No abstract available.
Korea*

No abstract available.
Spine* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

No abstract available.
Spine* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

No abstract available.
Otitis Externa* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

No abstract available.
Aneurysm, False*

Background: Thyroperoxidase(TPO) is one of the most important autoantigens in autoimmune thyroid disorders and autoantibody to TPO is found in almost every patients with various autoimmune thyroid diseases. Human TPO was already cloned and the completed nucleotide sequences are well known. In human thyroid tissues, several variants mRNA's of TPO are found in addition to the wild type. Especially the variants lacking exon 10(TPOΔexon10) and exon 16(TPOΔ exon16) are found in very large amount in both normal and Graves thyroid tissues. The significance of these variants TPO mRNAs are largely unknown. The authors tried to investigate the autoantigenic role of these variant TPO. Methods : To produce variant TPO cDNAs, oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis was performed using cDNA for wild type human TPO as template. The produced variants cDNAs were transfected into Cos-7 cells and variants TPO proteins were tested against patients sera showing high titers of anti-TPO antibody. Results: Seven of 12 Graves sera reacted with TPOΔexon 10 and 8 Graves sera with TPOΔ exonl6. Eight of 15 Hashimoto sera reacted TPOΔexon16 and 9 with TPOΔexon16. The reactivity with variants TPO was not related to clinical findings. Conclusion: These two variant TPOs, that is TPOexon10 and TPOΔexon16, could act as an autoantigen if they were translated in vivo, and could play a role in autoimmune thyroid disease. Their exact role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disorders are to be clarified.
Animals ; Autoantigens ; Base Sequence ; Clone Cells ; COS Cells ; DNA, Complementary ; Exons ; Humans ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; RNA, Messenger ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland

PURPOSE: Although alpha-fetoprotein is one of the most commonly used tumor markers in Korea, most of the radioimmunoassay kits for alpha-fetoprotein have been imported from foreign countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a recently developed domestic immunoradiometric kit for alpha- fetoprotein (Riakey AFP IRMA CTR, Sin-Jin Medics, Seoul, Korea). MATERALS AND METHODS: We evaluated intra- and inter-assay precision, recovery rate, parallelism, and sensitivity of serum alpha-fetoprotein measurement using Riakey AFP IRMA CTR kit. The values of alpha-fetoprotein measured by Riakey AFP IRMA CTR kit were compared with those measured by two foreign commercial kits (alpha-fetoproteina of Radim and alpha-feto.riabead of Abbott). RESULTS: Intra-assay coefficients of variation on three different levels were 5.3% for 18.9 ng/ml, 3.4% for 133 ng/ml and 1.6% for 330 ng/ml. Inter-assay coefficients of variation were 9.7% for 20.9 ng/ml, 3.2% for 137 ng/ml and 4.1% for 330 ng/ml respectively. Recovery rate tests on all three different levels showed within 100+/-10%. Parallelism was also good and the sensitivity was 0.63 ng/ml. There was strong correlation between the measurement of alpha-fetoprotein by Riakey AFP IRMA CTR and that by two foreign commercial kits(r=0.98). CONCLUSION: The first Korean domestic immunoradiometric kit for alpha-fetoprotein, Riakey AFP IRMA CTR, performed well for clinical use.
alpha-Fetoproteins* ; Fetal Proteins ; Immunoradiometric Assay* ; Korea ; Radioimmunoassay ; Seoul ; Biomarkers, Tumor

A prospective study had been performed in infants with hydronephrosis due to ureteropelvic junction stenosis to determine adequate management plan. Forty infants (47 renal units) were selected for the study during the period from January 1995 to July 1997 in the Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center. They were diagnosed prenatally or early postnatally (<3 months of age) on the basis of renal ultrasonography and techotium-99m-mercap- toacetyltriglycerine (MAG3) scan. The antero-poste- rior pelvic diameter (APPD) was measured from serial renal ultrasonography and relative renal function and clearance half time (T1/2) were calculated from serial MAG3 scan. Those who had accompanying other urogenital anomalies or vesicoureteral reflux were excluded in this study. Follow-up tests (ultrasonography and MAG3 scan) and surgical corrections, if necessary, were performed according to the predetermined algorithrn. The male to female ratio was 3: 1. Hydronephrosis was involved the left side in 24 renal units, the right side in 9 renal units, and the bilateral sides in 14 renal units. All the hydronephrotic renal units were divided into 2 groups; Group A (19 renal units) those had taken surgical correction, and group B (28 renal units) those revealed spontaneous improvement without surgical correction. The mean follow-up duration was 7.2+/-6.3 months in group A and 14.1+/-12.6 months in group B. The mean APPD in the first postnatal renal ultrasonography was 19.4+6.8 mm in group A and 10.0+/-3.0mm in group B and this was statistically significant (P<0.01). The rela- tive renal function of group A in the first MAG3 scan was under 35% in 7 renal units and over 35M in 12 renal units. In group B, the relative renal function was over 35% in the all 28 renal units. Tl/2 in the first MAG3 scan was longer than 20 minutes in the all 19 renal units in group A. In group B, Tl/2 was shorter than 10 minutes in 15 renal units, between 10 minutes and 20 minutes in 6 renal units, and longer than 20 rninutes in 7 renal units. The mean APPD of the 7 renal units in group B of which Tl/2 was longer than 20 minutes was 12.62.6mm and that of group A was 19.4+/-6.8mrn and this was statistically significant (P<0.01). In conclusion, the renal ultrasonography and MAG3 scan can be used effectively to determine the degree of the stenosis of the ureteropelvic junction in hydronephosis during infancy. When the babies are diagnosed with hydronephrosis due to ureteropelvic junction stenosis in the early infantile period, serial renal ultrasonography and MAG3 scan play an important role in the decision of the management.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis* ; Infant ; Male ; Pediatrics ; Ultrasonography* ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

No abstract available.
Lithotripsy* ; Shock*

No abstract available.
Radionuclide Imaging* ; Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*