A case of a dialysis patient with sclerosing peritonitis successfully treated with corticosteroid therapy alone

Sclerosing peritonitis (SCP) is a rare complication of peritoneal dialysis. Most of the patients with this serious complication have been treated in a symptomatic and conservative manner. Other patients have undergone risky surgical interventions. Recently it was reported that immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplantation was effective for this complication. A 56-year-old man developed sclerosing peritonitis 5 months after switching from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis because of ultrafiltration failure. The patient had ongoing inflammatory signs and symptoms, and corticosteroid therapy was commenced. His condition was dramatically improved within 1 week, and he is now well on an outpatient basis with the maintenance dosage of corticosteroid. This is the first report of a patient with peritoneal dialysis-related SCP who responded favorably to corticosteroid therapy alone.

Secondary malignant fibrous histiocytoma following refractory langerhans cell histiocytosis

We describe a rare case of secondary malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) following Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). A 23-year-old Japanese male exhibited systemic lymphadenopathy, multiple lung tumors, and osteolytic changes in bilateral iliac bones in 1989. A biopsy specimen from the left iliac bone revealed an infiltration of S-100 protein-positive histiocyte-like cells intermingled with eosinophils, which confirmed the diagnosis of eosinophilic granuloma, a type of LCH. Although the patient was treated with prednisolone initially, the disease did not respond well and progressed gradually over time. The patient subsequently received multiple courses of chemotherapy and immunosuppressive therapy with many kinds of anticancer agents for 6 years. He also received radiotherapy totaling 136.8 Gy for lung tumors and osteolytic lesions of the pelvis. In 1997, because of the LCH refractoriness, biopsy was performed again from the right inguinal lymph node. Microscopic examinations demonstrated a mixture of spindle-shaped cells and histiocyte-like cells, which appeared to be in a storiform pattern. The tumor cells were immunohistologically positive for CD68 and vimentin, but negative for CD1a and S-100 protein. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with MFH. Although chemotherapy was continued, the patient died of pneumonia during the neutropenic period following chemotherapy. Autopsy revealed systemic invasion of MFH and dissemination of mucormycosis. LCH was not detected histologically in any tissues.

[Successful treatment with etoposide by oral administration for recurrence of gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after surgical resection--a case report]

A 64-year-old woman, who had been treated for gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) by total gastrectomy and received 3 courses of CHOP therapy at 61 years of age, was diagnosed with recurrence of DLBCL in the small intestine. After the small intestinal tumor was resected, multiple metastases were found in the liver. Because intensive chemotherapy was difficult for her poor performance status, 50 mg of etoposide daily by oral was administered for 21 consecutive days. After one course of chemotherapy, liver metastases and lymph node swelling almost disappeared without severe adverse effects, and after five courses she achieved complete remission. Though DLBCL invaded the central nervous system, the abdominal regions had been free from recurrence for 12 months. This case report suggests that oral etoposide therapy is useful for gastrointestinal DLBCL which has metastasized to the liver.

[The cancer immunotherapy controlled by the number of PHA-blastogenic cells]

Old BRMs have been conventionally evaluated by comparative studies between the cancer patients treated with or without BRMs. This comparison should be done under the assumption that effectiveness of BRMs is dose-dependent. However BRMs can not be effective without enhancing cellular immunity of the patients. We have demonstrated that PHA blastogenic reaction was not necessarily augmented in vitro in a dose-related manner by MRMs. Nor did the dose-dependent immuno-enhancement always occur by clinical use of BMRs, if the blastogenic ratio was converted to the number of blastogenic cells per mm3 of peripheral blood to monitor the patient's cellular immunity more precisely. If BRMs should be reviewed in terms of the immuno-enhancing activity by the number of PHA blastogenic cells, the clinical needs of BRMs must be increased. It is sure that the patient's survival could be improved if immunotherapy should be done with varying doses or schedule individually by using the adequate immuno-parameters such as PHA blastogenic reaction.

Pharmacological study of modified intermediate-dose cytarabine therapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND

Instead of the original intermediate dose (0.5 g/m2), a modified intermediate-dose 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) therapy (1 g/m2, 1-h intravenous infusion) was pharmacologically studied in 11 leukemic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The concentrations of ara-C and its inactive metabolite, 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil (ara-U) in the plasma, urine and cerebrospinal fluid were determined using high performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTS

The plasma ara-C reached a peak (61.2 +/- 52.7 microM) that far surpassed the saturating level for intracellular activation of the drug. The plasma ara-U reached its peak (139.8 +/- 40.0 microM) and was maintained with a half-life of 277 +/- 76 min. About 60% of the administered drug was recovered, mainly as ara-U in urine within 12 h. In contrast to the original intermediate dose, the therapeutic ara-C levels (above 0.4 microM) persisted in the central nervous system. The therapy salvaged one relapsed leukemia patient with central nervous system involvement.

CONCLUSION

Modified intermediate-dose ara-C provides a sufficient plasma ara-C level with a concomitant therapeutic concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid.

[Quantitative evaluation of response at acetazolamide test using 99mTc-ECD SPECT; a trial of production of the response map]

In the method by Matsuda and Takeuchi et al. for easy regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measurements at pre- and post-acetazolamide tests using 99mTc-ECD, a study was done for producing the increase rate of rCBF as a response map after acetazolamide administration. To prepare the response map calculated from the arithmetic operation of [(rCBF image at administration--rCBF image at rest)/rCBF image at rest x 100], the images were preprocessed by combination of matrix size conversion and smoothing techniques and then areas outside the brain were masked to remove amplified noises. The response map seemed helpful for visual evaluation of the response after acetazolamide administration, and also for understanding the disease conditions and clinical courses.