A total of 16 metatarsal bones were treated for ten with brachymetatarsia using two different methods: single staged lengthening by bone graft(2 cases) and gradual distraction lengthening using unilateral external fixator(14 cases). Three cases of first metatasal bone and thirteen cases of fourth metatarsal bone were operated. All of the cases of the brachymetatarsia were congenital. The average amount of lengthening was 16.1 mm in gradual distraction lengthening while 10.5mm in single staged lengthening. Average percentile increase was 38.8% in gradual distraction lengthening and 23% in single staged lengthening. The average healing index of gradual distraction lengthening was 1.7(months/cm). Although single staged lengthening has advantage of cosmetics, gradual distraction lengthening using unilateral external fixator was thought to be effective functionally for metatarsal lengthening.
External Fixators ; Metatarsal Bones

No abstract available.
Endometriosis* ; Exons* ; Female ; Humans ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome*

Endothelial cells are a vital constituent of most mammalian organs and are required to maintain the integrity of these tissues. These cells also play a major role in angiogenesis, inflammatory reactions, and in the regulation of thrombosis. Angiogenesis facilitates pulp formation and produces the vessels which are essential for the maintenance of tooth homeostasis. These vessels can also be used in bone and tissue regeneration, and in surgical procedures to place implants or to remove cancerous tissue. Furthermore, endothelial cell regeneration is the most critical component of the tooth generation process. The aim of the present study was to stimulate endothelial regeneration at a site of acute cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced endothelial injury by treatment with human umbilical cord-derived endothelial/mesenchymal stem cells (hEPCs). We randomly assigned 16 to 20-week-old female NOD/SCID mice into three separate groups, a hEPC (1 x 10(5) cells) transplanted, 300mg/kg CP treated and saline (control) group. The mice were sacrificed on days 5 and 10 and blood was collected via the abdominal aorta for analysis. The alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alkaline phosphatase (s-ALP), and albumin (ALB) levels were then evaluated. Tissue sections from the livers and kidneys were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) for microscopic analysis and were subjected to immunohistochemistry to evaluate any changes in the endothelial layer. CP treatment caused a weight reduction after one day. The kidney/body weight ratio increased in the hEPC treated animals compared with the CP only group at 10 days. Moreover, hEPC treatment resulted in reduced s-ALP, AST, ALT levels compared with the CP only group at 10 days. The CP only animals further showed endothelial injuries at five days which were recovered by hEPC treatment at 10 days. The number of CD31-positive cells was increased by hEPC treatment at both 5 and 10 days. In conclusion, the CP-induced disruption of endothelial cells is recovered by hEPC treatment, indicating that hEPC transplantation has potential benefits in the treatment of endothelial damage.
Alanine Transaminase ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Blood Vessels ; Cyclophosphamide ; Endothelial Cells ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Female ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Hematoxylin ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kidney ; Liver ; Mice ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Regeneration ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Stem Cells ; Thrombosis ; Tooth ; Transplants ; Weight Loss

Group A streptococcus (GAS) rarely causes meningoencephalitis in children without risk factors. A previously healthy 8 year-old child presented with lethargy, high fever, and vomiting. The clinical course was unusual including intractable seizures, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and left hemiparesis in spite of the appropriate and timely administration of antibiotics and corticosteroids. The microbiologic studies revealed that the pathogen was susceptible to penicillin and GAS M18 strains. This case showed the importance of the GAS vaccine in addition to appropriate antibiotics.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; Fever ; Humans ; Lethargy ; Meningoencephalitis ; Paresis ; Penicillins ; Risk Factors ; Seizures ; Streptococcus ; Vomiting

The use of high throughput screening (HTS) in drug development is principally for the selection new drug candidates or screening of chemical toxicants. This system minimizes the experimental environment and allows for the screening of candidates at the same time. Umbilical cordderived stem cells have some of the characteristics of fetal stem cell and have several advantages such as the ease with which they can be obtained and lack of ethical issues. To establish a HTS system, optimized conditions that mimic typical cell culture conditions in a minimal space such as 96 well plates are needed for stem cell growth. We have thus established a novel HTS system using human umbilical cord derived-mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs). To determine the optimal cell number, hUC-MSCs were serially diluted and seeded at 750, 500, 200 and 100 cells per well on 96 well plates. The maintenance efficiencies of these dilutions were compared for 3, 7, 9, and 14 days. The fetal bovine serum (FBS) concentration (20, 10, 5 and 1%) and the cell numbers (750, 500 and 200 cells/well) were compared for 3, 5 and 7 days. In addition, we evaluated the optimal conditions for cell cycle block. These four independent optimization experiments were conducted using an MTT assay. In the results, the optimal conditions for a HTS system using hUC-MSCs were determined to be 300 cell/well cultured for 8 days with 1 or 5% FBS. In addition, we demonstrated that the optimal conditions for a cell cycle block in this culture system are 48 hours in the absence of FBS. In addition, we selected four types of novel small molecule candidates using our HTS system which demonstrates the feasibility if using hUC-MSCs for this type of screen. Moreover, the four candidate compounds can be tested for stem cell research application.
Cell Count ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Cycle ; Fetal Stem Cells ; Humans ; Hydrazines ; Mass Screening ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Seeds ; Stem Cell Research ; Stem Cells ; Umbilical Cord

BACKGROUND: QuantiFERON(R)-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-G IT) has been used for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis (TB) since 2007. However, there has not been enough data on QFT-G IT for universal use in children. In this study, we evaluated the clinical usefulness of the QFT-G IT in pediatric practice. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 70 patients younger than 18 years of age who had taken QFT-G IT and had a tuberculin skin test (TST) between July 2007 and July 2009 at Wonju Christian Hospital. The subjects were divided into two groups, asymptomatic TB exposure group and disease group. Four patients who were taking immunosuppressants during the study period were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 66 immunocompetent children were included in this study. Among 27 asymptomatic children who had contact histories of TB, 6 (22.2%) were found to be positive by QFT-G IT. Eleven (40.7%) and 5 (18.5%) children were found to be positive by TST with cutoff values of > or =5 mm and > or =10 mm, respectively. Agreement was fair to good between QFT-G IT and TST (kappa=0.59: cutoff value > or =5 mm, kappa=0.7: cutoff value > or =10 mm). In disease group, 14 patients (35.9%) were diagnosed with active tuberculosis, 8/14 (57.1%) were positive on TST and 9/14 (64.3%) on QFT-G IT. The positive rate of acid-fast bacilli smear, TB-polymerase chain reaction, and culture for tuberculosis was 11% (1/9), 27.3% (3/11) and 33.3% (3/9), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data support that the QFT-G IT can be used as an additional diagnostic tool for latent and active tuberculosis infection in children.
Child ; Collodion ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Interferon-gamma ; Interferon-gamma Release Tests ; Latent Tuberculosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin Tests ; Tuberculin ; Tuberculosis

Umbilical cord blood is an attractive source of hematopoietic stem cells in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Umbilical cord blood transplantation has merits of rapid availability and low risk of severe acute graft versus host disease. Umbilical cord blood should be an important source of stem cell transplantation for patients who have no suitable human leukocyte antigen-matched bone marrow, or peripheral stem cell donor. Transplantation of umbilical cord blood is limited by insufficient cell doses. This had led to the alternative concept of attempting to increase the number of cell doses using two cord blood units from different donor. We report a case of double-unit cord blood transplantation for 55-year-old male with primary refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
Bone Marrow ; Fetal Blood* ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* ; Leukocytes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors