OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the CT findings of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater and to differentiate from other periampullary carcinoma including the carcinoma of the distal common bile duct and pancreas head. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the CT findings of 13 cases of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, 20 cases of the carcinoma of the distal common bile duct and 20 cases of the carcinoma of the pancreas head confirmed by pathology. Five millimeter consecutive settings of CT scan were performed in all cases on ampulla level with supine position. The CT findings were retrospectively evaluated in view of common bile duct dilatation, pattern of termination of bile duct, pancreatic duct dilatation, protruding mass in duodenal lumen, and regional lymph node metastasis. RESULTS: All case of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater(13/13) and distal common bile duct(20/20) showed common bile duct dilatation with abrupt termination. Among the 10 cases of the carcinoma of the pancreas head with common bile duct dilatation, five cases each had is abrupt termination(5/20) and gradual stenosis of bile duct(5/20). Five cases of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater(5/13) and four cases of the carcinoma of distal common bile duct(4/20) showed pancreatic duct dilatation and all cases of the carcinoma of pancreas head show pancreatic duct dialtation(20/20). Twenty cases of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater showed protruding mass in the medial wall of the second portion of the duodenum(12/13) but only one case of the carcinoma of the distal common bile duct(I/20) and five cases of the carcinoma of the pancreas head (5/20) had protruding mass in the duodenal lumen. Only one case of the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater showed(1/13) regional lymph node metastasis but three cases of the carcinoma of the distal common bile duct(3/20) and 18 cases of the carcinoma of the pancreas head(18/20) showed regional lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION: Common bile duct dilatation with abrupt termination, protruding mass in the duodenal lumen and rare lymph node metastasis in CT may suggest the carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater.
Ampulla of Vater* ; Bile ; Bile Ducts ; Common Bile Duct ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Head ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Supine Position ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Isolated deficiency of 3-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase is a rare disorder of the catabolic pathway for leucine and many patients have mild symptoms or no symptom. However, the introduction of tandem mass spectrometry in newborn screening has revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of this disorder. We report an asymptomatic premature infant with isolated 3-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase deficiency detected by newborn screening program using tandem mass spectrometry. She was born at preterm, 36 weeks of gestation and her birth weight was 1,912 gm. She was delivered by Cesarian section due to maternal preeclampsia and oligohydramnios. An elevation of 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine in a blood sample obtained at Seven days was detected by tandem mass screening. Massively elevated excretion of 3-hydroxyisovalerate and 3-methylcrotonylglycine was detected in the urine collected at 15 days. L-carnitine(100 mg/kg/day) was administrated orally to correct sencondary carnitine deficiency. Carnitine is conjugated with metabolites, to decrease the potential toxic effects. She is asymptomatic to date, and her growth and development are within normal limits.
Birth Weight ; Carnitine ; Female ; Growth and Development ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn* ; Infant, Premature ; Leucine ; Mass Screening* ; Oligohydramnios ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry*

Telepathology systems will be common systems in hospitals. The two systems were designed and implemented in web environments for test. One was implemented with the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) technique. The other system was implemented in the form of ActiveX. The histopathological materials were stained by Hematoxylin and Eosin. By the Donpisha CCD camera attached to an Olympus BX-51 optical microscope 180 color images come to be acquired. For evaluation of the systems, transmission times and telediagnosis concordance rates were measured. Image processing ability was tested using two telepathology systems. For the local area test, system I using CORBA had measured image transmission times of 0.1 s, 0.2 s, and 0.4 s at the file sizes of 100 K byte, 900 K byte and 3.6 M byte respectively. Transmission times for system II using Component Object Model (COM) were slightly slower, ranging from 0.02 s to 0.05 s. In the long distance area test, system II transmission times were 0.5 s, 0.8 s, and 2.0 s. The overall concordance rate of telediagnosis for the 180 images was 78.3%. In this study, we compared our systems about image transmission, and processing for the further development of system configurations.
Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Hematoxylin ; Internet* ; Telepathology*

Bartter's syndrome is characterized by hyperreninemia, hyperaldosteronism, hypokalemic hypochlorenlic alkalosis, normal blood pressure, juxtaglomerular apparatus hyperplasia, general weakness, and muscle weakness. We experienced a case of hypokalemic myopathy associated with Bartter's syndrome in 15 years old male. He had experienced paroxysmal muscle weakness without sensory change and myalgia since 10 years old. Subsequently, he had complaints of progressive muscle weakness, especially proximal muscles. Prominent juxtaglomerular apparatus with cellular proliferation biopsy was seen in the kidney. And there were mild perivascular inflammatory cell infiltration, small degenerating and/or regenerating muscles fibers, and normal muscle fiber distribution without evidence of chronic myopathy in the muscle biopsy. The patient was sucessfully managed with indomethacin and oral potassium chloride.
Adolescent ; Alkalosis ; Bartter Syndrome* ; Biopsy ; Blood Pressure ; Cell Proliferation ; Child ; Humans ; Hyperaldosteronism ; Hyperplasia ; Indomethacin ; Juxtaglomerular Apparatus ; Kidney ; Male ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscles ; Muscular Diseases* ; Myalgia ; Potassium Chloride

Hereditory Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy(HSAN) is variable rare disorder. So the classification of HSAN could be somewhat unsettled. There are intermingled overlap variants of HSAN in view of clinical manifestations and pathologic findings. Five types of HSAN have been described by Dyck(1993). Type I is dominantly inherited and affects both myelinated(MFs) and unmyetinated fibers(Ufs). Type II is recessively inherited and nerve biopsies show total absence of MFs but presence of Ufs. Type III is a recessive inherited dysautonomia. Type IV is characterized by insensitive to pain anhidrosis, and mild mental retardation with virtually absence of Ufs. Type V affects small MFs. We report a 5 year-old girl who presented with congenital insensitivity to pain, anhidrosis with mild mental retardation. In sural nerve biopsy, Ufs were virtually absent by electron microscopy. We reconfirmed previous pathologic findings in sural nerve of HSAN IV.
Biopsy ; Child, Preschool ; Classification ; Female ; Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathies ; Humans ; Hypohidrosis* ; Intellectual Disability ; Microscopy, Electron ; Pain Insensitivity, Congenital* ; Primary Dysautonomias ; Sural Nerve

No abstract available.
Fires ; Tracheostomy

Hydroxyapatite is commonly used as a filler to replace amputated bone or as a coating to promote bone ingrowth into prosthetic implants. Many modern implants, such as hip replacements and dental implants, are coated with hydroxyapatite. We report a patient with occupational asthma due to hydroxyapatite, proven by a specific inhalation challenge, who experienced an early asthmatic reaction after exposure to hydroxyapatite, without increased airway responsiveness to methacholine despite an increased eosinophil count in the peripheral blood. A 38-year-old male dental implant worker visited our allergy department for the evaluation of occupational asthma. He had treated dental implant titanium surfaces with hydroxyapatite for 1.5 years. One year after starting his employment, he noticed symptoms of rhinorrhea, paroxysmal cough, and chest tightness. His symptoms were aggravated during and shortly after work and subsided several hours after work. When he stopped working for 2 months because of his chest symptoms, he became asymptomatic. After restarting his work, his symptoms reappeared and were aggravated. A methacholine bronchial challenge test had a negative response. The following day, a specific bronchial provocation test with wheat powder was negative. On the third day, a specific bronchial provocation test with hydroxyapatite powder produced an early asthmatic response. On the fourth day, a methacholine bronchial challenge test was negative. Further studies are needed to evaluate the exact pathogenetic mechanism of hydroxyapatite-induced occupational asthma.
Adult ; Asthma ; Asthma, Occupational ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Cough ; Dental Implants ; Durapatite ; Employment ; Eosinophils ; Hip ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Inhalation ; Male ; Methacholine Chloride ; Occupations ; Thorax ; Titanium ; Triticum

PURPOSE: Acute bronchiolitis is a lower respiratory tract disease, resulting from inflammatory obstruction of the small airway. The main treatment of acute bronchiolitis is supportive but, numerous investigators have examined the efficacy of beta agonist as bronchodilators. In acute bronchiolitis, mucosal edema in the bronchioles may be an important cause of airway obstruction therefore, an alpha and beta agonist might be useful in the treatment of this disease. So we examined the efficacy and safety of repeated nebulized epinephrine compared to fenoterol. METHODS: This randomized double blind study involved 106 hospitalized infants with wheezing, under one year age and acute onset of respiratory distress. They were randomly separated into two groups, and treated with either nebulized 0.1% epinephrine 0.5 mg in 3.5 mL of 0.9% saline solution (group 1; n=50) or nebulized fenoterol 0.5 mg in 2 mL of 0.9% saline solution(group 2; n=50). This therapy was repeated at six hour intervals after hospital admission. Observations were made at admission and just before, 30 minutes after nebulization. The primary outcome measures used were the degree of change in clinical scores. The secondary outcome measures used were the length of the hospital stay. RESULTS: A significant improvement in the clinical score was noted during 72 hours of hospitalization in both groups(P<0.001). But, there were no significant differences between the groups in clinical score improvement. There were no significant differences between the groups in the length of the hospital stay(P=0.055). No adverse effects were associated with nebulized therapy. CONCLUSION: There were no group differences in the effectiveness of therapy for infants hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis.
Infant ; Male ; Female ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is applied for the treatments of various diseases inducing hypoxic states. However, reoxygenation of previously hypoxic tissue results in significant tissue damages through the mechanisms of oxygen toxicity. The authors investigated the characteristics of the EEG changes by hyperbaric oxygenation after the exposure to carbon monoxide, and the protective effects of allopurinol, an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase (XO), to the brain. METHODS: Sixty eight male rabbits of New Zealand white weighing 1,350-2,000 gm, were used. The rabbits were divided in 4 groups and measured EEG for 21 hours of experiments. RESULT: The delta waves were significantly increased and alpha waves significantly decreased, during CO exposure, HBO exposure only, and HBO exposure after CO exposure (P< 0.05 in all groups). The wave changes were most remarkable in CO-HBO group, and in this case the changes continued to the last period of the ambient air exposure stage. The brain injury did not decrease as appeared in EEG changes in rabbits treated with allopurinol. This result suggests that many other mechanisms might be involved in CO-HBO condition. The paroxysmal electrical discharges were mostly appeared during or after HBO exposure stages. CONCLUSION: The changes of EEG characteristic in hyperbaric oxygenation are the increase of delta wave and electrical paroxysmal discharges. There is no protective effect of allopurinol to the brain, which suggests that many other mechanisms other than XO might be involved.
Allopurinol ; Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Carbon Monoxide* ; Carbon* ; Electroencephalography* ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Male ; New Zealand ; Oxygen ; Rabbits ; Xanthine Oxidase

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer continues to increase worldwide. Also, the proportion of female patients incease and adenocarcinoma is the predominant histological type among lung cancer in many western countries. So, we studied these current trends of lung cancer by clinical approach of recent patients from our department. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective analysis on 212 subjects who were diagnosed with lung cancer at the department of chest medicine in National Medical Center between January 1990 and July 1996. The contents of analysis were patient's profile, clinical manifestation, smoking habits, accuracy of diagnostic methods, histological cell type, staging and treatment, etc. RESULTS: The results were as follows. 1) The ratio of male to female was 5.2:1. The peak incidence of age was 7th decade(35.4 %). 2) Chief complaints were cough, dyspnea and chest pain, etc. The most common duration of symptoms before the first admission was less than 3 months(57.7%). On the other side, duration more than 1 year represented 6.5%. The early diagnosed patients has been increased from the 1980s. 3) Smokers among the total patients were 77.2%. The proportion of smokers in sqamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were 88.4%, 85.7% and 55.7%, respectively. Smoking history and histological cell type were correlated in squamous and small cell carcinoma. 4) Squamous cell carcinoma is still the predominant histological type(44.8%), but, adenocarcinoma increased more than the previous study(30.7%). The other histological types were small cell carcinoma(17.0%) and large cell carcinoma(3.8%) in order of their proportions. 5) The accuracy of diagnostic methods were as follows : sputum cytology 75.3%, bronchoscopic biopsy 65.7%, lymph node aspiration cytology 95.8%, percutaneous lung aspiration cytology 94.6% and open lung biopsy 100%. The general accuracies of diagnostic methods were improved than previous studies. 6) Performance status scales on admission were relatively good. After diagnosis, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were undertaken in 69.3% of the patients, and only 7.5% of the patients were operated. CONCLUSION: In our study, squamous cell carcinoma is still the predominant histological cell type, but, adenocarcinoma continues to increase. Because adenocarcinoma is less correlated with smoking habits, further evaluation of other carcinogens than smoking is requested. Screening and early diagnosis of lung cancer is important for good performance status scales in spite of advanced stages. But, we think that the prevention, for example, stop smokings is more important as because of no perfect treatment for lung cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Carcinogens ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Chest Pain ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspnea ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Weights and Measures