The results indicate that for most patients in the SAH group, subdural fluid collection represented "external hydrocephalus" rather than simple "subdural hygroma." Decreased absorption of cerebrospinal fluid because of SAH and surgically created tears in the arachnoid membrane communicating with the subdural space were factors in the development of external hydrocephalus. The authors believe that differentiating external hydrocephalus from subdural hygroma is extremely important, because VP shunt placement can be used to treat the former but could worsen the latter.

Gemcitabine and paclitaxel combination therapy is a tolerable and active regimen for patients with advanced UC after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy.

Tumor size is an important prognostic factor for patients with T1N0M0 renal cell carcinoma. A cutoff point of 4 cm. is practical for dividing the T1N0M0 classification into T1a and T1b subclasses.

We discovered a lethal hemorrhagic syndrome arising from severe thrombocytopenia in Japanese macaques kept at the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University. Extensive investigation identified that simian retrovirus type 4 (SRV-4) was the causative agent of the disease. SRV-4 had previously been isolated only from cynomolgus macaques in which it is usually asymptomatic. We consider that the SRV-4 crossed the so-called species barrier between cynomolgus and Japanese macaques, leading to extremely severe acute symptoms in the latter. Infectious agents that cross the species barrier occasionally amplify in virulence, which is not observed in the original hosts. In such cases, the new hosts are usually distantly related to the original hosts. However, Japanese macaques are closely related to cynomolgus macaques, and can even hybridize when given the opportunity. This lethal outbreak of a novel pathogen in Japanese macaques highlights the need to modify our expectations about virulence with regards crossing species barriers.

We demonstrated a high prostate cancer detection rate by the transperineal ultrasound-guided 12-core systematic biopsy method in patients with PSA levels of 2.5 to 20 ng/ml. Accordingly, if the number of core biopsies is further increased overall, except in patients with a large prostate volume, and if the indication for biopsy is decided based on the PSAD and %f PSA, then the cancer detection rate by the present method may be further improved, with fewer unnecessary biopsies.