BACKGROUND: Induction of anesthesia with propofol commonly associated with reduction in systemic arterial pressure, especially in elderly and high risk patients. This reduction is influenced by the dose and rate of propofol injection. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of different injection rate of propofol on vital signs, dose requirement and induction time during induction period. METHODS: Unpremedicated one hundred and twenty ASA physical status I and II patients aged 20~60 years scheduled for elective surgery were randomly allocated into one of four (150, 300, 600, 1200 ml/hr) groups according to speed of injection of propofol during induction period. Loss of verbal contact was taken as the end-point of induction. Vital signs, SpO2, dose requirement of propofol and induction time were checked. RESULTS: As the injection rate of propofol became slower, there were significant reduction in induction dose and increase in induction time (p<0.05). For example, induction dose and time were 1.82 mg/kg, 223 +/- 58 sec in 150 ml/hr group and 3.14 mg/kg, 50 +/- 11 sec in 1200 ml/hr group, respectively. Also, decrease in systolic and diastolic pressure were less marked at lower injection rates. CONCLUSIONS: Slower injection of propofol produces less vital sign changes and dose requirement for the induction of anesthesia.
Aged ; Anesthesia* ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Propofol* ; Vital Signs*

Nausea and vomiting are common problems after strabismus surgery in pediatric patients. We compared the effects of droperidol and ephedrine with conventional regimen consisting of halothane-N2O to the effects of conventional regimen itself, 69 children. ASA physical status l, ages 1-12yrs, were studied. Each child was randomly assigned to receive droperidol 0.04mg/kg., ephedrine 0.5mg/kg or normal saline 2ml intramuscularly, 10 minutes before the end of surgery. The incidence of postanesthetic nausea and vomiting was 17% in the droperidol group(p<0.05)., 13% in the ephedrine group(p<0.05), which were significantly less than the control group(43%). But there was no significant difference between droperidol group and ephedrine group. We concluded that droperidol and ephedrine have significant postoperative antiemetic effect in patients undergoing strabismus surgery.
Antiemetics ; Child* ; Droperidol ; Ephedrine ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting* ; Strabismus* ; Vomiting

No abstract available.

It is well known that hypertension is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction which frequently precede systolic dysfunction. To determine whether nifedipine could improve left ventricular diastolic function in hypertensive patients, we studied 15 hypertensive patients and 15 normotensive subjects matched for sex, age with Doppler echocardiography. After oral administration of 10mg of nifedipine, there were no significant changes in Doppler-derived transmitral diastolic filling indexes of normotensive subjects. On the other hand, although peak flow velocity in atrial systole(PFVA), time velocity integral in atrial systole(TVIA) did not change significantly after nifedipine, nifedipine significantly increased peak flow velocity in early diastole(PFVE) from 40.2+/-6.4cm/sec to 46.5+/-10.9cm/sec(p<0.005), time velocity integral in early diastole(TVIE) from 5.24+/-1.2cm to 5.97+/-1.43cm(p<0.001), the ratio of PFVE/PFVA from 0.69+/-0.11 to 0.76+/-0.12(p<0.05), the ratio of TVIE/TVIA from 1.18+/-0.21 to 1.29+/-0.24(p<0.05), deceleration slope(DS) from 244.9+/-51.9cm/sec2 to 289.9+/-49.1cm/sec2 (p<0.001) and decreased isovolumic relaxation time(IVRT) from 132.3+/-10.3msec to 117.2+/-13.5msec(p<0.001), deceleration time(DT) from 168.8+/-30.3msec to 154.9+/-29.8msec(p<0.05) in hypertensive patients. These fimdings indicated that nifedipine improves Doppler-derived early diastolic filling indexes in hypertensive patients and may be related to improvement of active relaxation of left ventricle in early diastole.
Administration, Oral ; Deceleration ; Diastole ; Echocardiography, Doppler* ; Hand ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Nifedipine* ; Relaxation

We report a case of pituitary apoplexy resulting in right internal carotid artery occlusion accompanied by hemiplegia and lethargy. A 43-yr-old man presented with a sudden onset of severe headache, visual disturbance and left hemiplegia. Investigations revealed a nodular mass, located in the sella and suprasellar portion and accompanied by compression of the optic chiasm. The mass compressed the bilateral cavernous sinuses, resulting in the obliteration of the cavernous portion of the right internal carotid artery. A border zone infarct in the right fronto-parietal region was found. Transsphenoidal tumor decompression following conservative therapy with fluid replacement and steroids was performed. Pathological examination revealed an almost completely infarcted pituitary adenoma. The patient's vision improved immediately after the decompression, and the motor weakness improved to grade IV+ within six months after the operation. Pituitary apoplexy resulting in internal carotid artery occlusion is rare. However, clinicians should be aware of the possibility and the appropriate management of such an occurrence.
Adult ; Carotid Artery Diseases/*diagnosis/etiology/therapy ; *Carotid Artery, Internal/pathology/surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Male ; Pituitary Apoplexy/complications/*diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

GTP-Binding Proteins ; Receptors, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone*

OBJECTIVE: Temozolomide is a novel oral alkylating agent, which has been reported to be effective in treating patients with recurrent malignant gliomas. This study report an analysis of the activity and toxicity of temozolomide as second-line therapy for patients with recurrent and progressive malignant gliomas after surgery and standard radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy. METHODS: Twenty patients with malignant gliomas of which thirteen(65%) had glioblastoma multiforme(GBM), five(25%) with anaplastic astrocytoma(AA), and two(10%) with anaplastic oligodendroglioma(AO) were enrolled in this study. They had been treated in our institution since July, 2000 and had been previously irradiated with or without chemotherapy. For the patients with recurrent and progressive disease, temozolomide(150-200mg/m2/d x5 days) was administered every 28 days until the progression of the tumor or toxicity developed. RESULTS: The median number of treatment cycles was 3(total 86). Of the 20 patients, 2(10%) achieved a complete response(CR), 5(25%) achieved a partial response(PR), 5(25%) had stable disease(SD), and 8(40%) had progressive disease(PD). One patient achieved a CR, 3 patients achieved a PR, 2 patients had SD and 7 patients had PD in GBM, and 1 patient achieved a CR, 2 patients achieved a PR, 3 patients had SD, 1 patient had PD in the non-GBM patients. Median progression free survival(PFS) was 8 weeks in GBM and 22 weeks in the non-GBM patients. No hematological toxicity greater than grade 2 was observed, and hepatotoxicity of grade 2 was encountered in 1(5%) patient. CONCLUSION: Temozolomide demonstrate moderate activity in recurrent and progressive malignant brain tumors, and the response rate and PFS were better in the non-GBM tumors than in the GBM tumors. The treatment is well tolerated without any serious toxicity.
Brain Neoplasms ; Drug Therapy* ; Glioblastoma ; Glioma* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: SSTR2 and SSTR5 are most frequently observed in GH-secreting pituitary tumors, and SSTR5 is believed to be more specific to mammosomatotroph lineage. Octreotide binds with high affinity to those two types. There is no report that investigates the quantitative comparison of the two subtype gene expressions, and the correlation between their gene expressions and GH response to octreotide in GH-secreting pituitary adenomas. METHOD: GH response to octreotide was examined in 8 acromegalic patients before transsphenoidal adenomectomy. Genomic DNA and RNA were prepared from fresh frozen tumor tissues. PCR was performed to amplify and sequence the region between codon 184 and 251 that includes exons 8 and 9 of the Gas gene. mRNAs of SSTR2 and SSTRS were quantitated by the comparative RT-PCR and in vitro transcription. RESULTS: The in vitro transcripts of SSTR2 and SSTR5 cDNA were detected in all tumors. The amount of SSTR transcripts was considerably variable between the tumors. The amount of SSTR5 transcript was significantly smaller than that of SSTR2 transcript (0.07+-0.02 vs. 0.87+-0.10), and they did not show any correlation . There was no signicant difference in sex, age, tumor size and grade, basal GH levels, and the GH responses to octreotide between the group with high and low SSTR gene expression. No significant correlation was found between the GH response to octreotide and the amount of SSTR2 transcript, wherease the amount of SSTR5 transcripts showed a tendency of negative correlation with the octreotide response. Tumors with gsp oncogene showed significantly higher response to octreotide than those without the oncogene. The amount of SSTRS transcript in gsp-positive tumors was significantly smaller than in gsp-negative tumors (0.03+-0.01 vs. 0.12+-0.03). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that SSTRS gene expression is lower than that of SSTR2 in GH-secreting adenomas. It is probably attributed to the binding of somatostatin to SSTR5 which has a higher affinity to the hypothalamic somatostatin, Tumors with gsp-oncogene is likely to express a higher density of SSTR5 than those without the oncogene.
Acromegaly ; Adenoma ; Codon ; DNA ; DNA, Complementary ; Exons ; Gene Expression* ; Growth Hormone-Secreting Pituitary Adenoma* ; Humans ; Octreotide ; Oncogenes ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Somatostatin* ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger ; Somatostatin*

BACKGROUND: Acute renal failure (ARF) due to acute pyelonephritis (APN) in patients in the absence of obstructive uropathy, diabetes, or chronic renal failure was reported rarely (12 cases in the last 25 yrs in Clin Inf Dis, 1992; 243-6 by SR Jones)2). Acute renal failure is a rare complication of acute pyelonephritis in patients who do not have urinary obstruction. Although urinary tract infections are common in adults, pyelonephritis is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis of acute renal failure, and when clinicians weigh the possible consequences of bacteriuria, renal failure is not considered to be a reasonable possibility. METHODS: We observed 6 patients of acute pyelonephritis associated with acute renal failure as an initial manifestation on admission in the past 6 months. The analysis of clinical features of these 6 patients (APN+) compared to 7 patients of APN without ARF (APN-) revealed following data. RESULTS: All were female in both groups. The mean age was 331.7 years in APN+ and 48+6 years in APN-, respectively (p, ns). All in both APN- and APN+ were caused by E. coli. But, none in both groups except 1 in APN- had bacteremia. The previous history of UTI was present in 5 in APN-, but none in APN+. Duration of clinical symptoms before admission (8.4+/-0.5 vs. 4.4+/-1.0 days, P<0.05) and admission days (24.2+/-1.8 vs. 11.1+/-1.5 days, p=0.000) were significantly longer in APN+. On admission, HUN and serum creatinine was 45+/-2.7mg/dL and 3.5+/-0.2mg/dL in APN+, respectively. No one in APN+ required dialysis, and subsequently recovered renal function with prompt antibiotic therapy resulting in no significant difference compared to that of APN on discharge (serum creatinine, 1.0+/-0.1 vs. 0.9+/-0.1mg/dL). No differences in leukocytosis and serum electrolyte levels on admission were present. However, significant anemia was noted in APN+ (hemoglobin, 9.0+/-0.7 vs. 11.9+/-0.2gm/dL). The days of fever and leukocytosis before disappearance were not different in both groups, but those of flank pain (12.8+/-1.5 vs. 5.7+/-0.7 days, P=0.001) and pyuria (16+/-1.9 vs. 6.4+/-0.6 days, P=0.000) significantly longer in APN+. Upon ultrasonography, all in APN+ showed enhanced echogenicity, but I in APN . (P=P value, NS=not significant) CONCLUSION: Upon these data, we concluded that ARF associated with APN as an initial manifestation was accompanied by several distinct clinical characteristics, which could be used for the early recognition of its unusual occurrence and subsequent appropriate management including antibiotics leading to a favorable outcome.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Adult ; Anemia ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteremia ; Bacteriuria ; Creatinine ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dialysis ; Female ; Fever ; Flank Pain ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Leukocytosis ; Pyelonephritis* ; Pyuria ; Renal Insufficiency ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Tract Infections

Primary intracranial yolk sac tumor usually arises in the pineal or suprasellar area and shows poor prognosis. Several children with primary yolk sac tumor in the cerebellum have been reported in the literature, and none of these survived beyond 30 months. We report a case of primary yolk sac tumor in the cerebellum showing longer survival with intensive multimodal combined therapy using surgery, preirradiation chemotherapy, and irradiation.
Cerebellum ; Child ; Drug Therapy ; Endodermal Sinus Tumor* ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy ; Yolk Sac*