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

We report the case of a giant cell tumor with diffuse interstitial hemorrhaging and unusually prominent cystic components in the soft tissue of the thigh which has not been reported previously. Magnetic resonance image (MRI), showed signal intensity typical of a giant cell tumor. However, because of its conspicuous large well-circumscribed cystic components, the differential diagnoses, based on the image findings from an ultrasonography (US) and MRI, were complicated epidermoid cyst, cystic change of a neurogenic tumor, and a parasitic cyst.
Adult ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Giant Cell Tumors/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery/ultrasonography ; Humans ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery/ultrasonography ; Thigh ; *Ultrasonography, Doppler

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. Atopic dermatitis is associated with increased IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 and IL-13 but decreased INF-gamma and TNF production. IL-10 production has been implicated in autoimmunity because of its effect on B-cell proliferation and antibody production. The study of IL-10 gene polymorphism is of interest because of the pivotal role of IL-10 in the regulation of inflammatory and immune responses. TNF-beta significantly upregulates INF-gamma but downregulates IL-5, IL-13 and IgE, which suggests a potential role of TNF-beta in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. OBJECTIVES: We have investigated polymorphism of IL-10 promoter gene and TNF-beta gene. METHODS: Seventy one patients with atopic dermatitis and one hundred and sixty six normal subjects participated in this study with analysis of polymorphism of IL-10 promoter (-1082), (-819) gene and seventy one patients with atopic dermatitis and one hundred and forty one normal subjects participated in the analysis of polymorphism of TNF-beta gene. The patients in this study were recently diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. RESULTS: The frequency of IL-10 promoter (-1082) genotypes (A/A, A/G, G/G), genes (A, G), IL-10 promoter (-819) genotypes (T/T, T/C, C/C) and genes (T, C) did not show any significant difference between atopic dermatitis patients and normal controls. There was no significant difference in the frequency of TNFB genotypes (TNFB*1/TNFB*1, TNFB*1/TNFB*2, TNFB*2/TNFB*2) and genes (TNFB*1, TNFB*2) in patients of atopic dermatitis and normal controls. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the other regions of the IL-10 promoter gene and TNFB gene should be investigated for polymorphism of atopic dermatitis. And the difference of IL-10 promoter and TNFB gene polymorphism between caucasian and Korean needs to be evaluated.
Antibody Formation ; Autoimmunity ; B-Lymphocytes ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Interleukin-10* ; Interleukin-13 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Lymphotoxin-alpha* ; Polymorphism, Genetic* ; Skin Diseases

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

PURPOSE: To report a case of optic tract syndrome in which optical coherence tomography (OCT) demonstrated the specific findings of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). CASE SUMMARY: A 32-year-old male patient visited the hospital with right side visual field defect in both eyes that occurred immediately after a traffic accident 8 months prior. The visual acuity of both eyes was normal, and a relative afferent papillary defect was evident in the right eye. In addition, suspicious band atrophy of the right optic disc and thinning of the superior and inferior arcuate bundle were observed in the left eye. On visual field examination, homonymous hemianopia was present. Optic tract syndrome was suspected, although there was no abnormality of the visual tract on MRI. On fast RNFL thickness 3.4 scan, a thinning of RNFL in the nasal and temporal segments in the right eye and superior and inferior segments in the left eye were observed. Based on the findings, optic tract syndrome was diagnosed in the left eye. CONCLUSIONS: We report specific OCT findings which can be useful when making a diagnosis of optic tract syndrome.
Accidents, Traffic ; Atrophy ; Eye ; Hemianopsia ; Humans ; Male ; Nerve Fibers ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields ; Visual Pathways

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.
Arteriovenous Fistula*

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