BACKGROUND: The influencion the environment on a culture is expressed via four routes. (1) the nature of the substrate or phase on or in which the cells grow (2) the physicochemical and physiological constitution of the medium, (3) the constitution of the gas phase, and (4) the incubation temperature. Melanization is closely related to the constitution and amounts of amino acids in the medium. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate whether there are some differences of proliferation and melanization in cultured B,F, mouse melanoma cells according to different culture media. METHODS: We examined the color of cell pellet, cell morphology, electron microscopic findings, cell counts and melanin conlensin BgF mouse melanoma cells cultured in Dulbeccos modified Eagles medium(DMEM), F-10, MCDB 153, Minimal essential medium(MEM), and RPMI 1640, respectively. RESULTS: 1. The color of cell pellet., ringed from dark gray to light brown. The order of the darkness was DMEM, MEM, RPMI 1640, MCDB 153, and F-10 medium. 2. Most Bg, mouse melanoma cells had an epithelioid morphology, but a few cells in MCDB 153 medium showed dendrites. On the 4th day after culture, the cells in F-10 medium were larger than those in the other media. 3. In the electron microscopic. findings, BF, mouse melanoma cells in DMEM and MEM con tained numerous stage IV nelanosomes, however, those in RPMI 1640 and MCDB 153 medium contained a few, and those in F-10 medium did few. 4. The number of BF, mouse melanoma cells were 1.42 + 0.06 x 10", 1.42 + 0.12 x 10", l. 17 + 0.08 x 10, 0.73 0.06 x 10, 0.32 0.01 x 10, in RPMI 1640, DMEM, MEM, F 10, and MCDB 153 medium, respectively. 5. In the MTT assay, the order of the optical density of B,F, mouse melanoma cells in various media was as followings, DMEM, RPMI 1640, MEM, F-10, and MCDB 153. 6. Compared with the melanin contents of B;F, mouse melanoma cells in DMEM, they were 77.97% in MEM, 67.91% in RPMI 1640 and MCDB 153 medium, and 55.94% in F-10 medium. CONCLUSION: The phenotypic changes of BF, mouse melanoma cells were induced by various culture rnedia and were reversilvle. Since the phenotypes of cells can be changed by the culture media, researchers should choose the appropriate culture medium for the cells.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Cell Count ; Constitution and Bylaws ; Culture Media ; Darkness ; Dendrites ; Eagles ; Melanins ; Melanoma* ; Mice* ; Phenotype

In 1968, Hardy and Anderson first described the term hypereosinophilic syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by persistent and prolonged eosinothila, with primarily hematologic, cardiac, neurologic and derrnatologic abnormalities. Cutaneous mmestations occur in 27-57% of patients. Two types of skin lesions have been noted: (1) erythrritous pruritic papules and nodules or (2) urticaria and angioedema. We report a case of hypereosinophilic syndrome with a vesicle eruption which is a rare skin lesion in tbis syndrome, in a 17 year old man. Diagnosis of hyprcsinophilic syndrome was established by clinical findings, rearked blood eosinophilia without a Brown cause, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, liver scan and ultrasonography, and histopatholcgie findings of the skin.
Adolescent ; Angioedema ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Diagnosis ; Eosinophilia ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome* ; Liver ; Skin ; Ultrasonography ; Urticaria

In the Dept. of Thoracic Surgery, Korea University Hospital, Preoperative diagnosis as Ebstein anomaly was made on the 11-year old female through the preoperative examination including right cardioangiography and the Glenn Operation was performed to this patients as palliative treatment. During closure of the thoracic wall just after the anastomosis of S.V.C. and right pulmonary artery, sudden cardiac arrest developed. One day later after death, autopsy was performed in order to confirm the pathologic anatomy of the cardiac anomaly and to clarify the cause of death. Pathologic anatomy of the heart revealed the huge dilatation of right atrium, Patent Foramin Ovale, and the deformed and descended posterior and the septal leaflets of tricuspid value by which right ventricle was devided into the atrialized and the functional portion. The diagnosis of the autopsy showed (1) Ebstein Anomaly (2) bilateral total atelectasis of the lung, (3) multiple petechial hemorrhage and edema of the myocardium, brain and liver due to acute hypoxia, (4) fibrocaseous tuberculosis of the liver and tuberculous pericholangitis.
Anoxia ; Autopsy ; Brain ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Ebstein Anomaly* ; Edema ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Atria ; Heart Ventricles ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver ; Lung ; Myocardium ; Palliative Care ; Pulmonary Artery ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Thoracic Surgery ; Thoracic Wall ; Tuberculosis

We report a case of primary cutaneous cryptococcosis on Rt. forehead and perioral area of 57 year old woman with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and Lt. cerebral infarction. She had large ulcers with yellowish purulent exudates on Rt. forehead and perioral area for 2months. A histopathological examination from the lesion showed numerous encapsulated, round spores and the organisms were identified as Cryptococcus neoformans in a series of fun-gal studies. The patient received a 5-week course of IV and oral fluconazole with resolution of her skin lesion. The patient is free of any lesion several months after completing therapy. This experience supports the use of fluconazole as initial and single therapy in primary cutaneous cryptococcosis.
Cerebral Infarction ; Cryptococcosis* ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Exudates and Transudates ; Female ; Fluconazole* ; Forehead ; Humans ; Skin ; Spores ; Ulcer

No abstract available.
Echocardiography* ; Heart Ventricles* ; Tendons*

No abstract available.
Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Coronary Vessels*

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the neurosurgeon's role in managing cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) has becomes rapidly challenged and overlapped with other specialists. Furthermore, the patterns of CVD and patient recruitment have also changed. We conducted a retrospective study regarding the practical trends of CVD with reference to the management paradigms at our institute. METHOD: We reviewed all the available data, including the annual reports, the daily department records, the medical records and the radiographic films of the CVD patients who had been admitted to our Neurosurgery Department during the five years between Jan. 2004 and Dec. 2008. RESULTS: The total numbers of CVD operations showed a slight initial increase, but then they remained steady for the latter 3 years. The number of cases of non-angiomatous hemorrhage has been relatively steady, regardless of surgery. The total numbers of treated aneurysms increased, but the main body of this increment was attributed to the initiation of endovascular treatment and increased identification of unruptured vascular lesions. Vascular malformations were sustained with a small number of cases due to referring them to other institutes for radiosurgery, except for the cases that required urgent hemorrhagic evacuation. CONCLUSION: Hemorrhagic CVDs tended to decrease either due to increasing identification before rupture or shifting such patients into a large volume hospital. The increasing awareness of ischemic CVD, the early detection of unruptured aneurysms, and the separation of medical responsibilities from neurologists have all pushed neurosurgeons to make treatment plans in a more cooperative fashion, instead of a competitive way. Neurosurgeons should be furnished with several revolutionary surgical options to widen their scope of managing patients with CVD.
Academies and Institutes ; Aneurysm ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Medical Records ; Neurosurgery ; Patient Selection ; Radiosurgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Specialization ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Vascular Malformations ; X-Ray Film

The antihypertensive effect of trimazosin was studied in 24 cases of essential hypertension, which include 9 cases with pretreatment diastolic pressure of 114mmHg or more, for a period of 4 weeks. The average pretreatment systolic and diastolic blood pressures were approximately 175mmHg and 114mmHg, respectively. The treatment was started with 100mg of trimazosin daily in 2 divided doses and and the drug was titrated upward at weekly interval by 100mg up to 400mg/day depending on the response of the blood pressures. Routine blood counts, urinalyses, liver and kidney function tests, electrolyte balance, total serum cholesterol and triglyceride were determined before and at the end of treatment. The diastolic blood pressure fell 10mmHg or more in 20 out of 24 cases(83.3%), and in 12 cases out of 20 favorable responders it fell to 90mmHg or below. The pretreatment diastolic blood pressure in 4 nonresponders was all 115mmHg or more. The antihypertensive effect appeared during the first week of therapy and progressively increased until the end of treatment week without causing postural hypotension. Unpleasant symptoms appeared in 12 cases during treatment, which include dizziness, headache, numbness in the extremities and tinnitus in the decreasing order of frequency. However, these symptoms were mild and transient in all cases disappearing spontaneously despite continued medication. No significant biochemical changes in the blood were recorded after treatment. We conclude that trimzosin seems to be a safe and effective antihypertensive drug particularly useful for the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension.
Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Dizziness ; Extremities ; Headache ; Hypertension* ; Hypesthesia ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Kidney Function Tests ; Liver ; Tinnitus ; Triglycerides ; Urinalysis ; Water-Electrolyte Balance

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Traditionally, down beat nystagmus is regarded as a sign of central nervous system dysfunction. But, several years has passed since Herdman et al reported the down beat nystagmus developed during treatment maneuvers for posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(BPPV). We undertook this study to evaluate the character and clinical analysis of the positional or positioning down beat nystagmus, to discuss the clinical significance of positional or positioning down beat nystagmus as a diagnostic criteria of superior semicircular canal BPPV, and to propose the new treatment method. MATERIALS AND METHOD:From November 1999 to March 2004, we sampled the 103 patients with positional or positioning down beat nystagmus. Of these patients, we selected 16 patients except for the patients with central nervous system dysfunction, nonspecific or artifact result, idiopathic origin. RESULTS:All of 16 patients had no sign and radiologic result of central nervous system disorder. 10 patients was reported or suspected the diagnosis of posterior semicircular canal BPPV. Fatigability was reported in 9 patients and reversibility was reported in 1 patient. Average latency was checked less than 2 seconds. CONCLUSION:Although the diagnostic criteria of superior semicircular canal BPPV that we reported was not controversial, we expect that this criteria is useful in diagnosis for patients with atypical positional or positioning down beat nystagmus. And the new treatment method that we reported will has the better results than previous method.
Artifacts ; Central Nervous System ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Semicircular Canals ; Vertigo*

Boric acid(H BO) is a weak topical anti infective agent. It can cause acute borism due to the internal absorption. Although the frequency is very rare, boric acid can also induce contact dermat.itis after topical spplication. We present allergic contact dermatitis to boric acid. The patch test results showed a positive reaction to 2% boric acid solution.
Absorption ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Patch Tests