No abstract available.
Daegu* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Sex Ratio*

Although the operation for the ventral lesion of craniovrtebral junction and atlantoaxial area is considered difficult to perform, the transoral approach made it safer and easier. The authors report 10 cases(9 patients) treated by the transoral approach for the lesion of craniovertebral junction over the past 13 years at the Ajou University Hospital and the Presbyterian Medical Center. Of these 10 cases, there were 4 odontoid type II fractures, 1 atlantoaxial dislocation, 1 os odontoideum, 1 chordoma at lower clival area, 1 rheumatoid arthritis, 1 epidural abscess and 1 wound revision due to slippage of grafted bone after clivoaxial fusion. The surgical methods included 4 cases of anterior decompression and clivoaxial fusion, 2 cases of anterior decompression and C1-2 interarticular joint fusion, 1 case of anterior decompression and clivoaxial fusion followed by posterior fusion, and 3 cases of anterior decompression and posterior fusion. In nonreducible atlantoaxial dislocation or ventral cord compression le sion, if the clivoaxial angle was less than 120 degree, the transoral approach was selected. The appropriate surgical approach must be selected according to the degree of compression of the neural tissue involving the craniovertebral junction and atlantoaxial dislocation.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Chordoma ; Decompression ; Dislocations* ; Epidural Abscess ; Joints ; Protestantism ; Transplants ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.
Hydronephrosis* ; Teratoma*

No abstract available.
Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome*

An experimental model was devised to elucidate the role of spinal blockade in post-traumatic syringomyelia. 38 White adult rabbits were divided into four groups:in Group 1, eight animals received traumatic injury only to the midthoracic area via the weight-drop method but no further treatment;in Group 2, 12 animals received a traumatic injury following injection of 100mg kaolin suspended in 1cc normal saline into subarachnoid space at the midthoracic trauma level;in Group 3, nine animals received traumatic injury following injection of 200mg kaolin in 1cc of normal saline into subarachnoid space;in Group 4, nine animals without injury received an injection of 00mg kaolin in 1cc normal saline solution into subarachnoid space at the midthoracic level. The subjective criteria for syrinx formation were the presence of a definite round cyst having a smooth margin and an upper or lower extension of more than 2cm from the injured site. Syrinx formation was seen in 12.5% in Group 1, 41.7% in Group 2, 55.5% in Group 3 , and 0% in Group 4(p<0.05). In subarachnoid space, the specimen of trauma and kaolin groups showed neutrophils infiltration and obstruction of subarachnoid space on acute stage. The pathologic changes in subarachnoid space on chronic stage were infiltration of kaolin-laden macrophages and chronic arachnoiditis. In parenchyma, hemorrhagic necrosis of the cord, edema, microinfarcts and liquefaction of hematoma were found on acute stage, and multiple cysts in white mater, cell-debris-laden macrophages in the cyst, formation of foam cells, microcysts, and large yst were shown. In Group 4, the same findings as other groups were shown in the subarachnoid space, but in the parenchyma there was no cyst formation. The results suggest that subarachnoid block secondary to adhesive arachnoidities is important in initiating the extension of the syringomyelia cavity that have already formed at the time of initial injury.
Adhesives ; Adult ; Animals ; Arachnoid ; Arachnoiditis ; Edema ; Foam Cells ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Kaolin ; Macrophages ; Models, Theoretical ; Necrosis ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; Neutrophils ; Rabbits ; Sodium Chloride ; Subarachnoid Space ; Syringomyelia*

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

No abstract available.
Chondrodysplasia Punctata*

OBJECTIVES: Glioblastomas, the most common type of primary brain tumors, are highly invasive and cause massive tissue destruction at both the tumor invading edges and in areas that are not in direct contact with glioma cells. As a result, patients with high-grade gliomas are faced with a poor prognosis. Such grim statistics emphasize the need to better understand the mechanisms that underlie glioma invasion, as these may lead to the identification of novel targets in the therapy of high grade gliomas. Protein kinase C(PKC) is a family of serine/threonine kinases and an important signal transduction enzyme that conveys signals generated by ligand-receptor interaction at the cell surface to the nucleus. PKC appears to be critical in regulating many aspects of glioma biology. The purpose of this study was to assess accurately the role of PKC in the invasion regulation of human gliomas based on hypothesis that protein kinase C(PKC) is functional in the process of glial tumor cell invasion. METHOD: To test this hypothesis, U-87 malignant glioma cell line intracellular PKC levels were up and down regulated and their invasiveness was tested. Intracellular PKC level was characterized using PKC activity assays. Invasion assays including barrier migration and spheroid confrontation were used to study the relationship between PKC concentration and invasiveness. RESULT: The cell line which were treated by PKC inhibitor tamoxifen and hypericin exhibited decreased PKC activity and decreased invasive abilities dose dependently both in matrigel invasion assay and tumor spheroid fetal rat brain aggregates(FRBA) confrontation assay. However, the cell line that was treated by PKC activator 12-O-tetradecanylphorbol-13acetate(TPA) did not exhibit increases in either PKC activity or invasive ability. CONCLUSION: These studies suggest that PKC may be a useful molecular target for the chemotherapy of glioblastoma and other malignancies and that a therapeutic approach based on the ability of PKC inhibitors may be helpful in preventing invasion.
Animals ; Biology ; Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Cell Line ; Drug Therapy ; Glioblastoma ; Glioma* ; Humans ; Phosphotransferases ; Prognosis ; Protein Kinase C* ; Protein Kinases* ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Tamoxifen

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical treatment in adolescent patients suffering from navicular stress fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 11 adolescent patients aged 14 to 19, who underwent an operation for navicular stress fracture between 2005 and 2008 were recruited. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) midfoot score and visual analogue scale (VAS) score. RESULTS: The mean VAS score before the operation was 7.7. A score of 2.9 was confirmed at final follow up after the operation. The mean final follow-up period was 22.1 months. There was a statistically significant improvement in the VAS score between before and after the operation (p=0.01), and similarly, the AOFAS score also showed an improvement, from 46.5 to 80.7 (p=0.01). The pain that remained after the operation, according to the VAS score, was severe in three patients (27.3%), tolerable in seven patients (63.6%), and free of pain in one patient (9.1%). CONCLUSION: In navicular stress fracture in adolescents, careful selection of patients who could benefit from surgical treatment is recommended.
Adolescent* ; Ankle ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Fractures, Stress* ; Humans

The present study was designed to estimate the seroprevalence of NLVs among diarrheagenic children and in healthy adults in Seoul and its vicinity with the use of an EIA and an Western blot (WB) based on recombinant Norwalk virus capsid protein (rNV) and crude virus preparations as antigen. Seroconversion was observed in 34 (83%) of 41 tested using the EIA and in 21 (54%) of 39 using the WB, suggesting that the NLVs with epitopes common to rNV are prevalent in Seoul area. Diarrheal children who were known to have been infected with several other strains of the NLVs showed no significant antibody response to the rNV. Infection with rNV occurred earlier in life: primary infections with rNV were common before the age of 6 months and over 91% of children had evidence of infection by that age by the EIA. Since the amount of the NLV antigens available for seroepidemiologic surveys is limited, we tried to detect NLV antibody by using crude virus preparations as antigen. One crude virus preparation of a child whose stool yielded genetically distinct NLV revealed the presence of the plural number of bands upon SDS-PAGE, but precipitated only one band (62 kDa) after the WB with a serum (collected 10 days after the onset of symptoms) of another diarrheal child. The WB assay we present in this report revealed that the NLVs are prevalent among Korean population and that the sera contained antibody to a single major structural protein, with molecular sizes of 58 to 62 kDa, compatible with the sizes reported for the Norwalk virus and Snow Mountain agent proteins, respectively. When the results of the WB were compared with those obtained by the EIA, the EIA antibody assay was sensitive enough to detect an antibody rise of as much as 4096-fold but not as specific as the WB. The WB assay presented in this paper will provide a powerful tool to elucidate not only antigenic structures of the NLVs but also seroepidemiology of the NLV infection. The availability of an unlimited source of antigen will enable a large scale serologic studies that will greatly increase our understanding of the role of NLVs in human enteric illness.
Adult ; Antibody Formation ; Blotting, Western ; Capsid Proteins ; Capsid* ; Child ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Epitopes ; Humans ; Norovirus* ; Norwalk virus* ; Seoul* ; Seroepidemiologic Studies* ; Snow