The posterior cruciate ligament in the stoutest ligamentous structure in the knee joint. Kennedy and Hawkins have confirmed its strenght to be about 2 times that of the anterior cruciate ligament or tibial collateral ligament. This would appear to offer the support that this ligament has a vital role to play in knee stabilization. But, in the past, non-surgical management was frequently elected either because of the belief that most kness with posterior cruciate insufficiency are asymptomatic or because it is difficult to access surgically. Recently, Hughston and Trickey reported good results after surgical repair of the rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament. And current trend is to repair it surgically. So, we analyzed the 36 cases of acute posterior cruciate ligament injuries, who were admitted and treated surgically in Severance Hospital between Jan. 1981 to Dec. 1985, and obtained the following results. 1. Single rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament largely results in good outcome. 2. When the rupture site is in the substane, we can obtain relatively good results with the augmentation using the medial head of the gastrocnemius. 3. When combined with medial or lateral compartment injuries, the chance of later instability and reconstruction is high.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Clinical Study ; Head ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Ligaments ; Medial Collateral Ligament, Knee ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; Rupture

A one step reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) combined nested PCR was set up to increase efficiency in the diagnosis of canine distemper virus (CDV) infection after developement of nested PCR. Two PCR primer sets were designed based on the sequence of nucleocapsid gene of CDV Onderstepoort strain. One-step RT-PCR with the outer primer pair was revealed to detect 10(2) PFU/ml. The sensitivity was increased hundredfold using the one-step RT-PCR combined with the nested PCR. Specificity of the PCR was also confirmed using other related canine virus and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and body secretes of healthy dogs. Of the 51 blood samples from dogs clinically suspected of CD, 45 samples were revealed as positive by one-step RT-PCR combined with nested PCR. However, only 15 samples were identified as positive with a single one step RT-PCR. Therefore approximately 60% increase in the efficiency of the diagnosis was observed by the combined method. These results suggested that one step RT-PCR combined with nested PCR could be a sensitive, specific, and practical method for diagnosis of CDV infection.
Animals ; Distemper Virus, Canine/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Dogs ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods/*veterinary ; RNA, Viral/genetics/isolation & purification ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; Viral Vaccines

Nine species of genus Ganoderma collected in Korea and abroad including Ganoderma lucidum complex and G. lucidum were compared by investigating growth characteristics. In the bottle culture, the mycelial growth periods of G. lucidum from Taiwan and North America was 26 to 30 days compared to that of Korean G. lucidum, which was 30 to 32 days. Cultivation period of Taiwan and North American isolates was 30 to 32 days which were 11 to 17 days shorter than those of Korean isolates. Biological efficiency of Taiwan and North American isolates were ranged from 3.3 to 5.5%, which were apparently lower than that of Korean isolates which ranged from 6.2 to 9.4%. Korean isolates had longer stipes(15~40 mm) and more number of pileus(4~6/bottle) than those of Taiwan and North American isolates. The G. lucidum isolates collected from Korea will be regarded as the independent species from the G. lucidum collected from Taiwan and North America since, the G. lucidum from Korea showed much different growth characteristics in various aspects compared to the G. lucidum from Taiwan and North America.
Fruiting Bodies, Fungal ; Ganoderma* ; Korea ; North America ; Reishi* ; Taiwan

PURPOSE: The solid variety of cerebella r tumors in adult is relatively uncommon. This study is to describe the characteristic MR findings of various solid cerebellar tumors in adult. METHODS: Twenty three cerebellar solid tumors from 22 consecutive patients over age of 15 with surgical confirmations were retrospectively evaluated with MR imaging. H istologic diagnosis included hemangioblastoma (n=6), metastasis (n=6), high-grade astrocytoma (n=3), and medulloblastoma (n=8). The MR findings were reviewed with attention to the size, the signal intensity of the tumors, pattern of enhancement, tumoral margin, degree of peritumoral edema, signal void vascular structures within and/or around the tumor, and location in relation to attachment to the pial surface of the tumor. RESULTS: Solid hemangioblastomas consistently showed slightly low or iso signal intensity on T1 -weighted images and high intensity on T2-weighted images, dense homogeneous enhancement, and signal void vessels within and/or around the mass. Metastatic tumors showed various find ings with predominantly low or iso signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Medulloblastomas was midline and/or paramidline in location, and had larger mass formation. High-grade astrocytomas revealed nonspecific MR findings with no signal void vessels. CONCLUSION: Hemangioblastoma, metastasis, malignant astrocytoma, and medulloblastoma should be included in differential diagnosis of solid cerebellar tumors in adult. Dense homogeneous enhancement and signal void vessels are characteristic of hemangioblastoma. The signal intensity of the tumor, and presence of signal void vessels, location and enhancement pattern can be some value in differential diagnosis of solid cerebellar tumors in adult.
Adult* ; Astrocytoma ; Cerebellar Neoplasms* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Edema ; Hemangioblastoma ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medulloblastoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies

This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of total Ginseng saponin (GTS) on the blood pressure of the rat and to elucidate its mechanism of action. GTS, when injeced into a femoral vein of the rat, caused dose-related fall in blood pressure with secondarily elevation of the blood pressure. The depressor effect of GTS was blocked by treatment of atropine and prazosin, but not affected by pretreatment with chlorisondamine or cyproheptadine. GTS inhibited significantly the pressor response evoked by norepinephrine. The pressor effect of GTS was not affected by treatment with atropine or cyproheptadine, but was attenuated markedly by pretreatment with chlorisondamine. From the above mentioned results, it is thought that GTS produces the pressor and the depressor actions in the rat, and that its depressor response is exerted partly through the stimulation of cholinergic muscaric receptors with the blockade of adrenergic alpha-receptors, and that its pressor response is revealed by stimulation of nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia.
Animals ; Atropine ; Blood Pressure* ; Chlorisondamine ; Cyproheptadine ; Femoral Vein ; Ganglia, Autonomic ; Norepinephrine ; Panax* ; Prazosin ; Rats* ; Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; Saponins*

The transoral approach to anteriorly placed lesions at the upper cervical region is not new, but is still infrequently used by neurosurgeons for lesions in this region. The indications and surgical methods vary widely, and there is much room for discussion of the technical details. We are reporting our experience with this technique in two patients; one is a traumatic odontoid fracture and another is a cervical epidural abscess.
Epidural Abscess* ; Humans ; Microsurgery

PURPOSE: The outcome and prognostic factors of brainstem glioma were evaluated following radiotherapy methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1986 and 2001, 45 childhood patients with diffuse brainstem glioma were treated. There were 26 boys and 19 girls, with a median age of 7 years (range 3~18). The histopathological diagnoses were confirmed in 13 patients, which revealed a low-grade glioma in four patients, and high-grade glioma in the other nine. Before 1993, radiation therapy using a regime of 1.8 to 2.0 Gy once a day was performed in 16 cases; thereafter, a regimes of 1.1 or 1.5 Gy twice a day was given in 15 and 14 cases, respectively. Nine patients were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. The response to the treatment was evaluated by the MRI findings 4 weeks after radiotherapy. RESULTS: After radiotherapy, the neurological deficit improved in 42 of the 45 patients (93%). The MRI responses were as follows; partial response 22/39 (56%), minimal to no response in 16/39 (41%) and tumor progression in 1/39 (3%). The median time to disease progression was 7 months, and the median survival was 12 months; the overall survival rate at 1 year was 41%. There was no significant prognostic factor for overall survival. The progression-free survival was influenced by the tumor histology (low grade vs. high grade, p=0.05) in those patients whose pathology was confirmed. CONCLUSION: The radiation therapy fractionation schedule did not influence the survival. Low grade histology was a possible favorable prognostic factor of progression-free survival in pediatric brainstem glioma patients.
Appointments and Schedules ; Brain Stem* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Diagnosis ; Disease Progression ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Glioma* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pathology ; Radiotherapy ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Humans ; Sexual Behavior* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

No abstract available.
Nerve Regeneration*

Lenticular bum can occur as complication after laser iridotomy or retinal photocoagulation. Some authors have, indeed, reported the cases in which focal lenticular opacity developed after laser iridotomy or retinal photocoagulation. Fortunately, it was not progressive in short-term follow up study. When argon laser beam penetrates ocular media, a portion of it is absorbed by lens. So visible lenticular opacity is not developed after argon retinal photocoagulation if lens is clear. But it is not known whether subclinical lenticular opacity can occur after argon laser retinal photocoagulation. We focused argon laser beam onto anterior lens capsule in 35 black and brown rabbit and evaluated development of subclinical lenticular opacity with densitometer 1 and 8 weeks later. We also analyzed lens protein 1 week later. Argon laser energy used was below 20 Joules. The following results were obatined. 1. Lenticular opacity was detected by densitometer in all cases, but it was not detected by slit-lamp. 2. Amount of lenticular opacity was in direct proportion to argon laser energy(p<0.001). 3. Lenticular opacity detected on the 1st week by densitomer was not detectable on the 8th week. 4. The lens protein changes of senile cataract were not found in the lenticular opacity detected on the 1st week.
Argon* ; Cataract ; Follow-Up Studies ; Light Coagulation* ; Retinaldehyde*