No abstract available.
Breast* ; Female* ; Fibroadenoma* ; Humans

In orper to measure the levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol in psoriasis, 60 psoriatic patients and 30 healthy subjects were included in this study. Lopez-Virells methos was applied for measuring the serum level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. The results were obtained as follows. The level of serurn HDL cholesterol was 58. 39+17. 40 mg/dl in psoratcs and 50.3+0.31 mg/dl in healthy subjects and 50. 43+ 10. 31 mg/dl in healthy subjects. No significant differences were noted between psoriatics & healthy subjects. 2. The level of serum HDL cholesterol was 56. 40+19. 10 mg/dl in male group of psoriatics and 60. 00+15.47 mg/dl in female group of psoriatics and 48.3+9. 50 mg/dl in healthy male group and 52.60 -10.59 mg/dl in healthy female group. No significant differences of serum HDL cholesteol levels were noted in both sexes.3. The mean value of serum HDL cholesterol by age groups of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years old with psoriasis were 50. 70 mg/dl, 61. 97 mg/dl, 57. 44 mg/dl, 49. 11 mg/dl and 70. 36 mg/dl, respectively and those of healthy groups were 57. 25 mg/ dl, 45. 17 rng/dl, 50. 97 rng/dl, 48. 07 mg/dl and 46. 98 mg/dl, respectively.
Cholesterol, HDL* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Psoriasis*

Breast reconstruction following mastectomy has, become increasingly popular in recent years. Reconstruction surgeons have responded to patients' needs for effective and versatile procedures that will restore the normal shape and symmetry of breasts. Among the various techniques for these purpose, transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous(TRAM) flap is now cosidered as the most acceptable technique. However, there are some limitations to use the TRAM flap, such as heavy smoker, obesity, and previous abdominal surgery. Also TRAM flaps are not good candidates for the patients with absent anterior axillary fold. In these respects, latissimus dorsi flap can be used as an alternative method for successful breast reconstuction. Latissiomus dorsi flaps have several advantages as compared to TRAM flaps, such as reliable blood supply, versatility of skin paddle orientation, and low donor site morbidity. It is also available for patients without anterior axillary fold, such as radical mastectomy defect or Poland syndrome. Latissimus dorsi flaps, however, and implants to obtain projection and symmetry of the reconstructed breast. Main disadvantages of latissimus dorsi flap method are difference in color and texture between skins of flap and chest, and capsular contracture resulted in high riding implant or distortion of breast contour. In this study, we performed latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction fo breast and anterior axillary fold in 10 cases. To minimize the above problems more fullness and natural shape, implants were completely covered with muscle and overexpanded for more than 3-months and then deflated to the desired volume. These maneuvers produced aesthetically acceptable results during the latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction.
Breast* ; Contracture ; Female ; Humans ; Mammaplasty* ; Mastectomy ; Mastectomy, Radical ; Obesity ; Poland Syndrome ; Rectus Abdominis ; Skin ; Superficial Back Muscles* ; Thorax ; Tissue Donors

Neomorphogenesis of cartilage using chondrocyte-polymer constructs is a potential source for development of cartilage reconstruction. Current tissue engineering techniques of neocartilage rely on in vivo implantation of polymer-chondrocyte constructs. The purpose of this study was to find a way to bioengineer cartilage in vitro by entrapping chondrocytes in a molded autologous fibrin glue. Chondrocytes isolated from the cartilage of rabbit joints were combined with fibrinogen extracted by a single cryoprecipitation of autologous plasma, and they were then polymerized with thrombin to create a fibrin glue with a final cell density of 2.5x10(6) cells/ml. The collagen for a control study was used as a polymer. The polymer-chondrocyte constructs were cultured for 4 weeks and the fibrin-chondrocyte constructs molded in the shape of a human ear were cultured for 6 weeks in vitro. Morphometric, histochemical, and histomorphometric analysis including glycosaminoglycan quantitation confirmed the following results: 1) Highly-concentrated autologous fibrinogen was easily extracted by a single cryoprecipition of autologous olasma. 2) The fibrin-chondrocyte constructs demonstrated the presence of actively proliferating chondrocytes with the production of cartilaginous matrix(collagen and glycosaminoglycan) at 1 week after culture, as well as gross and histologic evidence similar to those of normal cartilage at 3-4 weeks after culture. 3) The collagen-chondrocyte constructs demonstrated lower degrees of hardness and transparency, as well as a lower density of cells and glycosaminoglycan during the culture period. 4) Neocartilage generated from fibrin-chondrocyte constructs in the shape of a human ear nearly retained their original configuration and size without degeneration for 6 weeks of culture in vitro. This study demonstrated a novel method for bioengineering the molded cartilage in vitro using autologous fibrin glue as a matrix scaffold. The generated cartilage showed gross and histologic evidence similar to those of normal cartilage, retaining the original gross dimension. With further refinement, this may be a new application of tissue engineering for the reconstruction of cartilage.
Bioengineering ; Cartilage* ; Cell Count ; Chondrocytes* ; Collagen ; Ear ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin* ; Fibrinogen ; Fungi ; Hardness ; Humans ; Joints ; Plasma ; Polymers ; Thrombin ; Tissue Engineering*

We report a case of giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath involving the foot, in a 21-year-old female patient, who presented with an asymptomatic tumor on the dorsum of her right foot. Histopathologically the tumor is surrounded by thin fibrous connective tissue. The characteristic findings of the excised specimen revealed a typical mixture of abundunt round or polygonal histocyte-like cells with varying portions of spindle-shaped fibroblast-like cells and multinucleated giant cells. Variable amounts of hyalinized fibrous stromal tissue were also present. After excision, local recurrence has not been observed for 3 months.
Connective Tissue ; Female ; Foot* ; Giant Cell Tumors* ; Giant Cells* ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Recurrence ; Tendons* ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Monocytes and T helper cells play major roles in the immunologic dysfunction of atopic dermatitis (AD). Many studies have been done on the cytokine pattern to evaluate abnormalities or differences of immune cells in AD, but the results were conflicting among studies and most of these previous reports were performed with various kinds of mitogen-stimulation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate spontaneous cytokine pattern in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with AD. We focused on the expression of monokines that had effects on monocytes and T cells. METHODS: We measured mRNA expression of IL-10, GM-CSF and TNF-alpha in freshly isolated PBMC with semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The intensity of cytokine cDNA was normalized to that of beta-actin product as a standard marker. RESULTS: IL-10 mRNA expression was significantly enhanced in AD compared:with control subjects (p<0.05). Spontaneous mRNA expression of TNF-alpha was significantly lower in AD patients (p <0.01). The level of GM-CSF mRNA expression was heterogeneous and spontaneous mRNA expression was slightly increased in AD although the difference did not reach the level of statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Our data was able to represent in vivo cytokine expression state of PBMC in atopic dermatitis. Increased expression of IL-10 and GM-CSF may have been associated with monocyte dysfunction in AD although increase in the expression of GM-CSF mRNA was not statistically significant. TNF-alpha mRNA expression was decreased in AD and increased IL-10 was suggested to exert an inhibitory effect on the expression of TNF-alpha mRNA.
Actins ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; DNA, Complementary ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; Monocytes ; Monokines ; RNA, Messenger* ; T-Lymphocytes ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Recently, the use of internal fixation device in spine is popular due to several advantages. The advantages are to make short segmental fusion possible, to obtain early stability, and to reduce the needs of external immobilization. But, we can easily observe the hardware failures such as screw breakage and loosening. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contributing factors to hardware complications through analysis of the problem cases. The authors reviewed complicated 17 (6.7%) cases out of 271 patients who was done posterior decompression and spinal fusion with transpedicular screws for spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis from Jan. 1986 to Dec. 1994. We reviewed the clinical data, radiograph, and bone mineralo-densitometry. Seventeen patients (6.7%) had hardware complications: breakage of the screw in 5 cases, loosening of the screw in 11 cases, displacement of the rod in 1 case. The duration from the operation to the onset of complications was 1.3 years (4 month-6 years). More complications were occurred in the distal segments (13 cases) than in the proximal segments (4 cases). In 6 cases of 17 cases, we could observe the incomplete spinal fusion. We performed the bone mineralodensitometry (BMD, DEXA) in 30 patients. Among them, 6 cases had hardware complications-5 cases of screw loosening and 1 case of screw breakage. The average BMD (1.048g/cm2) of 24 patients without hardware complications was higher than that (0.890g/cm2) of 6 patients with complications (p<0.05). The duration of wearing the external support after surgery was also checked. Removal of hardware was performed in 5 cases due to pain, but the others were treated conservatively because of no symptom. Hardware complications were found mainly in the distal segment and was related to bone mineral density. Checking the bone mineral density in preoperative state helps to decide on the indication of surgical intervention. Through follow-up X-ray, spinal fusions can be carefully observed, and the duration of external support can be decided.
Bone Density ; Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immobilization ; Internal Fixators ; Spinal Fusion ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spine ; Spondylolisthesis

No abstract available.
Trophoblastic Neoplasms* ; Trophoblasts*

We report a interesting case of malignant melanoma associated with squamous cell carcinoma, A 75-year-old woman has been suffered from a 4*3*3cm sized slowly growing protruding mass for 2 years based on the previous existing black or dark brownish colored round plaque on the left buttock since 10 years. A hard fixed lymph node is palpable on the left inguinal area. Biopsy specimens from the plaque and mass revealed typical findings of the superficial spreading malignant rnelanoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Simple mass excision and lymph node dissection were performed.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Buttocks ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Melanoma*

Mucasal melanoma is rare and it is one of the diseases of the worst prgnosis. We report a case of metastatic mucosal melanoma of the lip in 50-yearold male with a peanut sized, round, black colored macule on the lower lip, which was metaetasized to the brain and lung for 8 years. Histologically, typical findings of malignant melanoma showed. Chest P-A showing nodular high densities on the right upper and lower lobes and left lower lobe. Brain C,T. scan revealed round nodular densities on the right and left frontal and parietal lobes. In spite of chemical and radiation therapy, he was dead.
Brain* ; Humans ; Lip* ; Lung* ; Male ; Melanoma* ; Parietal Lobe ; Thorax