No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Mesenteric Artery, Superior

OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of conus medullaris in normal subjects by the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: The corresponding vertebral level of tip of conus medullaris was evaluated in MRIs (sagittal T1 and T2-weighted imaging) of 226 subjects composed of Koreans (138 males, 88 females) with no spine fracture or significant spinal deformity. The termination of the spinal cord was determined by locating the corresponding vertebral point of the lowest end of the conus medullaris to the three-points (upper, middle, and lower) of the nearest vertebral body and intervertebral discs between the T11 and S3 vertebral bodies. RESULTS: If the male and female groups were combined, the most frequent level of cord termination was the mid-portion of L1 (24.5%) which was followed by the lower portion of L1 (22.1%) and the L1-L2 intervertebral disc level (20.8%). In a female group, the tip of conus was one third of vertebra lower than in a male group with a statistical significance (Mann- Whitney test, p=0.025). CONCLUSION: The spinal cord terminates at the mid-portion of L1 most frequently and the termination level distributes from the mid-portion of T12 to the intervertebral disc level of L1-L2. In a clinical setting, variable levels of the spinal cord termination should be considered in a diagnosis for the determination of the neurological level of the spinal cord associated with a vertebral injury and an unexpected neurological complication after a spinal anesthesia or injection.
Anesthesia, Spinal ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Conus Snail ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Spinal Cord* ; Spine

BACKGROUND: We intended to investigate the relationship between red cell size observed through a light microscope and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) measured by an automatic hematology analyzer. METHODS: 164 samples which were referred for complete blood count analysis and peripheral blood cell morphology were selected. MCV was measured by Gen-S (Coulter Co., USA). Smear slides of the same samples were examined on a microscope with a CCD camera connected to it. The image observed through the microscope emerged on an IBM-compatible computer system through the CCD camera. Mean red cell size-mean corpuscular area (MCA) of the captured image was calculated by Image-Pro Plus, the image capture and analyzing software. RESULTS: The coefficient of variation (CV) of MCA measurement, which was done 5 times on 10 slides, was 1.5-3.6%. Compared to the measurements performed in the ideal zone, MCA was measured lower in the thickly smeared zone (medial zone) and higher in the thinly smeared zone (lateral zone) on smear slide observation. The correlation between MCA and MCV values was poor (R=0.641, P<0.01). The normal reference range of MCA measurement was 37.40-50.22 m2. CONCLUSIONS: As the red cell size observed on the light microscope does not correlate well with the MCV measured by automatic analyzer, the determination of red cell size by microscopic peripheral blood smear requires profound caution.
Blood Cell Count ; Blood Cells ; Cell Size* ; Computer Systems ; Erythrocyte Indices* ; Hematology ; Reference Values

Liver has a dual blood supply from portal vein and hepatic artery. Hepatocellular carcinoma receive their blood supply almost exclusively from hepatic artery. Thus, the concept of treating hepatocellular carcinoma by chemoembolization through these arteries is very effective. However, there may be several collateral or parasitic vessels feeding them in case of huge tumor or previous chemoembolization. We experierced a case of huge tumor involving right upper posterior portion of liver fed by 9th, 10th, 11th right posterior intercostal arteries and an anomalous hepatic artery. We tried chemoembolization with Adriamycin-Lipiodol suspension and Gelfoam material through the right posterior intercostal arteries to treat the lesion. After the procedure, the patient(55 years old female) became paraplegic with voiding and defecation difficulty which could be due to spinal cord infarction .by anterior spinal arteri. al occlusion caused by embolic material through the artery of Adamkiewicz from a posterior intercostal artery. She recovered completely after 20 days of treatment.
Arteries* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Defecation ; Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable ; Hepatic Artery ; Infarction ; Liver ; Portal Vein ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

OBJECTIVE: To determine the normal variations of end level of the dural sac in Korean subjects by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: The corresponding vertebral level of termination of the dural sac was evaluated by MRIs in two hundred adult Koreans (118 males, 82 females). We excluded the subjects with spine fracture, significant spinal deformity or spinal stenosis. End level of the dural sac was described in terms of their corresponding vertebral level. The vertebral levels were further divided into upper, middle, lower level, and intervertebral disc levels from the L5 to S3 vertebra. RESULTS: The most frequent end level of the dural sac was at the S1-S2 intervertebral disc level (22.5%) which was followed by the upper portion of S2 (21.5%) and the middle portion of S2 (17.0%). There was no significant difference in end level of the dural sac between male and female subjects. CONCLUSION: The dural sac most frequently ended at the S1-S2 intervertebral level and the end level of dural sac were located from the L5-S1 intervertebral level to the mid-point of S3. In a clinical setting, variable levels of the dural sac termination should be considered in an unexpected dural puncture during a caudal anesthesia or injection.
Adult ; Anesthesia, Caudal ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Punctures ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spine

PURPOSE: Whereas sexual function has long been assumed to be an important component of adult men's lives, the impact of sexual dysfunction has not been estimated in parallel to other modern disease entities. We compared the seriousness of erectile dysfunction (ED) with that of other diseases by use of self-administered questionnaires. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2012 and July 2012, 434 healthy male volunteers (group 1) and 263 ED patients (group 2) were enrolled. The questionnaire consisted of the following: "If you must undergo only one disease in all your life, which disease could you select among these items or ED?" The comparative disease entities included hypertension, diabetes mellitus (oral hypoglycemic agent/insulin injection), hemodialysis, myocardial infarction, herpes zoster, chronic sinusitis, chronic otitis media, gastric cancer (early/late), lung cancer (early/late), liver cancer (early/late), and dementia. RESULTS: Group 1 recognized ED as being a more serious disease than hypertension, diabetes mellitus (oral hypoglycemic agent), herpes zoster, chronic sinusitis, and chronic otitis media. In comparison, group 2 recognized ED as being a more serious condition than diabetes mellitus (insulin injection) and dementia (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). In particular, ED was deemed to be more serious than hemodialysis, gastric cancer (early), lung cancer (early), and liver cancer (early) by men in group 2 in their 30s to 40s, and these results were statistically significant compared with the same age subgroups in group 1 (p<0.001, p<0.007, p<0.02, and p<0.007, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast with their healthy counterparts, Korean men with ED recognized ED as being as serious as hemodialysis, dementia, and early stage cancer, which reflects the severe bother of ED in Korean patients.
Adult ; Dementia ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Liver Neoplasms ; Lung Neoplasms ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Otitis Media ; Quality of Life ; Renal Dialysis ; Sinusitis ; Stomach Neoplasms

The familial occurrence of bilateral acoustic neuroma has rarely been reported in the literatures, and its inheritance is known to be an autosomal dominant trait in association with or without von Recklinghausen's disease. Recently, we experienced an unusual case of bilateral acoustic neuroma, which was familially occurred in mother and her son. A 18-year-old Korean boy was referred to us due to bilateral hearing disturbance and staggering gait of one year duration. There were no stigmata of von Recklinghausen's disease. Neurological examination, simple skull films and vertebral angiograms revealed various evidences of bilateral cerebellopontine angle tumors. At operation, a hen egg-sized firm mass was subtotally removed at the left cerebellopontine angle region and a peanut-sized mass was totally removed at the right cerebellopontine angle region via suboccipital craniectomy. The histological diagnosis was neurofibroma. In family history, 13 years ago his mother was operated on C6-7 neurofibroma at her age of 28 years, and again operated on bilateral acoustic tumors 2 years later. The histological diagnosis was also neurofibroma.
Acoustics* ; Adolescent ; Cerebellopontine Angle ; Christianity ; Diagnosis ; Gait ; Hearing ; Humans ; Male ; Mothers ; Neurofibroma ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Neurologic Examination ; Neuroma, Acoustic* ; Skull ; Wills

Vertebral hemangioma is a slow-growg, benign tumor which is often discovered incidentally during evaluation of neck or back pain.1,2 It is easily demonstrated by spine MRI, but in some cases did not show typical radiological appearance. In that case, Tc-99m RBC SPECT may be another confirmatory diagnostic tool. We report a case of vertebral hemangioma diagnosed with the assistance of Tc-99m RBC SPECT.
Hemangioma* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neck ; Spine ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: We investigated the long-term survival and patient satisfaction with an inflatable penile prosthesis as a treatment for refractory erectile dysfunction (ED). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July 1997 and September 2014, a total of 74 patients underwent implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis. The present mechanical status of the prosthesis was ascertained by telephone interview and review of medical records, and related clinical factors were analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard regression model. To investigate current status and satisfaction with the devices, novel questionnaires consisting of eight items were administered. RESULTS: The mean (+/-standard deviation) age and follow-up period were 57.0+/-12.2 years and 105.5+/-64.0 months, respectively. Sixteen patients (21.6%) experienced a mechanical failure and 4 patients (5.4%) experienced a nonmechanical failure at a median follow-up of 98.0 months. Mechanical and overall survival rates of the inflatable penile prosthesis at 5, 10, and 15 years were 93.3%, 76.5%, and 64.8% and 89.1%, 71.4%, and 60.5%, respectively, without a statistically significant correlation with host factors including age, cause of ED, and presence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Overall, 53 patients (71.6%) completed the questionnaires. The overall patient satisfaction rate was 86.8%, and 83.0% of the patients replied that they intended to repeat the same procedure. Among the 8 items asked, satisfaction with the rigidity of the device received the highest score (90.6%). In contrast, only 60.4% of subjects experienced orgasm. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that excellent long-term reliability and high patient satisfaction rates make the implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis a recommendable surgical treatment for refractory ED.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Erectile Dysfunction/physiopathology/*surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Orgasm ; *Patient Satisfaction ; *Penile Prosthesis ; Prosthesis Failure ; Prosthesis Implantation/methods ; Treatment Outcome