BACKGROUND: Urticaria pigmentosa(UP) is primarily a disease of children. There have been no clinical studies of UP in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to find the clinical characteristics of UP in Korean child-hood patients. METHOD: Twenty-nine cases of urticaria pigmentosa confirmed clinically and histopathologically were analyzed. RESULTS: The maculopapular type was the most common with the usual age of onset before the age of 6 months, and the lesions tended to be distributed in the central portion of the body. Darier sign was positive in 92% of the patients(24/26). No systemic involvements were detected in any of the patients with minimal associated symptoms. Seven patients of the maculopapular type and one patient of the multiple nodular type followed up for more than 2 years showed a tendency to improve or clear by the age of 6 years. CONCLUSION: Neonatal or infantile-onset patients of UP in Korean pediatric population were considered to have a benign clinical course and to require no aggressive therapy.
Age of Onset ; Child* ; Clinical Study* ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Urticaria Pigmentosa* ; Urticaria*

The clinicopathologic features and the comparative analysis of diagnostic methods in 42 patients having intestinal tuberculosis were studied. In all the cases, clinical and colonoscopic diagnosis was confirmed by histological examination. Abdominal pain was the most common symptom (54%). Twenty nine patients had active pulmonary tuberculosis which was confirmed by a chest X-ray, or an AFB smear and a culture of sputum. A transverse ulcer with surrounding hypertrophic mucosa and multiple erosion was the usual colonoscopic findings. The granulomas were usually located in the just upper and lower portion of muscularis mucosa. The direct smear and culture of the fresh biopsy material showed AFB in 11 (32.4%) and 12 cases (36.4%) respectively. Ziehl-Neelsen staining in serially sectioned slides from formalin-fixed, paraffin- embedded tissue revealed AFB in 15 cases (35.7%). An immunohistochemical stain for Mycobacterium bovis was done in all cases and 13 cases were positive (31%). A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done and showed positivity in 4 out of 20 cases of fresh biospy material and 12 out of 40 cases in paraffin embedded tissue. For the conclusive diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis, a Ziehl-Neelsen stain is the most sensitive, fast, and cost-effective method. The diagnostic accuracy will be increased when other diagnostic methods such as tissue culture and PCR are coupled with this simple staining method.
Abdominal Pain ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis* ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Intestines ; Mucous Membrane ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Paraffin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND: Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a genetic disorder of the melanin pigment system in which melanin synthesis is reduced or absent in the skin, hair, and eyes. OCA is classified into two major types, and tyrosinase-related OCA can be produced by mutations of the structural gene for tyrosinase enzyme (TYR gene). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the segregation of mutant alleles of the TYR gene in tyrosinase-negative and tyrosinase-positive Korean OCA patients and families. METHODS: We amplified exon I, II, and III of the TYR gene of Korean OCA patients and their families by polymerase chain reactions (PCR), and analyzed the mutations by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis in exon I and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses in exon II and exon III. RESULTS: Two tyrosinase-negative cases showed mutations in exon I. Four tyrosinase-nega-tive cases and one tyrosinase-positive case showed mutations in exon II, and one tyrosinase-neg- ative case showed mutations in exon III. In summary, we found three kinds of mutation in four tyrosinase-negative OCA patients and one tyrsinase-positive OCA patient. CONCLUSIONS: RFLP and SSCP analysis can provide a basis for a rapid and sensitive screening system to detect TYR gene mutations of Korean OCA patients and their families.
Albinism, Oculocutaneous* ; Alleles ; Exons ; Hair ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Melanins ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Skin

BACKGROUND: The importance of the determination of cell viability has prompted the development of several assays of viability that utilize the exclusion of certain dyes by viable cell membranes. Recently, flow cytometry has been adapted to estimate cell viability by using fluorescent dye which is excluded by living cells on the basis of altered dead cell properties. OBJECTIVE: We have developed a flow Cytometric method for measuring cell viability after staining with propidium iodide (PI) and have compared it with the classical colorimetric method, MTT assay, which is currently widely used in cytotoxicity assays in the research field. METHODS: We performed flow cytometry and MTT assay for the comparison of the sensitivity of the assessment of cell viability. RESULTS: Decrease of cell viability was measured by flow cytometry with the addition of as little as 0.002% Triton-X 100 in comparison to MTT assay which could only reveal a similar decrease of cell viability with the new method to 0.008% Triton-X 100. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate this new method to be more sensitive and simple for the assessment of cell viability.
Cell Membrane ; Cell Survival* ; Coloring Agents ; Flow Cytometry ; Methods* ; Propidium*

No abstract available.
Diabetes Mellitus* ; Hearing* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) has been thought to play a major role in neurological injury during global brain ischemia and subsequent reperfusion following resuscitation in cardiac arrest. So, we hypothesized that the elevation in TNF-alpha was dependent upon the duration of the global brain ischemia, and related to delayed neuronal damage. METHODS: Fourteen rats were divided two groups ; 1 minute-cardiac arrest group(n=7) and 3 minute-cardiac arrest group(n=7). we induced cardiac arrest by chest compression and damping of tracheal tube for 1 minute and 3 minutes respectively. And then, resuscitation was initiated. To measure the plasma activity of TNF-alpha, blood samples were drawn before and at the end of cardiac arrest, and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after initiation reperfusion. At 72 hours after resuscitation, the ND(neurologic deficit) score was determined and the histopathologic outcome of hippocampal CA1 neuron was observed by the percent dead hippocampal CA1 neurons. RESULTS: 1. TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) was significantly increased in 3 min-cardiac arrest group compared with 1 min-cardiac arrest group(p=0.0001). 2. There was a no significant difference of neurologic deficit score between 1 min- and 3 min-cardiac arrest. 3. Percent dead hippocampal neurons were significantly increased in 3 min-cardiac arrest group compared with 1 min-cardiac arrest group(9.1+/-1.2% vs 1.2+/-0.9%, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that longer duration of global brain ischemia causes a more profound increase in plasma TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) and more delayed neuronal damage than lessor duration of global brain ischemia, and that increase in TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) is related to delayed neuronal damage.
Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; Brain* ; Heart Arrest* ; Heart Arrest, Induced ; Necrosis ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Neurons ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Resuscitation ; Thorax ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

BACKGROUND: Almost all of the blood loss occurring postoperatively in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is due to the use of an intraoperative tourniquet in all cases. So we tried having blood transfusions done, not by anesthesiologists intraoperatively but by orthopedic surgeons postoperatively. The purpose of this study is to analyze postoperative blood loss and transfusion practice in TKAs. METHODS: We analyzed retrospectively the medical records of 64 TKAs in 40 patients between March, 1997 and February, 1999. RESULTS: Six male and fifty-eight female patients were enrolled. Their mean preoperative, immediate postoperative, and post-transfusion hematocrit were 37.1+/- 3.4, 34.4+/- 3.3, and 34.4+/-3.9, respectively. The preoperative and post-transfusion hematocrit were measured in all cases, but immediate postoperative hematocrit was measured in only 21 cases, and the hematocrit of 17 among the 21 cases was over 32 percent. Drainage amount, for the 1st postoperative day were 843 328 ml, and the total drainage amount was 993+/-362 ml. The blood transfusion amount was 2.6+/-0.9 units. There were no statistically significant differences in preoperative hematocrit, immediate postoperative hematocrit, postoperative drainage amount and postoperative transfusion amount between the general and regional anesthetic group; Preoperative hematocrit did not statistically affect the postoperative transfusion amount, but the postoperative drainage amount was statistically associated with an increased postoperative transfusion amount. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, it was concluded that postoperative blood transfusion in TKA was to be done on the basis of clinical impressions of orthopedic surgeons in which postoperative drainage amount was the most important consideration. Therefore, postoperative transfusion should be based on appropriate transfusion guidelines and a careful clinical examination of the patient.
Arthroplasty* ; Blood Transfusion* ; Drainage ; Female ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Knee* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Orthopedics ; Postoperative Hemorrhage ; Retrospective Studies ; Tourniquets

Current composites are made with dimethacrylate monomers and silane-treated silica microfillers, either alone or with silane treated glass fillers. The main reasons for clinical failure of dental composites are secondary caries, wear and fracture. Most of practitioner want to get a composite which is more tougher under occlusal stress, less polymerization contraction, and better handling properties in application clinically. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of resin matrix with various flows on the physical properties such as fracture toughness and degree of conversion of the experimental resins. It was hypothesized that flexible or tough resin composites can be designed by judicious choice of monomer composition. Various flow resin matrices containing Bis-GMA, UDMA, and TEG-DMA were made by altering the proportion of the monomers. After the unfilled resins were light-cured for different light intensity, the fracture toughness(K1c) was measured according to ASTM standard using the single edge notched geometry, and degree of conversion(DC) was measured by FTIR. And experimental composites were formulated with variations in the proportion of silanated quartz and strontium glass fillers as 60, 75, and 77wt%. Also, the physical properties of composites with various filler contents were evaluated as same manner. All resulting data were compared by ANOVA/Tukeys test at 0.05 level. The results were as follows; 1. The degree of conversion of high flow resin containing less Bis-GMA was higher than that of low flow unfilled resin. 2. While the degree of conversion of unfilled resin was increased according to light intensity for polymerization, there was no significant increase with moderate and high light intensity. Also, the fracture toughness was not increased by high light intensity. 3. The fracture toughness was high in the low flow unfilled resin containing higher contents of Bis-GMA. 4. There was a significant increase for fracture toughness and a tendency for degree of conversion to be reduced when the content of fillers was increased. 5. In the experimental composites, the flow of resin matrix did not affected on the fracture toughness, even, which was decreased as increase of viscosity. These results showed that the physical properties of a dental composite could be attributed to the flow of resin matrix with relative content of monomers. Specific combination of resin monomers should be designed to fulfil the needs of specific indication for use.
Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate ; Contracts ; Glass ; Handling (Psychology) ; Light ; Polymerization ; Polymers ; Quartz ; Silicon Dioxide ; Silicone Elastomers ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared ; Strontium

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess the influences of skin temperature and age on latency and amplitude of the sympathetic skin response (SSR). METHOD: We examined the sympathetic skin responses in 77 normal subjects aged 25 to 73 years. With stimulation of both median nerve and both tibial nerve at the wrist and ankle, the SSRs were recorded from both palms and soles simulaneously. To determine the effects of skin temperature change on SSR, we examined the SSRs in 12 healthy subjects before and after heating. The heat was applied on right forearm by infra-red lamp. RESULTS: The mean latency and the mean amplitude of SSR with stimulation of the right median nerve at the wrist were 1.47 sec and 6.08 mV at the right palm, 1.50 sec and 6.07 mV at the left palm, 1.95 sec and 3.38 mV at right sole, and 1.95 sec and 3.09 mV at left sole. There was no side-to-side difference in the latency and the amplitude. Regardless of the site of stimulation, latency was longer at the sole than at the palm, and amplitude was greater at the palm than at the sole (p<0.05). The latency of the SSR was positively correlated with the age of subjects (p<0.05), and the amplitude was negatively correlated with the age of subjects (p<0.05). At higher skin temperature, the latency of SSR was shortened and the amplitude was reduced significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The amplitude of the SSR decreases with aging and the latency increases with aging. As the skin temperature rises, the latency and amplitude show tendency to decrease. We suggest that the skin temperature and age are important factors to be considered carefully in assessing the SSR parameters.
Aging* ; Ankle ; Forearm ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Median Nerve ; Skin Temperature* ; Skin* ; Tibial Nerve ; Wrist