Bisphosphonates have been approved for Paget's disease, cancer - related hypercalcemia, bone involvement in multiple myeloma or solid tumors and osteoporosis. Although, underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear, it seems that bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclast precursor cells, modulate migratory and adhesive characteristics and induce apoptosis of osteoclasts. Furthermore impacts on angiogenesis, microenvironment and signal transduction between osteoclasts and osteoblasts. In this report, we present a case of oral bisphosphonates induced osteonecrosis of the mandible in a 84-year-old patient who received for two years. Two tapered screw vent implants(Zimmer, USA) were placed in the area of first and second molar. Two weeks later after crowns restored, some inflammatory signs and symptoms were observed on the second molar area. Sequestrum was formed and the sequestrum was removed with the implant. Frequent follow-up checks and oral hygiene maintenances were done and the first molar implant was restored. There is insufficient evidence suggests that duration of oral bisphosphonate therapy correlates with the development and severity of osteonecrosis. Therefore, dentists should not overlook the possibility of development of bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis in patients who have taken oral forms of medication for less than three years.
Adhesives ; Aged, 80 and over ; Apoptosis ; Crowns ; Dentists ; Diphosphonates ; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypercalcemia ; Mandible ; Molar ; Multiple Myeloma ; Oral Hygiene ; Osteoclasts ; Osteonecrosis ; Osteoporosis ; Signal Transduction

In order to evaluate the effect of the lumbar epidural steroid injection in the low back pain and/or radicular pain. We studied 66 patients who were treated and followed for an average of 8.6 months. In the initial evaluation, main pain sites were as follows: low back pain in 41 patients, buttock pain in 7 patients, and leg pain. In 18 patients. Immediate response and delayed response in the patients were studied. Immediate response within 1 day after injection revealed the following : dramatic improvement in 3.0%;some improvement in 56.1%; no improvement in 27.3%; and more aggravated in 13.6%. Delayed response after 1 month revealed the following : 15.2% continuously maintained improvement; 9.1 showed progressive improvement;36.4% experienced recurring pain; 27.3% had no improvement; and 10.6% had aggravating pain. The effect of the lumbar epidural steroid injection was not affected by the severity of pain in the initial evaluation. Better improvements were noted in patients who suffered radicular pain than those who suffered low back or buttock pain. Good prognostic factors were young age and male. Complications that the patients suffered were transient injection pain(6), edema of the face or extremity(10), transient leg weakness(5) and dural puncture(1). The number of patients who wanted to recommend this procedure to others were 22(33.3%). In conclusion, epidural steroid injection was one of the methods in the management of the patients who suffered low back pain and/or radicular pain and had no effect by any other therapies.
Buttocks ; Edema ; Humans ; Leg ; Low Back Pain* ; Male

Kindling development is a good animal model of epilepsy and neural plasticity. It is induced by repeated subconvulsive electrical or chemical stimulations. This leads to progressive and permanent amplification of seizure activity resulting in permanent brain changes. Immediate early genes(IEGs) are proposed as the master switch for turning on molecular events in long term neural plasticity. The role of c-myc, an IEG, in the development of kindling is not known. This study was conducted to investigate the role of c-myc in the neural plastic changes underlying kinding. Among 115 adult male Spargue-Dawley rats, 51 were kindled by repeated administrations of subconvulsive doses(15-25mg/kg) of pentylenetetrazol(PTZ). Twenty-eight rats experienced various degree of convulsions induced by a single injection of convulsive dose(30-60mg/kg) of PTZ. Eighteen rats experienced mild or severe convulsions induced by a single injection of convulsive dose(30-60mg/kg) of PTZ. Eighteen rats experienced mild or severe convulsion by a single electroconvulsive shock(ECS). Eighteen rats received normal saline as a control group. Animals were sacrificed in 30 minutes, 1 hour and 48 hours after convulsion. C-myc mRNA levels in the hippocampus were quantified using slot-blot hybridization analysis. In the experiment of PTZ kindling, c-myc mRNA expression 30 minutes after convulsion was elevated about 3-8 times compared with controls. C-myc mRNA expression 1 hour after convulsion was elevated about 4 times at stage I, II, and V, ut was not elevated at stage III and IV. C-myc mRNA expression 48 hours after convulsion was elevated about 2-3 times compared with controls. In the experiment of PTZ-induced seizures, c-myc mRNA expression 30 minutes after convulsion was elevated 5-6 times compared with controls. C-myc mRNA expression 1 hour after convulsion was elevated 4-6 times. C-myc mRNA expression 48 hours after convulsion was elevated approximately 2 times. In the experiment of ECS-induced seizures, c-myc mRNA expression was elevated 4 times at 30 minutes and 1 hour after mild convulsion, but decreased at 30 minutes and 1 hour after severe convulsion compared with control. C-myc mRNA expression 48 hours after convulsion was elevated approximately 2 times. These results suggest that the enhanced expression of c-myc mRNA is a non-specific consequence in the development of PTZ kindling. In addition, c-myc does not seem to play an important role in turning on a molecular program underlying kindling.
Adult ; Animals ; Brain ; Epilepsy ; Hippocampus* ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Pentylenetetrazole* ; Plastics ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger* ; Seizures ; Stimulation, Chemical

Cancer may be a disease of genes, arising from genetic damage of diverse sorts-recessive and dominant mutations, large rearrangement of DNA and gene translocation on chromosomes, all leading to distorisions of either the expression or biochemical function of genes. The search for these genetic damage in neoplastic cells now is the most important in cancer research. It has been found that the cancer relevant genes were located on the specific regions of chromosomes. To determine whether epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), P53 and bcr genes located in chromosomes 7, 17 and 22 are altered, we examined 12 neuroepithelial tumor with Southern blot analysis(five low grade astrocytoma, two high grade astrocytoma, two medulloblastoma, on oligodendroglioma, one ependymoma, one choroid plexus papilloma). The loss of heterozygosity(LOH) of EGFR gene was detected in two cases of medulloblastoma. The rearrangement of EGFR gene was detected in a case of ependymoma. The LOH of P53 gene was found in a case of choroid plexus papilloma and low grade astrocytoma. The rearrangement of P53 gene was founs id a case of oligodendroglioma. The LOH of bcr gene was observed in two cases of medulloblastoma and low grade astrocytoma. The rearrangement of bcr gene was observed in two cases of high grade astrocytoma. These results suggested that tumorigenesis and tumor development in the neuroepithelial tumor may invlove specific gene changes in chromosomes 7, 17 and 22.
Astrocytoma ; Blotting, Southern ; Carcinogenesis ; Choroid Plexus ; DNA ; Ependymoma ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Genes, p53 ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Medulloblastoma ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial* ; Oligodendroglioma ; Papilloma, Choroid Plexus

No abstract available.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome*

The author studied the relationship of age, Glasgow coma scale, Glasgow outcome scale and appearance of basal cisterns as seen on intial computerized tomography on 95 patients with severe diffuse head injury. The results were as follows : 1) The poor outcome rates were 76.8%, 41.2% and 16.6% among those absent, compressed, and normal basal cisterns, respectively. 2) The correlation with the initial GCS score and the status of basal cistern indicated significant difference of poor outcome rate in the patients with absent or compressed basal cisterns between GCS score 3-5 group and GCS 6-8 group while the patients with normal basal cisterns indicated significantly reduced poor outcome rate regardless of GCS score. 3) When outcome was observed in connection with the patient's age and the status of the basal cisterns, a good recovery was significantly increased in the children with normal basal cisterns while the poor outcome rate was very high in the elderly patients even if the basal cisterns were normal. Therefore, the status of the basal cisterns on CT Scan should be used as non-invasive method for predicting the outcome of severe diffuse head injured patients.
Aged ; Child ; Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Head* ; Humans ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

The surgery of large cerebral arteriovenous malformation(AVM) may be complicated by the potential for serious brain swelling and hemorrhage during operation and/or postoperative period due to "normal perfusion pressure breadthrough(NPPB)". The authors present two cases of successful management of large AVM which anticipated the development of 'NPPB' using hypotension and preoperative embolization. The one case admitted with intraventricular hemorrhage and intracerebral hematoma due to rupture of large occipital AVM. We managed him with one-stage resection, followed by postoperative hypotension successfully. The another case was interesting. He had the history of intracranial hemorrhage about 13 years ago. We treated him conservatively at that time. He also had the another attack of intracranial hemorrhage in 1979. We performed angiography which revealed large AVM around trigon of left lateral ventricle. He also had another one time of intracranial hemorrhage in 1985. In 1986, We decided to treat him surgically and repeated angiography which showed enlarged AVM compare to size of AVM in previous angiogram of 1979 definitely. We embolized this lesion with Ivalon(R)(polyvinyl alcohol) and confirmed decreased size of AVM. During waiting the surgical resection, another intracranial hemorrhage occurred and recovered without surgical management. In May 1987, we decided to do operation and performed preoperative angiography, which showed reenlarged of previous embolic obliterated AVM. We resected that AVM successfully and discharged him without any aggravation of previous neurological signs. The pathologic findings of resected embolized AVM revealed infiltration of neurtrophils within vessel walls and foreign body material, surrounded by multinucleated foreign body giant cells, epitheloid cells in the vessel lumen. We reviewed the literature and discussed the enlargement of AVM, the treatment of large AVM, especially in point of view about 'NPPB' and pathologic findings of embolized AVM with Ivalon(R)(polyvinyl alcohol).
Angiography ; Brain Edema ; Foreign Bodies ; Giant Cells, Foreign-Body ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Hypotension ; Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Lateral Ventricles ; Perfusion ; Postoperative Period ; Rupture

In order to find out possible causes and measures for prevention of intracerebral hemorrhage remote from the site of cerebral aneurysm surgery, the authors analyzed five patients who developed such a complication following aneurysm surgery among 720 surgical cases of cerebral aneurysm. The aneurysm sites were posterior communicating artery(Pcom) in two cases, anterior communicating artery(Acom) in two, and Acom and middle cerebral artery(MMCA) in one. The hemorrhages in three cases occurred in the cerebellum. One in the contralateral hemisphere and one in the ipsilateral hemisphere to the operation site. All hemorrhages except one occurred vasospasm preoperatively. Fluctuation of blood pressure with sudden elevation to high level was noticed in three cases preoperatively and in all cases postoperatively. We conclude that sudden elevation of blood pressure during the remission stage of vasospasm seems to be possible cause for remote hemorrhage. To prevent this complication, we recommend meticulous control of blood pressure during surgery and in the postoperative period, especially in cases that showed fluctuation of blood pressure preoperatively.
Aneurysm* ; Blood Pressure ; Cerebellum ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Postoperative Hemorrhage ; Postoperative Period

We reviewed 6 epidermoid and 3 dermoid tumors of the brain treated surgically for a period of 4 years. The favorite sites for epidermoids were the cerebellopontine angle, whereas dermoids were found in the cerebellar vermis. The average age was 44.2 years for the patients with epidermoid tumors and 24.6 years for the patients with dermoid tumors. Average duration of symptoms was much shorter in dermoids than in epidermoids. Computed tomography scans revealed hypodense lesions with irregular borders without contrast enhancement. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 3 patients;the tumors showed decreased signal intensity relative to the brain on T1-weighted images and increased signal intensity relative to the brain on T2-weighted studies. Five were removed totally and 4 subtotally. Aseptic meningitis and transient facial nerve palsy were causes of postoperative morbidity.
Brain ; Cerebellopontine Angle ; Dermoid Cyst* ; Facial Nerve ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Meningitis, Aseptic ; Paralysis

OBJECT: This study was conducted to evaluate whether short-term intravenous infusion of tranexamic acid (AMCA) was able to improve the management outcome by preventing rebleeding without increasing vasospasm and hydrocephalus associated with the long-term administration of this agent in the patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) who were planned for the early surgery. METHODS: During the period from June, 1996 to May, 1998, 137 patients admitted within 3 days of their SAH and planned for early surgical intervention were subject to study population. Of these, 60 patients who had been treated with AMCA were classified as AMCA treated group and 77 patients without AMCA treatment as AMCA untreated group. Initially, prognostic factors for rebleeding, vasospasm, hydrocephalus and outcome following SAH including age, sex, clinical grade, CT grade, site of ruptured aneurysms, admission day after SAH, surgery day after SAH, number of aneurysms and hypertension history, were analyzed and compared between AMCA treated group and untreated group. Secondly, the incidence of rebleeding, symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were compared between the two groups. Also, the management outcome of the patients was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in prognostic factors between the two groups. The rebleeding rate was 0% in the AMCA treated group whereas the rate was 7.8% in the untreated group. This difference was statistically significant. The incidences of symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were found not to be significantly different between the two groups. Of the treated group, 31.7% of patients developed hydrocephalus compared to 32.5% of those at the untreated group. Fourteen(23.3%) patients in treated group developed symptomatic vasospasm and 6 of them(10%) suffered stroke whereas incidences of these in untreated group were 25.9% and 11.7%, respectively. The AMCA treated group showed more favorable outcome than that of untreated group. There was no case of death by rebleeding in the AMCA treated group while one of the main causes of death in the untreated group was rebleeding. CONCLUSION: Short-term high-dose AMCA administration is considered beneficial in improving outcome and diminishing the risk of rebleeding in the patients who suffer from an aneurysmal SAH prior to early surgical intervention.
Aneurysm* ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Cause of Death ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Stroke ; Tranexamic Acid