Numerous electronic devices have been introduced into the operating room. Although little is known about the relationship between exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health hazards, some authors reported its association with cancer or other diseases. We measured the amount of EMF exposure that an anesthesiologist gets in the operating room. The density of the magnetic field was checked by an extremely low frequency (ELF) field strength measurement system in the 19 operating rooms of our hospital. We measured the magnetic field intensity at a distance of 30 cm, 50 cm, and at the place where the anesthesiologist usually stands from the center of the main monitor. The average exposure quantities of magnetic fields in 19 operating rooms were 2.22 +/- 1.13 mG at 30 cm, 1.29 +/- 0.84 mG at 50 cm and 1.00 +/- 0.78 mG at the anesthesiologist's standing points respectively. Because quantities over 2 or 3 mG were accepted to be high radiation levels of EMF by many reports describing the hazards of EMF, we set 2 mG to be the cutoff value. In some of the 19 operating rooms, the measured EMF density exceeded our cutoff value. Although the health hazards related to EMF exposure are still equivocal, anesthesiologists should consider making an effort to improve their environment and reduce their exposure to EMF.
*Anesthesiology ; *Electromagnetic Fields ; Human ; *Occupational Exposure ; *Operating Rooms ; *Physicians ; *Radiometry

BACKGROUND: Vacuum tubes are widely used in the clinical laboratory for routine tests. We compared a newly developed Green Vac-Tube (SPM, Gimje, Korea) with Vacutainer (BD, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) and Vacuette (Greiner Bio-One, Frickenhausen, Germany) in routine chemistry and hematology tests. METHODS: A total of 101 volunteers, 81 patients and 20 healthy volunteer, were recruited and we had collected blood samples with three kinds of EDTA tubes and those of serum separating tubes. The samples were evaluated for chemistry and hematology tests using TOSHIBA 200FR (Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan) and ADVIA (Siemens, Deerfield, IL, USA) respectively. Their results were statistically analyzed by paired t-test and Bland-Altman plot. RESULTS: Their clinical utilities were examined by CLIA'88 programs. Paired t-test analysis revealed that the results of ALP, AST, total bilirubin, CO2, Hct and MCV showed statistically significant differences between Green Vac-Tube and previously used two vacuum tubes. Similar significant differences were also observed between previous two vacuum tubes. And 194 (4.37%) cases among 5,151 cases were in the critical region by Bland-Altman plot. All different cases, except Na+, K+ however, were clinically acceptable by CLIA'88 programs. CONCLUSIONS: Green Vac-tube has good analytical performance compared to previously-used tubes.
Bilirubin ; Edetic Acid ; Hematology ; Humans ; Lakes ; Tokyo ; Vacuum

The right renal artery passing anterior to the inferior vena cava is a rare variant of the normal renal arterial anatomy, and identifying this anomaly is important for the planning of minimally invasive renal surgery. The presence of this precaval right renal artery was detected on the contrast-enhanced CT scan by identifying the right renal artery passing anterior to the inferior vena cava. We report here on a case of a precaval right renal artery as a main supplying artery, and this was incidentally found on CT.
Arteries ; Incidental Findings* ; Renal Artery* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vena Cava, Inferior

BACKGROUND: Pre-transfusion tests are important for performing safe transfusion and there is a need to standardize the process of these tests. In blood banks, automation of tests is under developed and there is always a high risk of error. Automatic instruments for blood bank tests are used in blood centers where a great volume of tests are performed. However, other small scale hospitals have little experience with automatic blood bank instruments. Here, we evaluated the newly developed automatic instrument, the AutoVue Innova (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ, USA), for performing unexpected antibody screening tests and we compared this to other well known systems. METHODS: In a comparative study, a total of 136 samples, including 28 antibody screening positive samples and 108 negative samples, were tested in parallel by the LISS/Coombs card (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the AutoVue Innova. The positive samples that were proven by the LISS/Coombs card and the AutoVue Innova were identified by the ID-DiaCell panel (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the 0.8% Resolve Panel A (Ortho, Raritan, NJ, USA), respectively. Discrepant samples were rechecked by the Identisera Diana (Diagnostic Grifols, Barcelona, Spain). RESULTS: Among the 136 samples, 134 results (98.5%) of the AutoVue Innova agreed with those of the LISS/Coombs card and 2 results were discrepant. These two results were antibody screening positive only on the AutoVue and they were identified as being anti-Lewis(a). CONCLUSION: The unexpected antibody screening tests using the AutoVue Innova showed reliable results for general accuracy and they were useful in aspect of a decreased workload and increased safety, and even for less experienced persons.
Automation ; Blood Banks ; Mass Screening

BACKGROUND: Pre-transfusion tests are important for performing safe transfusion and there is a need to standardize the process of these tests. In blood banks, automation of tests is under developed and there is always a high risk of error. Automatic instruments for blood bank tests are used in blood centers where a great volume of tests are performed. However, other small scale hospitals have little experience with automatic blood bank instruments. Here, we evaluated the newly developed automatic instrument, the AutoVue Innova (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ, USA), for performing unexpected antibody screening tests and we compared this to other well known systems. METHODS: In a comparative study, a total of 136 samples, including 28 antibody screening positive samples and 108 negative samples, were tested in parallel by the LISS/Coombs card (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the AutoVue Innova. The positive samples that were proven by the LISS/Coombs card and the AutoVue Innova were identified by the ID-DiaCell panel (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the 0.8% Resolve Panel A (Ortho, Raritan, NJ, USA), respectively. Discrepant samples were rechecked by the Identisera Diana (Diagnostic Grifols, Barcelona, Spain). RESULTS: Among the 136 samples, 134 results (98.5%) of the AutoVue Innova agreed with those of the LISS/Coombs card and 2 results were discrepant. These two results were antibody screening positive only on the AutoVue and they were identified as being anti-Lewis(a). CONCLUSION: The unexpected antibody screening tests using the AutoVue Innova showed reliable results for general accuracy and they were useful in aspect of a decreased workload and increased safety, and even for less experienced persons.
Automation ; Blood Banks ; Mass Screening

We report here on a case of a RhD blood group phenotype with anti-D. The RhD phenotype for partial D phenotyping with using six monoclonal anti-sera typed as normal RhD for this case. DNA sequencing analysis of the RhD gene covering intron 8 to exon 10 showed two AAATAAGATA insertion sites in intron 8 and a single nucleotide change in the exon 10 area as compared with the normal RhD gene. However, the functional role of the RhD antigen is unclear.
Exons ; Genotype ; Introns ; Isoantibodies ; Phenotype ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

PURPOSE: Calcium ionophore (CI) is used to generate dendritic cells (DCs) from progenitor cells, monocytes, or leukemic cells. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal dose of CI and the appropriate length of cell culture required for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and to evaluate the limitations associated with CI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To generate leukemic DCs, leukemic cells (4 x 10(6) cells) from six AML patients were cultured with various concentrations of CI and/or IL-4 for 1, 2 or 3 days. RESULTS: Potent leukemic DCs were successfully generated from all AML patients, with an average number of 1.2 x 10(6) cells produced in the presence of CI (270 ng/ml) for 2 days. Several surface molecules were clearly upregulated in AML cells supplemented with CI and IL-4, but not CD11c. Leukemic DCs cultured with CI had a higher allogeneic T cell stimulatory capacity than untreated AML cells, but the addition of IL-4 did not augment the MLR activity of these cells. AML cells cultured with CI in the presence or absence of IL-4 showed increased levels of apoptosis in comparison to primary cultures of AML cells. CONCLUSION: Although CI appears to be advantageous in terms of time and cost effectiveness, the results of the present study suggest that the marked induction of apoptosis by CI limits its application to the generation of DCs from AML cells.
Apoptosis ; Calcium* ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Dendritic Cells ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Monocytes ; Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: In multiple myeloma (MM), the idiotype (ID) determinant of the paraprotein has been used for immunotherapy using dendritic cells (DCs). However, ID-specific immune responses showed limited clinical responses after the Id vaccination. Therefore, an alternative approach using DCs pulsed with other tumor antigens is required. METHODS: We investigated the possibility of immunotherapy for MM using myeloma cell line-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), that were stimulated in vitro by monocyte-derived DCs pulsed with the myeloma cell line ysates. CD14+ cells isolated from the peripheral blood of HLA-A0201+ healthy donors were cultured in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4. On day 6, the immature DCs were pulsed with the myeloma cell line lysates (IM-9: HLA0201+ and ARH-77: HLA0201+), and then maturation of DCs was induced by the addition of TNF- alpha for 2 days. CTL lines were generated by a 2 time stimulation with DCs to the autologous CD3+ T cells. RESULTS: DCs pulsed with myeloma cell lysates showed the production of IL-12p70, but less than that of unpulsed DCs. CTLs lines stimulated with the DCs pulsing, for the myeloma cell line lysates, showed potent cytotoxic activities against autologous target cells, but not against HLA-A2-cell lines (RPMI-8226). Mature DCs pulsed with the myeloma cell line lysates showed a higher stimulatory capacity for autologous CTL when compared with mature non-pulsed DCs. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that DCs pulsed with the myeloma cell line lysates can generate potent myeloma cell line-specific CTLs for the myeloma cell-based immunotherapeutic approach in MM.
Antigens, Neoplasm ; Cell Line* ; Dendritic Cells* ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Interleukin-4 ; Multiple Myeloma ; T-Lymphocytes ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic* ; Tissue Donors ; Vaccination

Purpose: This phase II, open-label, multicenter study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of a rituximab intensification for the 1st cycle with every 21-day of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP-21) among patients with previously untreated advanced-stage or bulky diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Materials and Methods: Ninety-two patients with stage III/IV or bulky DLBCL from 21 institutions were administered 8 cycles of R-CHOP-21 with an additional one dose of rituximab intensification on day 0 of the 1st cycle (RR-CHOP). The primary endpoint was a complete response (CR) rate after 3 cycles of chemotherapy. Results: Among the 92 DLBCL patients assessed herein, the response rate after 3 cycles of chemotherapy was 88.0% (38.0% CR+50.0% partial response [PR]). After the completion of 8 cycles of chemotherapy, the overall response rate was observed for 68.4% (58.7% CR+9.8% PR). The 3-year progression-free survival rate was 64.0%, and the 3-year overall survival rate was 70.4%. Febrile neutropenia was one of the most frequent grade 3 adverse events (40.0%) and 5 treatment-related deaths occurred. Compared with the clinical outcomes of patients who received R-CHOP chemotherapy as a historical control, the interim CR rate was higher in male patients with RR-CHOP (20.5% vs. 48.8%, p=0.016). Conclusion Rituximab intensification on days 0 to the 1st cycle of the standard 8 cycles R-CHOP-21 for advanced DLBCL yielded favorable response rates after the 3 cycles of chemotherapy and acceptable toxicities, especially for male patients. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01054781.

BACKGROUND: This study compared the bronchodilator efficacy and safety of tiotropium inhalation capsules (18microgram once daily) with a ipratropium metered dose inhaler (2 puffs of 20microgram q.i.d.) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHOD: After the initial screening assessment and a two-week run-in period, patients received either tiotropium 18microgram once daily or ipratropium 40microgram four times daily over a period of 4 weeks in a double blind, double dummy, parallel group study. The outcome measures were the lung function, the daily records of the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), the patients' questionnaire, and the use of concomitant salbutamol. The forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and the forced vital capacity (FVC) were measured 5 minutes before inhalation, and 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours after inhaling the study drug on days 0, 14 and 28. RESULT: In 16 centers, 134 patients with a mean (SD) age of 66 (7) years and a predicted FEV1 of 42 (12)% were analyzed. The trough FEV1 response was significantly higher in the tiotropium group than in the ipratropium group after a four-week treatment period. The weekly mean morning PEFR of the tiotropium group was consistently higher than that of the ipratropium group during the 4-week treatment period with differences ranging from 12.52 to 13.88 l/min, which were statistically significant. Tiotropium was well tolerated by the COPD patients during the 4-week treatment period and had a similar safety profile to ipratropium. CONCLUSION: This study shows that tiotropium administrated once daily has a superior bronchodilator effect with a similar safety profile in treating COPD patients compared with ipratropium, inhaled four times daily.
Adult* ; Albuterol ; Bronchodilator Agents ; Capsules ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Ipratropium* ; Lung ; Mass Screening ; Metered Dose Inhalers ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vital Capacity ; Tiotropium Bromide