No abstract available.
Graft vs Host Disease* ; HLA-DR Antigens

We present two very interesting cases of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), whose skin rashes initially appeared on the localized area of total nodal irradiation (TNI) performed previously to prevent graft rejection and/or GVHD. The histopathologic findings showed some dyskeratotic cells in the epidermis and perivascular mononuclear cell infiltration in the upper dermis. The immunohistochemical studies revealed that HLA-DR was diffusely strongly positive in a number of keratinocytes, whereas both CD4 and CD8 were focally weakly positive in the perivascular lymphocytes in the upper dermis. Later on, liver dysfunction and diarrhea developed and skin rashes began to spread over the other parts of the body in those two patients.
Dermis ; Diarrhea ; Epidermis ; Exanthema ; Graft Rejection ; Graft vs Host Disease* ; HLA-DR Antigens ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Liver Diseases ; Lymphocytes ; Skin*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify effects of guided imagery on stress including cognitive, affective, marital and social, and anxiety among women receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF). METHODS: Data were collected between April, 21 and June, 17, 2008. The participants in this study were 57 women (26 for the experimental group, 31 for the control group) receiving IVF for primary or secondary infertility in one of the outpatient infertility centers in Seoul. The guided imagery (Suk, 2001) was provided through audio CD to the experimental group by themselves 8 minutes per day for 2 weeks. Data were analyzed by SPSS 12.0 windows program. RESULTS: After guided imagery, the experimental group showed significantly lower affective stress and total stress scores. Anxiety scores increased significantly in the control group, but not in the experimental group after treatment. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that guided imagery is an effective nursing intervention for reducing stress especially affective stress and anxiety among infertile women receiving IVF in outpatient infertility center.
Anxiety ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Imagery (Psychotherapy) ; Infertility ; Outpatients

OBJECTIVES: APL, which characteristically shows t(15:17), accompanies fatal coagulopathy during remission induction with systemic chemotherapy alone. ATRA, a derivative of vitamin A, can differentiate APL cells as well as HL-60 cells in vitro and induce higher rate of complete remission(CR). Hence, we assessed the effect of ATRA on remission induction and coagulopathy in APL patients. METHODS: (1) 42 patients diagnosed histologically in St. mary's hospital from June 1991 to June 1994 were included. (2) We compared the CR rate, the time required for restoration of derranged coagulation profiles, and the amount of coagulation factors including platelets among the chemotherapy group (control) and ATRA group. RESULTS: 1) There was no difference in CR rate between the control group and ATRA group [84.2%(16 out of 19) vs 87.0%(20 out of 23), p>0.05)] and also no difference between two subgroups of ATRA [ATRA with chemotherapy; 83.3%(10 out of 12) vs ATRA without chemotherapy; 90.9%(10 out of 11), p>0.05] 2) In the ATRA group, the CR rate of newly diagnosed patients was 82.4%(14 out of 17). The first relapsed patients (4) and the second (2) were all achieved CR. 3) The mean duration of coagulopathy, time to normalization of PT, aPTT, FDP, fibrinogen level, was 12.0+/-10.4, 11.1+/-10.2, 16.5+/-9.3, 15.4+/-10.2 days after chemotherapy alone and 4.5+/-4.4, 3.7+/-3.7, 8.9+/-6.1, 8.1+/-6.5 days in the ATRA group(p<0.05). The amount of fresh frozen plasma used in the ATRA group for the purpose of correction of coagulopathy were significantly lower than the control group(p<0.05). The incidence of profound coagulopathy during the remission induction treatment in the ATRA group was significantly lower than the control group[40% (8 out of 20) vs 96.7%(13 out of 15), p
Blood Coagulation Factors ; Drug Therapy ; Fibrinogen ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute* ; Plasma ; Remission Induction* ; Tretinoin* ; Vitamin A

No abstract available.
Anemia* ; Bone Marrow Transplantation* ; Bone Marrow*

BACKGROUNDS: Recently, the cases with transient neurologic deficit and brain MRI abnormalities similar to hypertensive encephalopathy or eclampsia were reported in the organ transplanted patients, during the administration of cyclosporine with the hypothesis as "capillary lack syndrome". But in addition to cyclosporine, other immunosuppressive agents as cytabine and ant-lymphocyte globulin(ALG) may induce similar transient neurologic manifestations such headache, seizure, altered mental state and change of signal intensities in brain MRI. METHODS AND CASES: 11 patients who had suffered form hematologic disorder were included in the study. The patients were presented with a reversible transient neurologic manifestations and brain MRI abnormalities during administration of various immunosuppressant,. We analysed neourologic symptoms and signs, anatomic localizations and laboratory findings. RESULTS: The underlying hematologic disorder were severe aplastic anemia acute lymphocyte leukemia, multiple myeloma, chronic myelocytic leukemia and acute myelocytic leukemia. The cyclosporine was prescribed in six. ALG in three, idarubicin in two and prednisolone in one patient. The accompanied neurologic symptoms and sign were seizure(11/11), visual disturbance or cortical blindness(5/11) and mental status change(3/11). All the symptoms were spontaneously improved by conservative management. The insidious increase on blood pressure, hepato-renal impairment, sepsis, and hepatopathy were noted in some cases just before and after the neurologic manifestation. The ESR was elevated in all examined cases and the cholesterol level was normal. Serum cyclosporine was elevated in 2/6 cases. They showed typical MRI findings which were high signal intensity an T2WI and iso- to low signal intensity on TIWI with blunding of cortical sulci and with no enhancement. The involved lesions were the parieto-occipital area, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and basal ganglia in series. One patient showed a petechial hemorrhage in the occipital area on both CT and MRI. In six cases, follow-up MRI showed nearly complete resolution of the lesions correlated with the clinical symptoms. CONCLUSION: We can't explain the exact mechanisms of the neurologic complication of immunosuppressants, but the characterstics of transient neurologic deficits and the corresponding reversible brain image are similar to those of hypertensive encephalopathy or eclampsia. It is suggested that the mechanism of clinical syndrome maybe a capiliary leak due to the cytokine-induced vasculopathy but future studies are warranted.
Anemia, Aplastic ; Basal Ganglia ; Blood Pressure ; Brain ; Capillaries* ; Capillary Leak Syndrome* ; Cholesterol ; Cyclosporine ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Frontal Lobe ; Headache ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertensive Encephalopathy ; Idarubicin ; Immunosuppressive Agents* ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Lymphocytes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Multiple Myeloma ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Prednisolone ; Pregnancy ; Seizures ; Sepsis ; Temporal Lobe

Radiation therapy was the treatment of choice for CML in the past, in the form of Sl or radioactive phosphorus. Its use has been replaced to a large extent by various chemotherapeutic agents. Recently Sl in CML has been used, both to relieve painful splenomegaly and to take advantage of an indirect effect of Sl on unirradiated bone marrow. We have treated 15 CML cases who had a huge spleen during chemotherapy or even after chemotherapy by 6 MV linear accelerator during the past two years at the Division of Radiation Therapy, Kang Nam St. Mar's Hospital, Catholic College. Response to Sl has been rated according to the scoring system of Roger W. Byhardt, et al. which evaluated the splenic and hematologic response as well as the response of disease-elated systems. According to this scoring system, most patients demonstrated a significant relief of splenomegaly along with improvement of hemogram. And we observed the change of Karnofsky Performance Status after Sl, and survival after a confirmative diagnosis and Sl.
Bone Marrow ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Karnofsky Performance Status ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* ; Particle Accelerators ; Phosphorus ; Spleen ; Splenomegaly

No abstract available.
Bone Marrow Transplantation* ; Bone Marrow*

Total body irradiation has been applied to treat acute leukemia and chronic granulocytic leukemia. 20 patients with acute leukemia or chronic granulocytic leukemia were treated with total body irradiation using 6 MV linear accelerator before bone marrow transplantation at the Division of Therapeutic Radiology, department of Radiology, St. Mary's Hospital, catholic University Medical College from August 1987 to September 1988. Among 20 patients, 8 patients received 6 fractions of 200 cgy (total 1200 cgy), 10 patients received a single 850 cgy radiation, 1 patient received 4 fractions totaling 850 cgy (200, 200, 200, 250), and 1 patient received 1100 cgy in 2 fractions (850, 250). 17 patients received allogenic grafts, 2 patients received autologous grafts, and only one patients received one locus mismatched graft. 13 patients are still alive and 7 patients died. The complications induced by total body irradiation were nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, skin eruption, mucositis, and pneumonitis.
Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Mucositis ; Nausea ; Particle Accelerators ; Pneumonia ; Radiation Oncology ; Skin ; Transplants ; Vomiting ; Whole-Body Irradiation*

BACKGROUND: With progressive improvement in the fraction of long-term surviviors, chronic GVHD has emerged as a increasingly frequent complication of allogenic bone marrow transplantation. Except for a few case reports, there has been no clinical study of chronic cutaneous GVHD in Korea so far. OBJECTIVE: In the present study we planned to investigate the clinical characteristics of chronic cutaneous GVHD and to compare the clinical manifestation and incidence of chronic cutaneous GVHD in Korea with previous reports in U.S.A. and Europe. METHODS: On the basis of the patients' charts and the records of bone marrow transplantation, we investigated the incidence of chronic cutaneous GVHD in Korean leukemia patients and studied the clinical manifestations of chronic cutaneous GVHD ocurring in 16 patients whose diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic findings of skin biopsy. We also analysed whether total body irrdiation before bone marrow transplantation, GVHD prophylaxis and presence of preceding acute GVHD affected chronic cutaneous GVHD. RESULTS: 1. The incidence in chronic cutaneous GVHD in Korea was lower than that in Caucasian countries. 2. The onset was milder than that in Caucasians. 3. The clinical manifestation was earlier than that in Caucasians. 4. The relationship between the GVHD prophylaxis and incidence chronic cutaneous GVHD was not significant. 5. The incidence of chronic cutaneous GVHD in the presence of preceding acute GVHD was higher than in cases with no preceding acute GVHD. CONCLUSION: We speculate that the low incidence of chronic cutaneous GVHD and clinical characteristics differing from the reports in the U.S.A. and Europe might be unassociated with irradiation, GVHD prophylaxis or the presence of preceding acute GVHD but maybe related to differences in genetic background.
Biopsy ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Diagnosis ; Europe ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Leukemia ; Skin