No abstract available.
Lead Poisoning*

No abstract available.
Thrombosis* ; Veins*

No abstract available.
Meningitis* ; Salmonella*

No abstract available.

Despite recent developments in various chemotherapeutic agents and the performing of numerous clinical trials, chemotherapy still produces unsatisfactory results in hepatocellular carcinoma due to poor clinical benefit compared with untreated controls and its significant toxicity. The presence of liver cirrhosis, its complications, and decreased liver function increase the complexity of chemotherapy. There is recent evidence that targeted agents and antiangiogenic agents such as thalidomide are somewhat effective whilst having minimal toxicities. Some patients are cured by aggressive chemotherapy alone or in combination with other modalities. Therefore, if a patient is in good condition and the tumor shows some response to chemotherapy, aggressive chemotherapy might be considered. Although conventional chemotherapeutic agents are not very effective in many patients, their utility might be improved by lowering toxicities using reduced doses or by selecting only responsive patients if adequate chemosensitivity tests are available. Imaging studies have been conventional tools for evaluating tumor responses, but their results are not always reliable. Establishing criteria for accurately determining tumor responses is urgently needed, along with better chemotherapeutic drugs and regimens.
Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use ; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic/therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal/therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*drug therapy ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Deoxycytidine/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Fluorouracil/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors/therapeutic use ; Liver Neoplasms/*drug therapy ; Tegafur/therapeutic use

The purine antimetabolite 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) has been in clinical use for over 30 years and is still a widely used agent in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The bioavailibility, clinical efficacy and toxicity of 6-MP administered orally for maintenance therapy of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are highly variable in many studies, as well as at differnt times in same patient. there are many factors affecting the bioavailibility of 6-MP. The most notably factor being that concomitantly administered drugs and foods might contribute to a decrease in the bioavailibity of this drug. In our sociocultural environment milk is a major constituent of child's foods. Cow's milk contains a high concentration of xanthine oxidase, which could potentially transform 6-TM into 6-thioxanthine (6-TX) and 6-thiouric acid (6-TUA) which have no more therapeutic effects. In this study, we evaluated the effect of various milk products on the bioavailability of 6-MP. Incubation at 37degrees C for 30 min raw or pasteurized milk resulted in transformation of a large quantity of clinically relevant concentration of 6-MP into 6-TUA. The concomitant adminstration of folic acid and allopurinol has markedly inhibitory effect on the 6-MP destroying activity of milk at clinically relevant concentrations. These observations may help to optimize modalities of administration of 6-MP for the treartment of patients with childhood leukemia.
6-Mercaptopurine* ; Allopurinol ; Biological Availability* ; Child ; Complement Factor B ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Milk* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Xanthine Oxidase

BACKGROUND: In the year 1996, there were some outbreaks of Salmonella typhi infection in Pusan and therefore, the incidence of S. typhi infection was markedly increased in comparison with the previous year. To differentiate the isolates epidemiologically, a random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) fingerprinting method has been developed. METHODS: A total of 9 arbitrary primers were screened with S. typhi strains isolated in Pusan, 1996. This allowed selection of a panel of primers capable of detecting DNA polymorphisms among S. typhi isolates. This panel was used to examine 54 strains of S. typhi, which had been isolated in Pusan including the cases of outbreaks that was previously characterized by phage typing. RESULTS: Four single primers and one combination of two primers were selected to discriminate the S. typhi isolates. RAPD analysis resolved the 54 strains into 20 different subtypes. At least two outbreaks were found by RAPD analysis. The isolates of E1 phage type, which are the most common in Korea, were perfectly differentiated with each other, except the strains isolated within the outbreaks. CONCLUSION: The RAPD approach is the useful epidemiologic tool to S. typhi subtyping, which is providing high discriminatory power. There were at least two outbreaks when the epidemic Salmonella infections of Pusan in 1996 had been occurred. The primers or their comb ination capable to discriminate the S. typhi isolates were described.
Animals ; Bacteriophage Typing ; Bacteriophages ; Busan ; Comb and Wattles ; Dermatoglyphics ; Disease Outbreaks ; DNA* ; Incidence ; Korea ; Molecular Typing* ; Salmonella Infections ; Salmonella typhi* ; Salmonella*

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to evaluate the prognostic roles of bcl-2 and apoptosis in patients with breast cancer after long term follow-up, and the correlation with the known clinicopathological parameters. METHODS: 88 primary breast cancers were selected between March 1988 and February 1994. These cases were clinically followed up over 10 years (median follow-up 139 months). The immunohistochemical expression of bcl-2 protein and apoptosis were studied, and the findings compared to the clinicopathological parameters, such as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and clinical stage. RESULTS: The bcl-2 protein was identified in 42 (47.7%) cases. The bcl-2 expression correlated positively with large tumor sizes, well differentiated tumors, and ER expression. No significant associations were seen between the apoptosis index and the clinicopathological parameters. The expression of bcl-2 and apoptosis were not correlated with the survival rate. The clinical stage and status of lymph node metastases were correlated with the survival rate, but no other clinicopathological parameters were correlated. CONCLUSION: Long term follow-up for breast cancer patients revealed that the expression of bcl-2 and apoptosis was not correlated with the survival rate.
Apoptosis* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Estrogens ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant, Newborn* ; Lactoglobulins ; Milk Proteins* ; Milk* ; Mothers* ; Postpartum Period*

Endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) is effective for the management of bleeding esophageal varices, and its use is widespread now. EVL necessitates the use of overtubes. Two primary techniques have been used for overtube placement; one is with endoscope, and the other is with bougie dilator. Overtube placement with endoseope is not without risk. There are reportd of esophageal or pharyngeal laceration or perforation. Overtube placement with bougie dilator circumvents this risk, but it is rather cumbersome to use. The authors devised a safe and easy method for overtube placement, and applied it to a number of patients to test its safety and convenience. First, overtube-dilator assembly was prepared as follows. A Rigiflex achalasia dilator (balloon 30mm OD, 10cm length; Microvasive Co) was lubricated and inserted into the overtube. A tenth of the balloon tip was protruded out of the overtube, then the balloon was insufflated with air at 10-15 psi. Second, standard endoscopy was performed, followed by placement of guide wire in the stomach. Overtube-dilator assembly was lubricated and introduced over the wire as a rail. Once the overtube was properly positioned, the balloon was deflated, and the balloon and wire were removed as a whole, which completed overtube placement. For 65 patients with esophageal variceal bleeding, 82 procedures of EVL were performed using the new technique. Overtube-dilator assembly was easy to prepare and handle. This technique added little time to the procedure and minimizes patients discomfort. No patient suffered major complications such as bleeding, laceration or perforation. This novel method for overtube placement was safe and convenient for use in EVL. It can also be applied to other procedures using overtube such as endoscopic foreign body removal.
Endoscopes ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal Achalasia ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Foreign Bodies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Lacerations ; Ligation* ; Stomach