No abstract available.
Humans* ; Tooth*

No abstract available.
Humans* ; Tooth*

Relapsing polychondritis is a rare autoimmune disease involving the cartilaginous structures of the whole body. Its diagnosis can be difficult when the typical clinical features such as auricular chondritis are absent. Here, we report on a case of a 51-year-old female who presented with cough, dyspnea, and polyarthritis. Chest computed tomography showed the diffuse involvement of tracheobronchial cartilage. According to Damiani's criteria, she was diagnosed as relapsing polychondritis even though there was no unique involvement of auricular cartilage, and high dose steroid and immunosuppressive therapy were then started. This case indicated that patients who have tracheobronchial cartilage involvement without definite auricular chondritis should be considered for relapsing polychondritis as a differential diagnosis.
Arthritis ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Cartilage ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dyspnea ; Ear Cartilage ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Polychondritis, Relapsing* ; Thorax

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that defects in mitochondrial function are involved in the induction of neuronal cell injury. Prostanoids such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) are thought to play an important role in inflammation and neurologic disorders. However, the effect of PGE2 on cholesterol-oxidation-product-induced neuronal cell injury remains uncertain. METHODS: The effect of PGE2 on toxicity of 7-ketocholesterol (7-KCS) was assessed in PC12 cells that were differentiated following treatment with nerve growth factor. The mitochondria-mediated apoptotic process was evaluated by examining the inhibitory effect of PGE2 on 7-KCS-induced toxicity. RESULTS: 7-KCS induced BID cleavage, increased the production of proapoptotic Bax protein, decreased antiapoptotic Bcl-2, increased p53, and promoted cytochrome c release in the cytosolic fraction, which subsequently elicited the activation of caspase-3, DNA fragmentation, and cell death. Treatment with PGE2 inhibited this 7-KCS-induced apoptotic process and cell death. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that PGE2 inhibits 7-KCS-induced toxicity in differentiated PC12 cells by suppressing the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic process. PGE2 may protect against cholesterol-oxidation-product-induced neuronal cell injury.
Animals ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cytochromes c ; Cytosol ; Dinoprostone ; DNA Fragmentation ; Inflammation ; Ketocholesterols ; Mitochondria ; Nerve Growth Factor ; Nervous System Diseases ; Neurons ; PC12 Cells ; Prostaglandins

The patterns of the conventional radiation treatment fields and their shielding blocks are analysed to determine the optimal dimension of the MultiLeaf Collimator (MLC) which is considered as an essential tool for conformal therapy. Total 1169 radiation fields from 303 patients (203 from Asan Medical center, 50 from Baek Hosp and 50 from Hanyang Univ. Hosp.) were analysed for this study. Weighted case selection treatment site (from The Korean Society of Therapeutic Radiology 1003). Ninety one percent of total fields have shielding blocks. Y axis is defined as leaf movement direction and it is assumed that MLC is installed on the cranial-caudal direction. The length of X axis were distributed from 4cm to 40cm (less than 21cm for 95% of cases), and Y axis from 5cm to 38cm (less than 22cm for 95% of cases). The shielding blocks extended to less than 6cm from center of the filed for 95% of the cases. Start length for ninety five percent of block is less than 10cm for X axis and 11cm for Y axis. Seventy six percent of shielding blocks could be placed by either X or Y axis direction, 7.9% only by Y axis, 5.1% only by X axis and it is reasonable to install MLC for Y direction. Ninety five percent of patients can be treated with coplanar rotation therapy without changing the collimator angle. Eleven percent of cases of cases were impossible to replace with MLC. Futher study of shielding should be larger than 21cm X 22cm. The MLC should be designed as a pair of 21 leaves with 1cm wide for an acceptable resolution and 17cm long to enable the leaf to overtravel at least 6cm from the treatment field center.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Humans ; Radiation Oncology

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD)crystal deposition disease is one of the most common causes of arthralgia in elderly.The acute form (pseudogout) may present as acute monoarticular or polyarticular arthritis.It is often accompanied by high fever and sometimes simulates acute infectious condition.The knee is the joint most frequently affected by pseudogout but other sites such as wrist,shoulder,ankle,elbow and hands may be affected.A few cases involving cervical and lumbar spine mistaken for CNS infection have also been described in foreign countries.We report here a case of CPPD crystal deposition disease mimicking meningitis.
Arthralgia ; Calcium Pyrophosphate* ; Calcium* ; Chondrocalcinosis ; Fever ; Hand ; Joints ; Knee ; Meningitis ; Spine

Sweet's syndrome is an uncommon reactive dermatoses characterized by fever, polymorphonuclear leukocytosis, painful erythematous plaques, and dense dermal infiltrate of neutrophils. Sweet's syndrome can be associated with several diseases, including infectious diseases, malignant tumors, and autoimmune diseases. However, no case of Sweet's syndrome associated with Sjogren's syndrome (SjS) has been reported in Korea. A 44-year-old woman presented with acute pustular rashes and fever. The patient had multiple papulopustular skin rashes, and complained of fever, chills, and headache. Our patient had the characteristic clinical and histopathological features of Sweet's syndrome, in association with SjS, diagnosed by salivary gland scan, positive anti-SS-A/SS-B antibody, and sicca symptoms simultaneously. Thus, we report on a case of a patient with Sweet's syndrome with concomitant diagnosis of SjS.
Adult ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Chills ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fever ; Headache ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukocytosis ; Neutrophils ; Salivary Glands ; Sjogren's Syndrome* ; Skin Diseases ; Sweet Syndrome*

Purpose: Aim of this study is to review the simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation (SPK) cases performed in Seoul National University Hospital for DM nephropathy patients. Methods: Medical records of the SPK recipients from April 2002 to February 2006 were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. Results: There were 10 cases of SPK transplantation in SNUH from April 2002 to February 2006, which were composed of 8 type II DM patients and 2 type I DM patients. We experienced 1 operative mortality case and 3 acute rejection cases. All the acute rejection cases were recovered by steroid pulse therapy. We performed two graft pancreatectomy operations due to CMV infection followed by duodenal perforation and severe graft pancreatitis with pancreatic leakage. With the exception of 1 mortality case and 2 graft loss cases, all 7 patients stopped insulin and oral hypoglycemic agent and are keeping blood glucose level within normal range. Conclusion: Although patient follow-up is limited up to four years, SPK recipients are free from insulin use and show good graft functions. SPK could be a good treatment modality for insulin dependent type II DM nephropathy patients.
Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Insulin ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Pancreas Transplantation ; Pancreas* ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatitis, Graft ; Reference Values ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul* ; Transplants