No abstract available.
Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections* ; Teicoplanin*

Twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence is a rare specific anomaly of twin gestation with fused placenta and umbilical anastomosis. This syndrome occurs once in about 34,600 births and reported first by Beneditti in 1533. We report on prenatal diagnosis of a case of TRAP sequence with color Doppler sonography, this case is presented with a brief review of the literature.
Humans ; Parturition ; Perfusion ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis*

PURPOSE: We compared prophylactic effects and complications of intravesical instillation of the Connaught and Tice strains bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) in patients with stage pT1 bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 98 patients with stage pT1 bladder cancer were treated with transurethral resection (TUR) between January 1992 and April 1998. Of the 98 patients, 51 received the Connaught strain BCG (81mg), 27 the Tice strain BCG (12.7mg) and 20 patients underwent TUR alone. The patients were followed-up for 18-78 months (mean 42.5months). The recurrence and progression rates, mean months to tumor recurrence, recurrence free survival rate, using Kaplan-Meier curve, and complications, were compared between the two BCG strain groups. RESULTS: The overall recurrence rate was 27.5% in the Connaught strain BCG group, 29.6% in Tice strain BCG group and 65% in TUR alone group. The mean months to tumor recurrence, and the recurrence free survival rate, showed that both BCG strain drugs were superior to TUR alone. Although the prophylactic efficacy of the Connaught strain BCG was a little higher than that of the Tice strain BCG, there were no significant differences in the recurrence rates and recurrence free survival rates between the two drugs. The incidences of complications were 94.1 and 85.2% in the Connaught strain BCG and Tice strain BCG groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Both the Connaught and Tice BCG strains were superior to TUR alone in the prophylaxis of the recurrence in stage pT1 bladder cancer. There was no significant difference in the complication rates between the two groups. Therefore, both the Connaught and Tice BCG strains may be regarded as alternative treatments.
Administration, Intravesical ; Bacillus* ; BCG Vaccine ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of the lateral tarsal strip procedure alone and the lateral tarsal strip procedure combined with silicone tube intubation in the treatment of functional lacrimal duct obstruction. METHODS: The present study investigated 27 eyes of 20 patients underwent lateral tarsal strip procedure (LTS) alone and 29 eyes of 18 patients underwent combined lateral tarsal strip procedure and silicone tube intubation and who were diagnosed with functional lacrimal duct obstruction. The authors retrospectively reviewed patients' medical records for information including age, gender, history, follow-up period, tear meniscus height (TMH), and symptoms. RESULTS: The average age of the LTS alone group was 60.3 years, and that of the combined groups was 65.9 years. The TMHs in the LTS only and combined operation groups were 0.62 +/- 0.23 mm and 0.62 +/- 0.19 mm before the operation and 0.43 +/- 0.20 mm and 0.26 +/- 0.09 mm after the operation, respectively. The postoperative improvement in epiphora was 74.1% after the LTS alone and 86.2% after combined LTS with silicone tube intubation. The postoperative improvement in epiphora and the operative technique of the lateral tarsal strip-canthus sparing or cantholysis were not relevant. CONCLUSIONS: Lateral tarsal strip combined with silicone tube intubation appeared useful in the treatment of epiphora patients without anatomic lacrimal duct obstruction. Determining which operative technique of lateral tarsal strip procedure should be chosen is difficult, and the preoperative syringing and snap back test may be helpful.
Eye ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intubation ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Lacrimal Duct Obstruction ; Medical Records ; Nasolacrimal Duct ; Retrospective Studies ; Silicones

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of sacral insufficiency fracture in osteoporotic patients with compression fracture of the thoracolumbar (T-L) spine on magnetic resonance image (MRI), and to analyze the correlation of variable clinical factors and the incidence of sacral insufficiency fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 160 patients (27 men, 133 women; age range of 50 to 89 years) who underwent spinal MRI and had compression fracture of the T-L spine. Compression fractures due to trauma or tumor were excluded. We evaluated the incidence of sacral insufficiency fracture according to the patients' age, sex, number of compression fractures, and the existence of bone marrow edema pattern of compression fracture. During the same period, we evaluated the incidence of spinal compression fracture in the patients of pelvic insufficiency fracture. RESULTS: Out of the 160 patients who had compression fracture in the T-L spine, 17 (10.6%) had insufficiency fracture of the sacrum. Compression fracture occurred almost 5 times more frequently in women (27:133), but the incidence of sacral insufficiency fracture was 2/27 for men (7.4%) and 15/133 for women (11.3%), with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.80). According to age, the ratio of insufficiency fracture to compression fracture was 0% (0/23) in the 50's, 10.6% (7/66) in the 60's, 12.5% (7/56) in the 70's, and 20.0% (3/15) in the 80's. In respect of single and multiple compression fracture, the incidence of sacral insufficiency fracture was 8/65 for men (12.3%) and 9/95 for women (9.5%), showing no significant difference (p=0.37). In the patients with and without compression fracture with bone marrow edema, insufficiency fracture occurred in 5/76 (6.6%) and 12/84 (14.3%), respectively. On the other hand, of the 67 patients who had pelvic insufficiency fracture, 27 (40.3%) also had spinal compression fracture. CONCLUSION: About 10% of the patients with osteoporotic compression fracture in the T/L spine also had pelvic sacral insufficiency fracture, which was not uncommon. These findings suggest the need to consider the possibility of pelvic sacral insufficiency fracture in cases of T/L spinal MRI for patients with osteoporotic compression fracture.
Bone Marrow ; Edema ; Female ; Fractures, Compression* ; Fractures, Stress* ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Osteoporosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sacrum ; Spine*

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a range of conditions including impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Pharmacological treatments can improve some symptoms of ASD, but the effect is limited and there is a huge unmet demand for successful interventions of ASD. Brain stimulation and modulation are emerging treatment options for ASD: electroconvulsive therapy for catatonia in ASD, vagal nerve stimulation for comorbid epilepsy and ASD, and deep brain stimulation for serious self-injurious behavior. Therapeutic tools are evolving to mechanism-driven treatment. Excitation/Inhibition (E/I) imbalance alters the brain mechanism of information processing and behavioral regulation. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can stabilize aberrant neuroplasticity by improving E/I balance. These brain stimulation and modulation methods are expected to be used for exploration of the pathophysiology and etiology of ASD and might facilitate the development of a mechanism-driven solution of core domains of ASD in the future.
Autistic Disorder* ; Automatic Data Processing ; Brain* ; Catatonia ; Child ; Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Deep Brain Stimulation ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Epilepsy ; Interpersonal Relations ; Neuronal Plasticity ; Optogenetics ; Self-Injurious Behavior ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ; Vagus Nerve Stimulation

No abstract available.
Korea*

Factitious fever has been a rare cause of fever of unknown origin. We herein report a case of a young soldier, who presented with persistent fever of unusual pattern and bullae on both palms. After numerous investigations had excluded organic diseases, factitious fever was diagnosed with measurement of the freshly voided urine temperatures and body temperatures while directly observed. Biopsy of skin lesions revealed friction blister. Early recognition of this cause of fever is needed to avoid the unnecessary investigation and prolonged hospitalization.
Biopsy ; Blister ; Body Temperature ; Factitious Disorders ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; Fever* ; Friction ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Military Personnel ; Skin

PURPOSE: We wanted to retrospectively determine the accuracy of an ultrasonographic diagnosis of superficial soft tissue masses in the extremities by using the histologic results as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2005 to June 2010, 154 patients with soft tissue masses in the extremities and who underwent ultrasonographic evaluation followed by biopsy or resection were retrospectively evaluated. The ultrasonographic and histologic diagnoses of the soft tissue masses were lipoma, ganglion cyst, hemangioma, neurogenic tumor, giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath, epidermoid cyst, fibroma, glomus tumor, Baker's cyst and neurofibromatosis. RESULTS: Out of 154 patients, 114 (74%) patients showed concordance between the histologic diagnosis and the ultrasonographic diagnosis, and the remaining 40 (26%) patients did not. The diagnostic accuracy of each soft tissue mass was 95% for lipoma, 83% for ganglion cyst, 75% for hemangioma, 72% for neurogenic tumor, 50% for giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath, 43% for epidermoid cyst, 33% for fibroma and 100% each for glomus tumor, fibromatosis and Baker's cyst. Aside from these tumors, there were also sarcoma, malignant melanoma, elastofibroma, Kimura disease and pilomatricoma. Among the cases that showed discordance between the histologic diagnosis and the ultrasonographic diagnosis, three of them were notable; pilomatricoma being misdiagnosed as dermatofibroma protuberans, angiolipoma being misdiagnosed as vascular leiomyoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma being misdiagnosed as a malignant soft tissue mass. CONCLUSION: The accuracy of an ultrasonographic diagnosis for soft tissue masses in the extremities varies greatly according to each type of mass. Lipoma, ganglion cyst, hemangioma, glomus tumor, neurogenic tumor and Baker's cyst showed a relatively high rate of concordance between the ultrasonographic diagnosis and the histologic diagnosis, but epidermoid cyst and fibroma showed a relatively lower rate of concordance.
Angiolipoma ; Angiolymphoid Hyperplasia with Eosinophilia ; Angiomyoma ; Biopsy ; Epidermal Cyst ; Extremities ; Fibroma ; Ganglion Cysts ; Giant Cell Tumors ; Glomus Tumor ; Hemangioma ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous ; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous ; Humans ; Lipoma ; Melanoma ; Pilomatrixoma ; Popliteal Cyst ; Retrospective Studies ; Sarcoma ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; Tendons