No abstract available.
Blood Coagulation Factors* ; Fibrinogen*

No abstract available.
Blood Coagulation Factors* ; Fibrinogen*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol using corifollitropin alfa in women undergoing assisted reproduction. METHODS: Six hundred and eighty-six in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles were analyzed. In 113 cycles, folliculogenesis was induced with corifollitropin alfa and recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH), and premature luteinizing hormone (LH) surges were prevented with a GnRH antagonist. In the control group (573 cycles), premature LH surges were prevented with GnRH agonist injection from the midluteal phase of the preceding cycle, and ovarian stimulation was started with rFSH. The treatment duration, quality of oocytes and embryos, number of embryo transfer (ET) cancelled cycles, risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), and the chemical pregnancy rate were evaluated in the two ovarian stimulation protocols. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and infertility factors between treatment groups. The treatment duration was shorter in the corifollitropin alfa group than in the control group. Although not statistically significant, the mean numbers of matured (86.8% vs. 85.1%) and fertilized oocytes (84.2% vs. 83.1%), good embryos (62.4% vs. 60.3%), and chemical pregnancy rates (47.2% vs. 46.8%) were slightly higher in the corifollitropin alfa group than in the control group. In contrast, rates of ET cancelled cycles and the OHSS risk were slightly lower in the corifollitropin alfa group (6.2% and 2.7%) than in the control group (8.2% and 3.5%), although these differences were also not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Although no significant differences were observed, the use of corifollitropin alfa seems to offer some advantages to patients because of its short treatment duration, safety, lower ET cancellation rate and reduced risk of OHSS.
Embryo Transfer ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone* ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone* ; Humans ; Infertility ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Oocytes ; Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome ; Ovulation Induction ; Pregnancy Rate ; Reproduction* ; Spermatozoa

BACKGROUND: Naringin, one of the flavonoids in citrus fruit peels, is known to have antioxidant and hepatotonic effects in animal studies. We evaluated the effect of naringin on 1) blood lipid profiles, 2) regression of fatty streak of aorta, and 3) liver toxicity in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rabbits. METHODS: New Zealand White Rabbits (2.0 - 2.5 Kg) were divided to three groups; group without treatment, group treated with 100 mg/kg/d or 500 mg/kg/d naringin, and group treated with 1 mg/kg/d or 20 mg/kg/d lovastatin. They were fed on 0.25% or 1.0% cholesterol-containing diet for 8 weeks and then sacrificed. Blood samples were collected for measurement of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, serum GOT and GPT. Aortas and livers were harvested for evaluation of fatty streak and pathologic examination. RESULTS: 1)Feeding of 1% cholesterol diet for eight weeks significantly increased the cholesterol level upto 20 folds. Neither lovastatin nor naringin did lower these marked hypercholesterolemia. But both naringin (500 mg/kg/d) and lovastatin (1 mg/kg/d) significantly reduced the area of fatty streak by 75% and 58%, respectively. Naringin was more effective in inhibition of fat infiltration into liver than lovastatin which showed hepatotoxicity as increase of serum GPT level (p=0.01). 2)Feeding of 0.25% cholesterol diet for eight weeks significantly increased the cholesterol level upto 17 folds. Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels tended to decrease by treatment with naringin (500 mg/kg/d) and lovastatin (20 mg/kg/d), but this decreases were not statistically significant. However, areas of fatty streak significantly decreased by treatment with naringin and lovastatin by 64 and 82%, respectively (p<0.05). Microscopic analysis revealed that foam cell infiltration into intima was significantly reduced by naringin and lovastatin. In contrast to lovastatin, naringin significantly reduced the level of serum GPT (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Like lovastatin, naringin has strong antiatherogenic action which may not be associated with its very mild lipid lowering action. In contrast to lovastatin, naringin does have hepatoprotective effect.
Animals ; Aorta ; Cholesterol ; Citrus ; Diet ; Flavonoids ; Foam Cells ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Liver ; Lovastatin ; Rabbits* ; Triglycerides

No abstract available.
Hyperpigmentation* ; Nose* ; Palate* ; Imatinib Mesylate

PURPOSE: Current evidence indicates that ultrasonography of the breast is an important adjunct to mammography and clinical examination in the diagnosis of palpable breast abnormalities. An assessment of the value of office-based ultrasonography of a palpable breast mass performed by a breast surgeon was the aim of this work. METHODS: A 7.5 MHz linear probe was used to perform office-based ultrasonography in 109 consecutive female patients having a palpable solid breast mass between August 1998 and December 1999. Breast masses diagnosed histologically as fibroadenomas or breast cancer were included in this study. The clinical impression from the physical examination (PE), the result of officed-based ultrasonography done by a surgeon (OUSG), and comprehensive judgement engaging both PE and OUSG (PEUSG) were recorded in each patient's hospital record as benign or malignant at the first visit. The diagnostic values of PE, OUSG, PEUSG, mammography (MMG), and ultrasonography done by a radiologist (USG) were compared. RESULTS: Of 109 masses, a fibroadenoma was diagnosed in 73 patients while a carcinoma was established in 36 patients. The sensitivity, the specificity, the accuracy rate, and the kappa coefficient were 91.7%, 89.0%, 89.9%, and 0.780 for PE; 100%, 90.4%, 93.6%, and 0.862 for OUSG; 97.2%, 97.3%, 97.2%, and 0.938 for PEUSG; 90.4%, 89.4%, 90%, and 0.630 for MMG; and 88.9%, 90.9%, 90% and 0.798 for USG. The diagnostic accuracy of PEUSG was significantly higher than those of PE and MG (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that office-based ultrasonography of the breast performed by a surgeon is a useful adjunct to clinical evaluation of the breast mass and permits timely and cost-effective patient care.
Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Fibroadenoma ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Mammography ; Patient Care ; Physical Examination ; Prospective Studies* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Male

The upper gastrointestinal bleeding is to be controlled and prevented for recurrent bleeding with several endoscopic methods. The sapphire contact probe in Nd: YAG laser photocoagulation was compared to conventional non-contact probe in hemostatic efficacy. (continue...)
Aluminum Oxide ; Arteries* ; Hemorrhage ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Light Coagulation* ; Rabbits*

PURPOSE: Gastric emptying after a gastric resection has been studied in early gastric cancer. Most reports are retrospective and show that gastric emptying after gastroduodenal reconstruction is faster than normal. This study was designed to evaluate the gastric-emptying pattern after a gastroduodenal reconstruction with preservation of the truncal vagus nerve had been performed on a patient whose preoperative gastric-emptying time had been normal. METHODS: From July 1996 to February 1998, we performed a distal gastrectomy with gastroduodenal reconstruction with preservation of the truncal vagus nerve in 11 patients (9 patients with early gastric cancer, 1 patient with advanced gastric cancer, and 1 patient with high-grade dysplasia) whose preoperative gastric-emptying times was normal. To evaluate the gastric emptying after the gastrectomy and gastroduodenal reconstruction, we analyzed the lag time (when 10% of food is delivered to the duodenum), T1/2 (when 50% of food is delivered to the duodenum), and the residual food in the stomach after 100 minutes (%) by means of radionuclide scintigraphy using a single-head gamma camera after ingestion of an 99mTc-tin-colloid steamed egg. We defined the delayed gastric emptying as T1/2 longer than the mean of the preoperative value by 2 standard deviation. RESULTS: Among the 11 patients with gastroduodenal reconstruction, gastric emptying was normal in 4 patients and delayed in 7 patients; only one of the delayed cases has GI symptoms such as early satiety. There were no rapid gastric emptying cases. CONCLUSION: Rapid gastric emptying after gastroduodenal recon struction with preservation of the truncal vagus nerve was rare.
Eating ; Gamma Cameras ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Emptying ; Humans ; Ovum ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Steam ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Vagus Nerve*

A Radical gastrectomy can affect the dumping syndrome, reflux gastritis, injury of the autonomic nervous system and the small capacity syndrome and can cause some problems in the quality of life for post-gastrectomy patients. To minimize these complications in the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC), various gastric-reduced operations have been discussed by gastric surgeons. A pylorus preserving gastrectomy (PPG) is a kind of reduced-gastric operation which preserves the distal portion (1.5 cm) of the gastric antrum and reduces postoperative complications such as the dumping syndrome and reflux esophagitis. However, a limitation of this operation is that complete lymph node dissection of the suprapyloric lymph node is undesirable for preservation of the pyloric branch of the vagus nerve. Nowadays, some reports state that this operation may be applicable in EGC confined to the mucosa and located at the gastric mid-body. (Purpose) This study was designed to evaluate the gastric function after PPG by using solid foods to obtain the gastric emptying time. (Materials and Method) From June 1995 to December 1995, we performed PPGs on 7 patients (4 patients with mucosal cancer, 2 patients with gastric ulcer and 1 patient with a leiomyoma) and Billroth I reconstruction in 7 patients (5 patients with mucosal cancer, 1 patient with advanced gastric cancer and 1 patient with gastric ulcer). To compare the gastric function between these two subgroups, we analyzed the lag time, T1/2 and the residual food after 100 min using 99mTc-tin-colloid-steamed eggs to obtain the gastric emptying time for the PPG group (n=7), the Billroth I reconstruction group (n=7), and the normal control group (n=7). A statistical analysis was done by using the Kruskal-Wallis test (Chi-square approximation). (Results) There were no differences in the amount of transfusion, the hospital stay, the operation time, and the body weight loss after operation between the PPG group and the Billroth I reconstruction group. The severe dumping syndrome and reflux esophagitis were found in one of the patients after Billroth I reconstruction, but were not found in PPG group. Statistically, there was no difference in T1/2 between the Billroth I reconstruction group and the PPG group; however, both lag times were longer than that of the normal control group. We also found that the residual food 100 min after oral intake was greater in both the Billroth I reconstruction and the PPG groups than in the normal control group. (Conclusion) Though both PPG and Billroth I reconstruction showed delayed gastric emptying, we found that PPG is superior to Billroth I reconstruction in lag time and in the amount of residual food after 100 min. We conclude that PPG is superior to Billroth I reconstruction in gastric motility, and if this operation is applied in indicated gastric cancer patients, post-operative complications, such as the dumping syndrome and reflux esophagitis can be reduced and the quality of life in post-gastrectomy patients can be increased.
Autonomic Nervous System ; Body Weight ; Dumping Syndrome ; Eggs ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Emptying ; Gastritis ; Gastroenterostomy ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Mucous Membrane ; Ovum ; Postgastrectomy Syndromes* ; Postoperative Complications ; Pyloric Antrum ; Pylorus ; Quality of Life ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach Ulcer ; Vagus Nerve