OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between amniotic fluid interleukin-8 and the presence, severity and pattern of acute inflammatory lesions in the placenta delivered after preterm labor with intact membranes. METHODS: The relationship between placental histologic finding and amniotic fluid interleukin-8 was examined in 46 consecutive patients who were admitted with the diagnosis of preterm labor with intact membranes and who delivered singleton gestations within 5 days. RESULTS: The prevalence of acute histologic chorioamnionitis was 63.0%(29/46) and that of positive amniotic fluid culture was 17.4%(8/46). The most frequent site of histologic inflammation was chorion-decidua(56.5%, 26/46). The median amniotic fluid interleukin-8 increased significantly according to the presence and higher severity of inflammation in each type of placental section (p<0.05 for each). Three patterns of inflammation were identified in chorion-decidua: non-marginating, marginating, and mixed. Median amniotic fluid interleukin-8 and the rate of severe histologic chorioamnionitis (grade> or = 4) increased significantly in the order of non-marginating, marginating, and mixed (p<0.05 for each). CONCLUSION: Both the presence and greater severity of acute histologic chorioamnionitis are associated with an elevated amniotic fluid interleukin-8. A marginating and mixed pattern of inflammation are associated with a higher amniotic fluid interleukin-8. Amniotic fluid interleukin-8 is a reliable prenatal marker of histologic chorioamnionitis.
Amniotic Fluid* ; Chorioamnionitis ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation* ; Interleukin-8* ; Membranes ; Obstetric Labor, Premature* ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Prevalence

148 male and 153 female college students attitude toward weight control, diet behaviors and food habits were investigated by self questionnaire. Among the students, underweight students were 11.0%, normal weight students were 63.5% and obese students were 25.6% by RBW standard, and underweight students were 16.0%, nromal weight students were 70.4% and obese students were 13.6% by BMI standard. However, more than 10% of male and 38% of female students thought they were obese even thought their body weight were normal. Female students tended to overeat when they were stressed or in a bad mood and generally all participants had poor scores on the dietary attitudes test, however, male students had significantly higher scores than female students. Female students tended to choose food more for its taste. Collegestudents are in early stage of adult life and their dietary attitudes, food behaviors and life style will continue to their later life. Therefore college students need more good nutrition knowledge, positive dietary attitudes, modified life styles to prevent and treat collegestudents obesity.
Adult ; Body Weight ; Diet* ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Obesity ; Thinness ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Repairing of lacrimal canalicular laceration has some controversies on the golden time of surgery, the suture method, and the materials for stent. Recently, intubation of silicone tubes has become popular for repair of lacrimal canalicular injuries. Thirty-two cases of injured lacrimal canaliculi were repaired with use of silicone tube stents. The surgery can be done with monocanalicular(10 patients) or bicanalicular(22 patient) methods. The follow-up period was from two to eighteen months(mean ten months). Seven cases using the monocanalicular method and nineteen cases using the bicanalicular method were successful. Three cases of monocanalicular method had epiphora with canalicular obstruction due to early loss of the silicone tube. In monocanalicular method, postoperative complications were punctal granuloma(1 case), punctal slits(2 cases), and early loss of the silicone tube(3 cases). In bicanalicular method, postoperative complications were persistent epiphora during the period of intubaion(4 cases), conjunctival irritation sign(3 cases) and loop retraction(1 case). In conclusion, the success rate of bicanalicular stents were higher than that of monocanalicular stents for canalicular laceration. But the bicanalicular stent had some complications including cosmetic problem, possibility of injuries to the normal canaliculus during intubation, conjuntival irritation sign, and loop retraction.
Follow-Up Studies ; Intubation* ; Lacerations ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Postoperative Complications ; Silicones* ; Stents ; Sutures

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans

Most proximal humeral fractures respond satisfactorily to simple conservative treatment, but operative treatment is recommended in cases where poor results are anticipated by prolonged immobilization, or because of severe displacement and comminution. We used a minimal internal fixation and tension band technique in severely displaced and comminuted cases to achieve firm fixation and avoid subacromial impingement. Passive range of motion of the involved shoulder began within the first postoperative day and active range of motion exercise was encouraged as soon as possible within the first postoperative week. Between February 1996 and November 1997, we operated using this technique on 15 patients ranging in age from 16 to 71 years (average 52). Follow-up averaged 13 months. During the follow-up period, all patients except one patient, had a active full range of motion on the affected limb. According to the evaluation on the 10 patients who had follow- up periods over 12 months by Hawkins rating scale of shoulder function, 6 patients had achieved a good result and 4 patients had achieved a fair result at the last follow up. In conclusion, tension band technique with minimal internal fixation could afford sufficient fracture stability to allow early, aggressive rehabilitation. As a method of internal fixation on a proximal humerus fracture, this technique may have particular advantages in elderly osteoporotic patients.
Aged ; Extremities ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humerus ; Immobilization ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rehabilitation ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Fractures*

Treatment of rotator cuff tears by open subacromial decompression has known successful in decreasing pain and restoring function in patients who have failed nonoperative treatment. But, open rotator cuff repair may result in significant deficits in strength and active motion by deltoid separation from the acromion. Deltoid detachment may be avoided by repair using mini-open technique. Arthroscopic subacromial decompression and the rotator cuff repair revel satisfactory results. Subacromial decompression involves decompression of the coracoacromial arch including routine release or resection of the coracoacromial ligament. Recent ligament-cutting studies have confirmed the role of the coracoacromial ligament as a static restraint to superior humeral head displacement. Complete resection of the coracoacromial ligament may be avoided through minimized arthroscopic acromioplasty. We evaluated all 11 patients with rotator cuff tears who underwent arthroscopic minimized subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repairs using mini-open technique. Their average age was 53 years (26 to 64 years); and the average follow-up was 13 months. Preoperatively, all patients complained pain and weakness. Follow-up using modified Hospital for Special Surgery shoulder score showed good to excellent results in 10 cases and poor results in 1 case an average 13 months postoperatively. We found that arthroscopic minimized subacromial decompression and repair using mini-open technique are safe, effective procedure for addressing cuff tears of a wide range of sizes.
Acromion ; Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humeral Head ; Ligaments ; Rotator Cuff* ; Shoulder

Collagenous colitis is an uncommon condition charaeterized clinically by diarrhea and weight loss and histologically by thickening of the subepithelial collagen band with chromic inflammation. Laboratory tests of blood, urine and stool, and colonscopic findings are usually normal. The etiology of collagenous colitis is unknown. We report a case of collagenous colitis improved after treatment with sulfasalazine with review of literatures.
Colitis, Collagenous* ; Collagen* ; Diarrhea ; Inflammation ; Sulfasalazine ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: The measurement of radiation absorbed dose is useful to predict the response after I-131 labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) therapy and determine therapy dose in patients with unresectable or malignant pheochromocytoma. We estimated the absorbed dose in tumor tissue after high dose I-131 MIBG in a patient with pheochromocytoma using a gamma camera and Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) formula. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 64-year old female patient with pheochromocytoma who had multiple metastases of mediastinum, right kidney and periaortic lymph nodes, received 74 GBq (200 mCi) of I-131 MIBG. We obtained anterior and posterior images at 0.5, 16, 24, 64 and 145 hours after treatment. Two standard sources of 37 and 74 MBq of I-131 were imaged simultaneously. Cummulated I-131 MIBG uptake in tumor tissue was calculated after the correction of background activity, attenuation, system sensitivity and count loss at a high count rate. RESULTS: The calculated absorbed radiation dose was 32-63 Gy/ 74 GBq, which was lower than the known dose for tumor remission (150-200 Gy). Follow-up studies at 1 month showed minimally reduced tumor size on computed tomography, and mildly reduced I-131 MIBG uptake. CONCLUSION: We estimated radiation absorbed dose after therapeutic I-131 MIBG using a gamma camera and MIRD formula, which can be peformed in a clinical nuclear medicine laboratory. Our RESULTS suggest that the measurement of radiation absorbed dose in I-131 MIBG therapy is feasible as a routine clinical practice that can guide further treatment plan. The accuracy of dose measurement and correlation with clinical outcome should be evaluated further.
3-Iodobenzylguanidine ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gamma Cameras ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lymph Nodes ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nuclear Medicine ; Pheochromocytoma

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of [18F]FDG PET in the diagnosis of recurrent head and neck cancer after the completion of surgery and radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In fifty-nine patients with head and neck cancers, whole body [18F]FDG PET studies were performed. According to the different therapeutic modalities, patients were divided into four groups (Group I; pre-treatment, Group II; surgery, Group III; radiotherapy, Group IV; both surgery and radiotherapy). [18F]FDG PET images were compared with clinical, CT and histopathologic findings. RESULTS: For detection of metastatic lymph nodes in 14 patients of pre-treatment group (group I), the sensitivity and specificity of PET were 100% (10/10) and 75% (3/4), and those of CT were 80% (8/10) and 100% (4/4). For detection of recurrence in 45 patients of post-treatment group, overall sensitivity and specificity of PET were 96.2% (25/26) and 78.9% (15/19) [(100% and 75% in group II, 80% and 50% in group III, and 100% and 100% in group IV)] without significant difference from pre-treatment group (p>0.1). In detecting recurrence, the sensitivity and specificity of [18F]FDG PET were 90.9% (10/11) and 20% (1/5) in 16 patients who underwent [18F]FDG PET within 2 months after the completion of treatment. The specificity of these patients was significantly lower than that of 29 patients (100% of sensitivity and specificity) who underwent [18F]FDG PET 2 months after treatment (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: [18F]FDG PET is an accurate diagnostic modality for the detection of recurrence in head and neck cancer. Post-therapy [18F]FDG PET should be obtained at least 2 months after the completion of surgery or radiotherapy.
Diagnosis ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head* ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neck* ; Radiotherapy* ; Recurrence ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Kallmann's syndrome is a rare genetic disorder defined as a combination of anosmia or hyposmia and hypogonadism due to hypothalamic-pituitary deficiency. The incidence of Kallmann's syndrome is one in 100,000 men and one in 50,000 women. However, the syndrome is found in one in 25 people with hypogonadism. The clinical evaluation of these patients includes historical and physical examinations ; chemosensory testing, which includes olfactory threshold and identification tests ; laboratory testing for hormonal abnormalities ; MR imaging of the olfactory apparatus ; and histopathologic findings through an olfactory epithelial biopsy. We report the case of a 19-year-old male patient who had anosmia since birth and who was diagnosed with Kallmann's syndrome.
Biopsy ; Female ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Incidence ; Kallmann Syndrome* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Olfaction Disorders ; Parturition ; Physical Examination ; Young Adult