No abstract available.

No abstract available.

The patients initially underwent epikeratoplasty for keratoconus but a penetrating kerato plasty was required due to the opacity in the cornea. By using of this specimen, which was obtained by trephination the healing process of the host-Ienticule cornea could be examined by electron microscopy and immunofluorescence method. Epithelial ingrowth over the lenticule was well formed by the regeneration of the basement membrane over the Bowman's membrane. However, the poor attachment of the lenticule over the host corneal stroma made the interface easily separated during the sectioning processes. Electron microscopic study revealed the keratocytes in the lenticule stroma vacuolized with large number of degenerated microorganelles. These results suggest that it may take a long time to complete the wound healing of the host-Ienticule interface despite the epithelial ingrowth onto the lenticule was well formed.
Basement Membrane ; Bowman Membrane ; Cornea ; Corneal Stroma ; Epikeratophakia* ; Extracellular Matrix ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Keratoconus ; Microscopy, Electron ; Regeneration ; Trephining ; Wound Healing

Neurenteric cyst(enterogenous cyst) is a rare congenital lesion, usually affecting the lower cervical or upper thoracic areas, and its occurrence in cranial vault is even rarer. We present a patient with intracranial neurenteric cyst anterior to the pons and medulla oblongata. A 40-year old man presented with two-month history of occipital headache and facial spasm. The cyst was decompressed via far lateral suboccipital approach, and the patient recovered without permanent neurological deficits. Features on imaging studies and histological findings are discussed with the review of the literatures.
Adult ; Cranial Fossa, Posterior* ; Headache ; Humans ; Medulla Oblongata ; Neural Tube Defects* ; Pons ; Spasm

Clinical chemotherapy refractoriness is characterized by resistance to multiple drugs. Multidrug resistance(MDR) is caused by over-reactivity of a unidirectional drug efflux pump, transmembrane glycoprotein(P-glycoprotein), which is encoded by the MDR1 gene. P-glycoprotein leads to increased drug efflux and decreased intracellular drug concentration. Clinical trials that attempt to reverse or modulate MDR have been done. Cyclosporin-A and verapamil are the most extensively studied agents and several trials of cyclosporin-A as a MDR modulator have been reported. We report a case of an 8-year-old girl with acute mixed type leukemia who failed to respond 3 times to remission-induction therapy. It led us to conclude she had multidrug resistance. We tried a fourth induction chemotherapy including cytarabine, idarubicin and 6-thioguanine to which cyclosporin-A was added. Then, she showed signs of severe bone marrow depression and fulminant perianal cellulitis. But she recovered and successfully achieved complete remission. The addition of cyclosporine could be useful in achieving complete remission for cases of acute leukemia that resist to usual chemotherapy. Futher observation including more cases will be needed to assess long-term survival and efficacy of adding cyclosporine.
Bone Marrow ; Cellulitis ; Child ; Cyclosporine ; Cytarabine ; Depression ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Idarubicin ; Induction Chemotherapy ; Leukemia* ; P-Glycoprotein ; Thioguanine ; Verapamil

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gout is a common inf lammatory arthritis triggered by the crystallization of uric acid in the joints. Serum uric acid levels are highly heritable, suggesting a strong genetic component. Independent studies to confirm the genetic associations with gout in various ethnic populations are warranted. We investigated the association of polymorphisms in the ABCG2 and SLC2A9 genes with gout in Korean patients and healthy individuals. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled 109 patients with gout and 102 healthy controls. The diagnosis of gout was based on the preliminary criteria of the America College of Rheumatology. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples. We identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) changes in the ABCG2 and SLC2A9 genes using a direct sequencing technique. rs2231142 in ABCG2 and rs6449213 and rs16890979 in SLC2A9 and nearby regions were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Patients with gout had significantly higher A/A genotype (29.3% vs. 4.9%, respectively) and A allele (52.8% vs. 26.5%, respectively) frequencies of rs2231142 in ABCG2 than did controls (chi2 = 29.42, p < 0.001; odds ratio, 3.32; 95% confidence interval, 2.11 to 5.20). We found novel polymorphisms (c.881A>G and c.1002+78G>A) in the SLC2A9 gene. The univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the c.881A>G and c.1002+78G>A SNPs were significantly higher in patients than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a significant association between rs2231142 in the ABCG2 gene and gout and identified novel SNPs, c.881A>G and c.1002+78G>A, in the SLC2A9 gene that may be associated with gout in a Korean population.
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters/*genetics ; Arthritis, Gouty/blood/diagnosis/ethnology/*genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/genetics ; Biomarkers/blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative/*genetics ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Neoplasm Proteins/*genetics ; Odds Ratio ; Phenotype ; *Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Uric Acid/blood

PURPOSE: Although growth hormone treatment is now widely used to treat some group of children with short stature, it is still expensive and many parents are seeking alternative therapies. We report the current status of alternative therapies for children visiting the 'growth clinic' in a single tertiary center. METHODS: Questionnaire about the usage of alternative therapy was used. Parents were asked whether they used alternative therapies and where they achieved the information. Also, they were asked whether the treatment was effective, and whether they would continue to use the alternative therapy. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty nine children (127 boys, 102 girls) visiting the growth clinic in Dongsan Medical Center from February 2005 to January 2006 were analyzed. Their ages were between 6.1 years to 15.4 years (mean 10.4 years). Height Standard Deviation Score (SDS) were between -3.2 to 1.0 (mean -1.1). Twelve boys (9.4%) and 7 girls (6.9%) were more than zero in height SDS value. Among 145 children (63.3%) who used the alternative therapy, supplemental foods and oriental herbs were most widely used (43.3% each) followed by over-the-counter drugs. They attained the information most frequently from their neighbors followed by television, newspaper, and internet. More than half (57.9%) of the parents answered that the alternative therapies were not effective. However, 46.9% of the parents answered they would continuously use the therapy though it is ineffective. CONCLUSION: Many patients visiting the 'growth clinic' for short stature had experiences on the alternative therapies. Although these therapies seemed not quite effective, many parents answered that they would continue alternative therapy.
Child ; Complementary Therapies ; Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Internet ; Periodicals ; Nonprescription Drugs ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Television

Candidiasis is a common fungal infection that usually affects the oral cavity. It is occasionally difficult to diagnose candidiasis because of its various clinical manifestations. Moreover, chronic inflammation of the lips can obscure clarification of its disease entity in patients with chronic cheilitis. Here we aimed to investigate patients with refractory chronic cheilitis who were initially diagnosed with candidiasis. We screened patients with lip lesions that were clinically suspected to have candidiasis. Our two 65-year-old patients with refractory chronic cheilitis were initially diagnosed with candidal infection. Punch biopsies were performed of the lesions and a diagnosis of actinic cheilitis was made in both patients. Since we did not note prominent improvement after conservative treatment and cryotherapy, we applied 0.015% ingenol mebutate gel for further treatment and then observed significant improvement.
Actins* ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Candidiasis ; Cheilitis* ; Cryotherapy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lip ; Mouth

OBJECTIVE: The spinal cord tumors(including vertebral tumors) are increasingly diagnosed and operated due to development of refined diagnostic and therapeutic tools. It is necessary to re-evaluate clinical features and surgical results of spinal cord tumors with increasing cases and developing treatment modalities. The authors reviewed the spinal cord tumor cases to evaluate their clinical characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective review of 654 cases of spinal cord tumors between 1973 and 1999 was done. The clinical features, pathological analysis and surgical results were analyzed and compared to the literature. The results of the study are analyzed with a more detailed consideration of each of major pathologies: neurogenic tumors, meningeal tumors, neuroepithelial tumors, and metastatic tumors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The spinal cord tumor was most common in the 5th decade of age(145 cases, 22.1%) and 78 cases(11.9%) were found in children under 15 years of age. The ratio of male to female was 1.2:1. The pathologic diagnosis was neurogenic tumor in 266 cases(40.7%), neuroepithelial tumor in 131(20.0%), metastatic tumor in 118(18.0%), and meningeal tumor in 94(14.4%) in the order of frequency. The tumor was located most frequently in the thoracic area(36.5%) and in the intradural extramedullary space(38.1%). The most common initial presentation was pain(40.1%) and the mean duration for presentation to operation was 14.8 months. The total or gross total removal was possible in 404 cases(61.7%) and the surgical result on the postoperative one month was recovery or improvement in 424 cases(64.8%), stationary in 188(28.7%), progression in 42(6.4%). As a surgical complication, there was a spinal deformity(12 cases), wound infection(5 cases), aspiration pneumonia(5 cases) etc. Neurogenic tumors and menigiomas showed good surgical results, whereas neuroepithelial tumors(except ependymoma) and metastatic tumors showed relatively poor prognosis.
Child ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Meningeal Neoplasms ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial ; Pathology ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms* ; Spinal Cord* ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: Extrahepatic biliary atresia is the most common indication for liver transplantation in children, but the etiology of this disorders remains unknown. It would be very signficant to identify genes that are specifically expressed in pathologic liver tissue of biliary atresia and analyze the pattern of expression in those genes. METHODS: We made dot blot panels consisting of 1,730 different EST (expressed sequence tags) clones which were isolated from human hair dermal papilla cell cDNA library. Liver tissues were taken from a recipient with biliary atresia and a normal donor during living-related liver transplantation. Total RNA was extracted from each sample and reversely transcribed to make cDNA. Then radiolabelled cDNA probe pools were made by random primed DNA labeling method and used for screening differentially expressed genes using EST dot blot panel. RESULTS: Among the total of 1,730 EST clones, 26 cDNA clones were overexpressed in biliary cirrhosis. They revealed homology to genes encoding bcl-w, laminin binding protein, hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (HRS), thymosin beta-4, 10; transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, signal recognition particle (SRP)4, eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-2alpha kinase, lysyl oxidase, aldolase A, gamma-glutamylcystein synthetase, collagen type I alpha1, 2, collagen type III, fibronectin, osteonectin, insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-2, 3, and more. In addition, the expression of 2 clones showed that gastrula zinc finger protein and one novel gene were decreased in biliary atresia. CONCLUSOIN: This study identified differentially expressed genes in biliary cirrhosis from progressive biliary atresia using differential EST screening technique.
Biliary Atresia* ; Carrier Proteins ; Child ; Clone Cells ; Collagen Type I ; Collagen Type III ; DNA ; DNA, Complementary ; Fibronectins ; Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase ; Gastrula ; Gene Expression* ; Gene Library ; Hair ; Hepatocytes ; Humans ; Laminin ; Ligases ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary* ; Liver Transplantation ; Mass Screening* ; Osteonectin ; Peptide Initiation Factors ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein-Lysine 6-Oxidase ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; RNA ; Signal Recognition Particle ; Thymosin ; Tissue Donors ; Transforming Growth Factors ; Zinc Fingers