No abstract available.
Obesity, Morbid* ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome*

The Q-switched ruby laser has been used in clinics since the early 1980s. It was tried to remove tattoos at first with good effects. Thereafter, some physicians reported the usefulness of the laser in the treatment of some kinds of pigmented lesions such as nevus of Ota, freckles and lentigines. The reason why the Q-switched ruby laser has a lot of effect on tattoos and some pigmented lesions is that the laser has the function of selective photothermolysis on those cutaneous lesions. The authors have treated 185 patients with tattoos and cutaneous pigmented lesions using the Q-switched ruby laser during last 4 years ago. Patients had tattoos, nevus of Ota, freckles, lentigines, melasma, postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, and were followed up over 5 months after the end of the laser treatment. The authors analysed the results and compared them with other's results in Caucasians, and we intended to present a guide of the treatment using Q-switched ruby laser in Koreans. The results were as follows 1. Tattoos showed good results after the treatment because the most of tattoos are black or dark blue in color and cheated by amateur. We repeated the laser treatments with the interval of 2 weeks. 2. Nevus of Ota, freckles and lentigines showed good results after treatment of the Q-switched ruby laser 3. Melasma showed no improvement after the treatment. 4. The treatment of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation using the Q-switched ruby laser must be confined within a part of the lesion at the first visit of patient, because the therapeutic effects were observed in some patients only and the degree of depigmention after treatment was diverse. 5. The most common complication after Q-switched ruby laser treatment was pigmentary change, including hyperpigmentation in most of the cases and hypopigmentation in some cases. However, there was no visible scar or remarkable change of skin texture in all of the cases.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cicatrix ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Hypopigmentation ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Lentigo ; Melanosis ; Nevus of Ota ; Skin

No abstract available.
Methylprednisolone* ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic*

Although the medical applications of He-Ne lasers remain controversial, the clinical use of these devices for a variety of analgesic and wound healing applications is steadily increasing. Research studies of the effects of He-Ne laser irradiation on biologic function are growing in number and scope. Many investigators have described successful treatment of a wide variety of painful musculoskeletal, rheumatologic, and neurologic conditions with He-Ne lasers. Since we have recently initiated studies examing the effects of He-Ne lasers on wound healing and pain relief, we investigated the effect of He-Ne laser irradiation on the healing of skin defect, abrasion, burn and on the pain relief of temporomandibular joint dysfunction in admitted patients. The total number of patients was 96. The He-Ne laser power was 1 mW, dose was 1 J/cm2 and the wavelength was 632.8 nm. Each patient underwent 2 to 8 trials of irradiation on point around the wound area and painful joint at a frequency of 2 times a week. After every 1 trial up to 8 trials, we evaluated the efficacy of He-Ne laser irradiation by checking the wound size and by questioning the patients about degree of pain. Following the estimation by patients, excellent, good, and fair were accounted as effective, and poor as noneffective. The efficacy of the laser at the end of 2 to 8 trials was noticed on 78.1%, and the degree of pain relief was 73.9%. These results suggested that the irradiation of He-Ne laser is an effective and safe treatment for wound healing and pain relief. In this overview, we are summarizing some of our results which suggest a potential usefulness of He-Ne lasers for stimulation of wound healing and pain relief. Although its clinical use can be anticipated in the future, further research is required to clarify the basic mechanisms and the preferred optical parameters, such as treatment time and intensity, for increased wound healing and pain relief.
Burns ; Humans ; Joints ; Research Personnel ; Skin ; Temporomandibular Joint ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.
Byssinosis* ; Carbon* ; Daegu* ; Korea* ; Textiles*

Primary amenorrhea due to intrasella arachnoid cyst is a very rare disease and require careful and frequent evaluation because may produce intracranial hemorrhage, elevated intracranial pressure and rapid expansion. Surgical intervention is needed only when visual disturbance, hypopituitarism or enlarging lesion is shown. Thus, we present a case of primary amenorrhea due to intrasella arachnoid cyst which was resected through the transsphenoidal approach.
Amenorrhea ; Arachnoid* ; Female ; Hypogonadism* ; Hypopituitarism ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Intracranial Hypertension ; Rare Diseases

BACKGROUND: Measurement of the plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level has been recommended as the first diagnostic test for differentiating between ACTH-independent Cushing syndrome (CS) and ACTH-dependent CS. When plasma ACTH values are inconclusive, a differential diagnosis of CS can be made based upon measurement of the serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) level and results of the high-dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDST). The aim of this study was to assess the utility of plasma ACTH to differentiate adrenal CS from Cushing' disease (CD) and compare it with that of the HDST results and serum DHEA-S level. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, multicenter study from January 2000 to May 2012 involving 92 patients with endogenous CS. The levels of plasma ACTH, serum cortisol, 24-hour urine free cortisol (UFC) after the HDST, and serum DHEA-S were measured. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients had adrenal CS and 35 patients had CD. The area under the curve of plasma ACTH, serum DHEA-S, percentage suppression of serum cortisol, and UFC after HDST were 0.954, 0.841, 0.950, and 0.997, respectively (all P<0.001). The cut-off values for plasma ACTH, percentage suppression of serum cortisol, and UFC after HDST were 5.3 pmol/L, 33.3%, and 61.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of plasma ACTH measurement were 84.2% and 94.3%, those of serum cortisol were 95.8% and 90.6%, and those of UFC after the HDST were 97.9% and 96.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Significant overlap in plasma ACTH levels was seen between patients with adrenal CS and those with CD. The HDST may be useful in differentiating between these forms of the disease, especially when the plasma ACTH level alone is not conclusive.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone* ; Cushing Syndrome* ; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate ; Dexamethasone ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Pituitary ACTH Hypersecretion* ; Plasma* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: The development of new drugs or alternative therapies effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is of great importance, and various natural anti-MRSA products are good candidates for combination therapies. We evaluated the antibacterial activities of a Phellinus baumii ethyl acetate extract (PBEAE) and its synergistic effects with beta-lactams against MRSA. METHODS: The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the PBEAE. The PBEAE synergistic effects were determined by evaluating the MICs of anti-staphylococcal antibiotic mixtures, with or without PBEAE. Anti-MRSA synergistic bactericidal effects of the PBEAE and beta-lactams were assessed by time-killing assay. An ELISA was used to determine the effect of the PBEAE on penicillin binding protein (PBP)2a production. RESULTS: The MICs and MBCs of PBEAE against MRSA were 256-512 and 1,024-2,048 microg/mL, respectively. The PBEAE significantly reduced MICs of all beta-lactams tested, including oxacillin, cefazolin, cefepime, and penicillin. However, the PBEAE had little or no effect on the activity of non-beta-lactams. Time-killing assays showed that the synergistic effects of two beta-lactams (oxacillin and cefazolin) with the PBEAE were bactericidal in nature (Deltalog10 colony forming unit/mL at 24 hr: 2.34-2.87 and 2.10-3.04, respectively). The PBEAE induced a dose-dependent decrease in PBP2a production by MRSA, suggesting that the inhibition of PBP2a production was a major synergistic mechanism between the beta-lactams and the PBEAE. CONCLUSIONS: PBEAE can enhance the efficacy of beta-lactams for combined therapy in patients infected with MRSA.
Acetates/chemistry ; Agaricales/*chemistry/metabolism ; Anti-Infective Agents/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Drug Synergism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/*drug effects/metabolism ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Penicillin-Binding Proteins/analysis/metabolism ; Plant Extracts/chemistry/*pharmacology ; beta-Lactams/*pharmacology

In order to observe the changes in left ventricular function during coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion, left anterior descending (LAD) coronary arteries in the anesthetized dogs were occluded for 1 hour and then reperfused for 4 hours. Hemodynamic indexes of global systolic and diastolic function and regional wall thickness changes as a regional contractile index were measured during occlusion and reperfusion. The results were as follows; 1) Indexes of global systolic function (left ventricular peak systolic pressure, peak positive dP/dt) and global diastolic function (peak negative dP/dt, time constant, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure) showed deterioration in early occlusion period (10-30 minutes) but gradually improved even if coronary occlusion persisted. Reperfusion did not induce significant changes except that peak positive dP/dt transiently deteriorated 30 minutes after reperfusion and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure decreased 1.5-2 hours after reperfusion. 2) Indexed of regional function (i.e, end-diastolic thickness and % systolic thickening of anterior left ventricular wall) deteriorated by 10 minutes' occlusion which persisted during the entire occlusion period. Reperfusion induced no significant improvement in regional contractile function compared with occlusion 60 minutes' data, which suggested reperfusion for 4 hours after 1 hour's LAD occlusion may be insufficient for the ischemic region to recover its contractility. 3) Reperfusion arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia) was noted in most (6/9) of the dogs, one of which deteriorated into ventricular fibrillation and the others spontaneously converted to normal sinus rhythm.
Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Blood Pressure ; Coronary Occlusion ; Coronary Vessels* ; Dogs ; Hemodynamics ; Reperfusion* ; Ventricular Fibrillation ; Ventricular Function, Left*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of X-ray irradiation on apoptosis and change of expression of aquaporin 5 (AQP5) and transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-beta) in the rat submandibular gland (SMG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: SMGs of 120 male Sprague-Dawley rats were irradiated with a single X-ray dose (3, 10, 20, or 30 Gy). At the early and late post-irradiation phase, apoptosis was measured by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method, and expression of AQP5 and TGF-beta was determined by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: At the late post-irradiation phase, increased apoptosis was evident and marked decreases of expression of AQP5 expression by acinar cells and TGF-beta expression by ductal cells were evident. CONCLUSION: Apoptosis after X-ray irradiation develops relatively late in rat SMG. Irradiation reduces AQP5 and TGF-beta expression in different SMG cell types.
Acinar Cells ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Aquaporin 5 ; DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase ; Humans ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Submandibular Gland ; Transforming Growth Factor beta