In order to observe the development of ventricular arrhythmia during regional myocardial ischemia and reperfusion, especially under the presence or absence of ST-T electrical alternans on epicardial EKG. The proximal left descending coronary artery(LAD) was ligated for 20 minutes and then reperfused suddenly in twenty-three cats. Standard lead EKG(Lead??, chest lead EKG and epicardial lead EKG were recorded simultaneously during the occlusion and reperfusion respectively. During the ligation of LAD, STEA was observed in thirteen cats(56.5%). In occlusion period, the incidence of ventricular tachycardia in STEA positive group was significantly higher than in the negative group(p<0.01) and arrhythmic score was significantly higher(p<0.005) also In the reperfusion period the incidence of vefntricular fibrillation in STEA positive group was significantly higher than in the negative group(p<0.025). But there was the tendency to be higher in arrhythmic score of STEA positive group. There were no differences in heart rate, systolic left ventricular pressure, ST elevation and ST width in both groups. Most forms of ST-T of sinus rhythm before and after development of ventricular premature beat was low form(L). It was concluded that at the presence of STEA on EKG, the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia was more prevalent. So, STEA can be available as a marker of ventricular arrhythmia and prognostic factor.
Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac* ; Cardiac Complexes, Premature ; Cats ; Electrocardiography* ; Heart Rate ; Incidence ; Ligation ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Reperfusion ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Thorax ; Ventricular Pressure

A major problem in the repair of the torn Achilles tendon has been providing the restoration of the anatomic continuity such that virtually normal plantar flexion power and ankle mobility result. Continuity should be restored without subsequent pain, disconfiguration, occupational limitations. If possible, postoperative complications, or tendon-rerupture should be avoided. Surgeons have long advocated the use of strips of facia and other tissues, including the plantaris tendon, to reinforce the repair of the torn Achilles tendon, The repair effected by these methods not infrequently is bulky and not too secure. Non-absorbable suture materials utilizing in the end to end anastomosis of the torn Achilles tendon cause sinus formation and discharge of suture materials. A secure method of repair for the tom Achilles tendon, which decreases sinus formation and is not bulky, should be required. The plantaris tendon, which has been used as a reinforcing material, can be utilized in the end-to-end anastomosis of the torn Achilles tendon by detaching from the muculotendinous junction. The 11 patients with the torn Achilles tendon were treated by end-to-end anastomosis using the plantaris tendon as suture material. The postoperative results were staisfactory without significant functional deficit and complication.
Achilles Tendon ; Ankle ; Humans ; Methods ; Postoperative Complications ; Surgeons ; Sutures ; Tendons

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Rheumatic Diseases*

BACKGROUND: It has been known that Ginseng extract causes the hypotensive action while it rather produces the hypertensive action. Some studies have suggested that Ginseng extract causes a biphasic response on blood pressure, namely, transient fall followed by prolonged elevation. It has been also shown that administration of Korean Red Ginseng powder has no effect on blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive rats. The present study was designed to examine the effect of total Ginseng saponin on contractile responses of vasoconstrictors in the rat aorta and to establish the mechanism of its action. METHODS: The ring segment of aorta was mounted in a muscle bath filled with oxygenated Krebs solution for the measurement of isometric tension. After the equilibration period, under the presence of total Ginseng saponin, isometric tension induced by some vasoconstrictors were observed and compared to the control responses. The data were expressed as % of the control tension. RESULTS: Phenylephrine (an adrenergic alpha1-receptor agonist) and high potassium (a membrane depolarizing agent) caused greatly contractile responses in the rat aorta, respectively. However, in the presence of total ginseng saponin (600 g/ml), the contractile responses of phenylephrine (10(-6) and 10(-5) M) and high potassium (3.5 x 10(-2) and 5.6 x 10(-2) M) were markedly potentiated whereas prostglandin F2alpha(5 x 10(-6) M)-induced contractile responses was not affected. The contractile responses induced by phenylephrine (10(-5) M) and high potassium (3.5 x 10(-2) M) even under the presence of total ginseng saponin (600 g/ml) were greatly inhibited by the pretreatment of nicardipine (10(-6) M), a calcium channel blocker. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these experimental results suggest that total ginseng saponin can enhance the contractile responses evoked by stimulation of adrenergic alpha1-receptor and the membrane depolarization in the isolated rat aortic strips, which seems to be associated to calcium influx.
Animals ; Aorta* ; Baths ; Blood Pressure ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels ; Membranes ; Nicardipine ; Oxygen ; Panax* ; Phenylephrine ; Potassium ; Rats* ; Saponins* ; Vasoconstriction ; Vasoconstrictor Agents*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Rectal carcinoid tumors can be resected with endoscopy, and it is important to assess their prognostic factors. We evaluated the potential of Ki-67 expression as a prognostic factor in rectal carcinoid tumors. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 37 patients with rectal carcinoid tumors who got endoscopic resection from January 2001 to January 2011 at Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital. We analyzed their endoscopic and histologic findings, Ki-67 expression, clinical outcome, and prognosis. RESULTS: The mean age (+/-SD) of the patients was 56.3+/-10.7 years, and the male : female ratio was 3.6:1. The mean tumor size was 0.5+/-0.4 cm, 33 patients showed grade 1 tumors (89.2%) and the average Ki-67 expression was 0.7+/-1.2%. Thirty five patients underwent endoscopic mucosal resection, and two required endoscopic submucosal dissection. Eight patients had positive margins after resection, but no cases of lymphovascular invasion were identified. The median follow-up duration was 21.4+/-25.4 months, and no recurrences were observed. CONCLUSIONS: In low grade rectal carcinoid tumors which are lack of central depression on colonoscopy, the expression of a molecular marker of malignant potential, Ki-67, was low. Therefore, endoscopic resection seemed to be a safe and effective treatment for these tumors.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Carcinoid Tumor/*diagnosis/metabolism/pathology ; Colonoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Ki-67 Antigen/*metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Rectal Neoplasms/*diagnosis/metabolism/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Factors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: QT dispersion (QTd) represents the inhomogeneity of ventricular repolarization and has been suggested to predict ventricular arrhythmia in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study investigates the short-term effect of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) on QTd in patients with CAD and no history of previous myocardial infarct. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 84 angina patients (65 men and 19 women, mean age of 58.3+/-9.0 yeras) who underwent successful PTCA of single coronary artery, ECG was checked in baseline, immediate, 1day and 1 month after PTCA. QTd and corrected QTd (c-QTd) were measured in these ECGs by digitizer. RESULTS: PTCA was performed at left anterior descending artery (LAD) in 56, left circumflex artery (LCx) in 12 and right coronary artery (RCA) in 16 patients. Mean and standard error of QTd (c-QTd) at baseline, immediate, 1day and 1month after PTCA was 51.3+/-4.2 (50.7+/-4.1), 54.2+/-4.5 (52.8+/-4.5), 47.7+/-4.3 (48.5+/-4.8) and 36.3+/-4.5 (37.5+/-4.6)msec, respectively. QTd and c-QTd significantly decreased at 1 month following PTCA. The difference was more prominent in pateints with LAD lesion than LCx or RCA lesion and independent of gender, severity of stenosis and use of beta-blockers. CONCLUSION: QTd decreases in CAD patients with no history of myocardial infarct at 1 month following successful PTCA. This may facilitate a favorable recovery from inhomogenous repolarization. These findings call for long-term follow-up of QTd and the incidence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias and sudden death following successful PTCA.
Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Death, Sudden ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Tachycardia

Kaposi's sarcoma is an unusual neoplasm that has proved to be an enigma in many ways since its original description by Kaposi in 1872. Of the several different type of Kaposi's sarcoma, iatrogenically immunosuppressed patients predisposed to Kaposi's sarcoma are usually either transplant recipients or patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy. We report a case of recurrent Kaposi's sarcoma in a 56 year old male, which has occurred during the cyclosporine therapy of kidney transplantation. Cyclosporine was discontinued and chemotherapy began and the resolution of Kaposi's sarcoma has been obtained. Cyclosporine maintenance therapy was started again for the prevention of graft rejection. But 1 year later, Kaposi's sarcoma recurred probably due to re-use of cyclosporine.
Cyclosporine* ; Drug Therapy ; Graft Rejection ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Transplantation

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

Multiplex Ligation dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) to detect large deletions or duplications has been widely used as a diagnostic tool for various disease clinically. As this method requires only a small amount of template DNA and is very simple and high throughput, it has numerous advantages for the analysis of the human specimen obtained from archaeological sites. In this study we therefore tried to perform MLPA analysis for detecting any of duplications or deletions in mummy samples (n=4) from medieval Joseon tombs of Korea. Of them, we could not get any authentic data from 3 samples by MLPA method while only one case (HD2) showed the possible presence of duplications or deletions during her lifetime. Although the current report reveal that MLPA is a promising tool for anthropological study in South Korea, more studies are still needed to make up for the validity problem of commercial MLPA kit used in this study.
DNA ; Humans ; Korea* ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Mummies

PURPOSE: In comminuted intertrochanteric fractures, various operative options have been introduced. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were differences in clinical and radiologic outcomes among bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BH), compression hip screw (CHS) and proximal femur nail antirotation (PFNA) in treating comminuted intertrochanteric fractures (AO/OTA classification, A2 [22, 23]) MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated total 150 patients (BH, 50; CHS, 50; PFNA, 50) who were operated due to intertrochanteric fractures from March 2010 to December 2012 and were older than 65 years at the time of surgery. We compared these three groups for radiologic and clinical outcomes at 12 months postoperatively, including Harris Hip Score, mobility (Koval stage), visual analogue scale and radiologic limb length discrepancy (shortening). RESULTS: There was no statistical significance among three groups in clinical outcomes including Harris Hip Score, mobility (Koval stage), visual analogue scale. However, there was significant differences in radiologic limb discrepancy in plain radiographs at 12 months postoperatively (radiologic shortening: BH, 2.3 mm; CHS, 5.1 mm; PFNA, 3.0 mm; P=0.000). CONCLUSION: There were no clinical differences among BH, PFNA, and CHS in this study. However, notable limb length shortening could be originated during fracture healing in osteosynthesis, compared to arthroplasty (BH Arthroplasty ; Classification ; Extremities ; Femur* ; Fracture Healing ; Hemiarthroplasty* ; Hip Fractures* ; Hip* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies