No effective therapy has yet developed for liver fibrosis/cirrhosis by directly inhibiting the accumulation of extracellular matrix. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of tetrandrine in rat model of liver fibrosis induced by carborn tetrachloride (CCl4) administration intraorally. Tetrandrine, a calcium channel blocker, is anti-inflammatory constituent of the families Menispermaceae and Ranunculaceae, which have been used as folk remedies in China. Repeated administration of CCl4 for 14 weeks to rats induced liver fibrosis with steatosis. Rats were killed after 4, 8 or 14 weeks of treatment with CCl4, CCl4 tetrandrine (30 mg/kg) or CCl4 tetrandrine (50 mg/kg). The histopathological findings of liver were observed semi-quantitatively by light microscopy and volume percentage of the collagen deposition was determined by image analyzer. Tetrandrine inhibited collagen deposition induced by CCl4 administration, as shown by less severe steatosis and fibrosis and significantly decreased volume percentage of collagen fibers in CCl4 tetrandrine treated animals compared with CCl4 only group. Thus, the administration of tetrandrine holds great promise for treating subjects with liver fibrosis/cirrhosis as a result of chronic hepatic injury.
Animals ; Calcium Channels ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; China ; Collagen ; Extracellular Matrix* ; Fibrosis* ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Medicine, Traditional ; Menispermaceae ; Microscopy ; Models, Animal ; Ranunculaceae ; Rats*

From March 1987 to July 1989, six patients (five dadults and one child) with lung abscess (size, 5-13cm in diameter) were treated with percutaneous aspiration and drainage. In each case, the puncture was made where the wall of the abscess was in contact with the pleural surface. An 8 to 10 Fr catheter was inserted for drainage. Five of 6 had a dramatic clinical response within 24 hours of the drainage. Percutaneous drainage was successful with complete abscess resolution in four and partial resolution in one patient. No response was seen in the rest one. The duration of drainage ranged from 7 to 18 days (average, 15.5days) in successful cases. One case of the failure in drainage was due to persistent aspiration of the neurologically impaired patient. In one patient, the abscess resolved after drainage but recurred after inadvertent removal of the catheter 7 days after insertion. In two patients, concurrent pleural empyema was resolved completely by the drainage. Computed tomography provided anatomic details necessary for choosing the puncture site and avoiding a puncture of the lung parenchyma. Percutaneous catheter drainage is a safe and effective method for treating patients with lung abscess.
Abscess ; Catheters* ; Drainage* ; Empyema, Pleural ; Humans ; Lung Abscess* ; Lung* ; Methods ; Punctures

Plesiomonas shigelloides is known to cause diarrhea in human. It is a facultatively anaerobic gram-negative rod belonging to the family Vibrionaceae. We isolated P. shigelloides from two patients with diarrhea, a 62-year-old woman with steroid therapy and a 4-year-old boy with no predisposing factor. The organisms were isolated on enteric agars as a nonlactose fermenter and were identified by oxidase, indole, and other biochemical characteristics. The isolates were susceptible to commonly used antimicrobial agents with the exception of ampicillin. P. shigelloides infection is rarely reported in our country, but appears to be a significant cause of diarrhea that responds to antimicrobial therapy. Therefore we suggest the need for correctly identifying P. shigelloides.
Agar ; Ampicillin ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Causality ; Child, Preschool ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxidoreductases ; Plesiomonas* ; Vibrionaceae

No abstract available.
Cockayne Syndrome*

No abstract available.
Esophageal Atresia* ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula*

No abstract available.
Dandy-Walker Syndrome*

Myocardial ischemia occurs when myocardial oxygen availability is inadequate to meet metabolic requirements. The common cause of myocardial ischemia is atherosclerotic epicardial coronary arteries. Isoflurane is a potent small vessel-type coronary vasodilator and has the potential for causing regional myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary disease, but it's still controversial. We experienced a case of transient myocardial ischemia during general anesthesia with isoflurane. The patient was a 51 year- old male who underwent a direct clipping of an anterior communicating artery aneurysm. There was no specific abnormality on preoperative laboratory tests except for mild mitral valve regurgitation on the cardiac echocardiogram. He had once experienced several minutes of sudden severe chest tightness just 3 months before admission, but it had subsided without any specific treatment. One hour after beginning of operation, abnormal EKG changes such as ST-T elevation, QRS widening, VPC, ventricular tachytcardia and ST-T depression appeared and then normalized within 2 minutes with stopping isoflurane and using isosorbide dinitrate. He discharged 12 days later without complications. After discharge, Tread-mill test, SPECT and 2D echocardiogram were performed but there was no any evidence of coronary artery disease.
Anesthesia, General* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Depression ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Isoflurane* ; Isosorbide Dinitrate ; Male ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Oxygen ; Thorax ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

BACKGROUND: The survival rate of children with neuroblastoma has been improved over 20 years, excluding the metastatic disease, in which it does not exceed 20% so far. New treatment modalities have been developed to improve the outcome in metastatic disease. Preoperative chemotherapy reduce the size, the vascularity and the adhesiveness, so increase the resectability of the primary tumor. This retrospective clinical study was designed to review the survival rate in neuroblastoma and to analyze the effect of preoperative chemotherapy in the view point of neoadjuvant therapy on long-term survival in advanced disease. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-four cases were reviewed from 135 patients with neuroblastoma registered at the Department of Pediatrics in Seoul National University Children's Hospital from January, 1985 till December, 1995. The survival rate was reviewed according to the stage. The age, sex of the patients, the stage, anatomical site of the tumor, the level of serum ferritin and neuron-specific enolase were analyzed for the risk factors on survival. RESULTS: Ranges of age at diagnosis were from 1 month to 166 months with the median of 39 months. Five year survival rates and five year disease-free survival rates were 100%, 100% in stage 1(n=5), 90.9%, 90.9% in stage 2(n=13), 43.4%, 40.6% in stage 3(n=19), 27.1%, 19.8% in stage 4(n=95) and 100%, 100% in stage 4S(n=2), respectively. In stage 3, five year survival rate was 52.5% in group receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 28.6% in control group(P=0.02). Five year disease-free survival rate was also noted as 48.6%, 28.6% in each group(P=0.02). In stage 4, five year and ten year survival rates were 27.6%, 23.6% in group receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 26.9%, 0% in control group(P=0.02). Five year and ten year disease-free survival rates were 14.3%, 14.3% in group receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 20%, 0% in control group (P=0.11). In univariate analysis, the age, the stage, and the site of primary tumor appeared to affect the long-term survival. CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and delayed primary surgery contribute for advance in survival in advanced neuroblastoma via increasing the resectability of the primary tumor.
Adhesiveness ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy* ; Ferritins ; Humans ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neuroblastoma ; Pediatrics ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of postoperative oral care using cold therapy on nausea, vomiting and oral discomfort after laparoscopic myomectomy. METHOD: The study was conducted with an experimental group (n=29) and a control group (n=35) sampled from patients admitted to a women's hospital in a metropolitan city in Korea. Data were collected between October 10, 2011 and January 31, 2012 and analyzed using Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and repeated measure ANCOVA with SPSS/WIN 19.0. RESULTS: After the intervention, postoperative nausea (p<.001) and oral discomfort for patients in the experimental group were significantly lower than in the control group. There were significant differences in the presence of vomiting between both groups at 12 hours (p<.001) and 24 hours (p=.003) after leaving the recovery room. CONCLUSION: Oral care using cold therapy was found to be an effective nursing intervention for reducing postoperative nausea, vomiting and oral discomfort up to 24 hours after recovery in patients with laparoscopic myomectomy.
Cold Temperature ; Cryotherapy ; Humans ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Nausea ; Postoperative Care ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of MRI in the evaluation of vascular changes of the meningioma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied the MRI findings in 20 cases of intracranial meningiomas. The images were assessed for vascular hilum, vascular rim, sinus invasion, and vascular encasement. Cerebral angiograms were obtained in 15 cases and compared with MRI findings. RESULTS: MRI was as accurate as angiography in detection of vascular hilum(MRl=8/20, Anglogram=9/15), vascular rim(MRl=14/20, Angiogram=9/15) and dural sinus invasion(MRl=4/6, Angiogram=5/6). MRI was superior to angiography in detection of vascular encasement(MRl=2/3, Angiogram=0/2) and cavernous sinus invasion(MRI=3/3, Angiogram=0/2). CONCLUSION: MRI is an excellent noninvasive imaging modality in evaluating vascular changes of omas.
Angiography ; Cavernous Sinus ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Meningioma ; Retrospective Studies