No abstract available.
Aged* ; Emergencies* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Laser Coagulation* ; Prostatic Hyperplasia*

PURPOSE: Septic arthritis of the knee is a relative rare complication of the arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, but inadequate treatment of this complication may lead to a devastating conse- quence of a chronic infection. Moreover, no guidelines have been proposed for the treatment of patients with knee infections after the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. To determine the optimal diagno- sis and treatment recommendation, we performed this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed retrospective study of the knee joint infections after the arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction between August 1993 and August 1998, Of the 420 patients who reviewed arthroscopic ACL reconstruction during this period from one surgeon, we experi- enced 4 cases(0.95%) of postoperative deep infections of the knee. RESULTS: All 4 patients were male, and the average age was 32 years(range from 19 to 43). Two patients had acute(< 2 weeks), two patients had subacute infections(2 weeks to 2 months). The acute cases had more severe symptoms, and positive cultures from knee joint aspirates. All patients underwent immediate open(1 case), or arthroscopic irrigation and debridement. One patient underwent repeat irriga- tion and debridement. The graft was removed from all patients in acute cases. CONCLUSION: The clinical symptoms, and the infected organism were more helpful than the peripheral blood counts in the diagnosis of a deep infection of the knee. Arthroscopic lavage, and debridement com- bined with intravenous antibiotics were effective treatment options. Clinical symptoms were more severe in acute cases, and early graft removal is an adequate method of surgical treatment.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Arthritis, Infectious* ; Debridement ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Knee* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Therapeutic Irrigation ; Transplants

PURPOSE: We report a distinctive lesion in the articular cartilage of the talar dome in anterior bony impingement syndrome of the joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Arthroscopic debridement was done in 68 ankles under the diagnosis of anterior impingement syndrome of the ankle joint between October 1994 and June 1996. There were 6 tram track lesions of talar dome of the 68 ankles. We evaluated arthroscopic findings of tramtrack lesion, injury mechanism, and treatment results according to the criteria of Ogilvie-Harris DJ et al. RESULTS: All six male patients were professional or collegiate soccer players. Average age was 29 years (26 to 34). All 6 cases were dorminant ankles. Trauma history was not definite in all 6 cases. All 6 patients were anterior impingement syndrome of the ankle and treated by arthroscopic removal of osteophytes. The cartilage lesions were full thickness defects, located in the anterior half of the medial aspect of the talar dome and were longitudinal with variable widths resembling a tram track, thus named ""tram track lesion"". Tram track lesion and osteophytes were contacted by ankle dorsiflexion. Overall, good and excellent results were achieved in five patients at a mean follow up of twenty-seven months. Two cases had recurrences of osteophytes. CONCLUSIONS: Tram track lesion of talar dome occurred by repeated scratching of the osteophyte of distal tibia and treated effectively by arthroscopic removal of osteophyte and debridement.
Ankle ; Ankle Joint ; Arthroscopy ; Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular ; Debridement ; Diagnosis ; Diphenhydramine ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Male ; Osteophyte ; Recurrence ; Soccer ; Tibia

Eleven cases of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis were reviewed. Average age of patients was 59 years, 4 male and 7 female. Underlying diseases were osteoarthritis in 7 cases, rheumatoid arthritis in 3 cases and one post-traumatic arthritis. At the mean follow up of 15 months, fusion rate was 100%, mean time to complete union was 9.5 weeks. There were no complications such as nonunion, infection and skin problems. All patients stayed at the hospital just overnight after the surgery. Patients satisfaction was high and the functional clinical grade was excellent in 9 patients, good in 1 patient and fair in 1 patient. We concluded that arthroscopic technique was a simple and effective method for ankle arthrodesis in the selected patients and had significant advantages over the open technique.
Ankle* ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthrodesis* ; Arthroscopy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Osteoarthritis ; Skin

No abstract available.
Child* ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Hematuria* ; Humans ; Nephritis* ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch*

BACKGROUND: In experimental cerebral ischemia, hypothermia protects the brain, while hyperglycemia aggravates ischemic damage. Clinical studies have also reported worse outcomes in ischemic stroke patients with hyperglycemia or fever and improved outcomes with hypothermic therapy. However, it is not well known what will happen if these opposite effects exist together. METHODS: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Focal cerebral ischemia was induced for 2 hours by an intraluminal thread followed by reperfusion for 4 hours. Rats were divided into 4 groups; 1) normo-glycemic normothermic (NGNT), 2) normoglycemic hypothermic (low temperature) (NGLT), 3) hyperglycemic normothermic (HGNT), and 4) hyperglycemic hypothermic (HGLT) groups (n=15 for each group). Hyperglycemia wasmade by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg) 3 days before ischemia. The body temperature was maintained at 37+/-1 degrees C in normothermic animals, while lowered at 32+/-1 degrees C in hypothermic animals during the ischemic period. Following reperfusion, 2-mm thick coronal slices were obtained and stained by triphenyltetrazolium chloride. The infarct volume was measured using an image analyzer. RESULTS: Mean glucose levels (mean+/-SD in mg/dl) were 77.9+/-9.3 in NGNT, 77.7+/-11.5 in NGLT, 311.0+/-69.2 in HGNT, and 355.3+/-57.7 in HGLT. Mean infarct volumes (mean+/-SD in mm 3) were 168.2+/-44.2 in NGNT, 66.2+/-24.2 in NGLT, 417.6+/-123.2 in HGNT, and 337.2+/-89.3 in HGLT. The protective effect of hypothermia was less evident in hyperglycemic rats and the aggravating effect of hyper-glycemia was more evident in hypothermic rats. Infarct volume of HGLT was 2-fold bigger than that of NGNT (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the detrimental effect of hyperglycemia may override the protective effect of hypothermia in transient focal cerebral ischemia.
Animals ; Body Temperature ; Brain ; Brain Ischemia* ; Fever ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia* ; Hypothermia* ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Ischemia ; Male ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion ; Streptozocin ; Stroke

Placenta accreta is a rare but potentially lethal obstetric emergency due to massive hemorrhage, uterine perforation, and infection. Traditionally, hysterectomy was performed in the occurrence of serious hemorrhage. Currently, several conservative treatments including the use of uterine packing, leaving the placenta in situ, argon-beam coagulation, uterine artery ligation, administration of methotrexate, and uterine artery embolizations are introduced to preserve future reproductive potential. We present a patient with placenta accreta treated successfully with selective uterine artery embolization followed by methotrexate with brief review of literature.
Emergencies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Ligation ; Methotrexate* ; Placenta Accreta* ; Placenta* ; Uterine Artery Embolization* ; Uterine Artery* ; Uterine Hemorrhage

For the patients suffering from extensive deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the placement of an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter in conjunction with anticoagulant therapy has been used to prevent pulmonary embolisms. However, for the patients who anticoagulant is contraindicated or if this is complicated, the use of an IVC filter without concurrent anticoagulation may become the sole treatment for pulmonary embolisms. In this situation, the thrombi trapped in the IVC filter may cause significant clinical problems. We report here on a case of IVC filter thrombosis that was successfully treated by aspiration thrombectomy after placing another filter proximal to the previous filter.
Humans ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Thrombectomy* ; Thrombosis* ; Vena Cava Filters* ; Vena Cava, Inferior* ; Venous Thrombosis

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) is a powerful indepedent risk factor of ventricular tachycardia and sudden death. Even though it is not clear the mechanism of sudden death in patients with LVH, inhomogenous ventricular repolarization is highly suggested. QT dispersion which reflecting regional inhomogeneity of repolarization is defined as interlead variation in QT intervals of 12 leads ECG. The purpose of this study was to assess whether QT dispersion is associated with LVH in hypertensive patients. METHODS: We assessed 23 untreated hypertensives with echocardiographic LVH and normal left ventricular systolic function. The criteria of 5th Joint National Committee stage I-III was used to define hypertension. Thirty four normotensives was assessed as controls. On a standard 12 lead ECG, the intervals between onset of QRS to end of T wave were measured(QT intervals) and corrected by heart rate(QTc). QT dispersion was calculated by the difference of maximal and minimal QTc. Left ventricular mass(LVM) was calculated from Devereux's formula using the parameters measured by the recommendation of American Society of Echocardiography. LVH was defined by LVM indices over 130 g/m2. RESULTS: LVM indices of hypertensive group were significantly greater than those of controls (162.2+/-39.3 g/m2 vs 84.2+/-16.1 g/m2, p<0.001). Maximal QT and QTc of hypertensive group were significantly prolonged than those of controls(maximal QT=401+/-31 ms vs 380+/-35 ms, p<0.05 ; maximal QTc=432+/-19 ms vs 414+/-17 ms, p<0.001). QT dispersions were significantly greater in hypertensive group than in controls(60.2+/-15.7 ms vs 33.2+/-11.7 ms, p<0.001). In hypertensive group, there was significant association between LVM index and QT dispersion(r=0.492, p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Hypertensives with LVH have a prolonged QT and QTc and increased QT dispersion in comparision with controls. QT dispersion in these patients correlates with degree of LVH.
Death, Sudden ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Heart ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular* ; Joints ; Risk Factors ; Tachycardia, Ventricular