BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-alpha and Interleukin(IL)-1beta are thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of the septic syndrome, which is frequently associated with adult respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS). In spite of many reports for the role of TNF-alpha in the pathogenesis of ARDS, including human studies, it has been reported that TNF-alpha is not sensitive and specific marker for impending ARDS. But there is a possibility that the results were affected by the diversity of pathogenetic mechanisms leading to the ARDS because of various underlying disorders of the study group in the previous reports. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the roles of TNF-alpha and IL-lbeta as a predictable marker for development of ARDS in the patients with septic syndrome, in which the pathogenesis is believed to be mainly cytokine-mediated. METHODS: Thirty-six patients of the septic syndrome hospitalized in the intensive care units of the Asan Medical Center were studied. Sixteens suffered from ARDS, whereas the remaining 20 were at the risk of developing ARDS(acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, AHRF). In all patients venous blood sample were collected in heparin-coated tubes at the time of enrollment, at 24 and 72 h thereafter. TNF-alpha and IL-lbeta was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All data are expressed as median with interquartile range. RESULTS: 1) Plama TNF-alpha levels: Plasma TNF-beta levels were less than 10pg/mL, which is lowest detection value of the kit used in this study within the range of the mean+/-2SD, in all of the normal controls, 8 of 16 subjects of ARDS and in 8 in 20 subjects of AHRF. Plasma TNF-alpha levels from patients with ARDS were 10.26pg/mL(median;<10-16.99pg/mL, interquartile range) and not different from those of patients at AHRF(10.82, <10-20.38pg/mL). There was also no significant difference between pre-ARDS(<10, <10-15.32pg/mL) and ARDS(<10, <10-10.22pg/mL). TNF-alpha levels were significantly greater in the patients with shock than the patients without shock(12.53pg/mL vs. <10pg/mL) (P<0.01). There was no statistical significance between survivors(< 10, <10-12.92pg/mL) and nonsurvivors(11.80, <10-20.8pg/mL) (P=0.28) in the plasma TNF-alpha levels. 2) Plasma IL-lbeta levels: Plasma IL-1beta levels were less than 0.3ng/mL, which is the lowest detection value of the kit used in this study, in one of each patients group. There was no significant difference in IL-1beta levels of the ARDS(2.22, 1.37-8.01ng/mL) and of the AHRF(2.13, 0.83-5.29ng/mL). There was also no significant difference between pre-ARDS(2.53, <0.3-8.34ng/mL) and ARDS(5.35, 0.66-11.51ng/mL), and between patients with septic shock and patients without shock (2.51, 1.28-8.34 vs 1.46, 0.15-2.13ng/mL). Plasma IL-19 levels were significantly different between survivors(1.37, 0.4-2.36ng/mL) and nonsurvivors(2.84, 1.46-8.34ng/mL). CONCLUSION: Plasma TNF-alpha and IL-1beta level are not a predictable marker for development of ARDS. But TNF-alpha is a marker for shock in septic syndrome. These result could not exclude a possibility of pathophysiologic roles of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in acute lung injury because these cytokine could be locally produced and exert its effects within the lungs.
Acute Lung Injury ; Adult* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Interleukin-1beta* ; Lung ; Lymphotoxin-alpha ; Necrosis ; Plasma ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Shock ; Shock, Septic ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

BACKGROUND: Postprimary pulmonary tuberculosis is located mainly in upper lobes. The tuberculous lesion involving the lower lobes usually arises from the upper lobe cavity through endobronchial spread. When tuberculosis is confined to the lower lung field, it often masquerades as pneumonia, lung cancer, bronchiectasis, or lung ahscess. Thus the correct diagnosis may be sometimes delayed for a long time. METHODS: We carried out, retrospectively, a clinical study on 50 patients confirmed with lower lung field tuberculosis who visited the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Hanyang University Hospital from January 1992 to December 1994. The following results were obtained. RESULTS: Lower lung field tuberculosis without concomitant upper lobe disease occurred in fifty patients representing 6.9% of the total admission with active pulmonary tuberculosis over a period of 3 years. It occurred most frequently in the third decade but age distribution was relatively even. The mean age was 43 years old. Female was more frequently affected than male (male to female ratio 1:1.9). The most common symptom was cough(68%), followed by sputum(52%), fever(38%), and chest discomfort(30%). On chest X-ray of the S0patients, consolidation was the most common finding in 52%, followed by solitary nodule(22%), collapse(16%), cavitary lesion(l0%), in decreasing order. The disease confined to the right side in 25 cases, left side 20 cases, and both sides 5 cases. Endobronchial tuberculosis (1) Endobronchial involvement was proved by bronchoscopic examination in 20 of S0patients. (2) Mean age was 44years old and female was more affected than man (male to female ratio 1 : 3). Sputum AFB stain and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture were positive only in 50% of cases unlikely upper lobe tuberculosis, additional diagnostic methods were needed. In our study, bronchoscopic examination and percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy increased diagnostic yield by 18% and 32%, respectively. The most common associated condition was diabetes mellitus(18%) and others were anemia, anorexia nervosa, stomach cancer, and systemic steroid usage. CONCLUSION: When we find a lower lung field lesion, we should suspect tuberculosis if the patient has diabetes mellitus, anemia, systemic steroid usage, malignancy or other immune suppressed states. Because diagnostic yield of sputum AFB smear & Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was low, additional diagnostic methods such as bronchoscopy and fine needle aspiration biopsy were needed.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Anemia ; Anorexia Nervosa ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Bronchiectasis ; Bronchoscopy ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Male ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Pneumonia ; Pulmonary Medicine ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

BACKGROUND: The p53 and retinoblastoma(Rb) tumor suppressor genes are associated with the pathogenesis of several types of human cancer. Substantial. proportion of the primary lung cancers or cell lines have been reported to have the p53 and/or the Rb gene mutations. But so far there is no report on the analysis of the Rb gene polymorphism as one of the genetic susceptibility marker. This study was undertaken to establish the gene frequencies of the polymorphic genotypes of the p53 and Rb genes in Koreans to evaluate the possible involvement of these genotypes as a risk factor of lung cancer. METHODS: In this study 145 controls without previous and present tumor history and 128 lung cancer patients were subjected to analysis The two intragenic polymorphisms of the p53 gene(exon 4/AccII, intron 6/MspI) and one intron 17/XbaI polymorphism of the Rb gene were analysed by the method of polymersae chain react lion-restriction fragment length polymorphisms(PCR-RFLPS). The genotype of the intron 3/16 bp repeat polymorphism of p53 was determined by PCR and direct gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the genotype distributions of the p53 gene between lung cart cert patients and controls. But heterozygotes(Arg/Pro) of the exon 4/AcclII polymorphisms were slightly over-represented than controls, especially in the Kreyberg type I cancer, which was known 13 be associated with smoking. The intron 3/16 bp duplication and the intron 6/MspI polymorphisms were in complete linkage disequilibrium. About 95% of the individuals were homozygotes of the common alleles both in the 16 duplication and MspI polymorphisms, and no differences were deteced in the genotype distributions between lung cancer patients and controls. Overall genotype distributions of the Rb gene polymorphisms between lung cancer patients and controls were not significantly different However, the genotype distributions in the Kreyberg type I cancer were significantly different from those of controls(p=0.0297) or adenocarcinomas(p=0.0008). It was noticeable that 73.4% of the patients with adenocarcinomas were heterozygotes(r1/r2) whereas 39.2% of the Kreyberg type I cancer were heterozygous at this polymorphisms. In the lung cancer patients, significant differences were a]so noted between the high dose smokers and low dose smokers including non-smokers(p=0.0258). The relative risk to Kreyberg type I cancer was significantly reduced in the individuals with the genotype of r1/r2(odds ratio=0.46, 95%C.I.=0.25-0.86, p=0.0124). The combined genotype distribution of the exon 4/AccII of the p53 and the intron 17 Rb gene polymorphisms in Kreyberg type I cancers were significantly different from dose of controls or adenocarcinomas. The highest odds ratio were observed in the individuals with the genotypes of Arg/pro and r2/r2(odds ratio=1.97, 95%C.I.=0.84-4.59) and lowest one was in the patients with Arg/Arg, r1/r2 genotype(odds ratio=0.54, 95%C.I.=0.25-1.14). CONCLUSION: The p53 and the Rb gene polymorphisms modulate the risk of smoking induced lung cancer development in Koreans. However, the exact mechanism of risk modulation by these polymorphism remains to be determined. For more discrete clarification of associations between specific genotypes and lung cancer risk, the evaluations of these polymorphisms in other ethnics and more number of patients will be needed.
Adenocarcinoma ; Alleles ; Cell Line ; Electrophoresis ; Exons ; Gene Frequency ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Retinoblastoma ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Introns ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Odds Ratio ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was initially recognized as occurring only in the salivary gland and only later was it appreciated that it occurred in the bronchus and trachea as well. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of bronchial gland origin is extremely rare, and little is known about their natural history. This carcinoma is derived from the minor salivary gland of the proximal tracheobronchial tree and it is divided into low-grade and high-grade by gross, histologic, and ultrastructural criteria. Also Its clinical and biologic behaviors are closely related with histologic grade of carcinoma. We have experienced a rare case of bronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma associated with adenocarinoma which obstructed the left main bronchus and was successfully removed by the pneumonectomy.
Adenocarcinoma ; Bronchi ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid* ; Lung ; Natural History ; Pneumonectomy ; Salivary Glands ; Salivary Glands, Minor ; Trachea ; Trees

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a heritable disorder of elastic tissue and it has many systemic manifestations. PXE is a systemic disorder that most markedly affects the elastic tissues in the skin, retina and blood vessels. Defects in the ABCC6 gene lead to calcification of elastic tissue. We herein report on two cases of pseudoxanthoma elasticum that presented with focal involvement on the skin of the neck without marked wrinkling.
Blood Vessels ; Elastic Tissue ; Neck ; Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum ; Retina ; Skin

No abstract available.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare vascular tumor that has been reported in systemic organs and in the skin as a biologically "borderline" neoplasm with intermediate malignant potentials. Skin involvement in EHE is rare, but when present, it occurs most commonly in the upper and lower extremities, presenting as a solitary, slightly painful, soft tissue mass. Skin involvement is often associated with underlying soft tissues or bone tumors. Histopathological study reveals cords and nests of epithelioid endothelial cells in a myxoid or hyalinized background and small intracytoplasmic vacuoles containing red blood cells. There have been no reported cases yet describing the dermoscopic features of EHE. Herein, we describe a young woman who developed cutaneous EHE that enlarged during pregnancy, we provided the dermoscopic findings and a review of the relevant literature.
Dermoscopy ; Endothelial Cells ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hemangioendothelioma, Epithelioid ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Lower Extremity ; Pregnancy ; Skin ; Vacuoles

This study was designed to investigate the clinical and electrophysiologic characteristics of WPW syndromes in Korea. A total of 400 symptomatic WPW syndrome patients were consecutively recruited. The most common documented symptomatic tachyarrhythmia was orthodromic atrioventricar reentrant tachycardia (75.3%), followed by atrial fibrillation (31.3%), and antidromic atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (6.2%). There was a higher incidence of multiple bypass tract in patients with antidromic tachycardia than in those with orthodromic tachycardia (30.4 vs 4.3%, P < 0.001). The inducibility of tachyarrhythmia with electrophysiologic study in this study population was 95.8%. The most frequent location of the accessory pathway was the left free wall (48.0%), followed by the right free wall (29.1%), posterior septum (17.5%) and anterior septum (3.5%). These results indicated that 1) clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of Korean patients with WPW syndrome were similar to those of western countries and 2) the electrophysiologic study was important in the evaluation of patients with WPW syndrome.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Atrial Fibrillation/physiopathology ; Atrial Fibrillation/complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electrocardiography ; Electrophysiology ; Female ; Human ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Age ; Tachycardia/physiopathology ; Tachycardia/complications ; Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry/physiopathology ; Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry/complications ; Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome/physiopathology* ; Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome/complications

Anesthesia for cesarean section involves consideration of Loth maternal and fetal welfare. The choice of anesthesia for cesarean section is controversial. Regional analgesic techniques may be least harmful to the fetus, but suffer definite drawbacks; they are time-consuming, and therefore not always applicable when urgent surgery is indicated; are associated with a definite failure rate even in skilled hands, and require considerable technical ability and practice. Recently there has been progressive increase in the use of balanced anesthesia for cesarean section, it produces little or no hemodynamic and acid-base disturbance in the mother and infant if administered skillfully. The value of muscle relaxants to facilitate endotracheal intubation and pulmonary ventilation and to permit the use of light general anesthesia. From November, 1971 to October, 1973 there were 1,432 deliveries, of which 1,284 were delivered vaginally and 148 (10.3%) by cesarean section. Of the cesarean section group, 139 were performed under general anesthesia and 9 were performed under regional anesthesia. The characteristic difference for our series was that most of all cases were emergency cesarean section (71.6%). The major indication for surgery was that of a previous cesarean section (45.3%), the second most common cause was dystocia (42.9%), and the others are as following order; Hemorrhage (5.4%), toxemia (3.4%), and others (3.4%). In our study, we adopted two different general anesthetic techniques for cesarean section. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: Group I: 112 patients, thiopental-succinylcholine-nitrous oxide-oxygen (67:33) anesthesia. Group II: 25 patients, thiopental-succinylcholine-nitrous oxide-oxygen (50:50) supplemented with 0.5~1.0% of halothane anesthesia. All patients were pre-oxygenated for 3 5 minutes and anesthesia was then induced with thiopental sodium 125~250mg, followed by succinylcholine 40~50 mg to facilitate intubation. Pressure was maintained on the cricoid cartilage to prevent regurgitation following loss of consciousness. After the affects of succinylcholine showed signs of wearing off, relaxation was maintained with 0.1% succinylcholine drip or 40~80 mg of gallamine. Anesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide 4 l/min. and oxygen 2 l/min. and/or nitrous oxide 2 l/min. and oxygen 2 l/min. supplemented with 0.5~1.0% of halothane. Respiration was carefully controlled by manually so as not to producing hyperventilation. The clinical condition of newbron infant in general anesthesia series of 135 cases, mean minute apgar score were good (7~10) in 91.8 percent, fair (4~6) in 6.7 per cent, and poor (1~3) in 1.5 per cent. And 90.4 per cent of babies born within 10 minutes of induction to delivery time interval (IDI) had mean apgar score of 8. 8, 5.8 per cent were delivered after 11 to 15 minutes of IDI with decreased mean apgar score of 7.6, and 3.7 per cent were delivered after over 15 minutes of IDI had mean apgar score of 7. 6. A short IDI appears to be advantageous from the standpoint of the newborn. Of the 144 infants, 6. 9 per cent of newbron infants(10) received intermittent positive pressure breathing by face mask and 3.5 per cent(5) received oxygen through an endotracheal tube for the resuscitation. Neonatal death occurred only 1(0.69%) case out of 144 infants, which caused by severe fetal. distres associated with toxemia of pregnancy. There were no maternal death or anesthetic complication.. At the conclusion, the technique of general anesthesia with thiopental-succinylcholine-nitrous oxide-oxygen and/or supplemented with 0.5~1.0% of halothane was proved to be safe for mother and child, and showing a wide acceptance of general anesthesia for cesarean section(94%) at the Kyung Hee University Hospital.
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, Conduction ; Anesthesia, General ; Apgar Score ; Balanced Anesthesia ; Cesarean Section* ; Child ; Clinical Study* ; Cricoid Cartilage ; Dystocia ; Emergencies ; Female ; Fetus ; Gallamine Triethiodide ; Halothane ; Hand ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hyperventilation ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intermittent Positive-Pressure Breathing ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Masks ; Maternal Death ; Mothers ; Nitrous Oxide ; Oxygen ; Perinatal Death ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Pulmonary Ventilation ; Relaxation ; Respiration ; Resuscitation ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental ; Toxemia ; Unconsciousness

No abstract available.
Bromodeoxyuridine* ; Hep G2 Cells* ; Kinetics* ; Tretinoin*