PURPOSE: To compare the characteristic MR findings of infectious sacroiliitis (IS) and ankylosing spondylitis(AS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed MR findings in eight patients with IS (pyogenic in six, tuberculosis in two) confirmed by culture and clinical follow-up, and in six with AS by HLA-B27 typing. A control group of 13 asymptomatic volunteers was formed, and they underwent MRI. Findings were analysed for morphology, degree of bone erosion, and adjacent soft tissue change. CT findings of AS in four patients and IS in four were also compared to MR findings. RESULTS: MR characteristics of IS included unilaterality (100 %), abnormal cartilage signal intensity (100 %), bone marrow change (100 %), contrast enhancement (100 %), erosion (63 %), and soft tissue change (63 %). MR findings of AS showed bilaterality (67 %), abnormal cartilage signal intensity (80%), bone marrow change (80 %), erosion (80 %), contrast enhancement (44 %) and soft tissue change (10 %). CT scan showed bony sclerosis and erosion (86 %), and abnormal joint space (71 %). CONCLUSION: MR findings of sacroiliitis were loss of thin zone of a cartilage and erosions on T1-weighted image, and increased signal intensity on T2-weighted image. MRI is regarded as a useful diagnostic method where conventional diagnosis is difficult, and is able to image cartilage abnormalities directly and noninvasively. Significant differences in MR findings between IS and AS were not noted, however.
Arthritis ; Bone Marrow ; Cartilage ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Joints ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sacroiliac Joint ; Sacroiliitis* ; Sclerosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis ; Volunteers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether co-culture of oocytes on vero cell monolayers from Day 0 (Day 0 group) after egg retrieval results in an increase in developmental capacity such as fertilization rate, embryo quality, blastulation and clinical pregnancy rate compared with co-culture of oocytes from Day 1 (Day 1 group). METHODS: Sperms were treated with Hams F-10 supplemented with 10% human follicular fluid (hFF). Vero cells for co-culture were prepared in TCM-199 with 10% FBS. Oocytes were co-cultured from Day 0 and fertilized oocytes were co-cultured from Day 1 on vero cell monolayers in DMEM with 10% and 20% hFF, respectively after egg retrieval. On day 1, 2 and 5, fertilization rate and grade of embryos and blastocysts were evaluated. Results (fertilization rate, cleavage rate, grade of embryos and blastocysts and pregnancy rate) were considered statistically significant when p value was less than 0.05 using t-test and ci2. RESULTS: In sibling oocytes of same cycles, no differences were found in fertilization rate (94.6 vs. 91.4%), cleavage rates (94.6 vs. 91.4%), embryo grade (on day 2 and 3) and blastulation (65.6 vs. 57.0%) and their grade. In different oocytes of different cycles (patients), no differences were found in fertilization (79.8 vs. 78.3%), cleavage rates (77.7 vs. 76.4%) and blastulation (56.0 vs. 45.3%), but pregnancy rate was higher in the Day 0 group than in the Day 1 group (60.0 vs. 42.9%). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the embryonic development capacities were not affected by the different co-culture time in the sibling oocytes of same cycles. Although no statistical significance, because of small size of study, there was a trend for higher pregnancy rates in Day 0 group compared to Day 1 group in different oocytes of different cycles.
Blastocyst ; Coculture Techniques* ; Embryonic Development* ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Follicular Fluid ; Humans ; Oocytes* ; Ovum ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Siblings ; Spermatozoa ; Vero Cells

PURPOSE: Diallyl disulfide (DADS), an organosulfur compound in garlic, has been reported to be effective in inhibiting the growth of several human tumor cell lines. The aim of this study was to determine whether DADS induced growth inhibition in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines and to understand the molecular mechanism by which DADS acts. METHODS: MCF-7 cell lines were incubated with various concentrations of DADS for various time intervals and the cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay. We examined the changes of intracellular proteins related to apoptosis, such as bcl-2, bax and PARP in cells treated with DADS. To study the expression level of bcl-2 and bax, which serve as modulators of apoptosis, we performed RT-PCR and western blot analysis. RESULTS: MCF-7 cells treated with DADS led to the suppression of viability and proliferation in both a time and concentration dependent manner. Microscopic observation revealed typical features of apoptosis in the DADS-treated cells, further verified in nuclear DAPI staining. Flow cyto-metry analysis with FITC-annexinV and propidium iodide (PI) demonstrated that the apoptotic cell population with AnnexinV+/PI- increased dramatically from ~0.8% to ~75% after 24h exposure to 500 microM DADS in MCF-7 cells. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated that the number of apoptotic cells increased with the increasing time of the DADS treatment. Additionally, thermore, we investigated the effects of DADS on apoptosis related gene expression in MCF-7 cells. PARP cleavage was markedly increased in the DADS treated cells with time. This result indicated that DADS induced the caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway. We also found down-regulation of bcl-2, however no significant change of Bax expression was observed after DADS treatment. Conclusion: Taken together, these results indicate that DADS induces apoptosis by activating a caspase pathway involving the activation of Bcl-2 but not of Bax. Our findings suggest chemotherapeutic potentials of DADS in human breast cancer.
Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Down-Regulation ; Garlic* ; Gene Expression ; Humans* ; MCF-7 Cells ; Propidium

OBJECTIVES: Urinary hippuric acid levels have been usually determined to ' evaluate workers exposed to toluene. Food and drink intake could affect urinary hippuric acid excretion and this study was carried out to investigate what kinds of food and drink would affect urinary hippuric acid excretion. METHODS: The subjects were 136 medical school students. Authors measured urinary hippuric acid levels three times from 10 a. m. to noon; before, one hour after and two hours after food or drink-intake, and they were asked not to eat from the previous night (9 p. m) of testing. We selected six diets (bread and coffee, brown sauce noodle, Korean style meal, noodle, pork'galbi and rice and soybean stew and rice), six fruits (apple, grape, orange, pear, persimmon and plum) and five beverages (Alps-D(R), Demisoda(R), Orange juice(R), Pear juice(R) and Pocari sweat(R)). Analysis of urinary hippuric acid was performed by high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Intake of popular Korean diets, fruits and some drinks didn' t affect urinary hippuric acid excretion. But intake of sodium benzoate-contained Alps-D(R) increased urinary hippuric acid excretion. CONCLUSIONS: For the health examination on workers exposed to toluene, the history of diet and fruit intake can be negligible, but that of beverage intake should be included.
Beverages ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Citrus sinensis ; Coffee ; Diet ; Diospyros ; Fruit ; Humans ; Meals ; Pyrus ; Schools, Medical ; Sodium ; Soybeans ; Toluene ; Vitis

Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath(GCTTS) is a benign condition which involves the synovium of the tendonsheaths, and usually occurs around the small joints, e. g. the ankle, knee, and wrist. Histologically, GCTTS is similar to pigmented villonodular synovitis(PVNS). The authors report MRI findings of a GCTTS. This showed lower signal-intensity lesions than adjacent muscles on T1-weighted, proton density weighted, and T2-weighted images.
Ankle ; Foot* ; Giant Cell Tumors* ; Giant Cells* ; Joints ; Knee ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscles ; Protons ; Synovial Membrane ; Tendons* ; Wrist

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans

PURPOSE: Administration of antiretroviral drugs to mothers and infants significantly decreases mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission; cesarean sections and discouraging breastfeeding further decreases this risk. The present study confirmed the HIV status of babies born to mothers infected with HIV and describes the characteristics of babies and mothers who received preventive treatment. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed medical records of nine infants and their mothers positive for HIV who gave birth at Korea University Ansan Hospital, between June 1, 2003, and May 31, 2013. Maternal parameters, including HIV diagnosis date, CD4+ count, and HIV ribonucleic acid (RNA) copy number, were analyzed. Infant growth and development, HIV RNA copy number, and HIV antigen/antibody test results were analyzed. RESULTS: Eight HIV-positive mothers delivered nine babies; all the infants received antiretroviral therapy. Three (37.5%) and five mothers (62.5%) were administered single- and multidrug therapy, respectively. Intravenous zidovudine was administered to four infants (50%) at birth. Breastfeeding was discouraged for all the infants. All the infants were negative for HIV, although two were lost to follow-up. Third trimester maternal viral copy numbers were less than 1,000 copies/mL with a median CD4+ count of 325/microL (92-729/microL). Among the nine infants, two were preterm (22.2%) and three had low birth weights (33.3%). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that prophylactic antiretroviral therapy, scheduled cesarean section, and prohibition of breastfeeding considerably decrease mother-to-child HIV transmission. Because the number of infants infected via mother-to-child transmission may be increasing, studies in additional regions using more variables are necessary.
Breast Feeding ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Cesarean Section ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Growth and Development ; Gyeonggi-do ; HIV Infections ; HIV* ; Hospitals, Teaching* ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical ; Korea ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Medical Records ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Postnatal Care ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA ; Zidovudine

BACKGROUND: Anaphylaxis is a systematic allergic reaction, which may be fatal. However, despite its seriousness, its low level of incidence has prevented in depth studies. Thus, we analyzed the causes of anaphylactic shock in patients admitted in a tertiary hospital, observed its clinical symptoms, and formed a basis for adequate emergency treatment, as well preventive methods. METHODS: The patients who visited Ajou university hospitals from June 1994 to May 2000(7 years) and who met the 1974 JAMA definition were selected for this retrospective study. The analysis of causative agents was made on the basis of clinical symptoms and the patients' chief complaints at the time of admission. Patients diagnosed with anaphylactic shock included those showing at least two types of IgEmediated symptoms; and those with a simple rash or breathing difficulties were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Of 36 patients, 22 were male and 14 female, Those below the age of 20 comprised 16.7% of the patients(6 patients), between 20 and 29 comprised 16.7%(6 patients), 30 and 39 comprised 25%(9 patients), 40 and 49 comprised 27.8%(10 patients), over 50 comprised 14%(5 patients). The overall percentage show 70% of the patients in active adult age group. Rash was the most common clinical symptoms(89%, 32 patients) and hypotension the second(75%, 27 patients), followed by respiratory distress, fainting, and arrhythmia. Causative agents were insect bites, including bee stings(15 patients), medication(12 patients), food(8 patients), and unknown(1 patients). Nine(9) of the 36 case, were diagnosed as having an atopic origin. CONCLUSION: Bee sting was the single most common cause in the insect criteria while penicillin and NSAIDs accounted for most of medication-induced cases. Food showed a varied distribution. An atopic origin was not a basis for anaphylactic shock, but did show a two-fold increase of prevalence. This study is the first of its kind in addressing anaphylactic shock, a potentially severe illness, over a period of 7 years.
Adult ; Anaphylaxis* ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bees ; Bites and Stings ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Emergency Treatment ; Exanthema ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Insect Bites and Stings ; Insects ; Male ; Penicillins ; Prevalence ; Respiration ; Retrospective Studies ; Syncope ; Tertiary Care Centers*

BACKGROUND: The accurate staging of patients with breast cancer is essential to its management and prognosis. Sentinel node biopsy appears to offer an alternative to routine axillary lymph node dissection for staging breast cancer patients. Current method of routine histopathologic analysis of dissected lymph nodes may be inadequate because up to 30% of patients free of lymph node metastases develop a relapse in 5 to 10 years. Recently, the development of amplification of MUC1 mRNA and keratin 19 mRNA by RT-PCR for detection of micrometastases in breast cancer has been shown to be a sensitive and useful diagnostic method. This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of MUC1 mRNA and keratin 19 mRNA markers by RT-PCR to detect micrometastases in frozen sections of sentinel lymph nodes from breast cancer patients and to identify which histopathologic prognostic factors were related to RT-PCR detected micrometastases. METHODS: The incidence of axillary micrometastases in 15 sentinel lymph node specimens from 15 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery with sentinel lymphadenectomy was from June 1999 to July 1999 was studied. Complete axillary dissection was made in all of the patients. Each sentinel lymph node specimen was examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemical cyto keratin (IHC) staining and RT-PCR on adjacent sections to determine the expression of the mRNA tumor marker of MUC1 and keratin 19. All of the dissected lymph nodes were examined by serial sectioning. RESULTS: Fourteen out of 15 sentinel lymph nodes were histologically negative in usual H&E staining. Serial sectioning, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for cytokeratin demonstrated micrometastases in one, two histologically negative sentinel nodes, respectively, and MUC1 mRNA was detected in all of them. Of the 12 sentinel lymph nodes that were diagnosed to be devoid of micrometastases by IHCand serial sectioning, MUC1 mRNA was expressed in 6 nodes, indicating the presence of micrometastases. Micrometastases detected by RT-PCR were significantly correlated with tumor size, expression of p53 and negative PR in conventionally lymph node-negative staged patients. CONCLUSION: The MUC1 mRNA RT-PCR was more sensitive than immunohistochemistry and serial sectioning for the detection of micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes, but keratin 19 was not specific. Sentinel lymph node biopsy with RT-PCR is a more useful means of detecting micrometastases and may have a role in identifying a group of patients who will benefit from earlier adjuvant chemotherapy, but the prognostic significance must be determined after a longer follow-up.
Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Frozen Sections ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Incidence ; Keratin-19 ; Keratins ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis* ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; RNA, Messenger ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the clinical utility of performing bilateral whole breast US as a subsequent diagnostic method along with mammography in asymptomatic women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2002 to Dec 2004, we conducted 3998 examinations on 3638 patients with negative findings on the clinical examination and negative mammographic results, and those breast tissues having a BI-RADS category 2, 3, or 4 density were further evaluated by performing bilateral whole breast US. The patients' age distribution ranged from 24 to 66 years (mean age: 43.6 yrs). The abnormalities were compared with core or vacuum assisted core biopsy, operations, and follow up US. For the normal cases, we used the clinical notes and the statistical data from the Korean Central Cancer Registry. RESULTS: For 3998 examinations of 3638 women who were examined with bilateral whole breast US, pathologic confirmations were available for 433 patients and follow-up data were available for 35 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, the positive predictive value and the cancer detection rate of using additional whole breast US were 50, 92.6, 0.6 and 0.5, respectively. The two cancers that were detected only on US were minimal breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Although all the breast cancers that were detected only on US were minimal breast cancers, performing bilateral whole breast US revealed a low cancer detection rate and a high false positive. Therefore, further studies will be needed to investigate the role of US as a screening tool.
Age Distribution ; Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mammography ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vacuum