The increasing use and availability of renal transplantation has resulted in a demand for noninvasive methods to study possible complications. One of the most serious adverse reactions is acute rejection, a possibly reversible cause of transplant failure if treated promptly. Sixty-six donors and recipients were evaluated by duplex Doppler examination of intrarenal arteries. A simplified formula, resistive index(RI) ([peak systolic frequency shift-lowest diastolic frequency shift]/[peak systolic frequency shift]), were used to diagnose rejection. All RI values of donors were within normal limit. RI values of recipients were not significantly different according to the number of renal artery and the ischemic time during operation. With a RI greater than 0.90, a 100% positive predictive value was obtained for the diagnosis of acute rejection. A 88% positive predictive value of acute rejection was obtained with a RI greater than 0.80. A value less than 0.70 was unlikely to be rejection(negative predictive value, 95%). The results suggest that the duplex Doppler examination and the resistive index obtained by simple analysis of the wave form would be used as a valuable noninvasive method for the detection of acute renal transplant rejection. The findings of Doppler examination are not necessarily pathognomonic for one specific process, but they can aid the clinician in deciding the kind of treatment necessary and the need for biopsy.
Arteries ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Graft Rejection ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Renal Artery ; Tissue Donors

PURPOSE: To evaluate the degree of contrast enhancement of intracranial tumors on delayed (6-8min.) MR imaging after administration of Gd-DTPA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Both immediate and delayed post-contrast MR imagings were studied prospectively in 35 patients. with brain tumors (11 gliomas, 6 meningiomas, 4 neurinomas, 5 parencymal metastases, 5 hemangioblastoma, 4 others) at either 0.5 T or 2.0 T unit. After precontrast TI-, proton-density, and T2-weighted spin echo images were obtained, each patient underwent Tl-weighted imaging immediately following infusion of 0.1 mmol/Kg of Gd-DTPA. Subsequently, the second postcontrast Tl-weighted images were obtained with no additional injection of the contrast media. Time-interval between the postcontrast immediate and the delayed images was approximately 6-8 minutes. Degree of contrast enhancement of the lesions was assessed both visually and quantitatively. For quantitative study, contrast enhancement ratio(CER) of tumors was calculated in both immediate and delayed post-contrast images. RESULTS: There was stronger visual enhancement in 7 of 11 cases with gliomas and 3 of 5 cases with parenchymal metastasis on delayed images when compared with immediate images, whereas all 10 cases of extraaxial tumors(meningiomas and neurinomas) showed decreased enhancement on delayed images. Quantitatively, mean CERs of gliomas and metastases were higher on delayed study than on immediate study by 20. 5% and 49.2%, respectively. Extraaxial tumors showed decrease of CER on delayed study by 19.7% as compared with that of immediate study. Hemangioblastomas showed visually poor enhancement on delayed image in 4 cases and equal enhancement on both immediate and delayed images in remaining one case, and quantitatively demonstrated decrease of CER on delayed study by 15.4%. CONCLUSION: Since there was more conspicuous contrast enhancement in many intraaxial tumors such as gliomas and metastases on 6-8 minutes delayed post-contrast MR study, the delayed post-contrast study may be needed in some intraaxial tumors for their characterization, and may also be helpful for the differential diagnosis between intraaxial and extraaxial tumors.
Brain Neoplasms* ; Brain* ; Contrast Media ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Glioma ; Hemangioblastoma ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Meningioma ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neurilemmoma ; Prospective Studies

Renal leiomyoma, a rare benign tumor, is a challenging diagnostic and therapeutic condition. The preoperative diagnosis of renal leiomyoma is very difficult, and the only definite method to distinguish between a leiomyoma and other renal tumor is postoperative microscopic evaluation. We report a case of leiomyoma of the kidney which was managed by radical nephrectomy under the impression of malignant renal mass which was incidentally found by ultrasonographic examination for health check in a 43-year-old woman.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney* ; Leiomyoma* ; Nephrectomy

Malignant melanoma of the urinary bladder is very rare, 7 cases were reported in the literature. The tumor shows early metastasis with poor prognosis. Treatment measures include surgical extirpation, radiotherapy and chemotherapy but the results were bad.Herein, we report a case of malignant melanoma of the urinary bladder in a 45-year-old man which was managed by transurethral resection and combination chemotherapy.
Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Melanoma* ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy ; Urinary Bladder

OBJECTIVE: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of sepsis, and sepsis-related acute organ dysfunction affects patient mortality. Although the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) is a new screening tool for patients with suspected infection, its predictive value for the mortality of patients with CAP has not been validated. Lactate concentration is a valuable biomarker for critically ill patients. Thus, we investigated the predictive value of qSOFA with lactate concentration for in-hospital mortality in patients with CAP in the emergency department (ED).METHODS: From January 2015 to June 2015, 443 patients, who were diagnosed with CAP in the ED, were retrospectively analyzed. We defined high qSOFA or lactate concentrations as a qSOFA score ≥2 or a lactate concentration >2 mmol/L upon admission at the ED. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality.RESULTS: Among the 443 patients, 44 (9.9%) died. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the areas under the curves for the prediction of mortality were 0.720, 0.652, and 0.686 for qSOFA, CURB-65 (confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age), and Pneumonia Severity Index, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of qSOFA was lower than that of SOFA (0.720 vs. 0.845, P=0.004). However, the area under the ROC curve of qSOFA with lactate concentration was not significantly different from that of SOFA (0.828 vs. 0.845, P=0.509). The sensitivity and specificity of qSOFA with lactate concentration were 71.4% and 83.2%, respectively.CONCLUSION: qSOFA with lactate concentration is a useful and practical tool for the early prediction of in-hospital mortality among patients with CAP in the ED.
Blood Pressure ; Critical Illness ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Lactic Acid ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Organ Dysfunction Scores ; Pneumonia ; Respiratory Rate ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sepsis ; Urea

BACKGROUND: In spite of initial intensive and long-term chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis, many problems remain in the treatment of the residual lesion. The role of surgical intervention for pulmonary tuberculosis is getting rid of such residual lesion of pulmonary tuberculosis to support the healing process and to induce bacteriologically negative conversion in the end. METHOD: We experienced 30 cases of pulmonary resection for pulmonary tuberculosis from Aug. 1994 through Apr. 1995 in National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital. We conducted retrospective study to analyze several variables for the cases. RESULTS: 1) The ratio between male and female was 4:l(male 24, female 6) and the age of peak incidence was in 3rd and 4th decades. 2) Indications for pulmonary resection in the radiographic findings were cavitary lesions of 19 cases(63.3%), destroyed one side of 8 cases(26.7%) and destroyed one lobe of 3 cases(10%). 3) 16 of 20 cases with unilateral lesions and all of 10 cases with bilateral lesions on chest X-ray films showed AFB positive on preoperative sputum smears. 14 cases(87.5%) of unilateral lesions and 9 cases(90%) of bilateral ones were converted into AFB negative postoperatively. Negative conversion rates of pneumonectomy and lobectomy cases were 100% and 85.7%, respectively. 4) Preoperative combined disease was 3 cases(10%) of DM and postoperative complications were 2 cases(6.7%) of dead space and no death. CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy only has some limitation in treatment of all tuberculosis. So, surgical intervention for pulmonary tuberculosis is an effective method as partner of chemotherapy.
Drug Therapy ; Female ; Hospitals, Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Pneumonectomy ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary* ; X-Ray Film

No abstract available.
Connective Tissue Diseases* ; Connective Tissue* ; Heart Block* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Mothers* ; Twins*

No abstract available.
Connective Tissue Diseases* ; Connective Tissue* ; Heart Block* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Mothers* ; Twins*

PURPOSE : To evaluate MR image qualities we developed a new MRI phantom with the fixation structures necessary to position it into coil firmly. MATERIALS AND METHODS : We designed MRI phantom for eight evaluation items such as slice thickness accuracy, high contrast spatial resolution, low contrast object detectability, geometry accuracy, slice position accuracy, image intensity uniformity, percent signal ghosting and signal to noise ratio. For the positioning of phantom at coils, the fixation structures were set up on the surface of phantom. Six different MRI units were used for test the possibility for the clinical application and their image qualities were evaluated. RESULTS : We acquired appropriate MR image qualities enough for the evaluation on all used MR units and confirmed that their evaluations were within reliable values compared to real ones for some items. The positioning of our phantom into head coils with fixation structures worked well for proper imaging. CONCLUSION : We found that our prototype of MRI phantom had the possibility of clinical application for MR image quality assessment.
Head ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Quality Control ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the causes of arterial bleeding after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and to evaluate the efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two sessions of conventional arteriography were performed in 32 of the 195 patients who underwent LDLT during the past 2 years. This was done in search of bleeding foci of arterial origin. TAE was performed with microcoils or gelatin sponge particles. The causes of arterial bleeding, the technical and clinical success rates of TAE and the complications were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Forty-two bleeding foci of arterial origin were identified on 30 sessions of arteriography in 21 patients. The most common cause of bleeding was percutaneous procedures in 40% of the patients (17 of the 42 bleeding foci) followed by surgical procedures in 36% (15/42). The overall technical and clinical success rates of TAE were 21 (70%) and 20 (67%) of the 30 sessions, respectively. The overall technical success rate of TAE for the treatment of bleeding from the hepatic resection margin, hepatic artery anastomotic site and hepaticojejunostomy was only 18% (2/11), whereas for the treatment of bleeding in the other locations the technical and clinical success rates of TAE were 100% and 95%, respectively. No procedure-related major complications occurred. CONCLUSION: In the case of arterial bleeding after LDLT, percutaneous procedure-related hemorrhages were as common as surgery-related hemorrhages. There were technical difficulties in using TAE for the treatment of hepatic arterial bleeding. However, in the other locations, TAE seems to be safe and effective for the control of arterial bleeding in LDLT recipients.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Embolization, Therapeutic/instrumentation/*methods ; Female ; Humans ; Liver/radiography ; Liver Diseases/etiology/*therapy ; Liver Transplantation/*adverse effects ; *Living Donors ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Hemorrhage/etiology/*therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome