当科の准教授であるとともに、黒田と同い年の友人でもある赤井卓也先生が長年取り組んできた研究の論文が欧州小児神経外科学会誌であるChild’s Nervous System誌に掲載されました。従来、脳脊髄液は側脳室から第4脳室、さらにくも膜下腔に流れて、最後は静脈に吸収されていくとされていますが（classical route）、実はそれとは異なるルートによって脳脊髄液が頭蓋外に排出されていることを証明した研究です（alternative route）。この研究成果は、くも膜下出血後の正常圧水頭症のメカニズム、アルツハイマー病などの認知症の発生メカニズムを考える上でもきわめて有益だと信じています。
最近は、大規模な臨床試験や企業に支援された臨床試験などが高名な医学ジャーナルでもてはやされる傾向にありますが、こういった地道な研究の成果をわれわれの研究室から発信できたことを誇らしく感じています。また、60歳近くになっても自身の根幹となる研究に自ら取り組む姿勢に敬意を表したいと思います。
赤井卓也先生は、3年後の日本小児神経外科学会の会長にも選出されており、この分野でのますますの活躍を期待しています！
Boys and girls, be ambitious!
A Voyage to Depth of Neuroscience Vol. 79
Dr. Takuya Akai, an associate professor of our department and a friend of Kuroda’s who is the same age as him, has published a new article in Child’s Nervous System, the official journal of the European Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery. It is traditionally believed that cerebrospinal fluid flows from the lateral ventricles to the fourth ventricle, then to the subarachnoid space, and is finally absorbed into the veins (classical route), but this study proved that cerebrospinal fluid is actually drained out of the brain by a different route (alternative route). We believe that the results of this research will be extremely useful in understanding the mechanisms of normal pressure hydrocephalus after subarachnoid hemorrhage and the development of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Recently, a number of large clinical trials have been conducted. Recently, large-scale clinical trials and clinical trials supported by companies tend to be highlighted in high-end medical journals, but I am proud that our laboratory was able to publish the results of this kind of groundbreaking research. I would also like to express my respect for the attitude of Dr. Takuya Akai, who even at the age of almost 60 is still working on the research that forms the basis of his own career.
Dr. Takuya Akai has also been elected as the president of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery three years later, and I look forward to his continued success in this field!
Boys and girls, be ambitious!
