OBJECTIVES: Schizophrenia manifests a variety of interindividual differences in therapeutic response to antipsychotics. This might be attributable to dopamine and serotonin receptors that a important target for various antipsychotics, and the D3 receptor(DRD3) alleles they carry. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether the plasma levels of homovanillic acid(HVA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(HIAA), and the polymorphism of DRD3 can be held as a predictor of treatment response ni chronic schizophrenic patients. METHODS: Therapeutic response for 16 korean schizophrenia patient treated during 48 weeks were assessed by PANSS used as the clinical symptom rating scales. The levels of concentration of HVA and 5-HIAA were examined by HPLC at baseline and at 48 weeks. We classified the polymorphism of DRD3 receptor using amplifying by polymerase chain reaction(PCR). RESULTS: Neither concentrations of HVA and 5-HIAA nor genotype of dopamine 3 receptor were not significantly associated with the therapeutic response. But, the patients who has A1 alleles of DRD3 gene showed poor therapeutic responses. CONCLUSION: A1 allele of DRD3 gene is associated with poor prognosis of chronic schizophrenia.
Alleles ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Dopamine* ; Genotype ; Homovanillic Acid ; Humans ; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid ; Plasma* ; Prognosis ; Receptors, Dopamine D3* ; Receptors, Serotonin ; Schizophrenia ; Weights and Measures

No abstract available.
Ascites* ; Female ; Ovary*

PURPOSE: To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) by age and current condition as a first-line treatment for pediatric and adolescent urolithiasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The computerized records of 55 children were retrospectively reviewed from March 1991 to July 2007. The children were below 18 years of age and had undergone ESWL monotherapy for urolithiasis. There were 36 boys (65.5%) and 19 girls (34.5%), with a mean age of 8.5 years (range, 0.5-18 years). There were 24 patients aged 7 years or less and 31 patients aged more than 7 years. RESULTS: The mean size of the stones was 9.48 mm (range, 4-22 mm). The overall success rate of ESWL was 90.9% (50 children). The mean number of ESWL sessions was 2.02 (range, 1-10). The mean number of ESWL sessions for the patient group aged 7 years or less was 1.16 (range, 1-2) and that for the patient group aged more than 7 years was 2.97 (range, 1-10; p=0.037). There was also a statistically significant difference in the mean number of ESWL sessions between the younger and older patients who needed general anesthesia (1.16 vs. 2.2 sessions, respectively; 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: In the patient group aged 7 years or less, the number of ESWL sessions and the complication rate were comparable with those for endoscopic management. Thus, ESWL is an effective first-line treatment modality for patients aged less than 7 years.
Adolescent* ; Anesthesia, General ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Lithotripsy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock* ; Urolithiasis*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Male*

PURPOSE: Patient motion during magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is one of the major problems due to its long scan time. Entropy based post-processing motion correction techniques have been shown to correct motion artifact effectively. One of main limitations of these techniques however is its long processing time. In this study, we propose several methods to reduce this long processing time effectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To reduce the long processing time, we used the separability property of two dimensional Fourier transform (2-D FT). Also, a computationally light metric (sum of all image pixel intensity) was used instead of the entropy criterion. Finally, partial Fourier reconstruction, in particular the projection onto convex set (POCS) method, was combined thereby reducing the size of the data which should be processed and corrected. RESULTS: Time savings of each proposed method are presented with different data size of brain images. In vivo data were processed using the proposed method and showed similar image quality. The total processing time was reduced to 15% in two dimensional images and 30% in the three dimensional images. CONCLUSION: The proposed methods can be useful in reducing image motion artifacts when only post-processing motion correction algorithms are available. The proposed methods can also be combined with parallel imaging technique to further reduce the processing times.
Artifacts ; Brain ; Entropy ; Fourier Analysis ; Humans ; Income ; Light ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Cartilage, Articular ; Cell Line ; Chondrocytes ; Electrophoresis ; Interleukin-2 ; Mass Screening ; Phosphotransferases ; Proteome ; Temporomandibular Joint ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

Objective: The present study aimed to analyze the correlation between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR) with prognosis of patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods: A total of 432 patients was included, PLR and PNR were calculated from laboratory data on admission. Prognosis was evaluated with a modified Rankin Scale at 3 months after MT. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, optimal cutoff values of PLR and PNR were identified to predict the prognosis after MT. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify the relationship of PLR and PLR with prognosis of MT. Results: Patients with favorable outcomes had a lower mean PLR (135.0, standard deviation [SD] 120.3) with a higher mean PNR (47.1 [SD] 24.6) compared with patients with unfavorable outcomes (167.6 [SD] 139.3 and 35.4 [SD] 22.4) (p<0.001 and <0.001, respectively). In ROC analyses, the optimal cutoff value of PLR and PNR to predict the 3 months prognosis were 145 and 41, respectively (p=<0.001 and p=0.006). In multivariate analysis, PLR less than 145 (odds ratio [OR] 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06–2.06; p=0.016) and PNR greater than 41 (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.10–1.62; p=0.022) were predictors of favorable outcome at 3 months. Conclusions In patients with MT, PLR and PNR on admission could be predictive factors of prognosis and mortality at 3 months. Decreased PLR and increased PNR were associated with favorable clinical outcome 3 months after MT.

No abstract available.
Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft Part* ; Vagina*

No abstract available.
Central Nervous System* ; Sjogren's Syndrome ; Tics*

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a unique indolent B-cell leukemia which is rare in Korea. Many patients with early stage CLL do not require immediate treatment, while those with advanced stage or symptoms need systemic chemotherapy. As our understanding about the pathophysiology of CLL increases, significant advances have been achieved in the treatment of this disease. Modern molecular genetics have been revealing remarkable heterogeneity of various genetic alterations and the corresponding prognostic stratification in CLL. The treatment of CLL had been developed from nitrogen mustard alkylating agent like chlorambucil to combination therapy including purine analogues like pentostatin and fludarabine until early 2000s. Since the introduction of targeted agent like anti-CD20 and anti-CD52 monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of CLL, the treatment outcome of CLL has leaped further. In conclusion, one of the current standard regimens in patients with untreated CLL is the combination of rituximab, cyclophosphamide and fludarabine. We recently passed the entrance for the era of targeted therapy, and are exploring various new agents and their combinations.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; Chlorambucil ; Cyclophosphamide ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukemia, B-Cell ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell ; Mechlorethamine ; Molecular Biology ; Pentostatin ; Population Characteristics ; Prognosis ; Purines ; Treatment Outcome ; Vidarabine ; Rituximab