Solid organ xenotransplantation using transgenic pig organs is proposed as an alternative method for allo-transplantation. To accomplish this, immunologic and non-immunologic barriers for xenotransplantation should be overcome, and experiments on pigs to non-human primates (NHP) are now ongoing for clinical application. Before the clinical experiment, public consensus about ethical decisions must be considered. The results of NHP experiments on solid organ xenotransplantation are improving, and it is expected that xeno-solid organs can be used as new organs for human patients in the future.
Consensus ; Humans ; Methods ; Primates ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterologous*

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Occupations

No abstract available.
Iron* ; Skin Pigmentation*

No abstract available.
Epidermal Cyst

PURPOSE: Arterial TOS is a rare condition caused by compression of the subclavian artery at the thoracic outlet area, which is composed of the anterior and middle scalene muscles, the first rib and the clavicle. We have experienced four cases of arterial TOS and we reviewed them to determine the appropriate management of arterial TOS. METHOD: We reviewed the medical records of 26 patients who were diagnosed and managed for TOS at Seoul National University Hospital from 1985 to 2004. We reviewed the clinical manifestations, diagnostic tools, mode of management and the outcomes. RESULT: The four patients with arterial TOS, 3 males and 1 female, had an average age of 41.3 years (range: 30~53 years). They complained of a tingling sense, coldness, weakness, and cyanosis of affected limb, and a gangrenous finger. They were diagnosed with CT angiography, conventional angiography and Doppler US. The findings were stenotic artery segments, post- stenotic dilatation and luminal thrombi of the subclavian artery. Two of them showed multiple peripheral arterial embolic obstructions and numerous collateral vessels. Three patients with arterial TOS underwent surgery. The operation consisted of the excision of the bony abnormality and the scalene muscle, segmental resection of subclavian artery including the aneurismal dilatation, interposition of a saphenous vein graft, and thromboembolectomy. Their symptoms improved after restoration of blood circulation, but the gangrenous finger required amputation. CONCLUSION: Arterial TOS has the definite risk of limb loss. If there is a high clinical suspicion of this lesion, early diagnosis and confirmation by angiogram may be critical to prevent limb loss. Surgical revascularization provides satisfactory results for limb salvage with low operative morbidity.
Amputation ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Blood Circulation ; Clavicle ; Cyanosis ; Diagnosis* ; Dilatation ; Early Diagnosis ; Extremities ; Female ; Fingers ; Humans ; Limb Salvage ; Male ; Medical Records ; Muscles ; Phenobarbital ; Ribs ; Saphenous Vein ; Seoul ; Subclavian Artery ; Thoracic Outlet Syndrome* ; Transplants

PURPOSE: Concurrent chemoradiation treatment (CCRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer is an important modality for curative resection, but its tumor response shows wide spectrum. The aim of study is to investigate any correlation between a related genetic mutations, proliferative index and tumor response after CCRT. METHODS: A twenty three patients with rectal cancer, which preoperatively staged as over T3N1 or T4 determined by transrectal ultrasonography and MRI. Enrolled patients were given 5 FU 450 mg/m2 and leucovorin 20 mg/m2 intravenously for 5 days during the first and fifth weeks of radiation therapy (45~54 Gy). 4 weeks after completion of scheduled treatment, surgical resection was performed. Tumor response was classified into CR (complete remission), PR (partial response: 50% of diminution of tumor volume and downstaging), NR (no response). Paraffin-embedded tissues obtained before chemoradiation treatment were studied with immunohistochemical staining of p53, Bcl-2 and Ki-67. The extent of tumor response was correlated with proliferative activity as measured by immunostaining of Ki-67 proliferative antigen and expression of p53 and bcl-2 oncoproteins (less than 10%: negative, 10~25%: , 25~50%: , more than 50%: , Ki-67: to count a labeled cells per 1,000 cells). RESULTS: All patients were resectable. CR was obtained in 4 (17.4%), PR in 10 (43.3%) and NR in 9 (39.2%). p53 mutation was noted in 16 (70%). p53 mutation was found in NR: 5 (31.3%), PR: 9 (56.2%), CR: 2 (12.5%), respectively. Bcl-2 expression was noted in 11 (48%). NR as in 4 (36.3%), PR: 3 (28.4%) and CR: 4 (36.3%), respectively. Ki-67 labeling index was NR: 615.4 446.2, PR: 663.2 296.4, CR: 765.5 188.3, respectively (CR PR Vs NR, p=0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Immunohistochemical Expression of p53 and bcl-2 does not correlate with tumor response after CCRT, but Ki-67 labeling may be useful parameters for good radiosensitive tumor selected for CCRT.
Humans ; Leucovorin ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Oncogene Proteins ; Rectal Neoplasms* ; Tumor Burden ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: We purposed to determine the effects of urinary typsin inhibitor (ulinastatin) on the outcomes of severe sepsis and septic shock patients. METHODS: This is a prospective case control study of severe sepsis and septic shock patients who visited emergency department of university hospital from January 2005 to June 2008. For study group, 100,000 U of ulinastatin was initially infused and then additional infusions of ulinastatin were determined by the mean arterial pressure. We compared the predicted mortality and the actual in-hospital mortality between the ulinastatin group and the control group. We also compared the improvement of the SOFA score according to time between the groups. RESULTS: There were 43 patients in the ulinastatin group and 126 patients in the control group. The predicted mortality and the actual mortality of the ulinastatin group were 31.2% and 18.6%, respectively. The predicted and actual mortalities of the control group were 33.1% and 27.0%, respectively. The improvement of the SOFA score for the ulinastatin group was 6.8+/-3.9 and 5.0+/-4.5 at 0 and 24 hours (p<0.001), 6.5+/-3.7 and 3.9+/-4.3 at 0 and 48 hours (p<0.001) and, 6.3+/-3.6 and 3.0+/-4.1 at 0 and 72 hours (p<0.001). For the control group, the change of the SOFA score was 4.9+/-2.9 and 5.8+/-4.1 at 0 and 24 hours (p=0.003), 5.0+/-2.8 and 5.1+/-4.2 at 0 and 48 hours (p=0.760) and, 4.8+/-2.7 and 4.34.1 at 0 and 72 hours (p=0.105). CONCLUSION: The ulinastatin group showed significantly lower mortality than the predicted mortality and the ulinastatin group's SOFA score was improved in the early hospital days.
Arterial Pressure ; Case-Control Studies ; Emergencies ; Glycoproteins ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic ; Trypsin

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the clinical significance IV-contrasted helical abdomen computed tomography (CT) as a diagnostic screening tool to evaluate hollow viscus injury in blunt abdominal trauma patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective study encompassing 108 patients, presenting to Korea University Medical Center (KUMC) Emergency Department (ED) from January 2007 to December 2007, with an initial CT finding suggestive of intra-abdominal injury. An initial non-enhanced abdomen CT was taken, followed by an enhanced CT with intravenous contrast. Patients' demographic data, as well as the mechanisms of injury, were inquired upon and obtained, initial diagnosis, as dictated by specialized radiologists, were added to post-operational (post-OP) findings and to additional CT findings acquired during their hospital stays, and all were combined to arrive at final diagnosis. Initial CT findings were further compared with the final diagnosis, yielding values for sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, as well as positive and negative predictive values. Patients were further divided into two groups, namely, those that underwent operational intervention and those that did not. The initial CT findings of each group were subsequently compared and analyzed. RESULTS: Initial CT scans revealed abnormal findings in a total of 212 cases - solid organ injuries being the most common finding, as was observed in 97 cases. Free fluid accumulation was evident in another 69 cases. Based on the CT findings, 77 cases (71.3%) were initially diagnosed as having a solid organ injury, 20 cases (18.5%) as having a combined (solid organ + hollow viscus) injury, and 11 cases (10.2%), as having an isolated hollow viscus injury. The final diagnosis however, were somewhat different, with only 67 cases (62.0%) attributed to solid organ injury, 31 cases (28.7%) to combined injury (solid + hollow), and 10 cases (9.3%) to hollow viscus injury. The sensitivity (CI 95%) of the initial helical CT in diagnosing hollow viscus injury was 75.6%, and its specificity was 100%. The accuracy in diagnosing hollow viscus injury was also meaningfully lower compared to that in diagnosis of solid organ injury. Among patients initially diagnosed with solid organ injuries, 10 patients (2 from follow-up CT and 8 from post-OP finding) turned out to have combined injuries. A total of 38 patients underwent an operation, and the proportion of initial CT findings suggesting free air, mesenteric hematoma or bowel wall thickening turned out to be significantly higher in the operation group. CONCLUSION: Abdominal CT was a meaningful screening test for hollow viscus injury, but the sensitivity of abdominal CT was significantly lower in detecting hollow viscus injury as compared to solid organ injury. This calls for special consideration and careful observation by the ED physicians when dealing with cases of blunt abdominal trauma.
Abdomen ; Academic Medical Centers ; Emergencies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Mass Screening ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

Omega (omega)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appear to be effective in preventing and treating parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease, and several mechanisms were proposed for this observation. An 8-week-old male infant with cholestasis and acholic stool was diagnosed non-syndromic intrahepatic interlobular bile duct paucity by open-wedge liver biopsy. Initially he was treated with usual supportive medical therapy, including ursodeoxycholic acid. However, the clinical status and laboratory tests did not improve. Omega (omega)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (initially intravenous administration and oral administration later), were started and his liver function, including aminotransferase level and bilirubin levels normalized, and the ivory stool color turned green. We report the possible effectiveness of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as a potent choleretic agent for non-syndromic intrahepatic interlobular bile duct paucity, a very rare structural pediatric hepatic disease.
Administration, Intravenous ; Administration, Oral ; Bile Ducts* ; Bilirubin ; Biopsy ; Cholestasis* ; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver ; Liver Diseases ; Male ; Ursodeoxycholic Acid

BACKGROUND: Immune tolerance is regarded as the goal of the organ transplantation (TPLx), but the mechanism of tolerance induction remains to be established. Microchimerism (MC) development in long-surviving recipients after solid organ TPLx might be linked to tolerance. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the development and clinical relevance of donor specific MC in living related renal transplants with good graft function more than 3 years after TPLx. The relationship between MC and mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) hyporeactivity was also evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen recipients were included in this study among recipients whose renal function were stable for more than 3 years and have at least one mismatch of HLA DR loci. Donor-specific MC was examined with nested PCR method using HLA DRB1 gene probe in DNA extracted from peripheral blood and forearm skin tissue samples. Mean age at TPLx was 28.9 yrs (range: 13~42 yrs) and mean follow-up period was 67.4 months (range: 36~173 mos). Male to female ratio was 11:7. Acute rejection occurred in 4 and were reversed with steroid pulse therapy. All donors were alive (parent:8, sibling:9, offspring:1). Immunosuppression regimens were CSA(+)PDS in 11, AZA PDS in 1, AZA CSA(+)PDS in 5, and CSA monotherapy in 1. Mean serum BUN/Cr at the point of this study were 22.2+/-6.7 / 1.54+/-0.81 (mg/dL). The sensitivity of nested PCR using HLA DRB1 probe was 1/105~1/106. RESULTS: Donor-specific MC was detected in 6 (33.3%) (5 in blood, 5 in skin tissue). Nested PCR method was more sensitive than single round SSP-PCR method which showed only 2 positive recipients (11.1%). Two of four acute rejection experienced recipients were MC positive. Recipients were divided into two groups according to the follow-up period of 5 years. Two groups showed equal number of MC positivity. MLR was decreased in a group of more than 5 yrs follow-up. However, there was no difference in the decrement of MLR between MC positive and negative groups. CONCLUSION: MC was detected in 33.3% patients with nested PCR method. Since the MC positivity and MLR hyporesponsiveness shows no relationship, the significance of MC relevant to tolerance is to be determined through further study.
Chimerism* ; DNA ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Forearm ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Immunosuppression ; Kidney Transplantation ; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed ; Male ; Organ Transplantation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Skin ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants