No abstract available.
Anemia* ; Echocardiography* ; Ventricular Function, Left*

No abstract available.
Balloon Valvuloplasty* ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis* ; Pulmonary Valve*

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular*

PURPOSE: To assess the value of gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission in differential diagnosis between hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four cases of epatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 23 patients and 26 cases of metastatic adenocarcinoma in 14 patients were prospectively examined using the pulse-inversion harmonic technique after intravenous SH U 508A administration. Gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission (SAE) was measured 5 mins after bolus injection of a contrast agent (4g, 400 mg/ml). The presence or absence of SAE signals at internal and marginal areas of the tumor and the appearance (smooth or irregular) of its border were compared. In addition, the SAE index [SAE (parenchyma) - SAE (tumor)/ SAE (parenchyma)] was histographically determined using a computerized program (PiView TM ; Mediface, Seoul, Korea). The statistics were analysed using student'st test. RESULT: Of the 24 HCC cases, 20 (83%) showed internal SAE signals, while 23 (96%) marginal signals were emitted. Of the 26 cases of metastatic adenocarcinoma, one (4%) showed internal SAE signals, while in five (19%), these signals were marginal. The tumoral border was irregular in 19 HCC lesions (79%) and smooth in 23 metastatic lesions (88%). For HCC and metastatic tumors, the mean SAE index was 0.38 +/-0.15 and 0.60 +/- 0.08, respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission can be a useful tool in differential diagnosis between heatocellular carcinoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma.
Acoustics* ; Adenocarcinoma* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; Microbubbles ; Prospective Studies ; Seoul

This study was conducted to investigate the validity of using a cameraphone for a dietary intake survey method. The subjects were 28 female college students. After eating a standard lunch meal which consisted of plain rice, seaweed soup, bulgogi, cucumber salad, roasted anchovy and kimchi, the quantity of dietary intake, calorie intake & nutrients intake were analyzed by weighed method, diet record method and cameraphone method by dietitian with & without cameraphone analysis training. There were no significant differences in the quantity of 6 foods intake between weighted method and cameraphone method by dietitians with camera phone analysis training. However, the quantity of seaweed soup, bulgogi & cucumber salad intake analyzed by diet record method was significantly lower than the weighed method. And the quantity of seaweed soup, bulgogi, cucumber salad, roasted anchovy and kimchi intake analyzed by the cameraphone method by dietitians without cameraphone analysis training was significantly lower than the weighed method. There were no significant differences in the calorie intake and nutrients intake between the weighted method and camera phone method by dietitians with camera-phone analysis training. However, protein, calcium, iron, phosphorous, Vitamin A, Vitamin B2, Vitamin E and cholesterol intake analyzed by diet record method was significantly lower than the weighed method. And fat and Vitamin B2 intake analyzed by the camera phone method by dietitians without cameraphone analysis training was significantly lower than the weighed method. Therefore, this study suggests that the use of the camerephone may be a valid and convenient method for evaluating a dietary intake survey. However, systematic and standard education is necessary about the size and volume of dishes and angle of photo for more accurate results.
Calcium ; Cholesterol ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Diet Records ; Eating ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Iron ; Lunch ; Meals ; Nutritionists ; Riboflavin ; Seaweed ; Vitamin A ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins

OBJECTIVE: Recently, microdissection of tissue sections has been used increasingly for the isolation of morphologically identified homogeneous cell populations, thus overcoming the obstacle of tissue complexity for the analysis cell-specific expression of macromolecules. The aim of the present study was to establish the minimal conditions required for the RNA extraction and amplification from the cells captured by the laser captured microdissection. METHODS: Mouse ovaries were fixed and cut into serial sections (7 micrometer thickness). Oocytes were captured by laser captured microdissection (LCM) method by using PixCell IITM system. The frozen sections were fixed in 70% ethanol and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, while the paraffin sections were stained with Multiple stain. Sections were dehydrated in graded alcohols followed by xylene and air-dried for 20 min prior to LCM. All reactions were performed in ribonuclease free solutions to prevent RNA degradation. After LCM, total RNA extraction from the captured oocytes was performed using the guanidinium isothiocyanate (GITC) solution, and subsequently evaluated by reverse transcriptase -polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH). RESULTS: With the frozen sections, detection of the GAPDH mRNA expression in the number of captured 25 oocytes were not repeatable, but the expression was always detectable from 50 oocytes. With 25 oocytes, at least 27 PCR cycles were required, whereas with 50 oocytes, 21 cycles were enough to detect GAPDH expression. Amount of the primary cDNA required for RT-PCR was reduced down to at least 0.25 microl with 50 oocytes, thus the resting 19.75 microl cDNA can be used for the testing other interested gene expression. Tissue-to-slide, tissue-to-tissue forces were very high in the paraffin sections, thus the greater number of cell procurement was required than the frozen sections. CONCLUSION: We have described a method for analyzing gene expression at the RNA level with the homogeneously microdissected cells from the small amount of tissues with complexity. We found that LCM coupled with RT-PCR could detect housekeeping gene expression in 50 oocytes captured. This technique can be easily applied for the study of gene expression with the small amount of tissues.
Alcohols ; Animals ; DNA, Complementary ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Ethanol ; Female ; Frozen Sections ; Gene Expression* ; Genes, Essential ; Guanidine ; Hematoxylin ; Mice ; Microdissection* ; Oocytes* ; Ovary ; Paraffin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Ribonucleases ; RNA Stability ; RNA* ; RNA, Messenger ; RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; Xylenes

No abstract available.
Aged* ; Dementia* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do* ; Humans ; Prevalence*

No abstract available.
Aged* ; Dementia* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do* ; Humans ; Prevalence*

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of aortic arch obstruction can be made with two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography in most cases.However,not infrequently,clear imaging of the aortic arch can not be obtained,particularly in sick neonates and young infants from a number of reasons and heart catheterization and angiography carries significant risk in sick babies.Therefore it is the purpose of this study to assess the feasibility and safety of counter-current aortography through a peripheral artery in young infants and neotates with suspected aortic arch obstruction. METHOD: We studied 56 patients with suspected aortic arch anomaly at Asian Medical Center from Feburary 1990 to April 1997.First choice for the peripheral artery was radial artery on the same side as the aortic arch,followed by brachial artery and axillary artery.Small 24 gauge plastic cannula was inserted and special attention was given to ensure that the peripheral artery,plastic cannula,and a syringe containing contrast material are all in the same plane.1ml/kg of contrast material was injected by rapid hand injection and biplane cineangiograms were taken at 60 frame/second. RESULTS: Fifty six patients underwent 58 angiograms.Age ranged from 5-255 days(median 30 days) and body weight nanged from 2.1-5.4kg(mean3.4kg).There were 27 males and 29 females.Arteries used were:Radial artery in 37,brachal artery in 19,and axillary artery in 2 cases.Peripheral arteries were ipsilateral side as the aortic arch in 54,contralateral side in 2 and bilateral in 2 cases.In 8 patients heart catheterization was done because of inadequate visualization of aortic arch anatomy and/or need for evaluating other defects.In 48 patients who had periperal angiography only,fluoroscopic time ranged from 0.6 to 3.5 minutes and total procedure time ranged from 10 to 15 minutes.Among these 48 patients,only 11 patients(23%) were given intraveous sedation and 37 patients(77%) did not recieve any sedation.Diagnosis of aortic arch anomaly was aortic coarctation in 38,aortic interruption in 10 and nomal aortic arch in 8 patients.Aortic arch anatomy was well demonstrated in all cases where injected artery was on the same side as the aortic arch.In patients who had angiograms through peripheral arteries contralateral to the side of the aortic arch did not haveadequate visualization of the arch.Compression of the carotid artery did not enhance the imaging of the arch.Simultanous bilateral angiography did not improve the imaging quality as compared to ipsilateral artery angiography.Transient complication,related to cannulation,e.g.,prolonged bleeding was seen in only one patient with aortic interruption.Circulation on the upper extremities was normal after angiography in all patients. CONCLUSION: Counter-current aortography using 24 gauge plastic cannular through peripheral artery is feasible,rapid,safe,economic and relatevely non-invasive procedure and provides adquate imaging of aortic arch obstruction in infants and neonates without risk of heart catheterization and angiography.We,therefore,recommend this procedure in selected patients in whom echocardiographic imaging alone is not conclusive for planning corrective sursery.
Angiography ; Aorta, Thoracic* ; Aortic Coarctation ; Aortography* ; Arteries* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Axillary Artery ; Body Weight ; Brachial Artery ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Carotid Arteries ; Catheters ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Doppler ; Hand ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Male ; Plastics ; Radial Artery ; Syringes ; Upper Extremity

Fibrohistiocytic tumors are a diverse group of benign and malignant soft tissue lesions, including dermatofibroma, dermatofibrosarcomaprotuberans, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. On the clinical point of view, the distinction between benign and malignant lesions and malignancy grading is far more important. Therefore, we investigated 23 fibrohistiocytic tumors, using PCNA (PC10) which was a useful marker of proliferating activity, to differentiate the benign lesions from the malignant and correlate with other prognostic factors including tumor necrosis. cellularity, histologic grade, and mitotic counts. The results obtained were as follows 1) Positive tumor cells were clearly identified by the characteristic diffuse or granular nuclear staining. 2) The number of PCNA-positive tumor cells were 2.16+/-2.39% in dermatofibroma, 16.12+/-7.38% in dermatofibrosacoma protuberans, and 28.02+/-17.47% in the malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The numbers of PCNA-positive tumor cells in the malignant lesions higher than in the benign (p<0.001). 3) Deep seated, large size (>5 cm) and recurred or metastatic cases of MFH were more the high PCNA index (more than 20%) than the low index (less than 20%) groups. 4) PCNA index in MFHs had positive correlation with the number of mitotic counts (r=0.7582, p<0.001), cellularity (r=0.5908, p<0.05) and histologic grade (r=0.4164, p<0.05). These results suggested that reactivity on PCNA might assist in the distinction between benign and malignant lesions in fibrohistiocytic tumors, and could be a useful prognostic factor in the patients with malignant fibrous histiocytoma.
Neoplasm Metastasis