For the evaluation of the clinical and radiologicaI result in the surgical reduction and internal stabilization of the fracture-dislocations in the thoracic and lumbar area, the authors analysed the 39 patients who were treated with Harrington instrumentation supplemented by segmental sublaminar wiring and were follow up 24 months in average. l. Indications for the operation were: compression type with more than 50% of body wedging, bursting type with less than 30% of canal involvement without cord injury, fracture-dislocation type with instability and any type with complete cord injury. 2. Amount of fusion were 6 segments in 25 cases, 7 segments in 11 cases, 5, 8 and 10 segments in 1 case each. 3. Among 31 cases whose lumbar segment were involved in fusion, numbers of movable lumbar motion segments were three or less in 26 and two or less in 8. 4. Angular deformity were changed from 27 preoperatively to 8 postoperatively and to 12 at the end of follow up. Wedging amount of anterior vertebral height were 53% preoperatively, 23% postoperatively and 27% at the end of follow up. 5. External support were applied for 4 months in 35 cases; Taylor brace in 22, TLSO in 10 and body cast in 3. Ambulation was started within a week according to the general status. 6. Solid bony union were observed in 38 cases within 4 months period. Dislodgement of instrumentation and deep infection in one each patient were observed as operative complications. 7. Among 21 cases with cord injury symptoms, 18 cases with complete type showed no neurological recovery, but 3 cases with incomplete type showed complete recovery. It is concluded that the Harrington instrumentation with sublaminar wiring is an effective method of reduction and stabilization for the fracture and dislocations of the thoracic and lumbar spine. On the other hand, the operation is an extensive procedure with significant involvement of lumbar motion segments.
Braces ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Dislocations ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hand ; Humans ; Methods ; Spine ; Walking

No abstract available.
Sleep Apnea Syndromes*

"Idiopathic long QT syndrome" is characterized by prolongation of the QT interval due to unusual electrocardiographic repolarization abnormality and associated with variable clinical manifestations from no specific symptoms in lifetime to syncope or even sudden death. The prognosis of this syndrome is very grave and motality is approximately 50% within 10 years among untreated symptomatic patients after the initial syncope. But this sudden onset syncope may be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, being treated with antiepileptic drug for many years. However, this high mortality has been significantly reduced to less than 5% by the effective therapy. Therefore, it is crucial to make an early and accurate dianosis. We exprienced a case of 34 months old male who presented with recurrent syncopal attacks. He had no specific neurological abnomal finding except congenital deafness. He had normal EEG and brain MRI findings but ECG showed prolonged QT interval (QTc= 0.5), findings of which were compatible with long QT syndrome. He is currently being followed at OPD, but the pateint is still experiencing syncopal attack despite of treatment with beta-blocker, atenolol. Therefore, we are considering an insertion of pacemaker or performing thoracic sympathectomy.
Atenolol ; Brain ; Child, Preschool ; Deafness ; Death, Sudden ; Electrocardiography ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy* ; Humans ; Long QT Syndrome* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Sympathectomy ; Syncope

PURPOSE: To assess the value of gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission in differential diagnosis between hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four cases of epatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 23 patients and 26 cases of metastatic adenocarcinoma in 14 patients were prospectively examined using the pulse-inversion harmonic technique after intravenous SH U 508A administration. Gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission (SAE) was measured 5 mins after bolus injection of a contrast agent (4g, 400 mg/ml). The presence or absence of SAE signals at internal and marginal areas of the tumor and the appearance (smooth or irregular) of its border were compared. In addition, the SAE index [SAE (parenchyma) - SAE (tumor)/ SAE (parenchyma)] was histographically determined using a computerized program (PiView TM ; Mediface, Seoul, Korea). The statistics were analysed using student'st test. RESULT: Of the 24 HCC cases, 20 (83%) showed internal SAE signals, while 23 (96%) marginal signals were emitted. Of the 26 cases of metastatic adenocarcinoma, one (4%) showed internal SAE signals, while in five (19%), these signals were marginal. The tumoral border was irregular in 19 HCC lesions (79%) and smooth in 23 metastatic lesions (88%). For HCC and metastatic tumors, the mean SAE index was 0.38 +/-0.15 and 0.60 +/- 0.08, respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Gray-scale stimulated acoustic emission can be a useful tool in differential diagnosis between heatocellular carcinoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma.
Acoustics* ; Adenocarcinoma* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; Microbubbles ; Prospective Studies ; Seoul

Bile duct necrosis and liver abscess are rare complications after transcatheter hepatic arterial embolization (THAE) of hepatocellular carcinoma. Authors report bile duct necrosis and liver abscess occurred in 2 cases as a complication of THAE of hepatocellular carcinoma. In these two patients, lipiodol emulsion mixed with adriamycin and mitomycin was used more than three times as chemoembolic materials.
Bile Ducts* ; Bile* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Doxorubicin ; Ethiodized Oil ; Humans ; Liver Abscess ; Mitomycin ; Necrosis

BACKGROUND: Alterations in ventricular loading conditions lead to changes in action potential duration via mechanoelectrical feedback. A decrease in load immediately leads to prolongation of repolarization. QT interval and QT dispersion were measured to determine the long-term effect of changes in ventricular systolic load on the ventricular repolarization. METHOD: Corrected QT interval and QT dispersion were measured in 26 patients before and 3-6 months after valvuloplasty for pulmonary stenosis. To determine the effect of ventricular load on ventricular repolarization, patients were divided in 2 groups; Group 1 was those patients with a greater than 30 mmHg and Group 2 was those patients with a less than 30 mmHg decrease in right ventricular systolic pressure. RESULTS: Corrected QT interval (412.6+/-14.5 msec vs 426.4+/-16.8 msec, p < 0.05) and QT dispersion (35.0+/-7.3 msec vs 45.7+/-14..1 msec, p < 0.05)were increased significantly only in Group 1 after vlavuloplasty. CONCLUSION: It suggested that mechanoelectrical interactions are operative for long duration in humans that changes in ventricular load after successful pulmonary valvuloplasty showed long-term effect on the ventricular repolarization.
Action Potentials ; Balloon Valvuloplasty* ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis*

Each Disease affecting the bile ducts tends to produce characteristic pattern of billiary dilatation: recurrent pyogenic cholangitis causes dilatation and straightening of the larger(central) intrahepatic ducts ; clonorchiasis causes dilatation of the smaller (peripheral) intraahepatic ducts; and carcinoma along the extrahepatic ducts causes (proportional) dilatation and tortuosity of both larger and smaller intrahepatic ducts. To evaluate the specificity of the pattern and morphology of the dilated biliary tree on CT scancs (CT characterization) three independent radiologists who were unfamiliar with the cases were asked to classify 62 CT scans in patients with obstructive jaundice. The case population consisted of 14 cases with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, 18 cases with clonorchiasis and 30 cases with carcinoma along the extrahepatic ducts, which were intermixed randomly. Classification was made only on the basis of CT characterization: those scans showing primary lesions i.t., stone, aggregate of flukes, or tumor mass were excluded or masked. All the scans of every case showing the extrahepatic bile duct were masked. Radiologists correctly classified 54 of the 62 cases (87%): ten of the 14 patients with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis(71%), 17 of the 18 patients with clonorchiasis(94%) and 27 of the 30 patients with carcinoma along the extrahepatic bile cucts(90%). We believe that CT characterization of bile duct dilatation is useful in the differential diagnosis of obstructive jaundice, especially when a primary pathologic lesion is not depicted in CT scans.
Bile Ducts* ; Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic ; Bile* ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangitis ; Classification ; Clonorchiasis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dilatation* ; Humans ; Jaundice, Obstructive* ; Masks ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Trematoda

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an immune-mediated disease which is a leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease in developed country. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blocker, infliximab has been considered a promising option for patients with refractory KD. Although chronic use of a TNF-alpha blocker could increase risk of opportunistic infections, a few studies have documented that use of infliximab was safe without serious adverse effects in patients with KD. We observed serious bacterial infection after infliximab treatment in an infant with refractory KD. Our patient was a 5-month-old male infant diagnosed with KD who did not respond to repeated doses of intravenous immunoglobulin. We effectively treated him with a single infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg), but gram-negative (Acinetobacter lwoffii) septicemia developed after infliximab infusion. Therefore, we report a case of serious septicemia after treatment with infliximab, and suggest considering the risk of severe infection when deciding whether to prescribe infliximab to an infant with refractory KD.
Bacterial Infections ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Developed Countries ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant* ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Sepsis* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Infliximab

Two patients with clinical and biochemical evidences of islet cell hyperfunction underwent percutaneous transhepatic portal and pancreatic vein catheterization and hormone assays. Local step-ups of insulin level in the protal venous system, found in two patients with insulinoma, corresponded to tumor sites at surgery. One patients had single insulinoma and the other had malignant insulinoma and liver metastasis. Percutaneous transhepatic protal and pancreatic vein catheterization with measurement of radioimmunoactive insulin concentration is a safe and reliable method, and may play an important role in the localization of adenoma in patients with hyperinsulinism.
Adenoma ; Adenoma, Islet Cell* ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Insulin ; Insulinoma ; Islets of Langerhans* ; Liver ; Methods ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Veins

Two patients with clinical and biochemical evidences of islet cell hyperfunction underwent percutaneous transhepatic portal and pancreatic vein catheterization and hormone assays. Local step-ups of insulin level in the protal venous system, found in two patients with insulinoma, corresponded to tumor sites at surgery. One patients had single insulinoma and the other had malignant insulinoma and liver metastasis. Percutaneous transhepatic protal and pancreatic vein catheterization with measurement of radioimmunoactive insulin concentration is a safe and reliable method, and may play an important role in the localization of adenoma in patients with hyperinsulinism.
Adenoma ; Adenoma, Islet Cell* ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Insulin ; Insulinoma ; Islets of Langerhans* ; Liver ; Methods ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Veins