No abstract available.
Dexamethasone* ; Psychotic Disorders*

No abstract available.
Colon* ; Dilatation* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy* ; Renal Dialysis*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Liver biopsy has been used to evaluate the degree of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases. It is important to assess liver fibrosis when following the course of chronic liver diseases. Histopathological examination of percutaneous biopsy specimens is invasive and is also of questionable value because of the heterogenous distribution of pathological changes in the liver. Therefore, non-nvasive methods to determine the progress of liver fibrosis are needed. Serum hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen are known to be related to hepatic fibrosis. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen measurement as a differential point in patients with chronic liver diseases and early cirrhosis. METHODS: This study included 109 patients with chronic liver diseases caused by various etiologies. Liver biopsy and histopathological classification were done in all patients. Serum hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen were measured by one-tep sandwich binding protein assay and one-tep sandwich enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: The concentrations of hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen in the early cirrhosis group (208.5+/-186.4 ng/mL, 242.1+/-162.8 ng/mL) were significantly higher (p<0.01) than those in the normal and fatty liver group (26.3+/-21.7 ng/mL, 79.2+/-28.8 ng/mL), mild chronic hepatitis group (22.8+/-15.4 ng/mL, 125.5+/-79.7 ng/mL), moderate to severe hepatitis group (66.3+/-60.5 ng/mL, 148.5+/-78.7 ng/mL). At the cutoff value of 100 ng/mL for hyaluronic acid and 200 ng/mL for type IV collagen, the sensitivities were 66.7% and 55.6%, and specifities were 82.9% and 89%, and diagnostic efficiencies were 78.9% and 80.7% respectively for discriminating patients with cirrhosis (4 points) from the mild to severe fibrosis (0~3 points). CONCLUSIONS: The serum levels of hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen may be sensitive markers of fibrotic process in chronic liver diseases and useful biochemical markers in differentiation of the patients with early cirrhosis from those with chronic liver diseases.
Biomarkers ; Biopsy ; Carrier Proteins ; Classification ; Collagen Type IV* ; Fatty Liver ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid* ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver Diseases ; Liver*

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the morbidity of adnexal surgery through minilapatotomy by comparing with adnexal surgery through laparotomy. METHODS: From January 2000 to December 2001, 84 patients with adnexal diseases were managed through minilaparotomy and 80 patients treated with adnexal surgery through laparotomy. RESULTS: Fifty-three (69.0%) of the adnexal diseases were ectopic pregnancies. Fifty-seven patients (67.9%) were treated with salpingectomy. Other patients were treated with the following operations: salpingotomy (3 cases, 3.6%); salpingostomy (3 cases, 3.6%); fimbrioplasty (2 case, 2.4%); ovarian cyst enucleation (4 cases, 4.8%); ovarian resection (6 cases, 7.1%); parovarian cystectomy (5 cases, 6.0%); salpingooophorectomy (4 case, 4.8%). The average operation time for minilaparotomy was 30.5 +/- 9.2 minutes. The average bowel function recovery time for minilaparotomy was 28.2 +/- 15.6 hours (p<0.05). The average postoperative pain control was 29 cases (34.5%) lower than that of controls (p<0.05). The average postoperative hospital stay for minilaparotomy was 3.4 +/- 1.0 days (p<0.05). The procedure morbidity was lower than that of controls. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that minilaparotomy is a quick, convenient method to decrease patient morbidity and postoperative stay and that it could be considered an alternative to laparotomy for the treatment of adnexal diseases.
Adnexal Diseases ; Cystectomy ; Female ; Humans ; Laparotomy* ; Length of Stay ; Ovarian Cysts ; Pain, Postoperative ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; Recovery of Function ; Salpingectomy ; Salpingostomy

No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; DNA*

Total knee arthroplasty has become a common procedure for treatment of severe osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and post-traumatic arthritis. In the past, failure of total knee arthroplasty was commonly attributable to aseptic loosening, often associated with component malalignment, soft tissue imbalance. With improved surgical instrumentation and soft tissue balancing techiniques, failure secondary to mechanical loosening has been minimal. But surgeons are still dissatisfied with implant malalignment. Correct tibiofemoral alignment seems to be particularly important since it is generally agreed that axial deviation and imprecise implantation may lead to loosening of the implant component. Navigation systems and robotic techniques could potentially solve problems of imprecision in traditional total knee arthroplasty. It is expected that the success rate and longevity of total knee arthroplasty will be improved during the twenty first century.
Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthroplasty* ; Knee* ; Longevity ; Osteoarthritis ; Surgical Instruments

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the relationship between the clinical outcomes and cuff integrity after open rotator cuff repair and we wanted to analyze the causes of rotator cuff retear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 78 patients who underwent open rotator cuff repair were enrolled from 2004 to 2006. All the patients were observed for a minimum follow-up of 12 months and they were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The clinical outcomes were accessed by dividing the patients into the retear group and the intact group. The groups were also compared to analyze the cause of rotator cuff retear according to the preoperative tear size, the symptom duration, and so on. RESULTS: The clinical outcome of the retear group (n=22) was improved significantly after operation (p<0.001, p<0.001), but the muscle power was not improved significantly (p=0.099, p=0.243). More retears were found in the patients who had a larger preoperative tear (p<0.001) and the symptom duration of the retear group was longer (p=0.027). CONCLUSION: Although there were retear after rotator cuff repair, the clinical outcomes were improved. Yet the muscle power of the supraspinatus and external rotator were not improved significantly. There were more retears for the cases that had a larger preoperative tear size and a longer duration of symptoms.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscles ; Rotator Cuff

A 61-year-old man had a F-18 FDG PET/CT scan for evaluation of a common bile duct cancer identified on CT. The PET/CT image showed a hypermetabolic mass in the common bile duct, and a focal area of increased F-18 FDG uptake in segment IV of the liver, which corresponded to a hypoattenuated lesion on non-enhanced CT, and was consistent with hepatic metastasis. The patient underwent choledochojejunostomy with hepatic resection, and pathologic findings were compatible with an eosinophilic abscess in the liver. This case demonstrates that F-18 FDG uptake by an eosinophilic abscess can mimic hepatic metastasis in a patient with a malignancy.
Abscess ; Choledochostomy ; Common Bile Duct ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Hydrazines ; Liver ; Liver Abscess ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis

BACKGROUND: During cesarean delivery, hypotension is a frequently occurring adverse effect following spinal anesthesia. Our hypothesis was that hypotension could be avoided or delayed with a lateral decubitus position for 10 minutes after intrathecal injection, by reducing the detrimental effects of the aortocaval compression. METHODS: Spinal anesthesia was performed in the lateral decubitus position with 8 mg of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine and 15 µg of fentanyl. Forty-one patients undergoing elective cesarean delivery were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the experimental group, patients were maintained in the lateral position for 10 minutes following intrathecal injection (group Decubitus). In the control group, patients were repositioned to supine immediately after the injection (group Supine). Incidence of hypotension, the required dose of ephedrine, and characteristics of the sensory blockade, were subsequently investigated. RESULTS: The incidence of hypotension, the incidence of nausea, and total amount of ephedrine, were not statistically different between the two groups. In group Decubitus, the onset of hypotension was delayed significantly (5.6 ± 1.7 min vs. 13.8 ± 1.7 min, P < 0.001), and the maximal blockade level was more cephalad (T3 [T1–T4] vs. T4 [T3–T5], P < 0.001) when compared to that of group Supine. Apgar scores were comparable in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Maintaining the lateral position for 10 min following intrathecal injection during cesarean delivery did not influence the incidence of maternal hypotension. However, it caused delayed onset of hypotension and higher cephalad spread of sensory block.
Anesthesia, Spinal* ; Bupivacaine ; Ephedrine ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Hypotension* ; Incidence ; Injections, Spinal ; Nausea