BACKGROUND: It has been well known that absolute and interpeak latencies of brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) are usually prolonged in diabetics. However, Its etiology is still controversial. We tried to identify whether the cause is structural or metabolic in origin by performing BAEP and brain MRI in the diabetic patients. METHODS: BAEP were performed in both the diabetic patients (DM) group (16 males and 15 females) and the normal control group (25 males and 33 female). A brain MRI was performed in the DM group on those who showed abnormal BAEP and com-pared the results of BAEP of the DM group with those of the control group. RESULTS: 7 patients (22.6%) showed abnor-mal BAEP (male; 6, female; 1, unilateral; 4, bilateral; 3) when abnormal BAEP was defined as being larger than two and a half standard deviations of the control group BAEP results. Two males of the DM group who showed abnormal structural lesions of the pons in their brain MRI were not included in the statistical analysis. The remaining 14 diabetic male patients (mean age: 58.7 +/-9.1 years, mean disease duration: 6.1 +/-4.7 years, mean hemoglobin (Hb) A1C: 7.7 +/- 2.0%) and 15 diabetic female patients (mean age: 60.6 +/-10.8 years, mean disease duration: 5.4 +/-5.1 years, mean HgA1C: 7.8 +/-2.1%) were stastistically analyzed. Interpeak latencies of I-III, III-V, and I-V were found to be signifi-cantly prolonged in the DM group. The prolongation of interpeak latencies of I-III and I-V were found to be signifi-cantly correlated with the disease duration only in the diabetic female patients, but not with age and HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that both metabolic derangement and structural lesion contribute to prolonging the central conduction time on BAEP pathway in diabetics.
Brain ; Brain Stem* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem* ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Pons

Oral cholecystogaraphy after ingestaion of the 3.0 gr. Sodium tyropanoate (Bilopaque) was done in 504 patiens from Jan. 1983 to Aug. 1983. Simple supine views of the abdomen of 37 patient, in whom the gall bladder was eithrer nonvisualized or faintly visualized upto 17 houurs after Bilopaque administration, were reviewed in search of the presence of conjugatd material in the bowel. The results were as follows; 1. The ratio of male to female was nearly 2:3, and age distribution was even from 20 years to 79 years. 2. Among 26 cases which showed conjugated Bilopaque in the bowel, cholecystitis with stoens was 20 cases(77% and acalculus cholecystitis was 6 cases(23%).3. Among 11 cases which showed no conjugated Bilopaque in the bowel hepatitis was 3 cases (28%) and clonorchis sinensis, salmonellosis, pancreatitis, acute gastrities was 2 cases (13%) respectively. 4. All of the 20 cases of cholecystitis with stone showed conjugated Bilopaque in the bowel. 5. Among 6 cases of which conjugated Bilopaquein the bowel, salmonellosis was 1 case(17%) and remaining 5 cases (83%) were acalculus cholelcystitis. 6. The results of our study show that the presence of conjugated Bilopaque in the bowel in nonvisualized or faintly visualized gall bladder after oral cholecystography is of definite indicative of cholecystitis. 7. Surgical intervention or ultrasonographic examination of the gall bladder without double dose or second dose oral cholecystography on such cases is recommended.
Abdomen ; Age Distribution ; Cholecystitis ; Cholecystography ; Clonorchis sinensis ; Female ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Male ; Pancreatitis ; Salmonella Infections ; Tyropanoate ; Urinary Bladder

Actinomycosis is a chronic, granulomatous suppurative disease caused by Actinomyces species. Actinomyces is an anaerobic, gram positive organism that requires special techniques for culture and isolation. Actinomycosis is characterized by formation of multiple abscesses, draining sinuses, abundant granulations (sulfur granule) and dense fibrous tissue. The three major clinical presentations include the cervicofacial, thoracic, and abdominal regions. Since A. israelii is a normal inhabitant of the oral cavity, to make a definitive diagnosis it must be recovered from closed tissue spaces, draining sinuses, or abscesses, or it must be shown to be invasive in histopathologic sections. The drug of choice is penicillin. Because of the dense fibrous tissue surrounding the colonies of organisms and the concentration of organisms in clusters, high doses of pharmacologic agents must be used for long periods, and radical surgical excision should accompany antibiotic therapy if possible. We report three cases of abdominal actinomycosis, preoperatively impressed as appendicitis and pelvic abscess, which was diagnosed by a histological study of operative specimens. The possible pathogenic mechanisms causing clinical symptoms are discussed.
Abscess ; Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Appendicitis ; Diagnosis ; Mouth ; Penicillins

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) and reduced pulmonary function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eighty-six chronic AF patients who were enrolled from annual health examination programs were studied using echocardiography and pulmonary function tests (PFT). Echocardiography and PFT matched for age, gender, and year performed were selected by the control group who had normal sinus rhythms. Patients with ejection fractions <50%, valvular heart disease, or ischemic heart disease were excluded. RESULTS: In the chronic AF patients, the forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), FEV1%, and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) were significantly reduced, and the right ventricular systolic pressure was significantly increased. Episodes of heart failure were more frequently associated with the chronic AF patients than the controls. In particular, the FEV1% had the most meaningful relationship to chronic AF after an adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors {p=0.003, Exp (B)=0.978, 95% confidence interval (CI):0.963-0.993}. CONCLUSION: Reduced FEV1%, which represents the severity of airway obstruction, was associated with chronic AF, and the greater the pulmonary function impairment, the greater the co-existence with AF and congestive heart failure in those with preserved left ventricular systolic function.
Airway Obstruction ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Blood Pressure ; Echocardiography ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Heart Failure ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Risk Factors ; Vital Capacity

PURPOSE: It has been reported that varicocele is found less frequently in obese men. Accordingly, we evaluated varicocele patients and statistically analyzed the correlation between varicocele and somatometric parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 211 patients underwent surgery for varicoceles. All patients underwent history taking, physical examination, and scrotal ultrasound to determine the presence and severity of varicocele. An age-matched control group consisted of 102 patients who were found not to have varicocele according to physical examinations and scrotal ultrasound. The age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) of the two groups were compared. The statistical analyses were performed by use of PASW Statistics ver. 18.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used for statistical significance. RESULTS: In the varicocele group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 29.42+/-14.01 years, 168.53+/-9.97 cm, 62.14+/-13.17 kg, and 21.66+/-3.21 kg/m2, respectively. The distribution of varicocele grade was as follows: 103 (48.8%) grade III, 72 (34.1%) grade II, and 36 (17.1%) grade I. In the control group, the mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 30.83+/-17.31 years, 161.93+/-19.83 cm, 64.69+/-17.86 kg, and 24.04+/-3.64 kg/m2, respectively. Analyzing these data specifically in adolescents, they showed significant differences in age, height, and BMI (p=0.000, p=0.000, and p=0.004, respectively) between two groups. There were no significant differences in somatometric parameters between patients with different grades of varicocele. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that patients with varicoceles were significantly taller and had a lower BMI than did patients without varicoceles, especially among adolescents. Carefully designed future studies may be needed.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anthropometry/methods ; Body Height/physiology ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight/physiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Scrotum/ultrasonography ; Varicocele/*etiology/physiopathology/ultrasonography ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: It is well known that hypertension attenuate endothelium-dependent vasodilator response. And this finding is closely related to the development of atherosclerosis. Recently it is reported that the expression of NADPH-dependent oxidase is increased in angiotensin-induced hypertension model and superoxide (O2) produced from that might contribute to the development of vascular diseases. The possible mechanism is the degradation of endothelium-derived NO by O2. We hypothesized that SOD prevents endothelial dysfunction via prevention of the degradation of endothelium-derived NO. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We made renovascular hypertension model by constricting abdominal aorta just above the left renal artery of Sprague-Dawley female rats. The descending thoracic aorta was stuied in the organ chambers using acetylcholine as an endothelium-dependent vasodilator with or without pretreatment of SOD. RESULTS: Blood pressures of all 14 rats were significantly increased (174/123 mmHg, mean 146 mmHg). The residual tensions of the vessels precontracted by phenylephrine were similar in both groups (15.04+/-19.53 % in SOD group vs 11.84+/-18.57% in non-SOD group, p=.66). CONCLUSIONS: The endothelial dysfunctions in the rat aorta with renovascular hypertension were not improved by SOD. There is no acute effect of SOD on endothelial function in high renin/angiotensin state.
Acetylcholine ; Animals ; Aorta* ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Atherosclerosis ; Endothelium ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Renovascular* ; Oxidoreductases ; Phenylephrine ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Renal Artery ; Superoxides ; Vascular Diseases

No abstract available.
Animals ; Blastocyst* ; Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2* ; Mice* ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor*

PURPOSE: Sometimes chronic subdural hematoma can be developed following posttraumatic subdural hygroma. The purpose of this study is to investigate its incidence, the duration required for their conversion, and characteristic CT and MR findings of subdural hygroma and chronic subdural hamatoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 8 patients with persistent posttraumatic subdural hygroma which consquently developed chronic subdural hamatoma. The patients were examined with CT initially and foilowed-up with CT in 3 and MR in 5. We analyzed the location of the lesion, the change of the density or signal intensity, the change of the size, and the degree of enhancement and mass effect. RESULTS: The duration required for the formation of hematoma was 48-166 days (mean, 76 days). The characteristic CT findings of subdural hygroma were a crescentric lesion with CSF density along the inner table without contrast enhancement. The mass effect was minimal. The CT findings of chronic subdural hematoma were higher density than that of hygroma in all cases, increase in thickness and size in 3 cases, and contrast enhancement along the inner membrane of the hematoma in 5 cases. The signal intensities of the subdural hygroma were identical to those of CSF on both T1 and T2 weighted images, whereas, those of chronic subdural hematoma were higher. CONCLUSION: The increased signal intensity on T1 weighted MR images and increased attenuation or contrast enhancement of the lesion on CT may suggest the conversion of subdural hygroma into chronic subdural hematoma.
Hematoma ; Hematoma, Subdural, Chronic* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymphangioma, Cystic ; Membranes ; Subdural Effusion*

BACKGROUND: As a complication of iron deficiency anemia, only a few cases of the infarction involving major cerebral artery territory area have been reported. Although the reactive thrombocytosis secondary to iron-deficiency anemia may be suggested as a cause, the exact mechanism is unclear. Until now, the sole possible level of thrombocytosis associated with iron deficiency anemia for cerebrovascular accident has been reported as more than 8.0 x 105/mm3. Case Description : We present a case of young woman with mild reactive thrombocytosis(5.95 x 105/mm3) secondary to iron deficiency anemia who developed left middle cerebral artery territorial infarction. We did not find any other precipitating factors despite of all possible etiological evaluations including cerebral angiography. After the treatment of iron supplement and antiplatelet agent, the recovery was relatively good and no definite neurological deficits were remained. CONCLUSION: We suggest that this large territorial infarction might be related to the severe iron deficiency anemia and the reactive thrombocytosis associated with iron deficiency anemia and the correction of anemia and antiplatelet therapy is a reasonable approach.
Anemia ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency* ; Cerebral Angiography ; Cerebral Arteries ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Iron* ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Precipitating Factors ; Stroke ; Thrombocytosis*

BACKGROUND: Protein kinase C (PKC)s consist of three groups of isoenzyme; conventional, novel and atypical PKCs. Diacylglycerol (DAG) activates both conventional and novel PKCs, but not atypical PKCs. High glucose-induced fibronection production was shown to be mediated by activation of DAG-sensitive PKCs. In this study, we investigated whether PKC mediates IL-1beta-induced fibronectin mRNA expression, and the subtypes of PKC involved in the process. METHODS: Fibronectin mRNA level and phosphorylated PKC zeta/iota in total cell lysate were measured by Northern blot and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: Pretreatment of HPMCs with calphostin C, a pan-PKC inhibitor, at doses of 500, 750 and 1, 000 nM caused dose-dependent inhibition of IL- 1beta (1 ng/mL)-induced fibronectin mRNA level. GF109203X, another pan-PKC inhibitor, at doses of 1, 5 and 10 microM also downregulated IL-1beta (1 ng/ mL)-induced fibronectin mRNA level in a dose-dependent manner. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an activator of conventional and novel PKCs, stimulated fibronectin mRNA level at doses of 1, 10 and 100 nM. After prolonged treatment of the cells for 72 hr with PMA, another dose of PMA did not increase fibronectin mRNA level, while IL-1beta (1 ng/mL) still stimulated it. Pretreatment of the cells with 5, 10, 15 and 20 microM of myristoylated PKC zeta/iota pseudosubstrate inhibited IL-1beta (1 ng/mL)-induced fibronectin mRNA level in a dose-dependent manner, while 20 microM of myristoylated PKC [19-27] pseudosubstrate, given as a control, had no effect. Stimulation of fibronectin mRNA level by IL-1beta (1 ng/mL) was completely prevented by 20 microM of my ristoylated PKC zeta/iotapseudosubstrate. IL-1beta (1 ng/ mL) increased phosphorylated PKC zeta/iota, an active form of the enzyme. CONCLUSION: IL-1beta-induced fibronectin production in HPMCs occurs by way of activation of atypical PKCs (PKC zeta/iota).
Blotting, Northern ; Blotting, Western ; Fibronectins* ; Humans* ; Interleukin-1beta* ; Protein Kinase C* ; Protein Kinases* ; RNA, Messenger