No abstract available.
Esophageal Fistula* ; Tuberculosis, Spinal*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcome in patients aged less than 55 years who underwent arthroscopic tenodesis and arthroscopic repair for type 2 superior labrum anterior and posterior (SLAP) lesions. METHODS: Between April 2008 and December 2014, surgery was performed on a total of 45 patients with isolated type 2 SLAP lesions. Arthroscopic repair was performed in 22 patients and arthroscopic tenodesis was performed in 23 patients. In both groups, the clinical outcomes at follow-ups were evaluated using the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and visual analogue scale (VAS) score. RESULTS: In both groups, the VAS scores for pain had improved significantly throughout the postoperative follow-up period. The VAS score showed a statistically significant difference at postoperative 3 and 6 months (p<0.05); however, there was no statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative results at 12 months (p>0.05). In both groups, the functional outcome was statistically improved postoperatively. In a comparison of the UCLA and ASES scores between the two groups, there was a statistically significant difference at postoperative 3 and 6 months (p<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative results at 12 months (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this and other studies, patients with isolated type 2 SLAP lesions showed better short-term clinical outcome with tenodesis than with repair. However, there was no difference between the two groups at the final follow-up.
California ; Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Shoulder ; Surgeons ; Tenodesis*

No abstract available.
Humans

Eleven cases of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis were reviewed. Average age of patients was 59 years, 4 male and 7 female. Underlying diseases were osteoarthritis in 7 cases, rheumatoid arthritis in 3 cases and one post-traumatic arthritis. At the mean follow up of 15 months, fusion rate was 100%, mean time to complete union was 9.5 weeks. There were no complications such as nonunion, infection and skin problems. All patients stayed at the hospital just overnight after the surgery. Patients satisfaction was high and the functional clinical grade was excellent in 9 patients, good in 1 patient and fair in 1 patient. We concluded that arthroscopic technique was a simple and effective method for ankle arthrodesis in the selected patients and had significant advantages over the open technique.
Ankle* ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthrodesis* ; Arthroscopy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Osteoarthritis ; Skin

No abstract available.
Hepatitis*

BACKGROUND: An accurate ABO blood type is essential for transfusion therapy. Genetic structures of ABO blood group and subgroup have been investigated and so far about 100 ABO alleles have been reported worldwide. This study was performed to investigate the molecular characteristics of B subgroups in the Korean population. METHODS: A total of 19 samples of B subgroups were collected from patients (n=11) and from blood donors (n=8) of Korean Red Cross blood centers; these samples had been typed serologically for the ABO blood group. Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), direct sequencing of exon 6 and 7, and allele separation were performed for ABO gene analysis. RESULTS: The ABO PCR-RFLP genotyping results of 18 samples among the provisional 19 B subgroups were identical regardless of their phenotypes. Two new B alleles showing 255C>T base change and 547G>A base change were observed in B3 and A1B3 subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Serologically unidentified B subgroups were unequivocally identified through molecular analyses of the ABO gene. And new ABO alleles observed only in the Korean B subgroups were recognized.
Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Donors ; Exons ; Genetic Structures ; Humans ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Red Cross

BACKGROUND: Scabies outbreaks have been reported in long-term care facilities, but less commonly in acute care facilities. We experienced an outbreak of scabies that occurred in neurosurgery-intensive care unit of a general hospital, Seoul, Korea. METHODS: An outbreak of scabies was noticed on September 2006 when hospital staffs of NICU were diagnosed with scabies. The infection control nurse reviewed medical records and interviewed all of patient in NICU and health care workers. The epidemic spread of scabies from a patient to other patient, hospital employees and their families and associates was identified from historical, clinical, and microbiologic skin preparation data. RESULTS: Forty-three NICU patients and 22 health care workers were investigated. Five scabies cases were identified in total of 42 cases who are exposed to index case with attack rate of 11.9%. The attack rate of scabies in health care workers and NICU patients were 10% and 13.6%, respectively. Tertiary cases also occurred among the family members of workers, with a tertiary attack rate of 44%. CONCLUSION: The patient of acute care facilities also have chances of being exposed to scabies outbreak, since sensorimotor deficits or cognitive disorders make it difficult for individuals to communicate and understand the implication of risky contacts.
Delivery of Health Care ; Disease Outbreaks ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Long-Term Care ; Medical Records ; Scabies ; Skin

PURPOSE: We evaluated the relationship between the delayed visual acuity (VA) improvement and retinal features, including in the photoreceptor layer, after a successful macular hole surgery using optical coherence tomography (OCT) images during long-term post-operative observation. The goal was to find the mechanism in delayed VA improvement. METHODS: Postoperative OCT scans were analyzed in nine eyes of eight patients who underwent idiopathic macular hole surgery between June 2003 to June 2005. Horizontal and vertical OCT scans taken of the operated eyes immediately after absorption of intraocular gas and after VA improvement were exported to Adobe Photoshop 7.0. We measured changes in parameters of the central foveal thickness (central 1 mm area), photoreceptor layer thickness, relative reflectivity of photoreceptor to retinal pigment epithelium, and the defective area of photoreceptor layer. RESULTS: The median visual acuity was determined to be 0.2 (range: 0.15~0.3) at the VA unimproved period and 0.5 (range: 0.3~1.0) at VA improved period. The mean central foveal thickness decreased from 221.3 micrometer (range: 155~265 micrometer) to 191.2 micrometer (range: 150~231 micrometer), as VA improved (p=0.007). The mean photoreceptor layer thickness increased from 15.2 micrometer (range: 4.2~27.6 micrometer) to 22.6 micrometer (range: 4.2~35.8 micrometer) as VA improved (p=0.032), and mean relative reflectivity of photoreceptor layer increased from 0.43 (range: 0.08~0.67) to 0.48 (range: 0.10~0.70), as VA improved (p=0.415). The defective area of photoreceptor layer decreased from 70% (range: 90~45%) to 27% (range: 8~5), as VA improved (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A decrease of the central foveal thickness and of photoreceptor layer defective signal, and an increase of photoreceptor layer thickness were observed on OCT during delayed vision improvement after a successful macular hole surgery. Improvement of macular edema and photoreceptor reorganization are suggested as important parts of the mechanism toward vision recovery.
Absorption ; Eye ; Humans ; Macular Edema ; Retinal Perforations ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Vision, Ocular ; Visual Acuity

Because primary lymphoma of the appendix is a very rare disorder and commonly presented as acute appendicitis,it is seldom diagnosed by preoperative imaging study. We encountered a patient with pathologically proved primaryappendiceal lymphoma associated with acute and chronic appendicitis. Ultrasonogram revealed a non-compressiblesausage-shaped hypoechoic mass with a linear hyperechoic center caused by mucosa-lumen interface in right lowerquadrant. Post-contrast CT examination showed a markedly enlarged target-like appendix with obliteration of thelumen; the outer layer showed higher attenuation than the central portion. There were also multiple strands in theperiappendiceal fat and thickening of adjacent lateroconal fascia and colonic wall, and this suggested acuteappendicitis associated with appendiceal lymphoma.
Appendicitis* ; Appendix ; Colon ; Fascia ; Humans ; Lymphoma* ; Ultrasonography

beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) consisting of 40 to 42 amino acid is the principle constituent of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease. Although, the hypothesis that deposition of AP triggers a cascade of events leading to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease has been widely accepted, direct evidence for triggering accumulation of phosphorylated tau in paired helical filament is rare. In this study, we examined neurotoxicity induced by 3 kinds of beta-amyloid peptides 1 ~28, 25~,35 and 1~40 to elucidate the way of mechanism trading to neuronal cell death caused by Abeta using cultured hippocampal neurons. For this purpose, we measured lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the culture media after treatment with Abeta combined with anti-oxidant drug, trolox, or not. By histochemical and TUNEL method, we studied the change of immunoreaction to anti-MAP-2 (microtubule associated protein -2, the main component of neuritis) and detected apoptotic cells, respectively, in the hippocampal neurons treated with Abeta. To investigate whether tau phosphorylation involve neurotoxicity induced by Abeta, we immunostained the neurons with anti-SMI-31 to recognize phosphorylated Ser 396/404 of tau. From our data, we suggested that Abeta1-40 and Abeta25-35 induced marked neurodegenerative changes, and the mechanism responsible for cell death caused by Abeta -neurotoxicity was associated with the apoptosis. Because Abeta-neurotoxicity was not inhibited by anti-oxidant, trolox, we suggested that anti-oxidant did not protect the neuronal cells against the damage induced by Abeta in ou. expo.imental envi.onment. Finally, we suggested that AP treatment did not potentiate the immunoreactivity to anti-phosphorylated tau antibody and we speculated that Abeta-neurotoxicity led hippocampal cells to apoptosis without tau phosphorylation.
Alzheimer Disease ; Apoptosis* ; Cell Death ; Culture Media ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Neurons* ; Pathology ; Peptides* ; Phosphorylation* ; Plaque, Amyloid