Lupus nephropathy shows a variable clinical course including remission, relapse and progression to renal failure. To examine the clinical or morphological parameters which might be related to the progression of lupus nephropathy, we have analyzed renal biopsies of 19 patients (M : F=5 : 14), who underwent repeated renal biopsies by morphology and morphometry. The average age of the patients was 22.8+/-9.0 years. The mean interval between two biopsies was 34.5+/-13.3 months. The first renal biopsies of these patients were diagnosed with WHO class IV (74%), class II (11%), class I (5%), class III (5%), and class V (5%). According to the clinical data the patients were divided into 3 groups, static, relapsing and progressive. At the time of the first biopsies, the amount of proteinuria in both the static and relapsing groups was significantly higher than that in the progressive group (P<0.05). The volume density of the renal cortical interstitium of the first biopsies in the progressive group was significantly greater than that in the static and relapsing groups (0.14+/-0.07 micrometer3/micrometer3 vs. 0.05+/-0.02 micrometer3/micrometer3, P<0.05; 0.14+/-0.07 micrometer3/micrometer3 vs. 0.05+/-0.04 micrometer3/micrometer3, P<0.05). The activity index of the second biopsies in the relapsing group was significantly higher than that in the static group (2.7+/-0.6 vs 1.2+/-1.0, P<0.05). In the progressive group, the percentage of glomeruli with global sclerosis and the volume density of the renal cortical interstitium in the second biopsies was elevated over the first biopsies (P<0.05). Half of the patients in the static and relapsing groups underwent a morphologic transformation on the second biopsy. However, of the 7 patients in the progressive group, only one showed a transformation from WHO class IV to class III, suggesting that the transformation is not related to the progression of lupus nephropathy. These results suggest that interstitial expansion and heavy proteinuria at the time of the first renal biopsy may bode for poor prognosis in lupus nephropathy. Furthermore, they suggest that an increased histologic activity index could be related to the relapse of the disease.
Biopsy* ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Proteinuria ; Recurrence ; Renal Insufficiency ; Sclerosis

No abstract available.
Fires*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Animals ; Borrelia burgdorferi* ; Borrelia* ; Murinae*

No abstract available.
Spine*

Tentative diagnosis of meniscal pathology is very helpful for the successful operative management including arthroscopy. Conventional arthrography has long been used to meet this purpose, but it has some limitations due to complex views and some difficulties in imaging the whole anatomical structures. Recent diagnostic advancement produced post-arthrographic HRCT and MRI for the compensation of these problems of conventional arthrography. Arthrography and post-arthrographic HRCT has been carried out on 49 knees in 43 patients. 38 knees among them could be confirmed by arthroscopy and following results were obtained. 1. Diagnostic accuracies of post-arthrographic HRCT for medial and lateral meniscal injuries of knee were 94.7% and 92.1% repectively. 2. Shape, contour of torn meniscus and the relationships between the torn fragments were better demonstrated with HRCT. 3. Horizontal tear could also be suspected by HRCT. 4. Peripheral detachment could be differentiated with synovial recess on the HRCT, especially in the reformat view, but was more clearly visible in arthrography. 5. Arthrography and HRCT can be used as a good complementary study for the evaluation of meniscal injuries.
Arthrography ; Arthroscopy ; Compensation and Redress ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Knee ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pathology ; Tears

Osteoporosis is defined as a pathologic condition that there occurs no change in the chemical composition of the bone, while bone resorption is abnormally increased, compared with osteogenesis, leading to a decrease in bone amount. Though many varieties of therapy have been tried, no definitely effective method has been found. Ginseng saponin is an importanat component of Korean ginseng and many studies have been performed for investigating its effectiveness. But there has been no report on saponin effects to osteoporosis. The purpose of this studies is to find out the effect of saponin in osteoporosis induced by ovariectomy in rats. For the study, 30 rats underwent sham operation(group I) and 90 rats were ovariectomized. In group ll (30 rats), only ovariectomy was performed. In group III (30 rats), 50mg/kg/day ginseng saponin was administered per oral route and group IV (30 rats) was administrated 150mg/kg/day saponin. All the rats were sacrificed at the 16th week. The sections of the femoral shaft were stained using Villanueva bone stain and the sections of the tibia were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The femoral shaft and metaphyseal region were applied to compression device for measurements of bone consistency. The effect of saponin increased weight of the femur. The cross sectional area and cortical area of the femoral shaft were significantly higher in 50mg saponin group(group III) than osteoporosis group. But there was no significant difference in the size and number of osteoclast and the percentage of trabecular bone between saponin group(group III ,IV)and osteoporosis group. In the biomechanical test, the consistency of cortical bone was significantly increased in 50mg saponin group than osteoporosis group. In conclusion, saponin had an effect on experimental osteoporosis induced by ovariectomy in rats. As though its precise mechanism was unknown, we considered that its action mechanism was due to osteoblastic activity resulting in a correction of bone mass deficit in osteoporotic rats.
Animals ; Bone Resorption ; Female ; Femur ; Methods ; Osteoblasts ; Osteoclasts ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Ovariectomy ; Panax ; Rats ; Saponins ; Tibia

Renal blood flow was measured by single injection technique of HippuranI13 in 13 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis and 11 control subjects. There was a significant decrease in renal blood flow in chronic glomerulonephritis particulary in those with elevated blood urea nitrogen. Renal blood flow was inversely proportionate to renal vascular resistance but no correlation was noted between renal blood flow and creatinine clearance.
Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Humans ; Renal Circulation* ; Vascular Resistance

No abstract available.
Leukemia*

No abstract available.
Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome*