During the arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder, there was extravasation of fluid into the surrounding soft tissue due to the use of pressure pump irrigator. Clinically, the shoulder region became tense and intramuscular pressure of the deltoid could be elevated. To analyze the change of the intramuscular pressure of the deltoid and the efficiency of cryotherapy in the shoulder arthroscopy with pressure pump, we studied 35 consecutive patients who underwent various arthroscopic shoulder procedures at the Dankook University Hospital. We monitored intramuscular pressure using spinal needle connected to the patient monitoring system during arthroscopic procedures and postoperative period until return to preoperative pressure level. Twenty-seven patients were fitted with a cryotherapy. device in the operating room, and 8 were not according to the patient opinions. We evaluated the effect of cryotherapy with visual analog scales and amounts of analgisics for 3 days postoperatively. The results were followed; 1. Intraoperative highest intramuscular deltoid pressure was 293mmHg (average 169+/-68mmHg, 71293mmHg). 2. Immediate postoperative deltoid pressure was average 58.3+/-28.1mmHg (24-145mmHg). 3. Average time that the pressure had returned to the preoperative level was 114.3+/-38.6 minutes (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant between two groups, 113.9+/-41.1 min in the cryotherapy group and 115.7+/-32.6 min in the non-cryotherapy group. 4. Shoulder pain was less in the cryotherapy cases until second postoperative day. In conclusion, arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder can be performed with minimal complication in spite of high intramuscular deltoid pressure. More than 60 minutes may be needed for returning to normal intramuscular deltoid pressure. Cryotherapy is eftective in the pain relief but cannot minimize swelling postoperatively.
Arthroscopy* ; Cryotherapy* ; Humans ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Needles ; Operating Rooms ; Postoperative Period ; Shoulder Pain ; Shoulder* ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation ; Visual Analog Scale

No abstract available.
Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Humans

Early diagnosis of childhood cancer is very important for the prognosis. Ultrasonography of routine examination for pregnant woman is now a popular method. We experienced two cases of congenital Wilms tumor suspected by prenatal ultrasonography from mothers and confirmed by nephrectomy soon after birth. One of the cases was stage II with favorable histology and was treated with vincristine(2.0 mg/m2) and actinomycin D(45 microgram/kg) for 60 weeks by National Wilms Tumor Study(NWTS) IV treatment protocol, K-4 A regimen. The other was stage I with favorable histology and was treated with vincristine(1.5 mg/m2) and actinomycin D(15 microgram/kg) for 24 weeks by NWTS IV, EE regimen. The post-chemotherapy follow-up evaluation of these two children for 3 years and 2 months and 1 year and 7 months respectively were quite normal with 100% of Karnovsky scores. Early diagnosis, especially in prenatal, is very important for the prognosis of childhood cancer. Routine ultrasonographic examination in pregnant women is also desirable for the detection of solid tumor of fetus if it does not harmful for the fetus.
Child ; Clinical Protocols ; Dactinomycin ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mothers ; Nephrectomy ; Parturition ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Diagnosis* ; Prognosis ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Wilms Tumor*

OBJECTIVES: There have been many investigations into the evaluation and treatment of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, because cognitive deficits do not respond well to antipsychotics and may be a very important prognostic factor for social and occupational outcomes. And it has been known that estrogen improves cognitive functions, as proved in animal studies and studies in postmenopausal women and dementia patients. And estrogen has been unvestigated as an etiologic factor of the neuroendocrine abnormalities of schizophrenia. This preliminary study was aimed to investigate the effect of estrogen on cognitive functions of female schizophrenics, as one of the estrogen projects on our institute. METHODS: The subjects consisted of 30 females with schizophrenia. During the study, all subjects maintained the same dosage of antipsychotics as before the study. Fifteen subjects were given estrogen (EG), and the other fifteen subjects were not(CG). Trail Making Test A and B, Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Finger Tapping Test, Visual continuous Performance Test, Spatial Memory Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were taken every four weeks from the baseline to the 12th week. RESULTS: At Baseline, there were no significant differences of ages, duration of illness, antipsychotic dose, ammenorrhea, PANSS, types of schizophrenia, MADRS and CGI, and cognitive function tests between EG and CG. There were no significant improvements of Trial Making Test A & B, Finger Tapping Test, and Visual continuous Performance Test in both groups. But there were significant improvements of Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Spatial Memory Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (total errors and completed categories) in EG, but not in CG. CONCLUSION: The authors found that estrogen improved some cognitive functions, such as memory and executive function in EG. But it could not be clearly defined whether those changes are due to the direct effect of estrogen on the cognitive functions, or the improvement of psychotic symptoms, or the generalized enhancing effect of cognitive functions.
Animals ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Dementia ; Estrogens* ; Executive Function ; Female* ; Fingers ; Humans ; Memory ; Schizophrenia ; Trail Making Test ; Wisconsin

Cancer is the first leading cause of death in Korea. Systemic chemotherapy is currently the standard treatment for a wide variety of cancers; however, in the majority of cases, cure is not achieved, and the attendant side effects of the treatment are considerable. The effectiveness of chemotherapy in cancers depends on the adequate delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent to cancer cells. The achievement of uniform drug delivery of chemotherapeutic agents throughout tumors is limited by the anomalous vascularization and blood vessel permeability. Ultrasound has an ever-increasing role in the delivery of therapeutic agents including chemotherapeutic agents, proteins, and genetic materials. Ultrasound technology allows for the use of focused ultrasound energy for therapeutic purposes by delivering high-intensity focused ultrasound for applications such as tissue ablation, and enhanced drug delivery. We reviewed recent work in the emerging field of ultrasound-based therapeutics, with particular emphasis on the delivery of drugs to tumor tissue.
Antineoplastic Agents/*administration & dosage/therapeutic use ; *Drug Delivery Systems ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy ; Neoplasms/*drug therapy ; *Ultrasonics

PURPOSE: To report cases of oil droplet cataract, one cause of decreased vision of unknown etiology. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review analysis of patients referred to the neuro-ophthalmology clinic due to unknown etiology of decreased visual acuity and diagnosed with oil droplet cataract. Clinical features including history, result of ophthalmologic examinations, and clinical course were evaluated. RESULTS: Among the patients referred to the neuro-ophthalmology clinic due to unknown etiology of decreased visual acuity, 6 patients were diagnosed with oil droplet cataract. The patients ranged from 38 to 63 years of age and their best corrected visual acuities at their first visits were between 0.1 and 0.7. Ophthalmologic examinations including neuro-ophthalmologic tests were normal except for changes in lens nucleus and peculiar fundus reflexes were observed using retinoscopy in all patients. Five eyes of 4 patients underwent cataract surgery and all 5 eyes achieved the best corrected visual acuity of 1.0 or higher. CONCLUSIONS: Oil droplet cataract is a cause of decreased visual acuity of unknown etiology that can be missed. The disease abnormalities are difficult to observe because only subtle changes in lens nucleus are apparent on slit lamp examination; however characteristic fundus reflexes can be identified using retinoscopy. Ophthalmologists should thoroughly understand the oil droplet cataract and diagnose it in the early stages to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary costs.
Cataract* ; Diagnostic Errors ; Humans ; Reflex ; Retinoscopy ; Retrospective Studies ; Slit Lamp ; Visual Acuity

Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), a component of the thioredoxin system, including thioredoxin (Trx) and NADPH, catalyzes the transfer of electrons from NADPH to Trx, acts as a reductant of disulfide-containing proteins and participates in the defense system against oxidative stresses. In this study, the regulation pattern of TrxR in the presence of various stressful reagents was compared between Chang (human normal hepatic cell) and HepG2 (human hepatoma cell) cell lines. Aluminum chloride (0.5 mM) and zinc chloride (0.5 mM) enhanced the TrxR activity in the Chang cell line to a higher degree than in the HepG2 cell line, but cupric chloride (0.2 mM) and cadmium chloride (0.1 mM) enhanced the TrxR activity in the HepG2 cell line to a greater degree. The TrxR activities in both Chang and HepG2 cell lines were similarly induced by treatment with sodium selenite (0.02 mM) and menadione (0.5 and 1.0 mM). Lipopolysaccharide (2microgram/m1) increased the TrxR activity upto 4.02- and 2.2-fold in the Chang and HepG2 cell lines, respectively, in time-dependent manners. Hydrogen peroxide (5 mM) markedly enhanced the TrxR activity in the HepG2 cell line, but not in the Chang cell line. NO-generating sodium nitroprusside (3.0 and 6.0 mM) induced TrxR activities in both human liver cell lines. The TrxR activity was also induced in human liver cells under limited growth conditions by serum deprivation. These results imply that the TrxR activities in normal hepatic and hepatoma cell lines are subject to different regulatory responses to various stresses.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Comparative Study ; Hepatocytes/cytology/*enzymology ; Human ; Oxidative Stress/*physiology ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Thioredoxin Reductase (NADPH) /*metabolism

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a preoperative MRI with microscopy coils in determining the primary tumor thickness of malignant melanoma with histopathologic correlation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven patients with histopathologically confirmed malignant melanoma were included in this study. MR images of the tumors were obtained with a 47-mm microscopy coil on 1.5T MR scanners and were evaluated by two radiologists, who assessed the thickness of the primary tumor on T2-weighted images (T2WI) and gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images with fat suppression (Gd-T1WI) and compared the results with the histopathologic findings as the reference standard. Correlations between tumor thickness on MRI and histopathologic examination were assessed using concordance correlation coefficients (CCCs). Inter- and intraobserver variabilities of tumor measurements were also assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Among the 11 cases included in the study, 10 cases from the same number of patients were managed with surgical excision and one case was confirmed with punch biopsy. The primary tumor thickness measured on T2WI showed better correlation with histopathologic results, as compared with measurements taken on Gd-T1WI: the CCC of measurements on T2WI ranged from 0.64 to 0.78, indicating a substantial agreement, whereas the CCC of measurements on Gd-T1WI ranged from 0.50 to 0.61, indicating a moderate to substantial agreement. Inter- and intraobserver agreements of readers 1 and 2 were excellent for both T2WI and Gd-T1WI, with ICC ranging from 0.86 to 0.99. CONCLUSION: MR imaging with microscopy coils may be an accurate technique in the preoperative assessment of tumor thickness in malignant melanoma, especially on T2-weighted images.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy ; Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Female ; Gadolinium DTPA/diagnostic use ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*instrumentation ; Male ; Melanoma/*pathology ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin Neoplasms/*pathology

No abstract available.
Pancreas* ; Vitelline Duct*