Electrocorticograms were recorded in cases with cases with epilepsies following procainization and eletrocoagulation of limited areas of cerebral cortex. Procainizaion of preoccipital cortical area, Brodmann's area 19, causes suppression of epileptiform discharge in the rest or ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere, motor, sensory and temporal areas. Conversely no suppression of electrical activity was observed in preoccipital leads following procainization of motor, senory or temporal areas. Electrocoagulation of preoccipital area also produced a regression of the abnormal cortical activities in the motor, sensory and temporal areas, which was the phenomenon identical with that following procainization of preoccipital area, and lasted weeks and months along with clinical improvement in symptomatology of epilepsy. Fifty-one cases of intractable epilepsy were treated surgically by the coagulation of preoccipital areas which were exposed through skull trephine hole with perforator in D'Errico trephine. It was noteworthty to emphasize that progressive normalization of electroencephalographic records of patients was obtained in months or years after the preoccipital coagulation. The surgical treatment of epilepsy in fifty-one cases was associated with freedom from seizures in three cases and clinical improvement in thirty-none cases. The purpose of surgical intervention upon preoccipital area was mainly based on blocking and suppressing the abnormal excessive neuronal discharge passing or spreading through the preoccipital cortical area over the rest of ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere.
Cerebral Cortex ; Cerebrum ; Electrocoagulation ; Epilepsy* ; Freedom ; Humans ; Neurons ; Seizures ; Skull

No abstract available.
Electric Stimulation* ; Epilepsy* ; Evoked Potentials*

No abstract available.
Hemispherectomy*

No abstract available.
Poland Syndrome* ; Poland*

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of coronary artery disease(CAD) by radionuclide myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is safe, convenient and informative for diagnosis of CAD & assessment of functional significance of stenotic lesions. We tried to evaluate the characteristics of CAD in dibetics by intravenous dipyridamloe (99m)Tc-MIBI(methoxy isobutyl isonitrile) SPECT(Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography). METHOD: (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT and coronary arteriography(CAG) were performed simultaneously in less than 2 week interval in 41 diabetics(diabetic group) and 103 non-diabetics(non-diabetic group) with clinical suspicion of CAD. The sensitivity and specificity of (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT for detection of CAD were compared between two groups. The site and number of involved vessels, the extent of perfusion defect and redistribution pattern were compared between two groups. RESULT: 1) The sensitivity and specificity of (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT for detection of CAD were 97% and 80% in diabetics, these were comparable to those in non-diabetics(97% and 78%). 2) Three vessel disease were common(p<0.01)in diabetics(SPECT 28.1%, CAG 32.3%) than in non-diabetics(SPECT 11.4%, CAG 7.5%). Distal lesions were also more common(p<0.005) in diabetics(CAG 40.3%) than in non-diabetics(CAG 15.7%). 3) On stress SPECT, the extent of perfusion defect was not different in individual vessel areas between diabetics and non-diabetics. However the perfusion defect of left ventricle as a whole was significantly higher(p<0.05) in diabetics(35.2+/-16.2%) than in non-diabetics(26.4+/-15.5%). 4) On rest SPECT, the percent redistribution was significantly lower in diabetics than in non-diabetics(left anterior descending artery area ; diabetic group 31.1+/-22.5% vs non-diabetic group ; 49+/-28.5%, p<0.05, left ventricle as a whole ; diabetic group 30.6+/-21.2% vs non-diabetic group 48.2+/-27.6%, p<0.02). CONCLUSION: Quantitative (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT provided high sensitivity and specificity for detection of CAD in diabetics. Multiple vessel disease, distal lesion and fixed lesions were more common in diabetics than in non-diabetics, (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT is useful noninvasive test for diagnosis of CAD & important prognostic implications.
Arteries ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Diagnosis ; Heart Ventricles ; Perfusion ; Perfusion Imaging ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: Atypical patients of Kawasaki Disease (KD) are now discovered with increasing frequency. The goal of this study is to help diagnose and treat KD by comparing of clinical characteristics between typical and atypical KD. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 82 patients with typical or atypical KD from January 1993 to March 1997. RESULTS: Out of the 82 patients, 49 cases were diagnosed as having typical KD, while there were 33 cases of atypical KD. The mean age was 31.4 months and 25.5 months respectively. The rate of prevalence in the changes of extremities, polymorphous exanthema, and cervical lymphadenopathy was greater in typical KD than atypical KD. The number of patients with various combinations of the principal symptoms among the 33 atypical cases were 18. Mean duration of fever was 6.2 days in typical cases and 5.8 days in atypical cases. The most common clinical findings were cough and rhinorrhea in both groups and the most common disease was pneumonia CRP was significantly elevated in patients with typical KD than atypical cases. Coronary artery dilatations were confirmed by 2-D echo in 7 (19.4%) of 36 tested typical cases, while 2 (9.1%) of 22 tested atypical cases. Patients were treated with aspirin and high-doses of IV gamma-globulin. CONCLUSION: Atypical KD was characterized by the infrequent appearance of rash, cervical lymphadenopathy, changes of hands and feet. We thought that there wasn't a strong association between atypical KD and coronary involvement.
Aspirin ; Coronary Vessels ; Cough ; Dilatation ; Exanthema ; Extremities ; Fever ; Foot ; gamma-Globulins ; Hand ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Pneumonia ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Re-188-Hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (HEDP) is a new cost-effective agent for systemic radioisotope therapy of metastatic bone pain. We investigated the influence of carrier for labeling and biodistribution of Re-188-HEDP using HEDP kit with or without carrier (KReO4). MATERALS AND METHODS: The kits (HEDP 15 mg, gentisic acid 4 mg and SnCl2.2H2O 4.5 mg) with or without carrier (KReO4 0.1 mg) were labeled with Re-188 solution, made available from an in-house generator by boiling for 15 min. We compared the labeling efficiency and stability of carrier-added and carrier-free preparations of Re-188-HEDP. Biodistribution and imaging studies of each preparation were performed in ICR mice (1.85~3.7 MBq/0.1 ml) and SD rats (74.1~85.2 MBq/0.5 ml). RESULTS: The carrier-added preparation showed high labeling efficiency (95% at pH 5) and high stability in serum (88%, 3 hr). However, the carrier-free preparation showed low labeling efficiency (59% at pH 5) and low stability (43%, 3 hr). The carrier-added preparation showed high uptake in bone and low uptake in stomach and kidneys. However, the carrier-free preparation showed lower uptake in bone and higher uptake in both stomach and kidneys, which is supposed to be due to released perrhenate. The carrier-added preparation also showed better images with higher skeletal accumulation, lower uptake in other organs and lower soft tissue uptake than the carrier-free preparation. CONCLUSION: The results of these studies clearly demonstrate that addition of carrier perrhenate is required for high labeling efficiency, stability, bone uptake and good image quality of Re-188-HEDP.
Animals ; Etidronic Acid ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Kidney ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Rats ; Stomach

Sorafenib is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits Raf kinase and the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor intracellular kinase pathway and is the first agent to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there were few cases of partial or complete response reported in the previous studies. We herein report a case of dramatic partial response in a patient who had advanced HCC with multiple lung metastasis and portal vein thrombosis treated with sorafenib.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Lung* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor ; Treatment Outcome ; Venous Thrombosis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a key cytokine in the production of extracellular matrix. A genetic polymorphism at codon 10 of the TGF-beta1 gene is associated with liver fibrosis. We investigated the effect of genetic polymorphisms at codon 10 on the development of alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC). METHODS: In total, 119 controls and 182 patients with ALC, were enrolled in the study. Clinical and laboratory data including total lifetime alcohol intake were collected at enrollment. The genotype at codon 10 was determined for each patient by single-strand conformation polymorphism. RESULTS: There were three types of genetic polymorphism at codon 10: homozygous proline (P/P), heterozygous proline/leucine (P/L), and homozygous leucine (L/L). Among the controls, the proportions of P/P, P/L, and L/L were 26.1%, 44.5%, and 29.4%, respectively in the ALC group, these proportions were 23.1%, 43.4%, and 33.5%, respectively. The genotype distribution did not differ between the controls and the ALC group. In the ALC group, age, total lifetime alcohol intake, and distribution of Child-Pugh class did not differ with the genotype. Of the male patients with ALC (n=164), the proportions of P/P, P/L, and L/L were 20.1%, 44.5%, and 35.4%, respectively the genotype distribution did not differ between the male controls and the male ALC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The genotype at codon 10 in TGF-beta1 does not appear to influence the development of ALC. Further study is needed to investigate other genetic factors that influence the development of ALC in patients with chronic alcohol intake.
Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Codon ; Female ; Genotype ; Heterozygote ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic/*genetics/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Polymorphism, Genetic ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/*genetics/metabolism

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) exhibits poor prognosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors associated with survival of HCC patients with PVTT to suggest better therapeutic options. METHODS: Patients with HCC which were newly diagnosed at three tertiary hospitals between January 2004 and December 2012, were reviewed retrospectively. Among them, Barcelona Clinic of Liver Cancer stage C patients with PVTT were identified. Factors affecting overall survival (OS) were analyzed and efficacies of the treatment modalities were compared. RESULTS: Four hundred sixty five patients with HCC and PVTT were included. Liver function, tumor burden, presence of extrahepatic tumor, alfa fetoprotein, and treatment modalities were significant factors associated with OS. Treatment outcomes were different according to the initial modalities. OS of the patients who received hepatic resection, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), sorafenib, systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiation therapy (without combination), and supportive care were 27.8, 7.1, 6.7, 5.3, 2.5, 3.0, 1.8, and 0.9 months, respectively (P<0.001). Curative-intent treatments such as hepatic resection or RFA were superior to noncurativeintent treatments (P<0.001). TACE or HAIC was superior to sorafenib or systemic chemotherapy (P<0.001). Combining radiotherapy to TACE or HAIC did not provide additional benefit on OS (P=0.096). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment modalities as well as baseline factors significantly influenced on OS of HCC patients with PVTT. Whenever possible, curative intent treatments should be preferentially considered. If unable, locoregional therapy would be a better choice than systemic therapy in HCC patients with PVTT.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Catheter Ablation ; Drug Therapy ; Fetal Proteins ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Neoplasms ; Portal Vein* ; Prognosis* ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Thrombosis* ; Tumor Burden