No abstract available.
Germ Cells* ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal*

Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare, locally aggressive tumor and occurs exclusively in the pelvic and perineal regions of women. But this tumor can occur in men, and the ratio of man to woman is about 1:6. We report a case of aggressive angiomyxoma of the scrotum in a 75-year-old man. The resected mass measured 23 21 10 cm and weighed 1,150 g, and was covered with thick but intact scrotal skin. The cut surface of the mass showed pale yellow to grayish white loose and edematous fibrous tissue with focal cystic degeneration. Microscopically, the mass was composed of loosely arranged bland-looking spindle or stellate cells and variable sized blood vessels with thickened and hyalinized wall. The spindle cells were strong positive for vimentin, focal, weak positive for desmin and smooth muscle actin but negative for S-100 protein. The spindle cells were also positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors.
Actins ; Aged ; Blood Vessels ; Desmin ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myxoma* ; Receptors, Progesterone ; S100 Proteins ; Scrotum* ; Skin ; Vimentin

Pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis is a rare disease of haphazard overproliferation of smooth muscle from perilymphatics, peribronchial and perivascular regions of the lung that leads to chylous effusion, hemoptysis, spontaneous pneumothorax and pulmonary insufficiency. The disease only affects women of child-bearing age. There is presently no successful therapy and most of the patients die within 10 years of diagnosis. We experienced a case of pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis in a 30-year-old woman who had suffered from three episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax for 4 years. Open lung biopsy was performed. Microscopically, abnormal excess proliferation of smooth muscle tissue was identified in the wall of perivascular lymphatic channels as well as around small bronchi, and more distal air spaces. Varying sized cytic spaces Iined by cuboidal cells were also present. Tamoxifen, given if February 1991, did not influence the course of her disease. She died of respiratory failure at age of 31 in April 1991.
Female ; Humans ; Biopsy

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis continues to be a major threat to health throughout the world, with an estimated 8 to 10 million new cases and 3 million deaths annually. And control of the disease is further threatened by the emergence of drug resistance. Recent major advances have been made in unravelling the molecular basis of M. tuberculosis resistance to isoniazid, streptomycin, quinolones and rifampin. And rifampin resistance is the useful indicator for the occurance of the multi-drug resistance. Hence, the rapid detection of rifampin resistant strain of M. tuberculosis is the key to have successful anti-tuberculosis therapy. Here we present our experience using PCR and line probe assay (INNO-LiPA) for easy and rapid detection of rifampin resistance of M. tuberculosis. METHODS: Thirty rifampin resistant and twenty susceptible strains of M. tuberculosis were collected from the routine culture and analyzed with INNO-LiPA. And results were compared with conventional antibiotic susceptibility testing. After amplification of the region of the RNA polymerase(rpoB), the amplified product is hybridized with a set of 10 oligonucleotides immobilized onto a membrane strip. From the pattern obtained the presence or not of rifampin resistance M. tuberculosis can be assessed. RESULTS: Ninety three percent of patients who had rifampin resistant strain revealed the multidrug resistance while only two showed resistance to rifampin only. The INNO-LiPA test results were generally agreeable with that of the conventional susceptibility testing(90%). The mutations in codon 531 (absence of 55 probe) were most commonly observed. In 55.2% of the 31 rifampin resistance M. tuberculosis confirmed on mutation by R-probes on the INNO-LiPA strips. CONCLUSIONS: The line probe assay after polymerase chain reaction is a fast and convenient method to detect both presence of M. tuberculosis complex strains and its resistance to rifampin in clinical specimens. We have suggested that detection of rifampin resistance may play a key role in monitoring multi-drug resistance. Consequently, the INNO-LiPA test may constitute an important tool for the control of tuberculosis.
Codon ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Humans ; Isoniazid ; Membranes ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Oligonucleotides ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Quinolones ; Rifampin* ; RNA ; Streptomycin ; Tuberculosis

No abstract available.
Endocrine System Diseases*

PURPOSE: This study is a descriptive survey research on factors related to fertility intention of nurses who work in general hospitals, by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB). METHOD: The research subjects are 674 nurses at the peak fertility age of 20-39 years old, who work in 4 general hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. RESULT: The mean score of subjects' fertility intention is 3.69 in 5-point scale. The fertility intention was significantly influenced by perceived behavioral control and subjective norm. CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the fertility intention of the nurses in general hospitals was influenced by the TPB variables such as the attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm. Thus, a comprehensive approach strategy is needed considering these factors.
Fertility ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Intention ; Research Subjects

Although there have been many reports about the importance of the spleen's role in hepatic fibrogenesis, the exact mechanism is still uncertain. The author designed this study to evaluate splenic function on hepatic fibrogenesis. The degree of hepatic fibrosis and the population of splenocyte subsets were studied in the experimental animal model with fibrosis produced by injecting normal swine serum intra-peritoneally into Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals were divided into three groups; group A was subjected to injection of swine serum only, group B swine serum and complete Freund's adjuvant and group C swine serum and cyclosporin A. The experimental hepatic fibrogenesis by swine serum was augumented by coinjection with the adjuvant and inhibited by cyclosporin A. The study of the splenocyte subset revealed increased percentages of spienic B cell and CD4+ cell and a decreased percentage of CD8+ cell, and these changes of splenocyte subset were also augumented by the adjuvant and inhibited by cyclosporin A. The percent of monocytes was not significantly altered, although a tendancy of early decrease by the adjuvant was noted.
Rats ; Animals

Detailed mechanism of uterine cervical cancer progression still remains unclear. Altered programmed cell death (apoptosis) and cellular proliferation are associated with the development of neoplasia. The authors investigated the expressions of bcl-2, which inhibit apoptosis, and caspase-3, which is involved in the induction of apoptosis and has been considered to be correlated with apoptosis, and proliferating activity according to the degree of malignancy in the squamous neoplasia of the uterine cervix. Correlation between bcl-2 and caspase-3 expression and proliferating activity was done. The materials were low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL, n=15), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL, n=15), microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma (n=15), and squamous cell carcinoma (n=15). Immunohistochemical stainings for bcl-2, caspase-3, and MIB-1 were done. bcl-2 and MIB-1 expressions were progressively increased in accordance with the increasing degree of malignancy, but caspase-3 immunoreactivity was higher in LSIL than invasive cancers. There was an inverse relationship between bcl-2 and caspase-3 expression, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. No significant correlation between MIB-1, bcl-2, and caspase-3 expressions was observed. These results suggest that an inhibition of apoptosis and the augmentation of proliferating activity of tumor cells might be separately involved in the development of the cervical squamous neoplasia.
Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Caspase 3* ; Cell Death ; Cell Proliferation ; Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
C-Reactive Protein* ; Female ; Obstetric Labor, Premature* ; Pregnancy ; Tocolysis*