With 2mm-thick CT scanning during the rapid infusion of contrast material(TICT), cerebral aneurysms arising from the circle of Willis and adjacent vessels can be directly visualized. Twenty-five patients who had cerebral aneurysm confirmed by surgery were examined with TIGT and digital subtraction angiography. The authors examined TIGT prospectively to assess the detection rate of the cerebal aneurysms and to evaluate the clinical usefulness of TIGT. The detection rates of aneurysms by TIGT and digital subtraction angiography were 68% and 84%, respectively. TIGT is a rapid, safe and reliable method in the evaluation of patients with suspected cerebral aneurysm, permitting direct visualization of the aneurysm.
Aneurysm ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Circle of Willis ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm* ; Methods ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Amitriptyline* ; Humans

PURPOSE: Congenital Iobar agenesis of the liver is a rare anomaly. We report five cases (three cases of right Iobar agenesis and two cases of left Iobar agenesis) and discuss the radiologic findings of this congenital anomaly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July, 1992 and February, 1993, three cases of right Iobar agenesis and two cases of left Iobar agenesis of the liver were diagnosed by means of computed tomography(CT) and/or sonography. MR imging was performed in two patients, cholangiography in two, and digital subtraction angiography in one. RESULTS: The main findings of right Iobar agenesis of the liver were nonvisualization of the right portal vein and absence of liver tissue to the right of gallbladder. The findings of left Iobar agenesis were nonvisualization of left portal vein, absence of liver tissue to the left of the gallbladder, and absence of ligamentum teres. The ancillary finding of the Iobar agenesis was visualization of less than three hepatic veins. CONCLUSION: It is important to consider Iobar agenesis of the liver in differential diagnosis when imaging studies reveal abnormal portal vein branches, unusual position of gallblader, absence of ligamentum teres, and visualization of less than three hepatic veins.
Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Cholangiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Gallbladder ; Hepatic Veins ; Humans ; Liver ; Portal Vein

No abstract available.
Adrenocortical Adenoma* ; Lipomatosis* ; Paraplegia*

BACKGROUND: Congenital aortic stenosis in children is characterized by "excessive" left ventricular hypertrophy with reduced left ventricular systolic wall stress that allows for supernormal ejection performance. We hypothesized that left ventricular wall stress was decreased immediately after surgical correction of pure congenital aortic stenosis. Also measuring postoperative left ventricular wall stress was a useful noninvasive measurement that allowed direct assessment for oxygen consumption of myocardium than measuring the peak systolic pressure gradient between ascending aorta and left ventricle for the assessment of surgical results. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between September 1993 and August 1999, 8 patients with isolated congenital aortic stenosis who underwent surgical correction at Yonsei cardiovascular center were evaluated. There were 6 male and 2 female patients ranging in age from 2 to 11 years(mean age, 10 years). Combined Hemodynamic-Ultrasonic method was used for studying left ventricular wall stress. We compared the wall stress peak systolic pressure gradient and ejection fraction preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULT: After surgical correction peak aortic gradient fell from 58.4+/-17.6, to 23.7+/-17.7 mmHg(p=0.018) and left ventricular ejection fraction decreased but it is not statistically significant. In the consideration of some factors that influence left ventricular end-systolic wall stress excluding one patient who underwent reoperation for restenosis of left ventricular outflow tract left ventricular end-systolic pressure and left ventricular end-systolic dimension were fell from 170.6+/-24.3 to 143.7+/-27.1 mmHg and from 1.78+/-0.4 to 1.76+/-0.4 cm respectively and left ventricular posterior wall thickness was increased from 1.10+/-0.2, to 1.27+/-0.3cm but it was not statistically singificant whereas left ventricular end-systolic wall stress fell from 79.2+/-24.9 to 57.1+/-27.6 kdynes/cm2(p=0.018) in 7 patients. For one patient who underwent reoperation peak aortic gradient fell from 83.0 to 59.7 mmHg whereas left ventricular end-systolic wall stress increased from 67.2 to 97.0 kdynes/cm2 The intervals did not change significnatly. CONCLUSION: We believe that probably some factors that are related to left ventricular geometry influenced the decreased left ventricular wall stress immediately after surgical correction of isolated congenital aortic stenosis. Left ventricular wall stress is a noninvasive measurement and can allow for more direct assesment than measuring peak aortic gradient particularly in consideration of the stress and oxygen consumption of the myocardium therefore we can conclude it is a useful measurement for postoperative assessment of congenital aortic stenosis.
Aorta ; Aortic Valve Stenosis* ; Blood Pressure ; Child ; Equidae ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Male ; Myocardium ; Oxygen Consumption ; Reoperation ; Stroke Volume

No abstract available.
Humans ; Mycosis Fungoides* ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing* ; Infliximab

BACKGROUND: An accurate and rapid method for specise identification of coagulase negative staphylococci(CNS) has been increasingly necessary for the clinical significance and planning the management of patients with staphylococcal infections. Recently, it has been reported that there is a highly conserved area on their 60KDa heat shock protein(HSP60) gene sequences between the interspecies of CNS and it can be amplified by a set of universal degenerate primer. This led us our attention to focus on whether the PCR-based RFLP method using Mse / restriction enzyme could be a useful tool for the species identification of CNS. METHODS: In the present study, we performed PCR-based RFLP analysis using a set of degenerate primers covering HSP60 and Mse / restriction enzyme on the reference strains and 25 clinical isolates(10 of S. epidermidis, 10 of S. haemolyticus, 4 of S. lugdunensis and 1 of S. warneri) which were previously identified by the API-STAPH, Vitek GPI card and/or with conventional biochemical test. RESULT: All the seven reference strains revealed that each strain has a distinct electrophoresed band patterns with combination of different number (up to 8) and size of fragments. And these distinct band patterns showed remarkable concordance with the seven reference strains and 25 clinical isolates. CONCLUSION: These result strongly suggest that the PCR-RFLP method using degenerate primers covering the HSP60 gene and Mse / digestion enzyme offer a convenient and accurate tool for species-specific identification of CNS.
Chaperonin 60* ; Coagulase* ; Digestion ; Heat-Shock Proteins* ; Hot Temperature* ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Shock ; Staphylococcal Infections

The components of bore marrow change dramatically during lifetime. To evaluate the bone marrow of cranium and upper cervical spine, the authors retrospectively evaluated 300 examinations of cranium and the second cervical bone in patients without known bone marrow abnormality. T1-weighted images were used to analyze the changes of lone marrow signal intensity according to the age and sex. The signal intensity of bone marrow of cranium increased most rapidly from birth to age of 10 years. Between 11 and 20 years of age, gradual increase of signal intensity was noted. There was minimal augment of signal intensity after age of 20 years. The examination of signal intensity of bone marrow of the cranium revealed slightly higher score in male than in female. The synchondrosis of the second cervical vertebra was visible in 97%. These results may be useful in the detection of abnormal bone marrow signal of cranium and upper cervical spine.
Bone Marrow* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Parturition ; Retrospective Studies ; Skull* ; Spine*

No abstract available.
Foot* ; Neuroma*

The Graf system has supposed advantages with its flexible nature, as compared with rigid fixation. But there have been no reports about effects in the adjacent motion segment after soft stabilization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiologic changes occuring in the adjacent segments of the Graf system and to assess its ability stabilizing the lumbar spine. A retrospective review of radiographs and medical records was undertaken in 32 cases who had been treated with the Graf system in degenerative lumbar spinal disorders. The average age at operation was 52.5 years and the average follow up period was 49.6 months. The results of this study were as follows: clinical assesments based on the Kirkaldy-Willis criteria revealed excellent in 13 cases (40.6%), good in 16 cases (50%), fair in 2 cases (6.3%) and poor in 1 case (3.1%). Radiologically we analysed the adjacent segments in 25 cases except the cases which did not have the correspondence between the clinical findings and the radiological findings, and the fixated segments in 32 cases. The acceleration of degenerative changes were found in the above adjacent segments in 11 cases (44%) and in the below adjacent segments in 5 cases (27.7%). Also, those changes were found in the fixated segments with discectomy in 19 cases (50%) and in the fixated segments without discectomy in 9 cases (37.5%). In conclusion, we think that the Graf system in a lumbar region may biomechanically influence the adjacent segments. The mechanical effects of the device could be changed by the polyester bands which were followed for a longer period of time in the fixated segments. Therefore, randomized prospective studies comparing the Graf system to other treatement methods could provide clear indications for lumbar spinal disorders.
Acceleration ; Diskectomy ; Equidae ; Follow-Up Studies ; Lumbosacral Region ; Medical Records ; Polyesters ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine