ABSTRACT
<b>Background/Purpose</b>: The purpose of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of interventions for breast cancer patients with psychological distress by a clinical psychologist on the basis of the contents of the interventions and counseling. <b>Methods</b>: The participants were 20 inpatient and outpatient women aged from 33 to 73 years who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The interventions were conducted on the basis of patients' complaints about anxiety and/or depression or by a medical doctor's request. The interventions employed unstructured, one-on-one interviews. Each interview usually lasted no more than 60 minutes. <b>Results</b>: The 20 cases were classified into the following categories: (1) 15 general (nonpsychiatric) cases, consisting of (1-1) 9 cases at the cancer-notification and progressive-therapeutic stages and (1-2) 6 cases at the progressive-relapse stage; and (2) 5 specific (psychiatric) cases, consisting of (2-1) 3 cases at the cancer-notification and progressive-therapeutic stages and (2-2) 2 cases at the progressive-relapsestage. As for the general cases, interventions were found to be effective in all 9 cases at the cancer-notification and progressive-therapeutic stages but in only 2 of 6 cases at the progressive-relapse stage. In specific cases, effective interventions were found at the cancer-notification, the progressive-therapeutic, and the progressive-relapsestages. <b>Conclusion</b>: This study suggested that interventions for breast cancer patients by a clinical psychologist are effective. The psychological interventions had two roles: to assess the patients properly and to interview the patients as purposefully as a medical team member would.
ABSTRACT
Topical cardiac hypothermia has unequivocal preservation effects during ischemia, but it has some disadvantages. Topical cooling, especially with ice slush, can injure the phrenic nerve, disturb the equal distribution of the cardioplegic solution due to coronary artery spasm and damage the epicardium. It is easy to prevent cooling injury without topical hypothermia, but the myocardial oxygen demands are increased. In order to supply the myocardium with oxygen for the increased oxygen demands during ischemia, isolated rat hearts were immersed in perfluorochemicals (PFC) which have excellent transportation of oxygen. The effects of immersion in PFC during mild hypothermic ischemia (at 20°C without cardioplegia and at 30°C cardioplegic arrest) on the cardiac function on reperfusion were evaluated. Under 20°C hypothermic ischemia without cardioplegia, cardiac beating was maintained for 20±4 minutes in the hearts were immersed in PFC, and for 10±2 minutes in the hearts that were not immersed in any solution. In the recovery of cardiac function (LVDP and LV<sub>max</sub> d<i>p</i>/d<i>t</i>) after mild hypothermic (30°C) cardioplegic arrest, the hearts immersed in PFC showed better results than hearts that were not immersed.