The coronary arteries of young individuals are histologically studied. Fourteen cases in pediatric age group and three adult hearts were used. No case had clinical and pathological evidences of heart disease. Inner circumference, thickness of tunicae intima, media and adventitia were measured at eight different sites of coronary arteries. The thickness of tunica media was used as a standard scale of cardiac growth, and the heart weight, body weight, height and age were compared with the medial thickness. The morphological changes were assessed in five groups by the heart weights. Group I ( less than 10 gm) showed single endothelial lining with cytoplasmic vacuolization or endothelial denudation. Group II (more than 10 but less than 20 gm) consisted of full term babies and showed first stigma of focal intimal thickening and intimal collagen fibers. Diffuse intimal thickening more than 1/1 of medial thickness was first seen in a case with 46 gm of heart weight. Elastic fiber was not seen in internal elastic laminae of groups I and II. Fragmentation of internal elastic lamina and smooth muscle proliferation as a form of musculoelastic layer were the major findings of intimal thickening in childhood and no case showed complicated atherosclerotic lesions.
Child ; Adult ; Male ; Female ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Recent evidences suggest that anesthetic action within the spinal cord is important in suppressing somatic responses to painful stimuli. Intrathecal endothelin-1 (ET-1) is known to have antinociceptive effect. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether intrathecal ET-1 may influence the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in rats and access the role of the spinal cord as the sites of anesthetic action in blocking somatic responsiveness. METHODS: In Sprague-Dawley rats fitted with an indwelling intrathecal catheter, we determined the MAC of isoflurane using a tail-clamp technique as a painful stimulus, combined with end-tidal anesthetic sampling. In experiment 1, the control MAC was determined and changes of control MAC were observed after intrathecal ET-1 (4x10-2 nmol, 4x10-3 nmol) administration. In experiment 2, we observed the effects of L or N type Ca++ channel blocker such as verapamil (50 g) or W-conotoxin (0.5 g) on the MAC after measurement of the control MAC. In experiment 3, after measurement of the control MAC, ET-1 (10-2 nmol) was administered intrathecally and the MAC was determined again. Next, intrathecal verapamil (50 g) or W-conotoxin (0.5 g) was injected. After that, the MAC was determined again. RESULTS: In experiment 1, ET-1 decreased the MAC of isoflurane and its effect was sustained over 2 hours. In experiment 2, the MAC, determined following administration of verapamil or W-conotoxin, was not different from that of the control. In experiment 3, the MAC was decreased after ET-1 administration and then increased following injection of verapamil or W-conotoxin. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that ET-1, in relation to calcium, might play an important role in determining the MAC of isoflurane in the spinal cord.
Animals ; Calcium ; Catheters ; Endothelin-1* ; Isoflurane* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord ; Verapamil

PURPOSE: Preoperative chemotherapy has been extensively used in inoperable or locally advanced breast cancer to achieve tumor reduction and, thus, to facilitate extensive surgery. METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study was carried out to identify the effect of induction chemotherapy on breast cancer. 49 patients with breast cancer were treated with initial chemotherapy between October 1986 and June 1998. 43 patients were treated with three courses of the CMF regimen (cyclophosphamide and metho trexate and 5-fluorouracil), four patients with three courses of the FEC regimen (5-fluorouracil, epirubicine and cyclophosphamide), two patients with three courses of the FAC regimen (5-fluorouracil, adriamycin and cyclophosphamide). RESULTS: The response, rate to induction chemotherapy was 83.7% including 4% complete response, and there were no significant differences in response rates according to the chemo therapy regimen. At a mean follow-up of 51.9 months, recurrence and distant metastasis were observed in 32.7% and 18.4% of the patients, respectively. The five-year disease- free survival rate of the patients in the induction group was lower than that of the patients in the control group (35.5+/-8.7% versus 59.9+/-9.0%), but the five-year overall survival rate in the induction group was higher than control group (88.7 5.3% versus 76.9+/-6.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative induction chemotherapy is a useful treatment option for patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Also, there is an improvement in the five-year overall survival rate for patients in the induction chemotherapy group compared with that for patients in the age- and stage-controlled postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy group.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Case-Control Studies* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Epirubicin ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Induction Chemotherapy* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

The endoscopic sphincterotomy plays an important role in the treatment of common duct stones; however, with a sphincterotomy has the potential hazard of critical complications. Retroperitoneal duodenal perforation during the endoscopic sphincterotomy is a well-recognized complication causing retroperitoneal abscess, sepsis, and sometimes death. We experienced a patient who complained a severe abdominal pain with a febrile sensation after an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with sphincterotomy. The diagnosis was delayed, but confirmed by the CT scan, and a duodenal diverticulization with T-tube drainage was performed. The patient was managed by using a duodenal diverticulization with T-tube drainage, but a conservative management is usually effective if the duodenal perforation is recognized immediately and occurs together with uninfected minimal soilage.
Abdominal Pain ; Abscess ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis ; Drainage ; Humans ; Sensation ; Sepsis ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that three resin indexing materials had on the distortion of split cast in the procedures of solder indexing and block fabrication. The specimen had two cylinders and connecting bar. Two cylinders were a reference cylinder and a test cylinder that were machined precisely and placed on metal base. The total of specimens wee 30 and they were divided into 3 groups according to the resin indexing materials : Acrylic solder , G-C Pattern resin , Z-100 . The relative coordinates (X, Y, Z) of centroids of both cylinders were measured by using 3-D coor dinates measuring machine. The value of indexing distortion was obtained after application of indexing material, and the value of the block distortion was obtained after fabrication of soldering block, and the value of total distortion was a value sum of indexing distortion and block distortion. Intercentroidal linear distortion({{{{ SQRT {X'^2 + Y'^2 +Z'^2 }- SQRT {X^2 + Y^2 +Z^2} }} }}) and global distortion {{{{rm SQRT {(X'-X)^2 +(Y'-Y^)2 +(Z'-Z^)2} }} }} were calculated from data of coordinates of centroids at each mea s u r ing stages. The results of this study were as belows ; 1. The intercentroidal distance between the split casts was reduced by indexing distortion and increased by block distortion. 2. The indexing global distortion between the split casts was smaller than block global distortion. 3. The intercentoidal linear distortion and the global distortion were no significant difference between indexing materials.
Abstracting and Indexing as Topic

PURPOSE: This study was intended to evaluate the positional relationship between the hyoid bone and the mandible in patients with mandibular protrusion after mandibular set-back surgery by means of 3D-CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preoperative(3 weeks before) and postoperative (6 weeks after) 3D-CT and cephalogram were taken on 32 patients(12 male, 20 female, mean age of 23.2) treated by bilateral sagittal split osteotomy with rigid fixation. The angular measurement on 3D-CT basilar view were deviation of Me and H, long axis angle of left and right cornu majus. The lineal measurement on 3D-CT basilar view were composed of intercondylar line and coordinates(x,y) of Me and H. The angular and lineal measurement of lateral cephalogram were composed of mandibular plane angle, SNA, SNB, ANB, FH-NA and FH-NB, and coordinates(x,y) of B, Pog, Me and H, PAS, Lpw, MPH and IAS. On the frontal cephalogram, deviation of Me were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean mandibular set-back was 8.0mm horizontally and mandibular plane angle was slightly increased. The hyoid bone was displaced postero-inferiorly, the distance between MP(mandibular plane) and H(hyoid bone) was increased and the posterior airway space values (PAS, Lpw, IAS) were decreased. The coordinates Me(x,y), H(x,y) and deviation angle Me' and H'were revealed the strong positive correlation. CONCLUSION: The results revealed that the horizontal, vertical and transverse relationship of the mandibular and the hyoid bone movements were significantly correlated in patients performed mandibular set-back surgery.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Female ; Humans ; Hyoid Bone* ; Male ; Mandible* ; Orthognathic Surgery* ; Osteotomy

No abstract available.
Neutrophils*

PURPOSE: Allelic loss on chromosome 18q is a hallmark of presence of a tummor represser gene. Recently, DPC4 (deleted in pancreatic carcinoma, locus 4), a candidate tumor suppressor gene, has been localized at 18q21. Inactivation of DPC4 gene was reported in pancreatic carcinomas, coloretal carcinomas, and prostatic carcinomas. The aim of the present study was to determine if it might be altered in stomach cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We tested for DPC4 gene mutations and allelic status at 18q21 using a modified 'cold SSCP' method in 48 primary gastric carcinoma and correlated the findings with various clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients. RESULTS: The frequency of mutations in primary gastric cancer was 27.1% (13/48). Mutations of exon 1, 8, 10 were found in 2 (4.1%), 4 (8.2%) and 7 cases (14.6%), respectively. DNA sequencing of 13 cases with DPC4 mutations identified six cases (46.1%) with substitution, four cases with deletion (30.7%), and two cases (23.1%) with insertion. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of DPC4 mutations in terms of other various clinicopathologic characteristics. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that DPC4 mutations may play a significant role in the establishment and progression of the primary gastric cancer.
Exons ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach*

Owing to recent advancements in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics, genetic data of urological malignancies exponentially studied and published. Application of precision medicine strategies for cancer diagnosis, management is just around the corner, and we need to prepare for this paradigm change. For this reason, we performed the literature reviews of 13 landmark studies for urological malignancies, 5 for prostate cancer, 5 for renal cell carcinoma, and 3 for urothelial carcinoma. Furthermore, we reviewed potentially druggable genes for urological malignancies that have in vivo/in vitro evidence. Finally, we selected total 255 genes included important mutations, structural variations, copy number alterations, clinically informative genes and potential drug target genes for prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and urothelial carcinoma. This literature review and comprehensive molecular characterization of urological malignancies make help to understanding genetic backgrounds of the disease. However, there was less than 5% of Asian data included in current landmark studies for urological malignancies; thus we need to build up the large-scaled genetic studies for Korean population.

BACKGROUND: The bispectral index (BIS), a parameter derived from the electro-encephalography (EEG), has been shown to correlate with the sedative state of anesthetic agents. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of BIS monitoring on anesthetic use and recovery characteristics in long duration sevoflurane anesthesia. METHODS: Forty adult patients who were scheduled for prolonged anesthesia (above 150 minutes) were randomly assigned to the control group (n = 20) or the BIS group (n = 20). In the control group, the anesthesiologists were blinded to the BIS values, and sevoflurane was administered according to standard clinical practice. In the BIS group, sevoflurane was titrated to maintain the BIS value between 45 60. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), end-tidal sevoflurane, BIS was monitored at intervals of 15 minutes. Time to response (TR), time to extubation (TE), time to reach 10 points of PAR score (TPAR10) and time to the discharge from postanesthetic care unit (TDis) were recorded from withdrawal of sevoflurane for recovery time. RESULTS: ET-Sevoflurane was significantly lower in the BIS group than the control group. BIS and 95% SEF values were higher in the BIS group compared with the control group. All values of recovery time (TR, TE, TPAR10, TDis) were significantly shorter in the BIS group than control group. In MAP and HR, there was no significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: BIS is considered a good index of proper use of sevoflurane. Decrease of total amount of sevoflurane, early emergence and early discharge from PACU are expected, so more safe and economic anesthesia may be possible in clinics.
Adult ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthetics ; Arterial Pressure ; Consciousness Monitors* ; Heart Rate ; Humans