[A case of Salmonella bacteremia in an otherwise healthy young man].

A 19-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of persistent fever of >38°C for 6 days and diarrhea for 4 days. Initially, he was treated for infectious enteritis, but on his second day in the hospital, the two sets of blood cultures came back positive. Cultures from the blood and stool yielded Salmonella sp. (Group O4). The patient's symptoms improved after treatment with fluoroquinolone-based antimicrobial agents for 14 days. Cases of nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteremia are rare;therefore, we reported this case with bibliographic consideration of the risk factors for Salmonella bacteremia.

Newly developed self-expandable Niti-S MD colonic metal stent for malignant colonic obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Colonic stents are increasingly used to treat acute malignant colonic obstructions. The WallFlex and Niti-S D type stents are the commonly used self-expandable metallic stents available in Japan since 2012. WallFlex stent has a risk of stent-related perforation because of its axial force, while the Niti-S D type stent has a risk of obstructive colitis because of its weaker radial force. Niti-S MD type stents not only overcome these limitations but also permit delivery through highly flexible-tipped smaller-caliber colonoscopes. AIM: To compare the efficacy and safety of the newly developed Niti-S MD type colonic stents. METHODS: This single-center retrospective observational study included 110 patients with endoscopic self-expandable metallic stents placed between November 2011 and December 2018: WallFlex (Group W, n = 37), Niti-S D type (Group N, n = 53), and Niti-S MD type (Group MD, n = 20). The primary outcome was clinical success, defined as a resolution of obstructive colonic symptoms, confirmed by clinical and radiological assessment within 48 h. The secondary outcome was technical success, defined as accurate stent placement with adequate stricture coverage on the first attempt without complications. RESULTS: The technical success rate was 100% in Groups W, N, and MD, and the overall clinical success rate was 89.2% (33/37), 96.2% (51/53), and 100% (20/20) in Groups W, N, and MD, respectively. Early adverse events included pain (3/37, 8.1%), poor expansion (1/37, 2.7%), and fever (1/37, 2.6%) in Group W and perforation due to obstructive colitis (2/53, 3.8%) in Group N (likely due to poor expansion). Late adverse events (after 7 d) included stent-related perforations (4/36, 11.1%) and stent occlusion (1/36, 2.8%) in Group W and stent occlusion (2/51, 3.9%) in Group N. The stent-related perforation rate in Group W was significantly higher than that in Group N (P < 0.05). No adverse event was observed in Group MD. CONCLUSION: In our early and limited experience, the newly developed Niti-S MD type colonic stent was effective and safe for treating acute malignant colonic obstruction.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection for early esophageal neoplasms using the stag beetle knife.

AIM: To determine short- and long-term outcomes of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) using the stag beetle (SB) knife, a scissor-shaped device. METHODS: Seventy consecutive patients with 96 early esophageal neoplasms, who underwent ESD using a SB knife at Kure Medical Center and Chugoku Cancer Center, Japan, between April 2010 and August 2016, were retrospectively evaluated. Clinicopathological characteristics of lesions and procedural adverse events were assessed. Therapeutic success was evaluated on the basis of en bloc, histologically complete, and curative or non-curative resection rates. Overall and tumor-specific survival, local or distant recurrence, and 3- and 5-year cumulative overall metachronous cancer rates were also assessed. RESULTS: Eligible patients had dysplasia/intraepithelial neoplasia (22%) or early cancers (squamous cell carcinoma, 78%). The median procedural time was 60 min and on average, the lesions measured 24 mm in diameter, yielding 33-mm tissue defects. The en bloc resection rate was 100%, with 95% and 81% of dissections deemed histologically complete and curative, respectively. All procedures were completed without accidental incisions/perforations or delayed bleeding. During follow-up (mean, 35 ± 23 mo), no local recurrences or metastases were observed. The 3- and 5-year survival rates were 83% and 70%, respectively, with corresponding rates of 85% and 75% for curative resections and 74% and 49% for non-curative resections. The 3- and 5-year cumulative rates of metachronous cancer in the patients with curative resections were 14% and 26%, respectively. CONCLUSION: ESD procedures using the SB knife are feasible, safe, and effective for treating early esophageal neoplasms, yielding favorable short- and long-term outcomes.

Gastric and enteric anisakiasis successfully treated with Gastrografin therapy: A case report.

We report a case of a 59-year-old woman who was diagnosed with gastric and small intestinal anisakiasis, which was successfully treated with endoscopic extraction and Gastrografin therapy. She was admitted to our hospital with epigastric pain and vomiting one day after eating raw fish. She exhibited tenderness in the epigastrium without obvious rebound tenderness or guarding. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated segmental edema of the intestinal wall with proximal dilatation and a small number of ascites. Because enteric anisakiasis was suspected based on the patient's history of recent raw fish consumption and abdominal CT, we performed gastroscopy and confirmed that nine Anisakis larvae were attached to the gastric mucosa. All of the Anisakis larvae were extracted via endoscopy, and the patient was diagnosed with gastric and enteric anisakiasis. Additionally, in the hospital, we performed ileography twice using Gastrografin, which led to shortened hospital stay. Based on the clinical results of this case, we suggest that Gastrografin therapy is a safe, convenient, and useful method to extract enteric Anisakis larvae.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection of early colorectal neoplasms with a monopolar scissor-type knife: short- to long-term outcomes.

Background and study aims Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for colorectal neoplasms remains challenging because of technical issues imposed by the complex anatomical features of the large intestine. We evaluated the feasibility, and the short- and long-term clinical outcomes of ESD for early colorectal neoplasms performed using the Stag-beetle Knife Jr. (SB Knife Jr.) Patients and methods We retrospectively assessed 228 patients who underwent ESD for 247 colorectal lesions with the SB Knife Jr. Clinicopathological characteristics of the neoplasms, complications, and various short- and long-term outcomes were evaluated. Results Mean tumor size was 34.3 mm and median procedure time was 76 minutes. The SB Knife Jr. achieved 98.4 % en bloc resection, 93.9 % complete resection, and 85.4 % curative resection. No perforations occurred during the procedure, and a delayed bleeding rate of 2.4 % was observed. Long-term outcomes were favorable with no distant recurrence, 1.1 % local recurrence, a 5-year overall survival rate of 94.1 % and 5-year tumor-specific survival rate of 98.6 % in patients with cancer. Conclusions ESD using the SB Knife Jr. is technically efficient and safe in treating early colorectal neoplasms and is associated with favorable short- and long-term outcomes.

Controlling Photocatalytic Activity and Size Selectivity of TiO2 Encapsulated in Hollow Silica Spheres by Tuning Silica Shell Structures Using Sacrificial Biomolecules.

Yolk-shell nanostructured photocatalyst which consists of inner core photocatalytic particles and outer silica shell exhibits high photocatalytic efficiency and molecular size selectivity due to the molecular sieving property of the outer shell. Creation of extended porosity in the shell endows it with improved adsorption properties and size selectivity toward targeted reactants. In this study, yolk-shell nanostructured photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 NPs core and porous silica shell with controllable pore size was fabricated through a facile single-step dual-templating approach utilizing oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsions and amphiphilic protein molecules. Addition of optimum amount of protein (ovalbumin) as a sacrificial template together with O/W microemulsion during the synthesis led to the expansion of average pore size from 2.0 to 3.6 nm, while retaining TiO2-encapsulated yolk-shell nanostructures. Photocatalytic degradation tests using gaseous 2-propanol and huge proteins as model substrates clearly revealed that the obtained material (TiO2@HSS_pro) showed superior photocatalytic performances with both improved photocatalytic efficiency and molecular size selectivity due to the increased surface area and expanded pore diameter.

Fabrication of Photocatalytic Paper Using TiO2 Nanoparticles Confined in Hollow Silica Capsules.

TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated in hollow silica spheres (TiO2@HSSs) show a shielding-effect that can insulate photocatalytically active TiO2 NPs from the surrounding environment and thus prohibit the self-degradation of organic support materials under ultraviolet (UV)-light irradiation. In this study, photocatalytically active papers were fabricated by combining TiO2@HSS and cellulose fibers, and their photocatalytic activities and durability under UV-light irradiation were examined. The yolk-shell nanostructured TiO2@HSS, which has an ample void space between inner TiO2 NPs and an outer silica shell, was synthesized using a facile single-step method utilizing an oil-in-water microemulsion as an organic template. The thus-prepared TiO2@HSS particles were deposited onto a cellulose paper either by the chemical adhesion process via ionic bonding or by the physical adhesion process using a dual polymer system. The obtained paper containing TiO2@HSS particles with high air permeability exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity in the photocatalytic decomposition of volatile organic compounds than unsupported powdery TiO2@HSS particles because of the uniform dispersion on the paper with a reticular fiber network. In addition, the paper was hardly damaged under UV-light irradiation, whereas the paper containing naked TiO2 NPs showed a marked deterioration with a considerably decreased strength, owing to the ability of the silica shell to prevent direct contact between TiO2 and organic fibers. This study can offer a promising method to fabricate photocatalytically active papers with a photoresistance property available for real air cleaning.