No abstract available.
Fever*

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

PURPOSE: To evaluate MRI findings of lateral lumbar disc herniations (LLDHs) and to determine whether those correlate with clinical symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 105 patients with LLDHs that were diagnosed by MRI. The distribution and location of the LLDHs (foraminal, extraforaminal, and foraminal and extraforaminal), the displacement of adjacent nerves, and the detection rate of LLDHs from axial and sagittal images were reviewed retrospectively by two radiologists. 36 patients were included in evaluating whether location of LLDHs and displacement of adjacent nerve correlate with radiculopathy. RESULTS: The distributions of the LLDHs were 3.4% at L1-2, 14.4% at L2-3, 33% at L3-4, 33% at L4-5, and 16.9% at L5-S1. The locations were foraminal in 38.6% of cases, extraforaminal in 45.4% of cases, and foraminal and extraforaminal in 16% of cases. In addition, 77.3% of the diagnosed LLDH cases displaced the adjacent nerve. The detection rates of LLDHs in the axial and sagittal images were 100% and 77.3%, respectively. In 36 patients, 47.4% had radiculopathy related to LLDHs. Location of LLDHs and displacement of adjacent nerve had no statistically significant difference between patients with or without radiculopathy. CONCLUSION: MRI is an effective method for evaluating the location of LLDHs and their influence on adjacent nerves. The axial image is more important than the sagittal image in diagnosing LLDHs. The location of LLDHs and the displacement of adjacent nerve were not found to be related to radiculopathy.
Displacement (Psychology) ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Radiculopathy ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Urinary Tract*

Thirty three healthy young men and six dogs equipped with gastric fistulae were stimulated by noise of 100 to 120 phons emanating from a F-86F jet engine. The basal secretion of gastric juice in the dogs was little changed, but in human subjects the secretion of gastric juice was altered as follows; 30.3% of 33 subjects showed an increased acid output, 63.6% showed a decrease and the remaining showed no change. Furthermore, the basal resting secretion of those showing decreased acidity from noise exposure was higher than that of those showing increased acidity. Gastric motility was greatly inhibited by exposure to noise in both dogs and humans but the inhibition was more sensitive and more prolonged in humans. Rats fed synthetic diet were placed under conditions of repeated noise for either short or long periods and the occurrence of gastric ulcers by the procedure described by Shay et al was observed. The prevalence of ulcer lesions was increased and the severity of the lesion was enhanced in rats exposed to noise for either short or long periods. The above results indicate that the influences of air-craft noise were not remarkable, but the noise to a considerable degree, is responsible for the occurrence of gastric disorders in man. Sound fields surrounding air-craft engines are thought to be the cause of physical or mental disturbances experienced by persons at close range. Laird (1932) reported that 60 decibels of noise decreased the normal secretion of gastric juice in four of five human subjects who previously had been given an Ewald meal and also caused a decrease in the normal secretion of saliva by about 40 per cent. Previously Laird and Smith (1930) had observed that 80 to 90 decibels of noise caused a decrease in gastric motility in human beings. Vaughan and Van Liere (1940) reported a significant reduction in acid secretion in dogs with Pavlov pouches from a noise of l00 decibels and 2,000 frequency. However, noise frequency of 600 was ineffective. The present study was undertaken to determine in humans and animals whether digestive function or other disorders occurred readily with either single or repeated exposure to air-craft noise.
Adult ; *Aircraft ; Animals ; Dogs ; Gastric Juice/*secretion ; Human ; Male ; *Noise ; Stomach/*physiology

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

No abstract available.
Korea*

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

Since the existence of cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) in maternal circulation was discovered, it has been identified as a promising source of fetal genetic material in the development of reliable methods for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) of fetal trisomy 21 (T21). Currently, a prenatal diagnosis of fetal T21 is achieved through invasive techniques, such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. However, such invasive diagnostic tests are expensive, require expert technicians, and have a miscarriage risk approximately 1%. Therefore, NIPD using cff-DNA in the detection of fetal T21 is significant in prenatal care. Recently, the application of new techniques using single-molecular counting methods and the development of fetal-specific epigenetic markers has opened up new possibilities in the NIPD of fetal T21 using cff-DNA. These new technologies will facilitate safer, more sensitive and accurate prenatal tests in the near future. In this review, we investigate the recent methods for the NIPD of fetal T21 and discuss their implications in future clinical practice.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Amniocentesis ; Chorionic Villi Sampling ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; DNA ; Down Syndrome ; Epigenomics ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Care ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Trisomy

Invasive aspergillosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. And there has been substantial increase in the number of cases documented at autopsy in all developed nations. There are probably many factors responsible for this substantial increase, but they include the following: greater numbers of transplantation patients; more aggressive chemotherapy for such conditions as myeloma, breast cancer, and certain lymphomas; more aggressive immunosuppressive regimens for patients with autoimmune disease; and the emergence of AIDS. The use of hepafiltration and, in particular, laminar air flow reduces the risk of invasive aspergillosis. The portal of entry for Aspergillus include the respiratory tract, damaged skin or other operative wounds, the cornea, and the ear. The majority of patients (80~90%) have pulmonary disease, but some have other manifestations of disease, including aspergillus rhinosinusitis. Prognosis of invasive aspergillosis has in general relied on making a prompt diagnosis of infection, and early treatment. Unfortunately, the rapid diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis is difficult, as no rapid methods to establish definitely the diagnosis of infection are available in most clinical settings. An ELISA for detecting Aspergillus galactomannan is used to establish an early diagnosis in Western Europe. Invasive aspergillosis carries a nearly 100% mortality if untreated. There are currently two antifungal agents with activity against Aspergillus-amphotericin B and itraconazole. Several novel agents are under investigation, including Liposomal nystatin (Nyotran), Voriconazole, Posaconazole, Caspofungin. The most advanced azole is the voriconazole, which has shown good clinical efficacy and tolerability among immunocompromised patients with invasive aspergillosis.
Antifungal Agents ; Aspergillosis* ; Aspergillus ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Autopsy ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cornea ; Danazol ; Developed Countries ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Ear ; Early Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Europe ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Itraconazole ; Lung Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Mortality ; Nystatin ; Prognosis ; Respiratory System ; Skin ; Wounds and Injuries