INTRODUCTION: The reconstructions of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) has been increasing because of increased incidence of insufficiency of the PCL and improved surgical skill Arthroscopic operation is known better than open in cruciate ligamet reconstruction in many respects. Arthroscopic PCL reconstruction, especially using hanstring tendon has some benefits. This study is retrospective study analyzing 20 patients treated by arthroscopically assisted PCL reconstruction using hamstring tendon. ALATERIAL AND METHODS: From November 1993 to June 1996, 20 patients with PCL insufficiency had heen treated by arthroscopically assisted PCL reconstruction using double-looped hamstring (semitendinosus and gracilis) tendon by first author. The isometric point was located slightly posterosuperior than anatomic attachment in femur and 0.8-1.0cm below articular margin in tibia. They were confirmed by intraoperative fluoroscopy. The remnants of intact PCL bundle and meniscofemoral ligaments were preserved and added to the graft. They were nineteen men and one women, with a mean age 31.8 years (range, 15-56 years). RESULTS: The results were as follows; 1. The patients were followed from 13 months to 44 months after operation (average 2years and 2months ). 2. Post operative neurovascular irjuries were not found. 3. No revision case was observed and second operations were made in two cases with posterolateral rotatory instability after primary reconstruction. 4. All patient has no symptom of instability after operation. S. At last follow up, Lyshohn knee scores improved from 62 preoperatively to 89 postoperati.vely on average. CONCLUSION: Arthroscopically assisted PCL reconstruction using double-looped hamstring (semitendinosus and gracilis) tendon is easier and less damage than using bone-patellar tendon-bone graft. It preserves intact meniscofemoral ligament, some intact fibers of PCL bundle and quadriceps mechanism. We think it is a effective treatment for PCL insufficiency patients."
Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Grafts ; Female ; Femur ; Fluoroscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Knee ; Ligaments ; Male ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament* ; Retrospective Studies ; Tendons* ; Tibia ; Transplants

OBJECTIVE: Locking of the knee is usually attributed to a tear of meoiscus, or to a loose body that rnechanically obstructs the motion of joint. A less frequently recognized cause of a locked knee is a partial tear of the ACL. The purpose of this study is to report that the partial tear of,the ACL at the femoral attachment site of posterolateral bundle provided a mechanical obstruction in the knW, and it is convicted the injury mechanism of isolated ACL. MATEIRALS AND METHODS: The author presents 16 cases in which the torn ACL was observed knee locking under arthroscopy fram February 1993 to June 1996. Patients ages ranged from 22 to 54 years. The mechanism of injuries were 6 sports activity (Ski 4, Soccer 1, Badminton 1), 4 slip down, 3 pedestrian car accidents and 3 unknown causes with especially low velocity injuries. Although the chief complain in each case was knee pain, all had locking knee that, on physical examination, locked from 5 to 20 of full extension, and 4 locked full flexion. The positive Lachman test was obtained 3 of the 16 paiients. Associated intraarticular injuries were 2 tears of the medial meniscus, 1 lateral meniscus. RESULTS: The average time to arthroscopy was 3 nonths with a range of 1 month to 10 rnonths. An arthroscopic diagnosis and treatment were performed and meniscal tears were ruled out as the cause of locking in all patients. The injury mechanism of isolated ACL was the hyperextensioo of the knee with leg I/R and especially low velocity injuries. The ACL was found to have a partial tear at the site of femoral attachment of an estimated P-L bundle. The torn segment of the ACL to become interposed between the lateral femoral condyle and the latera1 tibial condyle and to act as mechanical block was demcinstrated. CONCLUSION: In all cases, the torn portion of the ACL was excised under arthroscopy and knee locking was resolved.
Arthroscopy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee* ; Leg ; Menisci, Tibial ; Physical Examination ; Racquet Sports ; Soccer ; Sports

One of the most basic function in brachial plexus injury is the recovery of elbow flexion. So the important purpose in nerve surgery of brachial plexus injury is the recovery of the function of the musculocutaneous nerve. However, failure of the recovery of function of the biceps through surgery or in cases of neglected nerve surgery of more than 1 year needs the consideration of tendon transfer or free vascularized muscle graft. In these failed or neglected brachial plexus injury, flexorplasty is more often indicated because of associated surrounding muscle weakness or paralysis. We analyzed the functional results in brachial plexus injured 12 patients who underwent elbow flexorplasty between June, 1987 and Aug. 1994. In 2 patients, the elbow flexorplasty was augmented by a glenohumeral arthrodesis. The mean length of the follow-up was 52 months. The mean are of active flexion following flexorplasty was 81 degrees. The postoperative active Supination and loss of elbow extension was 40 and 28 degree respectively. At final objective evaluation, 6 patients were judged to have excellent; 2 good; 1 poor; 3 failure. At final subjective evaluation, 3 patients were judged to have excellent; 3 good; 3 failure.
Arthrodesis ; Brachial Plexus ; Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Muscle Weakness ; Musculocutaneous Nerve ; Paralysis ; Recovery of Function ; Supination ; Tendon Transfer ; Transplants

To develop a survival prediction model and to use it as a therapeutic guideline a series of 66 cases with ganglio-thalamic hemorrhage accompanying intraventricular hemorrhage were analyzed retrospectively. They were classified into the benign and fatal groups according to their final outcomes. Fourteen indices obtained from the initial CT scans were final outcomes. Fourteen indices obtained from the initial CT scans were subjected to multivariate discriminant analysis. The resultant discriminant function(Z) included the amount of hematoma in the parenchyme(AH), bicaudate cerebroventricular index(BCCI) maximum fourth ventricular width(FVW), and third cerebroventricular ratio(TCR) in an order of decreasing discriminating power and was as follows: Z = -3.2639 + 0.3508 X 10(-1) X AH + 6.8816 X BCCI + 0.1139 X FVW-5.7794 X TCR. This function predicted survivability with accuracy of 84.9% when it was applied to the original subjects. The conclusion is that AH, BCCI, FVW, and TCR are the potent predictors of the survival of patients with ganglio-thalamic hemorrhage accompanying intraventricular hemorrhage.
Hematoma ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Pancreatic cancer patients often have a poor prognosis and suffer from nutritional problems. Malnutrition is characterized by weight loss and decreased dietary intake, and is common among pancreatic cancer patients. The objective of this report was to describe the changes in dietary intake, body weight, nutritional status, and metabolic rate on a continuum from the time of diagnosis until the end of life in a patient with pancreatic cancer. In summary, the patient's nutritional status gradually declined, accompanied by extreme weight loss and decreased dietary intake. Conversely, resting energy expenditure, measured by indirect calorimetry, increased from 24 kcal/kg/day to 35 kcal/kg/day. Nutritional management during cancer treatment is important but may be challenging in pancreatic cancer patients.
Basal Metabolism ; Body Weight* ; Calorimetry, Indirect ; Diagnosis ; Diet Records ; Energy Metabolism ; Humans ; Malnutrition ; Nutritional Status* ; Pancreatic Neoplasms* ; Prognosis ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long term results of performing femoral varus osteotomy (FVO) for the treatment of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (LCPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 35 LCPD patients who received FVO and they were followed up to the time their skeletons' matured. The inclusion criteria were patients in a fragmentation stage, the patients were in Catterall group III or IV, and the patients underwent a teleoroentgenographic examination at the time of full skeletal maturity. RESULTS: The radiological outcome at the time of skeletal maturity was assessed using Stulberg's classification. The final results were 4 hips in class I, 17 hips in class II, 13 hips in class III, one hip in class IV and none in class V. The satisfactory results (good+fair hips) were 34 hips (97%). Significant shortening (>10 mm) was observed in 12 hips (34%). In 35 patients, 5 (14%) had same leg length (less than 2 mm difference), 27 (77%) had shortening of 2 mm or more, and 3 had lengthening of 2 mm or more in the operated limb. Of these 12 patients with significant shortening, only 3 patients (9%) showed shortening of 21 mm or more. CONCLUSION: FVO is a reliable method for managing LCPD in patients who are in Catterall group III or IV and who are in the fragmentation stage of disease.
Extremities ; Hip ; Humans ; Leg ; Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease ; Osteotomy

When we perform the regional blockade, we usually addit epinephrine to the local anesthetics for the purpose of lengthening anesthesia time and preventing the systemic reaction of local anesthetics. In that situation, epinephrine produces decrease in serum potassium concentration and changes in electrocardiogram. We investigated the influence of propranolol on changes in serum potassium and ECG induced by brachial plexus block with 30ml of mixture of local anesthetic (2% lidocaine +0.5% bupivacaine) which contains 1:200,000 epinephrine. The subjects classified as following two groups: Group l : Brachial plexus block with mixture of local anesthetic and 1:200,000 epinephrine(n=20). Group ll : Pretreated with 2 mg of propranolol(slow intravenous injection for 5 min. before block) and performed as Group l. The results were as follows: 1) Group l showed statistically significant decrease of serum potassium after 10, 20, 30 min. of block(p<0.05). Group ll did not show any significant change. 2) Group l showed progressive flattening of T wave and appearance of U wave (25% of pts) in ECG as the serum-potassium decreased progressively, but Group ll did not sho any significant change. 3) The epinephrine mediated beta-adrenergic stimulation may be considered as the cause of epinephrine induced hypokalemia during brachial plexus block.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics, Local ; Brachial Plexus* ; Electrocardiography ; Epinephrine ; Hypokalemia ; Injections, Intravenous ; Lidocaine ; Potassium ; Propranolol*

Tourniquets are often used for surgery on the extremities to provide a bloodless surgical field. However, tourniquets may cause nerve and other tissue injuries.While the tourniquet is inflated, metabolic changes occur in the ischemic limb, chages that include increased PaCO2, lactic acid and pottasium, and decreased levels of PaO2 and pH. Deflation of the tourniquet results in the release of these products of ischemia into the general circulation. The resultant decreases in arterial pH and PaO2 and increased in arterial lactic acid, potassium, PaCO2 and P(ET)CO2 are associated with significant decrease in mean arterial and central venous pressure and increase in heart rate. Since Pa is one of the important factor to control the cerebral blood flow and intracranial pressure, a sudden increase in PaCO2 immediately after toumiquet deflation may cause detrimental effects in head injured patients with elevated intracranial pressure. The purpose of this study was investigate the effect of the degree of hyperventilation by means of increased minute ventilation by 25%, 50% and 75% respectively, after deflation of toumiquets to keep P(ET)CO2 at former levels, for twenty minutes period, with arterial blood gas analysis, endtidal PaCO2 and vital signs was monitored serially. We compared normal minute ventilation group I with increased minute ventilation groups(II, III and IV) before and after deflation of tourniquet. In summary, we calculated from our data that increasing minute ventilation by more than 50% for 5 minutes following tourniquet deflation could prevent P(ET)CO2 from increasing more than 1.5-6.5 mmHg in all patients.
Blood Gas Analysis ; Central Venous Pressure ; Extremities ; Head ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hyperventilation ; Intracranial Hypertension ; Intracranial Pressure ; Ischemia ; Lactic Acid ; Potassium ; Tourniquets* ; Ventilation* ; Vital Signs*

We administered local injections of botulinum A toxin to 15 patients wlth medically intratrable cervical dystonia Thirteen of the patients (87%) improved substantially (global effect >or=3 ; fiom -l = aggravated to +5 = markedly improved, fully functional, very happy with the results), with a mean total dose of 75.9 units. Of the 8 patients who reported pain, 7 (88%) had almost complete re!ief of pain. Only 6 of 15 (40%) patients had mild to moderate complications. More muscles had been injected in rotatocollis (mean, 5.2) than in laterocollis (mean, 3.0) (p<0.05). The global effects in rotatocollis (mean, 3.4) and laterocollis (mean, 3.3) were significantly better than anterocollis (mean, 1.5) (p<0.05). We conclude that botulinum A toxin is also effective in low doses when given in due consideration of the cervical muscle contraction patterns.
Botulinum Toxins, Type A* ; Humans ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscles ; Torticollis*

BACKGROUND: ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp. are increasing worldwide, and infections with ESBL-producing organisms are usually hospital-acquired and common infections with ESBL-producing organisms include urinary tract infections, peritonitis, cholangitis, intraabdominal abscesses and nosocomial pneumonia. We studied the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, which were isolated from the patients in St. Vincent Hospital. METHODS: Susceptibility to antibiotic was determined by standard disk diffusion and agar dilution methods for all 22 strains of K. pneumoniae. PCR amplifications were performed with primers specific for TEM. SHY, and CMY-1 genes, and the DNA of the amplified products were sequenced. Total DNA was extracted from the isolates restricted with XbaI, and fingerprinted using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Crude preparations of beta-lactamase were obtained by sonications and used for characterization of beta-lactamase by isoelectric focusing. RESULTS: The MIC90 values for ceftazidime and aztreonam were 128 microgram/mL and 64 microgram/mL, respectively. The MIC90 values for cefotaxime and sulperazon were 8 microgram/mL and 4microgram/mL, respectively, and that for cefoxitin was 1.0 microgram/mL, which is much lower than the value for third-generation cephalosporins. The MICs for ciprofloxacin. cefepime, and imipenem were less than 1 microgram/mL for all organisms, which is within the susceptible range. Isoelectric focusing studies demonstrated three beta-lactamases with pls of 5.. (TEM-1), 7.6 (SHV-2a), and 8.2 (SHV-12). The presence of blaSHV and blaTEM genes was confirmed by specific PCRs and DNA sequencing analysis. but blaCMY-1 genes were not found. According to DNA sequencing analysis, 21 K. pneumoniae strains produced SHV-12 ESBL and one strain produced SHV-2a ESBL. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the resistance of K. pneumoniae from clinical isolates to extended spectrum beta-lactam antibiotics may be due to the production of SHY-type ESBL. This approach in detecting and characterizing ESBL will be valuable for the control of infection and antibiotics use in medical institution.
Abscess ; Agar ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Aztreonam ; beta-Lactamases ; Cefotaxime ; Cefoxitin ; Ceftazidime ; Cephalosporins ; Cholangitis ; Ciprofloxacin ; Dermatoglyphics ; Diffusion ; DNA ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Peritonitis ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sonication ; Urinary Tract Infections