PURPOSE: Some recent studies have demonstrated that finasteride, a well- known 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, can decrease prostate specific antigen (PSA) by approximately 50% during the first 1 year of treatment. We investigated how long-term treatment with finasteride and alpha-blockers impacts on the serum PSA level of men whose final diagnosis was benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a retrospective trial, we evaluated a total of 293 men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) that were suggestive of BPH. These men were divided into two treatment groups: group A was treated with alpha-blockers and group C was treated with a combination of finasteride and alpha-blocker. Comparisons of the two groups were performed by using independent t-tests. The changes in the PSA concentrations from baseline to the time of the final measurements were determined by repeated measures of ANOVA. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the baseline PSA between the two groups. A statistically significant reduction in the PSA levels was observed at 2 years in C group (p<0.05), whereas any significant increase were not observed in group A (p>0.05). In group A, the repeatedly measured PSA levels were 2.67, 2.40, 2.41 and 2.42, respectively. In C group, these were 3.22, 2.09, 1.81 and 1.71 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that there was no clinically significant effect of long term treatment with alpha-blocker on the PSA levels. However, finasteride had significant effect on the serum PSA level during first two years of treatment.
Adrenergic Antagonists ; Diagnosis ; Finasteride* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Male ; Oxidoreductases ; Prostate* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen* ; Prostatic Hyperplasia* ; Retrospective Studies

The application of personal computer (PC) to manage urologic patient data is now popular in many institutes. many users were accustomed to the IBM PC and familiar with the dBASE program in managing urologic records. But in recent days, the number of Macintosh PC users are increasing because it is easy to learn and perform Macintosh which provides the excellent output under the given input data. We developed the patient management system with Excel program in Macintosh PC focusing on minimizing the effort to input the data and maximizing the output. The data fields consist of eight fields. They are chart number. name. sex. date of admission data of discharge. diagnosis and international classification of diseases. There is no need of typing the international classification of diseases because it is automatically registered by previous coding with diagnosis. We think that the application of international classification of diseases is essential to minimize the input errors. The output of data include sex ratio and variable statistics. which ere provided with graphic mode. Another output is the extract of data under the variable criteria. which are provided with worksheet mode.
Academies and Institutes ; Clinical Coding ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; International Classification of Diseases ; Microcomputers* ; Sex Ratio

No abstract available.
Pulmonary Aspergillosis*

To evaluate the expression of transforming growth factor-alpha(TGF-alpha) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and its relation to the differentiation of the tumors, immunohistochemical studies were performed in 49 human gliomas. Tumors were graded by a 3-grade-system; grade I=low grade glioma, grade Il=anaplastic glioma, grade III=glioblastoma multiforme. TGF-A and PCNA were predominantly expressed in malignant gliomas compared with benign gliomas. Malignant gliomas revealed 87% TGF-A reactivity, while benign gliomas revealed 26% TGF-A reactivity. The proliferation index with PCNA was 26%+/-7%(mean+/-standard deviation) in malignant gliomas and 5%?% in benign gliomas. A strong positive correlation between tumor grade and extent of TGF-A and PCNA expression was found(P<0.0001, Chi square and P<0.002, T-test). Synchronous expression of TGF-A and PCNA was observed in 16 cases(33%). The results of this study support the suggestion that the expression of TGF-A might be a useful prognostic indicator in human gliomas.
Humans

No abstract available.
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

No abstract available.
Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Saphenous Vein*

No abstract available.
Aneurysm*

No abstract available.
Hematoma* ; Orbit*

No abstract available.
Cardiac Tamponade*

No abstract available.
Spinal Stenosis*