OBJECTIVES: Objective: Cellular immortality is believed to be a critical step in tumorigenesis. As an important component of the telomere maintenance mechanism, the activation of the enzyme telomerase is tightly associated with cellular immortality and cancer. However, little is known about the status of telomerase during human cervical cancer development. To assess the role of telomerase in the development of malignant transformation of the uterine cervix, this investigation was performed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Telomerase activity was measured by telomeric repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) assay in 8 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) and 24 cervical cancers. The tissue adjacent to the lesions from the same patients was also examined for the presence of telomerase activity. RESULTS: Thirty one of the 32(96.9%) lesions were positive for telomerase activity. In the CIN patients, four of the 8(50.0%) lesions showed moderately to strongly positive activities. In the cervical cancer Ia lesions, five of the 9(55.6%), and beyond the stage Ib lesions, fourteen of the 15(93.3%) showed moderately to strongly positive activities. There was a positive correlation between the grade of the lesion and the telomerase activity(P=0.023). Patient's gravida and telomerase activity also had a positive correlation(P=0.022). CONCLUSION: Relatively weak telomerase activity was detected in the low grade cervical lesion and strong activity was detected in the high grade lesion. There was a progressive increase of telomerase activity in association with an increased degree of cervical lesion. Patient's gravida also had an association with telomerase activity. These results suggest that the expression of telomerase activity may play a crucial role in cervical carcinogenesis.
Carcinogenesis ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia* ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Humans ; Telomerase* ; Telomere ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Pagets disease is a chronic skeletal disease of middle and later life, beginning insidiously and characterized by progressive structural changes and typical deformities occuring in the long bones, pelvis, and cranium. The occurence of Pagets disease is extremely rare in Korea. We have experienced a case of Pagets disease of bone in 67 year-old female affecting mainly the ilium and skull, and we report the case with brief review of the literatures.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Female ; Humans ; Ilium ; Korea ; Pelvis ; Skull

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Embryonic Structures* ; Fluorescence* ; Humans* ; In Situ Hybridization* ; Preimplantation Diagnosis*

PURPOSE: Emergency medicine (EM) specialists in training hospitals perform not only clinical practice, but also nonclinical activities, such as education, administration, and research. The types and amounts of nonclinical activities are increasing, but the activities have not been evaluated. This study applied the concept of the relative value unit (RVU) and conducted a pilot study to calculate the total nonclinical activities of EM specialists in training hospitals. METHODS: The one year nonclinical activities of the eight EM specialists working in training hospitals were analyzed retrospectively. The nonclinical activities were divided into three areas: education, administration, and research. The types of activities, and effort and time spent were collected and the RVU was calculated. RESULTS: The time spent on the education and administrative tasks ranged from 92 to 1,094 hours (average 348.8 hours) and 19 to 1,018 hours (average 207.8 hours), respectively. The average annual workload for education was 324.9 RVUs. The average annual administrative workload was 115.6 RUVs. The average time spent in education and administration was 556.6 hours and clinical practice was 1,904.8 hours. CONCLUSION: Nonclinical activities are essential for the operation of EM departments. If the necessary manpower for the EM is to be calculated, it will be important to calculate the workforce of the specialists, including the nonclinical workload.
Education ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine* ; Pilot Projects* ; Retrospective Studies ; Specialization*

PURPOSE: To compare the usefulness of test bolus examination in three-dimensional contrast enhanced MR angiography of the carotid artery with that of the fixed delay time method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty consecutive patients (mean age, 60.1 years) in whom carotid arterial disease was suspected and who were examined during a 17-month period were divided into two equal groups. For group A, a fixed delay time of 5 secs was used, while for group B, the delay time of the test bolus examination was calculated from the signal intensity versus time curve of the carotid artery, obtained after the test injection of 1 ml contrast material into the right brachal vein. Overall image quality, discrimination between the arterial and the venous phase, and the contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR) of the carotid artery were compared between the two groups. Overall image quality was classified as excellent, good, moderate or poor, and discrimination between the two phases was graded IV-I according to the degree of jugular venous enhancement. RESULTS: In group A, overall image quality of the carotid artery was classified as excellent or good in 13 (43.3%)and 9 (30.0%) cases, respectively, while in group B the corresponding figures were 23 (76.7%) and 5 (16.7%). The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). In terms of discrimination between the arterial and venous phase, 20 (66.7%) of the 30 cases in group A were assigned grade IV or III, while 28 (93.3%) of the 30 in group B were assigned these same grades (p<0.05). The CNR of the carotid artery was higher in group B(67.1 +/-16.1) than in group A(27.3 +/-17.8), with statistical significance(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: For examination of the carotid artery, contrast enhanced MR angiography using a test bolus is su-perior to the fixed delay time method.
Angiography* ; Carotid Arteries* ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Veins

PURPOSE: Recently, there has been several studies to clarify the pathogenesis of Kawasaki disease (KD) and the relations of VEGF and endostatin that act on vascular endothelial cells to the coronary artery complications. In this report, we measured serum levels of VEGF and endostatin in acute and subacute phases of KD to assess the change of these levels and the relations to the development of coronary artery lesions (CAL). METHODS: Twenty six patients were diagnosed and treated for KD between January, 2001 and July, 2005 at Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea. They were divided into those with and without CAL. Serum levels of VEGF and endostatin were measured during acute and subacute phases and compared to those measured in healthy and disease control groups. RESULTS: Serum levels of VEGF were increased in KD but no differences were noted in KD with and without CAL. Serum levels of endostatin were decreased in the acute phase of KD, however they were recovered in the subacute phase of KD, regardless of CAL. The VEGF/endostatin ratio was increased in KD. KD without CAL showed a relative decrease in this ratio during the subacute phase. Significant positive correlations were found between serum VEGF and WBC count, VEGF and ESR, VEGF/endostatin ratio and ESR in the acute phase of KD. CONCLUSION: Analysis of factors influencing the vascular endothelium such as VEGF and endostatin will help to clarify the etiology of KD and the pathogenesis of CAL.
Coronary Vessels* ; Endostatins* ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Humans ; Korea ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

BACKGREOUND: The pneumonectomy may depress the right ventricular (RV) function transiently. The thermodilution ejection/volumetric catheter is known to be most useful method assessing the changes in RV performance during pulmonary resection. The purpose of this study was to examine the RV function during and immediately after pneumonectomy using thermodilution methods. METHODS: 16 patients undergoing pneumonectomy were studied. After induction of anesthesia, a multilumen thermodilution catheter mounted with a rapid response thermister was inserted. Using computer system, RV ejection fraction (RVEF), cardiac output, and RV end-diastolic volume (RVEDV) were measured when the patient was in lateral position (control), after one lung ventilation (OLV) and the main pulmonary artery ligated, and at the completion of resection. Arterial blood gases were analyzed and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was calculated. RESULTS: Systolic pulmonary blood pressure (SPAP)(28.3 +/- 6.2 mmHg) increased compared to the control (24.6 +/- 5.9) without a significant change of PVR. No statistically significant difference was found in either RVEF or RVEDV at each times. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrate the pneumonectomy do not depress the RV function immediately and RVEF do not show any correlation with PVR or RVEDV.
Anesthesia ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiac Output ; Catheters ; Computer Systems ; Gases ; Humans ; One-Lung Ventilation ; Pneumonectomy* ; Pulmonary Artery ; Thermodilution ; Vascular Resistance ; Ventricular Function, Right*

Carcinoma of the prostate is a common malignancy affecting elderly men. Lung metastasis from prostate cancer occurs frequently, but tumor metastasis to the central bronchi that clinically mimics primary bronchogenic carcinoma are very rare. We report a 73-year old man with endobronchial metastasis from prostatic carcinoma presented with respiratory symptom cough. Diagnosis of issues taken from materials which were used for bronchoscopic biopsy and prostate biopsy and immunohistochemical staining for prostate specific antigen(PSA) confirmed a case of endobronchial metastasis from prostatic carcinoma. Hormonal therapy(LHRH agonist) was applied to this patient.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Bronchi ; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prostate ; Prostatic Neoplasms

In this article, the sixth author's affiliation was misprinted unintentionally.