Obturator nerve block has been commonly used for pain management to prevent involuntary reflex of the adductor thigh muscles. One of several options for this block is chemical neurolysis. Neurolysis is done with chemical agents. Chemical agents used in the neurolysis of the obturator nerve have been alcohol, phenol, and botulinum toxin. In the current case, a patient with spasticity of the adductor thigh muscle due to cervical cord injury had obturator nerve neurolysis done with botulinum toxin type B (BoNT-B). Most of the previous studies have used BoNT-A with only a few reports that have used BoNT-B. BoNT-B has several advantages and disadvantages over BoNT-A. Thus, we report herein a patient who successfully received obturator nerve neurolysis using BoNT-B to treat adductor thigh muscle spasm.
Botulinum Toxins ; Botulinum Toxins, Type A ; Humans ; Muscle Spasticity ; Muscles ; Nerve Block ; Obturator Nerve ; Pain Management ; Phenol ; Reflex ; Spasm ; Thigh

No abstract available.
Spinal Cord Compression* ; Spinal Cord* ; Thymoma*

No abstract available.
Dacryocystorhinostomy*

No abstract available.
Atrophy ; Pityriasis* ; Tinea Versicolor*

Prirnary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic progressive cholestatic hepatobiliary disorder of unknown etiology, is characterized by inflammation, scarring and obliteration of bile duct leading to biliary cirrhosis and liver failure. Because histologic finding has only a limited role in the diagnosis, the gold standard for establishing the diagnosis is cholangiographic demonstration of typical diffuse biliary stricutre or beading. The natural history is extremely variable. We report two cases of primary sclerosing cholangitis diagnosed by repeated endoscopic retrograde cholangiographies. They were followed up for 7 and 2 years, respectively.
Bile Ducts ; Cholangiography ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing* ; Cicatrix ; Diagnosis ; Inflammation ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Failure ; Natural History

A patient with a large bronchopleural fistula presents several intraoperative challenges for the anesthesiologist, particularly if bullae coexist bilaterally. Ideally, a double lumen tube is inserted while the patient is conscious or breathing spontaneously under general anesthesia to prevent possible tension pneumothorax in the contralateral lung due to positive-pressure ventilation and the possibility of inadequate ventilation due to an air leak from the fistula. However, we inserted a single lumen tube instead of a double lumen tube, because this patient had multiple giant bullae bilaterally and the contralateral lung tissue was almost completely compressed and destroyed. We report the use of a single lumen tube under volatile general anesthesia with synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation with small tidal volume. In addition, we used permissive hypercapnia to further minimize barotraumas. Due to permissive hypercapnia, there were no cardiovascular consequences.
Anesthesia, General ; Barotrauma ; Bronchial Fistula ; Fistula* ; Humans ; Hypercapnia ; Lung ; Pneumothorax ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; Respiration ; Rupture* ; Tidal Volume ; Ventilation

Biliary complications after orthotopic liver transplants are a continuing cause of morbidity and mortality. Biliary stones and sludge are less well known complications of hepatic transplantation, although they have long been recognized. Recently we experienced two cases of biliary stones developed after liver transplantation. One 32-year-old male, who frequently admitted due to recurrent cholangitis, was treated with percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage and choledochojejunostomy with cholecystectomy. The other 58-year-old male, who had stones in commone bile duct, was treated by endoscopic manipulation. They are in good condition without recurrent bile duct stones or its accompanying complications. Although stones and sludge are relatively infrequent after liver transplantation, surgical or interventional radiologic treatments are usually performed for treatment.
Adult ; Case Report ; Common Bile Duct Calculi/ultrasonography ; Common Bile Duct Calculi/radiography ; Common Bile Duct Calculi/etiology* ; Human ; Liver Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Male ; Middle Age ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods

No abstract available.
Atrioventricular Block

Vertebral compression fractures are the most prevalent complications of osteoporosis, with symptoms of low back pains. Basically, the vertebral compression fractures are regarded as a self-limiting disease, and thus, conservative treatment is enough for most cases, but nevertheless, they have the potential to cause significant rates of disability and morbidity. Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a widely used minimally invasive procedure, where the outcome is largely affected according to appropriate selections of patients and the time of the procedures. We hereby report a multi-level percutaneous vertebroplasty for a patient with multiple compression fractures which accompanies the Kummell's disease with rapidly deteriorating general condition despite his conservative treatments.
Fractures, Compression* ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Osteoporosis ; Vertebroplasty*

OBJECTIVE: The prognosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) was reported to be very poor and the median duration of survival estimated to be within 2 years. This study was designed to assess the clinical outcome and risk factors for poor prognosis of patients with SLE combined with PH. MEHTODS: Two hundred ninety-two patients with SLE in whom echocardiography was performed were studied. The diagnosis of PH was made when the right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), measured by 2-dimensional echocardiography, was >30 mmHg. Demographic data, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and outcome of those with PH were evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty-one of 292 patients had PH. The mean age at diagnosis of PH was 33.8+/-12.5 years. The most frequent presenting symptoms were dyspnea on exertion and dyspnea. Eight of 21 patients died after 1.3+/-1.1 years from diagnosis of PH. Survival rate at first and third year were 86% and 66%, respectively, and the median duration of survival estimated 3.0 years. SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and damage index at diagnosis of PH were significantly higher in the deceased. Among the patients in whom sequential echocardiography was performed, RVSP were significantly lowered in the survivors. High SLEDAI and high damage index were independent risk factors for poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: The survival rates and the median duration of survival were slightly better than those of previous reports. The high SLEDAI and high damage index were risk factors for poor prognosis of patients with SLE combined with PH.
Blood Pressure ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hypertension, Pulmonary* ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Prognosis* ; Risk Factors* ; Survival Rate ; Survivors