OBJECTIVE: The use of decompressive craniectomy for treating massive cerebral infarction is attracting much attention because conventional medical treatment is associated with high mortality. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the surgical treatment results and prognostic factors for patients suffering with malignant cerebral infarction. METHODS: We analyzed 9 consecutive patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy with or without temporal lobectomy after malignant cerebral infarction from 2000 to 2008. We reviewed the medical records, the radiological finding and the pre-operative clinical assessment using the Glasgow Coma scale (GCS). The postoperative functional outcome was assessed as the Barthel-Index (BI) and the modified Rankin scale (mRS). RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 3.5:1. The mean age was 50 years (range: 36-68). Eight patients (89%) showed involvement of the entire middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory and the concomitant anterior cerebral artery (ACA) or posterior cerebral artery (PCA) territory. The preoperative mean GCS was 8.3 (range: 5-12) and the mean time to surgery after the onset of symptoms was 47.7 hours (range: 4-168 hours). All the patients underwent decompressive craniectomy and duroplasty. Among them, four patients (45%) underwent temporal lobectomy. The mean followup period was 7.3 months (range: 1-26 months) and five patients died within this period. CONCLUSION: Decompressive craniectomy with or without lobectomy for patients with malignant cerebral infarction decreases the mortality rate and it improves the functional outcome. In the survived group, comparison of the two surgical modalities didn't show any statistically significant difference. However, the decompressive craniectomy with lobectomy group demonstrated a high survival rate (75%). Future studies are needed to investigate the proper treatment modalities for malignant cerebral infarction.
Anterior Cerebral Artery ; Cerebral Infarction ; Decompressive Craniectomy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Posterior Cerebral Artery ; Retrospective Studies ; Stress, Psychological ; Survival Rate

Traffic accident leaves various traces on vehicle, road or pedestrians and these can be viewed as the failure mechanism of relatively moving obstacles. This paper introduces tribology and fractography, which are the parts of failure mechanics, as a means of theoretical analysis and approaching methods on the traffic accident. Actual specific traces are introduced as illustrations of tribology and fractogrphy. A verified traffic accident is also introduced as a case report.
Accidents, Traffic ; Mechanics

PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term clinical results and safety of Ultra Q neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser treatment for vitreous floaters. METHODS: The present study included 31 eyes of 31 patients with symptomatic floaters lasting more than 3 months. The vitreous floaters were photodisrupted using Ultra Q Nd:YAG laser. Preoperative and postoperative best corrected visual activity (BCVA) and intraocular pressure, change of the floater, patient satisfaction and postoperative complications were analyzed prospectively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between preoperative and postoperative BCVA and intraocular pressure (p > 0.05). Vitreous floaters were not found in 9 eyes (29.03%), decreased floaters were observed in 19 eyes (61.29%) and definite change of floaters was not observed in 3 eyes (9.68%). Patient satisfaction after the laser treatment was very satisfied in 11 eyes (35.48%) and satisfied in 20 eyes (64.58%). Satisfaction in Weiss ring type of the floater was the highest, very satisfied in 6 of the 8 eyes (75%) and vitreous floaters were not observed in 7 of the 8 eyes (87.50%). Postoperative complications were not observed during a follow-up period of at least 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: Ultra Q Nd:YAG laser was an effective and safe treatment for the vitreous floaters in this short-term study.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Patient Satisfaction ; Postoperative Complications ; Prospective Studies ; Yttrium

Acute coronary closure occurs 2-10% during the procedure of PTCA, 50-80% of those events are in the catheterization room. The causes of acute coronary closure are mainly due to dissection, thrombosis or spasm. We recently experienced a case of acute left main coronary artery closure due to guiding catheter induced embolization in the 56 year-old female, unstable angina patient complicated by diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure. The patient received cardiopulmonary resuscitation shortly after acute closure because of cardiac arrest. During the resuscitation, we performed PTCA at the site of acute closure. The blood pressure maintained normaly after successful recanalization. And then we inserted IABP(intraaortic balloon pump) balloon and did PTCA of original stenosis sites. The patient removed IABP 24 hours later and discharged a month later without complication.
Angina, Unstable ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation* ; Catheterization ; Catheters* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Vessels ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Female ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Middle Aged ; Resuscitation ; Spasm ; Thrombosis

Fibroadenoma is a rare lesion of the vulva. It has been proposed that the origin of the tissue is either ectopic breast tissue or vulvar mammary-like glands (MLG). We report a case of vulvar fibroadenoma in a 33-year-old woman with a right vulvar mass presenting clinically as vulvar cyst. The cut surface of the tumor showed a white and homogenous appearance that was 2.5 cm in maximum dimension. Microscopically, the lesion was well-circumscribed but non-encapsulated. It revealed nodular, glandular and stromal proliferation, consistent with fibroadenoma of breast. Immunohistochemical staining for the estrogen receptor and progesteron receptor revealed nuclear positivity in the epithelium. Smooth muscle actin confirmed the presence of a myoepithelial cell layer. Staining for pancytokeratin showed epithelial cytoplasmic positivity.
Actins ; Adult ; Breast ; Cytoplasm ; Epithelium ; Estrogens ; Female ; Fibroadenoma* ; Humans ; Muscle, Smooth ; Vulva*

Menisco-meniscal ligaments in knee joint are known as four variants, anterior and posterior transverse meniscal ligament, medial and lateral oblique menisco-meniscal ligament. The ligament which originates from the anterior horn of the meniscus and attached to the posterior horn of the same meniscus, so-called unilateral menisco-meniscal ligament is extremely rare in English literature. The authors experienced a case of medial unilateral menisco-meniscal ligament with posterior horn tear of the medial meniscus in a 49-year-old man. We report this case with a review of literature.
Animals ; Horns ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Ligaments* ; Menisci, Tibial ; Middle Aged

Human chorionic gonadotropin(HCG) is a member of the glycoproteins family synthesized by the placenta, which consists of 2 noncovalently joined subunits(alpha(alpha) and beta(beta)). The alpha- and beta-subunits have a structural homology with the alpha- and beta-subunits of TSH and LH. The thyrotropic action of HCG results from its structural similarity to TSH, so beta-HCG can bind to the TSH receptor in the thyroid gland. A high level of HCG accompanied by an increased thyroid hormone level, can be observed in gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), such as a hydatidiform mole or a choriocarcinoma, but the clinical symptoms of hyperthyroidism are rarely observed. We experienced a case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, where the patient was diagnosed with T3-thyrotoxicosis, which had initially been induced by excess beta-HCG due to an H-mole; after evacuation of the H-mole, the condition was diagnosed as hypothyroidism. It has been speculated that a patient with Hashimoto's thyroiditis could have hyperthyroidism, induced by beta-HCG, due to an H-mole
Choriocarcinoma ; Chorion ; Female ; Gestational Trophoblastic Disease ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Hydatidiform Mole* ; Hyperthyroidism ; Hypothyroidism ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Receptors, Thyrotropin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroiditis*

Carrier woman of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can mimic the inflammatory myositis in presenting symptoms. Two diseases should be differentiated by the clinical history, muscle biopsy and genetic study. There are few reports in which both histochemical and genetic study showed the possible link of overlapping inflammatory pathophysiology with dystrophinopathy. We report a 40-yr-old woman who presented with subacute proximal muscle weakness and high serum level of creatine kinase. She had a history of Graves' disease and fluctuation of serum liver aminotransferase without definite cause. MRI, EMG and NCV were compatible with proximal muscle myopathy. Muscle biopsy on vastus lateralis showed suspicious perifascicular atrophy and infiltration of mono-macrophage lineage cells complicating the diagnosis. Dystrophin staining showed heterogeneous diverse findings from normal to interrupted mosaic pattern. Multiple ligation probe amplification and X chromosome inactivation test confirmed DMD gene deletion mutation in exon 44 and highly skewed X inactivation.
Adult ; Creatine Kinase/blood ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dystrophin/metabolism ; Echocardiography ; Exons ; Female ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/*diagnosis/genetics/pathology ; Myositis/diagnosis/genetics/pathology ; Transaminases/blood

A 14-month-old boy was transferred because of dilated and hypertrophied left ventricle, neutropenia, and developmental delay. After checking computed tomographic angiography with contrast-dye, the patient showed acute exacerbation and finally died from multi-organ failure despite intensive cares. From genetic analysis, we revealed that the patient had Barth syndrome and found a novel hemizygous frame shift mutation in his TAZ gene, c.227delC (p.Pro76LeufsX7), which was inherited from his mother. Herein, we report a patient with Barth syndrome who had a novel mutation in TAZ gene and experienced unexpected acute exacerbation after contrast dye injection for computed tomographic angiography.
Acidosis/etiology ; Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Barth Syndrome/diagnosis/*genetics ; Contrast Media/adverse effects/*diagnostic use ; Frameshift Mutation ; Heart Failure/etiology ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Transcription Factors/*genetics