No abstract available.
Classification* ; Humans ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate*

A new balloon dissector, a modification of a Foley catheter, was devised and it can be used either as a dissector or a tissue expander. Since most operating time was spent in balloon manipulation (inflation/deflation), the duct for saline injection was made to be wider than the Foley catheter. As a result, the balloon could be inflated faster than before. In order to reduce the scar at the donor site, harvest of the sural nerve using endoscopic technique is currently applied, but utilization of this method is technically difficult and requires a long operating time. For these reasons, new our method of using a balloon dissector was devised. The balloon dissector can also be used for immediate intraoperative tissue expansion for the reconstruction of small skin defects without distortion. We have found that the advantages of using the new balloon dissector include a reduction in operating time, preservation of the perforating vessels, and primary closure with less tension. In addition, this simple and inexpensive instrument is cost-beneficial to patients.
Catheters ; Cicatrix ; Humans ; Skin ; Sural Nerve ; Tissue Donors ; Tissue Expansion ; Tissue Expansion Devices

The CT findings of the acute cerebral infarction are well known. However the CT findings of early stroke within 24 hours of the onset have not been sufficiently reported. The purpose of this study is to evaluate early acute cerebral infarction on CT within 24 hours after ictus. The early and accurate CT diagnosis could lead to the appropriate therapy and improved outcome of the patients. Authors retrospectively analyzed 16 patients with early acute cerebral infarction. Acute cerebral infarction was confirmed by follow-up CT in 11 patients, SPECT in 4 patients, and MRI in 1 patient. The CT findings of early acute cerebral infarction include effacement of cortical sulci or cistern (n=16, 100%), hyperattenuation of MCA (n=3), obscuration of lentiform nucleus (n=6), loss of insular ribbon (n=6) and subtle low density in hemisphere (n=5). The most frequent findings was effacement of cortical sulci in our study, and it was though to be the most important sign of early acute cerebral infarction.
Cerebral Infarction* ; Corpus Striatum ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Carbon monoxide is colorless, oolorless, tasteless and non-irritating gas produced by the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous rnaterial. It combines with hemoglobin and displaces oxygen because the affinity of hemoglobin for carbon monoxide is two hundred times greater than oxygen. Symptoma and signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, collapse, unconsciousness, blindness, convulsion, coma and skin lesions. Recently we have observed seven patients with carbon monoxide poisoning who expressed cutaneous syrnptoms. In this work we investigated the pathogenesis of cutaneous manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning through clinical, histologic and electronmicroscopic study. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Mental states of the patients were comatose in two, Semicomatcse in two, stuporous in two, and drowsy in one patient. In routine laboratory tests, we observed elevated blood sugar in six, elevated sorum creatinine phosphokinase in four and abnormal findings in urinalysis in all patients. 2. Cutaneous lesions were vesicobullae, plaque or swelling, erythema, gangrene and 'ulceration in order of frequency and located in the dependent areas in six caies. 3. Histopathologically, the sites of the bullae were subepidermal in four cases and intraepidermal in. one case and there was one case with ulceration. 4. In electronmicroscopic findings, secretory and ductal cells showed degenerative
Blindness ; Blood Glucose ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning* ; Carbon Monoxide* ; Carbon* ; Coma ; Creatinine ; Dizziness ; Erythema ; Gangrene ; Headache ; Humans ; Nausea ; Oxygen ; Seizures ; Skin ; Stupor ; Ulcer ; Unconsciousness ; Urinalysis ; Vomiting

Animals ; Body Weight ; Fluorouracil ; Hair ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

We measured fasting Serum Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (SACE) in 100 healthy controls and 75 coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) patients by a commercial kits (ACEcolor®, Fujirio Inc., Japan) and evaluated this manual method. The linear range extends to an activity of 80U/L. Precision on a commercial control serum (ACE control-N®, Sigma Co.) with a mean value of 9.47U/L yielded a within-run and between-run CVs are 5.6% (N=15) and 6.9% (N=14) respectively. Save in 75 CWP was 20.3±5.7U/L (mean±s.d.); higher than in healthy controls (13.4±3.9U/L, P<0.01). No correlation was found between SACE, sex, and age. The results suggest that the measurement for SACE and follow-up SACE in coal workers may be a useful diagnostic tools for CWP.
Anthracosis* ; Coal* ; Fasting ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Methods

We evaluated the effect of retreatment for under- of overcorrection after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK). We performed LASIK enhancement after lifting flap(8 eyes) and transepithelial PRK(1 eye) for the 9 eyes of undercorrection and 1 eye of hyperopic correction after primary LASIK procedures were performed from October 1996 through May 1997. The average preoperative refractive error was -12.88D and preretreatment refractive error was -3.53D in spherical equivalent. The average period from primary LASIK to retreatment was 85.7 days and we evaluated the stability, predictability, efficacy, safety, and complications after 6 months. At 6 months postretreatment, the average refractive error was -0.31D and 8 eyes obtained a refraction within +/-1.0D of emmetropia. Uncorrectedvisual acuity(UCVA) was improved from 0.24 to 0.71. There was one eye with grade III corneal haze and decentration after transepithelial PRK on corneal flap. And it had 1 line loss of best corrected visual acuity(BCVA) compared with preretreatment BCVA. The final average refractive error of the 7 eyes which underwent retreatment after 1 month was closer to emmetropia than that of the other 3 eyes which underwent retreatment within 1 month, but there was no statistically significant difference(p>0.05). In conclusion, LASIK tetreatment may be considered for the correction of under- and overcorrection after LASIK.
Emmetropia ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ* ; Lifting ; Refractive Errors ; Retreatment*

No abstract available.
Graves Disease* ; Insulin*

Fifteen patients with 38 compression fractures of the spine underwent magnetic resonance(MR) imaging. We retrospectively evaluated MR images in these benign compression fractures. MR images showed four patterns in T1-weighted images. MR imaging patterns were normal signal(21), band like low signal(8), low signal with preservation of peripheral portion of the body(8), and diffuse low signal through the vertebral body(1). The low signal portions were changed to high signal intensities in T2-weighted images. In 7 of 15 patients(11 compression fractures). There was a history of trauma, and the remaining 8 patients(27 compression fractures) had no history of trauma. Benign compression fractures of trauma, remained 8 patients(27 compression fractures) were non-traumatic. Benign compression fractures of the spine reveal variable signal intensities in MR imagings. These patterns of benign compression fractures may be useful in interpretation of MR imagings of the spine.
Fractures, Compression* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine*

To investigate the nature of artifacts caused by air and chemical shift by fat, a test tube phantom study was performed in 2.0T and 0.5T superconducting magnetic resonance imaging systems in various imaging sequences. Spatial mismapping and signal change made image distortion in spin echo images of the air-column and severe signal voids in gradient echo images. Chemical shift artifacts appeared in the planes of frequency-encoding axis as crescent-shaped signal voids and summated bright signals, Both artifacts were more prominent in high field strength, Images at 0.5T showed more severe artifacts in the T2-weighted images than those in the other sequences. As the acquisition matrix increased, truncation artifacts decreased and susceptibility artifacts in gradient echo images diminished. Familiarity with causes, appearances and mechanisms of various artifacts will help radiologists for interpretation of MRI.
Artifacts* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Recognition (Psychology)