No abstract available.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the usefulness of percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) in patients who have abdominal abscesses or fluid collections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed PCD for 165 abscesses and fluid collections in 148 patients. The follow-up periods in these patients ranged from 15 days to 42 months (mean, 274 days). The lesion sites were subphrenic space in 46 cases, liver in 33, perihepatic space in 20, pancreas or peirpancreatic space in 14, pelvic cavity in 13, and retroperitoneum in 13. We evaluated the success, failure, and recurrence rates, the causes of failure or recurrence, the mean duration of drainage, and the complications of PCD. RESULTS: Of the 165 cases, one hundred-fifty nine(96.5%) were successfully cured, Although a partial success could be achieved, 2(1.2%) cases were failed and 4(2.4%) were recurred. Multiloculation or fistula formation were the main causes of the unsullessful cases. The duration of drainage rainged from 2 to 605 days (mean, 1 days). Complications occured in 12 cases(7%) during or after procedures, which included fever and chill in 7, transgression of pleura in 2, bowel perforation in 2, and bleeding through catheter in 1. CONCLUSION: PCD is an effective and safe method for various abdominal abscesses or fluid collections.
Abdominal Abscess* ; Abscess ; Catheters* ; Drainage* ; Fever ; Fistula ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver ; Pancreas ; Pleura ; Recurrence

A subperiosteal ganglion has been very rarely reported, since Ollier reported first one in 1864. A subperiosteal ganglion is produced by mucoid degeneration and cyst formation within the periosteum, which results in cortical erosion. The characteristic plain radiolographic appearance of irregular cortical erosion and scalloping, with reactive periosteal bone spicules, has been considered pathognomonic of subperiosteal ganglion. Magnetic resonance imaging is performed to further characterize the soft tissue component of the mass. As in our patient, the characteristic signal intensities of magnetic resonance imaging are especially useful in identifying the lesion as a ganglion and in defining the lobular nature and the anatomical extent. We report here the case of a 35-year-old female who had a sudperiosteal ganglion of the distal radius.
Adult ; Female ; Ganglion Cysts* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pectinidae ; Periosteum ; Radius*

No abstract available.
Infant, Newborn ; Meconium Aspiration Syndrome* ; Meconium* ; Mortality ; Suction*

BACKGROUND: The cell mediated immunity has an important role in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. sIL-2R has been known as a sensitive marker of T lymphocyte activation. Elevated serum levels of sIL-2R have been found in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders, organ transplantation, autoimmune diseases, and various granulomatous diseases. Elevated levels of sIL-2R have been also found in the seam and pleural fluid of the patients with tuberculosis. To evaluate the diagnostic value of sIL-2R in the differentiation of tuberculous pleurisy and. nontuberculous pleurisy. We measured the level of sIL-2R in the sera and pleural fluids of 12 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and 32 patients with nontuberculous pleurisy. METHOD: Samples of pleural fluid and serum were centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 10 min to remove cell pellets. Soluble R-2R was measured with a sandwitch enzyme immunoassay using the Cellfree r Interleukin-2 Receptor Test kit( T-cell science, Inc. Cambridge, MA). RESULTS: The results obtained were as follows: 1) The sIL-2R level in pleural fluid of the patients with tuberculous pleurisy was higher than that of patients with nontuberculous pleurisy(P<0.005). 2) When the sIL-2R level above 5,000 u/ml in pleural fluid was used as the cut-off value to diagnose tuberculous pleurisy, it had a sensitivity of 84.6% and a specificity of 90.9%. 3) The sIL-2R level in the sera of the patients with tuberculous pleurisy was higher than that of patients with bacterial pleural effusions and normal control group(P<0.05) and there was no difference of levels compared with malignant pleural effusions and transudative pleural effusions(P>0.05). 4) In patients with tuberculous pleurisy, the mean concentration of sIL-2R in pleural fluid was higher than that in serum(P<0.005). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the measurement of elevated levels of pleural fluid sIL-2R in tuberculous pleurisy may be useful in the differential diagnosis between patients with tuberculous pleurisy and nontuberculous pleurisy.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Interleukin-2* ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Organ Transplantation ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; Pleurisy* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; T-Lymphocytes ; Transplants ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pleural*

Limb salvage operations for osteosarcoma of the extremity usually consist of wide excision and skeletal reconstruction. Most osteosarcoma patients are anemic prior to the surgery as majority of them undergo preoperative neo-adjuvant chemotherapy; thus, it is necessary to treat anemia before and after the surgery since limb salvage operation tends to accompany significant blood loss. Despite the fact that blood transfusion has bad influence on prognosis, complication, and postoperative outcome of cancer patients, it is still considered as a standard management to fix anemia for limb salvage operations. We would like to present a case report in which the authors succeeded in performing limb salvage operations on patients with distal femur osteosarcoma without transfusion.
Anemia ; Blood Transfusion* ; Drug Therapy ; Extremities ; Femur* ; Humans ; Limb Salvage* ; Osteosarcoma* ; Prognosis

PURPOSE:Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, and stomach is the major site of ghrelin secretion. The purpose of this study is to compare the serum ghrelin concentrations between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and normal adults. We studied also whether serum ghrelin levels in the patients with type 2 DM are correlated with body mass index (BMI), serum insulin, lipid profiles, and creatinine levels. METHODS:Forty patients with type 2 DM and forty normal adults were included in this study. We measured heights and weights of the subjects and calculated their BMIs. Blood samples were obtained to measure the ghrelin concentration and their sera were stored at -20degreeC until used. In all subjects, serum ghrelin levels were measured using the commercially available Ghrelin(human) EIA kit. RESULTS:No differences of mean values were detected between the control group and the type 2 diabetic group for age, body weight, BMI, and the levels of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, and creatinine. But ghrelin level of the type 2 diabetic group (71.1+/-30.5 ng/L) was significantly lower than the control group (139.7+/-36.9 ng/L). In the control group, the ghrelin level showed positive correlation with HDL cholesterol (Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.37, P<0.05). In the diabetic group, the ghrelin level showed weakly positive correlation with insulin concentration. However, there was no significant relationship between serum ghrelin and various parameters in the diabetic patients group. CONCLUSION: In this study, ghrelin concentration in type 2 diabetic patients was lower than that in the control group. In the control group, serum ghrelin concentrations were positively correlated with HDL cholesterol. In the type 2 diabetic group, there was no significant correlation between insulin and ghrelin concentrations.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Creatinine ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Ghrelin* ; Humans ; Insulin ; Receptors, Ghrelin ; Stomach ; Triglycerides ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: To analyze the risk factors of Korean patients with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). METHODS: Medical records of 48 Korean patients (24 men, 24 women) who were diagnosed as having AION were retrospectively reviewed and the risk factors of AION including age, sex, associated systemic disease, past medical history, social history, hematologic findings, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, and optic disc of the clinically normal fellow eye, were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the 48 patients was 59.4 years (range, 36~80 years). There were 6 patients (12.5%) less than 45 years of age, 18 patients (37.5%) of 45 to 65 years of age, and 24 patients (50.0%) more than 65 years of age. There were 29 patients (60.4%) with associated systemic diseases such as hypertension (65.5%), diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, migraine, and heart disease with a decreasing order. Nine patients (18.8%) with a mean age of 50.6 years were smoker. Four patients developed AION after a cataract operation. There were 17 (68.0%) out of 25 patients with an increased level of cholesterol. Four patients whose 24-hour blood pressure was monitored showed that their blood pressure in night was lower than that in the day time. A cup disc ratio less than 0.2 was observed in 28 contralateral eyes (68.3%) of 41 patients with unilateral AION. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension, high cholesterol and decreased cup-to-disc ratio were observed in more than 60% of the Korean patients with AION, thereby composed the major risk factors.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Monitors ; Cataract ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Medical Records ; Migraine Disorders ; Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors*

INTRODUCTION: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty(PTA) has been widely accepted for the treatment of arterial stenosis. However, acute thrombosis, localized dissection or recoiling may occur as complication, resulting in acute occlusion. Restenosis is also a problem in long term follow up. Recent advance of metallic stent is considered as a good relief for the problems of PTA. PURPOSE: We analyzed 11 patients with metallic stent in the treatment of the iliac artery stenosis. METHOD: Subjects were male patients aged from 53 to 79 years old. All were suffered from claudication of lower extremities, pain and discolorization and diagnosed as atherosclerosis. Pelvic arteriography was performed to localize the stenotic lesion. Through the ipsilateral arterial puncture, metallic stent was inserted after PTA. The metallic stents were Wall stent in 7, Hanaro stent in 2, Palmaz stent 2 and Memotherm stent in 2 lesions. RESULT: The indications for metallic stent were long segment patients, in all cases, the stent was successfully inserted. The pressure gradient measured improved significantly after procedure. For the 3 to 24 months follow up, symptoms has not relapsed clinically. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our priliminary experience, Metallic stent is safe and effective for the treatment of iliac arterial stenosis in conjunction with PTA and surgery.
Aged ; Angiography ; Atherosclerosis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Punctures ; Stents ; Thrombosis

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous sclerotherapy or endovascular treatment of hemangioma and venous malformation. METHODS: 9 interventional procedures were performed in 7 patients whose age ranged from 16 years to 52 years. Five of these patients had arteriovenous malformation, the remaining had hemangioma and venous malformation. N-buty1-2-cyanoacrylate was injected percutaneously in 4 procedures and intraarterially in one procedure. Ethanol with lipiodol(10%) was injected percutaneously in 2 procedures. 1valon particle was embolized intraarterial in 1 procedure. RESULTS: N-buty1-2-cyanoacrylate injection, Contour arterial embolozation, Etanole with lipiodo1, sclerotherapy followed by physician and was judged beneficial in 7 of 7 patients. One pateint had minor complication(skin ulcer) but no long term sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous sclerotherapy and endovascular treatment, either or before surgery is a safe and effective method of managing hemangioma and arteriovenous malformations.
Arteriovenous Malformations ; Ethanol ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Sclerotherapy