No abstract available.

Despite significant advances in obstetric and pediatric health care, Streptococcus agalactiae(Lancefield group B β-hemolytic Streptococcus, GBS) remains one 91 the most prevalent and devastating pathogens in peripartum women and their newborn infants. It may cause urinary tract infection, chorioamnionitis and endometritis, bacteremia, and cesarean wound infection in the peripartum period. It was Pasteur who first identified microbes in the blood and lorchia of septic women. After that, in 1938 the isolation of S. agalactiae from three mortally ill women was reported, thereby implicating it as another cause of puerperal sepsis. S. agalactiae is now one of the most common causes of neonatal sepsis and meningitis in the United States. However, in Korea there have been only twenty-three cases of neonatal meningitis and/or sepsis due to group B β-hemolytic streptococcus reported. Recent studies have noted other serious infections in adults, including bacteremia, pneumonia, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, meningitis, and endocarditis. In Korean adults no case of pneumonia due to S. agalactiae has been reported till now. As minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin was reported to be higher for S. agalactiae than for S. pyogenes, minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin for S. agalactiae should be tested. Herein we describe the course of a case of S. agalactiae pneumonia and bacteremia in a 74-year-old diabetic man, and we review the literatures.
Adult* ; Aged ; Bacteremia ; Cellulitis ; Chorioamnionitis ; Delivery of Health Care ; Endocarditis ; Endometritis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Meningitis ; Osteomyelitis ; Penicillins ; Peripartum Period ; Pneumonia* ; Pregnancy ; Sepsis ; Streptococcus agalactiae* ; Streptococcus* ; United States ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Wound Infection

No abstract available.
Bacillus* ; Humans ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

Although many approaches have been attempted in the evaluation of liver size such as measurement of length,area and volume, the linear measurements have been used most frequently because of simplicity. We measured theliver size using 4 linear measurements for evaluation of hepatic pliability on plain abdominal film in the erectand the supine position. Our cases consisted of 125 persons who have no symptom or signs clinically and havenormal liver function test. The results were as follows: 1. The measurements of the liver size using diagonaldiameter(DD), oblique diameter of right lobe(OD), midline vertical diameter(MD) and height of right dome of theliver(HD) were ; 19.6+-1.8cm, 13.7+-1.6cm, 2.03+-0.4cm in the supine position; and 20.5+-2.1cm, 21.9+-2.1cm,15.4+-2.1cm, 1.87+-0.4cm in the erect position, respectively. 2. The differences of each diameter between erectand supine position were 0.9+-1.0cm in DD, 0.9+-1.0cm in OD and 1.7+-1.4cm in MD, and they were longer in thesupine position (p<0.001). 3. The HD was slinghtly longer in the supine position than in the erect position(p<0.001). 4. Among the 4 measurements, the largest difference of linear diameter between the erect and the supineposition was by MD. 5. We found the change or size and shape of the normal liver in the different position.
Humans ; Liver ; Liver Function Tests ; Pliability ; Supine Position

OBJECTIVE: Lectins are cell-agglutinating and sugar specific proteins or glycoproteins of non-immune origin that precipitate glycoconjugates having saccharides of appropriate complementarity. Because of these properties, plant lectins have been used to help characterize the carbohydrate moieties of glycoproteins in the zona pellucida (ZP) of several mammalian species including pigs. Treatment of oocytes with various lectins blocks sperm binding to the ZP in various mammalian species. This study was undertaken to examine the distribution of sugar residues in the ZP of pig oocytes matured in vitro and the ability of spermatozoa to bind to ZP and in vitro penetration in oocytes treated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled lectins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The lectins of Banderiaea simplicifolia (BS-II, bind to beta-D-Nacetylglucosamine), Canavalin ensiformis (Con A, bind to alpha-D-Mannose), Lens culinaris (LCA, bind to alpha-D-Mannose), Ricinus communis (RCA-I, bind to beta-D-Galactose) and Ulex europaeus (UEA-I, bind to alpha-L-Fucose) were examined for spermatozoa penetration, binding capacity to ZP and distribution of lectins. RESULTS: The penetration rates were significantry (p<0.05) higher in control oocytes (63%) than those treated with all lectins, but penetration rates (40~49%) were simililar in group treated with lectins. The incidence of monospermy was similar in oocytes untreated and UEA-I, but it was higher in oocytes treated with BS-II, Con A, RCA-I and LCA. The porcine oocytes cultured for 48 h in TC-199 medium were freed from cumulus cells and treated for 30 min with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled lectins. When examined under fluorescein illumination, higher (p<0.001) proportions of oocytes showed fluorescein of zona pellucida after treatment with Con A (93%), LCA (93%) and RCA-I (100%) than BS-II (37%) and UEA-I (50%). All of the oocytes treated with RCA-I exhibited strong fluorescein in the outer region of the zona pellucida while those treated with LCA exhibited strong fluorescein throughout the zona pellucida. BS-II bounded mainly to the outer region and UEA-I bounded mainly to the inner region of the zona pellucida, with either strong or weak fluorescein. At 120 min after insemination in vitro, fewer spermatozoa were bound to the zona pellucida of the oocytes treated with BS-II, Con-A and RCA-I. Of the lectins, Con A most inhibited sperm binding. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that beta-D-Galactose residues in the porcine zona pellucida may act as primary sperm receptors and inducers of the sperm acrosome reaction and these sugar residues may be involved in the block to polyspermy.
Acrosome Reaction ; Cumulus Cells ; Fluorescein ; Glycoconjugates ; Glycoproteins ; Herpes Zoster* ; Incidence ; Insemination ; Lectins* ; Lens Plant ; Lighting ; Oocytes ; Plant Lectins ; Ricinus ; Sperm-Ovum Interactions ; Spermatozoa ; Swine ; Ulex ; Zona Pellucida*

Injuries to the pelvic nerve plexus following major pelvic ablative surgery are commonly observed conditions in urologic field and often related to voiding difficulty with flaccid type of neurogenic bladder. The pathophysiological background for voiding difficulty is unknown and also it is difficult to investigate in human. The present study was undertaken to investigate the functional changes on the bladder and urethra in major pelvic ganglion denervated rats (experimental group). Injury to the pelvic nerve plexus was created by selective removal of bilateral major pelvic ganglions of mature Sprague-Dawley rats (male, 250-300 gm). One week after operation, urodynamic evaluation and NADPH diaphorase histochemistry were performed in each rat. The whole bladder wet weight and residual urine of experimental group significantly increased to 1.6 times and 29 times that of control group, respectively. For urodynamic investigations, the bladder and the urethra were completely disconnected by means of ligation between the bladder neck and the proximal urethra, and simultaneous recordings of the intravesical and proximal urethral pressure were performed. During simultaneous urethro-vesical filling in experimental group, vesical contraction and urethral relaxation were not induced. However, an administration of L-arginine (120 mg/kg intravenously), a nitric oxide substrate, resulted in a gradual decrease in urethral pressure when the bladder pressure was reached at submaximal level. On NADPH diaphorase histochemistry in control group, a large number of NADPH positive nerve fibers were found in the proximal urethra, whereas those were found less commonly in the bladder. In experimental group, the number of NOS positive nerve fibers in the bladder was similar to that in control group. But in the proximal urethra, the number of NOS positive nerve fibers (84.7 +/- 12.7) decreased significantly in contrast to that (185.9 +/- 56.3) in control group. These results indicate that failure to empty in neurogenic bladder may be resulted from relaxation impairment of bladder outlet, which can be explained by the reduction of neuronal NOS in the proximal urethra in experimental group.
Animals ; Arginine ; Denervation ; Ganglion Cysts* ; Humans ; Ligation ; NADP ; NADPH Dehydrogenase ; Neck ; Nerve Fibers ; Neurons* ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Relaxation ; Urethra* ; Urinary Bladder* ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic ; Urodynamics

Median raphe cyst is known as congenital lesion of the perineum and genitalia, but its etiology is unclear. Most investigators believe that the median raphe cyst represent defects in the embryologic developenient bf the male genitalia. Simple surgical excision is effective in most cases. We report our experience with two cases of median raphe cyst without specific symptoms. Even though median raphe cyst is asymptomatic, surgical therapy is worth applicable because it relieve a patient from cosmetic and psychotic problem.
Genitalia ; Genitalia, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Perineum ; Research Personnel

Patients with advanced urothelial tumors that relapse or persist following conventional therapy have poor prognosis. Management of the patients with recurrent local or disseminated urothelial tumors presents a difficult clinical problems. In 1985 Sternberg et al reported 71% of significant tumor regression and 50% of complete clinical remission with M-VAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and Cisplatin) combination chemotherapy for treatment of advanced urothelial transitional cell carcinomas. Herein, we have experienced 13 cases of M-VAC combination chemotherapy in advanced urothelial tumors. Complete and partial remission was in achieved 46.2 per cent of the patients clinically, while 15.4 percent had a minor response and 38.4 per cent had progression with median survivals of 11.5, 8.5 and 7.4 months. Toxicity was significant. 15.4 per cent of the patients having experienced nadir sepsis, 30.8 per cent mucositis and 7.6 per cent cardiac toxicity. Median cycle length varied from 31.6 to 41.7 days for the first and 5th cycle respectively. This regimen has been efficacious in selected patients with advanced urothelial tumors.
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Doxorubicin* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Mucositis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Sepsis ; Vinblastine*

Multilocular renal cyst having an entity of uncertain nature, is an uncommon benign lesion. As a treatment modality of renal multilocular cyst, simple or radical nephrectomy has been performed because of the difficulty in its accurate diagnosis and the documented association with malignancy. Herein, we report a case of renal multilocular cyst which was successfully treated by extirpation of the cystic mass only with preservation of the remaining normal renal parenchyma.
Diagnosis ; Nephrectomy

Nocturnal penile tumescence has been proposed as a source of objective data in the evaluation of erectile capacity and clinically important in differentiating between psychogenic and organic impotence. However, the absence of sleep information and difficult differentiation of movement artifact leads to false positive or false negative reaction when portable home monitor is used. This can be overcome by polysomnographic monitoring. In addition, sleep disorders affecting nocturnal penile tumescence also could be screened. Herein, we conducted a study to investigate the significance of polysomnographic nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring in 45 men with erectile dysfunction. The nocturnal penile tumescence data from polysomnographic method were compared with those from portable method, based on the results from standard method. The results obtained were summarized 1. Polysomnographic method showed higher sensitivity(82%), lower false positive(20%) and false negative rate(16%) than portable method (71%, 30%, 28%, respectively) in the differential diagnosis of impotence. 2. Among 10 patients, with measuring of air flow monitoring and anterior tibialis EMG one patient had periodic leg movement. 3. Statistically, parameters of total REM time, total tumescence time/total sleep time, number of maximum tumescence episodes, amount of maximum tumescence episodes, T-up and T-max phase in maximum tumescence episodes, circumferential changes in maximum tumescence episodes, and rigidity in maximum tumescence episodes were found to be significantly decreased in organic impotence group. These results reflect that polysomnographic NPTM provides more validity than portable NPTM on the outcome of the differential diagnosis of impotence, and it would contribute to screening of occult sleep disorders and to study for their characteristics in association with impotence.
Artifacts ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Erectile Dysfunction* ; False Negative Reactions ; Humans ; Leg ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Penile Erection* ; Sleep Wake Disorders