No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Estradiol* ; Fertilization in Vitro*

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) easily have large amounts of extracellular fluids, such as edema or ascites, because of cardiovascular instability under septic conditions and also have high risk of malnutrition while staying in the ICU. Traditional nutritional assessment parameters like body mass index have a limitation in ICU patients due to muscle atrophy and decrease of lean body mass. Bioimpedence analyses (BIA) can be used to assess body composition and are useful in performance of nutritional assessments in ICU patients. BIA can simply and noninvasively estimate body composition (total body water, extracellular water, intracellular water, body cell mass, and free fat mass etc.) by sending a weak electric current through the body. In particular, phase angle (PhA, phase difference between the voltage applied to the impedance and the current driven through it), one of the parameters of BIA, is related to cell membrane integrity or cell size. Low PhA can possibly imply malnutrition and PhA has been reported as a useful indicator of clinical outcomes or prognosis of severe patients. Additional study with clinical application of BIA in ICU patients is needed in order to confirm the usefulness of BIA.
Ascites ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Body Water ; Cell Membrane ; Cell Size ; Critical Illness* ; Edema ; Electric Impedance* ; Extracellular Fluid ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Malnutrition ; Muscular Atrophy ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Support ; Prognosis

The A-1000 (Elmeca, Co. Ltd., Seoul, Korea) electrical automatic airway suction device, was designed to operate as a customizable repeated closed suction device. It can be used for patients with intubation or tracheostomy tubes. This is the first recorded case of the use of the A-1000 in a general ward patient with a tracheostomy tube. A 91-year-old man presented having attempted suicide by hanging and was admitted to this institution. Although extubation was performed in the intensive care unit, the patient required 2 reintubations. The tracheostomy was performed, and the A-1000 was applied. After weaning from mechanical ventilation, the patient was transferred to the General Ward with a tracheostomy tube in place for effective removal of sputum by the A-1000. The tracheostomy tube was successfully removed, and the patient was discharged. The effectiveness and safety of the A-1000 needs further study by expanding the applications of this device.

Giant cell myocarditis(GCM) is a rare inflammatory heart disease which is characterized by multinucleated giant cells and a granulomatous reaction. It usually progresses rapidly and results in a fatal course. We report a patient with giant cell myocarditis who was treated by cardiac transplantation. A 35-year-old male was admitted with dyspnea which had developed 4 months before. On echocardiography, the right and left ventricles were markedly dilated and severe global hypokinesia was noted. He was diagosed with dilated cardiomyopathy with secondary severe mitral regurgitation. His cardiac function deteriorated progressively. He underwent orthotopic heart transplantation. Grossly the heart was enlarged, weighing 420gm and round with a blunt apex. Both right and left ventricles were markedly dilated. There were numerous white patches, measuring up to 4cm, throughout the epi- and myocardium. Microscopically, extensive fibrosis and multiple exuberant granulomas with numerous scattered multinucleated giant cells were seen. Lymphocytes and eosinophils were also frequent. Coronary arteries were unremarkable. Neither microorganisms nor foreign materials were found. By serial endomyocardial biopsies of the transplanted heart, only mild perivascular lymphocytic infiltration was occasionally observed without any evidence of rejection or recurrence of giant cell myocarditis. The patient's postoperative course has been uneventful so far(postoperative 21 months). The etiology of GCM remains to be clarified, although various factors are suspected. No matter what the cause, our experience suggests that this grave disease might be treated well by heart transplantation.
Male ; Humans ; Biopsy

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of endothelium-dependent and independent responses to endothelins (ETs) in porcine coronary artery. METHODS: The vascular rings of left anterior descending artery or left circumflex artery from 7 pigs were suspended in conventional organ chambers for the measurement of isometric force. To evaluate relaxation responses, vascular rings with endothelium were exposed to ET-1 and ET-3. To evaluate contraction responses, vascular rings with and without endothelium were exposed to ET-1 and ET-3 in the presence or absence of BQ 123 (ET(A) receptor antagonist) or TAK-044 (ET(A) and ET(B) receptor antagonist). RESULTS: Transient relaxation responses of vascular rings occurred after exposure of ET-1 and ET-3. These transient responses disappeared after preincubation with N-nitro-L arginine. There was an increased contractions of vascular rings according to increasing concentration of ET-1 and ET-3. The initial responses were enhanced in vascular rings without endothelium in ET-1 and ET-3. In vascular rings with endothelium, the contraction responses were more reduced in vascular rings with preincubation of BQ 123 than in vascular rings without BQ 123 in ET-1. In vascular rings without endothelium, the contraction responses were more reduced in vascular rings with preincubation of TAK-044 than in vascular rings without TAK-044 in ET-1. CONCLUSION: ET(B) receptor on the endothelium might mediate the transient vasodilator responses to ET-1 and ET-3 through release of nitric oxide in porcine coronary artery. ET(A) and ET(B) receptor on vascular smooth muscle cells might mediate vasoconstrictor responses to ETs.
Arginine ; Arteries ; Coronary Vessels* ; Endothelins* ; Endothelium ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Nitric Oxide ; Receptors, Endothelin ; Relaxation ; Swine

Thyroid acropachy is a rare complication of Graves' disease, manifested by clubbing of the terminal phalanges, periosteal new bone formation and overlying soft tissue swelling, It may occur when the patient is hypothyroid, euthyroid or hyperthyroid. In most cases, it is a part of the syndrome, including exophthalmos and/or pretibial myxedema. The authors have experienced one case of thyroid acropachy and report with a review of the literature review. The patient a 56-year-old female with a characteristic feathery new bone formation on the medial side of the shaft of the left first metatarsal bone and overlying soft tissue swelling. However, there was no pretibial myxedema and clubbing of fingers. She was hypothyroid and treated with systemic corticosteroid for mild pain and persistent swelling. The treatment had temporarily improved the patient's condition.
Exophthalmos ; Female ; Fingers ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Metatarsal Bones ; Middle Aged ; Myxedema ; Osteogenesis ; Thyroid Gland*

Gastric variceal bleeding has a poor prognosis and a high mortality rate. Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration has traditionally been applied in the treatment of gastric varix. Recently, plug-assisted retrograde transvenous obliteration (PARTO) has been widely and popularly applied for the treatment of gastric varix. There have been no reports of cases in which PARTO was performed in patients with both gastrorenal shunt and gastrocaval shunt. We report a case in which PARTO was performed on a patient with gastric varix who had both a gastrorenal shunt and a gastrocaval shunt.

Oral care is easily neglected in patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) because they are often intubated or have altered mental status. Although care workers pay careful attention to the mouth, tooth loss often occurs in the ICU. Here we report 3 cases of dental bridge loss undetected by the ICU staff. One patient was under mechanical ventilation via an endotracheal tube after emergency intubation, whilst 2 patients were drowsy but not intubated. Consecutive chest X-rays revealed dental bridge loss in all 3 cases, but this was not identified immediately. Along with other critical management approaches, these cases demonstrate how an initial evaluation of the oral cavity, with special attention to the number of teeth, and the existence of dental prosthetics is essential to preventing potential deleterious complications. The number of teeth and the existence of dental prosthetics must be documented in ICU patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the fascia distortion model (FDM), one of the fascia treatments, on unstable ankle subjects. This was done through the chronic ankle instability tool (CAIT) questionnaire on maximum isometric muscle strength, proprioception, dynamic balance, and maximum angle. Methods: An experiment was conducted using the chronic ankle instability tool questionnaire on males and females in their twenties who suffered from ankle instability. Before the experiment, maximum isometric strength, proprioceptive, dynamic balance, and maximum angle were measured. The fascia distortion model was applied and then measurements were taken again to compare and analyze the changes. Analysis was carried out using the paired t-test. Results: After applying the fascia distortion model, maximum isometric strength, proprioceptive, dynamic balance, and maximum angle significantly improved (p < 0.05). Conclusion This study found that the fascia distortion model method was effective in improving maximum isometric strength, proprioceptive, dynamic balance, and maximum angle. The results suggest that the fascia distortion model method is a new intervention that could be used for subjects with chronic ankle instability.