Purpose: To report a case of both ocular perforation due to periocular acupuncture therapy with vitrectomy in the right eye andbarrier laser photocoagulation without vitrectomy in the left eye.Case summary: A 58-year-old female presented with ocular pain and decreased visual acuity in both eye. She had received periocularacupuncture therapy 4 days earlier. Dilated fundoscopy revealed vitreous hemorrhage. B-scan ultrasonography revealedvitreous opacity. Thus, at the request of the patient, vitrectomy was performed in only the right eye, and did not performed in theleft eye. Intraoperatively, we identified retinal laceration in the temporal and inferior retina. In the left eye, the sites of retinal hemorrhagewere observed in the temporal and inferior retina in the fundus examination, and a barrier laser photocoagulation wasperformed around the lesion. At the three-month postoperative follow-up, the patient’s visual acuity was 0.5 in the right eye withoutmacular edema. In the left eye, visual acuity was 0.01 with macular edema observed on optical coherence tomography. Conclusions Authors present a case of a patient with vitreous hemorrhage and ocular perforations caused by periocular acupuncturetherapy in both eye, able to compare the results of eyes that performed vitrectomy and that did not performed vitrectomyin a same patient. The recovery of visual acuity in eye that performed vitrectomy was better than eye that did not performedvitrectomy. Therefore, we consider performing vitrectomy in patients with eye perforation.

PURPOSE: Thallim-201 (201Tl) brain SPECT and proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have been used to evaluate tumor grade and viability of glioma. We assessed the correlations between 201Tl brain index or spectrum of metabolites of 1H MRS and grade of glioma or histopathologic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 17 patients (4 astrocytoma, 7 anaplastic astrocytoma and 6 glioblastoma). On 201Tl Brain SPECT, 201Tl index was measured as the ratio of average counts for region of interest to those for the contralateral normal brain. On 1H MRS, we calculated choline (Cho) /creatine (Cr) ratio and N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Cr ratio in ROI defined as tumor center. Histopathologic findings were graded by Ki-67 index, cellularity, mitosis, pleomorphism, necrosis and endothelial proliferation. An unpaired t test and statistical correlations were performed to evaluate these data. RESULTS: Tl-index showed the best correlation with Ki-67 index (p<0.01), less correlations with cellularity, mitosis, and endothelial proliferation, but no correlation with results of MRS, pleomorphism, or necrosis. The findings of MRS did not correlate with all of the above. The cases of glioblastoma demonstrated a higher Tl-index, Cho/Cr ratio, Ki-67 index and lower NAA/Cr ratio, albeit without statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Even though 201Tl brain SPECT did not correlate directly with grade of malignancy, it may still be useful in determining biological aggressiveness of tumor and prognosis of patients because it correlated well with Ki-67 index, a growth fraction of glioma, cellularity, mitosis and endothelial proliferation.
Astrocytoma ; Brain* ; Choline ; Glioblastoma ; Glioma* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy* ; Mitosis ; Necrosis ; Pathology* ; Prognosis ; Protons ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: Thallim-201 (201Tl) brain SPECT, which can represent cellular activity of brain lesions, may provide more useful information in differentiating between benign and malignant brain lesions more so than CT or MRI, that merely represents anatomic changes or breakdown of blood brain barrier. We used 201Tl brain SPECT prospectively to evaluate the utility of 201Tl-indices as an indicator of benign or malignant lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 28 patients. There were 13 cases of benign lesions (3: nonspecific benign lesion, 3: meningioma, 2: low grade glioma, 1: tuberculoma, central neurocytoma, hemangioblastoma, radiation necrosis, and choroid plexus papilloma) and 15 cases of malignant lesions (6: glioblastoma multiforme, 5: anaplastic glioma, 2: medulloblastoma, 1: metastasis and lymphoma). In all patients, CT and/or MRI were obtained and then 201Tl brain SPECT was obtained with measuring mean 201Tl index and peak 201Tl index. An unpaired t-test was performed to compare the 201Tl-indices and pathologic diagnoses to evaluate the utility of 201Tl-indices as an indicator of benign or malignant lesions. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant difference in 201Tl-indices between benign and malignant brain lesions (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that we could not use 201Tl indices on brain SPECT alone as an indicator of benign or malignant brain lesions.
Blood-Brain Barrier ; Brain* ; Choroid Plexus ; Diagnosis ; Glioblastoma ; Glioma ; Hemangioblastoma ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medulloblastoma ; Meningioma ; Necrosis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neurocytoma ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon* ; Tuberculoma

PURPOSE: Granulomatous mastitis is a rare benign inflammatory breast disease of an unknown etiology. Clinically and radiologically, it can mimic a breast carcinoma. Therefore, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists need to be aware of this condition in order to avoid unnecessary mastectomies. This study examined the modalities that are important for diagnosing and treating of the granulomatous mastitis. METHODS: The data regarding 14 patients with histologically confirmed granulomatous mastitis and treated at our hospital were analyzed. Age, associated disease, parity, past history of breast feeding and oral contraceptives, radiology findings were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Among the 14 patients, the mean age was 41 years with 5 being in their thirties. Breast pain was the most common presentation. Of the 14 patients, 11 patients had breast-fed and none had previously used oral contraceptives. No patient suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. Preoperative mammography and ultrasonography was not helpful in identifying granulomatous mastitis. After ultrasonography, 7 patients were found to have mastitis with an abscess and a benign or malignant tumor was found in 3 patients. Two of the 14 patients were diagnosed using pre-operative fine-needle aspiration, which that showed an epithelial histiocyte or multinucleated giant cell. Three cases completely recovered after an excision. In 11 cases, incision and drainage were performed but there was a recurrence in 4 of these, which needed to be treated more than twice by an incision and drainage and steroid. The average treatment period was 5 months and a recurrence was encountered in 4 patients within a 30-month follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Granulomatous mastitis is rare, but it is important to make a histological diagnosis at the early stages. It is believed that a complete excision of the lesion will help prevent a recurrence, and patients with a frequent recurrence can be treated with steroid after stopping unnecessary antibiotic treatment.
Abscess ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Breast Diseases ; Breast Feeding ; Breast Neoplasms ; Contraceptives, Oral ; Diagnosis ; Drainage ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Giant Cells ; Granulomatous Mastitis* ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Mammography ; Mastectomy ; Mastitis ; Mastodynia ; Parity ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the levels of depression experienced by Korean hospital nurses (N=198) and to identify discriminating factors of their depression experience among personal and environmental characteristics. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey design was used to answer the research questions. A sample consisted of 198 hospital nurses in Korea. The data were collected from May 1999 to March 2000. Descriptive and discriminant analyses were utilized. RESULT: Korean nurses experienced low levels of depression. Twenty nine percent of nurses in the study experienced depression based on the cut-point suggested by Radloff. Role ambiguity, working in the tertiary hospital, work satisfaction in autonomy, professional status and interaction within nurses were significant discriminating factors for nurses' depression. These factors correctly discriminated 71% of the sample (Hit ratio= .71). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this study, developing managemental intervention programs and examining the effects of the program for nurses to reduce their depression experience are suggested.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression* ; Discriminant Analysis ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea ; Professional Autonomy ; Tertiary Care Centers

OBJECTIVE: Astrocytes secrete various neurotrophic factors which act to support the survival and growth of neurons. Reactive astrocytes express an increased level of neurotrophic factors in response to central nervous system injury. We demonstrate that reactive astrocytes could express neurotrophic factors to promote neuronal rescue and generate functional recovery. METHODS: To investigate the correlation of neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) and neurotrophin-3(NT-3) to glutamate-induced reactive gliosis, mRNA expression of BDNF and NT-3 were detected by the RT-PCR technique. RESULTS: Exposure of cultured astrocytes to L-glutamate(1, 100, 200 and 500 microM) and scraped astrocytes for 1 day resulted in significant cell damage and we observed mRNA expression of BDNF and NT-3. The maximal expression of BDNF was observed in the control, scraped and L-glutamate treated astrocytes(1 microM). The basal expression of BDNF mRNA in astrocytes treated with L-glutamate(100, 200 and 500 microM) decreased relative to that of control, scraped and L-glutamate treated astrocytes(1 microM). Reactive gliosis, treatment of control astrocytes with glutamate, showed similar pattern for NT-3 mRNA expression. In a word, the basal content of NT-3 mRNA in scrape and L-glutamate(1, 100, 200 and 500 microM) expressed similar to that of control astrocytes. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the reactive astrocytes also expressed mRNA of BDNF and NT-3 as normal astrocytes.
Astrocytes* ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor* ; Central Nervous System ; Gliosis ; Glutamic Acid ; Nerve Growth Factors ; Neurons ; RNA, Messenger*

PURPOSE: Steatocystoma is a cyst that originates embryologically from hair follicles and usually occurs on the face, chest, back and axillae as multiple lesions and rarely occurs as a solitary lesion. We experienced a case of steatocystoma simplex that developed in the orbit and present our case with a brief review of the literature. CASE SUMMARY: A 44-year-old male presented with a history of palpable mass in the right inferomedial periorbital area that had been slowly growing for a few months. Physical examination revealed a non-tender, soft and round mass. Magnetic resonance imaging of the orbit showed 2.0 x 2.0 x 2.0 cm-sized mass in the right inferomedial orbit. We performed excisional biopsy of the orbital mass using transconjunctival approach. The pathological diagnosis was steatocystoma. There was no local recurrence during the postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: We experienced a rare case of steatocystoma simplex that developed in the orbit. Base on our results, steatocystoma simplex should be considered when diagnosing an orbital mass.
Adult ; Axilla ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Orbit* ; Physical Examination ; Recurrence ; Thorax

OBJECTIVE: Cellular diversity in the mammalian central nervous system is originated from precursor cells present in the neural ectoderm. The multipotent neural stem cells(NSCs) rapidly proliferate to give rise to transiently dividing progenitors that eventually differentiate into several cell types of neural cells. The authors investigate whether NSCs could differentiate neurons and glia and express neurotrophic factor. METHODS: To establish human neural cell lines, we isolated neural stem cells from human fetal telencephalon. Secondly, to investigate the expression of neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) and glial derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF) in rat and human cell, mRNA expressions of bFGF, BDNF and GDNF were detected by the reverse transcripted polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: In the NSCs cultures of embryonic rat striata and human fetal telencephalon, we demonstrated that bFGF induces the proliferation of stem cell, which give rise to spheres of undifferentiated cell that generate neurons and glia. Also, neurotrophic factor transcripts were identified using PCR in rat and human NSCs. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that human NSCs derived from human fetal telencephalon could differentiate neurons and glia and express neurotrophic factors. Therefore, NSCs may be an important key for the therapeutic application of neurotrophic factors.
Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cell Line ; Central Nervous System ; Ectoderm ; Fibroblasts ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Humans* ; Nerve Growth Factors* ; Neural Stem Cells* ; Neuroglia ; Neurons ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger* ; Stem Cells ; Telencephalon*

There is little consensus on how to optimally reconstruct the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and the natural history of injured PCL is also unclear. The graft material (autograft vs. allograft), the type of tibial fixation (tibial inlay vs. transtibial tunnel), the femoral tunnel position within the femoral footprint (isometric, central, or eccentric), and the number of bundles in the reconstruction (1 bundle vs. 2 bundles) are among the many decisions that a surgeon must make in a PCL reconstruction. In addition, there is a paucity of information on rehabilitation after reconstruction of the PCL and posterolateral structures. This article focused on the conflicting issues regarding the PCL, and the scientific rationales behind some critical points are discussed.
Biomechanical Phenomena ; Humans ; Knee Joint/*surgery ; Orthopedic Procedures/*methods ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament/*surgery ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures/*methods ; Treatment Outcome

Experimental tracheal ligation (TL) has been shown to reverse the pulmonary hypoplasia associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and to normalize gas exchange. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the TL would correct the surfactant deficiency present in the fetal rabbit model of CDH by using lamellar body count. Lamellar bodies are synthesized and secreted by the type II pneumocytes of fetal lung. The phospholipids present in these bodies constitute the major component of pulmonary surfactant. Twenty-one pregnant New Zealand rabbits underwent hysterotomy and fetal surgery on gestational day 24. Two fetuses of each pregnant rabbit were operated. In the fetus of one end of bicornuate uterus, left DH was created by excision of fetal diaphragm through open thoracotomy (DH Group). In the fetus of the other end of bicornuate uterus, left DH and TL were created (TL Group). The fetuses were delivered by Cesarean section on gestational day 31. Fourteen in control group, 12 in the DH group and 13 in TL group were born alive. En bloc excision of lungs, bronchi and trachea was done in all newborn rabbits. A five Fr catheter was inserted through trachea and repeated irrigations with 10 cc normal saline were done. The irrigated fluid was centrifuged at 280 xg for 5 minutes and the lamellar bodies were counted with the upper level fluid in platelet channel of electronic cell counter. The average lamellar body counts were 37.1 +/- 14.2 x 10(3)/microL in control group, 11.5 +/- 4.4 x 10(3)/microL in DH group, and 6.5+/- 0.9 x 10(3)/microL in TL group. Lamellar body count in DH group was lower than in control group and did not increase after TL. This study shows TL has no therapeutic effect on decreased surfactant level of CDH and the pregnant rabbit is appropriate for the animal model of CDH.
Blood Platelets ; Bronchi ; Catheters ; Cell Count ; Cesarean Section ; Diaphragm ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Female ; Fetus ; Hernia, Diaphragmatic ; Humans ; Hysterotomy ; Infant, Newborn ; Ligation ; Lung ; Models, Animal ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Phospholipids ; Pneumocytes ; Pregnancy ; Pulmonary Surfactants ; Rabbits ; Thoracotomy ; Trachea ; Uterus