PURPOSE: To compare the pullout strength and insertion torque of proximally tapered screw (PT) with fully tapered screw (FT) and to investigate the correlation between the pullout strength and bone mineral density, morphology of pedicle, and insertion torque of the screw in osteoporotic lumbar spine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen osteoporotic lumbar vertebrae from four white human cadavers were used. Bone mineral density, pullout strength and insertion torque were measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, MTS and torque screw driver individually. RESULTS: The FT screw provided greater pullout force and insertion torque than the PT screw in 12 of 15 vertebrae tested (p<0.01). Pullout strength was correlated with insertion torque in PT (r=0.666, P=0.0006) and FT (r=0.464, P=0.19) screws. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate that the FT screws provide higher pullout strength and insertion torque than PT screws in osteoporotic lumbar spine and suggest that the development of tapered minor diameter may lead to an improved pedicle screw with high pullout strength and insertion torque. Nevertheless, further study is needed to investigate the effect of tapering the minor diameter on the mechanical bending strength of the screw.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Density ; Cadaver ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Spine* ; Torque

This erratum is being published to correct the printing error on page 286 of the article entitled 'Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood in Korea' by Kim JS, Park JS, Song W, Kim HS, Cho HC, Lee KM, Kim EC in Korean J Lab Med 2007;27:286-91. DOI 10.3343/kjlm. 2007.27.4.286 as follows. The heading of the right column of the Table 1 was misprinted as methicillin-resistant, so it should be corrected to methicillin-susceptible.
Adult ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Brain Neoplasms/radiotherapy/surgery ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis/radiotherapy/surgery ; Female ; *Genetic Counseling ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; *Germ-Line Mutation ; Humans ; Li-Fraumeni Syndrome/*diagnosis/genetics/therapy ; Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/*genetics

Spinal epidural hematomas can often result from a spinal tap, trauma, pregnancy, bleeding diathesis, vascular malformations, hypertension, etc. However, a spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas (SSEH) without any risk factors are relatively rare clinical entities and the clinical suspicion is very difficult in an acute setting. The outcome for patients with SSEH usually is determined by the speed of the diagnosis and the initiation of the appropriate treatment. We present a good surgical outcome of a rare case of acute SSEH without any risk factors. The patient presented initially with paresis of both upper and lower extremities, upper thoracic and neck pain and mild headache. We report the diagnosis and treatment method of SSEH in this case with a review of the relevant literature.
Diagnosis ; Disease Susceptibility ; Headache ; Hematoma* ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lower Extremity ; Neck Pain ; Paresis ; Pregnancy ; Risk Factors* ; Spinal Puncture ; Spine* ; Vascular Malformations

Primary pulmonary hypertension is a rar, incurable, and progressive clinical entity. When associated with pregnancy, the prognosis of primary pulmonary hypertension is worsened with maternal mortality rates of at least 50%. The patient was a 29-year-old mother in her 2nd pregnancy, with previous uncomplicated gestation, 5 years ago. She had been well until the 28th week of present gestation when she was admitted because of increasing dyspnea on exertion. She was a housewife with no remarkable family and past histories. We have experienced a patient with primary pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy. She was treated with an oral calcium-channel blocker and low-molecular-weight heparin and was delivered vaginally with good maternal and fetal outcome. So we report a case of primary pulmonary hypertension associated with pregnancy and review literature.
Adult ; Dyspnea ; Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary* ; Maternal Mortality ; Mothers ; Pregnancy* ; Prognosis

PURPOSE: To determine if MR myelography (MRM) improves the interpretation of the severity of stenosis in patients with a multi-level lumbar stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among the patients referred for MRI with MRM prospectively, 100 patients over 50 years old with multiple lumbar stenosis were enrolled in this study. The most severe stenotic level and the degree of stenosis at that level according to the extent of the remaining subarachnoidal space (1: normal to 50%, 2: over 50% but not a total block, 3: total block) were evaluated in a blinded manner by two observers. Conventional MRI (class A), MRM (class B) and MRI+MRM (class C) was evaluated independently and the interobserver and intraobserver reliability were assessed. RESULTS: In the selection of the most severe level and degree of stenosis, both observers showed a higher level of consensus with classes B and C than classes A and C. The interobserver k average values for the selection of the most severe level in classes A, B and C were 0.649, 0.782 and 0.832, respectively. In terms of the degree of stenosis, the average in classes A, B and C were 0.727, 0.771 and 0.784, respectively. The intraobserver k values for the above two items were the highest in class (B), followed by (C) and (A) in all observers and within the range of "almost perfect" (0.81< or =k< or =1) except for the selection of the level of one observer in clause A. CONCLUSION: MRM when used in routine practice can help improve the observer reliability in assessing the severity of stenosis in multiple lumbar stenosis.
Consensus ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Middle Aged ; Myelography ; Prospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune subepidermal bullous disease associated with autoantibodies against BP180 and BP230. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a sensitive tool for the detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-BP180 and anti-BP230 autoantibodies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ELISA for diagnosing and monitoring the disease activity of BP. METHODS: We evaluated serum IgG levels of anti-BP180 and anti-BP230 autoantibodies in 47 BP patients, 16 epidermolysis bullosa aquisita patients, and 15 healthy volunteers using ELISA. Through retrospective review of the medical records, the clinical characteristics of BP including disease activity, duration, pruritus severity and peripheral blood eosinophil counts were assessed. RESULTS: The sensitivity of BP180 ELISA was 97.9%, BP230 ELISA 72.3%, and a combination of the two was 100%. The specificity of BP180 ELISA was 90.3%, BP230 ELISA 100%, and a combination of the two was 90.3%. BP180 ELISA scores showed strong associations with disease activity, pruritus severity, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, and disease duration, whereas BP230 ELISA scores did not. CONCLUSION: BP180 and BP230 ELISAs are highly sensitive methods for the diagnosis of BP, and BP180 ELISA, in particular, is a sensitive tool for monitoring the disease activity of BP.
Autoantibodies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophils ; Epidermolysis Bullosa ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Medical Records ; Pemphigoid, Bullous ; Pruritus ; Retrospective Studies ; Serologic Tests

No abstract available.
Hematoma* ; Liver* ; Snake Bites* ; Snakes*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the chitosan-TGF-beta1 conjugate on articular cartilage defects of rabbits' knees MATERIALS AND METHODS: Full thickness cartilage defect(6mm, round shape) was made at both knees of 20 rabbits and, after the lapse of 3 days, chitosan-TGF-beta1(15ng/ml, 1ml) was injected into one side(experimental group) of knees and PBS(1ml) was injected into the other side(control group). 5 rabbits were sacrificed 6 weeks after the injection and the rest of 15 rabbits 12 weeks later. Then, gross morphology and histological evaluation(Mendelson scoring) was conducted. RESULTS: No arthritic findings was observed and histological results in the experimental group at 6(Ave. 11.3+/-1.5) and 12(Ave. 4.5+/-1.9) weeks postoperatively were superior to those in the control group at 6(Ave. 14.6+/-1.7) and 12(Ave. 9.8+/-2.2) weeks. Especially at 12 weeks, the experimental group was superior to the control group statistically in results of 5 subgroups except for filling of defects. The difference of two groups at 12 weeks was more remarkable than those at 6 weeks. CONCLUSION: Regeneration of something very close to normal cartilage was observed in the experimental group. It shows that the biological activity of TGF-beta1 is sustained by the action of conjugate with chitosan, through prolonged half life of TGF-beta1.
Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular* ; Chitosan ; Half-Life ; Knee* ; Rabbits ; Regeneration ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

No abstract available.
Aflatoxin B1* ; Aflatoxins* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Humans*

BACKGROUND: There has been a nationwide increase in infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents in Korea. Although nationwide antimicrobial resistance pro-files have been reported recently by analysing routine antimicrobial test results, a more extensive resistance profile survey including those agents that are not used routinely is required for the inferring the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance. We assessed the resistance profiles of a variety of antimicrobial agents on Korean nationwide collection of S. aureus strains and analyzed the profiles according to methicillin resistance. METHODS: We collected a total of 253 clinical isolates of S. aureus from 13 clinical laboratories over the country during a month in 2002. Antimicrobial susceptibility testings were performed with 21 antimicrobial agents by disk diffusion method. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were also confirmed by the PCR detection of mecA gene. RESULTS: More than 90% of MRSA strains were resistant to the following antimicrobial agents tested: -lactams (92.0-98.3%), gentamicin (92.5%), tobramycin (94.9%), erythromycin (96.6%), and cip-rofloxacin (94.3%). But only 0-29% of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains were resistant to those agents. MRSA and MSSA strains were respectively resistant to chloramphenicol in 4.0% and 2.5%, rifampin in 12.1% and 1.3%, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in 22.4% and 1.3%, and amikacin in 51.7% and 3.8%. No isolates were resistant to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Falsely susceptible results against beta-lactams in MRSA ranged from 1.7-7.5%. No significant differences in susceptibility were noted against the agents within the same classes such as macrolide and fluoroquinolone. The PCR results of mecA gene correlated 100% with the results of oxacillin disk diffusion test. CONCLUSIONS: Methicillin resistance in S. aureus was an indication of resistance against beta-lactams, gentamicin, tobramycin, macrolide, and fluoroquinolone in Korea. However, MRSA still retained the susceptibility to chloramphenicol, rifampin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This study may provide antimicrobial resistance profiles necessary for the understanding of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms of S. aureus.
Amikacin ; Anti-Infective Agents ; beta-Lactams ; Chloramphenicol ; Diffusion ; Erythromycin ; Gentamicins ; Korea ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Oxacillin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rifampin ; Staphylococcus aureus* ; Teicoplanin ; Tobramycin ; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination ; Vancomycin