BACKGROUND: Intravenous anesthetics such as propofol and ketamine have been known to have neuroprotective effects. However, the combination of these drug is not known. This study was conducted to determine the neuroprotective effects of propofol, ketamine or both after transient forebrain ischemia. METHODS: Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 gm) were used. Anesthesia was induced with 4% isoflurane in oxygen and then maintained with 1 - 2% isoflurane in oxygen. Ischemic injury was induced by 10 minutes of both common carotid artery ligation and hypotension (MAP < 50 mmHg). All rats were randomly divided into four groups: group I; control group; group II; ketamine 10 mg/kg was administered 10 minutes before injury; group III; propofol (1 mg/kg/min) was administered until EEG isoelectricity; and group IV; ketamine 10 mg/kg and propofol 1 mg/kg/min was administered. The Rectal temperature was maintained at 38oC. After forebrain ischemia, neurologic scores were estimated at 1 hr, 2 hrs, 1 day and 2 days after recovery. The brain was removed 3 days after and stained with H-E stain. RESULTS: Neurologic and histologic scores of group II, III, IV were significantly lower than that of group I. However, there were no significant difference between group II, III and IV. CONCLUSIONS: Ketamine and propofol have neuroprotective effects in transient forebrain ischemia in rats. However, the combination of propofol and ketamine did not show any synergistic or additive effects.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics, Intravenous ; Animals ; Brain ; Carotid Artery, Common ; Electroencephalography ; Hypotension ; Ischemia* ; Isoflurane ; Ketamine* ; Ligation ; Neuroprotective Agents* ; Oxygen ; Propofol* ; Prosencephalon* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord ischemic injury occurring after surgical repair of thoracoabdominal aortic disease leaves a devastating complication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of anesthetic preconditioning on neurologic outcome and Bcl-2 family protein gene expression in transient spinal ischemia. METHODS: In first experiment rats were divided by 4 groups and anesthetized with intraperitoneal propofol, enflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane. In second experiment, all rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal propofol and enflurane, sevoflurane, isoflurane were given during 30 minutes and 14 minutes of spinal ischemia was induced 30 minutes later. Spinal ischemia was produced by both induced hypotension and thoracic aortic cross clamping. Neurologic scores were assessed 1, 3, 24, 48 hours after transient spinal ischemia. After 48 hours, rats were killed under anesthesia and spinal cords were removed for the assay of Bcl-2 family protein mRNA expression. RESULTS: The neurologic injury of S and I group were significantly lesser than P group. 30 minutes of anesthetic preconditioning with enflurane, sevoflurane, and isoflurane showed significantly better neurologic outcome compared to propofol, enflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane anesthetized rats. Bcl-2 family protein mRNA expression of I group and IP group were lesser than the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Anesthetic preconditioning with volatile anesthetics for 30 minutes could reduce ischemic injury during transient spinal ischemia. The degree of neurologic injury may not be related to the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax. Isoflurane may have different influence on apoptosis after spinal ischemia compared to enflurane or sevoflurane.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Animals ; Aortic Diseases ; Apoptosis ; Constriction ; Enflurane ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Ischemia* ; Isoflurane ; Propofol ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger* ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Ischemia

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord ischemic injury occurring after surgical repair of thoracoabdominal aortic disease leaves a devastating complication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of anesthetic preconditioning on neurologic outcome and Bcl-2 family protein gene expression in transient spinal ischemia. METHODS: In first experiment rats were divided by 4 groups and anesthetized with intraperitoneal propofol, enflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane. In second experiment, all rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal propofol and enflurane, sevoflurane, isoflurane were given during 30 minutes and 14 minutes of spinal ischemia was induced 30 minutes later. Spinal ischemia was produced by both induced hypotension and thoracic aortic cross clamping. Neurologic scores were assessed 1, 3, 24, 48 hours after transient spinal ischemia. After 48 hours, rats were killed under anesthesia and spinal cords were removed for the assay of Bcl-2 family protein mRNA expression. RESULTS: The neurologic injury of S and I group were significantly lesser than P group. 30 minutes of anesthetic preconditioning with enflurane, sevoflurane, and isoflurane showed significantly better neurologic outcome compared to propofol, enflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane anesthetized rats. Bcl-2 family protein mRNA expression of I group and IP group were lesser than the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Anesthetic preconditioning with volatile anesthetics for 30 minutes could reduce ischemic injury during transient spinal ischemia. The degree of neurologic injury may not be related to the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax. Isoflurane may have different influence on apoptosis after spinal ischemia compared to enflurane or sevoflurane.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Animals ; Aortic Diseases ; Apoptosis ; Constriction ; Enflurane ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Ischemia* ; Isoflurane ; Propofol ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger* ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Ischemia

No abstract available.
Myocardial Infarction

Congenital arachnoid cysts are commonly located at sylvian cistern or middle cranial fossa which are usually asymptomatic and incidentally found. Posterior fossa cysts, however, are usually large when diagnosed, and symptomatic. Three cases of large posterior fossa cysts were recognized on the diagnostic MRI investigation for infantile spasm, developmental delay, and the precocious puberty. Surgical decompression of the cysts by craniectomy, cyst excision and fenestration were performed successfully in two patients with arachnoid cysts in the cerebellopontine cistern and the suprasellar, right cerebellopontine, and prepontine cisterns, but an additional cystoperitoneal shunt was needed in a case with the cyst in the quadrigemial cistern with obstructive hydrocephalus. Infantile spasm was treated with vigabatrin and pyridoxine, and the true precocious puberty was managed with LHRH analogue(Decapeptyl ).
Arachnoid Cysts* ; Arachnoid* ; Cranial Fossa, Middle ; Decompression, Surgical ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Puberty, Precocious ; Pyridoxine ; Spasms, Infantile ; Vigabatrin

BACKGROUND: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is widely used for postoperative pain control. Theoretical advantages in maintaining an effective blood concentration of the analgesic medication using a basal infusion regimen is controversal. Therefore in this study, we compared the analgesic effect between PCA and PCA with a basal infusion and assessed whether the use of a basal infusion improves the analgesic effect in intravenous PCA or not. METHODS: Twenty six ASA physical status 1 or 2 female patients undergoing mastectomy were assigned randomly to the PCA group (group 1) or the PCA with basal infusion group (group 2). Group 1 was programmed to deliver 0.02 ml/Kg of bolus infusion with a 5 minute locKout interval. In group 2, 0.02 ml/Kg of basal infusion was added to the PCA regimen. The PCA analgesic solution contained 50 mg of nalbuphine and 150 mg of Ketorolac in a total volume of 200 ml. At sKin closure, 0.2 ml/Kg of a loading dose was given to all patients and a PCA was started according to the experimental group. A visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, analgesic consumption, side effects and degree of satisfaction was assessed at postoperative 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours. RESULTS: Group 2 did not show any improvement in the VAS compared with group 1. Degree of satisfaction and incidence of complications were not different between two groups. Total infused amount of analgesics increased in group 2 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of basal infusion in a PCA after mastectomy did not show any improvement of postoperative pain control compared to the regimen of a PCA with only bolus infusion.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled* ; Analgesics ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ketorolac ; Mastectomy* ; Nalbuphine ; Pain, Postoperative ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Skin

BACKGROUND: Previous series have suggested that younger patients with primary lung cancer exhibit a more aggressive disease course with a worse prognosis, as compared to older patients, although this issue is still debatable. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed the medical records of 79 patients (32 patients 50 years and younger (Group I) and 47 patients 70 years and older (Group II)) who underwent curative resection for primary lung cancer between July 2000 and June 2008. RESULT: The median age of the patients was 46.5 years in Group I and this was 73 years in Group II. The older patients were more likely to have major comorbidities (44% versus 77%, respectively; p=0.003). Histological examinations identified that the minor histological types (excluding non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)) were predominantly found in the Group I patients (16% versus 2%, respectively; p=0.037). For the TNM staging of the NSCLC, with excluding the minor histologic types, a higher proportion of patients had stage III disease in Group I (33% versus 13%, respectively; p=0.038). There was no significant difference in major morbidity (16% versus 30%, respectively; p=0.148) and operative mortality (0% versus 4.3%; p=0.512) between the groups. The mean follow-up interval was 33 months (range: 1~98 months) for patients in both groups. For the patients with NSCLC, the five-year overall survival rate was 52.3% for Group I and 53.7% for Group II (p=0.955). The rate of freedom from recurrence at five years was significantly lower for the Group I patients than for the Group II patients (39.4% versus 70.4%, respectively; p=0.027), and only being a member of Group I impacted recurrence, based on the Cox proportional hazard analysis (p=0.034). Of the patients who had recurrence, four patients in Group I underwent aggressive surgical treatment. All of these patients exhibited long-term survival (range: 46~87 months). CONCLUSION: In our study, the early outcome and long-term survival were similar for the younger and older patients after curative resection of primary lung cancer. However, we think that younger patients require meticulous follow-up as they had a tendency to proceed to surgery with advanced stage disease, a higher recurrence rate than did the older patients and the survival rates were improved, even for the recurred cases, with early aggressive treatment.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Comorbidity ; Follow-Up Studies ; Freedom ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by increased production of cytokines, proliferation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and joint destruction. It is well known that the involved joints in RA are hypoxic. Hypoxia may play a role in the pathogenesis of RA. We thought that hypoxia might alter the production of cytokines by FLS and these changes could affect the biologic behaviors of FLS. Based on that, we investigated whether hypoxia affects the production of cytokines in FLS and the effect of these changes on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression. METHODS: Fibroblast-like synoviocytes from human rheumatoid synovial tissue obtained duringjoint replacement surgery were cultured in vitro. Hypoxic culture was performed by incubating cells in BBL? Gaspak pouchTM anaerobic system. After incubation under hypoxic condition for 24 hr, the concentrations of various cytokines in culture supernatants were determined by ELISA. To determine the effect of highly expressed cytokines on MMP expression, we performed ELISA of MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-3 in cultured FLS, after stimulation with respective cytokines. RESULTS: In hypoxic state, IL-6, IL-8 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations were significantly increased compared to those in normoxic condition. However, there were little differences in IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta. Stimulation of FLS with IL-6 and IL-8 showed the increased concentrations of MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-3. CONCLUSION: Hypoxic environment of rheumatoid synovium might affect FLS to produce proinflammatory and proangiogenic cytokine such as IL-6 and IL-8. These cytokines again could stimulate MMPs production in FLS leading to joint destruction.
Anoxia* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-1 ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukin-8 ; Joints ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; Synovial Membrane ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Background: This retrospective study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the 8-French (Fr) catheter (Pleuracan(R)) for the initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between July 2004 and July 2006, 59 patients (72 cases) underwent a closed thoracostomy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. We divided these patients into two groups: group T (large bore (>20 Fr) chest tube group) and group P (Pleuracan(R) group). RESULT: Initially, the Pleuracan(R) catheters were inserted in 41 cases. There were four catheter malfunctions (9.8%); three cases had a subsequent closed thoracostomy with a large bore chest tube. Ultimately, there were 34 cases in group T and 38 cases in group P. There were no significant differences in indwelling catheter time (T: 2.1+/-1.5 days, P: 2.1+/-1.3 days), hospital stay (T: 6.4+/-5.4 days, P: 5.2+/-2.9 days) and complications (T: 3%, P: 0%) between the two groups. The percentage of cases that needed intravenous analgesics in group P was 60% (23/38); this was significantly lower than the number for group T (90%, 31/34) (p=0.003). In a subgroup of patients that did not undergo bullectomy (T: 17 cases, P: 19 cases), there were no significant differences in the duration of air leakage (T: 0.5+/-0.7 days, P: 0.5+/-1.2 days) and in the percentage of patients with complete lung re-expansion (T: 94%, P: 84%) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Application of the Pleuracan(R) catheter for the initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax was as effective as the large bore chest tube.
Analgesics ; Catheters* ; Catheters, Indwelling ; Chest Tubes ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Lung ; Pneumothorax* ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracostomy

BACKGROUND: As the patients who undergo heart transplantation have achieved better survival in recent years, a growing number of recipients are at a risk for experiencing surgical complications in addition to rejection and infection. In this paper, we report on our experience with the surgical complications that occurred in heart transplant recipients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From April 1994 to September 2003, 37 heart transplantations were performed at our center by a single surgeon. The indications for transplantation were dilated cardiomyopathy, ischemic cardiomyopathy, valvular cardiomyopathy and familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. RESULT: Twenty postoperative complications required surgeries in 15 patients (41%). The types of operations required were; redo-sternotomy for bleeding (5), pericardiostomy for effusion (4), implantation of a permanent pacemaker (1), right lower lobe lobectomy for aspergilloma (1), removal of urinary stone (1), cholecystectomy for gall bladder stone (1), drainage of a perianal abscess (1), paranasal sinus drainage (1), total hip replacement (1), partial gingivectomy due to gingival hypertrophy (1), urethrostomy (1), herniated intervertebral disc operation (1) and total hysterectomy for myoma uteri (1). The locations of the complications were mediastinal in 10 (27%) cases and extramediastinal in 10 (27%) cases. CONCLUSION: The relatively high incidence of extrathoracic complications associated with heart transplantation emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the improve long-term survival when managing those complex patients.
Abscess ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Cardiomyopathies ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic, Familial ; Cholecystectomy ; Drainage ; Gingival Hypertrophy ; Gingivectomy ; Heart ; Heart Transplantation ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Incidence ; Intervertebral Disc ; Myoma ; Pericardial Window Techniques ; Postoperative Complications ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Transplants ; Urinary Bladder Calculi ; Urinary Calculi ; Uterus