No abstract available.
Blood Glucose* ; Glucose* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

The proportion of tear proteins is different markedly in various ocular diseases, so its measurement may be of considerable diagnostic value in certain ocular conditions. We studied prospectively proportion of tear proteins in 50 normal adult Koreans. 25 male and 25 female, by using protein electrophoresis. Four fractions were demonstrated by protein electrophoresis using cellulose acetate membrane: Fraction 1 represents as tear-specific prealbumin(TSP1) and albumin, fraction 2 as other tear-specific prealbumin(TSP2), fraction 3 as lactotransferrin and immunoglobulin, and fraction 4 as lysozyme. In this study, the proportion of tear proteins in fraction 1 to 4 were 33.4%, 1.1%, 44.2%, and 21.2% respectively. With age, the proportion of fraction 4 decreased, and its decrease was not statistically significant difference. There was no statistically significant difference between age groups in fractions 1,2 or 3. Difference of proportion of tear proteins between the sex was not statistically significant in any of the fractions. Further studies on the tear proteins may be helpful in diagnosing some ocular conditions.
Adult ; Cellulose ; Electrophoresis* ; Female ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulins ; Lactoferrin ; Male ; Membranes ; Muramidase ; Prospective Studies ; Tears*

It has long been known that Vasopressin could increase the urinary sodium and chloride excretion. The exact mechanism and site of action, however, have not yet been explained. Experiments were performed whether the renal effects were the same in both cortical and juxtamedullary nephron in decorticated kiddney model. Heat-decortication was car ried out in the left kidney immersed in water kept at 52oC for 5 minutes. In 90% of cases, outer 2/3 of the cortex was necrotized as revealedd at the time of experiment on 8th day. The right kidney underwent the same procedure except that the temperature of water was kept at 39oC, and served as control. Urine flow and fractional excretion of urine were increased by the arginine vasopressin infusion in both kidney, but the diffferences were not significant. There were no signifficant changes in glomerular filtration rate and rrenal plasma flow in doses of 5 and 10 mu/kg/minute. Responsiveness of decorticated kidney was less than the control kidney. Increments of fractional excretion of potassium were not significantly different. From thhese results, it is suggested that the responsiveness of the cortical and juxtamedullarry nephron to the arginine vasopressin may not be the same. The mechanisms of the differences were discussed.
Arginine Vasopressin* ; Arginine* ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Kidney ; Nephrons ; Plasma ; Potassium ; Sodium ; Vasopressins ; Water

PURPOSE: To analyze the changes of tear composition in chronic blepharitis patients. METHODS: Tear samples were collected from 30 eyes of 29 patients diagnosed as chronic blepharitis by slit-lamp examination, and from 30 eyes of 30 normal volunteers. Chronic blepharitis group was subdivided into untreated group (10 eyes; tear sampling before the initiation of treatment) and treated group (20 eyes; tear sampling after the initiation of treatment). Tear pH, concentration of ions (Na+, K+, Cl-, Ca2+), total protein concentration and tear protein fraction (TPF) were measured. Statistical analysis was done by using Mann-Whitney U test and Kruscal-Wallis test, and p-value Blepharitis* ; Electrolytes ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Ions ; Tears*

While intussusception can occur at any age, the disease is most often seen in children and no etiologic factor can be seen in most cases of childhood intussusception. In contrast, the adult intussusception is rare and usually has an identifiable causes such as benign tumor, malignant tumor, sarcoma, Meckel's diverticulum and congenital anomaly. Especially, adult intussusception due to primary malignant lymphoma of small intestine is rare clinical condition. Here, we describe the case of a 49-year-old male patient with ileo-ileo-colic intussusception due to primary malignant lymphoma of the small intestine. The clinical, radiographic and pathologic findings are described with brief review of the literature.
Adult* ; Child ; Humans ; Intestine, Small* ; Intussusception* ; Lymphoma* ; Male ; Meckel Diverticulum ; Middle Aged ; Sarcoma

PURPOSE: To present the morphological and chemical analysis of dacryoliths and review factors contributing to form dacryoliths with previous studies. METHODS: From a 58-year-old female patient operated with dacryocystorhinostomy, dacryoliths were obtained during the procedure and postoperative follow-up period. Morphological and microbial analysis of the dacryoliths was performed by culture and light microscopic examination. Various electrolytes in the dacryoliths were analyzed by flame atomic absorbable spectrometry(FAAS) for Na+ and K+ and by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry(ICPAES) for Ca2+ and Mg2+. RESULTS: No bacterial and fungal organisms were cultured, but multiple bacterial colonies were found by H&E stain. Chemical analysis revealed mainly organic composition 97.91% and inorganic composition 2.09%. Inorganic composition was consisted with Ca2+ 0.82%, Na+ 0.76%, Mg2+ 0.27%, and K+ 0.24% in order. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent the recurrence of the nasolacrimal duct obstruction by the dacryoliths after dacryocystorhinostomy, pathogenesis of the dacryoliths formation may be studied with morphological and chemical analysis of the Dacryoliths.
Dacryocystorhinostomy* ; Electrolytes ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nasolacrimal Duct ; Plasma ; Recurrence

PURPOSE: To evaluate post-ablation syndrome after radiofrequency thermal ablation of malignant hepatic tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two patients with primary (n=29) or secondary (n=13) hepatic tumors under-went radiofrequency thermal ablation. A total of 65 nodules ranging in size from 1.1 to 5.0 (mean, 3.1) cm were treated percutaneously using a 50W RF generator with 15G expandable needle electrodes. We retrospec-tively evaluated the spectrum of post-ablation syndrome including pain, fever(> or =38 C degrees), nausea, vomiting, right shoulder pain, and chest discomfort according to frequency, intensity and duration, and the findings were cor-related with tumor location and number of ablations. We also evaluated changes in pre-/post-ablation serum aminotransferase(ALT/AST) and prothrombin time, and correlated these findings with the number of abla-tions. RESULTS: Post-ablation syndrome was noted in 29 of 42 patients (69.0%), and most symptoms improved with conservative treatment. The most important of these were abdominal pain (n=20, 47.6%), fever (n=8, 19.0%), and nausea (n=7, 16.7%), and four of 42 (9.5%) patients complained of severe pain. The abdominal pain lasted from 3 hours to 5.5 days (mean; 20.4 hours), the fever from 6 hours to 5 days (mean; 63.0 hours). and the nau-sea from 1 hour to 4 days (mean; 21.0 hours). Other symptoms were right shoulder pain (n=6, 14.3%), chest discomfort (n=3, 7.1%), and headache (n=3, 7.1%). Seventeen of 20 patients (85%) with abdominal pain had a subcapsular tumor of the liver. There was significant correlation between pain, location of the tumor, and number of ablations. After ablation, ALT/AST was elevated more than two-fold in 52.6%/73.7% of patients, respectively but there was no significant correlation with the number of ablation. CONCLUSION: Post-ablation syndrome is a frequent and tolerable post-procedural process after radiofrequency thermal ablation. The spectrum of this syndrome provides a useful guideline for the post-ablation management.
Abdominal Pain ; Electrodes ; Fever ; Headache ; Humans ; Liver ; Nausea ; Needles ; Prothrombin Time ; Shoulder Pain ; Thorax ; Vomiting

No abstract available.
Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative* ; Glucose* ; Humans ; Insulin* ; Metabolome*

Isolated true atherosclerotic aneurysm of the distal superficial femoral artery is rare disease. We experienced a case of distal superficial femoral artery aneurysm not associated with dilatation of the common femoral or popliteal artery. True arterial aneurysms are attributed to the weakening of the arterial wall due to atherosclerosis. True superficial femoral artery aneurysms were predominantly founded in elderly men and used to be diagnosed by ultrasonography, CT or angiogram. We report a case of distal superficial femoral arterial aneurysmal rupture in elderly woman who has a rheumatoid athritis and diagnosed by ultrasonography. We performed aneurysmal excision and interposition graft with PTFE.
Aged ; Aneurysm* ; Arteries ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Atherosclerosis ; Dilatation ; Female ; Femoral Artery ; Humans ; Male ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Popliteal Artery ; Rare Diseases ; Rupture* ; Transplants ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the effects of a metal artifact reduction for orthopedic implants (O-MAR) for brain computed tomographic angiography (CTA) in patients with aneurysm clips and coils. METHODS: The study included 36 consecutive patients with 47 intracranial metallic implants (42 aneurysm clips, 5 coils) who underwent brain CTA. The computed tomographic images with and without the O-MAR were independently reviewed both quantitatively and qualitatively by two reviewers. For quantitative analysis, image noises near the metallic implants of non-O-MAR and O-MAR images were compared. For qualitative analysis, image quality improvement and the presence of new streak artifacts were assessed. RESULTS: Image noise was significantly reduced near metallic implants (P < 0.01). Improvement of implant-induced streak artifacts was observed in eight objects (17.0%). However, streak artifacts were aggravated in 11 objects (23.4%), and adjacent vessel depiction was worsened in eight objects (17.0%). In addition, new O-MAR-related streak artifacts were observed in 32 objects (68.1%). New streak artifacts were more prevalent in cases with overlapping metallic implants on the same axial plane than in those without (P = 0.018). Qualitative assessment revealed that the overall image quality was not significantly improved in O-MAR images. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the use of the O-MAR in patients with metallic implants significantly reduces image noise. However, the degree of the streak artifacts and surrounding vessel depiction were not significantly improved on O-MAR images.
Aneurysm ; Angiography* ; Artifacts* ; Brain* ; Humans ; Noise ; Orthopedics* ; Quality Improvement