Neurilemmomas of the trachea are extremely rare. The most common site of them is the distal third of the trachea and the age of the patients at presentation varied from 6 to 78 years old. They usually have a freqeuntly very long natural history, causing symptoms only after they have attained a considerable size. We experienced a case of near-total obstruction of the trachea by an intraluminal sessile neurilemmoma. The patient was a 66-year-old man with 2-year history of progressive exertional dyspnea and had several episodes of pneumonitis associated with productive cough. Grossly, the tumor was a well-circumscribed mass. Microscopically, typical cellular Antoni A and myxoid Antoni B areas were revealed.
Aged ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Natural History ; Neurilemmoma* ; Pneumonia ; Trachea

BACKGROUND: Remifentanil is useful during general anesthesia because of its rapid onset and short acting time. However, some studies report that due to opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) and tolerance, remifentanil also increases early postoperative pain. The occurrence of OIH and opioid-induced tolerance is mainly thought to be due to central sensitization by the activation of NMDA receptors. Therefore, we investigated the effects of continuous infusion of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, on postoperative pain and the quantity of opioids used. METHODS: 40 patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic gynecologic surgery were randomly allocated into two groups. Anesthesia was equally maintained with sevoflurane and 4 ng/ml of remifentanil in all patients. Ketamine (0.3 mg/kg) was injected and followed with a continuous dosage of 3 microl/kg/min in the ketamine group (n = 20) while the control group was injected and infused with an equal amount of normal saline. We compared postoperative VAS up to 7 hours and morphine demand through PCA. RESULTS: Postoperative VAS and morphine demand was significantly lower in the ketamine group 2 and 3 hours after surgery, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: When general anesthesia is maintained with sevoflurane and remifentanil in patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecologic surgery, continuous infusion of low dose ketamine decreased early postoperative pain and the quantity of opioids used.
Analgesics, Opioid ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Central Nervous System Sensitization ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Hyperalgesia ; Ketamine ; Methyl Ethers ; Morphine ; N-Methylaspartate ; Pain, Postoperative ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Piperidines ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate

BACKGROUND: Although the use of intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IVPCA) has been compared to the use of patient conrolled epidural analgesia (PCEA), there is no optimal administration route of alfentanil for the treatment of postoperative pain. This randomized double-blind study compared the efficacy of the use of IVPCA and PCEA for postoperative pain and the side effects after a total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH). METHODS: Sixty patients undergoing a TAH were randomly assigned to receive either IVPCA (Group I) or PCEA (Group E) for the infusion of alfentanil for postoperative pain control. In both groups, a loading dose of 750 microgram alfentanil was administered. All patients received the same continuous infusion rate (0.3 mg/h), bolus dose (0.15 mg), and lockout time (15 min). The incidence of side effects, the VAS (visual analog scale) of pain, blood pressure, and heart rate were checked for 20 hours after the loading dose injection. RESULTS: The VAS of pain was not significantly different between the two groups of patients. The onset of the analgesic effect was significantly more rapid in the Group I patients than in the Group E patients. There was no difference in side effects for either group. CONCLUSIONS: When considering multiple factors such as the onset of analgesia, technical difficulties or infection after the procedure, IVPCA using alfentanil is more useful than PCEA for postoperative pain control after a TAH.
Alfentanil* ; Analgesia ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled* ; Blood Pressure ; Double-Blind Method ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Incidence ; Pain, Postoperative

IgG4-related sclerosing disease was first discovered when researching autoimmune pancreatitis. It is an autoimmune disease that causes fibrosis on the pancreas, bile duct, gall bladder, salivary glands, and lungs. It is rarely reported in the nasal cavity. The diagnosis of IgG4-related sclerosing disease is based on biopsy findings demonstrating the characteristic histopathologic findings and immunohistochemical staining. IgG4-related sclerosing disease shows good response to high-dose steroid therapy. However, some patients do not respond to this treatment. Azathioprine or rituximab can be helpful in such case. We report our experience with IgG4-related sclerosing disease treated with azathioprine for 2 years, along with a related literature review.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Azathioprine ; Bile Ducts ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins* ; Lung ; Nasal Cavity* ; Pancreas ; Pancreatitis ; Plasma Cells ; Rituximab ; Salivary Glands ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment is to measure the expression of TGF-beta and alpha-SM actin (smooth muscle actin) from fibroblast culture by the duration of culture days and to analyze the inhibition of alpha-SM actin expression in fibroblast by the antibodies for TGF-beta. METHODS: The levels of alpha-SM actin from the paired NIH3T3 cell cultures with TGF-beta 1 containing medium (10 ng/ml) and with the antibody (for TGF-beta) medium (1 or 2 ug/ml) were determined by SDS PAGE for cell lysate protein, Western blot with ECL autoradiography and immuno - slot blot. RESULTS: In NIH3T3 culture, the expression of alpha-SM actin increased at culture days 4, 5, 6. TGF-beta was expressed from 2nd day of culture and increased by day 7. The addition of TGF beta (10 ng/ml) did not increased the expression of alpha-SM actin. But alpha-SM actin expression decreased in the presence of anti-TGF beta antibody. The decrease of expression was proportional to the concentration of antibody and duration of exposure to the antibody. CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous TGF-beta produced by fibroblast cultures is sufficient to express the alpha-SM actin from the myofiboblast. There was no additive expression of alpha-SM actin with exogenous TGF-beta 1. The antibody for TGF- beta inhibits the production of the alpha-SM actin during wound healing and may prevent the wound contracture.
Actins* ; Antibodies ; Autoradiography ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Contracture* ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Fibroblasts* ; Myofibroblasts ; Transforming Growth Factor beta* ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries*

The aim of this study was to compare with the effects of baclofen using an animal model of neuropathic pain. The sciatic nerve of rats was ligated unilaterally about dorsal half-portion in the tight according to the method of Seltzer and his colleague. After surgical operation, the rats showed painful symptoms of the ipsilateral hind paw, suggesting the possibility of spontaneous pain. And then, the paw withdrawal latency to the local heating on the paw through the glass plate and the frequency of paw withdrawal response to innocuous mechanical stimulation with modified von Frey filaments were determined to compare with the effects of pre-and post-medication of baclofen, respectively, at postoperative 3, 7, and 10 days. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia produced by partially tight ligation of sciatic nerve appeared continously postoperative 3 days later. 2) In the hyperesthetic rats, the thermal hyperalgesia was inhibited from the 3rd posroperative day with orally administered baclofen 0.2mg and 1.0mg. 3) In the hyperesthetic rats, the mechanical allodynia was inhibited with baclofen 0.2mg, but not with baclofen 1.0mg, These results suggest that baclofen have more specific effects on thermal hyperalgesia than mechanical allodynia.
Animals* ; Baclofen* ; Glass ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Hyperalgesia ; Ligation ; Models, Animal* ; Neuralgia* ; Rats ; Sciatic Nerve

No abstract available.
Anesthesia* ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Anesthesia* ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans

In Korea, physicians of the public health sector have significantly contributed to health services such as prevention and treatment of disease. However, advances in the field of public health have not provided sufficient institutional strategies and systems for reinforcement of administrative capabilities and health services. As a result, the satisfaction of physicians working in community health centers has been decreasing and their advances in the field of public health have also decreased. This study was conducted to examine the work status, working conditions, and overall job satisfaction physicians in order to strengthen of the role of physicians who work in community health centers. The subjects of the study included 191 individuals. The data were analyzed by frequency analysis and descriptive analysis using SAS. It was found that among physicians working in a community health center, the overall degree of job satisfaction was satisfactory, at 52.2% of respondents. However, it was found that employment stability (81.3%), salary increases (78.8%), the abolition of new recruitment of managing physicians on the basis of temporary (5-year term) employment (75.4%), and the provision and support for education (71.2%) should be improved to increase the job satisfaction of physicians in the community health center. Regarding this, the physicians responded that the most important conditions for them to work in the community health center were actualization of salary (63.3%) and the change of job status from temporary to full-time employment (17.0%). In conclusion, we must increase the job satisfaction of physicians working in community health centers to improve the quality of the public health care system in Korea and systematically improve the personnel system, salary, administration, and job status to increase job satisfaction.
Community Health Centers ; Employment ; Health Services ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea ; Phenothiazines ; Public Health ; Reinforcement (Psychology) ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Tibialis anterior muscle hernia is the most common hernia among lower extremity muscles. This condition can be diagnosed by physical examination and radiologic findings, especially by dynamic ultrasonography. There are surgical methods of treatment for muscle hernia, including direct repair, fasciotomy, fascial patch grafting using autologous fascia lata or synthetic mesh. We report a case of tibialis anterior muscle hernia treated with local periosteal rotational flap. Because there are several advantages to the local periosteal rotational flap, such as lack of donor site morbidity, lack of skin irritation, low cost, simplicity, and an easy approach, this technique could be an option for tibialis anterior muscle hernia.
Fascia Lata ; Hernia ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscles ; Physical Examination ; Skin ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants