No abstract available.
Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

No abstract available.
Retrospective Studies* ; Tracheal Stenosis*

PURPOSE: To classify the cavernous sinus lesions, to describe their radiological findings, and to assess the usefulness of MR compared to CT. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fourty-five patients with lesions involving the cavernous sinus proved by histological and/or clinical and imaging methods were studied retrospectively and classified into neoplastic, vascular, and inflammatory lesions. CT and MR findings were compared in 21 patients evaluated by both modalities simultaneously according to these 4 categories. RESULTS: Pitiutary macroadenoma was the most common cavernous sinus lesion(42%). Diffuse convex bulging of the lateral wall of cavernous sinus was the most frequent radiological finding(84%), and the others were encasement of the cavernous carotid artery(49%), remodelling of the surrounding bones(44%), and complete obliteration of Meckel's cave(38%), in descending order of frequency. Bulging of the lateral wall of cavernous sinus was equally well demonstrated on both modalities, but encasement or displacement of the cavernous carotid artery and complete or partial obliteration of Meckel's cave were much better delineated on MR than on CT with the ratio of 3.8:1 and 4.6: 1, respectively. Only bone changes were much better demonstrated on CTthan on MR with the ratio of 3.8: 1. CONCLUSION: MR issuperior to CTin demonstrating thecavernouscarotid artery encasement and obliteration of Meckel's cave, but CT is much better than MR in demonstrating bone changes.
Arteries ; Carotid Arteries ; Cavernous Sinus* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Is there any relationship between penile size and physical stature? This study was performed to answer this question and provide guidelines of penile size to assist in counseling patients for penile augmentation. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Penile size, body weight and height were measured in 150 young healthy men, and the body mass index(BMI) was calculated in weight(kg)/height(m)2. The penile length and circumference were measured with tape in flaccid and erect states. The 'lengthening ratio' was calculated by 'erect length/flaccid length', and 'tumescent ratio' was calculated by 'erect circumference/flaccid circumference'. All the data was statistically evaluated and the following results were obtained. Result : The average length and circumference were 8.26+/-1.07cm and 8.34+/-1.03cm respectively in the flaccid state, and 13.42+/-1.38cm and 11.17+/-1.05cm in the erect state. The average lengthening and tumescent ratios were 1.64+/-0.22 and 1.35+/-0.08, and were negatively correlated to the flaccid penile length and circumference. Height was positively correlated to erect penile length and lengthening ratio. There was a relationship between body weight and erect penile length in a positive direction, but with other penile parameters there were none. There was no relationship between BMI and any parameters of penile size. However, the erect penile length of the normal BMI group was longer than that of the lower BMI group. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the flaccid penile size is related to the erect penile size and there is some relation between penile size and physical stature. We believe these results will be applicable to the penile augmentation.
Body Size ; Body Weight* ; Counseling ; Humans ; Male

This article has been retracted.

Satisfactory results of unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) have been reported since minimally invasive UKA had been introduced. However, several stress fractures of the tibial plateau, related to instrumentation design, have been reported. We report two cases of periprosthetic stress fractures of the tibial plateau after navigation-assisted unicondylar knee arthroplasties.
Arthroplasty* ; Fractures, Stress* ; Knee*

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study analyzing the results of posterior lumbar interbody fusion(PLIF) with TPM cages in spondylolisthesis OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical, radiologic results & affecting factors of PLIF with TPM cages in spondylolisthesis. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: The ordinary PLIF has 86-98% of radiologic union rate and clinical satisfactory rate. The problems of ordinary PLIF were graft breakage, donor site morbidity, limited bone resources, high failure rate using only transpedicular screw fixation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From October 1995 to January 1999, 108 consecutive patients with spondylolisthesis were treated by PLIF with TPM cages, in which morcellized bone chips salvaged from posterior neural arch applied, and pedicle screw fixation. RESULTS: Preoperative Low Back Pain score(total 100 points) was improved from 47.4 points to 88.7 points at last follow-up. 10 point visual analogue scale was reduced to 1.5 point at last follow-up. In the end results, Ninty-two percent of patients rated as excellent or good. The preoperative value of slippage, 18.6% was achieved to 5.5% at last follow-up. The anterior intervertebral disc space height was increased from 10.0 to 16.2mm postoperatively. Fusion occurred in all patients except one. Groups below 60-year-old patient at the time of surgery showed better clinical results than those above 60 (p<0.05). No clear correlations were noted between sex, the types of spondylolisthesis, bone mineral density, smoking habits and obesity in clinical, radiologic results. CONCLUSION: PLIF with TPM cages is appeared to be a recommended procedure of choice to treat lumbar spondylolisthesis and this operation should be performed with a caution in aged patients.
Bone Density ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Low Back Pain ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spondylolisthesis* ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

The case of a 19-year-old man with coexistent narcolepsy and psychotic symptoms was presented. The psychotic symptoms were induced and / or exacerbated by methylphenidate. In addition, they were considered as symptoms of schizophrenia which had been developed regardless of the use of methylphenidate. The case illustrates the difficulties in diagnosing and treating, in particular, pharmacotherapy.
Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Methylphenidate ; Narcolepsy* ; Schizophrenia ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate patients' preferences on receiving life-sustaining treatments (LST) and to analyze the relationship between patients' characteristics and LST selection. We also examined any discrepancy between LST patients' choices regarding medical intervention and actual medical intervention given/not given within 48 hours before death. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed from March 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008 in the Palliative Care Unit of Korea University Hospital. Electric medical records (EMR) of 102 hospice cancer patients were reviewed, and 74 patients with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) > or =10 at the time of signing the advance medical directives (AMD) were selected for the first analysis. Then, patients alive at the end of this study, transferred to other hospitals or dead within 48 hours were excluded, and the remaining 42 patients were selected for the second analysis. RESULTS: Preferred LST included antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition, tube feeding, transfusion, and laboratory and imaging studies. The relationship between patients' characteristics and LST could not be analyzed due to skewed preferences. LST chosen at the time of signing the AMD and actual medical intervention given/not given in the last 48 hours showed discrepancy in most cases. CONCLUSION: When making AMD in hospice cancer patients, it is important to consider the time and possibility of changing the choices. Above all, patients must fully understand the AMD. Thus, LST should always be provided with careful consideration of all possibilities, because legal and social aspects of AMD have not been established yet.
Advance Directives ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Enteral Nutrition ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Support Care ; Medical Records ; Palliative Care ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total

S100A6 (calcyclin) is a member of the S100 family and has been originally isolated from the cDNA library of Syrian baby hamster kidney cells. The S100A6 gene expression is reported to remain high throughout the cell cycle following induction by serum or growth factors, suggesting that the gene may be required for cell cycle progression. Nevertheless, the role that S100A6 may play in tumor progression remains unknown. In this study, we have explored the expression patterns of S100A6 gene in human thyroid tissues by northern blot analysis. Using the S100A6 monoclonal antibody, we carried out the immunohistochemical staining to determine the distribution/localization of S100A6 protein within tumor or non-tumorous cells of the thyroid. To modulate the regulation of endogenously expressed S100A6 protein in the intracellular level, overexpressed or anti-sense treated transfectant was constructed by using the eukaryotic expression vector. As a result, immunohistochemistry for S100A6 showed a strong positivity in the malignant tumors of thyroid and a high expression level of S100A6 protein affected cell proliferation in the overexpressed transfectant. These findings suggest that S100A6 may be involved in the tumor pathogenesis and provides another parameter for the differentiation of malignant and benign lesions. A well defined monoclonal antibody against S100A6 protein is now available for the immunohistochemical studies of the various thyroid tissues.
Animals ; Blotting, Northern ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Proliferation ; Cricetinae ; Gene Expression ; Gene Library ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Kidney ; Thyroid Diseases* ; Thyroid Gland*