We report the case of a 63-year-old male with diabetes who was diagnosed with staphylococcal bacteremia. Paralysis of the extremities (right upper, left lower) and bladder and bowel dysfunction developed 5 days after treatment initiation. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spinal epidural abscess at the L4/5 level. Despite right upper extremity palsy, there was no visible cervical spine abscess. Emergency surgery was undertaken, which resulted in complete neurological recovery. General physicians must be aware that damage to the spinal cord can be caused not only by direct compression of an epidural abscess but also by impaired blood circulation or inflammation.

Between 1988 and 1991, 231 patients underwent surgical repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Among them 132 patients underwent isolated Y graft replacement electively. They were divided into two groups, according to the operative procedure; transperitoneal approach (n=51) and retroperitoneal approach (n=81), and the surgical results were compared retrospectively. There was no significant difference in operative time, amount of operative bleeding, operative transfusion, total transfusion, autotransfusion, duration of intubation, total use of analgesia or length of postoperative stay in the two groups. The amount of fluid drained from the nasogastric tube was significantly greater in the transperitoneal group. The initiation of drinking and eating were both significantly prolonged in the transperitoneal group. The transperitoneal approach is indicated for cases with thoracic or thoracoabdominal aneurysm which may be operated on in the future, cases of bilateral common iliac aneurysms and cases with heart disease. Otherwise it is preferable to select the retroperitoneal approach as the first choice for elective surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, because the retroperitoneal approach is superior in terms of the recovery of gastro-intestinal movement.

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The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) on cancer cell invasion and on fibroblast proliferation in an in vitro model of invasion. Three kinds of human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines with different invasive activity were used: OSC-20, OSC-19 (lower invasive type), and HOC313 (higher invasive type). FGF-2 and its high-affinity receptors FGFR-1 and FGFR-2 were detected by western blotting. The expression of FGF-2 and FGFRs mRNA was examined in cultured human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, recombinant human FGF-2 (rhFGF-2) was reacted with each cell line, and the invasion rate was determined by invasion assay. We also observed the behavior of cancer cell invasion in the collagen gel invasion model in the presence or absence of FGF-2-neutralizing antibody (anti-FGF-2). HOC313 cells showed higher expression of FGF-2 than OSC-20 and OSC-19 cells. The addition of rhFGF-2 promoted not only the proliferation of fibroblasts, but also the invasion of all cancer cell lines. In contrast, the addition of anti-FGF-2 completely inhibited the invasion of OSC-20 and OSC-19 cells. These results suggest that a higher invasiveness of squamous carcinoma cells is associated with higher production of FGF-2, which acts in an autocrine fashion to promote cancer cell invasion, and in a paracrine fashion to promote fibroblast proliferation.