An acute aortic thrombosis in the absence of atherosclerosis, aortic dissection, or aneurysm is an infrequent clinical entity and has been rarely reported in the literature. However, because of serious complications such as an embolism that can be fatal, one should always pay attention to the possibility of its occurrence. We report two cases of an acute aortic thrombosis of lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and a review of the literature.
Acute Disease ; Aneurysm ; Aorta ; Atherosclerosis ; Drug Therapy* ; Embolism ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Thrombosis*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The number of patients with end-stage renal disease in Korea is increasing annually with 63,341 patients in 2011 with 42,596 of these patients undergoing hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to present a quality control plan for hemodialysis treatment. METHODS: We analyzed 616 hemodialysis units in 2010. The difference between hospitals was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The factors related to outcome indicators were subjected to multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The average proportion of physicians with a specialty in hemodialysis was 71.3% and the proportion of nurses with > 2 years experience in hemodialysis units was 76.3%. The average number of hemodialysis sessions performed per day by a physician was 23 and that of a nurse was 4.5. The rate of specialist physicians was significantly related to adequate diastolic blood pressure, integrated outcome indicator, and Hb levels (p < 0.05). Hemodialysis sessions performed by a nurse were significantly related to Hb levels of patients and integrated outcome indicator (p < 0.05). The integrated outcome indicator was significantly related to specialist physicians, the number of hemodialysis sessions performed by a nurse, and compliance with a hemodialysis adequacy and water test cycles (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The appropriate rate of specialist physicians and nurses is important for quality control of hemodialysis treatment. Proper facilities and equipment, as well as regular monitoring of the patient's condition, are also critical. This will require improved indicators and assessment reliability.
Blood Pressure ; Compliance ; Health Facilities ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Korea ; Medical Staff ; Quality Control* ; Renal Dialysis* ; Specialization ; Water

No abstract available.
Bell Palsy* ; Gadolinium* ; Herpes Zoster Oticus* ; Herpes Zoster* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging*

No abstract available.
Chelating Agents* ; Lead Poisoning*

The treatment of epidural hematoma is operative or conservative and sometimes, the choice of the method is somewhat controversial. Traditional operative method is craniotomy or craniectomy. 34 patients treated surgically with burr hole trephination and urokinase irrigation at Taegu Fatima hospital between Jan 1989 and Mar 1991 are reviewed in point of clinical features, brain computerized tomography findings and outcomes. And we found several advantages in this method compared to conservative or traditional operative method. Advantages of this method were as follows: 1) It was simple. 2) It enabled us to operate under local anesthesia. 3) It was possible to reduce the rate of delayed intracranial hematoma and rebleeding. 4) It was possible to prevent air embolism. 5) Possible seizure focus was removed. But, there were disadvantages as follows: 1) There was difficulty in early ambulation. 2) Much effort to irrigate the hematoma was required.
Anesthesia, Local ; Brain ; Craniotomy ; Daegu ; Early Ambulation ; Embolism, Air ; Hematoma* ; Humans ; Seizures ; Trephining ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator*

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) is frequently observed in patients with acute stroke. There have been conflicting opinions about the associations of CSR with the location and size of the lesion. We aimed to better define the clinical relevance and pathogenesis of CSR in acute stroke. METHODS: We investigated patients who had been admitted with acute ischemic stroke and received an overnight sleep apnea test. We collected data on demographics, risk factors, etiologic subtypes, initial vital signs, clinical course of the stroke, and parameters associated with respiratory events during the sleep apnea test. We performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the factors associated with CSR. RESULTS: Among 182 patients, 35 patients showed CSR in sleep apnea testing. Large-artery atherosclerosis or cardioembolism, bilateral hemispheric involvement, atrial fibrillation, low left-ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF), and left atrium (LA) enlargement were all associated with the presence of CSR. Multivariate analysis revealed that the previous modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, bilateral hemispheric involvement, low LVEF, and LA enlargement were significantly associated with CSR. Subgroup analysis with large-artery atherosclerosis without cardiac disease revealed that the previous mRS score is the only independent factor associated with CSR. CONCLUSIONS: CSR frequently occurs in strokes involving large arteries or due to cardioembolism, regardless of the location and severity of the stroke. Predisposing conditions such as preexisting neurologic disability, low LVEF, and LA enlargement are associated with CSR in acute stroke.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Cheyne-Stokes Respiration* ; Demography ; Heart Atria ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Stroke* ; Vital Signs

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the nasal soft tissues, including movements of landmarks, changes in linear distances, and volumetric changes, using three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry after microimplant-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) in adult patients. METHODS: Facial data were scanned using a white light scanner before and after MARPE in 30 patients. In total, 7 mm of expansion was achieved over a 4-week expansion period. We determined 10 soft tissue landmarks using reverse engineering software and measured 3D vector changes at those points. In addition, we calculated the distances between points to determine changes in the width of the nasal soft tissues. The volumetric change in the nose was also measured. RESULTS: All landmarks except pronasale and subnasale showed statistically significant movement on the x-axis. Pronasale, subnasale, alar right, and alar left showed significant movement on the y-axis, while all landmarks except subnasale showed significant movement on the z-axis. The alar base width, alar width, and alar curvature width increased by 1.214, 0.932, and 0.987 mm, respectively. The average volumetric change was 993.33 mm³, and the amount of increase relative to the average initial volume was 2.96%. CONCLUSIONS The majority of soft tissue landmarks around the nasal region show significant positional changes after MARPE in adults. The nose tends to widen and move forward and downward. The post-treatment nasal volume may also exhibit a significant increase relative to the initial volume. Clinicians should thoroughly explain the anticipated changes to patients before MARPE initiation.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the preoperative clinical factors that affect the surgical outcome of posterior urethral anastomosis (PUA) with a gracilis muscle flap (GMF) to determine which factors predict benefit from the use of the GMF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of 49 patients who underwent a delayed PUA with a GMF. A successful clinical outcome was defined as achieving a peak urinary flow rate greater than 15 mL/s at 3 and 12 months postoperatively without evidence of stricture recurrence on a retrograde urethrogram or cystourethroscopy at 3 months postoperatively. Multiple clinical factors were evaluated by use of univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The outcome of 21 of 49 patients (42.9%) was deemed successful. The mean age of the 49 patients was 37.2+/-13.5 years and the mean follow-up duration was 43.4+/-28.0 months. The length of the urethral defect was significantly shorter in patients with a successful outcome than in patients with an unsuccessful outcome (p=0.010). The outcome differed significantly depending on whether the patients had a previously successful urethroplasty (p=0.036) or whether they had suffered a pelvic bone injury (p=0.012). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that a previous urethroplasty was the only preoperative clinical factor that significantly affected the surgical outcome in PUA with a GMF (odds ratio, 0.218; 95% confidence interval, 0.050 to 0.947; p=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: A history of previous urethroplasty is a preoperative clinical factor that significantly affects the surgical outcome in PUA with a GMF; the procedure is more likely to be successful in patients who have not previously undergone urethroplasty.
Anastomosis, Surgical ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glia Maturation Factor ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Muscles ; Pelvic Bones ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Surgical Flaps ; Urethral Stricture

The interruption of hepatic blood flow has been adopted as a method of bleeding control in hepatectomy and liver transplantation. But this occlusion of hepatic inflow may result in significant hepatic injury by various kinds of oxygen radicals produced as a result of hepatic ischemia and following reperfusion. Arterial ketone body ratio(AKBR) is adequatc and convenient parameter by which both acute and prolonged changes of the hepatic function can be estimated. Pharmacological modulation of hepatic injury during warm ischemia and early reperfusion has shown some benefical effects. The authors conducted an experiment to evaluate the inhibitory effect of glutathione and prostaglandin E on hepatic injury due to acute hepatic ischemia and reperfusion. Thirty rabbits were divided into three groups, such as control(n=10), GSH(n=10) and PGE(n=10) groups. Acute hepatic ischemia was induced through the application of portal triad cross-clamping for 30 minutes, and thereafter hepatic reperfusion was induced with the removal of cross-clamping. A single bolus of 200 mg glutathione was injected 10 min before clamp in GSH group, and 200 ng/kg/min of PGE continuously from 10 min before clamp to 30 min after declamp in PGE group. AKBR and hepatic histological findings hefore clamp, 30 min after clamp, 5 min and 30 min after declamp, respectively were compared among 3 groups AKBR was markedly decreased during the clamping period in all groups (P<0.05). In control and PGE groups AKRR was significantly increased after reperfusion than before clamp (P<0.05), but was significantly lower than before clamp. Thirty minutes after reperfusion in GSH group AKBR returned to normal level and was significantly higher than in control group (P<0.05). On light tnicroscopic examination of liver biopsy, mild swollen hepatocytes in the centrilobular zone were seen at ischemia and reperfusion in control and GSH groups, but nearly normal hepatic architectures in PGE group. These results suggest that glutathione has some benefical effect on protection of hepatic dysfunction, and PGE1 on protection of hepatocellular injury during hepatic ischemia and reperfusion.
Alprostadil* ; Biopsy ; Constriction ; Glutathione* ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatectomy ; Hepatocytes ; Ischemia* ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Prostaglandins E ; Rabbits* ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Reperfusion Injury ; Reperfusion* ; Warm Ischemia

This is a case of a 56-year-old man with Castleman disease (CD) who improved after kidney transplantation (KTP). CD is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder that was found incidentally on biopsy during dialysis in the current patient and was followed up without further treatment. However, the lesion showed improvement after KTP. Therefore, active KTP can be considered even if CD is one of the lymphoproliferative disorders that can occur as a complication after KTP.
Biopsy ; Dialysis ; Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Kidney ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Middle Aged ; Renal Dialysis