BACKGROUND: Microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetes is a predictor of development of clinical nephropathy and cardiovascular disease. But, it has been reported that reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) may occur in some normoalbuminuric diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to identify whether decreased GFR without microalbuminuria is to predict diabetic vascular complications. METHODS: Between January 1998 and February 2001, 73 patients with type 2 diabetes who visited Yeungnam university medical center were divided into 5 groups according to initial GFR ranges: group 1 (GFR < 30 mL/min), group 2 (30 < or = GFR < 60 mL/min), group 3 (60 < or = GFR < 90 mL/min), group 4 (90 < or = GFR < 125 mL/min), group 5 (125 mL/min < or = GFR). They were examined for microvascular and macrovascular complications initially and after 4 years. RESULTS: Decreased GFR had a negative correlation with age (r = -0.472, P = 0.001). Decreased GFR without microalbuminuria had a significant correlation with development of diabetic nephropathy (P = 0.016) after 4 years. There were no significant correlation with the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, and macrovacular disease. But, our study showed that coronary artery disease had an increasing tendency with decreased GFR without statistical significance (P = 0.085). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that reduced GFR, independent of albuminuria, may be an important predictor of diabetic nephropathy and coronary artery disease to some extent. So we recommend that not only the microalbuminuria, but also the decrease in GFR should be evaluated at the follow-up of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Academic Medical Centers ; Albuminuria ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Prevalence

No abstract available.
Community-Acquired Infections/*epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumonia/*epidemiology

The authors ana lysed statistically seventy-five cases of the eye injuries in childhood under the age of 20 years old during a full year of 1972. 1. Incidence of eye injuries under 20 years old was about 1.1% of total out-patients and 39.9% of total eye injuries. 2. The most common objects to the injury were iron pieces or iron made materials (24%) such as needle, nail, flying iron piece, toy, wire and bar etc. 3. The most common nature of eye injuries was traumatic cataract (14.2%) 4. Seasonally the high peak of injuries was in summer (33.3%) and winter vacation (30.7%) 5. Blindness(under20/200 of corrected VA) was occured finally in 10.8% of total 75 cases.
Cataract ; Diptera ; Eye Injuries* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Iron ; Needles ; Outpatients ; Play and Playthings ; Seasons ; Young Adult

Many previously described nuclear medicine procedures to assess glomerular filtration rate have some problems because numerous blood sample is to be taken and they don't measure each separate renal function. Gates described isotopic method for the measurement of global and unilateral GFR based on the fractional renal uptake of (99m)Tc-DTPA 2 to 3 minutes after its intravenous injection. We evaluated GFR using (99m)Tc-DTPA in 57 people according to Gates method and compared with creatinine clearance. A good correlation was observed between creatinine clearance and GRF calculated by Gates' formula with an r value of 0.9(P<0.05). And also the relationship between parameters of (99m)Tc-DTPA renal scan images and GFR was taken. They were significantly correlated with GFR calculated by Gates' formula : r value 0.66 between relative intensity of peak renal to peak aortic activity(pK/pA) and GFR, -0.42 between time between aortic and kidney peak(A-K) and GFR and -0.48 between parenchymal renal activity at 25 min compared to peak kidney activity(25K/pK) and GRF. In conclusion, the determination of GFR according to Gates' formula shows good and reproducible of GRF with rapidity and simplicity. And the parameters from the renal scan images can use to estimate the renal function.
Creatinine ; Filtration* ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Injections, Intravenous ; Kidney ; Methods ; Nuclear Medicine

No abstract available.
Thyroid Dysgenesis*

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of posterior interbody fusion using pedicle screw fixation after posterior decompression for high-grade spondylolisthesis. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: The surgical treatment of high-grade spondylolisthesis has been controversial. However, few reports on the results of reduction and posterior interbody fusion after posterior decompression have been published. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients with L5-S1 high-grade spondylolisthesis (Meyerding grade III, IV) who underwent reduction and posterior interbody fusion were analyzed with at least 2 years of follow-up. The mean age of the patients (male 2, female 11) was 51 years. Classified by the type of spondylolisthesis, 10 cases were isthmic, 2 cases dysplastic, and 1 case degenerative. A visual analogue scale (VAS), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score, bone union, anterior slippage, and slip angle were used in comparing clinical and radiographic outcomes. RESULTS: All cases showed improvement of preoperative symptoms. The VAS and ODI score improved from a mean of 8.9 points and 36.2 points preoperatively to 2.1 points and 10.2 points, respectively, at last follow-up. The degree of anterior slippage measured by Taillard's method was improved from a mean of 57.7% before surgery to mean of 14.6% at last follow-up. The slip angle also changed from a mean of 2.4° kyphosis before surgery to a mean of 7.6°C lordosis at last follow-up. There were two complications: infection and new radiating pain. CONCLUSIONS: Reduction and posterior interbody fusion using pedicle screw fixation after posterior decompression was a useful surgical method for high-grade spondylolisthesis that corrected lumbosacral kyphosis, filled the structural space of the anterior column, and acheived fusion of interbody movement.
Animals ; Decompression ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kyphosis ; Lordosis ; Methods ; Pedicle Screws ; Retrospective Studies ; Spondylolisthesis*

Many features of the developing nervous system are visible from external observations of intact human embryos. In this study, a photographic atlas from the 4th to the 7th week after ovulation (Carnegie stages 10-18) is provided. The neural folds began to fuse at stage 10, and the rostral and caudal neuropore were closed during stages 11 and 12, respectively. The three primary divisions of the brain were distinguishable before closing of the neural tube. The five secondary brain vesicles were formed during stages 14-15. The development of the cerebellum and cerebrum were first observed at stages 14 and 15, respectively. The mesencephalic flexure was seen at stage 12, and the cervical flexure and pontine flexure at stage 14. After stages 18-19, it became increasingly difficult to identify detailed features of the brain from the surface. Results from this study will help to correlate the characteristic findings of the developing central nervous system of human embryos from stereomicroscopical and light microscopical observations and to locate the exact parts of the developing human brain for other purposes.
Brain/embryology* ; Embryo/anatomy & histology ; Fetal Development ; Human

In this article, the statement of ethical statement about animal experiment was omitted.

Bronchial asthma is a disease characterized by the condition of airway hyper-responsiveness, which serves to produce narrowing of the airway secondary to airway inflammation and/or various spasm-inducing stimulus. Nonspecific bronchoprovocation testing is an important method implemented for the purpose of diagnosing asthma; this test measures the actual degree of airway hyper-responsiveness and utilizes direct and indirect bronchoprovocation testing. Direct bronchoprovocation testing using methacholine or histamine may have superior sensitivity as these substances directly stimulate the airway smooth muscle cells. On the other hand, this method also engenders the specific disadvantage of relatively low specificity. Indirect bronchoprovocation testing using mannitol, exercise, hypertonic saline, adenosine and hyperventilation serves to produce reactions in the airway smooth muscle cells by liberating mediators with stimulation of airway inflammatory cells. Therefore, this method has the advantage of high specificity and also demonstrates relatively low sensitivity. Direct and indirect testing both call for very precise descriptions of very specific measurement conditions. In addition, it has become evident that challenge testing utilizing each of the various bronchoconstrictor stimuli requires distinct and specific protocols. It is therefore important that the clinician understand the mechanism by which the most commonly used bronchoprovocation testing works. It is important that the clinician understand the mechanism of action in the testing, whether direct stimuli (methacholine) or indirect stimuli (mannitol, exercise) is implemented, when the testing is performed and the results interpreted.
Adenosine ; Asthma ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Hand ; Histamine ; Hyperventilation ; Inflammation ; Mannitol ; Methacholine Chloride ; Methods ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Respiratory Hypersensitivity ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: T cells play a pivotal role in initiating and orchestrating bronchial inflammation in asthma. However, little is known about changes in T cell subset in the airways. Our objective was to study whether the proportion of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells in the bronchoa1veolar lavage fluid (BALF) of bronchial asthma is different from normal subjects, and whether it is associated with clinical characteristics. METHODS: We examined the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in the BALF of 37 patients with bronchial asthma and 14 normal controls by flow cytometry. Bronchial asthma was classified as mild, moderate and severe according to bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Skin prick test and pulmonary function tests were performed. RESULTS: The percentage of CD4+ cells in BALF did not differ between asthmatics and controls, however, the percentage of CD8+ cells was significantly higher in asthmatics than contro1s, In asthmatics, the percentage of CD4+ cells and CD8+ cells did not differ between atopic and nonatopic asthmatics. The percentage of CD8+ cells in addition to CD4+ cells was correlated with the percentage of eosinophils in BALF, and the percentage of CD8+ cells also showed negative correlation with FEV, and FEF25-75% CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CD8+ cells as well as CD4+ cells are associated with airway inflammation in bronchial asthma.
Asthma* ; Eosinophils ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes ; Therapeutic Irrigation