Kazue Takayanagi

Comparison of verbal and emotional responses of elderly people with mild/moderate dementia and those with severe dementia in responses to seal robot, PARO

Introduction: The differences in verbal and emotional responses to a baby seal robot, PARO, of elderly people with dementia residing at an elderly nursing care facility were analyzed. There were two groups of elderly people: one was with mild/moderate dementia (M-group) that consisted with 19 elderly residents in the general ward, and the other was with severe dementia (S-group) that consisted with 11 elderly residents in the dementia ward. Method: Each elderly resident in both groups interacted with either PARO or a control (stuffed lion toy: Lion) brought by a staff at each resident’s private room. Their responses were recorded on video. Behavioral analysis of the initial 6 min of the interaction was conducted using a time sampling method. Results: In both groups, subjects talked more frequently to PARO than to Lion, showed more positive changes in emotional expression with PARO than with Lion, and laughed more frequently with PARO than with Lion. Subjects in M-group even showed more negative emotional expressions with Lion than with PARO. Furthermore, subjects in S-group showed neutral expression more frequently with Lion than with PARO, suggesting more active interaction with PARO. For subjects in M-group, frequencies of touching and stroking, frequencies of talking to staff member, and frequencies of talking initiated by staff member were significantly higher with Lion than with PARO. Conclusion: The elderly people both with mild/moderate dementia and with severe dementia showed greater interest in PARO than in Lion. The results suggest that introducing PARO may increase willingness of the staff members to communicate and work with elderly people with dementia, especially those with mild/moderate dementia who express their demand of communication more than those with severe dementia.

Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in a 7-year-old girl

A case of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a 7-yr-old girl is reported. She required a graft of the abdominal aorta in an emergency operation and recovered successfully. AAA in children is extremely rare, and rupture of AAA to our knowledge has not been previously reported. The literature is reviewed and the possible etiology discussed.

A rare case of caudal duplication

A rare case of caudal duplication is reported. The infant had two well-formed lower limbs and pelvis with external male genitalia attached to the epigastrium. This is only the second reported case in which the parasite was attached to the epigastrium and it is the first reported case of caudal duplication without omphalocele.

Pulmonary agenesis with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula

A twin neonate with esophageal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistula, and agenesis of the right lung from consanguinous parents is reported. The twin brother was normal. The baby eventually made a good recovery after delayed primary esophageal anastomosis. Thirteen similar cases have been reported in the literature but all died.

Obstructive jaundice in infancy due to compression of the bile ducts by malignant lymph nodes

A case of Letterer-Siwe disease in a child who presented with obstructive jaundice is described and the unusual clinical problem discussed.