No abstract available.
Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Spasms, Infantile*

The present study was deigned to elucidate the effects of the Co-60 gamma irradiation and/or calcium-deficient diet on the periodental tissue formation in rat pups. The pregnant three-week old Sprague-Dawley rats were used for the study. The experimental groups was divided into two groups, irradiation/normal diet group(Group 2) and irradiation/calcium-dificient diet group(Group 1). The abdoment of the rats at the 19th day of pregnancy were irradiated with single absorbed dose of 350 cGy. The rats pups were sacrificed on the 14th day after delivery, and the maxillae including molar tooth sections for light and trasmission electron microscopy. Some of tissue sections for light microscopy were stained immunohistochemically with anti-fibronectin antibodies. The results were as follows ; 1. In the periodontal ligament forming area, the fibroblasts of Group 2 showed irregular arrangement and low activity. The immunoreactivity between the fibroblasts and collagen fibers was decreased, compared with Group 1. The fibroblasts of Group 3 showed atrophic change and clumped nucleus. The collagen fibers showed cystic change and low immunoreactivity to the fibronetin. 2. In the cementum forming area, the cementoblasts of Group 2 showed decrease of number and atrophic change. The cementoblasts of Group 3 showed edematous change, atrophy of cytoplasm, and clumping of nucleus. 3. In the alveolar bone forming area, the bone of Group 2 was thin and various degree of immunoreactivity to the osteonectin, Group 3 showed edematous osteoblasts, fibrous degeneration of bone marrow, and weak immunoreactivity tothe osteonectin.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Atrophy ; Bone Marrow ; Collagen ; Cytoplasm ; Dental Cementum ; Diet* ; Fibroblasts ; Maxilla ; Microscopy ; Microscopy, Electron ; Molar ; Osteoblasts ; Osteonectin ; Periodontal Ligament ; Pregnancy ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tooth

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

No abstract available.
Doxorubicin* ; Membrane Potentials* ; Membranes* ; Papillary Muscles*

Background & Objective: Hiccups is a disabling condition of lateral medullary infarction (LMI). Unlike other symptoms of LMI, the anatomical lesions of hiccups are not well known. Few studies have evaluated the relationship between the lesional location of LMI and hiccups. We performed this study to correlate hiccups and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based lesional location in pure LMI. Methods: Between January 1997 and February 2013, we identified 24 patients with pure LMI who presented with hiccups in addition to typical lateral medullary syndrome. Sixty six pure LMI patients without hiccups were included as a control group. Clinical and radiologic findings were compared between the two groups. MRI-identified lesions were classified rostrocaudally as rostral, middle and caudal, and horizontally as typical, ventral, large, lateral and dorsal. Results: The pure LMI patients with hiccups had significantly more frequent aspiration pneumonia (P = 0.001) and longer hospital stay (P = 0.03). The patients with hiccups significantly more often had dorsal rather than ventral lesion at horizontal levels (P = 0.012). But, there were no rostro-caudal differences at vertical levels (P = 0.162). Conclusions: We suggest that pure LMI associated with hiccups often locates in the dorsal medulla at horizontal correlation. This MRI-based comparative study has advanced the understanding of the neural substrate for hiccups in LMI, and indicates that hiccups become predictable when specific lesional locations in the lateral medulla are considered.

No abstract available.
Regeneration*

PURPOSE: Myasthenia gravis(MG) is relatively rare in childhood and shows some distinct epidemiologic and clinical features according to ages and races. The role of immunosuppressive therapy such as steroid treatment is not well established. The objective of this study is to characterize clinical features of childhood MG and to evaluate the outcomes of steroid treatment. METHODS: We studied 23 MG patients(7 male and 16 females) with symptom onsets from 1 to 14 years of age(mean 4.1 years). RESULTS: Fifteen patients were ocular type and 6 patients were generalized type. Sero-positivity to acetylcholine receptor antibodies was found in 85% of the patients. Two patients who showed initial ocular manifestations experienced secondary generalization without steroid treatment. Alopecia totalis and moyamoya disease were associated with systemic MG in two cases. Eighteen patients were treated with both anticholine esterase and steroid while 2 patients were treated with steroid only. Complete remission was observed in 6 patients(30%) while 11 patients(55%) had one or more recurrences and only partial responses were acquired in 4 patients(20%). CONCLUSION: We found some different epidemiologic features from western countries including a relatively high proportion of ocular MG and earlier onset age especially in ocular MG. Further long-term follow up study on responses to steroid treatment will be necessary to evaluate clinical benefits in the disease progression.
Acetylcholine ; Age of Onset ; Alopecia ; Antibodies ; Continental Population Groups ; Disease Progression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Generalization (Psychology) ; Humans ; Male ; Moyamoya Disease ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: Survival time of patients with multiple myeloma has been reported to be closely related to the cytology of bone marrow smears and the histologic features of bone marrow biopsies. However, there have been many differences in morphological criteria applied by various authors. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic relevance of bone marrow features in patients with multple myeloma by investigation of the cytologic feature and the histologic patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seven previously untreated patients with multiple myeloma, admitted to Asan Medical Center, between 1989 and 1997, were studied. Bone marrow aspirations and biopsies were analyzed according to the criteria such as cytologic differentiation, volume of infiltration, pattern of infiltration, degree of hematopoiesis, and presence of fibrosis. RESULTS: 64 cases (59.8%) of 107 patients with multiple myeloma were plasmacytic type and 43 cases (40.2%) were plasmablastic type. Each median survival time was 35.0 months and 18.0 months (P<0.05). The patients with more than 25% of plasmablasts showed shorter median survival time than those with 1ess than 25% (18 months vs 38.9 months, P<0.05). The patients with nodular or packed marrow pattern revealed poorer prognosis than those with interstitial or interstitial/nodular pattern (P<0.05). The patients of plasmablastic type disclosed larger volume of myeloma cell infiltration and more packed marow pattern than those of plasmacytic type. CONCLUSIONS: The cytologic differentiation, the volume of infiltration and the patterns of infiltration were reliable predictors of survival in myeloma patients. Thus, for the prognostic evaluation and therapeutic plans, the descriptions for cytologic differentiation (especially percentage of plasmablasts), volume of infiltration and pattern of infiltration should be included in the bone marrow interpretation of multiple myeloma.
Aspirations (Psychology) ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Fibrosis ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Multiple Myeloma* ; Prognosis

No abstract available.
Echocardiography* ; Mass Screening*

No abstract available.