Two patients with surgically resected biliary cystadenocarcinoma are presented. Both were asymptomatic and the cancer was incidentally found by ultrasonography (US). In the first case, a huge multilocular tumor (21 X 15 cm in diameter) having many papillary projections and septa within it and small daughter lesions occupied both the right anterior and left medial areas of the liver. They were clearly demonstrated on US and computed tomography (CT). Angiography disclosed tumor vessels in some area of the lesion, these features strongly suggested cystadenocarcinoma. The second case had a solid mass (7 X 7 cm) in the left hepatic lobe, in which many septal structures within the lesion were seen on enhanced CT and light dot like stains were recognized on angiography. The former findings coincided with the internal gross feature of the resected specimen. Both patients are doing well 8 months and 1 year and 6 months after operation, respectively.

Intestinal anisakiasis is not only a rare parasitic disease, but is also difficult to diagnose. The symptoms are not specific and are often very severe and abrupt, and the findings of clinical imaging are very remarkable. Therefore, intestinal anisakiasis is often misdiagnosed as acute abdomen or intestinal obstruction and is treated surgically. However, if intestinal anisakiasis could be diagnosed correctly, it is well treated conservatively. We experienced three cases of intestinal anisakiasis, which were diagnosed correctly and treated successfully with conservative therapy. A correct clinical history and imaging interpretation helped us diagnose intestinal anisakiasis correctly and thus treat the patients successfully with conservative therapy.

The Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) has had a presence in Antarctica since 1956. The Syowa station is 15,000 km from Japan and evacuation of patients is impossible during the winter months. From 1956 to 2003, a total of 4932 telemedical consultations were undertaken, i.e. every member of the station needed an average of 4 medical consultations each winter. Forty five percent of the consultations were surgical or orthopaedic cases, 23% were for internal medicine and 12% were for dental problems. In the early 1980s, satellite radio-telephony was found to be useful for consultations, but did not have the ability to transmit medical pictures. Email was transmitted by the International Mobile Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) but the connection was only available every 2 hours and the maximum message size was 100 kByte. In 2004, the International Telecommunications Satellite (INTELSAT) system made a connection constantly available, and increased the maximum message size to 10 MByte. Transmission of still and moving pictures became possible. Scheduled consultations are performed monthly. A doctor in Japan can ask the patient questions and perform a proxy examination with the assistance of the Antarctic doctor. Real-time telemedicine is very effective in orthopaedic and surgical cases, skin, eye and dental troubles. Still pictures are more effective for understanding in detail skin and eye problems. Emergency consultations are effective if adequate consulting staff are available.

This study aimed to evaluate disease and injury trends among wintering members of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. Obtained information is indispensable to the advancement of medical system and research. Summation was performed based on medical records of reports prepared by each expedition over the period 1956–2016. The clinical department’s classification methods of the names of injuries and diseases varied among expeditions, but the names were integrated following the same classification. Of 1734 members (29 women), 6837 disease or injury cases (4 cases/person) were recorded. The rates of cases were as follows: surgical-orthopaedic (45.3%), internal medical (21.7%), dental (11.6%), dermatological (8.4%), ophthalmological (5.8%), otorhinolaryngological (5.3%), psychiatric (1.6%), and urological (0.1%) cases. There was no major change in rates by type of medical case in each expedition. This analysis made it possible to prepare medical facilities, content of physical examinations to select members, training of physicians before departure, preventive hygiene at sites, and medical research themes.