No abstract available.
Burns* ; Granulation Tissue*

Zonisamide was administered to 20 patients with refractory epileptic seizures. The mean duration of the administration was 6 months, and the mean dosage was 7.2 mg/kg/day. The efficacy of zonisamide was rated remarkable in 15% of the cases, improvement in 40%, and no change in 45%. The response rates of zonisamide were 62.5% for myoclonic seizures, 50% for tonic-clonic seizures, 80% for atonic seizures and 33.3% for atypical absence seizures. There was no correlation between the clinical response and dose or serum concentration of the drug. The adverse effects were observed in 35% of the cases which were drowsiness, dizziness, ataxia, nausea, and vomiting. In all cases, however, the administration of zonisamide could be continued.
Ataxia ; Child* ; Dizziness ; Epilepsy* ; Epilepsy, Absence ; Humans ; Nausea ; Seizures ; Sleep Stages ; Vomiting

No abstract available.
Intellectual Disability ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne*

Chordomas are maligaant tumors which arise in the remnants of the embryonic notochord, and exhibit a definite predilection for the extremes of the spinal axis, the great majority arising either in the basioccipital or in the sacrococcy geal regions. Particularly, complete surgical removal is almost impossible, therefore, local recurrence after the surgical removal of this tumor is common or rule. This report describes a csse of chordoma arising sacrococcygeal region treated with block resection.
Chordoma ; Notochord ; Recurrence ; Sacrococcygeal Region

A 2-month-old male patient visited with recurrent erythematous papules and pustules on face and neck that had developed 20 days after birth. Direct microscopic examination on smears for pustules showed forms of yeasts and culture yielded Malassezia sympodialis. Applying topical 2% ketoconazole cream for 15 days showed marked clinical improvement. We report this case of neonatal Malassezia pustulosis which be would probably improperly termed as neonatal acne with the review of literature.
Acne Vulgaris ; Humans ; Infant ; Ketoconazole ; Malassezia* ; Male ; Neck ; Parturition ; Yeasts

BACKGROUND: Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the main problem in women, but senile osteoporosis is believed to occur after 65 years and affects men and women equally. Measurement of biochemical markers in conjunction with bone mineral density (BMD) determination can detect individual patients at the greatest risk of developing osteoporosis. METHODS: We measured serum osteocalcin levels as a bone formation marker, and urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD) levels as a bone resorption marker, in 2190 men (from 22 to 83 year-old), and 1209 women (from 25 to 80 year-old). The age and sex related variations of serum osteocalcin and urinary DPD levels were analysed. The serum osteocalcin and urinary DPD levels were compared with BMD. These biochemical bone turnover markers were compared with each other. RESULTS: In women, serum osteocalcin and urinary DPD levels were increased with age from forties to sixties, after then showed decrease from seventies. In men, serum osteocalcin levels were slightly decreased with age, but DPD levels were slightly increased with age in men. These biochemical bone markers and BMD showed negative correlations. Osteocalcin and DPD levels showed positive correlations, especially in women. Osteocalcin levels were higher in men than women, age before fifth decades but lower in men than women after fifties. DPD levels was higher in women than men through all the age. CONCLUSION: Osteocalcin and DPD levels showed age and sex related variations in healthy Koreans. In management of patients with a risk of osteoporosis, consideration of variations according to the age and sex should be given.
Biomarkers ; Bone Density ; Bone Resorption ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged* ; Osteocalcin* ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal

PURPOSE: We reviewed the treatment outcomes and prognostic factors for patients with anal canal carcinoma who were treated with curative intent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) at Severance Hospital from 2005 to 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data for 38 eligible patients treated during this period were reviewed. All patients were treated with curative intent using radiotherapy (RT) with (n = 35) or without concomitant chemotherapy (n = 3). Among 35 patients who received CRT, most of the chemotherapeutic regimens were either 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus mitomycin C (23 patients) or 5-FU plus cisplatin (10 patients). Recurrence-free survival (RFS), colostomy-free survival (CFS), overall survival (OS), and locoregional control (LRC) rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and survival between subgroups were compared using the log-rank test. Cox's proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up period of 44 months (range, 11 to 96 months), 3-year RFS, CFS, OS, and LRC were 80%, 79%, 85%, and 92%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, tumor size >4 cm was an independent predicting factor for poorer RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 6.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42 to 28.5; p = 0.006) and CFS (HR, 6.25; 95% CI, 1.39-28.0; p = 0.017), while the presence of external iliac lymph node metastasis was an independent prognosticator for poorer OS (HR, 9.32; 95% CI, 1.24 to 70.3; p = 0.030). No treatment-related colostomies or deaths occurred during or after treatment. CONCLUSION: Curative intent CRT resulted in excellent outcomes that were comparable to outcomes in previous randomized trials. No severe treatment-related toxicities were observed.
Anal Canal ; Anus Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Cisplatin ; Colostomy ; Fluorouracil ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mitomycin ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Proportional Hazards Models

No abstract available.
Bromodeoxyuridine* ; Hep G2 Cells* ; Kinetics* ; Tretinoin*

BACKGROUND: Approximately 90%~99% of ultraviolet A (UVA) ray reaches the Earth's surface. The deeply penetrating UVA rays induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which results in oxidative stress such as photoproducts, senescence, and cell death. Thus, UVA is considered a primary factor that promotes skin aging. OBJECTIVE: Researchers investigated whether pretreatment with ferulic acid protects human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) against UVA-induced cell damages. METHODS: HDF proliferation was analyzed using the water-soluble tetrazolium salt assay. Cell cycle distribution and intracellular ROS levels were assessed by flow cytometric analysis. Senescence was evaluated using a senescence-associated β-galactosidase assay, while Gadd45α promoter activity was analyzed through a luciferase assay. The expression levels of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), catalase (CAT), xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A and C, matrix metalloproteinase 1 and 3, as well as p21 and p16 were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle arrest were detected in cells that were irradiated with UVA only. Pretreatment with ferulic acid significantly increased the proliferation and cell cycle progression in HDFs. Moreover, ferulic acid pretreatment produced antioxidant effects such as reduced DCF intensity, and affected SOD1 and CAT mRNA expression. These effects were also demonstrated in the analysis of cell senescence, promoter activity, expression of senescent markers, and DNA repair. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that ferulic acid exerts protective effects on UVA-induced cell damages via anti-oxidant and stress-inducible cellular mechanisms in HDFs.
Aging ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; Catalase ; Cats ; Cell Aging ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cell Death ; Complement System Proteins ; DNA Repair ; Fibroblasts* ; Humans* ; Luciferases ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Skin Aging ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Ultraviolet Rays ; Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Onychomycosis is a common infection of the nail, with its prevalence estimated at 20 percent. However, a significant proportion of patients, perhaps as high as 20~40%, is classified as treatment failures and/or relapse following treatment. Several factors such as antifungal resistance, dermatophytoma, preexisting nail dystrophy, reinfection from the surrounding infected tissue can influence the success of a particular monotherapy. Therefore, the combination of antifungal drugs to produce synergistic activity is one possible advance towards achieving higher cure rates. The combination therapies have been known to increase antifungal spectrum and potency of drugs, facilitate drug delivery and reduce fungal load in nail plate. Their final goals are to increase a tolerance and maximize the therapeutic efficacy. Considering the special circumstance of the nail, the oral/topical combination is the most appropriate, for it increases drug concentration in the nail plate by mutual complementary cooperation. Treatment of onychomycosis requires long-term systemic medication of antifungal agent, and its complete cure rates were only 30~50%. Clinical success rate is determined by patients compliance which depends on treatment method and period. In practice, compliance of long-term treatment was very low, possibly attributable to longer treatment duration. Another challenge was relapse and/or reinfection after cure. The authors have attempted to address the issue concerning the method of treatment and duration of action for oral antifungal agents commonly used in practice today, and whether there is a statistically significant difference among those drugs, based on the studies analyzing patient compliance.
Antifungal Agents ; Compliance* ; Humans ; Onychomycosis* ; Patient Compliance ; Prevalence ; Recurrence ; Treatment Failure