The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a medical examiner system, in which all cadavers classified as "unusual death" in the city of Tokyo should be examined, and if necessary, autopsied to determine the cause of death. Of about 10,000 unusual deaths examined per year, two thirds are usu ally determined to have died of natural causes. The most common cause of sudden natural death is ischemic heart disease, especially acute myocardial infarction. Pathological examination, however, proves acute myocardial ischemia in only one third of autopsies. Subarachnoid hemorrhage and intra cerebral hemorrhage, acute myocarditis and cardiomyopathies and aortic dissection/aneurysm as well as pulmonary thromboembolism are frequent causes of death in medical examiner cases. Both patholog ical and socio-medical problems associated with these diseases are discussed.

Because the images provided by the ICG system are clearer than conventional ICG images, it could facilitate real-time navigation for laparoscopic anatomic liver resection.

The prognosis and recurrence pattern of right-and left-sided colon cancer in Stage II, Stage III, and liver metastasis after curative resection

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The level of proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a representative group of asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers in Miyazaki district, an HTLV-I endemic area in Japan, was determined by a single-cycle polymerase chain reaction method (PCR). Of 217 subjects, 26% had a high level of proviral DNA, 43% a medium level, 18% a low level, and 13% an undetectable level. In the high-DNA group, 60% had at least 0.6% abnormal lymphocytes on peripheral blood smears, significantly higher than in those with low DNA levels (19%). This association was present for men of all ages and for women under 55. Men were more than twice as likely to have abnormal lymphocytes as well as high levels of proviral DNA. These differences may reflect different host responses to the virus by sex or by the time or route of infection. This study supports the utility of PCR for molecular screening in epidemiologic studies of the natural history of HTLV-I, and may lead to the identification of those carriers who are at greatest risk of developing HTLV-I-induced malignancy.