In this experiment, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with 100mg/kg of alltrans retinoic acid at 10th day of gestation. Pregnant rats were sacrificed at gestation day 14, 15, 16 and 18. Fetuses were delivered, and palatal processes were dissected. The specimens were prepared with fibronectin immunohistochemical stain, and mesenchymal changes were observed with electron microscope. The results were as follows. 1. In the findings fo fibronectin immunohistochemial stain, a part of the mesenchyme of the palatine process of the control group showed weak positive reaction at 14th gestation day, and the reactivity increased progressively by each day. In retinoic acid treated group, the positive reaction was trace at 14th day of gestation, and the reactivity increased progressively, but it was weaker than that of the control group. 2. Examination under transmission electron microscopy revealed well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, Goigi apparatus, mitochondrias which were found at the palatine process of the control group. In the retinoic acid treated group, at 16th and 18th day of gestation, the mesenchymal cells of the elevated palatine process had fragmented, sacculated rough endoplasmic reticulums, their mitochondrias were swollen and dissolved, In all cases with retinoic acid treated group, mitotic cells at various stages were more frequently found than in control group. In conclusion, the retinoic acid induces alterations of the intracytoplasmic organells. This finding suggests that retinoic acid is ditectly cytotoxic to mesenchymal cells. Positive fibronectin reaction was demonstrated before palatal elevation at th 15th day of gestation. Therefore, it could be postulated that mesenchymal cells synthesize and release the fibronectin. In the retinoic acid treated group, fibronectin showed positive reaction before and after palatal elevation, and it suggests that fibronectin would be involved in palatal elevation.
Animals ; Endoplasmic Reticulum, Rough ; Fetus ; Fibronectins ; Mesoderm* ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Mitochondria ; Pregnancy ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tretinoin*

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Neurilemmoma* ; Neurofibromatosis 1

No abstract available.
Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Female* ; Humans ; Mucins*

An acute obstruction of the breathing circuit can be devastating situation. An 56-year old man who was diagnosed distal femur fracture underwent open reduction with internal fixation. During surgery, an obstruction of the breathing circuit occurred and we found the cause of obstruction was the plugging of a gas disposal tube with ice and dust accumulation. After removing the ice and dust, ventilation normalized. We report this case of an obstruction of the scavenging pathway with a review of the relevant literature.
Dust ; Femur ; Humans ; Ice ; Middle Aged ; Respiration ; Ventilation

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in end- stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The early diagnosis and treatment of CVD could improve survival in dialysis patients. The plasma level of B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) correlates with the severity of LV dysfunction and increases following myocardial ischemia. We investigated the ability of BNP as a predictor of CVD in new ESRD patients whose volume overload status were not corrected. METHODS: CVD was defined as an LV ejection fraction <45% or a positive myocardial SPECT. We measured plasma levels of BNP in 79 new ESRD patients requiring hemodialysis (HD) and investigated the relationships between BNP levels and echocardiography and myocardial SPECT. RESULTS: Median concentrations of BNP were higher in 16 patients with heart failure than those in 63 patients without heart failure (1, 748.5 vs. 127.0 pg/mL, p<0.001) and higher in 12 patients with positive myocardial SPECT than those in 67 patients with negative SPECT (1, 160.5 vs. 129.0 pg/mL, p< 0.001). BNP levels were higher in 23 patients with CVD than those in 56 patients without CVD (1, 234.0 vs. 119.0 pg/mL, p<0.001). There was an inverse correlation between BNP and LV ejection fraction (r=-0.65, p<0.001). The present study demonstrated a significant 34.9% increment of cardiac mortality by the every increase of 100 pg/mL of BNP. The negative predictive value of BNP for excluding CVD was 89.3% (cut-off value, 500 pg/mL). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that BNP could be an effective screening test for the evaluation of the presence of CVD in ESRD patients starting maintenance HD.
Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Dialysis ; Early Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain* ; Plasma ; Renal Dialysis* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

BACKGROUND: There are several risk factors in the development of arteriosclerosis, including lipid parameters, inflammatory markers, and hemostatic factors. Efforts should be undertaken to identify the relationship among risk factors and underlying mechanisms of arteriosclerosis to improve long-term survival in dialysis patients. This study was performed to evaluate correlations among these risk factors and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). METHODS: Seventy-seven CAPD pateints (M: 50, F: 27; mean age 52.8+/-12.4 years) were enrolled in this study. We measured blood level of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A-1 (apoA-1), apolipoprotein B (apoB), C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, d-dimer, von Willebrand factor (vWF), and cTnT monthly for three times. Thallium SPECT was performed in 32 of 77 patients. RESULTS: Significant positive correlation was found between CRP and fibrinogen (r=0.71, p<0.001). CRP was also positively correlated with vWF (r=0.29, p=0.01). Significant inverse correlation was observed between prealbumin and CRP (r=-0.33, p=0.004). HDL-C and apoA-1 were also inversely correlated with CRP (r=-0.26, p=0.04; r=-0,27, p=0.02) and apoB was positively correlated with CRP (r=0.24, p=0.02). Multivariate analysis revealed that fibrinogen, prealbumin, HDL-C, and apoA-1 correlated independently with CRP. In patients with diabetes (n=35), cTnT levels were sigificantly higher than those in patients without diabetes (p<0.001), whereas albumin and prealbumin levels were significantly lower in patients with diabetes than those in patients without diabetes (p<0.001, p=0.002). Serum apoB, triglyceride, and total cholesterol were higher among patients with positive results in thallium SPECT than those with negative results. CONCLUSION: It seems that inflammation is associated with an enhanced cardiovascular risk profile such as hemostatic factors and apolipoproteins. cTnT may be a useful predictive marker for mortality in dialysis patients.
Apolipoprotein A-I ; Apolipoproteins B ; Apolipoproteins* ; Arteriosclerosis ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Cholesterol ; Dialysis ; Fibrinogen ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Prealbumin ; Risk Factors ; Thallium ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Triglycerides ; Troponin T* ; Troponin* ; von Willebrand Factor

BACKGOUND: In addition to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) adequate iron replacement is essential to treatment of anemia in hemodialysis (HD) patients, and intravenous iron therapy has been recommended recently. But, low dose (100-200 mg/ month) intravenous iron sucrose regimen as a "maintenance therapy" in HD patients with adequate iron storage has not been established well. METHODS: We included the 40 of HD patients with serum ferritin of 200-500 ng/mL receiving rHuEPO therapy. During 4 months of study period, 100-200 mg/month of iron sucrose was administrated. rHuEPO doses were titrated to maintain target hematocrit (Hct) of 30%. To evaluate efficacy of iron sucrose, we compared serum ferritin, TSAT and rHuEPO requirements before and after iron sucrose therapy. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients [mean age 61+/-13 yrs, M:F=20:19] completed this study. After low dose intravenous iron sucrose maintenance therapy, serum ferritin and TSAT significantly increased (370+/-84 vs. 518+/-155 ng/mL, p<0.001 and 26.0+/-9.7 vs. 31.1+/-11.8%, p=0.046). Mean weekly rHuEPO dose didn't significantly decrease (5,756+/-2,295 vs. 5,474+/-2,237 IU/week, p=0.441) but ERI significantly decreased (3.86+/-2.19 vs. 3.20+/-1.70 IU/week/kg/%, p=0.021). No iron overload defined as serum ferritin >800 ng/mL was observed during the study. CONCLUSION: Low dose intravenous iron sucrose maintenance therapy is effective and safe in the HD patient receiving rHuEPO therapy with adequate iron storage.
Anemia ; Erythropoietin ; Ferritins ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Iron Overload ; Iron* ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Renal Dialysis* ; Sucrose*

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic vascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. C-reactive protein (CRP) appears to be clinically useful in prediction of coronary heart disease. Elevated pulse pressure has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among apparently healthy adults. Therefore, we evaluated the association between a persistent elevation of C-reactive protein level, pulse pressure and the presence of ischemic heart disease in patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). METHODS: A total of 71 CAPD patients (42 males, 29 females) who underwent thallium SPECT and followed up more than 6 months were included. We collected the data about age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, pulse pressure and body mass index. Blood levels of albumin, total cholesterol, fibrinogen, lipoprotein (a) and C-reactive protein were measured. RESULTS: The values of C-reactive protein, pulse pressure, smoking and fibrinogen were significantly higher in thallium SPECT positive group (p<0.05). A 0.01 mg/dL increase in C-reactive protein was associated with a 1.014 increase in the odds of having an elevated risk of coronary artery disease (95% confidence interval 1.008-1.019) and a 1 mmHg increase in pulse pressure was associated with a 1.017 increase in the odds of having an elevated risk of coronary artery disease (95% confidence interval 1.011-1.023). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, C-reactive protein and pulse pressure were independent risk factors for ischemic heart disease. Log CRP level was positively correlated with pulse pressure level (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The baseline level of CRP and pulse pressure independently predicts the risk of coronary heart disease in CAPD patients. For patients who have a persistent elevation of CRP and pulse pressure without an apparent cause, we recommend a workup for ischemic heart disease.
Adult ; Blood Pressure* ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Disease ; Dialysis ; Fibrinogen ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thallium ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Vascular Diseases

Hyponatremia is one of the most common electrolyte disturbances in nephrologic clinical setting. SIADH is one of the causes of hyponatremia and can be accompanied with various conditions such as malignancies, infections and nervous system diseases. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an acute inflammatory polyneuropathy. It is reported that SIADH can be accompanied with Guillain-Barre syndrome although the mechanism is unclear. Symptoms of Guillain- Barre syndrome such as general weakness, decreased consciousness, and seizure are similar to those of hyponatremia. Thus the diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome can be delayed if they coexist. Because Guillain-Barre syndrome leads to severe respiratory failure in its disease course and mechanical ventilatory assistance is mandatory for such cases, early diagnosis and treatment is critical. Korea is still endemic area for tuberculosis and clinicians often experience pulmonary tuberculosis in practice. But pulmonary tuberculosis-associated SIADH and Guillain-Barre syndrome were not reported in Korea. So far, 2 cases of gastrointestinal infection-associated SIADH and Guillain-Barre syndrome were reported. Hence, authors report here the case of SIADH associated Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with pulmonary tuberculosis.
Consciousness ; Early Diagnosis ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome ; Hyponatremia ; Inappropriate ADH Syndrome ; Korea ; Nervous System ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Seizures ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

While Raoultella planticola is a rare cause of human infection, we experienced a case of severe cholangitis caused by R. planticola. A 75-year-old male patient with cancer of the pancreatic head was admitted and found to have cholangitis. Following performance of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for decompression and initiation of empirical antibiotics with cefotaxime and metronidazole. R. planticola, which was susceptible to cefotaxime, was isolated from both bile and blood. Despite administration of prompt and appropriate antibiotic therapy, the patient died 10 days after admission. We herein describe the first case of cholangitis caused by infection with R. planticola.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bile ; Cefotaxime ; Cholangitis ; Decompression ; Drainage ; Head ; Humans ; Male ; Metronidazole ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Sepsis