No abstract available.
Barium* ; Enema* ; Intussusception*

No abstract available.
Osteomyelitis* ; Radionuclide Imaging*

No abstract available.
Endometriosis* ; Female

To investigate effects of cytokines on rheumatoid synovial cells, proliferation and expression of cytokine and metalloproteinase genes were studied with the primary culture of rheumatoid synovial cells which was treated with TNF-alpha, GM-CSF, TGF-alpha, PDGF and IL-B. By [3H] thymidine incorporation assay, TGF-beta and PDGF increased proliferation of synovial cells by 1.5 and 2.5 folds respectively. Cytokine gene expression was assessed by RT-PCR. Rheumatoid synovial cells expressed constitutively TGF-beta and IL-B at a high level and IL-1B, GM-CSF, and MIP-1a at a relatively low level. TGF-beta, GM-CSF and PDGF increased IL-B expression. Expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines was increased by GM-CSF and PDGF. Both GM-CSF and PDGF increased the expression of IL-1B, GM-CSF MIP-la and IL-8. In addition, GM-CSF enhanced expression of TNF-alpha. Stromelysin and collagenase are the major proteinases responsible for destruction ot joints in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These genes were expressed constitutivefy in rheumatoid synovial cells. In summary, PDGF and GM-CSF may piay an important role by inducing or increasing expression of IL-1B, TGF-beta and PDGF by increasing proliferation of rheumatoid synovial cells.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

No abstract available.
Arteries* ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular*

PURPOSE: We performed laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) partial nephrectomy in a porcine model with the objectives of overcoming the technical challenges of this surgery and exploring its feasibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six partial nephrectomies were performed on a pig aged 5 months, three cases on each kidney, by four surgeons: two urologists with much experience in laparoscopic surgery (E1, E2) and two less-experienced urologists (B1, B2). While under general anesthesia, the swine was placed in a lateral flank position. Umbilical placement of an Octoport was done with a 2.5 cm incision. After dissection of the renal hilum and Gerota's fascia, a bulldog clamp was applied on the renal artery and parenchymal resection was done. Renorrhaphy was then performed with interrupted sutures with the use of a sliding knot technique. RESULTS: All six partial nephrectomies were performed successfully after repair of the vascular and collecting system at the resection margin and renorrhaphy without the need to introduce any additional ports. There were no noticeable intra- or postoperative complications. The mean warm ischemic time was 42 minutes (range, 30-60 minutes). The shortest warm ischemic time, 30 minutes, was achieved by using the early unclamping technique during renorrhaphy. The longest warm ischemic time was 60 minutes. The average number of renorrhaphy stitches was 3.2 (range, 2-5). CONCLUSIONS: LESS partial nephrectomy was successfully performed in a porcine model but resulted in a longer ischemic time than that of conventional laparoscopic surgeries. Therefore, further laboratory disciplinary efforts are needed to decrease the warm ischemic time and to improve this surgical technique.
Aged ; Anesthesia, General ; Fascia ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Laparoscopy ; Nephrectomy ; Postoperative Complications ; Renal Artery ; Sutures ; Swine ; Warm Ischemia

Endoscopic injection sclerotheraphy(EIS) was an effective method for treatment of bleeding esophageal varices. However, it might be associated with some undesirable complications. Endoscopic variceal ligation(EVL) is a recently developed method for control of active variceal bleeding and eradicating esophageal varices with similar efficacy and minimal risk of complications compare to EIS. We performed EVL in 40 patients who had recently bled from esophageal varices. Total 198 variceal ligations were performed during 64 separate EVL session. Control rate of acute bleeding was 90%(36 of 40patients) and 4 patients died after EVL because of failure of bleeding control. Rebleeding following initiation of EVL occured in 5 patients-three patients were successfully controlled by EVL, one patient was controlled but eradication was impossible and one patient died. Varices were eradicated or reduced to grade I in 31(86.1%) of 36 survivors by 1-9 ligation(mean 5.0) in l-4 EVL sessions(mean 1.6). After EVL, there were mild complications-mild substernal discomfort in 4 patients, mild dysphagia in 2 patients and fever in 2 patients. These results suggest that EVL is a safe and effective method for treatment of bleeding and eradication of esophageal varices with less complication.
Deglutition Disorders ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices* ; Fever ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Ligation* ; Survivors ; Varicose Veins

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a rare malignant tumor of probably histiocytic origin. It is more common in soft tissue than bone. Usually it involves metaphysis or diaphysis of long bone. Primary spinal malignant fibrous histiocytoma is exceedingly rare. Authors report a case of primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma which showed rapid spinal cord compression in thoracic spine with review of literatures.
Diaphyses ; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous* ; Spinal Cord Compression ; Spine*

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of standard laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) as compared to hand-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (HALS) and open radical nephrectomy (ORN) when the three different procedures were all performed by a single experienced surgeon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between May 2000 and September 2005, 62 consecutive patients with renal tumor underwent LRN (16 patients), HALS (18 patients), or ORN (32 patients) by a single surgeon who had performed more than 100 laparoscopic surgeries. The surgical results such as the operation time, estimated blood loss (EBL), transfusion rate, narcotic analgesia requirement, hospital stay and complications, and pathologic results were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The LRNs and HALSs were successfully performed for all patients without open conversion. The final pathologic reports showed renal cell carcinomas in 65 cases and oncocytoma in 1 case. There were no significant differences of demographic data between the three groups. For the LRN, HALS, and ORN patients, the mean tumor size was 2.8cm (1.3-8.5), 4.5cm (1.5-13.5) and 5.6cm (1.0-12.5), respectively, the mean weight of the removed kidney was 200.6g (63-375), 214.5g (122-444.3) and 367.0g (122-823), respectively, the mean operation time was 174.8 min. (125-232), 196.4 min. (150-350) and 157.7 min. (110-265), respectively, the EBL was 140ml (50- 400), 108ml (50-600) and 297ml (50-700), respectively, the transfusion rate was 0%, 5.6% and 15.6%, respectively, the narcotic analgesia requirement was 20mg, 15mg and 43mg of morphine sulfate, respectively, the postoperative hospital stay was 4.8 days, 5.2 days and 10.5 days respectively, and the number of complication was 1/16 cases (6.3%), 1/18 cases (5.6%) and 4/32 cases (12.5%) respectively. The surgical and pathological parameters of LRN showed no significant difference compared to those of the HALS. CONCLUSIONS: LRN for renal tumors was less invasive than ORN and it showed similar surgical results to HALS. Therefore standard laparoscopic radical nephrectomy is considered to be an effective and safe treatment modality for renal tumors.
Adenoma, Oxyphilic ; Analgesia ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Humans ; Kidney ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Morphine ; Nephrectomy* ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: To determine whether nitric oxide (NO) could inhibit activation of platelets stored in a cold or frozen state, we measured platelet P-selectin expression and platelet-bound fibrinogen in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) (Sigma, USA) by flow cytometry. METHODS: PRP was prepared by centrifuging venous blood collected in a 3.2% sodium citrate tube from 10 healthy donors. It was aliquotted into 4 groups (no cryoprotectant, GSNO, GSNO/dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO] [Sigma], and DMSO), and stored at room, cold and freezing temperatures for 24 hrs. We performed a flow cytometric analysis of all specimens stained with FITC-fibrinogen and PE-CD62P monoclonal antibodies (Becton Dickinson, USA). The results were compared according to the storage temperature and agonist among 4 groups. RESULTS: GSNO inhibited significantly the activation of frozen platelets, but not in the presence of DMSO. GSNO was also shown to preserve the aggregability of frozen platelets because in the presence of GSNO the delta percent change of P-selectin expression and fibrinogen binding of frozen platelets increased significantly irrelevant to DMSO. CONCLUSIONS: GSNO inhibited the activation of frozen platelets and preserved the platelet aggregability; therefore, it may be used as a protectant for platelet cryopreservation.
Adult ; Blood Platelets/*drug effects/metabolism ; Cryopreservation/*methods ; Female ; Fibrinogen/metabolism ; Flow Cytometry ; Free Radical Scavengers/pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Nitric Oxide/metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Donors/*pharmacology ; P-Selectin/metabolism ; Platelet Aggregation/drug effects ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/pharmacology ; S-Nitrosoglutathione/*pharmacology