No abstract available.
Constriction, Pathologic* ; Neurologic Manifestations* ; Spinal Canal*

No abstract available.
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Muscle, Skeletal* ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

Thirteen patients were operated for cubital tunnel syndrome and followed for an average of 26 months postoperatively. Ten patients had a history of relevant trauma and three patients had degenerative osteoarthritis of the elbow. The average duration of symptoms was 18 months (range, 2 to 96 months). Diagnosis was made by physical examination, electromyography and nerve conduction study. Among these, nerve conduction study was found to be the most valuable diagnostic method for the patients with atypical clinical findings. Most of the operations were performed by anterior transposition of the ulnar nerve. At the most recent follow-up, the result was excellent in two patients, good in eight, and fair in three; thus ten patients(77%) showed satisfactory results. The rating system for ulnar neuropathy based on sensory, motor dysfunction and pain was useful for evaluating the operative results. The postoperative gain of score for pain and sensory function were larger than that of motor function. Factors known to influence the result of the operation (age, duration of symptom, history of trauma, method of operation) did not effect the outcome in this study. For successful operation, the ulnar nerve must be thoroughly examined, all possible levels of compression must be released and new foci of compression must be created.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome ; Diagnosis ; Elbow ; Electromyography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Methods ; Neural Conduction ; Osteoarthritis ; Physical Examination ; Sensation ; Ulnar Nerve ; Ulnar Neuropathies

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune rheumatic disease, but sensitive and specific test for its diagnosis is lack. This study evaluated the analytical performance and diagnostic role of a new automated ELISA anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody test. METHODS: Anti-CCP antibody test was done with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples from 49 RA patients and 104 non-RA patients, and 51 healthy subjects. Serum pools were used to determine its precision and linearity. The optimal cut-off values were determined by the receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve. The rheumatoid factor (RF) by turbidimetry was also assayed in every samle and the results were compared to anti-CCP for sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The total imprecision (CV%) was 4.8%, 7.6% for serum pools with low (mean concentration: 2.7 U/mL) and high (mean concentration :82.2 U/mL) concentration, respectively. Linearity data were acceptable (R2=0.9907). At each optimal cut-off value, the sensitivity of anti-CCP was higher than that of RF (81.6 % vs 69.4%), but statistical significance was not defined. Specificity of anti-CCP was higher than that of RF (95.5% vs 75.5%, p<0.001). A combination of anti-CCP and RF increased sensitivity and specificity to 87.7%, 98.0%, respectively. Nine of 15 (60.0%) sera from RF negative RA patients were positive for anti-CCP. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-CCP ELISA antibody test, we examined on a fully automated enzyme immunoassay, is easy to assay in routine laboratory, and showed good analytical performance. And anti-CCP antibody test also showed higher diagnostic specificity than RF. So, anti-CCP antibody may be useful serologic marker for diagnosis and monitoring of RA, if performed concomitantly with RF assay.
Antibodies* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques* ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the development of socializing and emotional expressions through vocalizations and joint attention (JA) behaviors in Korean-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared to those with developmental delay (DD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Video samples were collected from 28 toddlers with ASD and 18 age-matched toddlers with DD, and vocalizations were each coded in detail for the purpose of this retrospective research. In addition to some statistical analysis, Computerized Language Analysis was conducted to obtain the final results. RESULTS: Although they produced a higher number of vocalizations than the DD group, the ASD group did not engage in emotional or social interactions with their caretakers, whereas the DD group did. The children with ASD used more atypical vocalizations and socially unengaged vocalizations than the children with DD did. JA using vocalizations in the ASD group, in particular, was largely dyadic, with triadic types occurring at a significantly lower frequency than those in the DD group. CONCLUSION: Results from this study indicate the importance of assessing early vocalizations in toddlers with ASD, suggesting that some common symptoms of ASD, such as lack of typical, emotional, and social functions in early vocalizations, could be used to develop screening and intervention programs related to ASD.
Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Communication Disorders ; Developmental Disabilities ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Joints ; Mass Screening ; Mother-Child Relations ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Many invasive and life-threatening infections are diagnosed by the culture of normally sterile body fluids. Because microorganisms are present in very low concentrations, and these infections are often caused by fastidious or slow-growing microorganisms, they may not be detected by conventional culture methods. The present study was designed to assess the performance of the BacT/Alert blood culture system in order to recover microorganism with standard aerobic and anaerobic bottles and FAN aerobic and anaerobic bottles versus conventional culture methods for culturing normally sterile body fluids other than blood. METHODS: Between February and April 2003, sterile body fluids, such as cerebrospinal fluids (CSF), pleural fluids, peritoneal fluids, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysate (CAPD), and other fluids submitted to the microbiology laboratory for culture were entered into the study. Only specimens with a minimum volume of 3.0 mL were included, and the specimens were divided equally among three arms of the study. All BacT/Alert bottles were monitored for up to 5 days. Conventional blood agar plate and thioglycollate broth were incubated for up to 3 days before being discarded as negative, while anaerobic cultures were maintained for a minimum of 5 days. Bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using standard laboratory protocols. RESULTS: A total of 247 specimens (CSF 85, pleural fluids 68, peritoneal fluids 71, CAPD 17, others 6) were included in this study, with 45 isolates recovered from 43 specimens. The recovery rates for each method were standard bottles 65.1% (28/43), FAN bottles 79.1% (34/43), and conventional culture 48.9% (21/43). For CSF and peritoneal fluids, more isolates were recovered from the FAN bottles compared to the conventional culture or standard bottles. The FAN bottles recovered more coagulase negative staphylococci than those from the conventional culture or standard bottles. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the BacT/Alert system using FAN bottles improved the recovery rate for CSF and peritoneal fluids compared to either the standard bottles or conventional culture, coagulase negative staphylococci were also frequently recovered. Therefore, further evaluations are required to assess the clinical usefulness of culturing sterile body fluids using the Bact/Alert blood culture system.
Agar ; Arm ; Ascitic Fluid ; Body Fluids* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Coagulase ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is caused by the yeast-like fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, which is specific to humans. PCP could be a source of opportunistic infection in adults that are immunosuppressed and children with prematurity or malnutrition. The diagnosis should be confirmed by identification of the causative organism, by analysis of the sputum, a bronchoalveolar lavage or a tissue biopsy. In both histologic and cytologic specimens, the cysts are contained within frothy exudates, which form aggregated clumps. The cysts often collapse forming crescent-shaped bodies that resemble ping-pong balls. We recently diagnosed nine cases of PCP using an immunohistochemical stain for Pneumocystis. The patients consisted of five human immunodeficiency virus positive individuals, two renal transplant recipients, and two patients with a malignant disease. All nine patients were infected with P. jirovecii, which was positive for monoclonal antibody 3F6. In conclusion, the immunohistochemical stain used in this report is a new technique for the detection of P. jirovecii infection.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Child ; Exudates and Transudates ; Fungi ; HIV ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Malnutrition ; Opportunistic Infections ; Pneumocystis ; Pneumocystis jirovecii ; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis ; Sputum

PURPOSE: Lymph node metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors in breast cancer. Survival of patients with axillary node positive breast cancer is worse than that of patients with axillary lymph node negative breast cancer. Recently, some authors suggest that axillary dissection may be avoidable if sentinel nodes of the breast cancer do not harbour metastasis. However, 15-20 % of patients with lymph node negative breast cancer recurs within 10 years. Micrometastasis, which was missed or not detected in routine histologic examination, is thought to be one of the reasons for recurrence of axillary node negative breast cancer patients. METHODS: We investigated the frequency of micrometastasis and any clinical significance of micrometastasis in the breast cancer by immunohistochemical staining with anti-cytokeratin antibody from July, 1996 to November, 1990. 70 patients who underwent curative resection for axillary node negative breast cancer were studied retrospectively. We used paraffin blocks of lymph nodes which did not show metastasis by conventional pathological examination. After preparation of tissue blocks with a serial sectioning technique, specimens were stained by an immunohistochemical method using anti-cytokeratin antibody. Hematoxylin-eosin stainings were also repeated. We define metastasis less than 2mm as a micrometastasis. RESULTS: The results showed that micrometastasis were found in 8 of 70 cases(11.4%). There was a significant relationship between the micrometastasis and tumor size. With median follow-up of 20 months, we found 3 recurrences in 70 patients. : 2 recurrences(3.2%) in the 62 axillary node negative breast cancer patients and 1 recurrences(12.5%) in 8 micrometastasis patients. CONCLUSIONSThe results showed that micrometastasis of lymph node in breast cancer might increase the rick for development of breast cancer recurrence. But, there was no significant relationship between the micrometastasis and recurrence of breast cancer because of small numbers of recurrences and relatively short follow-up period. Long tern follow-up will be needed for further evaluation.
Animals ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Charadriiformes ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis* ; Paraffin ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: In the year 1996, there were some outbreaks of Salmonella typhi infection in Pusan and therefore, the incidence of S. typhi infection was markedly increased in comparison with the previous year. To differentiate the isolates epidemiologically, a random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) fingerprinting method has been developed. METHODS: A total of 9 arbitrary primers were screened with S. typhi strains isolated in Pusan, 1996. This allowed selection of a panel of primers capable of detecting DNA polymorphisms among S. typhi isolates. This panel was used to examine 54 strains of S. typhi, which had been isolated in Pusan including the cases of outbreaks that was previously characterized by phage typing. RESULTS: Four single primers and one combination of two primers were selected to discriminate the S. typhi isolates. RAPD analysis resolved the 54 strains into 20 different subtypes. At least two outbreaks were found by RAPD analysis. The isolates of E1 phage type, which are the most common in Korea, were perfectly differentiated with each other, except the strains isolated within the outbreaks. CONCLUSION: The RAPD approach is the useful epidemiologic tool to S. typhi subtyping, which is providing high discriminatory power. There were at least two outbreaks when the epidemic Salmonella infections of Pusan in 1996 had been occurred. The primers or their comb ination capable to discriminate the S. typhi isolates were described.
Animals ; Bacteriophage Typing ; Bacteriophages ; Busan ; Comb and Wattles ; Dermatoglyphics ; Disease Outbreaks ; DNA* ; Incidence ; Korea ; Molecular Typing* ; Salmonella Infections ; Salmonella typhi* ; Salmonella*

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the clinical and radiologic results of impacted femoral neck fractures treated with multiple pinning and determined the influence of the progression of impaction at the fracture site on clinical outcome. METHODS: There were 34 patients with a mean age of 65.5 years. The mean follow-up period was 3.4 years. Progression of fracture site impaction was measured using an articulo-trochanteric distance index and the percentage decrease in the articulo-trochanteric distance index between follow-up intervals. The failure of treatment was clarified as non-union and avascular necrosis. Other characteristics of the patients, including mean waiting time for surgery, preoperative Singh index score, and body mass index, were also measured to evaluate the influence on the clinical outcome of surgery. RESULTS: There were 6 fractures which were not treated successfully (3 non-union, 8.8% and 3 avascular necrosis, 8.8%). The mean percentage decrease of the articulo-trochanteric distance index within the first 6 weeks after surgery was 4.5% in the successful group and 25.1% in the failure group (p < 0.001). There was also a significant mean percentage decrease in the articulo-trochanteric distance index between 6 weeks and 3 months (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Primary stabilization with Knowles pins for impacted femoral neck fractures had a reasonable clinical outcome with low morbidity. Despite a significant difference of a mean percentage decrease in the articulo-trochanteric distance index between the successful group and the failure group, we could not verify it as a risk factor for failure of treatment because the odds ratio was not statistically significant.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Nails ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures/complications/radiography/*surgery ; Femur Head Necrosis/etiology/radiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; *Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Fractures, Ununited/radiography ; Hip Joint/*pathology/radiography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Treatment Outcome