative lymphatic mapping by lymphoscintigraphy was successfully performed in 24 of 36 patients (66.7%). The identification rate by lymphoscintigraphy among patients with previous SLNB, ALND, and no axillary surgery was 64.0% (16/25), 66.6% (6/9) and 100% (2/2), respectively (P= 0.583). Overall, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) were successfully identified in 37 (80.4%) of 46 patients during surgery. The identification rate in patients with previous SLNB, ALND and no axillary surgery was 80.6% (25/31), 80.0% (8/10) and 80.0% (4/5), respectively (P=0.990). The aberrant lymphatic drainage to extra-ipsilateral axilla was found more frequently in patients with previous ALND compared with previous SLNB and no axillary surgery (40.0% vs. 6.5% vs. 0%, P=0.015).Among three (6.5%) patients with SLN metastases, one patient with previous SLNB had macrometastasis at the ipsilateral axilla and ALND found a positive non-SLN (1/21). The remaining two patients with previous SLNB and ALND had micrometastases at ipsilateral and contralateral axilla, respectively and both patients underwent no further axillary treatment. After second SLNB, systemic treatment including chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and trastuzumab was performed in 17 (37.0%), 36 (78.3%) and seven (15.2%) patients, respectively. No axillary recurrence was observed after a median follow-up time of 37.2 months from surgery for IBTR.

Conclusions: Second SLNB is technically feasible regardless of types of previous axillary surgery and may avoid complications from unnecessary ALND for IBTR. Furthermore, it could improve risk prediction for IBTR and provide valid information for deciding adjuvant therapy.

Citation Format: Matsumoto A, Jinno H, Yanagisawa T, Yoshikawa M, Takahashi Y, Seki T, Takahashi M, Hayashida T, Ikeda T, Kitagawa Y. Technical feasibility and validity of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-01-37.