The idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) represents a heterogenous group of disorder characterized by prolonged eosinophilia of undetectable cause and multiorgan system dysfunction. Bone marrow is the most frequentry involved organ, but the most severe clinicopathologic involvement is heart. The major cause of death in patients with the HES is cardiac dysfunction especially congestive heart failure resulted from endocardial fibrosis and restrictive cardiomyopathy. We have experienced a case of DES with both cardiac and pulmonary involvements. The patient was an 18-month-old infant with poorly controlled lung abscess who complained of fever and productive cough. On the microscopic examination of pleural effusion, eosinophilic infiltration was noted. M-mode echocardiogram showed diffuse thickening of interventricular septum and left ventricular posterior wall. On the peripheral blood smear, prolonged eosinophilia was observed. We confirmed this case with bone marrow aspiration which showed eosinophilic hyperplasia.
Bone Marrow ; Cardiomyopathy, Restrictive ; Cause of Death ; Cough ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Fever ; Fibrosis ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome* ; Hyperplasia ; Infant ; Lung Abscess ; Pleural Effusion

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare disease characterized by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia and non-malignant lymphohistiocytic infiltration with hemophagocytosis in reticulendothelial organs. We experienced three cases of FHL in identical male twins and their younger brother who presented with fever and severe hepatosplenomegaly. Cytopenia, elevated serum transaminase and low serum albumin levels, hypertriglyceridemia were common laboratory findings of them. One of them showed markedly decreased phytohemagglutinin induced lymphocyte proliferation and reversed CD4/CD8 ratio (0.52) in flowcytometric lymphocyte subset analysis. Aspirate of bone marrow revealed typical features consistent with FHL in two of them. In spite of recent therapeutic approaches, none of them survived.
Bone Marrow ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic* ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; Serum Albumin ; Siblings

No abstract available.
Angiography ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; Lower Extremity

No abstract available.
Basilar Artery ; Brain Injuries ; Infarction

No abstract available.
Fatty Liver* ; Ultrasonography*

No abstract available.
HL-60 Cells* ; Humans ; Luminescence* ; Tretinoin*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare the frequency with which pseudole-sions around the gallbladder (GB) fossa are revealed by multiphasic CT, by CT during arterial portography (CTAP), and by CT during hepatic arteriography (CTHA) and to determine their radiological characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Multiphasic CT, CTAP, and CTHA examinations of 81 patients without pathology of the GB and around the GB fossa were evaluated for pseudolesion around the GB fossa. The definition of pseudolesion was as follows: 1) hyperattenuation during the arterial phase and isoattenuation during the delayed phase of multipha-sic CT, or perfusion defect on CTAP and hyperattenuation on CTHA; 2) no Lipiodol tagging on Lipiodol CT; 3) all findings observed adjacent to the gallbladder fossa; and 4) no interval change on follow-up CTAP and CTHA. We compared the frequency of pseudolesions around the GB fossa, as seen on multiphasic CT, CTAP, and CTHA, and determined their size, location, and shape, as revealed by CTHA. RESULTS: The frequency of pseudolesion was 2.5% (2/81) on multiphasic CT, while on CTAP or CTHA, the frequency was 53.1% (43/81), and 58 pseudolesions were identi-fied. Of 58 pseudolesions, 56 were revealed by CTAP and 57 by CTHA. Forty-nine of 58 pseudolesions were larger and all pseudolesions showed more contrast to parenchyma on CTHA than on CTAP. The location of pseudolesions was segment V(32 of 58), IV (25 of 58), and VI (1 of 58), and their size ranged from 5 to 30 (mean, 17.5)mm. Pseudolesions were wedge-shaped (48 of 58), oval (6 of 58), bandlike (3 of 58), or round (1 of 58). CONCLUSION: CTAP and CTHA frequently revealed pseudolesion around the GB fossa. The radiological characteristics of these modalities help differentiate pseudolesions from true tumoral hepatic lesions.
Angiography ; Ethiodized Oil ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gallbladder* ; Humans ; Pathology ; Perfusion ; Portography

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: Bone morphogenetic protein-2(BMP-2) has been shown to possess significant osteoinducitve potential. There have been attempts to overcome a limitation of mass production, and economical efficiency of BMP. The aim of this study was to produce recombinant human BMP-2(rhBMP-2) from E. coli in a large scale and evaluate its biological activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The E.coli strain BL21(DE3) was used as a host for rhBMP-2 production. Dimerized rhBMP-2 was purified by affinity chromatography using Heparin column. To determine the physicochemical properties of the rhBMP-2 expressed in E. coli, we examined the HPLC profile and performed Western blot analysis. The effect of the purified rhBMP-2 dimer on osteoblast differentiation was examined by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and representing morphological change using C2C12 cell. RESULTS: E. coli was genetically engineered to produce rhBMP-2 in a non-active aggregated form. We have established a method which involves refolding and purifying a folded rhBMP-2 dimer from non-active aggregates. The purified rhBMP-2 homodimer was characterized by SDS-PAGE as molecular weight of about 28kDa and eluted at 34% acetonitrile, 13.27 min(retention time) in the HPLC profile and detected at Western blot. The purified rhBMP-2 dimer stimulated ALP activity and induced the transformation from myogenic differentiation to osteogenic differentiation. CONCLUSION: rhBMP-2 was produced in E. coli using genetic engineering. The purified rhBMP-2 dimer stimulated ALP activity and induced the osteogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells.
Acetonitriles ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Blotting, Western ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Durapatite ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Genetic Engineering ; Heparin ; Humans ; Molecular Weight ; Osteoblasts ; Recombinant Proteins ; Sprains and Strains ; Transforming Growth Factor beta