Globozoospermia is a rare type of teratozoospermia. It occurs in 0.1% of all andrological patient's and used to be considered sterile. Globozoospermic patient has 100% round headed spermatozoa, but the spermiogram is normal. The spermatozoa show oval-shape head, the lack of a nuclear envelope, acrosome, and post acrosomal sheath. OBJECTIVE: To report that a couple with infertility secondary to globozoospermia received ICSI treatment. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Case report. RESULTS: In the first trial, fertilization was failed. In the second trial, 40% of oocytes were fertilized and all of these embryos were cleaved, but pregnancy did not achieved. In the third trial, sperm injected oocytes were exposed to 10 micrometer calcium ionophore for 15 min. All of the injected oocytes were fertilized and proceeded to develop. Triplet pregnancy was achieved after the transfer of six embryos in their third cycle. One embryo vanished and the remaining twins (female) were delivered at 33 weeks of gestation by Caesarean section. CONCLUSION: This result shows that assisted activation following ICSI may overcome infertility associated with globozoospermia.
Acrosome ; Calcium ; Cesarean Section ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Head ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Nuclear Envelope ; Oocytes* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Triplet ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ; Spermatozoa* ; Twins

PURPOSE: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic and relapsing inflammatory skin disease with skin barrier defects and altered immune responses. Chronic inflammation leads to irreversible fibrosis in the skin and there is no treatment to completely abolish the inflammation and fibrosis. To prevent or treat the chronic process of AD, it is necessary to develop a murine model of AD that reflects the chronic process to identify the mechanism. The aims of this study were to develop a chronic AD model with a crude extract Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) antigen. METHODS: We applied Af extract (40 µg) epicutaneously to the dorsal skin of BALB/c mice for 5 consecutive days per week during a period of 5 weeks for a chronic AD model, and 5 consecutive days repeatedly with 2 weeks interval for an acute AD model. RESULTS: The clinical score and transepidermal water loss were more increased in the chronic AD model than in the acute AD model. Histologic findings showed that more increased epidermal thickness, neutrophil infiltration and hyperkeratosis in the chronic model than in the acute model. Skin fibrosis was more prominent in the chronic model than in the acute model. The mRNA expression levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, and interleukin-33 were increased in the skin of the chronic model compared to the acute model. The levels of total IgE, Af-specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG2a were significantly increased in the chronic model compared to controls. CONCLUSION: The Af-induced chronic AD model showed prominent fibrosis and increased TGF-β expression in the skin, which suggests that these models may be useful in the research for the mechanism of the chronic process in AD.
Animals ; Aspergillus fumigatus ; Aspergillus ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Fibrosis ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-33 ; Mice ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; RNA, Messenger ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Transforming Growth Factors ; Water

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A pericardial recess is frequently seen in patients undergoing chest computed tomography (CT). It is important to be aware of the normal anatomy of the pericardium as it is often mistaken for normal variants and/or disease. Therefore, we will describe the anatomy and location of the pericardial recess and the specific findings in various diseases associated with the pericardial recess.

This study shows a case of neoadjuvant chemotherapy application for the management of a 34-year-old male patient diagnosed with invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), for which curative margin-negative resection initially seemed challenging. Five cycles of the FOLFIRINOX regimen (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) were administered preoperatively, resulting in a significant reduction of the intraductal mass size and deformity of the main vessels. The patient subsequently underwent a successful robotic pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy. Postoperatively, the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFIRINOX, and after 5 months, showed no signs of tumor recurrence or specific complications. These findings suggest that neoadjuvant therapy can be a potentially effective strategy even in advanced invasive IPMN. Further research is necessary to establish guidelines for its application.

Purpose: Suprascapular neuropathy can be caused by a solid mass, transverse scapular ligament hypertrophy, paralabral cyst, or dilatation of a suprascapular vein. Studies have measured the size of the cyst and veins using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to aid diagnosis of suprascapular neuropathy. However, it is often difficult to determine the size of a cyst and vein. we measured cyst and vein size as potential diagnostic markers for suprascapular neuropathy. Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 118 patients diagnosed with a paralabral cyst in a clinic from January 2016 to December 2019. After excluding other neuropathies and cysts not related to the course of the suprascapular nerve, a total of 67 patients were analyzed. The cyst diameter, cyst volume, and vein diameter were measured engorgement by MRI in axial, coronal, and sagittal T2-weighted images. Cutoff values were established based on Youden’s index. Results: There was no significant difference between the neuropathy and control groups in cyst coronal diameter, but the neuropathy group had greater sagittal (p=0.001), axial (p=0.001), and maximum cyst diameters (p=0.005), cyst volume (p=0.003), and coronal (p=0.002), axial (p=0.001), and maximum vein diameters (p=0.001). Conclusion In suprascapular neuropathy symptomatic patients, electromyographyerve conduction velocity tests are eventually needed when in doubt. However, measuring cyst diameter, volume, and suprascapular vein diameter as a screening test could be considered.

In this study, we investigated the kinetics of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6 and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) concentrations in a 48-h model of canine endotoxemia by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. Four healthy beagles were slowly administered 1 mg/kg of LPS diluted in normal saline, while two others were administered normal saline as controls. Blood collection was performed at 0 h (baseline), 1 h and 3 h (for TNF-alpha), 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h of the experiment, and cytokine levels were determined using the sandwich ELISA method. Early increments of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were observed (< 3 h), but HMGB1 levels increased the most at 12 h of the experiment and gradually decreased until 48 h. During the whole experiment, IL-6 and HMGB1 were sustained over 12 h of LPS injection, whereas TNF-alpha decreased within 6 h of LPS injection. Taken together, canine HMGB1 levels increase relatively late (< 12 h) and sustained longer than TNF-alpha and IL-6 in response to endotoxin. This is the first study to evaluate canine HMGB1 cytokine from endotoxemia in dogs.
Animals ; Dogs ; Endotoxemia ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; HMGB1 Protein ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Kinetics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

PURPOSE: A new compressed sensing technique by iterative truncation of small transformed coefficients (ITSC) is proposed for fast cardiac CINE MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proposed reconstruction is composed of two processes: truncation of the small transformed coefficients in the r-f domain, and restoration of the measured data in the k-t domain. The two processes are sequentially applied iteratively until the reconstructed images converge, with the assumption that the cardiac CINE images are inherently sparse in the r-f domain. A novel sampling strategy to reduce the normalized mean square error of the reconstructed images is proposed. RESULTS: The technique shows the least normalized mean square error among the four methods under comparison (zero filling, view sharing, k-t FOCUSS, and ITSC). Application of ITSC for multi-slice cardiac CINE imaging was tested with the number of slices of 2 to 8 in a single breath-hold, to demonstrate the clinical usefulness of the technique. CONCLUSIONS: Reconstructed images with the compression factors of 3-4 appear very close to the images without compression. Furthermore the proposed algorithm is computationally efficient and is stable without using matrix inversion during the reconstruction.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine*

PURPOSE: We proposed a multi-physiological signals based real-time intelligent triggering system(MITS) for Cardiac MRI. Induced noise of the system was analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MITS makes cardiac MR imaging sequence synchronize to the cardiac motion using ECG, respiratory signal and second order derivative of SPO2 signal. Abnormal peaks due to arrhythmia or subject's motion are rejected using the average R-R intervals and R-peak values. Induced eddy currents by gradients switching in cardiac MR imaging are analyzed. The induced eddy currents were removed by hardware and software filters. RESULTS: Cardiac MR images that synchronized to the cardiac and respiratory motion are acquired using MITS successfully without artifacts caused by induced eddy currents of gradient switching or subject's motion or arrhythmia. We showed that the second order derivative of the SPO2 signal can be used as a complement to the ECG signals. CONCLUSION: The proposed system performs cardiac and respiratory gating with multi-physiological signals in real time. During the cardiac gating, induced noise caused by eddy currents is removed. False triggers due to subject's motion or arrhythmia are rejected. The cardiac MR imaging with free breathing is obtained using MITS.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Artifacts ; Complement System Proteins ; Electrocardiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Noise ; Respiration

PURPOSE: To identify the structural integrity of the healing site after medial open wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) in patients with a posterior root tear of the medial meniscus (PRTMM) and chondral lesion by second-look arthroscopy and to determine the clinical and radiological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August 2010 to June 2016, 52 consecutive patients underwent MOWHTO and arthroscopic examination without a chondral resurfacing procedure and meniscal treatment for PRTMM. Twenty-four patients were available for second-look arthroscopic evaluation. The mean follow-up period was 19.5 months (range, 5 to 46 months). Clinical evaluation was based on the Lysholm knee scores and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scores. RESULTS: There were 5 lax healing, 6 scar tissue, 13 failed healing of PRTMM. Definite change of chondral lesion was not observed. The Kellgren-Lawrence grade did not improve according to the follow-up plain radiograph. The mean Lysholm score improved from 34.7 preoperatively to 77.1 at the last follow-up, and the mean HSS score significantly increased from 36.5 to 82.4. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed a low rate of healing potency of PRTMM and chondral lesion after MOWHTO without any attempt for meniscal treatment or chondral resurfacing. The cartilage and healing status of PRTMM was not associated with improved clinical outcomes and radiological findings.
Arthroscopy ; Cartilage ; Cicatrix ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee ; Menisci, Tibial ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteotomy ; Tears