This case report presents two cases of differentiated intramucosal gastric cancer in the antrum. Both patients reported no history of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, and endoscopy and diagnostic tests indicated no H. pylori infection. Case 1 is a female patient in her 70s. Esophagoduodenogastroscopy (EGD) detected a depressed lesion. Adenocarcinoma was suspected; thus, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was performed to resect the lesion. The histological result was well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, which predominantly demonstrated an intestinal mucin phenotype. The existence of a small elevated lesion in the same location was confirmed by reviewing the previous endoscopic record 52 months earlier. Case 2 is a male patient in his 60s in whom screening EGD detected an elevated lesion. The biopsy indicated gastric adenoma, and ESD was performed. The histological diagnosis was well-to-moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma with a pure gastric phenotype. These results indicate that H. pylori-negative differentiated gastric carcinomas in the antrum occur as small elevated lesions that may gradually progress to a depressed form during a relatively long clinical course.

OBJECTIVE: The acetabular coverage in osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) affects the need for surgical intervention, and the collapse of the femoral head remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the relation between the acetabular coverage and the need for surgical treatment and femoral head collapse.
METHODS: The study included 158 patients with 252 hips with glucocorticoid administration and idiopathic ONHF without osteoarthritis changes. The mean age at the first visit was 45.2 years, and the mean follow-up period was 92.2 months. All ONFH hips were subsequently divided into two groups: those needing surgical intervention and those without surgery. Additionally, it divided 167 initially non-collapsed hips into those that either later collapsed or not. Radiographic parameters with the centre-edge angle, acetabular roof obliquity, sharp angle, and necrotic location, following the guidelines of the Japanese Investigation Committee, were evaluated.
RESULTS: There were no significant differences in radiographic parameters between the 106 hips that underwent surgery and the 146 hips without surgery. Among the 167 hips without initial collapse, 91 eventually collapsed while 76 did not; their radiographic findings have no significant differences. The necrotic locations were significantly larger in hips requiring surgical intervention or femoral head collapse. Furthermore, 21.8% (55 out of 252 hips) had acetabular dysplasia, which did not significantly correlate with the necessity for surgical treatment or the incidence of femoral head collapse.
CONCLUSIONS: Acetabular coverage has little effect on the necessity for surgical treatment and femoral head collapse in ONFH patients over a long-term follow-up.

Background: In the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), finding stenosis with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not always correlate with symptoms such as sciatica or intermittent claudication. We perform decompression surgery only for cases where the levels diagnosed from neurological findings are symptomatic, even if multiple stenoses are observed on MRI. The objective of this study was to examine the time course of asymptomatic stenosis in patients with LSS after they underwent decompression surgery for symptomatic stenosis. Materials and Methods: The participants in this study comprised 137 LSS patients who underwent single-level L4-5 decompression surgery from 2003 to 2013. The dural sac cross-sectional area at the L3-4 disc level was calculated based on preoperative MRI. A cross-sectional area less than 50 mm2 was defined as stenosis. The patients were grouped, according to additional spinal stenosis at the L3-4 level, into a double group (16 cases) with L3-4 stenosis, and a single group (121 cases) without L3-4 stenosis. Incidences of new-onset symptoms originating from L3-4 and additional L3-4-level surgery were examined. Results: Five years after surgery, 98 cases (72%) completed follow-up. During follow-up, 2 of 12 patients in the double group (16.7%) and 9 of 86 patients in the single group (10.5%) presented with new-onset symptoms originating from L3-4, showing no significant difference between groups. Additional L3-4 surgery was performed for one patient (8.3%) in the double group and three patients (3.5%) in the single group; again, no significant difference was shown. Conclusion: Patients with asymptomatic L3-4 stenosis on preoperative MRI were not prone to develop new symptoms or need additional L3-4-level surgery within 5 years after surgery when compared to patients without preoperative L3-4 stenosis. These results indicate that prophylactic decompression for asymptomatic levels is unnecessary.

UNASSIGNED: Acute low back pain (LBP) is increasingly recognized for its potential recurrent nature and long-term implications.
UNASSIGNED: This community-based inception cohort study aimed to delineate trajectories of acute LBP over one year and investigate associated biopsychosocial variables.
UNASSIGNED: One hundred seventy-six participants with acute LBP were monitored at 5 follow-up time points over 52 weeks. Pain trajectories were identified using a latent class linear mixed model, and their associations with baseline biopsychosocial factors were evaluated through multinomial logistic regression.
UNASSIGNED: Four distinct LBP trajectories were discerned: \"mild/moderate fluctuating pain\" (54.0%), \"delayed recovery by week 52\" (6.2%), \"persistent moderate pain\" (33.0%), and \"moderate/severe fluctuating pain\" (6.8%). Increased baseline pain intensity and history of LBP episodes were significantly linked with less favorable trajectories. Contrary to expectations, psychological variables like stress, anxiety, and depression did not significantly associate with unfavorable trajectories.
UNASSIGNED: This study underscores the heterogeneity of acute LBP\'s course over a year, challenging the conventionally benign perception of the condition. Recognizing these distinct trajectories might enable more tailored, effective clinical interventions for LBP patients. The small sample size of certain trajectories may influence the generalizability of the results.
UNASSIGNED: Acute LBP can manifest in different trajectories, with nearly half of the participants experiencing less favorable trajectories. Baseline pain intensity and previous episodes of LBP emerged as key factors, whereas psychological variables had no discernible influence. Recognition of these trajectories may be necessary for improved patient management and targeted interventions.

The necessity of bilateral bypass in adult moyamoya disease (MMD) remains unclear despite its recommendation for pediatric and hemorrhagic cases. We aimed to investigate the natural course of hemodynamically stable unoperated hemispheres after bypass surgery for symptomatic and hemodynamically unstable hemispheres in adult patients with ischemic MMD. Among 288 patients, the mean age at the first operation of the unstable hemispheres was 40.8 ± 12.2 years. The mean follow-up period was 62.9 ± 46.5 months. 45 patients (15.6%) experienced stroke events in the unoperated hemisphere, consisting of hemorrhagic stroke in 8 (2.8%) and ischemic stroke in 37 (12.8%), including progressive transient ischemic attack in 25 (8.7%) and infarction in 12 (4.2%). Among them, 39 patients (13.5%) underwent bypass surgery. The annual risk of total stroke is 3.0%/patient-year, with 2.5% for ischemic stroke and 0.5% for hemorrhagic stroke. The 5- and 10-year cumulative risks of ischemic stroke were 13.4% and 18.3%, respectively, and those of hemorrhagic stroke were each 3.2%. The natural course of hemodynamically stable hemispheres contralateral to the operated ones appeared fairly good. Additional bypass surgery on the unoperated hemispheres should be considered for symptomatic and hemodynamically unstable hemispheres in adult patients with ischemic MMD during the follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: Research on the natural course of symptoms of atypical anorexia nervosa (AN) relative to AN and bulimia nervosa (BN) is limited yet needed to inform nosology and improve understanding of atypical AN. This study aimed to 1) characterize trajectories of eating disorder and internalizing (anxiety, depression) symptoms in college students with and without a history of atypical AN, AN, and BN; and 2) compare sex and race/ethnicity distributions across groups.
METHODS: United States college students who participated in Spit for Science™, a prospective cohort study, were classified as having a history of atypical AN (n = 125), AN (n = 160), BN (n = 617), or as non-eating-disorder controls (NCs, n = 5876). Generalized and linear mixed-effects models assessed group differences in eating and internalizing symptom trajectories, and logistic regression compared groups on sex and race/ethnicity distributions.
RESULTS: Atypical AN participants demonstrated elevated eating disorder and internalizing symptoms compared to NCs during college, but less severe symptoms than AN and BN participants. Although all eating disorder groups showed signs of improvement in fasting and driven exercise, purging and depression remained elevated. Atypical AN participants showed increasing anxiety and stable binge-eating trajectories compared to AN and/or BN participants. The atypical AN group comprised significantly more people of color than the AN group.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore that atypical AN is a severe psychiatric disorder. As atypical AN may present as less severe than AN and BN and disproportionately affects people of color, clinicians should be mindful of biases that could delay diagnosis and care.
UNASSIGNED: College students with histories of atypical AN, AN, and BN demonstrated improvements in fasting and driven exercise and stable purging and depression levels. Atypical AN students showed worsening anxiety and stable binge-eating trajectories compared to favorable changes among AN and BN students. A higher percentage of atypical AN (vs. AN) students were people of color. Findings may improve the detection of atypical AN in college students.

Idiopathic cervical dystonia (ICD) is by far the largest subgroup of dystonia. Still, its natural course is largely unknown. We studied the natural course of 100 ICD patients from our botulinum toxin clinics (age at ICD onset 45.8 ± 13.5 years, female/male ratio 2.0) over a period of 17.5 ± 11.5 years with follow-ups during botulinum toxin therapy and with semi-structured interviews. Two courses of ICD could be distinguished by symptom development of more or less than 6 months. ICD-type 2 was less frequent (19% vs 81%, p < 0.001), had a more rapid onset (8.7 ± 8.0 weeks vs 3.8 ± 3.5 years), a higher remission rate (92% vs 5%, p < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of excessive psychological stress preceding ICD (63% vs 1%, p < 0.001). In both ICD-types, the plateau phase was non-progressive. Significant differences in patient age at ICD onset, latency and extent of remission, female/male ratio and prevalence of family history of dystonia could not be detected. ICD is a non-progressive disorder. ICD-type 1 represents the standard course. ICD-type 2 features rapid onset, preceding excessive psychological stress and a high remission rate. These findings will improve prognosis, treatment strategies and understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. They contradict the widespread fear of patients of a constant and continued decline of their condition. Excessive psychological stress may be an epigenetic factor triggering the manifestation of genetically predetermined dystonia.

UNASSIGNED: Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and poor insight show higher symptom severity, lower quality of life (QoL), and a reduced treatment response compared to patients with good insight. Little is known about changes in insight. This study explored the course of insight and its association with OCD severity and QoL among 253 patients with OCD participating in the prospective naturalistic Netherlands Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Association (NOCDA) Study.
UNASSIGNED: In 70% of the participants with available insight data, the level of insight changed during the four-year course. Insight was most variable in participants with poor insight. Improvement of insight scores was statistically significantly associated with improvement of Y-BOCS scores (r = 0.19), but not with changes in QoL scores. Change in insight in the first 2 years was not statistically significantly predictive of OCD severity or QoL at four-year follow-up.
UNASSIGNED: These findings suggest that patients\' levels of insight may change during the natural four-year course of OCD and that improvement in the level of insight have a positive association with improvement in OCD severity.

UNASSIGNED: Radioembolization (RE) is a one of the palliative treatments that have been used to down stage and/or increase the survival time in intermediate-advanced stages of HCC. We aimed to evaluate the clinical impact of RE and the clinical use of the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score as a predictor for survival in HCC patients.
UNASSIGNED: Fifty-nine unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were enrolled. RE was performed in 28 of them (group 1) and 31 patients were followed up in the natural course (NC) (group 2). Patients were classified according to the Child-Pugh score (only cirrhotic patients), Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) staging, and ALBI scores were also calculated.
UNASSIGNED: All patients in Group 1 were cirrhotic and their BCLC stages were as follows: 60.7% stage B and 39.3% stage C. In Group 2, 83.9% of patients were cirrhotic and their BCLC stages were as follows: 9.7% stage B, 51.6% stage C, and 38.7% stage D. Mortality rates were 82% and 100% in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) was 13.5 months (95% CI: 10.4-16.6 months) and 4.5 months (95% CI: 3.5-5.5 months) in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p=0.000). When RE was applied to patients with ALBI Grade 1 and 2, the median OS was statistically higher than in the NC group, respectively (p<0.001, p<0.001).
UNASSIGNED: RE is an effective treatment method at the advanced stages of HCC. The ALBI score is a more useful and practical than the other prognostic tools.

Spontaneous vertebral compression fractures in the cervical region can have a significant impact on a patient\'s condition even after surgical management. Due to the rarity of spontaneous cervical vertebral compression fractures and the lack of a comprehensive description of this condition, the establishment of a clear understanding of its natural course remains incomplete. In this case study, a 73-year-old woman on long-term corticosteroid therapy underwent combined anterior and posterior fixation for a spontaneous vertebral compression fracture at the C3-C4 level. The vertebral compression fracture gradually worsened over a span of four years. Following the surgery, the patient experienced a temporary improvement in her neurological symptoms. However, seven months after the second operation, an instrumentation failure resulted in the patient becoming bedridden. This highlights the importance of considering the potential long-term implications and monitoring patients closely even after surgical intervention.