Alterations in the expression of genes that control the cell cycle may be of critical importance in tumorigenesis and malignant transformation. The major regulatory events leading to cell proliferation occur in Gl phase of cell cycle, and the deregulated expression of Gl cyclins is related to oncogenesis. Cyclins Dl and E play important roles in the progression of cell through Gl phase of the cell cycle. Amplification and/or overexpression of the cyclin Dl gene and aberrant expression of cyclin E has been described in various forms of human cancer. However, the role of cyclins Dl and E in cervical cancer has been poorly defined. In this study, we examined the expression of cyclins Dl and E by Northern blot technique and the status of human papil- lomavirus(HPV) type 16 and 18 by polymerase chain reaction in 25 cases of cervical carcinoma to explore the relationship between cyclins Dl and E and cervical cancer. We found cyclin Dl expression showed down-regulated expression in cervical cancer but cyclin E expression was increased in cancer group. Other clinicopathological prognostic factors were not correlated with cyclins D1 and E expression. Further study based on larger numbers of cases with correlation of cyclins D1 and E status and survival data will be needed to elucidate the use of cyclin expressions as prognostic factor.
Blotting, Northern ; Carcinogenesis ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin E ; Cyclins* ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Tamoxifen is a nonsteroidal triphenylethylene delivative that has been widely used in the treatment of breast cancer. tamoxifen is indicated for the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer in women following total mastectomy or segmental mastectomy, breast irradiation and chemotherapy. tamoxifen has been shown to have significant benificial effect in the treatment of breast cancer patient as hormonal therapy. However ,there is mounting evidence that tamoxifen may affect other hormon sensitive organs, including the uterus and ovaries. An increased risk of endometrial polyps, endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma has been reported in tamoxifen treated women. We have met cases of endometrial polyp and endocervical polyp which were associated with tamoxifen use, after modified radical mastectomy for infilterating ductal carcinoma of breast . So we report these cases with the brief review of literatures.
Adenocarcinoma ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Drug Therapy ; Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Female ; Humans ; Mastectomy, Modified Radical ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Mastectomy, Simple ; Ovary ; Polyps* ; Tamoxifen* ; Uterus

Skip lesion is not uncommon feature in osteosarcoma and considered to be importantly associated with poor prognosis factor, and thus, should be excised with the main mass. The accurate pre-operative evaluation of the intramedullary extent of osteosarcoma is essential, because it determines the level of bone resection. Among the reliable detection methods, bone scan has a drawback of high rate of false negative results and regional MRI has a difficulty to cover the whole involved lesions without clinical suspicion. The authors report a case of osteosarcoma of the distal femur with a proximal skip lesion that was not detected by either regional MR imaging or by bone scan, but which was visualized by FDG-PET/CT.
Complement System Proteins ; Femur ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteosarcoma ; Prognosis

Thallium-201 SPECT has shown varing uptakes in tumors, depending on their viability, the type, and degree of malignancy. The authors analyzed Thallium-201 SPECT in brain lesions quantitatively, to predict the degree of malignancy, to differentiate between high and low grade astrocytic tumor by thallium uptake, and to differentiate radiation necrosis from tumor recurrence. The thallium indices were 1.56+/-0.75 in the benign brain tumors and 2.5+/-1.13 in the malignant brain tumors(p<0.05). There was differences in thallium index between high(2.19+/-0.61) and low(1.87+/-0.81) grade astrocytic tumor, however it was not statistically significant(p=0.55). The diagnostic accuracy of thallium index in differentiating benign from malignant was 82.5% by a threshold of 1.5. The mean thallium index of radiation necrosis was lower than that of recurrence(1.33/2.22). In conclusion, Thallium-201 SPECT may be useful for the diagnosis and evaluation of brain tumors to predict the degree of malignancy.
Brain Neoplasms* ; Brain* ; Diagnosis* ; Necrosis ; Recurrence ; Thallium ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: Respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) is caused by a deficiency of pulmonary surfactant, which is a lipoprotein complex. Both low levels of surfactant protein A(SP-A) and SP-A alleles have been associated with RDS. However, the genes underlying susceptibility to RDS are insufficiently known. The candidate-gene approach was used to study the association between the SP-A gene locus and RDS in the genetically homogeneous Korean population. METHODS: A PCR-cRFLP-based methodology was used to detect SP-A genotype. Twenty four neonates with RDS were matched pairwise to those without RDS. RESULTS: The frequencies of specific genotypes such as 6A(2), 1A(0) were increased, but the frequency of specific 1A(2) genotype was increased in control group. 6A(2)/1A(0) were also increased in the RDS group. Infants who did not have RDS develop, despite prematurity and lack of steroid therapy, had a higher frequency of the 1A(2) allele than infants who had received steroid therapy and had RDS develop. However, infants who had received steroid therapy and had RDS develop had a higher frequency of the 1A(0) allele than infants who did not have RDS develop, despite prematurity and lack of steroid therapy. CONCLUSION: SP-A alleles/haplotypes are susceptible(6A(2), 1A(0), 6A(2)/1A(0)) or protective(1A(2)) factors for RDS. We conclude that the SP-A gene locus is an important determinant for predisposition to RDS in neonates
Alleles ; Genotype ; Humans* ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Lipoproteins ; Pulmonary Surfactants ; Steroids

Since Ernst Fuchs had described the chronic cyclitis as cyclitis in 1892, there have been many reports about the chronic cyclitis with the development of the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope and the Schepens' scleral depressor and gonioscope. The chronic cyclitis comes incidious onset with minimal symptoms of hazy vision and vitreous opacity. The authors experienced a case of chronic cyclitis of the left eye of 33 year old male patient who has been treated with systemic corticosteroid and antihistamines. Here, we briefly report it referring the literature about the chronic cyclitis.
Adult ; Histamine Antagonists ; Humans ; Male ; Ophthalmoscopes ; Telescopes ; Uveitis, Intermediate*

BACKGROUND: In this study, we assessed the 50% effective concentration (EC50) of sevoflurane for reducing a rocuronium-induced reaction, based on the Dixon's up-and-down method. We also assessed the 50 and 95% effective end-tidal concentration of sevoflurane (ETsev), based on the probit regression curve of the probability of nonwithdrawal reaction. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, double-blind study in 23 males and 24 females. After using 2.5% thiopental sodium (4 mg/kg), anesthesia was induced in the patients. The patients then inhaled sevoflurane with 5 vol% in 6 L/min of oxygen. When the target ETsev was achieved, a nurse injected the intubating dose of rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg) for 5-10 s under the free flow of intravenous fluid. After the nurse evaluated the response, the nurse recorded the maximum heart rate during 30 s and the mean arterial pressure after rocuronium injection. RESULTS: Based on Dixon's up-and-down method, the EC50 of sevoflurane was 2.5 alpha 0.5 vol% in males and 2.5 alpha 0.3 vol% in females. The probit regression curve of the probability of nonwithdrawal reaction showed that in males the 50% effective ETsev was 2.4 vol% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-3.1 vol%) and the 95% effective ETsev was 3.5 vol% (95% CI, 2.9-11.0 vol%); in females, the 50% effective ETsev was 2.4 vol% (95% CI, 2.1-2.7 vol%) and the 95% effective ETsev was 3.0 vol% (95% CI, 2.7-4.5 vol%). CONCLUSIONS: The inhalation of sevoflurane during the induction period may provide a simple and reliable means of reducing rocuronium-induced reactions without adverse hemodynamic changes. There was no significant difference between males and females.
Adult* ; Anesthesia ; Arterial Pressure ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Male ; Oxygen ; Prospective Studies ; Thiopental

OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic performance of a high-resolution picture archiving and communications system (PACS) workstation directly interfaced with computed radiography(CR) with laser-printed CR films in chest diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Chest radiographs with (n=91) and without (n=25) abnormalities were included. Atotal of 100 abnormalities from 91 radiographs consisted of irregular lines, pneumothoraces, nodules and consolidations (25 of each). Laser-printed hard copies with dynamic range compression (DRC) were produced. InPACS, soft copies of 1760 X 2140 X 10 bits CR images were displayed on 1536 X 2048 with 8 bit gray-scale monitors.The performance of four observers was compared between laser-printed hard copies and CR images displayed on a workstation according to receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Overall, no significant difference sin observer performance were observed between laser-printed hard copies and CR images displayed on a workstation(p=.2454). Even though statistically not significant, the former was slightly superior to the latter for lesions of irregular lines, pneumothoraces, and consolidations, whereas for nodules, the latter was slightly better than the former. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performance of a high-resolution PACS workstation in chest radiographs is acceptable and comparable to CR hard copies printed with DRC processing mode.
Radiographic Image Enhancement ; Radiography, Thoracic ; ROC Curve

PURPOSE: Gastric emptying scan (GES) is usually acquired up to 2 hours. Our study investigated whether a fraction of meal-retention in the stomach at 120 minutes (FR120) was predicted from the data measured for 90 minutes by using non-linear curve fitting. We aimed at saving the delayed imaging by utilizing mathematical models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-six patients underwent GES immediately after taking a boiled egg with 74 MBq (2 mCi) Tc-99m DTPA. The patients were divided into Group I (T1/2 < or=90 min) and Group II (90 min< T1/2< or=120 min). Group I (n=51) had 21 men and 30 women, and Group II (n=45) 15 men and 30 women. There was no significant difference in age and sex between the two groups. Simple exponential, power exponential, and modified power exponential curves were acquired from the measured fraction of meal-retention at each time (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 min) by non-linear curve fitting (MATLAB (R) 5.3) and another simple exponential fitting was performed on the fractions at late times (60, 75, and 90 min). A predicted FR120 was calculated from the acquired functional formulas. A correlation coefficient between the measured FR120 and the predicted FR120 was computed (MedCalc (R) 6.0). RESULTS: Correlation coefficients (r) between the measured FR120 and the predicted FR120 of each mathematical functions were as follows: simple exponential function (Group I: 0.8858, Group II: 0.5982, p< 0.0001), power exponential function (Group I: 0.8755, Group II: 0.6008, p< 0.0001), modified power exponential function (Group I: 0.8892, Group II: 0.5882, p< 0.0001), and simple exponential function at the late times (Group I: 0.9085, Group II: 0.6832, p< 0.0001). In all the fitting models, the predicted FR120 were significantly correlated with the measured FR120 in Group I but not in Group II. There was no statistically significant difference in correlation among the 4 mathematical models. CONCLUSION: In the cases with T1/2 < or=90 min, the predicted FR120 is significantly correlated with the measured FR120. Therefore, FR120 can be predicted from the data measured for 90 minutes by using non-linear curve fitting, saving the delayed imaging after 90 minutes when T1/2 < or=90 min is ascertained.
Female ; Gastric Emptying* ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Theoretical* ; Ovum ; Pentetic Acid ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Stomach

A halo nevus is a pigmented nevus surrounded by a depigmented zone. It usually occurs in childhood or adolescence. Depigmented zone may form around a variety of acquired melanocytic lesions of neuroectodermal origin, including nevocellular nevi, blue nevi, spindle and epithelioid nevi, primary and metastatic melanomas, and neurofibromas. The occurrence of a halo around congenital melanocytic nevi has rarely been reported. We report a case of halo congenital nevus in a 11-year-old girl.
Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Melanoma ; Neural Plate ; Neurofibroma ; Nevus* ; Nevus, Blue ; Nevus, Halo ; Nevus, Pigmented