No abstract available.
Graves Disease* ; Pregnancy*

The purpose of this study is to present the physiological and anatomical observations on the effect of cerebral hemispherectomy and total hemispherectomy including ipsilateral thalamus in albino rabbits. In this study, twenty healthy male albino rabbits weighing 1.8-2.0 kg were subjected to one stage removal of one cerebral hemisphere including unilateral basal ganglia and thalamus (total hemispherectomy) and unilateral cerebral hemisphere preserving basal ganglia (cerebral hemispherectomy). In 8 albino rabbits, cerebral hemispherectomy was performed and in 12, total hemispherectomy. These experimental animals were frequently observed for periods varying from a few days to three weeks. The postoperative physiological findings were as follows : All survived experimental animals demonstrated early and rapid return of consciousness, giving evidence of awareness of environment noting objects in their remaining ipsilateral homonymous visual field. After recovery form anesthesia, all experimental animals were able to move their contralateral limbs, however when they attempted to walk they staggered to the opposite side for a while. A few days later they showed almost same motor function and walked making circle to the operated side. About two weeks later, they could walk as normal rabbits. Following unilateral cerebral hemispherectomy or total hemispherectomy, all animals were able to respond to painful stimuli on the contralateral side when they awoke from aneshesia. The grade of response to painful stimuli was gradually getting better until about one week postoperatively, but there were some deficit in the contalateral side comparing to the ipsilateral side when examined on postoperative three weeks. Contralateral homonymous hemianopsia was considered to be a permanent neurologic deficit in all experimental animals. The brain stem and spinal cord, removed during two or three weeks postoperatively, were stained with Luxol fast blue staining method, however, there was no evidence of bilateral pyramidal innervation in all experimental animals.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Basal Ganglia ; Brain Stem ; Cerebrum ; Consciousness ; Extremities ; Hemianopsia ; Hemispherectomy* ; Humans ; Male ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Rabbits ; Spinal Cord ; Thalamus ; Visual Fields

No abstract available.
Posterior Cruciate Ligament* ; Tendons*

BACKGROUND: Ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction increase mortality and morbidity. Two-dimensional echocardiography in acute myocardial infarction provides a useful diagnostic tool for evaluation of ventricular remodeling. The aims of this study were to verify whether follow-up two-dimensional echocardiography could detect ventricular enlargement after acute myocardial infarction and to find early echocardiographic predictors and clinical charateristics of ventricular enlargement. METHODS: Two-dimensional echocardiography was done prospectively at 2 week, 3 month, and 6 month after the first Q-wave acute myocardial infarction in 18 patients. The control group was 11 patients of a normal chest roentgenogram and echocardiogram who were studied for chest pain or arrhythmia. The patients were divided by the mean value of the control group left ventricular end-diastolic volume index(LVEDVI) 56.8ml/m2. The group A was more than 60ml/m2(the control group LVEDVI 56.8ml/m2) and the group B was less than 60ml/m2 of LVEDVI at 2 week post myocardial infarction. The left vantricular volume was measured by the modified disk method at the apical four chamber view. The wall motion abnormality of left ventricle was examined by the recommendation of the American Society of Echcardiography. RESULTS: The left vntricular end-diastolic volume and the left ventricular end-systolic volume were enlarged after 3 month of acute myocardial infarction in the group A compare with those of the control group. There was no ventricular enlargement during 6 month after myocardial infarction in the group B. The frequency of ventricular enlargement was increased in anterior myocardial infarction. There was no difference in left ventricular ejection fraction at 2 week post myocardial infarction between the group A(51.4+/-15.7%) and the group B(50.8+/-10.3%). The wall motion score index more than 1.5 at 2 week post myocardial infarction means the enlarged LVEDVI more than 60ml/m2 and the group of ventricular enlargement. CONCLUSION: The left ventricular enlargement could be diagnosed by the follow-up two-dimensional echocardiography in acute myocardial infarction. The echocardiographic early predictors of ventricular enlagement were the left ventricular end-diastolic volume greater than 60ml/m2 and increased wall motion score index more than 1.5 at 2 week post myocardial infarstion. The anterior myocardial infarction was the electrocardiographic predictor of ventricular dilatation. Therefore these early predictors could identify the patients of ventricular enlargement and these patients could be a candidate of follow-up echocardiography and of a specific treatment for limiting ventricular remodeling.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Chest Pain ; Dilatation ; Echocardiography* ; Electrocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke Volume ; Thorax ; Ventricular Remodeling

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Snake Bites* ; Snakes*

No abstract available.
Snake Bites* ; Snakes*

BACKGROUND: The interest of patients with chest pain and normal coronary arteries has been increased since 1960. From the year 1973, the syndrome representing these characteristics has been classified as syndrome X. Treadmill test and exercise TI-201 SPECT are important in the diagnosis of syndrome X. This study was designed to evaluate the clinical value of exercise TI-201 SPECT and the difference of clinical characteristics between exercise TI-201 SPECT positive(Group A) and negative (Group B) in patients with chest pain and normal coronary angiogram. METHODS: Twenty seven patients with chest pain and normal coronary angiogram underwent echocardiogram and exercise TI-201 SPECT. Patients received 2 mCi of thallium intravenously during exercise, redistribution images were performed 4 hour later and second dose of 1 mCi of thallium was injected at rest immediately thereafter. These three sets of image(stress, redistribution and reinjection) were analyzed. RESULTS: 1) 12 of 16 patients in Group A, none of 11 patients were positive on exercise treadmill test(p<0.005). 2) The incidence of systemic hypertension in Group A was significant greater than Group B(p<0.05). 3) The left ventricular end diastolic pressure was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The exercise TI-201 SPECT is a useful method to evaluate the patients with chest pain and normal coronary angiogram and the reversible perfusion defects on the exercise TI-201 SPECT might be related to systemic hypertension and elevated left ventricular end diastolic pressure.
Blood Pressure ; Chest Pain* ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Exercise Test ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Perfusion ; Thallium ; Thorax* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

Purpose: To assess the impact of toxoplasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers on the diagnosis of active ocular toxoplasmosis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients tested for toxoplasma IgG at our uveitis clinic. Active ocular toxoplasmosis was clinically diagnosed based on wide-angle fundus photography and disease progression. Patients with IgG titers ≥ 30 IU/mL were classified as seropositive-high titer, those with IgG titers of 1.6-30 IU/mL as seropositive-low titer, and the remaining patients as seronegative. We compared the proportion of active ocular toxoplasmosis among these groups. Additionally, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of each titer and attempted to determine an ideal reference titer for toxoplasma IgG in diagnosing active ocular toxoplasmosis. Results: Out of 824 patients, 86 (10.4%), 88 (10.7%), and 650 (78.9%) were categorized as seropositive-high titer, seropositivelow titer, and seronegative, respectively. Among these patients, 34 in the seropositive-high titer group and 2 in the seropositive- low titer group were clinically diagnosed with active ocular toxoplasmosis. The false-positive rate was significantly different between the groups, being 60.5% in the seropositive-high titer group and 97.7% in the seropositive-low titer group (p < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that 37.70 IU/mL could be an ideal reference titer for diagnosing ocular toxoplasmosis. Conclusions The false-positive rate was notably lower (60.5%) in patients with IgG titers ≥ 30 IU/mL compared to those with titers of 1.6-30 IU/mL (97.7%). Therefore, not only the presence of IgG but also the level of titer appears to be important in diagnosing ocular toxoplasmosis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the operative feasibility and safety of endoscopic thyroidectomy via bilateral axillo breast approach (BABA) compared to conventional thyroidectomy in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. METHODS: From July 2009 to November 2010, patients underwent BABA endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET group; n=41) or conventional open thyroidectomy (OT group; n=61) for PTC. Clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients, operation time, post-operative complications, cosmetic satisfaction and thyroglobulin (TG) level were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 40.05±9.58 years (range 25~61 years) and 46.21±13.68 years (range 19~79 years) for the ET and OT group, respectively. The operative extent in the ET group did not include advanced thyroid cancer or lateral neck dissection. The size of the tumor was 0.78±0.59 cm (range 0.1~3.00 cm) and 1.54±1.05 cm (range 0.3~6.00 cm) for the ET and OT group, respectively. Extrathyroidal extension and number of retrieved lymph nodes were significantly higher in the OT group. Postoperative radioactive iodine ablation was performed on 25 patients (72.43%) in the ET group and 48 patients (78.69%) in the OT group. There was no abnormal uptake on radioactive iodine scans in the iodine-treated patients and no significant differences in postoperative off-T4 TG levels between the two groups. There were no significant differences in operative time, amount of drainage, postoperative hospitalization period, hypocalcemia, and vocal cord palsy between the two groups. Cosmetic results of ET group were rated as excellent in a 3-month postoperative questionnaire by 25 (72.43%) of 35 patients. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic thyroidectomy via the bilateral axillo breast approach can be a feasible and effective option for PTC in selected cases.
Breast* ; Drainage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia ; Iodine ; Lymph Nodes ; Neck Dissection ; Operative Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy* ; Vocal Cord Paralysis