No abstract available.
Microbubbles* ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn*

Pheochromocytoma is one of the surgically curable hypertensive diseases and can arise wherever chromaffin cells are located. Herein, a case of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma developed in a 51 year-old male is presented with brief review of literatures.
Chromaffin Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pheochromocytoma*

The traditional light microscopy has limitations for precise growth assays of malaria parasites in culture or for assessment of new compounds for antimalarial activity; the speed and high reproducibility of flow cytometry can overcome these limitations. A flow cytometric method using PicoGreen, a DNA-binding fluorochrome, was developed with optimal precision suitable for performing growth assays of low-parasitemia field isolates. In addition, intra- and inter-person reproducibility of the flow cytometric and the microscopic method were compared in order to quantitatively demonstrate the improved precision. RNase treatment contributed to the precision of the flow cytometric measurements by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratios. Coefficients of variation of the method were smaller than 10% for 0.1% or higher parasitemia samples. The intra- and inter-person coefficients of variation of the flow cytometric method were three to six times smaller than those of the microscopic method. The flow cytometric method developed in this study yielded substantially more precise results than the microscopic method, allowing determination of parasitemia levels of 0.1% or higher, with coefficients of variation smaller than 10%. Thus, the PicoGreen method could be a reliable high sensitivity assay for analysis of low parasitemia samples and might be applied to a high throughput system testing antimalarial drug activity.
*Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry ; Humans ; *Microscopy ; Organic Chemicals/chemistry ; Parasitemia/*diagnosis ; Plasmodium falciparum/*isolation & purification ; Reproducibility of Results ; Ribonucleases/metabolism ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

A concealed penis is a normally developed penis that becomes camouflaged by the suprapubic fat pad. This anomally can be congenital or iatrogenic following circumcision. A special variety of this disease is a retractile concealed penis with dysgenetic band of dartos fascia which produce recurrence not infrequently after operative correction by conventional method. We herein report 2 cases of concealed penis of which one case was a recurrent one and another was a case of severe degree with concomittent obesity where a new method for operative correction was applied.
Adipose Tissue ; Circumcision, Male ; Fascia ; Female ; Male ; Obesity ; Penis* ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: In some studies, 5 microgram/kg clonidine premedication was claimed to enhance the pressor effects of ephedrine in anesthetized patients. We studied hemodynamic responses to intravenous responses, themselves responses to intravenous ephedrine in patients who received clonidine 3 microgram/kg. METHODS: 40 ASA pysical status I or II patients were randomly assigned to either the clonidine group (n = 20), receiving oral clonidine 3 microgram/kg 90 min before general anesthesia, or the control group (n = 20), receiving no clonidine. Hemodynamic measurements were made at one-minute intervals for ten minutes after ephedrine 0.1 mg/kg was injected as a bolus. RESULTS: The magnitude of maximal systolic blood pressure increases in the clonidine group (13.2+/-9.3%) was no different in the control group (12.4+/-12.3%). There were no difference in the pressor effect and duration of response of ephedrine in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The pressor effect of ephedrine is not enhanced in patients given 3 microgram/kg clonidine premedication during general anesthesia.
Anesthesia, General ; Blood Pressure ; Clonidine* ; Ephedrine* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Premedication*

Mirror writing is script that runs in the direction opposite to normal, with individual letters also reversed. A Right handed woman suddenly developed mirror-writing. After traumatic brain injury without definitive lesions on MRI, she could not discriminate between right and left by herself. Several theories, including motor, visual dominance, spatial disorientation and supplementary motor hypotheses, have been proposed to explain such. We believe that availability of mirror engrams induce reversal of normal left-to-right writing pattern including mirror-writings.
Brain Injuries ; Female ; Functional Laterality ; Hand ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Writing

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bone mineral density and the prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women with low-energy distal radius fractures and compared with those of aged-matched normal Korean women. Two hundred and six patients with distal radius fractures between March 2006 and March 2010 were included in this study. Patients were divided into three groups by age; group 1 (50-59 years), group 2 (60-69 years), and group 3 (70-79 years). Controls were age-matched normal Korean women. The bone mineral density values at all measured sites, except for the spine, were significantly lower in group 1 than those of control. While the bone mineral density values in group 2 and 3 were lower than those of controls, these differences were not statistically significant. All groups had significantly higher prevalence of osteoporosis at the Ward's triangle; however, at the spine, femoral neck and trochanteric area it was not significantly different from those of age-matched controls. Although the prevalence of osteoporosis of the postmenopausal women with low-energy distal radius fractures may not be higher than that of the control, osteoporosis should be evaluated especially in younger postmenopausal patients to prevent other osteoporotic hip and/or spine fractures.
Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures/diagnosis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis/*epidemiology ; Postmenopause ; Prevalence ; Radius Fractures/*diagnosis ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fractures/diagnosis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) images would increase the reliability of fracture classification and influence treatment plan of distal radius fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four independent observers evaluated radiographic images of thirty patients with distal radius fractures. The fracture classification has been performed based on (1) AO classification, (2) Fernandez classification, (3) Frykman classification. And then treatment plan was planned based on (1) closed reduction with Sugar-tong splint, (2) closed reduction with pinning, (3) closed reduction with external fixator, (4) open reduction with plate (volar approach), (5) open reduction with plate (dorsal approach). Two rounds of evaluation were compared regarding: (1) simple radiographs alone, and (2) simple radiographs and 3D-CT together two weeks after that. This cycle was then repeated to assess intraobserver reliability. RESULTS: 3D-CT improved the intraobserver and interobserver reliability regarding the fracture classification and treatment plan. And the addition of 3D-CT to simple radiographs influenced treatment recommendations, resulting in a significantly greater number of decisions for an open approach (p<0.05, McNemar test). CONCLUSIONS: 3D-CT is a reliable tool of fracture classification and improves treatment plan of distal radius fractures.
External Fixators ; Humans ; Radius ; Radius Fractures ; Splints

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) that has been used to treat transitional cell carcinoma. Since the initial report by Morales and associates on the use of intravesical BCG for the treatment of recurrent superficial bladder tumors, intravesical therapy with BCG has proved to be more effective for prophylaxis and the treatment of superficial bladder tumors and carcinoma in situ than most of the standard chemotherapeutic agents. While the majority of patients tolerate BCG treatments well, a number of adverse reaction (e.g., fever, hematuria, dysuria, nausea and malaise) have been reported. More serious complications occur on rare occasions and they include pneumonitis/hepatitis, ureteral obstruction, renal abscess and sepsis. We report here on a case of ureteral obstruction that was caused by periureteral tuberculous granuloma after intravesical BCG therapy for superficial bladder tumors, and the condition required distal ureterectomy & ureteroneocystostomy.
Abscess ; Bacillus ; Carcinoma in Situ ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Dysuria ; Fever ; Granuloma* ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Morale ; Mycobacterium bovis* ; Nausea ; Sepsis ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Obstruction* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

PURPOSE: The development of a social system or a national economic state is accompanied by a proportional increase in the number of the aged. As the social activity of geriatric people increase, the frequency of traumatic injury also increases. In this study, to prevent geriatric trauma and to reduce medical expenses, we analyzed the factors that influence the incidence and the severity of geriatric trauma and the correlation between the factors. METHOD: The subjects of our investigation ware trauma patients over sixty-five years old who visited the Emergency Department of Yeungnam University Hospital during a period from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2003. We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of 436 geriatric trauma patients, and we analyzed the data by using SPSS 12.0 for Window(R). RESULT: The average age was 72.8 years, and the ratio of males to females was 1:1.1. The mean Injury Severity Score(ISS) was 10.8, and no difference was found between male and female. The mean hospitalization days were higher in patients who had a past medical history or who had a complications. Slips were the most common cause of trauma(199, 44.3%). Bicycle accidents and cultivator accidents were more common for males, but slips were more common for females. Bicycle accidents and in-car traffic accidents tended to cause longer hospitalization days. The largest number of aged trauma patients, 46, occurred during May and the smallest number, 24, during December. In addition, summer had the largest number of aged trauma patients, 93. The types of trauma, ISS, and numbers of patients did not correlate with season. The number of patients was increased on partly cloudy days, and the incidence of complication was increased in cultivator accident patients. CONCLUSION: Aged trauma patients who visit the ED for trauma must not overlook on the basis of their normal vital signs. For males, safety education is required when riding bicycles, motorcycles and cultivators. For females, encouragement to use walking aids that can prevent slips will reduce the occurrence of injury. Patients who visit by in-car TA, cultivator accidents, or bicycle accidents or who have a past medical history need to be give more care to reduce complications after hospitalization. Additionally, many side efforts must be initiated in order to reduce trauma in aged people.
Accidents, Traffic ; Education ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Geriatrics ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Male ; Motorcycles ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Vital Signs ; Walking