The clinical evaluation was done in eighteen eyes of nine patients with bilateral BRVO in aspects of onset, visual acuity, interval between onset of one eye and the other, sex ratio, associated systemic diseases, location of the affected vein, the effect of macular edema on visual acuity and ocular complications. The onset of age was from fifty one to sixty eight years. Eight patients were women, and one patient was man. Hypertension was the most common associated systemic disease. Ten eyes (55.5%) of bilateral BRVO were affected the superior temporal branch vein, the sites of occlusion were not more than two disc diameters from the optic disc in fifteen eyes (83.3%). The complications of seevere visual loss had macular edema, macular capillary nonperfusion, retinal neovascularization and vitreous hemorrhage. Among of six numbers who could be followed up more than one year, and visual acuity of five eyes with macula edema were decreased than five other eyes developed one year or later. Eyes that were more than five disc diameters of capillary nonperfusion, as visualized with fluorescence angiography were thirteen (72.2%). Of these eyes, six (46.1 %) eyes occured retinal neovascularization, five of those had macular capillary nonperfusion. four of those were 0.1 in final vision. Three of four eyes with vitreous hemorrhage were very slowly improved in visual acuity, but another was decreasing in visual acuity due to other ocular complications We thought that woman with history of BRVO due to hypertension in sixth and seventh decades should be followed up the other eye for three years.
Capillaries ; Edema ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Macular Edema ; Retinal Neovascularization ; Retinal Vein Occlusion* ; Retinal Vein* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Sex Ratio ; Veins ; Visual Acuity ; Vitreous Hemorrhage

Juvenile retinoschisis is a vitreoretinal dystrophy with X-linked recessive mode of transmission that shows microcystic degeneration of the macula associated with splitting of the sensory retina, predominantly within the nerve fiber layer. We experienced X-linked juvenile retinoschisis, in four borthers within a family in which were the onset of visual disturbance between second decades and third decades, and all showed maculopathy, RPE atrophy, vitreous veils extended to vitreous, partial optic atrophy, specific electroretinographic findings.
Atrophy ; Humans ; Nerve Fibers ; Optic Atrophy ; Retina ; Retinoschisis* ; Siblings*

BACKGROUND: A small subgroup of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients show low total and allergen-specific immunoglobulin (IgE) levels. This subgroup has been termed 'intrinsic' AD (IAD) as compared to its counterpart 'extrinsic' AD (EAD). However, the difference of cytokine expression between IAD and EAD has not been fully understood. OBJECTIVE: To compare the expression of various inflammatory cytokines in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and lesional skin of patients with IAD and EAD, which are known to be associated with AD pathophysiology. METHODS: We assessed the protein levels of cytokines in the PBMCs and lesional skin. We evaluated the levels of IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, FcepsilonRI and FcepsilonRII from the PBMCs and lesional skin of patients with IAD and EAD. RESULTS: The patients with EAD had elevated levels of the IL-3 expression in their PBMCs and elevated levels of FcepsilonRI in their lesional skin compared to that of the patients with IAD. The expression of other cytokines did not differ in the PBMCs and lesional skin from the two subgroups. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that IL-3 could be associated with the pathophysiology of EAD as compared to that of IAD, along with FcepsilonRI which was previously shown to be highly expressed in EAD patients.
Cytokines ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-13 ; Interleukin-3 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Interleukin-6 ; Skin

BACKGROUND: Aquafol(R) is a microemulsion formulation of propofol. This study was designed to investigate the population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling in beagle dogs sedated by Aquafol(R). METHODS: Electroencephalogram was recorded and venous blood was sampled at preset times in 15 beagle dogs during 3 hours of infusion of Aquafol(R) and subsequently during 3 hours of recovery. Venous blood was sampled at 0, 2, 10, 30, 60, 120, 180, 190, 240 and 360 minutes after infusion. We evaluated the effect of propofol on electroencephalogram by calculating SEF(90). In the preliminary analysis, two compartment model best described all data from all subjects. The pharmacodynamics were best described using an effect compartment model and k(e0), a first-order elimination rate constant characterizing the effect-site equivalent to estimate the apparent effect-site concentrations. The relationship between propofol effect-site concentration and SEF90 was analyzed using an inhibitory sigmoid E(max) model. RESULTS: The final pharmacokinetic model was best described with the followings: V(1) = 18.5e(0.114*BWT), k(10) = 1.86 min(-1), k(12) = 0.6 min(-1), k(21) = 0.684 min(-1). The final pharmacodynamic model was best described with the followings: t(1/2)k(e0) = 0.62 min, C(e50) = 32.2 ng/ml, E(o) = 31.3 Hz, E(max) = 20.9 Hz, gamma = 1.28. CONCLUSIONS: The propofol microemulsion shows different pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics compared with the propofol lipid emulsion.
Animals ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Dogs* ; Electroencephalography ; Pharmacokinetics ; Propofol*

No abstract available.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Humans* ; Receptor, erbB-2*

Alveolar Process ; Bone Transplantation ; Cleft Lip ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Dentition ; Humans ; Incisor ; Palate ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cyclin D1 expression is closely related with ER in breast cancer. We conducted this study to evaluate whether therapeutic response to tamoxifen is varied with levels of cyclin D1 expression in ER positive breast cancer patients. METHODS: Immunohistochemical assay for cyclin D1 protein was performed in 66 patients treated with tamoxifen for more than 2 year. Patient survival and correlation between cyclin D1 expression and biologic data of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Cyclin D1 expression was detected in 46 (69.7%) and significantly reduced in poorly differentiated cancer (p=0.023). Cyclin D1 expression was high in the tumors expressing Myc (15/15 vs. 31/51; p=0.002), and was markedly increased in the tumors in which p27Kip1 expression was repressed (30/38, 78.9%). However, the difference was not ststistically significant (p=0.051). There was no significant relationship between cyclin D1 expression and S-phase. Patients with tumors expressing cyclin D1 showed better disease free survival and overall survival but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclin D1 expression was associated with cell differentiation bit not useful in discriminating high risk group with tamoxifen treatment. Cyclin D1 may have a role other than cell cycle regulator in ER positive breast cancer, such as differentiation signal.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Differentiation ; Cyclin D1* ; Cyclins* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Estrogens* ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Tamoxifen*

PURPOSE: In extrinsic atopic dermatitis (AD), house dust mites (HDM) play a role in eliciting or aggravating allergic lesions. The nature of skin inflammation in AD has raised a growing interest in allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT). Thus, we assessed clinical improvement and laboratory parameters for evaluation of the benefit of long-term SIT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 217 AD patients who were treated with SIT for at least 3 years were retrospectively assessed, by using their investigator global assessment, pruritus scores, loss of sleep (LOS), total serum IgE, and eosinophil counts collected. Patients were additionally classified into subgroups according to age, initial AD severity and mono- or multi-sensitization to include different individual factors in the evaluation of SIT efficacy. Lastly, we compared laboratory data of good responders to SIT with that of poor responders to SIT. RESULTS: Improvement after SIT therapy was observed in 192 out of 217 patients (88.4%). Among these patients, 138 (63.5%) achieved excellent, near-complete or complete clinical remission. Significant reduction of pruritus, LOS, and the mean value of total serum IgE were observed (p<0.01). Better outcome was found in patients younger than 12 years of age (p=0.024). Patients with moderate to severe AD showed better treatment outcomes (p=0.036). Patients sensitized only to HDM had the better response to treatment, but SIT was also effective in multi-sensitized groups (p=1.051). No significant differences in baseline laboratory results were observed between good and poor responders (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: We emphasize the usefulness of long-term HDM SIT as a disease-modifying therapy for AD.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Allergens/*immunology ; Animals ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic/*therapy ; Desensitization, Immunologic/*methods ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pyroglyphidae/*immunology ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) is a rare, low-to-intermediate malignant tumor of endothelial origin. Computed tomography (CT) findings of PEH demonstrate multiple small bilateral nodules; however, to the best of our knowledge, there were no reports on PEH coexisting with other malignancies. Here, we reported on a case involving PEH in a patient with colon cancer and breast cancer which was misconceived as pulmonary meta-stasis. A 63-year-old woman who suffered from constipation for 2 weeks visited our hospital. Colonoscopy showed a large mass with obstruction on hepatic flexure. The histological diagnosis was adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon. Multiple nodules in both lungs and breast were observed on a chest CT scan. A core biopsy of a breast nodule was performed and a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast was made. Pulmonary nodules observed on the chest CT scan was considered as pulmonary metastasis from colon or breast cancer. Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy was performed. At the same time, wedge resection of the lung was performed and pathological diagnosis was PEH. Radiologic features of PEH were difficult to distinguish from lung metastasis. Therefore the author reported a rare case involving PEH in a patient with primary malignancy of colon and breast.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Colon ; Colon, Ascending ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy ; Constipation ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Hemangioendothelioma ; Hemangioendothelioma, Epithelioid* ; Humans ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The relative proportion of infective endocarditis (IE) with congenital heart disease (CHD) has increased because of improved survival with CHD. This may affect the current profile of IE with CHD. The aim of this study is to assess the changing profiles of IE with CHD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All cases diagnosed from January 1985 to May 2006 were retrospectively reviewed and were analyzed according to the diagnosed period (period I-prior to 1995, period II-after 1996). Duke criteria were used for the definition of diagnosis. RESULTS: As a whole, 121 episodes occurred (63 episodes in period I and 58 episodes in period II). Although the mean age was similar for patients diagnosed in the two periods, the proportion of younger age patients was larger during period II. During period II, the number of non-surgical ventricular septal defect (VSD) cases decreased and the number of Rastelli procedure cases increased. Negative blood cultures were similar in patients for both periods. S. viridans was the most common causative organism in patients during both periods. Post-surgical cases and IE after a dental procedure increased during period II. The in-hospital mortality rate, total complication rate, and proportion of IE requiring early surgery were not different for patients in either period. However, the interval to early surgery was shorter for patients during period II (period I 35+/-21.1 days, period II 22+/-16.5 days, p=0.041). CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that IE in CHD is still a major problem with similar clinical features exhibited during the two different periods. The presence of non-surgical VSD as a major underlying defect indicates that one needs to pay more attention to the education of the population at risk.
Diagnosis ; Education ; Endocarditis* ; Heart Defects, Congenital* ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Population Characteristics ; Retrospective Studies*