A case of upper thoracic vertebral hemangioma with epidural mass is reported. Preoperative selective angiography with embolization is the procedure of choice for reducing intraoperative bleeding. There was progressive postoperative improvement of the myelopathy.
Angiography ; Hemangioma* ; Hemorrhage ; Spinal Cord Diseases

Astrocytoma in the thalamus in not so frequent in incidence (1%). Moreover, bilateral thalamic tumor is rare. Certain tumors of the thalamus are considered resectable but most of thalamic tumors are thought to be untouchable. Bilateral thalamic astrocytoma with hydrocephalus was diagnosed by stereotactic biopsy and ventriculoperitoneal shunt operation was done with result of improvement. We report a case of astrocytoma in the bilateral thalamus with literature review.
Astrocytoma* ; Biopsy ; Hydrocephalus ; Incidence ; Thalamus* ; Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt

The use of erythropoietin for correction of anemia in maintenance hemodialysis patients affects dialyzer reuse, dialysis efficacy and other clinical parameters. This study showed the change of Kt/Vurea, nPCR, pre-dialysis BUN, body weight, ultrafiltration volume, pre-dialysis blood pressure, heparin dosage, the number of dialyzer reuse caused by the administration of erythropoietin in reuse(n=11) and first use(n=9) patients who were started erythropoietin since January, 1995. 1) In 20 all patients, hematocrit increased significantly after EPO treatment 20.7+/-0.8%, 27.8+/-0.7%, ultrafiltration volume increased from 2.0+/-0.3L to 2.5+/-0.2L(P<0.05). However no significant changes were noted in Kt/Vurea, nPCR and other parameters 2) In patients of dialysis reuse, the number of reuse was not affected by EPO treatment(8.4+/-1.7, 9.6+/-1.5, P=0.67). No significant differences were observed in all parameters except hematocrit in case of first use and reuse. 3) Entire patients were reclassified into low baseline protein intake group(nPCR<1.0g/kg/day) and high baseline protein intake group(nPcR>1.0/kg/ day) and then pretreatment versus posttreatment nPCR, pre-dialysis BUN and ultrafiltration volume were compared. In low baseline protein intake group, significant increases of ultrafiltration volume, nPCR were observed. However, pre-dialysis BUN were not changed significantly. In high protein intake group, nPCR, pre-dialysis BUN, ultrafiltration volume were changed without significance. In conclusion, EPO treatment did not affect Kt/Vurea, dialyzer reuse, nPCR, predialysis blood pressure, heparin dosage. But ultrafiltration volume increased significantly after EPO treatment. Maybe increased appetite in low baseline protein intake group caused the increased posttreatment ultrafiltration volume.
Anemia ; Appetite ; Blood Pressure ; Body Weight ; Dialysis* ; Erythropoietin* ; Hematocrit ; Heparin ; Humans ; Renal Dialysis ; Ultrafiltration