No abstract available.
Humans ; Pregnancy* ; Twins*

No abstract available.
Rectal Neoplasms* ; Recurrence*

A case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is reported. Most of the alveolar spaces were filled with amorphous deep eosinohilic material which revealed strong positive reaction to periodic acid-Schiff staining. Electron microscopic observation of this material showed numerous lamellar bodies in the alveolar spaces and cytoplasms of alveolar macrophages. A part of them were concentric multilamellated type A lamellar bodies and the other were finger printlike type B bodies. Combined type A and type B lamellar bodies were rarely present. From the above features it is suggested that both type A and B lamellar bodies could be transformed one another and those lamellar bodies may be originated from pulmonary surfactant.

CD44 is a family of transmembrane glycoproteins involved in cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Expression of CD44 isofonns (splice variants) has been shown to be associated with poor prognosis in several human cancers. We evaluated the expression patterns of the CD44 isofortn (CD 44 splice variant v6) in infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast by immunohistochemical and RT-PCR method. Paraffin embedded blocks from seventy-five cases of mastectomized samples were analyzed immunohistochemically using monoclonoal antibody against CD44v6. CD44v6 was detected in fifty-seven cases (76%) of the tumor samples. Adjacent normal myoepithelial cells and ductal epithelial cells revealed focal positive reaction to CD44v6. Thirtytwo cases (80.0%) with lymph nodal metastasis revealed overexpression of CD44v6 monoclonal antibody, but twenty-five cases (71.4%) without nodal metastasis also showed positive reaction to CD44v6 monoclonal antibody, and there is no statistically significant value. Other prognostic factors of infiltrating ductal carcinoma, such as tumor size, histologic grade and hormonal receptors did not show any significant correlation with CD44v6 expression. The RT-PCR studies for 9 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma showed the same band patterns both in the normal and tumor tissues. From the above results, it is concluded that the expression of CD44v6 is not a valuable prognostic marker of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of breast.
Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal* ; Epithelial Cells ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis

Choledochal cyst of the common bile duct is usually considered to be large cystic dilatation that extends from the wall of the common bile duct. Choledochal cyst is a very rare cond.ition in adult, These cysts are commonly distinctive in childran under the age of ten. Even in this age group they are considered rare. The classicajl triad of a choledochal cyst inclule pain, jaundice and a palpable right upper quadrant mass. This triad was found in only 21~63% and the most common finding is jaundice. Diagnoais of choledochal cyst usually is made during laparotomy, In nonjaundiced patients, oral cholangiogram and/or intravenous cholangiogram may yield the diagnosis. In jaundiced patiente where the diagnosis may be more difficult to make, one may consider doing ERCP and/or percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram. The percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram seems to be very helpful in diagnosing jaundiced patients. It is being used more and more in recent years but this method is not without complication. With advent of ERCP, visualization of the biliary tree has become a simple procedure when performed by expert endoscopists. To our knowlege, no previous case of choledochal cyst diagnosed by ERCP has been reported. yet in our country This paper reports 4 cases of choledochal cyst diagnosed by ERCP.
Adult ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde* ; Choledochal Cyst ; Common Bile Duct ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Laparotomy

No abstract available.

Beta-lapachone (beta-Lap; 3,4-dihydro-2, 2-dimethyl-2H-naphthol[1, 2-b]pyran-5,6-dione) is a novel anti-cancer drug under phase I/II clinical trials. beta-Lap has been demonstrated to cause apoptotic and necrotic death in a variety of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The mechanisms underlying the beta-Lap toxicity against cancer cells has been controversial. The most recent view is that beta-Lap, which is a quinone compound, undergoes two-electron reduction to hydroquinone form utilizing NAD(P)H or NADH as electron source. This two-electron reduction of beta-Lap is mediated by NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), which is known to mediate the reduction of many quinone compounds. The hydroquinone forms of beta-Lap then spontaneously oxidizes back to the original oxidized beta-Lap, creating futile cycling between the oxidized and reduced forms of beta-Lap. It is proposed that the futile recycling between oxidized and reduced forms of beta-Lap leads to two distinct cell death pathways. First one is that the two-electron reduced beta-Lap is converted first to one-electron reduced beta-Lap, i.e., semiquinone beta-Lap (SQ).- causing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which then causes apoptotic cell death. The second mechanism is that severe depletion of NAD(P)H and NADH as a result of futile cycling between the quinone and hydroquinone forms of beta-Lap causes severe disturbance in cellular metabolism leading to apoptosis and necrosis. The relative importance of the aforementioned two mechanisms, i.e., generation of ROS or depletion of NAD(P)H/NADH, may vary depending on cell type and environment. Importantly, the NQO1 level in cancer cells has been found to be higher than that in normal cells indicating that beta-Lap may be preferentially toxic to cancer cells relative to non-cancer cells. The cellular level of NQO1 has been found to be significantly increased by divergent physical and chemical stresses including ionizing radiation. Recent reports clearly demonstrated that beta-Lap and ionizing radiation kill cancer cells in a synergistic manner. Indications are that irradiation of cancer cells causes long-lasting elevation of NQO1, thereby sensitizing the cells to beta-Lap. In addition, beta-Lap has been shown to inhibit the repair of sublethal radiation damage. Treating experimental tumors growing in the legs of mice with irradiation and intraperitoneal injection of beta-Lap suppressed the growth of the tumors in a manner more than additive. Collectively, beta-Lap is a potentially useful anti-cancer drug, particularly in combination with radiotherapy.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Benzoquinones ; Cell Death ; Electrons ; Humans ; Hydroquinones ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Leg ; Mice ; NAD ; Naphthoquinones ; Necrosis ; Radiation Tolerance ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Recycling ; Substrate Cycling

PURPOSE: Accurately measuring urinary urgency is important for diagnosing overactive bladder (OAB) and quantifying improvements in treatment outcome. Various methods have been recommended for evaluating urinary urgency, but these methods assess individual perceptions and preferences. To overcome the subjectivity in measuring urinary urgency, we evaluated the relationship between uroflowmetric parameters and urinary urgency in women with OAB. METHODS: Consecutive female patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (n=110) were prospectively enrolled in this study between April 2011 and September 2012. Individuals with a history of using medications that are known to affect bladder function were excluded. All enrolled patients completed uroflowmetry with a delayed time to voiding (T2V). After urination was completed, patients were asked whether they experienced any urinary hesitancy or urgency at that time. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 56.1 years; 70 out of 110 patients reported some degree of urinary urgency. T2V decreased with increased urgency. Several uroflowmetric parameters were observed to have a significant correlation with urinary urgency. T2V had a meaningful correlation coefficient for individuals with urgency, regardless of the voided volume. There was no significant correlation between the presence of urinary hesitancy and T2V. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that T2V would be a complementary tool for diagnosing and determining the degree of urinary urgency in women with OAB.
Female ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Prospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive* ; Urination* ; Urodynamics

No abstract available.
Gallstones* ; Prevalence*

The infantile polycystic kidney disease is rare fetal urinary tract anomaly. It is inherited with an autosomal recessive pattern and recurrence rate is 25%. The gene locus is on chromosome 6p. The pathogenesis of infantile polycystic kidney is the primary defect of the collecting ducts. The ultrasonographic finding of infantile polycystic kidney is oligohydramnios, bilaterally symmetrical enlarged kidneys with maintenance of their reinform shape. The differential diagnosis with adult polycystic kidney disease is important. The massive enlargement of the kidneys is rarely seen in adult polycystic kidney disease and the examination of the parents and other members of the family is helpful to confirm the adult polycystic kidney disease. If there is severe renal involvements, stillbirth or neonatal death secondary to pulmonary hypoplasia would be developed. If it were diagnosed before viability, termination of pregnancy is recommended. In a fetus at risk, diagnosed after viability, pregnancy termination is also recommended since this condition is uniformly fatal. We present a case of infantile polycystic kidney.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Kidney ; Oligohydramnios ; Parents ; Polycystic Kidney Diseases* ; Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant ; Pregnancy ; Recurrence ; Stillbirth ; Urinary Tract