No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Takayasu Arteritis*

No abstract available.
Heart* ; Thoracic Surgery*

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: Neuroendocrine (NE) cells of the prostate are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). By a comparative analysis of NE cell density in BPH tissue of men who were either exposed to or not exposed to 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, we investigated the relationship between NE cells and BPH, and the effect of androgen deprivation on NE cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prostate tissue specimens, obtained from 30 men by transurethral resection of the prostate or radical cystoprostatectomy, were used. Of the 30 patients, 10 had a prostate smaller than 25 ml (normal control), the other 20 had a prostate larger than 40ml, 10 of who had taken 5alpha-reductase inhibitor (finasteride) for 3 months before surgery (androgen blockade group), and 10 who had not (BPH group). The distribution of NE cells in the prostate was examined using the anti-chromogranin A (CgA) antibody, and the density of the CgA-positive cells was compared by an optical dissector method. Immunoblotting was performed using the neuron specific enolase (NSE) antibody. A Mann-Whitney U test was used in a statistical analysis. RESULTS: Most of the CgA-positive NE cells were localized between the acinar epithelial cells. The mean numbers of CgA-positive NE cells per acinus in the normal controls and the BPH groups were 1.67+/-0.78 and 4.45+/-2.54, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). However, the mean number of CgA-positive NE cells in the androgen blockade group, was 4.93+/-2.17, which was similar to the BPH group. In a NSE immunoblotting study, a distinct band was observed in the BPH and androgen blockade groups, but the density of the band was higher in the androgen blockade group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that NE cells may be involved in the hyperplastic process of BPH. Inhibition of dihydrotestosterone, caused by the oral administration of the 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, failed to induce any significant change in the NE cells, probably due to the incomplete androgen blockade.
Administration, Oral ; Cell Count ; Dihydrotestosterone* ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Immunoblotting ; Male ; Neuroendocrine Cells* ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Prostate ; Prostatic Hyperplasia*

PURPOSE: The Singh index which is based on a plain radiograph has commonly used in assessing the grade of osteoporosis. We studied value of the Singh index in assessing the grade of osteoporosis by obtaining reliability of the Singh index and correlation between the Singh index and bone mineral density. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six observers assessed radiographs of 60 patients suspected osteoporosis. The interobserver and intraobserver agreement of the Singh index were obtained by using kappa statistics. The bone mineral density of proximal femur was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in all patients, and then the results of bone mineral density were compared with those of Singh index by using percentage of variance. RESULTS: The kappa values of interobserver agreement ranged from 0.28 to 0.76 (mean value: 0.45) and the strength of the agreement was moderate. The percentage of variance of BMD which was explained by Singh index was 7.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the Singh index has low clinical value in assessing the grade of osteoporosis
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Density ; Femur ; Humans ; Osteoporosis*

Myositis Ossificans progressiva is a very rare disease and not more than five cases have been reported in this country. The symptoms usually appear before the age of six and no case has ever been reported in medical literature in which patient is older than the age of twenty. This author reports here that a 52 years old male was diagnoed as a myositis ossificans progressiva. The patient developed his symptoms when he was lynched by a club during the Korean conflict at the Korean conflict at the age of thirty. Another interesting fact is that is that his daughter has also developed similar symptoms which appeared following an accident when she was run over by an angry cow at the age of six.
Humans ; Korean War ; Male ; Myositis Ossificans ; Myositis ; Nuclear Family ; Rare Diseases

No abstract available.
Polychondritis, Relapsing*

No abstract available.
Polychondritis, Relapsing*

The relationship between the serum values of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and the histologic composition of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was investigated in 32 symptomatic BPH patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate. We evaluated the free and total PSA concentrations by ACS-PSA2 (Ciba-Corning) assay. The stereological analysis was made by computer aided-area densitometry using H & E stained slides to quantify stromal and glandular areas in the resected prostate tissue. The total PSA concentration versus percentage of glandular area (%G) and stromal-glandular ratio (SGR) correlated significantly (p<0.05 for both) whereas the free PSA concentration and free/total PSA ratio did not (p>0.05 for both). These data suggest that total PSA is directly correlated with the histologic composition of the prostate in men with BPH, however, the proportion of free to total PSA was not informative to predict the histology. Thus, pretreatment evaluation of total PSA would be useful as part of an evaluation method of BPH for medical therapy.
Densitometry ; Humans ; Male ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen* ; Prostatic Hyperplasia*