Pellegrini-Stieda's disease is a post-traumatic disorder of the knee. It is characterized by a crescentric-like bony formation in the region of the medial condyle of the femur, which usually makes its appearance upon roentgenographic examination three or more weeks after injury to the knee. During the three and a half years from January 1979 to July 1982, eleven patients were treated by conservative method and only one patient was treated by operation. The results were as follows; l. All give a history of trauma. 2. The major findings in this disease were pain in motion, local tenderness, and limitation of motion. 3. In roentgenographic findings of these cases, we noted the followings: 1) The most common site of the calcification was the proximal area of the tibial collateral ligament. 2) In seven cases (58%), the evidence of calcification was noted in 4 weeks to 12 weeks following original trauma. 3) Eight cases (67%) showed a radiolucent area from 0.5 to 3mm in thickness between the bony shadow and the femur. 4) Eight cases (67%) showed a crescentric shape of calcified area. 5) In seven cases (58%), the size of calcified mass was 1.5 to 3.5cm in length and 1 to 3mm in width. The mean size of calcified mass about 3cm in length and about 2.5mm in width. 4. Eleven cases were treated conservatively and one case was treated operatively. The results were satisfactory, and all patients were able to return to their works.
Clinical Study ; Femur ; Humans ; Knee ; Medial Collateral Ligament, Knee ; Methods

OBJECTIVE: We investigated clinical characteristics and independent outcome predictors of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH) in the very elderly patients. METHODS: From January 2001 to December 2005, we analyzed retrospectively 28 very elderly patients(> or = 80 years) with hypertensive ICH admitted to our neurosurgical department. As a control group, 200 younger patients(< 80 years) with hypertensive ICH were selected. We analyzed risk factors, clinical and radiologic characteristics, outcomes of hypertensive ICH in very elderly. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to find out independent predictors of 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Diastolic blood pressure, white blood cell counts and serum albumin on admission were significantly lower among patients < or = 80 years than in the control group(all p < 0.05). Thirty-day mortality was higher among patients > or = 80 years than in the control group(35.7% vs. 19.0%, respectively, p = 0.005). By multivariate analysis, in ICH patients > or = 80 years, only coma(Glasgow coma scale score < or = 8) was independently associated with 30-day mortality(odds rati[OR]25.5, 95% confidence interva[CI]2.36 - 275.74, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our result suggests that the very elderly patients with hypertensive ICH may present some different clinical characteristics from those in their younger counterparts.
Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Coma ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhage, Hypertensive ; Leukocyte Count ; Logistic Models ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Serum Albumin

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. The aims of this study were to evaluate the association between polymorphisms in TFF gene family, TFF1, TFF2, and TFF3 and the risk of gastric cancer (GC) and GC subgroups in a Korean population via a case-control study. The eight polymorphisms in TFF gene family were identified by sequencing and genotyped with 377 GC patients and 396 controls by using TaqMan genotyping assay. The rs184432 TT genotype of TFF1 was significantly associated with a reduced risk of GC (odds ratio, [OR) = 0.45; 95% confidence interval, [CI] = 0.25-0.82; P = 0.009), more protective against diffuse-type GC (OR = 0.20; 95% CI = 0.05-0.89; P = 0.035) than GC (OR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.14-0.82; P = 0.017) in subjects aged < 60 yr, and correlated with lymph node metastasis negative GC and diffuse-type GC (OR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.23-0.86; P = 0.016 and OR = 0.20; 95% CI = 0.05-0.87; P = 0.031, respectively). In addition, a decreased risk of lymph node metastasis negative GC and diffuse-type GC was observed for rs225359 TT genotype of TFF1 (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.24-0.88; P = 0.020 and OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.05-0.88; P = 0.033, respectively). These findings suggest that the rs184432 and rs225359 polymorphisms in TFF1 have protective effects for GC and contribute to the development of GC in Korean individuals.
Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor/*genetics ; Female ; Genetic Markers/genetics ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/epidemiology/genetics ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptides/*genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Assessment/methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stomach Neoplasms/*epidemiology/*genetics ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins/*genetics

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: An anatomic variant of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), termed "dual LAD", consists of early bifurcation of the proximal LAD into one early terminating branch (short LAD) which remains in the anterior interventricular sulcus (AIVS) and doesn't reach the apex, and the second (long LAD), which has a variable course outside the AIVS but returns to the distal sulcus and continues to the apex. Its incidence, angiographic features and clinical significance are investigated. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Consecutive 696 coronary angiograms during October 1997 through August 1998 were analyzed. RESULTS: A dual LAD variant was noted in 45 patients (6%) of the 696 patients. Type I, in which the long LAD descends on the left ventricular side of the AIVS before reentering the AIVS, was noted in 24 patients (53%) and type II, in which the long LAD descends on the right ventricular side of the AIVS before reentering the AIVS, in 21(47%). First septal branch was commonly originated from LAD proper in both type (54% vs 52%), but first diagonal branch from LAD proper (63%) in type I, from short LAD (71%) in type II. Presence of dual LAD was recognized before percutaneous coronary intervention (10) or bypass surgery (2) in 12 (63%) of 19 patients. Regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) were localized in distal septum or anterolateral wall in 2 patients with short or long LAD obstruction, respectively. CONCLUSION: Recognition of dual LAD is essential to prevent errors of interpretation of the coronary angiogram, to plan optimal strategy for percutaneous coronary intervention or bypass surgery, especially in case of total occlusion, and to understand localized septal or anterolateral RWMA.
Coronary Vessels* ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Peritonitis in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is a major cause of technical failure in peritoneal dialysis. The major pathogen is gram positive bacteria, and other main pathogens include gram negative bacteria, mixed infection and fungal infection actively involved in the order named. Coagulate-negative Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus cause most of the gram positive bacterial infections, and cases with other pathogens are very rare. We hereby report a case of peritonitis by Listeria Monocytogenes that was not responsive to the usual antibiotics for CAPD-associated peritonitis. A 58-year-old male who has been treated with CAPD for 17 years visited our hospital for abdominal pain, fever and turbid peritoneal fluid. He was diagnosed as diabetes mellitus 20 years ago. White blood cell and neutrophil count increased at the initial peritoneal fluid analysis, so we diagnosed him as CAPD-associated peritonitis. Antibiotic therapy was initiated with intraperitoneal injections of cefazolin/tobramycin, which were soon changed to vancomycin/ceftazidime. However, vancomycin/ceftazidime regimen was also proven ineffective. On the sixth hospital day, L. Monocytogenes was cultured in the peritoneal fluid sampled on the first visiting day. So we accordingly changed the antibiotics for ampicillin/sulbactam, which led to clinical and laboratory improvement. In the cases of CAPD associated peritonitis in immunosuppressive patients such as the elderly, caused either by diabetes or by taking immunosuppressive agent, if they do not respond to the usual antibiotics, we should consider the possible infection by unusual pathogens. Gram positive rod in peritoneal fluid is a supporting evidence of peritonitis by L. monocytogenes.
Male ; Humans

Due to the inconsistent fluctuation of blood supply for transfusion, much attention has been paid to the development of artificial blood using other animals. Although mini-pigs are candidate animals, contamination of mini-pig T cells in artificial blood may cause a major safety concern. Therefore, it is important to analyze the cross-reactivity of IL-7, the major survival factor for T lymphocytes, between human, mouse, and mini-pig. Thus, we compared the protein sequences of IL-7 and found that porcine IL-7 was evolutionarily different from human IL-7. We also observed that when porcine T cells were cultured with either human or mouse IL-7, these cells did not increase the survival or proliferation compared to negative controls. These results suggest that porcine T cells do not recognize human or mouse IL-7 as their survival factor.

Dexamethasone ; Durapatite ; Mandible ; Osteoblasts ; Osteogenesis ; Rabbits ; Silver Staining ; Transplants

Due to the inconsistent fluctuation of blood supply for transfusion, much attention has been paid to the development of artificial blood using other animals. Although mini-pigs are candidate animals, contamination of mini-pig T cells in artificial blood may cause a major safety concern. Therefore, it is important to analyze the cross-reactivity of IL-7, the major survival factor for T lymphocytes, between human, mouse, and mini-pig. Thus, we compared the protein sequences of IL-7 and found that porcine IL-7 was evolutionarily different from human IL-7. We also observed that when porcine T cells were cultured with either human or mouse IL-7, these cells did not increase the survival or proliferation compared to negative controls. These results suggest that porcine T cells do not recognize human or mouse IL-7 as their survival factor.