Morihiro Tajimi

Use of laboratory data to identify risk factors of giant coronary aneurysms due to Kawasaki disease

Abstract Background : Although some laboratory findings are known to be indicators of the risk of giant coronary aneurysm formation among Kawasaki disease patients, an appropriate cut‐off point to predict aneurysm formation is not clear.

PCDDs, PCdfs and Co-PCBs in human breast milk samples collected in Tokyo, Japan.

Aim: To observe the distribution of PCDD/Fs and Co‐PCBs in samples of human breast milk collected in Japan. Methods: Using high‐resolution gas chromatography, milk samples for poly‐chlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins (PCDDs; 14 congeners), poly chlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs; 15 congeners) and coplanar poly chlorinated biphenyls (Co‐PCBs; 12 congeners) from 240 mothers residing in Tokyo were analysed. There were 120 donors each of primiparae and secundiparae, each group including 60 donors aged 25 to 29 y (“the younger group”) and 60 aged 30 to 34 y (“the older group”). Individual milk samples (about 50 ml) were obtained 30 d after delivery in 1999 and in 2000. Results: The mean toxic equivalent (TEQ) level of PCDD/Fs (the sum of PCDDs and PCDFs) was 14.9 pg TEQ/g fat, of Co‐PCBs 10.6 pg TEQ/g fat, and the total sum of PCDD/Fs and Co‐PCBs was 25.6 pg TEQ/g fat. The mean TEQ levels of PCDD/Fs, Co‐PCBs, and total PCDD/Fs and Co‐PCBs were higher in primiparae than in secundiparae. In each of these, the levels were higher in the subgroup of older mothers. In the secundiparae, the mean levels were lower in the group of mothers who had breastfed their first babies than in those who bottle‐fed or partly bottle‐fed their first born.

Case-control study of giant coronary aneurysms due to Kawasaki disease.

Background : Epidemiologic features of the formation of giant coronary aneurysm due to Kawasaki disease and its risk factors are not still clear.

Mortality among persons with a history of Kawasaki disease in Japan: Can paediatricians safely discontinue follow‐up of children with a history of the disease but without cardiac sequelae?

Aim: To clarify the question of whether patients with Kawasaki disease suffer a higher mortality rate after the incidence of the disease in comparison with age‐matched healthy individuals. Methods: Between July 1982 and December 1992, 52 collaborating hospitals collected data on all patients having a new, definite diagnosis of Kawasaki disease. Patients were followed up until 31 December 2001 or their death. The expected number of deaths was calculated from Japanese vital statistics data and compared with the observed number. Results: Of 6576 patients enrolled, 29 (20 males and 9 females) died. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR: the observed number of deaths divided by the expected number of deaths based on the vital statistics in Japan) was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.77–1.66). In spite of the high SMRs during the acute phase, the mortality rate was not high after the acute phase for the entire group of patients. Although the SMR after the acute phase was 0.75 for those without cardiac sequelae, six males (but none of the females) with cardiac sequelae died during this period; and the SMR for the male group with cardiac sequelae was 1.95 (95% CI: 0.71–4.25). The mortality from congenital anomalies of the circulatory system was elevated, but no increase in cancer deaths was observed.

Population attributable fraction of smoking to low birth weight in Japan.

Abstract Background : The purpose of this study is to quantify the population attributable fraction of active and passive smoking for low birth weight in Japan.

Associations between dietary intake and breast milk dioxin levels in Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract Background : The presence of dioxins in breast milk has gained much attention recently. However, in Japan the relationship between the consumption of different foods and the human breast milk dioxin concentrations is still unclear.