The present study was carried out to clarify the anatomical changes of lumbar intervertebral discs by aging. Anterior height, posterior height, anteroposterior diameter of intervertebral discs were measured on 512 normal plain lateral radiographs of lumbosacral spine. And the indices of disc wedging and relative disc height were calculated. There was a cephalocaudal gradient of increase in the indices of disc wedging in all age groups. The indices of relative disc height were constant at all lumbar levels. These suggest that the lower disc is more wedge shaped and the height of discs changes in the constant ratio with that of vertebral body.
Aging* ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Spine

To investigate whether anti-Candida proteinase antibody could be a diagnostic marker, we examined seroreactivity to proteinase in sera from 90 healthy controls and 8 of C. albicans culture-positive patients. Previously we purified proteinases of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis using a series of chromatographic steps consisting of DEAE- Sepharose, Sephacryl S-200, and size-exclusion HPLC. ELISA and Western blot technique were adopted to examine seroreactivity of C. albicans proteinase with sera. On ELISA, the seroreactivities of healthy controls and C. albicans-cultured patients were 0.601 +- 0.014 (mean+SEM), and 0.695 +- 0.079, respectively (P=0.084, t-test). In C. albicans-cultured patients, the positive rate was 62.5% (5/8) and the positive rate of healthy controls was 39% (35/90). On Western blot analysis, C. albicans proteinase molecule was blotted by all sera tested. But the intensity of blotted band was different with the same dilution of sera; the intensity of C. albicans proteinase molecule band blotted by 2 sera of 3 healthy control's sera was distinctively lower than that by C. albicans-cultured patients sera. However, all sera including C. albicans-cultured patient's sera did not blot the proteinase secreted by C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis. It is necessary to collect sequential sera of patients with candidiasis and to establish a cut-off value for ELISA or serum dilution for Western blot analysis that will give reliable test sensitivity and specificity.
Blotting, Western ; Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Candidiasis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sepharose

We report a case of pseudoaneurysm formation after aneurysmal clipping. An aneurysm, which was located on the beginning of orbitofrontal artery, was clipped and wrapped with Surgicel(R) and fibrin glue. Four weeks later, an enlarged aneurysm was detected at the same site on postoperative angiography. We could not find a new aneurysm in the second operation except inflated wrapping region. And clip had been slipped from the original aneurysmal neck. So we concluded that a new aneurysm was a pseudoaneurysm made with surgicel and fibrin glue. And it had been formed from continuous minor leakage caused by slipped clip.
Aneurysm* ; Aneurysm, False* ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive ; Neck

Allergic conjunctivitis is commonly encountered in the office parctice of ophthalmology. However, diagnosis is not easy because allergic conjunctivitis shows nonspecific ocular symptoms and signs. And for accurate diagnosis, conjunctival scraping for eosinophils, tear levels of specific IgE, skin testing to aeroallergens, and ocular challenge with allergens are available but these methods are much time and cost consuming. So we evaluate the usefulness of the detection of eosinophils by conjunctival impression cytology. Conjunctival impression cytology was done on 44 eyes of 44 patients who were diagnosed as allergic conjunctivitis. 7 eyes of 7 normal subjects and 14 eyes of 14 patients with epidemic keratoconjunctivits were used as control. Scoring system was defined according to the past history, symptom, sign, and slit lamp finding ranged from +1 to +5. Eyes of score +1 or +2 were defined as allergy suspect group, and eyes of score +3 to +5 defined as allergy group. The sensitivities of the impression dytology were 59% in allergy suspect group, 86% in definite allergy group and 72%in total, The specificity was 95%. According this study, we conclude that impression cytology is a simple, non-invasive and cheap method with high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis.
Allergens ; Conjunctivitis, Allergic* ; Diagnosis ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Ophthalmology ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin Tests

OBJECTIVES: Congenital muscular torticollis, a common disorder that refers to the shortening of the sternocleidomastoid in infants, is sensitive to correction through physical therapy when treated early. If physical therapy is unsuccessful, surgery is required. In this study, we developed a support vector regression model for congenital muscular torticollis to investigate the prognosis of the physical therapy treatent in infants. METHODS: Fifty-nine infants with congenital muscular torticollis received physical therapy until the degree of neck tilt was less than 5degrees. After treatment, the mass diameter was reevaluated. Based on the data, a support vector regression model was applied to predict the prognoses. RESULTS: 10-, 20-, and 50-fold cross-tabulation analyses for the proposed model were conducted based on support vector regression and conventional multi-regression method based on least squares. The proposed methodbased on support vector regression was robust and enabled the effective analysis of even a small amount of data containing outliers. CONCLUSIONS: The developed support vector regression model is an effective prognostic tool for infants with congenital muscular torticollis who receive physical therapy.
Humans ; Infant ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Neck ; Prognosis ; Torticollis

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Dermatitis*

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body* ; Mesotherapy*

PURPOSE: To determine the activity and toxicities of PEF (Cisplatin, Etoposide, 5-Fluorouracil) chemotherapy for stomach cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with previously untreated metastatic stomach cancer were treated with PEF regimen which consisted of cisplatin (20 mg/m2 i.v. days 1~5), etoposide (100 mg/m2 i.v. days 1, 3, 5), and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)(800 mg/m2 i.v. infusion for 12 hours days 1~5). Chemotherapy was repeated every 3 weeks until disease progressed or toxicities were intolerable. RESULTS: Between May 1989 and July 1990, 40 patients were enrolled in this protocol. Twelve patients were lost to follow up after one cycle of chemotherapy and inevaluable. After 2~8 cycles (median 3) of chemotherapy, 20 out of 28 evaluable patients showed objective responses without any complete response, making the response rate 71% (95% confidence interval: 54~89%). The responses lasted from 4+ to 39 weeks (median: 38 weeks). The overall survival of total evaluable patients was 4+ ~50+ weeks (median 38 weeks). Among total 109 cycles of chemotherapy, cycles were delayed or doses were reduced in 48 cycles (44%) because of leukopenia (in 61 cycles: 56%) and/or thrombocytopenia (in 14 cycles: 13%). However, there was no treatment-related death. Nausea/vomiting and alopecia were experienced in most of patients. The stomatitis was experienced in 7 patients (25%) but completely reversible. In contrast, the peripheral neuropathy which developed in 4 patients (14%) after 5 cycles of chemotherapy was not reversible. CONCLUSION: The PEF regimen was active and tolerable in stomach cancer.
Alopecia ; Cisplatin ; Drug Therapy* ; Etoposide* ; Fluorouracil* ; Humans ; Leukopenia ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach* ; Stomatitis ; Thrombocytopenia

PURPOSE: Urologists occasionally experience some cases of voiding failure after transurethral resection of prostate (TURP). Preoperative and postoperative factors attributable to acute urine retention (AUR) after catheter removal in post-TURP patients were evaluated and analyzed to determine the causative factors for AUR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2004 to May 2008, a total of 172 patients who underwent TURP due to symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were divided into the AUR group (n=21) and the control group (n=151). The AUR group was defined as patients with voiding difficulty within 24 hours and whose residual urine volume was above 400 ml after catheter removal. The control group was defined as patients without AUR. Age, duration of symptoms, International prostate symptom score (IPSS), Quality of life score (QoL), uroflowmetry, post-void residual urine volume, preoperative serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, preoperative prostate volume, resected prostate volume, rate of prostate resection [resected prostate volume/preoperative prostate volume x 100], operative time and duration of catheter were retrospectively analyzed to identify which of these were the factors related with AUR after catheter removal in post-TURP patients. RESULTS: Preoperative prostate volume was higher (90.7+/-50.4 vs 64.4+/-32.7, p=0.002) and rate of prostate resection was lower (38.8+/-8.1 vs 50.5+/-12.4, p<0.001) in AUR group compared to control group. And age, duration of symptoms, IPSS, QoL, uroflowmetry, post-void residual urine volume, preoperative serum PSA level, resected prostate volume, operative time and duration of catheter were not statistically significant in both groups. The multivariate analysis subsequently showed that preoperative prostate volume (p=0.010, OR=1.040) and rate of prostate resection (p=0.001, OR=0.901) were independent factors related with AUR after catheter removal in post-TURP patients. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of AUR after catheter removal was higher in post-TURP patients with high preoperative prostate volume and low rate of prostate resection. Therefore the surgeon's effort to increase the rate of prostate resection, especially in patients with large prostate volume, may lower the incidence of postoperative AUR.
Catheters ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Incidence ; Multivariate Analysis ; Operative Time ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Quality of Life ; Retention (Psychology) ; Retrospective Studies ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Urinary Retention

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common form of hair loss that usually occurs in the third or fourth decades of life in men, with later onset in women. AGA does rarely occur, however, in the pediatric population. Adolescent AGA is pattern hair loss occurring in boys and girls between 12 and 18 years of age. We herein report the case of a 16-year-old girl with a 5-year history of diffuse hair loss on the crown. Her father had a history of AGA, and the hair pull test was negative. Sex hormone levels and thyroid function test were within the normal range. Phototrichogram analysis revealed diffuse hair thinning over the frontal and vertex areas, and the percentage of vellus hair was higher on the vertex than the occiput. We diagnosed the patient with adolescent AGA. She was prescribed 3% topical minoxidil, and improvement was visible on the clinical photograph and phototrichogram after 2 years of treatment.
Adolescent* ; Alopecia* ; Crowns ; Fathers ; Female* ; Hair ; Humans ; Male ; Minoxidil* ; Reference Values ; Thyroid Function Tests