The incidence of trochanteric fracture of the femur is increasing, which is likely to continue for many years because of an increase in traffic accidents and the population of elderly people. The primary goal in the treatment of an elderly patient with an intertrochanteric hip fracture is to return the patient to his prefracture activity without any complication, as soon as possible. Rapid mobilization with stable internal fixation helps to prevent skin ulceration, pneumonia, urinary stasis, thromboembolic disease and other complications of confinement to bed in the elderly. Stable internal fixation depends mainly upon the fracture type and operative techniques. A clinical study of operative techniques was done in twenty three patients with trochanteric fracture of the femur who had been admitted and treated surgically at the Orthopaedic Department of W.M.B.H. during of two years from Mar. 1982 to Feb. 1984. The following are brief descriptions of the operative techniques. l. An L-shape incision and refiection of the vastus lateralis muscle provided wide exposure and facilitated anatomical reduction under direct vision. 2. The nail insertion site was selected at a slightly eccentric position anterior to rather than exactly midway from the opposite lateral cortex of the lesser trochanter. Therefore the nail could be laid rigidly between the thick anteromedial cortex and the posteromedial calcar portion. 3. The best stable position among the fracture line, the neck shaft angle and the nail plate could be obtained by the yoking procedure. It also allowed for later proximal migration of the shaft fragment and fracture impaction without impingement on the base of the barrel.
Accidents, Traffic ; Aged ; Clinical Study ; Femur ; Hip ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neck ; Pneumonia ; Quadriceps Muscle ; Skin Ulcer

In vitro culture of Toxoplasma gondii in HL-60 cells cnd cell-mediated immunity against Toxoplasma in dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO)-induced HL-60 cells, i.e., differentiation into granulocytes, were pursued. HL-60 cells were treated with various concentrations of DMSO, and 1.3%(v/v) for 3 day incubation was chosen as the optimal condition for differentiation into granulocytes. The degree of differentiation was assayed in physiological and functional aspects in addition to morphological point. When treated with 1.3% DMSO for 3 days, HL-60 cells did not synthesize DNA materials beyond background level, and showed active chemotactic response to chemotactic peptide, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine(FMLP). Morphologically promyelocytes of high nuclear/cytoplasmic(N/C) ratio changed to granulocytes of relatively low N/C ratio. The relationships between HL-60 cells or DMSO-induced HL-60 cells and Toxoplasma were examined after stain with Giemsa and fluorescent dye (acridine orange). HS-60 cells did not show any sign of toxoplasmacidal activity but showed intracellular proliferation of Toxoplasma to form rosette for 72 hr co-culture. In contrast, DMSO-induced HL-60 cells phagocytosed Toxoplasma within 1 hr, and performed a process of intracellular digestion of Toxoplasma thereafter. With the above results, it is suggested that phagosome-lysosome fusion is one of the critical events for the parasitism by Toxoplasma or for susceptibility of host cells. The in vitro culture system of this study has offered a defined condition to study the protozoan parasite-host cell interactions.
parasitology-protozoa ; Toxoplasma gondii ; HL-60 cells ; dimethylsulfoxide ; in vitro culture ; dimethylsulfoxide

Although tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) is involved in ureteral obstruction-induced increase in renal blood flow (RBF), its contribution to RBF is not well established due to the concommitant increases in prostaglandin (PG) and renal interstitial fluid pressure (Pisf), both of which affect RBF one way or the other. Since Pisf and TGF are closely affected by renal hemodynamics, RBF will respond differently to increases in ureteral pressure depending on renal hemodynamic conditions. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate how the changes in renal hemodynamics affect the response of RBF to increases in ureteral pressure. The effect of PG on RBF was assessed by comparing the effects obtained before and after indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor. Six anesthetized dogs were prepared with flow probes and inflatable silastic occluder around the renal artery, the ureteral catheter with its free end attached to a water reservoir, and the arterial and venous catheters. RBFs were obtained at ureteral pressures of 0, 15, and 40cmH2O during the maintenance of the renal artery pressure (RAP) at the level of systemic arterial pressure, 10mmHg above and below the lower autoregulatory limit of RBF (65+/-4 mmHg) both before and after indomethacin administration (10mg/kg). In response to the ureteral pressure of 40cmH2O, RBF increased from 172+/-6 to 185+/-10ml/min when RAP's were equal to systemic arterial pressure and decreased from 162+/-10 to 120+/-9 ml/min when RAP's were 55+/-4mmHg. Indomethacin pretreatment, depending on the level of RAP either prevented an increase or augmented a decrease in RBF in response to ureteral pressure elevation. This suggests that RAP-dependent changes in susceptibility of the renal venous system to compression by increased Pisf is the main mechanism by which the changes in renal perfusion pressure modulate the response of RBF to ureteral pressure elevation.
Animals ; Arterial Pressure ; Catheters ; Dogs* ; Extracellular Fluid ; Hemodynamics ; Indomethacin ; Perfusion ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; Renal Artery ; Renal Circulation* ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Obstruction* ; Urinary Catheters ; Water

This study was conducted to determine the correlation between weighted needle pinprick sensory threshold(PPT) and sensory nerve conduction tests. The subjects were 53 healthy controls, 31 diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathic symptoms(DM) and 36 diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathic symptoms(DN). PPT was measured on the index and little fingers, bilaterally, as well as under the lateral malleolus, bilaterally. In electrophysiologic assessment the left and right median, ulnar and sural nerves were studied. Each mean PPTs was high in order of controls, DM and DN. Age adjusted PPT was significantly different among three groups on right little finger(p<0.05) and left malleolus(p<(0.05), but not significantly different between DN and DM on other sites. Each sensory nerve conduction velocity and amplitude was statistically significantly different among three groups(p<0.05). Correlations of PPT with sensory nerve conduction velocity and amplitude were statistically significant on each site and ranged from -0.4203(left malleolus) to -0.5649(right index finger) and from -0.3897(left index finger) to -0.6200(right index finger), respectively. When electrophysiological study is not feasible, measurement of PPT may be helpful for the assessment of peripheral sensory neurological function.
Fingers ; Humans ; Needles* ; Neural Conduction* ; Sensory Thresholds* ; Sural Nerve

Due to the great deal of effort that has gone into the study of osteoclastic differentiation and activation over the last few decades, the mechanisms of these two events have been discovered gradually. Nitric oxide(NO-), which is produced from arginine by a nitric oxide synthase, opened up a new area of biological research. Recently, it has been reported that NO- is produced by osteoblasts stimulated by lipopolysaccharide and several other cytokines. In this study, the effect of sodium nitroprusside(SNP), a donor of nitric oxide(NO-), on osteoclast-like cell formation and on mature osteoclast function was examined. To determine the mechanism of the inhibitory effects of SNP decreased not only the basal 45Ca release but also thee bone resorption induced by PTH and l,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (I ,25[OH]2D3). The inhibitory effect of SNP on bone resorption induced by PTH appeared 2 days after treatment, whereas SNP effect on inhibiting bone resorption induced by l,25[OH]2D3 appeared at the third days. When chicken and rat osteoclasts were cultured on dentin slices, treatment of 300micronM SNP resulted in a significant decrease in dentin resorption by osteoclasts in terms of total resorption area and average individual area. We also examined the effect of SNP on formation of osteoclast-like cells that is TRAP-positive multinucleated cells from chicken and rat bone marrow cells in the presence or absence of 10(-8)M l,25[OH]2D3. The addition of 300 micronM SNP inhibited the formation of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells. The present data suggest that SNP, possibly as a NO- donor, inhibits the osteoclastic differentiation and osteoclastic activity.
Animals ; Arginine ; Bone Marrow Cells ; Bone Resorption ; Chickens ; Cytokines ; Dentin ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitroprusside* ; Osteoblasts ; Osteoclasts* ; Rats ; Sodium* ; Tissue Donors

AIM: To compare the use of the instruments' built-in normative databases, the sensitivities of time-domain optical coherence tomography (Stratus OCT) and spectral-domain OCT(Spectralis OCT) in the detection of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defects in patients with glaucoma. METHODS: Fifty-two eyes of 35 patients with open angle glaucoma were included. A total of 69 hemiretinas with photographically identified RFNL defects were analyzed using the fast RNFL scan of Stratus OCT and the circle scan in Spectralis OCT. The OCT parameters were evaluated at 5% and 1% abnormality levels using the instruments' built-in normative databases. The diagnostic sensitivity of each parameter was compared between the two devices. RESULTS: The Spectralis OCT detected RNFL defects within each quadrant more frequently than the Stratus OCT at both the 5% (79 7% vs 63 8%,P=0 01) and 1% (56 5% vs 40 6%, P = 0 01) abnormality levels. At the 1% abnormality level,the sensitivity was significantly higher in the standard sector of Spectralis OCT than in the clock-hour sector of the Stratus OCT(68 1% vs 39 1%,P<0 01). CONCLUSIONS: Using the instruments' built - in normative databases, the diagnostic sensitivity of the Spectralis OCT parameters was higher than that of the Stratus OCT parameters for detecting glaucomatous RNFL defects.

Segmental wiring to treat the unstable fracture and fracture-dislocation of the thoraco-lumbar spine is more effective method than Harrington instrumentation as primary procedure which afforded immediate rigid internal fixation of the spine and permitted mobilization without external support and immediate rehabilitation. A clinical study was made of twenty seven patients who were hospitalized and treated at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wonju Christian Hospital from Feb. 1979 to Apr. 1983. The following results were obtained: l. Of twenty seven patients, nine(33.3%) had a flexion rotation, eight(29.6%) had a shearing, eight (29. 6%) had a flexion compression and two(7.5%) had a vertical compression by Holdsworths mechanism of injury and by Pauls classification of fracture, thirteen(48. 1%) had a flexion distraction fracture, twelve(44. 4%) had a translation fracture and two(7. 5%,) had a unstable burst fracture. 2. Fifteen(55. 6%) had a complete neural deficit and five(18. 5%,) had an incomplete neural deficit. Six(22.2%) of the fifteen patients with complete neural deficit and one(3. 7%.) of the five patients with incomplete neural deficit showed slight neurological recovery, but eight(29.6%) gained complete recovery. 3. Correction of kyphotic deformity was average 12. 4 degree in Harrington instrumentation and average 18. 0 degree in segmental wiring, and during the follow-up periods, there was a final loss of 6. 3 degrees of kyphotic correction in Harrington instrumentation and 3. 0 degrees in segmental wiring. 4. In external support, fourteen(51.9%) had body jacket cast and four(14.8%) had back brace in Harrington instrumentation, but all patients except one brace had no external support in segmental wiring. 5. In complication, two hook dislocations and two pseudoarthroses were occurred in Harrington instrumentation, but any complication except only one cases of wound infection was not occurred in segmental wiring.
Braces ; Classification ; Clinical Study ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Dislocations ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Methods ; Pseudarthrosis ; Rehabilitation ; Spine ; Wound Infection

Fractures of the capitellum humeri are rare and the recommendations for treatment vary. It can involve a significant portion of the articular surface, rendering the elbow joint unstable. In this situation, it is desirable to reduce and internally fix the capitellar fragment, because this restores the articular surface and augments joint stability. We experienced two cases of capitellar fractures which one case was spontaneously anatomical reduced and the other case was treated by open reduction. In one case the capitellar fragment was spontaneous reduced to a stable position although it was noticed radiographically as an unstable displaced fracture preoperatively. The other case was treated by open reduction and internal fixation with 3.5mm, small, AO, cannulated screw and K-wire. Both cases are reported here with references.
Elbow Joint ; Joints

A possible therapeutic effect of acetyl-L carnitine (ALCAR) on peripheral nerve injuries and the expression of Jun, the protein products of immediate-early genes(IEGs), in the spinal cord were investigated after sciatic nerve injury in Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental animals were divided into 3 groups: intact sciatic nerve as a control group, surgical repair alone, and surgical repair with ALCAR treatment. Toe-spreading response, pinprick response, and compound action potential were measured to evaluate the recovery of sciatic nerve injury. Recovery of behavioral function and electrophysiological function both improved in the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group. Weak basal expression of Jun was shown in the ventral horn the of spinal cord in the control group. In the surgical repair alone group or the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group, Jun expression persisted until 28 days after injury in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Moreover, the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group showed more increased expression of Jun than the surgical repair alone group. These results suggest that ALCAR facilitates the functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury.
Acetylcarnitine ; Action Potentials ; Animals ; Carnitine* ; Horns ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sciatic Nerve* ; Spinal Cord

The tracheostomy is increasingly being performed. In most cases, the tracheostomy sites are left to heal by secondary intention, so it leaves a depressed and wide scar that is cosmetically disfigured. Another problem os that the scar is also attached directly to the trachea itself and will move vertically with the trachea during the act of swallowing. Even though the tracheostomy scar is cosmetically acceptable, the mobility and retraction of the scar is a continual nuisance to the patient. We performed a retrospective study on 9 patients who had undergone revision of the depressed thracheostomy scar by the Renner Method from June, 1997 to February, 1999. The method includes transverse fusiform incision of the original scar and excision of the depressed portion of the scar to the level of the trachea itself. To prevent attachment of the skin and trachea, a bilateral subcutaneous flap and muscle flap were simply advanced to the midline and overlapped. Then the rest of scar that was not depressed was deepithelized and flipped to augment the soft tissue volume in the central depressed area. Satisfactory results were achieved in all patients without hematoma, infection, hypertrophic scar, and keloid formation. We believe this simple Renner method is one of the best ways of performing posttracheostomy scar revision.
Cicatrix* ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Deglutition ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Intention ; Keloid ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Trachea ; Tracheostomy