No abstract available.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Rheumatic Diseases*

OBJECTIVE: Excessive external rotation of the hemiplegic foot is a common problem of hemiplegic gait. There has been a few report on etiological investigation and corrective measurement of an excessive external rotation of hemiplegic foot. Thus we present a newly designed Torque heel to correct the external rotation of hemiplegic foot. METHOD: Ten hemiparetic patients with an excessive external rotation of affected foot participated in this study. All of the participants were able to walk at least 10 meters with metal a ankle foot orthosis (AFO) using a single cane. Each of these patients was placed on four tries of walk: (1) on a bare foot; (2) with an AFO; (3) with an AFO and a quarter inch of lateral wedge; and (4) with an AFO and the Torque heel . Gait patterns were analysed by the Vicon 370, three dimensional motion analyser. RESULTS: The speed and stride length increased in all tries except for the bare foot walk. Those who walked with the assistive devices showed no difference in the speed and stride length. All the participants showed an increased in external rotation of pelvis and ankle. Those who walked with an AFO and Torque heel presented a decrease in the external rotation of foot and pelvis. The hip and ankle motions of the hemiplegic limbs were not affected with the AFO and Torque heel . A significant degree of correction in pelvic rotation with an AFO and Torque heel was noted. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that an AFO with Torque heel is beneficial to the correction of external rotation of a hemiplegic foot. And the excessive external rotation of hemiplegic foot may be due possibly to the external rotation of pelvis.
Ankle ; Canes ; Extremities ; Foot Orthoses ; Foot* ; Gait Disorders, Neurologic ; Gait* ; Heel* ; Hip ; Humans ; Pelvis ; Self-Help Devices ; Torque*

New surgical techniques utilizing computer-aided engineering have been recently developed to improve the quality of surgery and reduce the risk to patients. This paper reports the surgical cases using rapid prototyping assisted orthopeadic fracture surgery (RPAOFS). RPAOFS utilizes the symmetric characteristics of the human body, and the potential for RE and RP in which the physical shape is manufactured repidly from the CT data. The physical shape before the injury was manufactured from the RP using the mirror transformed CAD data of the uninjured extents. Subsequently, pre-operative planning, such as the selection of the proper implant, preforming of the implant, selection of the fixation positions, and surgery are performed utilizing the physical shape. RPAOFS was applied to two cases such as a distal tibia communited fracture and a proximal tibia plateau fracture. The surgical results showed that RPAOFS is an effective surgical tools.
Human Body ; Humans ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted ; Tibia

No abstract available.
Antibodies, Antiphospholipid* ; Rheumatic Diseases*

Krukenberg tumor of the primary breast carcinoma is rare and this is almost invasive lobular carcinoma. They are usually bilateral and frequent in premenopausal women. Diagnosis of symptomatic Krukenberg tumor is reported to be 1 or 2 year after the diagnosis of primary neoplasm. But sometimes it is discovered prior to the detection of the primary breast carcinoma. Unexpected ovarian micrometastasis was recognized after oophorectomy of normally appearing ovaries in breast cancer patients. Existence of Krukenberg tumor means advanced primary disease and possible metastasis to other organs, and have a poorer prognosis. We report a case of Krukenberg tumors occurred 3 years after the diagnosis of primary ductal type breast carcinoma.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Krukenberg Tumor* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; Ovariectomy ; Ovary* ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: To identify fetal gender using fetal DNA in maternal plasma. METHODS: DNA from maternal plasma of 55 pregnant women(47: inpatients, 8: outpatients) underwent a sensitive Y-PCR assay to identify gender. RESULTS: Of the inpatients, fetus-derived Y sequences were detected in 26(80.6%) of the 31 maternal plasma samples from women bearing male fetuses. None of the 16 women bearing female fetuses had positive results from plasma DNA. Eighteen weeks is earliest gestation of gender identification. Of the outpatients(GA 8-11 weeks), fetus-derived Y sequences were detected in 7 of the 8 maternal plasma. Only one patient's fetal gender(GA 9 weeks) was identified. The others were not identified at this moment. CONCLUSION: We identified fetal DNA in maternal plasma. The sensitivity of Y-PCR was 80.6% in women bearing male fetus and the specificity was 100% in women bearing female fetus.
DNA* ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Male ; Plasma* ; Pregnancy ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a life-threatening disease. Many patients with ARDS do not recover fully, and progress to terminal lung fibrosis. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor is known to modulate the neurohormonal system to reduce inflammation and to prevent tissue fibrosis. However, the role of ACE inhibitor in the lungs is not well understood. We therefore conducted this study to elucidate the effect of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockage on the prognosis of patients with ARDS. METHODS: We analyzed medical records of patients who were admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) at a tertiary care hospital from January 2005 to December 2010. ARDS was determined using the Berlin definition. The primary outcome was the mortality rate of ICU. Survival analysis was performed after adjustment using propensity score matching. RESULTS: A total of 182 patients were included in the study. Thirty-seven patients (20.3%) took ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) during ICU admission, and 145 (79.7%) did not; both groups showed similar severity scores. In the ICU, mortality was 45.9% in the RAS inhibitor group and 58.6% in the non-RAS inhibitor group (P = 0.166). The RAS inhibitor group required a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (29.5 vs. 19.5, P = 0.013) and longer ICU stay (32.1 vs. 20.2 days, P < 0.001). In survival analysis, the RAS inhibitor group showed better survival rates than the non-RAS group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ACE inhibitor or ARB may have beneficial effect on ARDS patients.
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; Angiotensins ; Berlin ; Case-Control Studies* ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intensive Care Units ; Lung ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Propensity Score ; Renin-Angiotensin System* ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult* ; Retrospective Studies* ; Survival Rate ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: To identify prognostic factors for disease progression and survival of patients with extracranial oligometastatic breast cancer (EOMBC), and to investigate the role of radiation therapy (RT) for metastatic lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 50 patients who had been diagnosed with EOMBC following standard treatment for primary breast cancer initially, and received RT for metastatic lesions, with or without other systemic therapy between January 2004 and December 2008. EOMBC was defined as breast cancer with five or less metastases involving any organs except the brain. All patients had bone metastasis (BM) and seven patients had pulmonary, hepatic, or lymph node metastasis. Median RT dose applied to metastatic lesions was 30 Gy (range, 20 to 60 Gy). RESULTS: The 5-year tumor local control (LC) and 3-year distant progression-free survival (DPFS) rate were 66.1% and 36.8%, respectively. High RT dose (> or =50 Gy10) was significantly associated with improved LC. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 49%. Positive hormone receptor status, pathologic nodal stage of primary cancer, solitary BM, and whole-lesion RT (WLRT), defined as RT whose field encompassed entire extent of disease, were associated with better survival. On analysis for subgroup of solitary BM, high RT dose was significantly associated with improved LC and DPFS, shorter metastasis-to-RT interval (< or =1 month) with improved DPFS, and WLRT with improved DPFS and OS, respectively. CONCLUSION: High-dose RT in solitary BM status and WLRT have the potential to improve the progression-free survival and OS of patients with EOMBC.
Brain ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Disease Progression ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate both the psychosocial and physical effects of muscle strengthening exercise on farmers, and in so doing evaluate their effect on musculoskeletal disorders in farmers. METHODS: 28 subjects participated in our muscle strengthening exercise program. Mean age of subjects was 63+/-13 years. The exercise program was performed 3 times a week during the 8 week studys period. Before and after training various measurements were made: self esteem scale (SES), psychosocial wellbeing index short form (PWI-SF), static and dynamic balance ability, grip strength, arm curl, time up and go (TUG), functional reach, and oswestry disability index. RESULTS: The muscle strengthening exercise program increased the self-esteem, grip strength and static and dynamic balance of subjects, while psychosocial stress and low back pain levels were decreased significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The muscle strengthening exercise improved psychosocial and physical status of test subjects. Thus, exercise may be an effective strategy for enhancing the psychosocial and physical health of farmers.
Agriculture ; Arm ; Hand Strength ; Low Back Pain ; Muscles ; Self Concept