Physicians' attitudes toward hypnotics for insomnia: A questionnaire-based study.

Introduction: Benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines are still widely prescribed despite safety concerns and the introduction of novel hypnotics (orexin receptor antagonists [ORA] and melatonin receptor agonists [MRA]), which may be influenced by physicians' attitudes toward hypnotics. Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 962 physicians between October 2021 and February 2022, investigating frequently prescribed hypnotics and the reasons for their selection. Results: ORA were the most frequently prescribed at 84.3%, followed by non-benzodiazepines (75.4%), MRA (57.1%), and benzodiazepines (54.3%). Compared to non-frequent prescribers of hypnotics, a logistic regression analysis showed that frequent ORA prescribers were more concerned with efficacy (odds ratio [OR]: 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.54, p = 0.044) and safety (OR: 4.52, 95% CI: 2.99-6.84, p < 0.001), frequent MRA prescribers were more concerned with safety (OR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.77-3.46, p < 0.001), frequent non-benzodiazepine prescribers were more concerned with efficacy (OR: 4.19, 95% CI: 2.91-6.04, p < 0.001), and frequent benzodiazepine prescribers were more concerned with efficacy (OR: 4.19, 95% CI: 2.91-6.04, p < 0.001) but less concerned with safety (OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.16-0.39, p < 0.001). Discussion: This study suggested that physicians believed ORA to be an effective and safe hypnotic and were compelled to prescribe benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine frequently, choosing efficacy over safety.

Attitudes and Difficulties Associated with Benzodiazepine Discontinuation.

Long-term use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZDs) may depend on clinicians' BZD discontinuation strategies. We aimed to explore differences in strategies and difficulties with BZD discontinuation between psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists and to identify factors related to difficulties with BZD discontinuation. Japanese physicians affiliated with the Japan Primary Care Association, All Japan Hospital Association, and Japanese Association of Neuro-Psychiatric Clinics were surveyed on the following items: age group, specialty (psychiatric or otherwise), preferred time to start BZD reduction after improvement in symptoms, methods used to discontinue, difficulties regarding BZD discontinuation, and reasons for the difficulties. We obtained 962 responses from physicians (390 from non-psychiatrists and 572 from psychiatrists), of which 94.0% reported difficulty discontinuing BZDs. Non-psychiatrists had more difficulty with BZD discontinuation strategies, while psychiatrists had more difficulty with symptom recurrence/relapse and withdrawal symptoms. Psychiatrists used more candidate strategies in BZD reduction than non-psychiatrists but initiated BZD discontinuation after symptom improvement. Logistic regression analysis showed that psychosocial therapy was associated with less difficulty in BZD discontinuation (odds ratio, 0.438; 95% confidence interval, 0.204-0.942; p = 0.035). Educating physicians about psychosocial therapy may alleviate physicians' difficulty in discontinuing BZDs and reduce long-term BZD prescriptions.

[Case report of traumatic hemorrhage from the anterior choroidal artery].

Traumatic hemorrhage from the anterior choroidal artery is very rare. A 74-year-old male was admitted to our hospital immediately after a traffic accident. CT on admission showed right intracerebral hematomas in the posterior limb of the internal capsule and the upper part of the right cerebral peduncle. Neurological examination revealed that the patient had left hemiparesis and transient mute, pseudobulbar sign and peduncular hallucination. The absence of hypertensive asymptomatic microbleeds in other basal ganglia supported the verdict of traumatic injury of the anterior choroidal artery. The tear mechanism of the anterior choroidal artery might have been caused by an impact to the parietal region directed toward the tentorium.

[Isolated trigeminal sensory neuropathy due to pontine infarction of the root entry zone--report of two cases].

Secondary trigeminal neuralgia and isolated trigeminal neuropathy due to ischemic lesion of the pons are very rare. We report 2 patients with pontine infarct transecting the central trigeminal pathways resulting in trigeminal neuropathy and/or neuralgia. Case 1: A 48-year-old female presented with lancinating pain and paresthesia and hypesthesia in the right V2 and V3 distributions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain demonstrated a wedge-shaped infarct at the root entry zone (REZ) of the right trigeminal nerve in the pons. Case 2: A 66-year-old female presented with paresthesia and hypesthesia in the right V1, V2 and V3 distributions. MRI demonstrated a small wedge-shaped infarct at REZ. This infarction of the REZ may have led to produce the isolated trigeminal neuralgia and trigeminal neuropathy.

[Rapid disappearance of acute epidural hematoma by percutaneous aspiration of subperiosteal hematoma--case report].

We present the case of an 8-year-old boy who was injured in a bicycle accident and was admitted with a right frontal skull fracture, an acute epidural hematoma, a right frontal laceration, and a subperiosteal hematoma on admission. After the frontal cutaneous suture, the subperiosteal hematoma was aspirated by the percutaneous needle. Two hours later, a CT scan revealed that the epidural hematoma was disappeared. It is speculated that the subperiosteal and epidural hematoma communicated via the skull fracture thus necessitating the evacuation of the epidural hematoma by subperiosteal aspiration.

[Conjugate deviation in ischemia of medial medullary oblongata--report of three cases].

Medial medullary infarct (MMI) is a rare type of brain stem infarction. Its clinical picture was characterized by contralateral hemiparesis, deep sensory disturbance, and ipsilateral hypoglossal paresis, but conjugate deviation or nystagmus is uncommon as initial symptom. Case 1: A 73-year-old man developed vomiting and vertigo. Examination revealed right conjugate deviation and horizontal nystagmus beating toward the left side, and numbness on his right upper limb,but no hypoglossal nerve palsy. Cranial MRI demonstrated an infarction in the left paramedian region of the upper medulla and thrombus of the left vertebral artery. Case 2: A 74-year-old man suffered from dizziness and nausea. He showed left conjugate deviation and right-beating horizontal nystagmus without Horner syndrome or hypoglossal nerve palsy. MRI disclosed an infarction in the right upper medial medulla. MRA revealed the right dissecting vertebral artery. Case 3: A 71-year-old man developed vertigo when watching at TV. He showed transient left conjugate deviation and transient motor paresis on the left upper limb. MRI showed the thickened wall of the right vertebral artery but no abnormal ischemic lesion. Digital subtraction angiograms revealed the dissecting right vertebral artery. All ischemic events limited to the upper third of the medulla were caused by the vertebral artery lesions, and prognosis was good. The unilateral MMI lesion in the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi and/or the medullary reticular formation caused contralesional shift of the eyes and ipsilesional nystagmus. The upper MMI will be characterized by a triad of contralateral hemiparesis, deep sensory disturbance and abnormal ocular motor findings.

[Evaluation of the vocal tract during Japanese vowel production in myasthenia gravis using magnetic resonance imaging].

We report a 65-year-old Japanese female whose primary symptom of myasthenia gravis was related to rhinolalia aperta. The vocal tract during vowel production was evaluated using two-dimensional fast advanced spin echo (2D-FASE) MR images on supine and prone position. Before treatment, MRI on prone position demonstrated anterior shift of the palatine uvula and the tongue during Japanese "a", "u" and "o" production following the gravity, the former suggested the paresis of the sphenosalpingostaphylinus and elevator veli palatini muscle and the latter the paresis of the styloglossal and hypoglossal muscles. After treatment of steroid pulse and immune absorption, 2D-FASE images on prone position revealed the normalized configuration of the tongue and the soft palate during the Japanese five-vowel production. Kinetic MRI may be useful for evaluation of dynamics of the tongue and the soft palate.

[Delayed epidural bleeding caused by traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the middle meningeal artery: case report].

A 16-year-old man who presented with delayed bleeding of epidural hematoma is reported. Computed tomography (CT) on admission demonstrated a small amount of right epidural hematoma and a small fracture of the right lateral orbital wall. He was treated conservatively. Repeated CT scans and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed no growth in the epidural hematoma, but demonstrated flow void sign at the medial side of the hematoma on MR images. After 8 days, CT scan presented the regrowth of the hematoma, so we planned the removal of hematoma. Epidural hematoma due to the rupture of a traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the middle meningeal artery is rare. Especially, since traumatic lesions were diagnosed by CT, it was unusual to be able to diagnose the pseudoaneurysm of middle meningeal artery preoperatively. The cases of epidural hematoma treated conservatively should be followed up by MR imaging and MR angiography using the fat suppression technique.

[Case report of Rosai-Dorfman disease mimicking pachymeningitis].

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare idiopathic histioproliferative disease affecting the lymph nodes. Extranodal sites may be involved and occasionally represent the initial or sole manifestation of the disease. Central nervous system manifestations especially are exceedingly rare. We reported a case of isolated, intracranial, dural-based RDD. A 69-year-old male, admitted with a second generalized convulsion, was examined by high-resolution MR images that revealed a thickened, stratified dura in the left frontal region with associated cortical edema. The patient underwent craniotomy with subtotal resection of the lesion. Microscopically, with the cytoplasmic staining against S-100 protein the lesion was shown to consist of proliferative histiocytes exhibiting emperipolesis. The histopathological diagnosis was compatible with RDD. The diagnosis of RDD mimicking pachymeningitis is presented, and the previous reported cases of intracranial RDD are reviewed.

[Rapid improvement of callosal edema by thiamine administration in Marchiafava-Bignami disease: a case report].

Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD) associated with chronic alcoholism is a fatal disorder characterized by demyelination of the corpus callosum. A 62-year-old Japanese man, a heavy drinker for his last over 10 years, was admitted to our hospital because of acute onset of speech disturbance. The first MR images showed abnormal signal intensity of the corpus callosum, which was a typical finding of MBD, but no signal abnormality on diffusion-weighted images. At three days after large doses of thiamine administration, MR studies revealed the disappearance of callosal high signal intensity. His symptom gradually improved, the pathogenesis and therapy of MBD were discussed.