It has been reported that the gap between the tendon stumps in chronic Achilles tendon rupture is filled with interposed scar tissue. If it was available to use the interposed scar tissue for reconstruction or augmentation of Achilles rupture, possible damage of normal tissues could be avoided. Our results show that direct repair method using interposed scar tissue for chronic Achilles tendon rupture can successfully relieve pain and restore function of the ruptured Achilles tendon in carefully selected patients.
Achilles Tendon* ; Cicatrix* ; Humans ; Rupture* ; Tendons

Melorheostosis is a very rare sclerosing bone disease with pain, joint stiffness, and limitation of motion. Its characteristic on radiography is a dense bone formation along the side of the bone, resembling the flow of candle grease. Various conservative or surgical methods have been practiced in treating pain and deformities. This is a report on the successful treatment result of six cases of melotheostosis, involving the metatarsal, metacarpal, clavicle, and tibia, which weretreated by conservative and operative treatment methods.
Arthralgia ; Bone Diseases ; Clavicle ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Melorheostosis* ; Metatarsal Bones ; Osteogenesis ; Radiography ; Tibia

Vascular complications are uncommon, but it may pose a serious problem in posterior spinal surgery. Vascular injury during lumbar spinal surgery should be suspected if symptoms of circulatory instability are noted. If vascular injury is suspected, a contrast enhanced computed tomography should be checked and proper management, i.e., interventional treatment or surgery should be performed. To date, there have only been a few reports regarding vascular injuries during posterior lumbar spinal surgery. Clinicians should pay attention to signs of vascular injury during posterior spinal surgery, and accordingly, promptly perform treatment. In two patients with retroperitoneal hemorrhage, extravasation of the common iliac arteries was successfully repaired. One patient with pseudoaneurysm was treated by stent placement.
Aneurysm, False ; Diskectomy ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Stents ; Vascular System Injuries*

This study describes the purification and characterization of type II restriction endonuclease of Helicobacter pylori in order to understand the DNA restriction and modification of H. pylori. H. pylori cell extract was subjected to polyethyleneimine treatment, salt precipitation, heparine-sepharose column chromatography, and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) using Resource Q column and Mono Q column to purify the type II restriction endonuclease. Hpy51-I was characterized to recognize the sequneces 5`-GT(G/C)AC-3`, yielding 5-base 5` protruding ends. The restriction sequence was identical to that of Tsp 45 I. The enzyme exhibited its maximal activity in the presence of 10-20 mM LaCl, but was inhibited completely in the presence of more than 80 mM NaCl. The enzyme showed its maximal activity in the presence of 1-10 mM MgC1(2). The optimal pH and temperature for enzyme activity was pH 9.0 and 37 degrees C, respectively. MnC1(2) could not substitute for MgC1(2) in reaction mixture. And addition of j3-mercaptoethanol and bovine serum albumin in reaction mixture led to loss of enzyme activity of Hpy51-I. The whole cell extract of H. pylori strain 51 was confirmed to carry the enzyme activity for methylation of Hpy51-I-recognised sequence. Hpy51-I digested genomic DNAs of enteric bacteria to less than I kb while it could not cut the genomic DNAs of H. pylori isolates. In this study, the type II restriction enzyme (Hpy51-I) of H. pylori was identified and characterized its biochemical properties, demonstrating that Hpy51-I might be one of the barriers for preventing the introduction of foreign DNAs into H. pylori.
Chromatography ; Chromatography, Liquid ; DNA ; DNA Restriction Enzymes* ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Methylation ; Polyethyleneimine ; Serum Albumin, Bovine