Coccidioidomycosis is a common infectious disease in southwestern North America, which is caused by the soil fungus, Coccidioides immitis. Due to the mobility of the modern population, increasing numbers of cases are being diagnosed outside the endemic areas. Moreover, diagnosis in non-endenmic areas may be delayed or confused due to its rarity. Here we report a case of pulmonary coccidioidomycisis in an immigrant. The patient presented with unexplained pulmonary symptoms. A history of recent travel to or immigration from an endemic area may suggest coccidioidomycosis. In addition an early tissue biopsy is helpful in establishing this diagnosis.
Bacterial Infections and Mycoses ; Biopsy ; Coccidioides ; Coccidioidomycosis* ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Emigrants and Immigrants* ; Emigration and Immigration ; Fungi ; Humans ; Mycoses ; North America ; Soil

No abstract available.
Drug Therapy* ; Germ Cells* ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal*

Successful percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of an internal mammary artery graft was performed in a 40 year old male patient who had recurrent angina soon after bypass surgery. Coronary angiography showed total occlusion of proximal portion of the left anterior descending artery and normal right coronary artery. Angiography of the left internal mammary artery graft revealed a tight stenosis (90% diameter narrowing) in the mammary artery at its insection into the left anterior descending artery.Angiography after the angioplasty demonstrated a widely patent graft (residual stenosis 10%) and translesional pressure gradient was 10 mmHg.
Adult ; Angiography ; Angioplasty* ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Humans ; Insects ; Male ; Mammary Arteries* ; Transplants*

Epidermal cyst in the fibroadenoma of the breast is very rare. A 29-year-old woman presented with a lump in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast. Clinically it was a fibroadenoma and the excisional specimen showed an encapsulated, firm lobulated lesion with a cystic area on cut surface. The cystic area showed squamous metaplasia of the ductal epithelium and keratinous cyst formation in the fibroadenoma. We report this unusual case with review of literatures.
Adult ; Breast ; Epidermal Cyst* ; Epithelium ; Female ; Fibroadenoma* ; Humans ; Metaplasia

No abstract available.
Candidiasis* ; Diabetes Mellitus*

No abstract available.

Normal human B cells produce autocrine growth factor in response to Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I strain (SAC). However, the functional role and molecular nature of the B cell derived-B cell growth factor (B-BCGF) are largely unknown. We have tried to investigate the nature of B-BCGF using mAb for several years. We report here that B- BCGF is capable of binding to hemoglobin (Hb). The concentrated culture supernatant from tonsillar B cells stimulated with SAC for 24 h was loaded into the fast protein liquid chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. The peak with BCGF activity was shown to have a M.W. of 16-18 Kda in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver stain. Amino acid sequence of the fraction was found to identical to human hemoglobin (Hb) by more than 85%. However, Hb itself had no BCGF activity. The presence of Hb in culture supernatant was due to the contamination of SRBC during B cell purification. SRSC were completely removed from B cells by percoll-gradient centrifugation and B cells were stimulated with SAC and exogenous Hb was added to the cultures. The Hb fraction from FPLC again showed a BCGF activity. These data strongly suggested that BCGF binds to Hb. We confirmed this in dot blot as well as Western blot. The M.W of Hb-binding BCGF was 20 Kda. This information may provide a rapid progress in research of BCGF.
Amino Acid Sequence ; B-Lymphocytes ; Blotting, Western ; Centrifugation ; Chromatography, Ion Exchange ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Humans ; Silver ; Staphylococcus aureus

No abstract available.
Mitral Valve*

There have been so many methods described for the correction of the deviated noses but it is difficult to get satisfactory results and recurrence rate is high. There is no exact explanation why the recurrences are so high and no estabished guides for techniques according to the surgical pathology. We found the classical swinging door technique effective in cases where the caudal septum deviated from the midline. However, where the caudal septum and the tip stay in the midline, scoring or submucosal resection do not work well enough to cortet them. We used the reverse swinging door technique of our own. After elevation of mucoperichonodrium, we did sagittal section in the posterior septum and moved the septum to the midline on the pivot point of the caudal septum and. The gap created in the posterior portion of the septum were filed with bone grafts, cartilage grafts or Medopor, which were sutured to the septum, We did this technique with or without osteotmies in 56 deviated noses for last 5 years. The results were very satisfactory and there was no complication.
Cartilage ; Nose* ; Pathology, Surgical ; Recurrence ; Transplants

No abstract available.
Sarcoma, Synovial*