[A Case of Septic Arthritis in the Hip Joint Following a Long‒Term Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer].

A 67‒year‒old woman, who had been receiving chemotherapy for 16 years because of recurrences of breast cancer, suffered from arthrosis in the left hip joint. A total hip joint replacement was needed. The central venous catheter port was removed a month before the operation. The culture of the catheter revealed Staphylococcus aureus. During the operation, a gram‒positive coccus was detected in the synovium of the hip joint. Therefore, the replacement was terminated, and an irrigation was performed. Two months later, a replacement of the hip joint was successfully performed after an antibacterial therapy. The patient died of the cancer 1 and a half years later. Septic arthritis secondary to catheter infection is a disease to consider in patients with long‒term chemotherapy.

[Mild hemophilia A diagnosed at the onset of acute epidural hematoma after lumbar epidural block].

The patient was a 36-year-old man who had been aware of a mild bleeding tendency since childhood, but did not show any history of severe bleeding. After lumbar epidural block was performed for pain caused by lumbar disc herniation, the patient developed paraplegia due to an acute epidural hematoma, and rectovesical disorder. He was admitted to our hospital, and wide fenestration and hematoma evacuation were performed. Because of persistent bleeding, reoperation was performed to achieve hemostasis. Although factor VIII antigen was 138%, its activity was decreased to 18% of normal. A diagnosis of cross-reacting material positive mild hemophilia A was made. Postoperative injection of a factor VIII preparation resulted in complete hemostasis. The activated partial thromboplastin time was within normal range. A thrombin generation test showed reduced endogenous thrombin potential, peak thrombin levels, and prolonged time-to-peak levels. The thrombin generation test, which allows comprehensive assessment of the coagulation profile, was useful for diagnosis and treatment of this case.

Early lateral migration of head after bipolar hemiarthoplasty in a cerebral palsy patient.

Migration of the outer head after bipolar hemiarthroplasty within several years after surgery is not a rare complication. We present a patient with cerebral palsy who showed lateral migration of the outer head seven months after bipolar hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fracture. The patient had no acetabular pathology prior to the fracture, and lacked ambulatory ability in a community setting. She underwent conversion to a total hip arthroplasty and returned to her previous lifestyle.

Ten-year follow-up of familial hypercholesterolemia patients after intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy.

To prevent coronary artery disease, it is necessary for patients with familial hyper-cholesterolemia (FH) to maintain a low cholesterol level. Recently a combination therapy of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis and statins has been used for FH patients, but their long-term prognosis over 10 years is unknown. In this single center prospective report, 18 FH patients with severe coronary stenosis received LDL apheresis every 2 or 4 weeks and statin therapy for 9.8 +/- 3.0 years. Probucol was given to 17 of the 18 patients. We observed their clinical events as well as coronary stenosis findings and ejection fractions for 10.7 +/- 2.6 years. Total and LDL cholesterol levels before therapy were 345 +/- 46 and 277 +/- 48 mg/dL, respectively. Immediately following LDL-apheresis, these levels decreased to 104 +/- 7.5 and 66 +/- 16 mg/dL, respectively. There were no cardiac deaths and 4 patients were free from any coronary events. There was one noncardiac death. Nonfatal myocardial in-farction occurred in 2 patients and coronary bypass surgery was required in one patient. Twelve patients received additional coronary angioplasty. There was little change in coronary stenosis and ejection fraction following 10 years of the combination therapy. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the calculated mean LDL cholesterol level was the predictive value of treatment efficacy (mean LDL cholesterol < 140 mg/dL, hazard ratio 0.23, P = 0.028). The combination therapy of LDL-apheresis and antilipid drugs delayed the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and prevented a major cardiac event, although complete inhibition was limited to a small group. Additional coronary angioplasty is likely to be required for a favorable clinical outcome in FH patients.