No abstract available.
Atherosclerosis* ; Hyperuricemia* ; Risk Factors*

BACKGROUND: This study tested the efficacy of 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate for improving oral hygiene in intubated intensive care patients. METHODS: In a group of 57 ventilated patients, 29 received normal saline (NS) for oral hygiene, and 28 were treated with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). Data on oral bacterial colonization was collected for 11 months from October 2005 to August 2006. Tests of oral hygiene and oral microorganism culture were performed on the day of the ventilation, and repeated on days 4, 8, and 12. RESULTS: Oral hygiene was significantly improved in the CHG group compared to that in the NS group (P<.001). Further, all patients (100%) in the NS group tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus on the 12th day after the endotracheal intubation, whereas only 42.9% (P=0.026) of the CHG group were positive. The NS group also had higher isolation rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 66.7% on the 8th day after intubation and 87.5% on the 12th day. At these same intervals, the CHG group had isolation rates of 29.4% (P=.028) and 14.3% (P=.010) respectively. CONCLUSION: The longer the period of endotracheal intubation, the more effective the 0.12% CHG treatment was for improved oral hygiene and reduction of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa colonization when compared to treatment with NS.
Chlorhexidine ; Colon ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Oral Hygiene ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Sodium Chloride ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Ventilation

Sonographic detection of ureteral jets entering the urinary bladder is a well-known procedure. Color Doppler ultrasound was used to image the ureteral jets in 28 patients with unilateral ureteral calculi proved by intravenous urography. Three major findings of ureteral jets were obtained in the affected ureter with a stone: less frequency (26 patients), weak reflection (20 patients), and lower grade in length (27 patients) that were significantly different from the unaffected side in the same patient. No significant differences were found between the ureteral jets and the degree of hydronephrosis or the location of a stone. In conclusion, these results suggest that ureteral jets should be checked routinely during the procedure of color Doppler ultrasonogram in patients with possible unilateral ureteral obstruction. Color Doppler examination of ureteral jets may be a important adjunct in routine pelvic ultrasonogram especially in patients who have absolute or relative contraindications of intravenous urography.
Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color* ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Calculi* ; Ureteral Obstruction ; Urinary Bladder ; Urography

Sonographic detection of ureteral jets entering the urinary bladder is a well-known procedure. Color Doppler ultrasound was used to image the ureteral jets in 28 patients with unilateral ureteral calculi proved by intravenous urography. Three major findings of ureteral jets were obtained in the affected ureter with a stone: less frequency (26 patients), weak reflection (20 patients), and lower grade in length (27 patients) that were significantly different from the unaffected side in the same patient. No significant differences were found between the ureteral jets and the degree of hydronephrosis or the location of a stone. In conclusion, these results suggest that ureteral jets should be checked routinely during the procedure of color Doppler ultrasonogram in patients with possible unilateral ureteral obstruction. Color Doppler examination of ureteral jets may be a important adjunct in routine pelvic ultrasonogram especially in patients who have absolute or relative contraindications of intravenous urography.
Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color* ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Calculi* ; Ureteral Obstruction ; Urinary Bladder ; Urography

OBJECTIVE: SCC-Ag(Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen) is a tumor marker for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. It has shown that the SCC-Ag was well related with the response of cancer therapy and course of cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the presence of pelvic lymph node metstasis can be predicted by the measurement of the preoperative SCC-Ag levels in the patients with early staged squamous cell carcinoma of cervix. METHODS: The preoperative serum SCC-Ag levels were measured in 45 patients with stage I-II squamous cell carcinoma of cervix undergoing radical hysterectomy from September 1995 to December 1997. The serum SCC-Ag levels were analyzed for the clinicopathologic characteristics and other prognostic factors using univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The serum SCC-Ag levels of the patients exhibited pelvic lymph node metastasis were above 4.8ng/ml. An elevated preoperative serum SCC-Ag level, and tumor size were independent predictors for the presence of lymph node metastasis(p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The determination of the preoperative serum SCC-Ag levels provides a new prognostic factor in early staged cervical cancer.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Lymphangioma

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of regular stretching exercise for 1 year on health related fitness of the elderly women. We also determined whether the weekly stretching exercise sessions followed by intensive stretching exercise program was beneficial to maintain the altered health related fitness status. The thirty elderly women (F, 80.1+/-6.6 yr) were participated in this study. Subjects had no serious orthopedic problems. During the study period, they did not perform any regular physical activity beside the stretching exercise. The 1 year stretching exercise programs included 3 days/week stretching exercise session for the first 12 weeks followed by 1 day/week stretching exercise for rest of the study period. The subjects were tested 6 categories of health related fitness factors which included % body fat, flexibility, hand grips, back strength, balance, and agility. The summary of the results of this study were as followed: 1) There were significant increase in FFM and slightly decrease in %BF and WHR after the 3 days/wk stretching exercise program. However, there were significant decrease in FFM and WHR after the 1 day/wk stretching exercise program (p<.05). 2) There were significant increase in flexibility, hand grip strength (Rt.) and balance after the 3 days/wk stretching exercise (p<.05) while hand grip strength (Lt.) and back strength were slightly increase after the exercise. However, there were significant decrease in hand grip strength (both) and reaction time after 1 day/wk stretching exercise program while flexibility, back strength, and balance were slighly decrease after the program. In conclusion, this study showed that the 3 days/wk stretching exercise for 12 weeks result in significant increase of all health related fitness factors (p<.05). However, it showed that some of the HRF factors were decreased after the weekly stretching exercise unexpectedly.
Adipose Tissue ; Aged* ; Female ; Hand ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Motor Activity ; Orthopedics ; Pliability ; Reaction Time

No abstract available.
Adenoids* ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic* ; Salivary Glands*

The peritoneal equilibration test(PET) has been recommended in adults as a standardized means of estimating solute transport. However, it appears that norrns for pediatric PD patients may be different. We performed a PET on 16 children aged 3 to 18 years using a dwell volume for 30ml/kg of 2.596 dialysate. Our children transported glucose more rapidly than adults, however, creatinine transport was not significantly different. Age did not correlate with D/13% glucose or drainage volume. There was negative correlation between D/D% glucose and D/P Cr. There was no significant difference between initial and maintenance CAPD patients. There was slight difference in patients with previous peritonitis. In conclusion, there was difference in glucose transport between children and adults.
Adult ; Child* ; Creatinine ; Drainage ; Glucose ; Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis

The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of color Doppler scoring system in characterization of ovarian masses. We performed transabdominal or transvaginal color Doppler sonopaphy on 82 women with ovarian masses and analyzed the sonographic findings. Ovarian lesions were assessed by means of morphological and color Doppler scoring system by Kurjak. Tumors were characterized by ultrasonographic findings as benign or suspected of being malignant. Then the results of each scoring systems were correlated with histopathological findings. The results were as follows; Of 82 ovarian masses, 64 were benign lesions(13 mucinous cystadenomas, 16 endometriomas, 20 teratomas, 8 serous cystadenomas, and 13 other abnormalities), and 18 were malignant(12 cancers and 6 borderline tumors). The color Doppler scoring system was useful in distinguishing malignant from benign masses, with a sensitivity of 88.2%, compared with the morphological scoring system of 86.7%. The specificity of color Doppler and morphological scoring system were 95.4% and 92.5%, respectively. The sensitivity of combination of both scoring systems was 88.9%, with a specificity of 96.9%. In conclusion, color Doppler scoring system is a useful tool in predicting the malignancy of ovarian lesions especially combined with morphological scoring system.
Cystadenoma, Mucinous ; Cystadenoma, Serous ; Diagnosis* ; Endometriosis ; Female ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Teratoma ; Ultrasonography