PURPOSE: To compare the clinical? results and stability of acute and chronic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who had ACL reconstruction with a quadruple hamstring tendon and ligament anchor (LA) screw with a minimum 2-year follow-up were included in this study. Acute (within 4 weeks) reconstruction group was composed of 27 knees and chronic (over 3 months) group was 44 knees. We compared the two groups with regard to Lysholm knee score, range of motion, thigh circumference, Lachman test, Tegner activity scale, associated meniscal injuries, and anterior laxity difference by Telos stress arthrometer. RESULTS: At last follow-up, no significant differences were found between the acute and chronic groups for Lysholm score, range of motion, Lachman test, Tegner activity scale, and instrumental laxity. 16 cases (59%) of acute and 33 cases (75%) of chronic patients had a meniscal injuries of which were reparable in 5 cases (28%) and 7 cases (17%). CONCLUSIONS: Acute reconstruction of ACL had excellent clinical and radiologic results as good as the chronic group without motion problem.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee ; Ligaments ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Tendons ; Thigh

No abstract available.
Heart* ; Thoracic Surgery*

Background and Objectives: Menkes disease (MNK) is a rare X-linked recessive disease, caused by mutations in the copper transporting ATP7A gene that is required for copper homeostasis. MNK patients experience various clinical symptoms including neurological defects that are closely related to the prognosis of MNK patients. Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) produce new neurons throughout life, and defects in DG neurogenesis are often correlated with cognitive and behavioral problems. However, neurodevelopmental defects in the DG during postnatal period in MNK have not been understood yet. Methods: and Results: Mottled-brindled (Mo Br/y ) mice (MNK mice) and littermate controls were used in this study. In vivo microCT imaging and immunohistochemistry results demonstrate that blood vasculatures in hippocampus are abnormally decreased in MNK mice. Furthermore, postnatal establishment of NSC population and their neurogenesis are severely compromised in the DG of MNK mice. In addition, in vitro analyses using hippocampal neurosphere culture followed by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting suggest that neurogenesis from MNK NSCs is also significantly compromised, corresponding to defective neurogenic gene expression in MNK derived neurons. Conclusions Our study is the first reports demonstrating that improper expansion of the postnatal NSC population followed by significant reduction of neurogenesis may contribute to neurodevelopmental symptoms in MNK. In conclusion, our results provide new insight into early neurodevelopmental defects in MNK and emphasize the needs for early diagnosis and new therapeutic strategies in the postnatal central nerve system damage of MNK patients.

Hemobilia is a cause of obscure gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Most cases have an iatrogenic or traumatic origin but cases of hemobilia with non-traumatic causes are rare. The non-traumatic causes of hemobilia are inflammation, gallstones, neoplasm and vascular lesions. Currently, various therapeutic options are available for hemobilia, and transarterial embolization is now the first line of intervention used to stop the bleeding of hemobilia, which shows a high success rate of approximately 80% to 100% with a lower morbidity and mortality rate than with surgery. We report a rare case of non-traumatic hemobilia caused by a pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery that was successfully treated with transarterial embolization.
Aneurysm, False* ; Gallstones ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Hemobilia* ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatic Artery* ; Inflammation ; Mortality

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited disease that manifests as a combination of mucocutaneous pigmentation and gastrointestinal hamartomatous polyps that usually cause intussusception and intestinal hemorrhage. We report the case of a 40-year-old male patient who was diagnosed 20 years ago and had previously undergone 3 intestinal resection surgeries. This time, with the use of combined operative and endoscopic polypectomy, more than 100 polyps were removed. This technique is useful for providing a "clean" small intestine that allows the patient a long interval between laparotomies and reduces the complications associated with multiple laparotomies and resections.
Adult ; Endoscopy ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestine, Small ; Intussusception ; Laparotomy ; Male ; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome* ; Pigmentation ; Polyps*

Diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome(D+ HUS) is induced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli(EHEC) and is characterized by the triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute renal failure. The disease is usually transmitted by meat and water contaminated by excreta of domestic animals. We report a son and his mother with diarrhea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome that spread within the family.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Anemia, Hemolytic ; Animals, Domestic ; Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli ; Escherichia ; Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome* ; Humans ; Meat ; Mothers ; Thrombocytopenia

OBJECTIVES: Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a common complication of long standing diabetes mellitus and is well known to induce the motor dysfunction of cardiovascular system, genitourinary system and diges tive system. Although many studies have done to eval uate the diabetic autonomic neuropathy, gallbladder motor function and biliary dynamic study to evaluate the change of gallbladder function in diabetic patients is relatively rare. This study was performed to measure the gall bladder ejection fraction using Tc- 99m-DISIDA with fatty meal in order to evaluate the gallbladder motor func tion in diabetic patients and to examine the usefulness of it in analyzing diabetic autonomic neuropathy. METHODS: 51 diabetic patients(males 31, females 18, mean age 57yr(39-77yr)) and 18 control subjects(males 14, females 4, mean aged 47yr(31-70yr)) without gall stone and impaired liver function were enrolled in our study. Also the diabetic patients were categorized by age, disease duration, body weight and diabetic complications such as retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy and cardiovas cular autonomic neuropathy accompanying with or not. RESULTS: 1) Median value and interquartile range of gallbladder ejection fraction(%) were 66%(48-79%) in diabetic pa tients group and 75%(64-80%) in control subjects. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups, but the mean value of diabetic patients was slightly lower than that of control subjects. 2) There was no significant difference between the two groups in mean value of gallbladder ejection fraction in every age group(P>0.05). 3) Median value of gallbladder ejection fraction in diabetic groups with less than 10 years of duration (both under 5 years and 5 to 10 years groups) was similar to that of control subjects. However in patients whose diabetic conditions last more than 10 years, the median range of gallbladder ejection fraction was significantly lower than that of control subjects(p<0.05). 4) Median range of gallbladder ejection fraction in obese diabetic patients group was significant lower than those of control subjects and non-obese diabetic pa tients(p<0.05). 5) Median value of gallbadder was lower in diabetic patients group with complications like retinopathy, periph eral neuropathy or cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (p<0.05) in comparison with those of control subjects and diabetic patients group without diabetic complication (p>0.05). Also seven diabetic patients whose gallbladder ejection fraction was reduced under 35% have had at least two diabetic complications. CONCLUSION: We observed that gallbladder ejection fraction of diabetic patients was reduced compared with that of control subjects. This is due to the reduced gallbladder muscle contractility resulting from diabetic autonomic dysfunction. These results suggest that the assessment of gallbladder ejection fraction using 99m- Tc-DISIDA would be useful to diagnose diabetic auto nomic neropathy.
Body Weight ; Cardiovascular System ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Neuropathies ; Female ; Gallbladder* ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Liver ; Meals ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Urinary Bladder ; Urogenital System

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) provides passive support of gas exchange and perfusion, allowing the use of other methods of care for organ recovery, and saves lives of patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure in a wide variety of clinical settings with a minimal risk of bleeding and need for chest reexploration. We summarized a single center's experiences with PCPS in patients with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest due to the ischemic heart disease. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Among the 20 consecutive patients with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest from May 1999 to June 2005, Biopump(r) (Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) was used in 7 patients and the self-priming, heparin-coated circuit of EBS(r) (Terumo, Japan) was applied to remaining 13 patients. Most of cannulations were performed percutaneously via femoral arteries and veins. The long venous cannulas of DLP(r) (Medtronic inc. Minneapolis, MN) or the RMI(r) (Edwards's lifescience LLC, Irvine, CA) were used with the arterial cannulae from 17 Fr to 21 Fr and the venous cannula from 21 Fr to 28 Fr. RESULT: The 20 consecutive patients who were severely compromised and received PCPS for the purpose of resuscitation were comprised of 13 cardiac arrests and 7 cardiogenic shocks in which by-pass surgery was performed in 11 patients and 9 ongoing PCIs under the cardiopulmonary support. The mean support time on the PCPS was 38+/-42 hours. Of the 20 patients implanted with PCPS, 11 patients (55%) have had the PCPS removed successfully; overall, 8 of these patients (40%) were discharged from the hospital in an average surviving time for 27+/-17 days after removing the PCPS and survived well with 31+/-30 months of follow-up after the procedure. CONCLUSION: The use of PCPS appears to provide the hemodynamic restoration, allowing the survival of patients in cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock who would otherwise not survive, and patients receiving PCPS had a relatively long-term survival.
Catheterization ; Catheters ; Emergencies* ; Femoral Artery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Arrest* ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Perfusion ; Resuscitation ; Shock, Cardiogenic* ; Thorax ; Veins

No abstract available.
Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Head* ; Humans ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the efficacy and computed tomography(CT) findings of renal artery embolization with using a mixture of Histoacryl(R) and lipiodol in rabbit depending on the mixture proportions and the temporal course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen rabbits were equally divided into two groups: group A received a 1:3 mixture and group B received a 1:5 mixture of Histoacryl(R) and lipiodol. We subdivided each group as follows: the 1-day group, the 10-day group and the 20-day group according to the elapsed days after embolization, respectively. As a result, the experimental groups were composed of six subgroups. Afterright renal artery embolizations, plain abdominal radiographs were obtained from all the rabbits. On the first day, the 10th day and the 20th day after embolization, abdominal CT was performed in each subgroup. RESULTS: On the post-embolization radiographs, the embolic casts were formed only at the main or segmental renal arteries in 7 cases of group A. On the other hand, the embolic casts were formed at the entire arterial trees in two cases of group A and all the cases of group B. On the pre- contrast-enhanced CT scans, there were radiopaque densities of embolic casts, residual lipiodol flecks and calcifications in the embolized kidneys. On the contrast-enhanced CT scans, global perfusion defects of the kidneys were noted in 17 rabbits. The cortical rim signs were noted in all rabbits of the 10-day and 20-day groups, except for one rabbit. CONCLUSIONS: The mixture of Histoacryl(R) and lipiodol is effective for renal artery embolization. The CT findings of the embolized kidneys are characteristic depending on the mixture proportions of the embolic agents and the temporal courses.
Embolization, Therapeutic ; Ethiodized Oil* ; Hand ; Kidney ; Perfusion ; Rabbits ; Renal Artery* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed