[Usefulness of imaging posture using anterior view of the half supine position for sentinel lymphscintigraphy in patients with breast cancer].

OBJECTIVES: Sentinel lymphoscintigraphy(SLSG) is focused on the visualization of an injection site and lymph nodes. Therefore, an anterior view is effective in identifying the location of a lymph node easily. For this reason, we devised a new imaging method of anterior view (Modified Anterior View; MAV), and the usefulness was assessed. METHODS: SLSG was obtained in 166 patients with breast cancer. In MAV imaging, patients were laid in an oblique position on a triangular styrene foam elevating the target axillary side. The detector was also leaned. Just after the MAV were imaged, the patient was shifted to the supine position and the SAV imaging was also performed using the same acquisition times. RESULTS: The detectability of MAV and SAV was 92.42% and 81.99%, respectively. However, the detectability of SAV showed the better value for the few cases which the lymph node detected by the inside of injection site. CONCLUSION: MAV may improve detectability of SLN. However, SAV is still required for a few cases in which lymph node is detected by the inside of injection site.

Development of a Japanese quality of life instrument for older adults experiencing dementia (QLDJ).

This study develops a quality of life instrument for older Japanese people experiencing dementia (QLDJ). Quality of life (QL) for these older adults is defined as a three dimensional construct including 1) interacting with surroundings, 2) expressing self, and 3) experiencing minimum negative behaviors. From 53 items in the initial item pool, 24 were selected based on item reliability and validity using data from 3 studies that involve ten dementia-care experts (Study A) and 36 and 623 older persons and their formal caregivers in various care settings (Study B & C). Factor analysis of these items identified three domains that correspond to the conceptual definition of QL for older adults with dementia. The domain and total QL scores were calculated considering the relative weights of each item. Resultant domain and total scores of the QLDJ showed satisfactory reliability and evidence of validity.