No abstract available.
Congenital Abnormalities*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Leiomyoma*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide* ; Calcitonin* ; Cochlear Nucleus* ; Rats*

This paper reports a case of a patient aged 63 years who developed a delayed pneumothorax after thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB). TPVB is a non-invasive procedure that is known to be relatively safe. A 63-year-old female was admitted with back pain. TPVB T9–10 left was then performed. Two days after the procedure, she complained of dyspnea in the emergency room. X-ray showed a pneumothorax in her left side with partial left lung collapse. The pneumothorax was managed by surgical intervention, and an intercostal tube was inserted. The post-procedural X-ray showed a fully expanded lung. A chest tube was taken out after 72 hours. A delayed pneumothorax can occur after TPVB. Therefore, careful observation is required after this procedure.

It is difficult to know whether the presence of infection in the plantar ulcer in patients with leprosy or not. Because routine bacteriology is often unhelpful, we need to investigate diagnostic method in this situation. C-reactive protein(CRF) levels have been known to be useful in detecting infection in some diseases. In this study, CRP levels were measured in 20 leprosy patients with plantar ulceration and 14 patients with leprosy alone. The results were as follows : 1. There was no elevation of CRP levels in patients with leprosy alone, and in the majority of patients with ulcers. 2. Of 20 patients with plantar ulcers, four had raised CRP levels one had clinically obvious infection, and three had erythematous skin of uncertain cause surrounding their ulcers. 3. Treatment with an appropriate antibiotics reduced CRP levels to normal, which was associated with clinical improvement. Therefore, it is suggested that increased CRP levels can be a useful probe for detecting significant bacterial infection in plantar ulcers of leprosy patients.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacterial Infections ; Bacteriology ; Foot Ulcer ; Humans ; Leprosy* ; Skin ; Ulcer*

No abstract available.
Porokeratosis*

Involucrin is a recently recognized structural component of mature squamous epithelial cells and is considered as a marker of normal eratinocyte differentiation and ma.turation. In this study peroxidase-antiperoxidase techniques were used to assess involucrin expression in histologic sections of normal skin and a variety of epidennal tumors including squamous cell carcinomas(25 cases), keratoacanthomas(11 cases), basal cell carcinomas(20 cases), trichoepitheliomas(5 cases), Howens diseases(12 cases), arsenic keratoses(10 cases), actinic keratoses(10 cases) and Pagets diseases(2 cases). The results were as follows : l. In normal skin, the upper third of the viable epidermis showed diffuse cytoplasmic staining for involucrin. In hair follicles, the lower area of inner root sheath and inner area of the outer root sheath stained positively. The sebareous glands did not stain, but the ducts of sebaceous glands were positive. 2. Keratoacanthomas showed a relatively homogeneous staining pattern for inirolucrin ', all cells except basal cells stained with mild to moderate intensity. In contrast, squamous cell carcinomas disclosed a highly irregular involucrin staining pattern with marked variation in staining intensity from cell to cell. 3. Basal cell carcinomas were negative for involucrin except squamous horn cysts, and the epidermis overlying basal cell carcinomas showed the field effect, that is, the epidermis overlying the tumors exhibited diffuse, homogeneous positive staining of cells in all layers of the epidermis. 4. ln trichoepitheliomas, the involucrin reactivity was negative as in basal cell carcinoma.s, but the field effect was not observed. 5. In Elowens disease, actinic keratosis, arsenic keratosis and Pagets disease, the positivit.y for involucrin staining extended deeper into the stratum malpighii than was observed wit,h normal epidermis. And areas showing irregular patchy pattern of involucrin staining were considered to have the potentiality of malignant invasive change much more than the negative or homogeneous areas. Paget's cells were negative for involucrin as the adjoining keratinocytes in the lower portion af epidermis.
Actins ; Animals ; Arsenic ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cytoplasm ; Epidermis ; Epithelial Cells ; Hair Follicle ; Horns ; Keratinocytes ; Keratoacanthoma ; Keratosis ; Keratosis, Actinic ; Sebaceous Glands ; Secobarbital ; Skin

Platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) is known to accelerate soft tissue fracture and periodontal bone healing, but little information is available for characterizing the healing of articualr cartilage. This study was designed to demonstrate the regeneration potential of pasteurized autogeneous osteochondral graft when PDFG was applied locally in vivo. Eighteen rabbits in two groups were used in the experiment. The free osteochondral fragment(1x1x1 cm) were taken from distal femur. The fragment were pasteurized in 65degrees C for 5 minutes. In experimental group(group II), the fragment were soaked in 0.25 mg/ml of recombinant human PDGF mixed 5 ml normal saline and reimplanted to the resected site, and followed with local administration of 0.25 mg/ml PDGF to knee joint. In control group(group I), the pasteurized fragment were reimplanted in the resected site without any treatments. The histologic characteristics of the transplanted autografts for three rabbits in each group were observed at 3, 5 and 7 weeks postoperatively. The results were as follows; Group II revealed the more favorable regeneration of articular cartilage, less arthritic changes and more mature arrangement of chondrocytes than group I. Even thought the cartilage is avascular and the regeneration capacity of pasteurized cartilage is severely limited, the regeneration of grafted articular cartilage is thought to be accellerated by increased newly formed blood vessels and soft tissues due to the diffusion of PDGF on grafted cartilage, and probably also by differentiation of mesenchymal cells in the initial stage of experiment. The results of this study suggest that local administration of PDGF could be used for the treatment of posttraumatic or degenerative arthritis and various cartilage damages.
Autografts ; Blood Vessels ; Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular ; Chondrocytes ; Diffusion ; Femur ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Osteoarthritis ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor* ; Rabbits* ; Regeneration* ; Transplants*