Iron in plasma cells has been described in patients with diseases characterized by iron overload. We observed iron-containing plasma cells in the bone marrow aspirates of 6 patients with anemia. In five of these 6 patients, there were alcoholic liver disease and in one there was abdominal aortic occlusion. Medical records of patients and previous reports were reviewed. Marrow storage irons were adequate or increased, but other morphologic changes of alcoholism such as erythroid vacuolization or ringed sideroblasts were not the features. The presence of iron-containing plasma cells is suggestive of alcoholism and its complications, and diseases associated with iron overload or inability of RBCs to utilize iron. The exact mechanism of entry of iron into plasma cells is controversial.
Alcoholism ; Anemia ; Bone Marrow ; Humans ; Iron Overload ; Iron* ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; Medical Records ; Plasma Cells* ; Plasma*

Thawing fresh frozen plasma(FFP) by waterbath(WB) requires about 30 minutes, which is too slow in emergency situations and carries the risk of bacterial contamination of FFP. To solve these problems, a new thawing method using a microwave oven(MWO) has been developed. Twenty units of equally divided plasma from 10 units of plasma were frozen, stored at -55 degrees C, and thawed in parallel using microwave oven or waterbath. Coagulation factors, plasma proteins and thawing time were measured. Except for antithrombin III(MWO: 85.2+/-6.94%, WB : 90.8+/-9.14%, p<0.05), no significant differences were observed in the 18 other coagulation parameters and the plasma proteins studied. Mean thawing time by MWO was 5.9 minutes per 1 unit, 10.4 minutes per 2 units and 12.5 minutes per 3 units; by WB, it was 19.0, 20.0 and 22.0 minutes, respectively. In conclusion, FFP can be thawed faster using a microwave oven than using 37 degrees C waterbath and the thawed plasma proteins were generally equivalent to those of FFP thawed by waterbath.
Blood Coagulation Factors ; Blood Proteins ; Emergencies ; Microwaves* ; Plasma*

No abstract available.
Ischemic Attack, Transient* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Stroke, Lacunar*

No abstract available.
Anti-Bacterial Agents* ; Ascorbic Acid* ; beta Carotene* ; Tretinoin*

No abstract available.

Drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia (DIIHA) is rare condition that is often very difficult to diagnose. For proper diagnosis of DIIHA, careful interpretation of laboratory findings as well as correlation between those findings with the patient's history is important. Therefore, the role of the laboratory physician is critical. DIIHA can be diagnosed using a stepwise approach, from suspicion of hemolytic anemia in the patient to confirmation of serologic tests. Prompt diagnosis is necessary since an essential part of DIIHA treatment is to cease drug administration, and many cases of hemolysis can be improved without further intervention. Furthermore, distinction between the mechanisms of DIIHA is important, as clinical manifestation, treatment options, and prognosis of the disease can differ according to the main mechanism involved in the process of hemolysis.
Anemia, Hemolytic* ; Diagnosis ; Hemolysis ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Serologic Tests

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of the quantitation of D-dimer, thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) and prothrombin fragment 1 2 (F1 2) in patients with DIC or venous thrombosis. METHODS: The quantitation of D-dimer, TAT and F1 2 by ELISA (Behring, Germany) were done with the specimens from eighty eight patient plasma. The patients were classified as DIC, probable DIC and non-DIC based on the DIC criteria by reserach committee in Japan, and the patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) were included. RESULTS: All eighteen DIC patients showed the increased D-dimer ELISA and fourteen patients showed the increased TAT and F1 2. According to the results of quantitative D-dimer, TAT and F1 2 tests, probable DIC and the group with increased results of above three tests among non-DIC were considered as DIC. Two patients with PE showed increased results of above three tests. Among nine DVT patients, eight patients showed increased results of D-dimer ELISA and F1 2, but TAT was increased in only six patients. Among forty six patients with negative results of D-dimer semiquantitation (latex agglutination), twenty seven patients (59%) revealed increased results of D-dimer quantitation (ELISA). CONCLUSIONS: D-dimer quantitation by ELISA is the most sensitive test in the diagnosis of DIC and venous thrombosis. The quantitation of D-dimer, TAT and F1 2 can increase the diagnostic rate of DIC and venous thrombosis, and the developement of the new quatitating reagents with more rapid and individual procedures will contribute to the accurate and rapid diagnoses of them.
Dacarbazine ; Diagnosis ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Indicators and Reagents ; Japan ; Plasma ; Prothrombin* ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Venous Thrombosis*

Contrast sensitivity measurements were obtained from 45 patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM) who had normal Snellen acuity and minimal or no visible diabetic retinopathy. Contrast sensitivity thresholds were determined with a convenient microcomputer driven display system developed by the members of Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine. The data obtained from each diabetic. patients were compared with the normal contrast sensitivity of Korean(Lee et al, 1984). We found that, 1) The patients with NIDDM and no retinopathy had abnormal contrast sensitivity at two spatial frequencies (0.4 and 27.4 LP/D). 2) The patients with NIDDM and background retinopathy had abnormal contrast sensitivity at nearly all spatial frequencies tested. We also found a dissociation of Snellen acuity and contrast sensitivity and that contrast sensitivity can be used as an early index of changes in the retina not demonstrated by measurements of visual acuity.
Contrast Sensitivity* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Humans ; Microcomputers ; Ophthalmology ; Retina ; Visual Acuity

BACKGROUND: Rapid and accurate identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is important in the diagnosis, treatment, and assessment of prognosis of tuberculosis. But, the conventional identification procedures such as niacin test usually requires considerable time. In this study, we compared the diagnostic value of a gene probe method with that of the niacin test for the differentiation of M. tuberculosis complex from mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT). METHODS: Commercially available gene probe kit(AccuProbeTM, Gen-Probe, Inc. , San Diego, Calif.) and Niacin test strip were used to identify 78 strains of mycobacteria isolated from patients at Asan Medical Center. One ATCC strain (M. tuberculosis complex) and one MOTT strain were used as controls. Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) was used when the above two tests yielded discordant results. RESULTS: Fifty isolates were identified as M. tuberculosis complex by both gene probe method and niacin test. Likewise 25 isolates were identified as MOTT by the both methods. For the remaining 5 isolates, the results of the two tests differed from each other: M. tuberculosis complex by gene probe and MOTT by niacin test. By PCR, however. these strains were identified as M. tuberculosis. The time required for identification was 1 to 2 hours by gene probe method and 1 to 3 weeks by niacin test. CONCLUSION: Gene probe is simple, rapid and reliable and is a very practical diagnostic tool that can be used in any clinical laboratory.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Diagnosis ; Genes, vif* ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Niacin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prognosis ; Tuberculosis

No abstract available.
Embolism, Air*