Since 1954. radioisotope renography has been performed as a useful kidney function test in the urological field The author using Hypaque-I which has no liver interference, performed radioisotope renography on 25 cases, in which 10 cases of normal, 5 cases of obstructive uropathy, 7 cases of renal dysfunction, 1 case of acute glomerulonephritis and 2 cases of hypertensive uropathy were included In the normal cases, the Hypaque-I renogram has 3 typical segments, namely vascular segment, functional segment and evacuation phase. The vascular segment begins 8~20 seconds after a rapid intravenous injection of Hypaque-I, lasting 30-40 seconds and occurs the functional segment. The functional segment is completed within 3~10 minuets, having a peak And then, the evacuation phase appears, inclining down rapidly. In the renogram of obstructive uropathy, the vascular and functional segments are almost normal together, but the evacuation phase is either prolonged or increased In the renogram of renal dysfunction, the vascular segment is not only reduced, but also the functional segment is low and the evacuation phase shows a dull inclining curve. In the renogram of acute glomerulonephritis, shows no changes of each segment. The renogram of hypertensive uropathy represents the remarkably lower vascular and functional segments and evacuation phase than those of renal dysfunction. The Hypaque-I renogram has many practical advantage, offering rapid and immediate results, being easily performed, being non-traumatic and innocuous, making each kidney to be tested separately, being able to be repeated frequently, and being free from any preparation and anesthesia of patients.
Anesthesia ; Glomerulonephritis ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Kidney ; Kidney Function Tests ; Liver ; Radioisotope Renography

Essential thrombocythemia is a kind of myeloproliferative disorder characterized by primary elevation in the number of platelet and by multiple episodes of bleeding or thrombotic complications. Rarely, thrombocythemia itself causes coronary arterial occlusion and leads to ischemic heart disease. Fewer than twenty cases of coronary artery occlusive disease in thrombocythemia have been reported since Cheitlin et al had included thrombocythemia in their review of rare causes of myocardial infarction. We experienced a case of coronary artery disease in a 53-year-old woman with thrombocythemia, who had not coronary artery disese risk factors at all. Presence of multiple thrombus in the coronary artery was suggested in coronary angiography.
Angina, Unstable* ; Blood Platelets ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myeloproliferative Disorders ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Risk Factors ; Thrombocythemia, Essential ; Thrombocytosis* ; Thrombosis

We report a case of chromoblastomycosis in a 65 year-old woman. She had a 3x4 cm sized, annular, erythematous, plaque with crusts and ulcers on the right lower arm. The lesion had grown slowly for 2 years. In fungal and histopathologic examinations, several muriform cells were found in dermis as well as in scales and crusts on the lesional skin surface. Isolated fungus was identified as Fonsecaea pedrosoi. We treated the patient occlusive dressing of amphotericin B (3%) ointment for 8 weeks and achieved a good response without any evidence of recurrence. We propose that the occlusive dressing therapy of amphotericin B cream is a good modality among the various treatments of small localized chromoblastomycosis.
Aged ; Amphotericin B* ; Arm ; Chromoblastomycosis* ; Dermis ; Female ; Fungi ; Humans ; Occlusive Dressings* ; Recurrence ; Skin ; Ulcer ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: The cause of acrodermatitis enteropathica(AE) is closely related to zinc deficiency. Zinc is a potent inhibitor of endonuclease. Acute rises in the apoptosis in lymphoid and myeloid cell lines during zinc deficiency has recently been reported. The method of terminal transferase mediated dUTP biotin nick end labeling(TUNEL) is used in situ labelling of apoptotic nuclei in routine tissue sections. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to clarify our hypothesis that apoptosis resulted from zinc deficiency might cause keratinocytes damages in AE. METHOD: We stained 6 AE biopsy specimen with TUNEL technique. RESULTS: In acroderrratitis enteropathica, apoptotic keratinocytes were shown in the entire epidermis as compared to normal, controlled skin, in which it was found only at the uppermost layer of this stratified epithelium. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that apoptosis resulting from zinc deficiency might play a role in keratinocyte death in AE.
Acrodermatitis* ; Apoptosis ; Biopsy ; Biotin ; Epidermis ; Epithelium ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Keratinocytes* ; Myeloid Cells ; Skin ; Transferases ; Zinc

Primary closure of bladder exstrophy in a one-day-old-girl was performed with paraexstrophy skin flap and pubic bone approximation without osteotomy.
Bladder Exstrophy ; Female* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Osteotomy ; Pubic Bone ; Skin

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of stroke (e.g., atherosclerosis) and brain injury after ischemic stroke. Statins, which inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, have both pleiotropic and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-lowering properties. Recent trials have shown that high-dose statins reduce the risk of cerebrovascular events. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the changes in the oxidative stress markers in patients with atherosclerotic stroke after statin use. This study evaluated changes in oxidative stress markers after short-term use of a high-dose statin in patients with atherosclerotic stroke. METHODS: Rosuvastatin was administered at a dose of 20 mg/day to 99 patients who had suffered an atherosclerotic stroke and no prior statin use. Blood samples were collected before and 1 month after dosing, and the serum levels of four oxidative stress markers-malondialdehyde (MDA), oxidized LDL (oxLDL), protein carbonyl content (PCO), and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)-were evaluated to determine the oxidation of MDA and lipids, proteins, and DNA, respectively, at both of those time points. RESULTS: The baseline levels and the degrees of reduction after statin use differed among the oxidative stress markers measured. MDA and PCO levels were associated with infarct volumes on diffusion-weighted imaging (r=0.551, p<0.05, and r=0.444, p=0.05, respectively). Statin use decreased MDA and oxLDL levels (both p<0.05) but not the PCO or 8-OHdG level. While the reduction in MDA levels after statin use was not associated with changes in cholesterol, that in oxLDL levels was proportional to the reductions in cholesterol (r=0.479, p<0.01), LDL (r=0.459, p<0.01), and apolipoprotein B (r=0.444, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The impact of individual oxidative stress markers differs with time after ischemic stroke, suggesting that different oxidative markers reflect different aspects of oxidative stress. In addition, short-term use of a statin exerts antioxidant effects against lipid peroxidation via lipid-lowering-dependent and -independent mechanisms, but not against protein or DNA oxidation in atherosclerotic stroke patients.
Antioxidants* ; Apolipoproteins ; Atherosclerosis ; Brain Injuries ; Cholesterol ; Coenzyme A ; DNA ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors* ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Lipoproteins ; Oxidative Stress ; Oxidoreductases ; Stroke ; Rosuvastatin Calcium

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and physical disability among adults. It has been 15 years since clinical trials of stem cell therapy in patients with stroke have been conducted using adult stem cells like mesenchymal stem cells and bone marrow mononuclear cells. Results of randomized controlled trials showed that adult stem cell therapy was safe but its efficacy was modest, underscoring the need for new stem cell therapy strategies. The primary limitations of current stem cell therapies include (a) the limited source of engraftable stem cells, (b) the presence of optimal time window for stem cell therapies, (c) inherited limitation of stem cells in terms of growth, trophic support, and differentiation potential, and (d) possible transplanted cell-mediated adverse effects, such as tumor formation. Here, we discuss recent advances that overcome these hurdles in adult stem cell therapy for stroke.
Adult Stem Cells* ; Adult* ; Biocompatible Materials ; Bone Marrow ; Cause of Death ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Stem Cells ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: We retrospectively evaluated the prognostic factors that can influence long-term survival in patients who suffered acute large cerebral infarction. METHODS: Between June 2003 and October 2008, a total of 178 patients were diagnosed with a large cerebral infarction, and, among them, 122 patients were alive one month after the onset of stroke. We investigated the multiple factors that might have influenced the life expectancies of these 122 patients. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 70+/-13.4 years and the mean survival was 41.7+/-2.8 months. The mean survival of the poor functional outcome group (mRS> or =4) was 33.9+/-3.3 months, whereas that of the good functional outcome group (mRS< or =3) was 58.6+/-2.6 months (p value =0.000). The mean survival of the older patients (> or =70 years) was 29.7+/-3.4 months, whereas that of the younger patients (<70 years) was much better as 58.9+/-3.2 months (p value=0.000). Involvement of ACA or PCA territory in MCA infarction is also a poor prognostic factor (p value=0.021). But, other factors that are also known as significant predictors of poor survival (male gender, hypertension, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, a previous history of stroke, smoking, and dyslipidemia) did not significantly influence the mean survival time in the current study. CONCLUSION: Age (older versus younger than 70 years old) and functional outcome at one month could be critical prognostic factors for survival after acute large cerebral infarction. Involvement of ACA or PCA territory is also an important poor prognostic factor in patients with MCA territorial infarction.
Atrial Fibrillation ; Cerebral Infarction ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infarction ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Life Expectancy ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical significance of heel pain, a frequently associated enthesopathy in Behcet's disease and to evaluate the association with seronegative spondyloarthropathy. METHODS: 15 Behcet's disease patients diagnosed by International Study Group for Behcet's disease criteria with arthritis were studied prospectively in the period of 1994. 3. 1-1995. 3. 31. Modified New York criteria was adopted for the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. The patients were grouped into two by the presence of heel pain which was documented as tenderness on heel. RESULTS: There were 6 patients in the heel pain group and 9 patients in the non-heel pain group. Clinical characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. Ankylosing sponaylitis was not associated in either group. ESR was higher with the value of 41.2mm/hr in heel pain group than 25.7mm/hr in non-heel pain group but it was not significant. In heel pam group, one patient showed HLA-B27 positivity, one patient showed erosive bone cha. nge, and one patient showed sacroiliitis but non-heel pain group showed no HLA positivity or bony changes. CONCLUSIONS: We find that subset of Behcet's disease patients with heel pain showed tendency to have higher inflammatory activity, erosive bone change, sacroilitis and HLA B-27 association, thus should be classified as seronegative spondyloarthropathy but seems to be different category from ankylosing spondylitis. These observations should be conducted in a large number of patients to establish the clinical value.
Arthritis ; Diagnosis ; Heel* ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Sacroiliitis ; Spondylarthropathies ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric disorders have been known to occur by the interaction of biologic, psychologic and social factors. A family can affect the occurrence of psychiatric disorders as a primary social factor. On the other hand, psychiatric disorders can affect family function. There fore, we studied to compare family function between the families of psychiatric inpatients and those of normal persons, using Family APGAR and FACES III. METHODS: Between July 1, 1999 and August 31, 1999, we examined the subject group as 40 relatives to visit psychiatric inpatient and the control group as 40 persons whose family members did not have chronic diseases or psychiatric disorders, using questionnaire of socio-demographic factors and family function. RESULTS: Family APGAR scores in subject group were lower than those of control group, but not statistically different. But the degrees of 'Partnership' of the Family APGAR in subject group were significantly lower than those of control group.(P<0.05) Adaptability scores of FACES III in two groups were not different. Cohesion scores of FACES III in subject group were lower than those of control group but not statistically different. The Family APGAR scores in the families of the schizophrenics were significantly lower than those of control group. The duration of psychiatric disorders did not affect family function. CONCLUSION: The family function of subject group was worsened but not statistically different. But in the families of the schizophrenics, the Family APGAR scores were significantly lower than those of control group. Therefore, we should consider serious family dysfunction in the families of schizophrenics.
Chronic Disease ; Hand ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Surveys and Questionnaires