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Article History

Received: 14 October 2024

Accepted: 3 January 2025

First Online: 6 January 2025

Declarations

:

: This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Yokohama Municipal Citizen’s Hospital. The requirement for individual informed consent was waived by the ethics committee due to the retrospective nature of the study and the use of anonymized data from existing medical records. This waiver was granted based on the following considerations: the noninvasive nature of the study, the use of only anonymized data with adequate measures to protect personal information, the impracticality of contacting the study subjects, and the minimal risk of infringing upon the rights or interests of the patients involved. All data were handled confidentially and in compliance with relevant privacy laws and regulations. The study protocol ensured that the research objectives could be achieved without compromising patient privacy or the ethical standards of medical research.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.