The leiomyoma of the vagina is relatively rare benign solid tumor, and majority of them were not recognized until after operation. Variable opinion exists as to the exact origin of this lesion. The most frequent location is the anterior vaginal wall. Recently we experienced a case of vaginal leiomyoma arising in the anterior vaginal wall and now we present it with a brief review of the literatures.
Leiomyoma* ; Vagina*

Arteiovenous malformation of the uterus is an extremely rare and becomes one of the causes of severe uterine bleeding. Because uterine bleeding can be aggravated with diagnostic dilatation and curettage, an accurate diagnosis should be achieved before the intervention. This malformation may be congenital or acquired. In the past, the diagnosis is usually made retrospectively after hysterectomy, however, recently it may be made before management by ultrasound, doppler ultrasound, pelvic angiography, magnetic resonance imaging, etc.. We have experienced one case of arteriovenous malformation of the uterus, which is presented with a brief review of the literatures.
Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation and Curettage ; Female ; Hysterectomy ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Uterus*

No abstract available.
Cryptococcosis* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Recently, it was reported that bupivacaine-induced spinal block significantly reduced the hypnotic requirements for thiopentone, midazolam and propofol. We evaluated the hypnotic effect and requirements for intravenous propofol when pretreated with intravenous lidocaine. METHODS: Fifty patients, ASA I or II, undergoing minor surgical procedures were randomly divided into five groups according to anesthetic pretreatment (group N: 0.9% normal saline; group 0.5: lidocaine 0.5 mg/kg; group 1.0: lidocaine 1.0 mg/kg; group 1.5: lidocaine 1.5 mg/kg; group 2.0 lidocaine 2.0 mg/kg). Ninty seconds after the administration of normal saline or lidocaine, propofol was administered intravenously over 5 sec in bolus doses of 0.2 mg/kg every 30 sec. The inability of patients respond to a simple command ("Open your eyes," said twice) was used as the end point for hypnosis. Responses to verbal commands were evaluated 25 sec after each bolus. The total dose required to achieve complete loss of response in each patient was recorded in mg/kg. The time of the loss of response was from the adminstration of propofol to the loss of response. Mean arterial pressures and heart rates were measured before induction, after loss of response, and immediately after induction. RESULTS: The time and total dose required to achieve loss of response was significantly reduced in groups 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0. Heart rates in groups 2.0 and mean arterial pressure in groups 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 were significantly decreased after the loss of response. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that lidocaine pretreatment significantly enhances the hypnotic effect and reduces the dose requirement for propofol during the induction period.
Anesthesia* ; Arterial Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypnosis ; Hypnotics and Sedatives* ; Lidocaine* ; Midazolam ; Propofol* ; Surgical Procedures, Minor ; Thiopental

PURPOSE: The significance of abnormal E-cadherin/ catenin complex expression and the correlation of each of its components in cancer remain unclear. This study aimed to characterize the clinical significance of the abnormal membrane expression of the E-cadherin/ catenin complex and the localization patterns of the beta- catenin and p120CTN in early gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining for E-cadherin, alpha-, beta- and gamma-catenin and p120CTN were performed on 47 early gastric cancer specimens. The patterns of membrange expression of the E-cadherin/catenin complex, and the localization patterns of the beta-catenin and p120CTN, were semi quantitatively graded as loss, reduced, preserved or negative and positive. RESULTS: An abnormal immunoreactivity of at least one of E-cadherin/catenin complex proteins was noted in 46 (97.8%) of the 47 early gastric cancer cases. There were no significant correlations of the membrane E-cadherin/catenin expression with, either, sex, age, location, size, macroscopic type, depth of invasion or lymphovascular invasion. Abnormal expressions of membrane E-cadherin, beta-catenin and gamma-catenin were more frequent in the diffuse-type than in the intestinal type. No linear correlation was shown for the beta-catenin between the membrane and cytoplasmic expressions. Nuclear staining of the beta-catenin was observed in 5 (10.6%) cases, but nuclear staining of the p120CTN, a promotor of Kaiso transcriptional factor, was not seen. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that alterations of the E-cadherin/catenin complex may be involved in the early stages of gastric cancer. Although beta-catenin functions as a transcriptional factor, the inactivation of membrane E-cadherin does not appear to result in significant increases in the level of cytoplasmic beta-catenin. Kaiso transcriptional factor may not be involved in the early carcinogenesis of gastric cancer.
beta Catenin ; Cadherins ; Carcinogenesis ; Cell Adhesion ; Cytoplasm ; gamma Catenin* ; Membranes ; Stomach Neoplasms*

It has been generally accepted that calcium intake prevents bone loss, and frequent fracture resulted from osteoporosis. However, it is still elusive as to how effective sole calcium intake is in preventing or attenuating the severity of osteoporosis. Here, we demonstrate the effects of eggshell-casein phosphopeptide (ES-CPP), and compared these effects those of calcium supplement, for restoring ovariectomy-mediated bone loss. CPP, synthesized from the hydrolysis of casein (0.5%) using trypsin, was added to the grinded ES and was then administered to the ovariectomized (OVX) rat at 100 mg/kg for 4 weeks. Urine and feces from each group were collected each day, and were used to calculate the apparent calcium absorption rate in a day. After 4 weeks incubation, blood and femoral bones were isolated for the analysis of parameters representing osteoporosis. The apparent calcium absorption rate was significantly increased in the ES-CPP treated groups, in comparison to both the OVX and the commercial calcium supplement (CCS) treated group. Notably, treatment with ES-CPP markedly enhanced the calcium content in femoral bone and the relative weight of femoral bone to body weight, though calcium content in serum was barely changed by treatment with ES-CPP. Parameters of osteoporosis, such as osteocalcin in serum and bone mineral density, were rescued by treatment with ES-CPP, compared to treatment with commercial calcium supplement. This finding strongly suggests the possible use of ES-CPP in preventing or attenuating the severity of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Absorption ; Animals ; Body Weight ; Bone Density ; Calcium ; Caseins ; Feces ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrolysis ; Osteocalcin ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; Piperazines ; Rats ; Trypsin