No abstract available in English.
Clinical Study ; Extremities ; Fractures, Spontaneous

By animal experiments in rat, it has been known that Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is secreted from renal mesangial celle and is an autocrine growth factor for the proliferation of mesangial cells. According to these facts, several studies have been tried for its clinical usefulness by measuring their serum or urinary IL-6 in glomerulonephritis patients with mesangial proliferation. The authors measured urinary IL-6 levels by Interleukin-6 [123I] RIA kit (Amersham Co. UK) in 11 patients with minimal change nephrotic syndrome, in 3 patients with mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MesPGN), in 3 patients with IgA nephropathy, in 9 patients with Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) in 2 patients with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), and in 12 normal healthy children as a control group. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1) There was no significant differences of urinary IL-6 levels between minimal change nephrotic syndrome patient group and normal control group (p=0.73). The level of urinary IL-6 was increased significantly in HSPN group compared to in normal control group, statistically (p=0.045). Also there were same results in the glomerulonephritis patients with mesangial proliferation in its histopathologic findings such as IgA nephropathy, MesPGN, MPGN. 2) There was a positive correlation between the degree of mesangial proliferation and the urinary IL-6 level. In conclusion, the urinary IL-6 level reflects the glomerular mesangial proliferation and could be useful as a predictive indicator for evaluation of its clinical course in patient with mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis.
Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Child* ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative ; Humans ; Interleukin-6* ; Interleukins* ; Mesangial Cells ; Nephritis ; Nephrosis, Lipoid ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; Rats

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Nephrosis, Lipoid*

PURPOSE: In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was associated with the presence and morphology of coronary atherosclerotic plaques shown by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in asymptomatic subjects without a history of cardiovascular disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 772 consecutive South Korean individuals who had undergone both dualsource 64-slice MDCT coronary angiography and hepatic ultrasonography during general routine health evaluations. The MDCT studies were assessed for the presence, morphology (calcified, mixed, and non-calcified), and severity of coronary plaques. RESULTS: Coronary atherosclerotic plaques were detected in 316 subjects (40.9%) by MDCT, and NAFLD was found in 346 subjects (44.8%) by hepatic ultrasonography. Subjects with NAFLD had higher prevalences of all types of atherosclerotic plaque and non-calcified, mixed, and calcified plaques than the subjects without NAFLD. However, the prevalence of significant stenosis did not differ between groups. After adjusting for age, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, NAFLD remained a significant predictor for all types of coronary atherosclerotic plaque [odds ratio (OR): 1.48; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-2.08; p=0.025] in binary logistic analysis, as well as for calcified plaques (OR: 1.70; 95% CI: 1.07-2.70; p=0.025) in multinomial regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that NAFLD was significantly associated with the presence and the calcified morphology of coronary atherosclerotic plaques detected by MDCT. Further prospective clinical studies are needed to clarify the exact physiopathologic role of NAFLD in coronary atherosclerosis.
Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/statistics & numerical data ; Calcinosis/ethnology/*radiography ; Case-Control Studies ; Coronary Angiography/*methods ; Coronary Artery Disease/ethnology/pathology/*radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multidetector Computed Tomography/*methods ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/epidemiology/*ultrasonography ; Odds Ratio ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVES: It is widely accepted that estrogen has favorable effects on cardiovascular diseases, especially in the postmenopausal women. Endothelin-1(ET-I), released from the vascular endothelium, is a 21-amino acid peptide with strong vasoconstrictor activity. However, the effect of estrogen on the vasoconstriction to ET-1 has not been extensively studied. METHODS: To investigate the effect of estrogen (175beta-estradiol) on the vascular contraction to ET-1, porcine coronary artery(PCA) rings were suspended in organ chambers(37 degrees C, 95% O2/5% CO2) for measurement of isometric tension change. Endothelium was removed mechanically if necessary. In acute experiments, vascular rings were preincubated for 15minutes with 3different concentrations of 170beta-estradiol(10(-6), 10(-5), 10(-4)M) and concentration-contraction curves to cumulative doses of ET-1 were constructed. In the experiments after a longer exposure to 17beta-estradiol, the vessels with endothelium were exposed in the 5% CO2 incubator to 3different concentrations of 17beta-estradiol(10(-9), 10(-8), 10(-7)M) for 44-50 hours, and then concentrationcontraction curves to ET-1 were obtained. RESULTS: Incubation for 15minutes with 170beta-estradiol(10(-4)M) inhibited ET-1-induced contraction in the vessels with endothelium(area under the curve and maximal contraction, p<0.05 compared with control). This effect persisted regardless of the sex and the presence or absence of the endotheliurn. Incubation of the vessels far a longer time with 170beta-estradiol(44-50 hours) resulted in the inhibition of maximal contraction to ET-1(p<0.05) by a lower concentration of 175beta-estradiol(10(-7)M) than in acute experiments in male PCA rings, but an enhanced contraction to ET-1(area under the curve; p<0.05) by 10M of 175beta-estradiol was observed in female PCA rings. CONCLUSION: Short-time incubation with 17Pbeta-estradiol has an inhibitory effect on the contraction to ET-1 in PCA rings. This effect is independent of the presence of the endothelium and the sex of the pigs. A longer incubation with 17beta-estradiol results in a similar inhibitory effect on male(but not female) PCA rings, suggesting that a sex-related difference may exist concerning the effect of 17beta-estradiol on ET-1-induced contraction.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Coronary Vessels* ; Endothelin-1* ; Endothelins ; Endothelium ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Incubators ; Male ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Swine ; Vasoconstriction

Acute thyroid abscess is an uneommon type of neck infection. We experieneed a case of staphylococcal thyroid abscess in 29 year old man, diagnosed by needle aspira~tion and culture of the aspirate. The patient had complained fever and slowly growing anterior neck swelling. Needle aspiration of the cold nodule prior to broad spectrum antibiotics was performed. After Surgical excision combined with antibiotics, he was discharged with elinical improvement. The laboratory diagnosis and clinical course was summarized and is reported with relevent references.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; Fever ; Humans ; Neck ; Needles ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Staphylococcus ; Thyroid Gland

Neuroendocrine tumor (NET) of the colon and rectum has been reported to have a low incidence and aggressive progression; it is frequently misdiagnosed and its treatment is not well documented. Four NET cases were collected at our hospital during the previous year of a colon cancer survey. Endoscopic mucosal biopsy of the colon was done for each case and all the cases proved to be adenocarcinomas. Curative surgery was conducted after the preoperative diagnostic and staging evaluation was completed. The locations of the primary lesions of the patients were all different; cecum, ascending colon, splenic flexure colon and sigmoid colon. The disease was advanced in all cases and the first postoperative diagnosis was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical tests followed and all the cases were positive for chromogranin A staining. A retrospective study was then conducted.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Cecum ; Chromogranin A ; Colon* ; Colon, Ascending ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colon, Transverse ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neuroendocrine Tumors* ; Rectum ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: We evaluated the impact of renal tumor size on the oncologic and surgical efficacy of laparoscopic renal cryosurgery (LRC) according to our intermediate-term experience in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2005 to October 2008, we enrolled 37 patients who underwent LRC for 40 renal tumors. Patients were stratified into four groups according to renal tumor size. Patients who presented with a maximum tumor diameter (MTD) of at least 1 cm but less than 2 cm were assigned to Group 1, those with an MTD equal to or greater than 2 but less than 3 cm were assigned to Group 2, those with an MTD equal to or greater than 3 but less than 4 cm were assigned to Group 3, and those with an MTD equal to or greater than 4 cm were assigned to Group 4. Oncologic and clinical outcomes in each group were compared. RESULTS: The four groups showed no statistically significant differences in preoperative variables, including age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists scores, baseline renal function and hemoglobin, and length of hospital stay. Regarding surgical aspects, however, operation time, estimated blood loss, and postoperative complications were significantly increased in patients with larger tumors. Three patients in Group 3 required postoperative transfusions, and 1 patient in Group 4 required conversion to open renal cryosurgery. During the mean follow-up period of 31.6 months, radiologic evidence of tumor recurrence was found in only 2 patients in Group 4. CONCLUSIONS: In this series, LRC for renal tumors smaller than 3 cm was conducted safely without radiologic evidence of tumor recurrence during intermediate-term follow-up. For tumors larger than 3 cm, however, the transfusion rate increased, and for renal tumors larger than 4 cm, the tumor recurrence rate increased significantly.
Body Mass Index ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Cryosurgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence

There is a lack of clinical and experimental studies of the treatment of incompletely transected tendons. The controversy concerning the source of flexor tendon nutrients is of important clinical concern in healing of the injured tendon; thus, the flexor tendon blood supply has cited as a reason for using specific tendon suture techniques, and as a rationale for preserving the superficialis tendon and its vincula during tendon repair surgery. Our knowledge of the normal physiology of digital flexor tendons and the mechanism of their healing process is deficient. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative importance of the synovial fluid and the blood supply respectively for the healing of partially severed flexor tendons. We observed the sequential histological and vascular changes which occur in healing of the partial lacerations in the dorsal and plantar aspects of the tendons. We observed the vascularities of the two partially severed tendon groups after injection of microfil and india ink through the femoral artery. In the healing process there was no sequential histological difference between the dorsal and the plantar severed tendons. The vascularity patterns of the healing tendons were significantly increased and the hypervascularity of dorsal severed tendons was greater than that of plantar severed tendons. Partially severed tendons were completely healed without surgical repair with dense collagen fibers without adhesion in most cases. We concluded from this study that the blood vessels appeared to play a significant role in the healing of the severed flexor tendons. An intact synovial environment did not seem to be required for healing of the severed tendon. It is not necessary to surgically repair the partially severed tendon for prevention of rupture and adhesion.
Adhesions/etiology ; Animal ; Chickens ; Comparative Study ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Synovial Fluid/physiology ; Tendon Injuries/*physiopathology ; Tendons/blood supply ; *Wound Healing

In anesthesia for Caesarean section, some induction agents have been used. Thiopental so- dium is regarded as the standard induction agent. Propofol and ketamine have properties which suggest that it might be useful alternstives to thiopental. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the maternal and neonatal effect of propofol and ketamine used as induction agent for general anesthesia for elective Caeearean section. Sixty mothers undergoing elective Caesarean section under general anesthesia were allocated randomly to receive thiopental 4 mg/kg or ketamine 1 mg/kg or propofol 2 mg/ kg for induction of anesthesia. The results were as follows; 1) There were significant increase in systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and heart rate at postintubation within three groups(p<0.05). But there were no significant differences in cardiovascular responses between three groups during the induction. 2) The Apgar scores and blood gas analyses of neonates did not differ between three groups significsntly and the results were within normal range in all groups. As a result, propofol and ketamine are acceptable alternatives to thiopental for the induction of general anesthesia in Caesarean section. But in view of maternal cardiovascular changes and fetal well being, propofol and ketamine offer no significant advantage over thiopental.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Blood Gas Analysis ; Blood Pressure ; Cesarean Section* ; Female ; Fetal Blood* ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Ketamine ; Mothers ; Pregnancy ; Propofol ; Reference Values ; Thiopental ; Umbilical Cord*