OBJECTIVES: lschemic acute renal failure(ARF) is characterized by an abrupt and sustained decline in GFR within minutes to days after renal ischemia and not immediately reversed on restoration of renal blood flow. The typical delay of a few days to a few weeks suggests reversible parenchymal damage awaiting cell regeneration for functional recovery. Many potentially cell damaging factors, such as ATP depletion, plasma membrane phospholipid degradatian and superoxide-induced membrane damage, play a central part in ischemic injury. More recently, much attention has been focused on the role of calcium, especially ischemic cell injury and the possible therapeutic role of calcium channel blockers emerged from studies conducted several years ago. In the past, it was thought that activation of renin-angiotensin system plays a role in the pathogenesis of ARF. Now the role of angiotensin in human renal ischemia also appears to be controversial. The following study was done in order to investigate the effect of a calcium channel blocker, nifedipine, on gene expression of renin during acute ischemic renal injury. METHODS: The Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups, group I(n=3) as the control, group II (n=3) as the sham operation group, group III(n=15) as the ischemic renal injury group without nifedipine pretreatment, and group IV(n=15) as the ischemic renal injury model by right nephrectomy and left renal artery clamping for 40 minutes with systemic nifedipine pretreatment(10mg/kg), 1n ischemic renal injury model(group III and IV), rats were further divided into three subgroups according to reperfusion time of 1,24,72 hours. The non-ischemic right kidney removed at the time of initial procedure served as paired control. Total renal RNA was extracted by Chomczynskis method and electrophoresis was done in a 1% agarose gel containing 2,2M formaldehyde. Northern was performed at 42degrees C with isotope labeled renin probe for 18 hours, Autoradiographs were obtained and quantitated by a densitometer measured at 530nm. RESULTS: 1) The expression of renin gene was markedly decreased after renal ischemia and slowly recovered to one half of the control level after 72 hours of reperfusion. 2) Renin gene expression pattern of ischemic renal injury with prior nifedipine treatment was similar to the ischemic group without nifedipine pretreatment. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the renin gene expression was markedly decreased after renal ischemia and slowly recovered. Systemic nifedipine pretreatment does not have a significant effect on gene expression pattern of renin in ischemic renal injury.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Angiotensins ; Animals ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; Calcium Channels* ; Calcium* ; Cell Membrane ; Constriction ; Electrophoresis ; Formaldehyde ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Kidney ; Membranes ; Nephrectomy ; Nifedipine ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration ; Renal Artery ; Renal Circulation ; Renin* ; Renin-Angiotensin System ; Reperfusion ; RNA ; Sepharose

Henoch-Sch nlein purpura(HSP) occurs frequently in childhood and is a few occurrence in adults. The occurrence of nephrotic syndrome is rare in HSP patients and the association of renal disease with HSP is very important to prospect longterm clinical outcome. The causes of HSP have been diversely reported such as foods, drugs, sensitivity to infections, vaccination, insect bite, cold exposure etc and recently immune complex is studing as representative cause of HSP, but nothing is verified of definite mechanism of HSP until now. The occurrence of HSP associated with cancer has been rarely reported in the literature but there is no report in Korea. The patient was 31 year-old woman with stomach cancer who was operated in our hospital. 5 months after operation of stomach cancer, the massive proteinuria, generalized edema were developed and thereafter abdominal pain, generalized purpuric lesion on extremities were also occurred. We have done kidney biopsy and biopsy findings were compatible with HSP pathologically. After administration of prednisolone, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis was occurred suddenly, patient was recovered after ceasation of administration of prednisolone and proper antibiotic therapy but patient died of cachexia 3 months after diagnosis of HSP. We report a case of HSP presenting as nephrotic syndrome in patient with stomach cancer and complicated with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Biopsy ; Cachexia ; Diagnosis ; Edema ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Insect Bites and Stings ; Kidney ; Korea ; Nephrotic Syndrome* ; Peritonitis* ; Prednisolone ; Proteinuria ; Purpura* ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach* ; Vaccination

Bruxism is a diurnal or nocturnal parafunctional activity that includes tooth clenching, bracing, gnashing, and grinding. The dopaminergic system seems to be the key pathophysiology of bruxism and diminution of dopaminergic transmission at the prefrontal cortex seems to induce it. We report two patients with diurnal bruxism in whom a bilateral frontal lobe injury resulted from hemorrhagic stroke or traumatic brain injury. These patients' bruxism was refractory to bromocriptine but responded to low-dose metoclopramide therapy. We propose that administering low doses of metoclopramide is possibly a sound method for treating bruxism in a brain injury patient with frontal lobe hypoperfusion on positron emission tomography imaging.
Braces ; Brain Injuries* ; Brain* ; Bromocriptine ; Bruxism* ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Metoclopramide* ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Receptors, Dopamine ; Stroke ; Tooth

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and effect of ultrasound-guided ethyl alcohol injection on malleolar and olecranon synovial proliferative bursitis. METHODS: Twenty-four patients received ultrasound-guided 50% diluted ethyl alcohol injection at the site of synovial proliferative bursitis after aspiration of the free fluid. RESULTS: Swelling and symptoms significantly decreased in 13 of the 24 patients without any complications. Eleven patients had partial improvement in swelling and symptoms. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided alcohol injection could be an alternative therapeutic option before surgery in patients with chronic intractable malleolar and olecranon synovial proliferative bursitis.
Bursitis* ; Ethanol* ; Humans ; Olecranon Process* ; Pilot Projects* ; Prospective Studies* ; Synovial Membrane ; Ultrasonography

Annular pulley injury of fingers is usually observed in rock climbers who support their entire body weight with flexed fingers during climbing. But these lesions can also follow trivial trauma, such as lifting heavy objects with the fingertips, or during sports and recreational activities. The A2 and A4 pulleys are most usually involved and reported most frequently. However, traumatic A1 pulley rupture has not been reported yet, to the best of our knowledge. Kendo is a very vigorous martial art with frequent physical contact. Therefore, we reported two cases of repetitive microtraumatic left fourth finger A1 pulley rupture in Kendo players with results from physical examination and imaging studies, such as ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging, together with related literature.
Athletic Injuries ; Body Weight ; Finger Injuries ; Fingers* ; Lifting ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Physical Examination ; Rupture* ; Sports ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: The sinus lift procedure requires detailed knowledge of maxillary sinus anatomy and the possible anatomical variations. This study evaluated the location and prevalence of maxillary sinus septa using computed tomography (CT). METHODS: This study was based on the analysis of CT images for posterior maxilla which were obtained from patients who visited Chonbuk National University Dental Hospital during the period of June 2007 to December 2008. With the exclusion of cases presenting any pathological changes, 236 maxillary sinuses in 204 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The average age of the patients was 50.9. The cases were divided into two groups, an atrophy/edentulous segment and a non-atrophy/dentate segment, and maxillary sinus septa of less than 2.5 mm were not taken in-to consideration. The location of septa was also divided for analysis into 3 regions: the anterior (1st and 2nd premolar), middle (1st and 2nd molar) and posterior (behind 2nd molar) regions. RESULTS: In 54 (20.9%) of the 204 patients there were pathologic findings, and those patients were excluded from the analysis. Sinus septa were present in 58 (24.6%) of the 236 maxillary sinuses and in 55 (27%) of the 204 total patients. In the atrophy/edentulous ridge group (148 maxillary sinuses), 41 cases (27.7%) were found, and 17 cases (19.3%) were found in the non-atrophy/dentulous ridge group (88 maxillary sinuses). In terms of location, septa were found in 18 cases (27.3%) in the anterior, in 33 cases (50%) in the middle and in 15 cases (22.7%) in the posterior regions. CONCLUSIONS: In the posterior maxilla, regardless of type of ridge (atrophy/edentulous or non-atrophy/dentate), the anatomical variation of sinus septa is diverse in its prevalence and location. Thus, accurate information on the maxillary sinus of the patient is essential and should be clearly understood by the surgeon to prevent possible complications during sinus lifting.
Dental Implants ; Humans ; Lifting ; Maxilla ; Maxillary Sinus ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

Crossed aphasia (CA) is defined as language impairment following right-hemispheric brain lesion in right-handed person. Exact mechanism responsible for CA is ambiguous, and recently several brain lesions have been proposed to be associated with aphasia using lesion mapping method. Corpus callosum has dual bloody supply which makes it less vulnerable to infarction. Speech difficulties such as stuttering after corpus callosum infarction have been reported in the past, but aphasia is rare, which makes CA more unique. We report an extraordinary case of CA after right corpus callosum infarction. A 74-year-old female patient with a previous history of right thalamus infarction with no neurologic sequela has developed language disturbance without apraxia 1 month ago and a diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed newly developed infarction at right corpus callosum. The aphasia quotient of the Korean version of the Western Aphasia Battery was 2.5, implying severe global aphasia. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography showed decreased metabolism in right corpus callosum and left frontal and temporal cortex, suggesting that interhemispheric diaschisis may be responsible for the CA. This is an extraordinary case report of an isolated manifestation of CA secondary to right corpus callosum infarction.
Aged ; Aphasia ; Apraxias ; Brain ; Brain Infarction ; Corpus Callosum ; Electrons ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Metabolism ; Methods ; Stuttering ; Temporal Lobe ; Thalamus

Bilateral thalamic gliomas (BTGs) are rare brain tumors. In general, the prognosis is poor because of the involvement of bilateral thalami and limitations of surgical excision. Consequently, patients with symptoms of personality changes and memory impairment must be differentiated from others. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is essential for the diagnosis of BTGs and reveals a hypo-intense lesion on T1-weighted images and a hyper-intense lesion on T2 images. We report a case of a 17-year-old female patient suffering from progressive cognitive dysfunction and personality changes and subsequent rehabilitation treatment. Brain MRI showed an enlarged bilateral thalamus, with hyperintensity on T2-weighted images and iso-intensity on T1-weighted images. A biopsy was performed, and the pathology revealed a high-grade glioma. The patient was referred for radiotherapy and chemotherapy. She also underwent rehabilitation treatment for 5 weeks and showed improvement in standing balance, endurance, and speech fluency. The patient's Modified Barthel Index scores also improved. Cancer rehabilitation is important in brain tumor patients because they have a higher incidence of neurological sequelae than others. Rehabilitation of patients with a malignant brain tumor is also important for improving health-related quality of life by maintaining the general condition and preventing complications during and after cancer treatment.
Adolescent ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Glioma ; Humans ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Memory ; Memory Disorders ; Neurobehavioral Manifestations ; Pathology ; Prognosis ; Quality of Life ; Radiotherapy ; Rehabilitation ; Thalamus

Lingual dystonia is a rare type of dystonia, the main symptom of which varies from intermittent to sustained tongue fixation. Several studies have suggested that the cerebellum may be implicated in dystonia. There are several treatment options available for dystonia, including medication, botulinum toxin injection, and surgical intervention. We chose to inject botulinum toxin into the styloglossus muscle, and the symptoms of the lingual dystonia were improved. We report a case of lingual dystonia following a bilateral cerebellar stroke that responded to treatment with botulinum toxin.
Botulinum Toxins ; Cerebellum ; Dystonia ; Infarction ; Stroke ; Tongue

Lobar agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly that is characterized by the absence of the lobar pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, bronchi, and parenchyma. We encountered a unique case of a young male patient with agenesis of the left upper lobe with tracheal trifurcation into three bronchi, all arising at the carinal level. Complex tracheobronchial anatomy was explicitly demonstrated by three-dimensional CT reconstruction and virtual bronchoscopy. Left upper lobar agenesis associated with tracheal trifurcation is an extremely rare anomaly that, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported.