No abstract available.
Anus, Imperforate* ; Bronchi* ; Esophageal Atresia*

No abstract available.

This study was conducted to determine whether serum adipokine concentrations differed between healthy dogs and dogs with diabetes mellitus (DM). To accomplish this, 19 dogs with newly diagnosed DM were compared to 20 otherwise healthy dogs. The serum concentrations of visfatin, leptin, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-18, and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in diabetic dogs than in healthy dogs, whereas the serum adiponectin concentrations were lower in diabetic dogs. However, there were no significant differences in the IL-10 and resistin levels between groups. The serum leptin concentrations in diabetic dogs with and without concurrent disorders differed significantly. Treatment with insulin induced a significant decrease in IL-6 in diabetic dogs without concurrent disorders. These results show that the clinical diabetic state of dogs could modulate the circulating visfatin and adiponectin concentrations directly, while upregulation of leptin was probably a result of concurrent disorders rather than an effect of persistent hyperglycemia as a result of DM.
Adipokines/*blood ; Animals ; Case-Control Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*blood/etiology ; Dogs ; Female ; Male ; Pilot Projects ; Prospective Studies

BACKGROUND: An epidural test dose containing epinephrine may be incomplete marker of incidental intravenous injection or migration of the epidural catheter in adult patients under general anesthesia. This study tests the hypothesis that the efficacy of simulated epidural test doses in anesthetized adult can be used to predict the adequacy of correct catheter placement. METHODS: Seventy-five healthy adult patients were randomly assigned to inject intravenously one of 5 solutions, either 2% lidocaine 3ml and epinephrine 15 microgram(Group E15, n=15) or epinephrine 20 microgram (Group E20. n=15) or isoproterenol 3microgram (Group I3, n=15) or isoproterenol 5microgram (Group I5, n=15) and 0.9% saline(Group NS, n=15), which was anesthetized with isoflurane and nitrous oxide. After the injection, a blinded observer recorded systolic blood pressure(SBP) and heart rate(HR) every 30seconds for 4minutes and the changes were analyzed. RESULTS: Although none in the saline group developed a HR increase> or20bpm, 6, 10, 12 and 15 patients elicited positive reponses in group E15, I3, E20, and I5(40%, 67%, 80% and 100% sensitivities), respectively. Meanwhile, none in the saline group developed a SBP increase> or15mmHg and 11, 1, 14 and 4 patients elicited positive reponses in E15, I3, E20, and I5(73%, 7%, 93% and 27% sensitivities), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that under isoflurane anesthesia, (a) epinephrine 15 microgram or isoproterenol 3microgram is not reliable marker for incidental intravenous injection or migration of the epidural catheter, (b) epinephrine 20 microgram is applicable on SBP criterion and, (c) isoproterenol 5 microgram is applicable on HR criterion.
Adult* ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Catheters ; Epinephrine ; Heart ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Isoflurane ; Isoproterenol ; Lidocaine ; Nitrous Oxide

BACKGROUND: From our clinical experiences, there are some problems with a paratracheal stellate ganglion block at the 6th cervical level e.g. small changes in blood flow to the upper extremities and more difficulty in differentiating sympathetically-maintained pain from neuropathic pain. This study compared the effectiveness of the classic injection technique and the modified injection technique in paratracheal stellate ganglion block at the 6th cervical level. METHODS: Forty patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. In Group I, the patients underwent a paratracheal stellate ganglion block at the 6th cervical level with 1% mepivacaine 6 ml using the classic injection technique. In Group II, the patients underwent a paratracheal stellate ganglion block at the 6th cervical level with 1% mepivacaine 6 ml using the modified injection technique by applying strong pressure to the cephalad portion of the needle entry point. The skin temperature of the first finger was measured before and after the stellate ganglion block, and the warm sensation on the face and upper extremities, hoarseness and upper extremity paralysis were examined. RESULTS: The increase in skin temperature of the first finger after the procedure was 0.26 +/- 0.22 degrees C in Group I and 0.84 +/- 0.63 degrees C in Group II, which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the warm sensation on the face and upper extremities, hoarseness and upper extremity paralysis between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The modified injection technique is more effective in the sympathetic block on the upper extremities than the classic injection technique.
Fingers ; Hoarseness ; Humans ; Mepivacaine ; Needles ; Neuralgia ; Paralysis ; Sensation ; Skin Temperature ; Stellate Ganglion* ; Upper Extremity*

BACKGROUND: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the second most common disease with autosomal recessive mode of inheritance in children and characterized by degeneration of anterior horn cells of the spinal cord resulting in weakness and wasting of voluntary muscles. This disease is caused by deletion of many candidate genes including SMN, p44, NAIP on chromosome 5q11.2-13.3. Although molecular characteristics of candidate genes were identified, genotype-phenotype correlation has not been clearly elucidated yet. Nevertheless, gene conversion, previously described as simply as gene deletion, appears to be very important mechanism as a molecular pathogenesis, and even makes more difficult to pursue the correlation. PURPOSE: This study was aimed to define the correlation between genotype and phenotype of SMA in Korean patients. The significance of SMN gene as well as NAIP gene, p44 gene in the progress of disease process and phenotypic correlation with gene conversion was evaluated. This study was also undertaken to determine the frequency of gene rearrangements in normal population. METHOD: Eight type I SMA patients and two type II SMA patients were studied. SMN, NAIP, and p44 gene deletion were analyzed by PCR amplification and restriction enzyme digestion with DraI, DdeI and AluI, respectively. p44 gene was also analyzed by SSCP. Gene conversion was defined by centromeric and telomeric SMN gene exon 7 to exon 8 PCR amplification followed by DdeI restiction enzyme digestion. RESULT: 1) Five of eight type I patients showed deletion of SMN, NAIP and p44 gene, while the rest of type 1 and all type II patients showed deletion of SMN gene only. 2) We examined SMN and NAIP gene deletion on 100 normal newborns, which showed the deletion of centromeric SMN gene in two newborns, the relative frequency of 2% in gene rearrangement. 3) There was one case of type I SMA showing deletion of telomeric SMN exon 7 but not SMN exon 8 suggestive of gene conversion occurred during the recombination as a molecular pathogenesis. CONCLUSION: The major deletion of SMA candidate genes, SMN, NAIP, and p44 gene appear to be involved in severe phenotype since these three candidate genes deletion were noted only in type 1 cases. However, SMN gene deletion only identified both in type 1 and type 2 explains that SMN gene may plan an major role in the pathogenesis of SMA and also suggests that other factors may be affecting the severity in spinal muscular atrophy. One patient with type I which showed the conversion of the centromeric SMN gene to the teleomeric gene strongly supports that SMN gene copy number may not be correlated with the severity in SMA. Our molecular findings suggest that phenotype is not clearly correlated with genotype. Prenatal screening should be carefully undertaken to interpretate because of high frequency of gene rearrangements in normal populations.
Anterior Horn Cells ; Child ; Digestion ; Exons ; Gene Conversion ; Gene Deletion ; Gene Dosage ; Gene Rearrangement ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genotype* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscular Atrophy, Spinal* ; Phenotype* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Recombination, Genetic ; Spinal Cord ; Wills

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of minilaparotomy total hysterectomy compared with other methods of hysterectomy ever used. METHODS: Data of 300 women who had been done hysterectomy due to benign gynecologic disease were used for this thesis. Minilaparotomy hysterectomy was done for 40 women, classical transabdominal hysterectomy for 186 women, laparoscopic assisted vaginal total hysterectomy for 28 women and vaginal total hysterectomy for 46 women. Women's clinical data and clinical outcome were compared using Excel and SPSS. RESULTS: Minilaparotomy hysterectomy has no limitation in choosing patient and adnexal surgery like classical transabdominal hysterectomy, and postoperative clinical course is so rapid similar with laparosocopic assisted vaginal total hysterectomy. CONCLUSION: Minilaparotomy hysterecomy is good choice for treatment of benign gynecologic disease.
Female ; Genital Diseases, Female* ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Laparotomy

PURPOSE: Wilson's disease is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by copper accumulation in the liver, brain, and other organs due to defected copper metabolism. The incidence of Wilson's disease is approximately one in 30,000 population in the world, more common than phenylketonuria in Korea. The early diagnosis or presymptomatic diagnosis of Wilson's disease is critical in order for them to live a normal life. However, unfortunately, there are no commercial kits available for Wilson's disease screening in the world yet. METHODS: We developed a mass-screening kit for the purpose of early diagnosis and prevention of Wilson's disease using sandwich ELISA method. This kit can handle a large number of samples at the same time by using filter paper as in newborn screening. Using the polyclonal or monoclonal anti-ceruloplasmin antibodies, this kit determines the plasma ceruloplasmin levels-one of the main markers for Wilson's disease. RESULTS: The plasma levels of the ceruloplasmin were considerably lower in the Wilson's disease (4.5+/-1.6 mg/dL) group compared to normal controls(22.1+/-1.4 mg/dL), sufficient to be used for mass screening. In addition, the results using this screening kit showed 100% positive and negative concordance rates with the test results obtained from immuno-turbidimetry analysis which is the currently used in most test centers for ceruloplasmin measurement in the serum or plasma after centrifugation. CONCLUSION: Taken together, we successfully developed a screening kit which is very effective for the early diagnosis and prevention of Wilson's disease. By using simple filter paper method for sample collection, this kit provides suitable mass screening. We suggest the screening for Wilson's disease at the age of 3-5 years.
Antibodies ; Brain ; Centrifugation ; Ceruloplasmin ; Copper ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatolenticular Degeneration* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Liver ; Mass Screening* ; Metabolism ; Phenylketonurias ; Plasma

OBJECTIVE: Many different methods have been undertaken to increase the success rate of tuboplasty. Ttubal reanastomosis, Nd-YAG laser, splint he development of a new generation of surgical lasers has offered a possibility for the practical use of the laser technique in microsurgical fields. In gynecology, the laser beam has been reported to be a precise instrument for successful tubal surgery with minimal bleeding and postoperative reaction. The authors studied the effect of the infrared laser beam in the area of tubal reanastomosis. METHODS: To compare tubal patency, pregnancy rate, and histologic difference in site of anastomosis, total 120 tubes of 60 rabbits were used for experimental tuboplasty. The study groups were divided according to the kinds of reanastomosis methods. Group I : 1 layer(right tube) and 2 layer(left tube) anastomosis without using splint, group II : 1 layer(right tube) and 2 layer(left tube) anastomosis with using splint, group III : reanastomosis using laser with splint(III-b) and without splint(III-a). RESULTS: 1. The infiltration of inflammatory cell were observed in all group by optical microscopic examination. Group II revealed more fibrotic change and inflammatory cell without significant statistical difference and there was no significant difference between left and right tubes in each group. 2. The tubes of group II were significantly more patent(75%) than that of group I(50%). Especially the patency of group III performed Nd-YAG laser with splint was the highest(90%). 3. The pregnancy rates in groups without splint were 40%(one layer without splint, group I-right tube), 60%(two layer without splint, group I-left tube), 30%(Nd-YAG laser without splint, group III-a), were significantly lower than that of group with splint, 60%(one layer with splint, Group II-right tube), 60%(two layer with splint, Group II-left tube), 80%(Nd-YAG laser with splint, Group III-b). Especially the group IIIb showed the hightest pregnancy rate(80%). CONCLUSIONS: From the above results, it is considered that the tubal reanastomosis using splint and Nd-YAG laser will improve the pregnancy rate and could be the procedure of choice in the future.
Fallopian Tubes* ; Female ; Gynecology ; Hemorrhage ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Pregnancy Rate* ; Pregnancy* ; Rabbits ; Splints ; Sterilization Reversal ; Sutures*

Duodenal varices can result from portal hypertension regardless of the etiologies of liver cirrhosis. Bleeding from duodenal varices is rare but often severe and life threatening. Treatment modalities of duodenal varices include endoscopic sclerotherapy, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, and surgery. As an initial treatment, endoscopic sclerotherapy is recommended due to easy accessibility but has limited success in controlling active duodenal variceal bleeding. In this case, we report a spurting duodenal varix treated with Histoacryl(R) injection in a 48-year-old woman with secondary biliary cirrhosis. Endoscopic sclerotherapy with Histoacryl(R) is a useful therapeutic measure in the treatment of bleeding duodenal varix.
Esophageal and Gastric Varices* ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary* ; Middle Aged ; Portasystemic Shunt, Surgical ; Sclerotherapy* ; Varicose Veins