PURPOSE:This study was performed to investigate the status of cardiac structure and function and to assess their alterations after growth hormone(GH) treatment in children with growth hormone deficiency(GHD). METHODS:Interventricular septal thickness and left ventriclular posterior wall thickness, ejection fraction(EF), fractional shortening(FS), systolic time interval(STI) of left ventricle were measured by two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography in sixteen children with GHD and age, sex matched sixteen children with GH normal short stature as control. The measure were done before GH treatment and at 6 and 12 months of GH treatment, respectively. RESULTS: 1)Left ventricular posterior wall thickness in GHD group was significantly thinner than that of control group(P<0.05). 2)Interventricular septal thickness and left ventricular posterior wall thickness were increased with GH treatment from 10.4+/-1.7mm, 8.1+/-1.8mm before GH treatment to 11.0+/-0.9mm, 8.7+/-0.7mm and 11.2+/-1.7mm, 9.7+/-1.8mm at 6 and 12 months of GH treatment, respectively. The increment of left ventricular posterior wall thickness after 12 months GH treatment revealed statistic significance(P<0.05). 3)There was no significant alterations of EF, FS, STI of left ventricle after GH treatment at 6 months and 12 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Left ventricular posterior wall thickness in GHD group was significantly thin compared to that of control group(P<0.05). GH treatment in GHD children for 12 months, resulted statistically significant increase(P<0.05) in posterior wall thickness. There is no evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy after GH treatment. But we could not exclude the possibility of these alterations were induced by an increased overall body size and body surface area after GH treatment. To clarify the exact alterations of cardiac structures and function in children with GHD after GH treatment, long term follow-up studies should be necessary.
Body Size ; Body Surface Area ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Child* ; Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Growth Hormone* ; Heart ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans

We report a case of MALT lymphoma in a 49-year-old woman. Her disease occurred simultaneously in the mucosa of her right upper eyelid conjunctiva and in her left nostril as ulcerating tumors associated with itchy ichthyosiform skin lesions on the trunk, hyperkeratotic palms and soles, and dystrophic nails. Histopathological examinations revealed consistent findings of MALT lymphoma with dissemination; i.e., diffuse infiltrates of lymphoplasmacytoid cells with a few Russel body-like structures, eosinophils, some shoddy granulomas under the irregularly hyperplastic epidermis, and diffuse infiltrates of CCL ( centrocyte-like ) cells and small lymphocytes inside and outside many lymphoid follicle-like structures in the subcutaneous tissue forming florid lymphoepithelial lesions. She died after 27 months duration of her disease with worsening of ichthyosiform skin lesions and dystrophic nails in spite of total excision of the tumors. We discuss the clinical and histopathologic features of MALT lymphoma with dissemination and the various similar diseases to differentiate.
Conjunctiva ; Eosinophils ; Epidermis ; Eyelids* ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease Type VI ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone* ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND: It is one of anesthesiologist's important tasks to know the accurate recovery state of a patient after general anesthesia. Postanesthetic recovery score (PARS) has been widely used as a measure of evaluating recovery state because it is simple, easy to apply and applicapable to all situations. In this study, we investigated whether there were correlations between PARS and PAR-stay time, and examined factors influencing PAR-stay time. METHODS: Two hundreds and five patients were selected randomly. PARS was measured in each patient immediately after he or she arrived at PAR. Correlations between PARS and PAR-stay time were studied. And other variables such as age, sex, physical status, operation site and anesthetic time were studied as influencing factors on PAR-stay time. RESULTS: There were no significant correlations between PARS and PAR-stay time. PARS was influenced by the operation site only. And PAR-stay time was influenced by the patient's age only. CONCLUSIONS: In evaluating the postanesthetic recovery state, it seems to be important to consider not only PARS but also other factors such as patient's age.
Anesthesia, General ; Humans ; Recovery Room*

To determine size and shape discrepancy between the bone of Korean women and the prostheses in total knee arthroplasty, the height(antero-posterior length) and width(medio-lateral length) of the distal femur and the proximal tibia were measured at the bone resection level for 104 knees of 62 female patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty and compared with the same parameters of the total knee prostheses designed by five different companies. On the condition that the height of the prostheses matched with each cases of the bone were optimal, the difference in the width was evaluated, and the criteria of the discrepancy were overhang if the width of the prosthesis was larger than bone, optimal if width of the prosthesis was same or smaller and difference was within 5 mm, and down-size if smaller and difference was over Smm. In femoral prostheses, 34.6% of all were optimal, 13.1%, overhang and 52.3%, down-size. In tibial prosthesis, 54.1% of all were optimal, 13.9%, overhang and 32%, down-size. In conclusion, although further investigation for clinical application is needed, there were discrepancies in size and shape between the femur and tibia of Korean women and total knee prostheses and improvement in design should be considered.
Arthroplasty* ; Female ; Femur ; Humans ; Knee Prosthesis ; Knee* ; Prostheses and Implants* ; Tibia

The gross tissue specimens are a valuable aid to the teaching of pathology and anatomy. However, traditional methods for storage and handling of them are discouragingly difficult and, recently, minimal surgical resections as well as preoperative interventions make it more difficult to have instructive gross specimens. Plastination is a process of tissue preservation by impregnation with silicone polymers or epoxy resins. The process in our study involves dehydration by cryosubstitution in aceton, defatting, forced impregnation of silicon polymer in a vacuum, curing and finishing. We submitted 40 surgically resected specimens to plastination. The resulting specimens are odorless, relatively dry, durable, life-like, non-hazardous, maintenance-free, and do not deteriorate with time. Plastinated specimens are a useful adjunct to the teaching of pathology, particularly suited for use in small groups, and appropriate method of tissue preservation. They are much preferred to wet preparation and conventional pots by both students and teachers owing to their accessibility, superior illustrative powers, and comparative ease of interpretation.
Dehydration ; Epoxy Resins ; Humans ; Pathology* ; Polymers ; Silicones ; Tissue Preservation ; Vacuum

Recently, cell cycle regulators have been suggested as new prognostic factors of the lung cancer. In this study, we evaluated the expression of cyclin D1, p21, and p53 using the X2-test, with regard to the stage of the patients, histologic type, and histologic differentiation in the 135 cases of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). To evaluate the confounding effects among cyclin D1, p21, and p53 on X2-test analysis, we used the Mantel-Haenzel test. The NSCLC in this study included 82 cases of squamous cell carcinoma and 53 cases of adenocarcinoma. Each nuclear staining of cyclin D1, p21, and p53 was observed in 65 cases (48.1%), in 54 cases (40.0%), and in 81 cases (60.0%) of NSCLCs, respectively. Only p53 expression was significantly associated with the stage (stage I, II, IIIa) (p<0.05) and squamous cell carcinoma (p<0.05). On the other hand, cyclin D1 expression was significantly associated with the histologic differentiation. The confounding effects among cyclin D1, p21, and p53 revealed that only p21 expression changed the relationship between p53 and stage. In this regard, further study is needed.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Cycle ; Cyclin D1* ; Cyclins* ; Hand ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Prognosis*

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein(a)[Lp(a)], an independent risk factor for athrosclerosis, consist of low density lipoprotein like particle and specific glycoprotein, apolipoprotein(a). The levels of Lp(a) are mainly determined by the genetic pleomorphism of apolipoprotein(a) and has been though not to be influenced by age, sex and other biochemical parameters. Recent reports have shown that the concentrations of Lp(a) are correlated with age in women. The purpose of this study was to invastigate the association of Lp(a) concentration with sex and age. METHODS: The concentrations of Lp(a) were measured in 3,707 women and 389 men, free of diseases and medications known to affect the lipid levels. Plasma Lp(a) concentration were measured by commercial radioimmunoassay kit and other lipid profiles by conventional method. RESULTS: In female, median Lp(a) concentration increased with age till the early sixth decade (P=.0000) and then decreased. If peri- and postmenopausal women were excluded in the fifth decades, the relation between age and Lp(a) disappeared. In male, Lp(a) concentration were not associated with age. Median Lp(a) concentrations were higher in females than in males in the fifth(p=.0039) and the sixth decades(p=.0007), The difference became negligible after the exclusion of peri- and postmenopausal woman in the fifth decade. CONCLUSION: The concentrations of Lp(a) were corrected with age only in female. Females had higher levels than males in the fifth and the sixth decades. The relations are thought to be nither due to aging process nor sex but due to postmenopausal increase of Lp(a).
Aging ; Apoprotein(a) ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Lipoprotein(a)* ; Lipoproteins ; Male ; Menopause ; Plasma ; Radioimmunoassay ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein(a)[Lp(a)], an independent risk factor for athrosclerosis, consist of low density lipoprotein like particle and specific glycoprotein, apolipoprotein(a). The levels of Lp(a) are mainly determined by the genetic pleomorphism of apolipoprotein(a) and has been though not to be influenced by age, sex and other biochemical parameters. Recent reports have shown that the concentrations of Lp(a) are correlated with age in women. The purpose of this study was to invastigate the association of Lp(a) concentration with sex and age. METHODS: The concentrations of Lp(a) were measured in 3,707 women and 389 men, free of diseases and medications known to affect the lipid levels. Plasma Lp(a) concentration were measured by commercial radioimmunoassay kit and other lipid profiles by conventional method. RESULTS: In female, median Lp(a) concentration increased with age till the early sixth decade (P=.0000) and then decreased. If peri- and postmenopausal women were excluded in the fifth decades, the relation between age and Lp(a) disappeared. In male, Lp(a) concentration were not associated with age. Median Lp(a) concentrations were higher in females than in males in the fifth(p=.0039) and the sixth decades(p=.0007), The difference became negligible after the exclusion of peri- and postmenopausal woman in the fifth decade. CONCLUSION: The concentrations of Lp(a) were corrected with age only in female. Females had higher levels than males in the fifth and the sixth decades. The relations are thought to be nither due to aging process nor sex but due to postmenopausal increase of Lp(a).
Aging ; Apoprotein(a) ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Lipoprotein(a)* ; Lipoproteins ; Male ; Menopause ; Plasma ; Radioimmunoassay ; Risk Factors

The diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy associated with pheochromocytoma was made in a 24 year old male on the basis of symptoms and signs, measurements of metabolites of catecholamine,echocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography were preformed and demonstrated. The presence of a tumor on both adrenal glands without definite distant metastasis was demonstrated by abdominal ultrasonography, CT scanning and 131I-MIBC scintigraphy. Surgical removal was performed after proper preoperative preparation with a-adrenergic blocker. During the surgery, neither significant arrhythmia nor severe change of blood pressure was observed. After surgery, cardiac function of the patient improved slowly and progressively.
Adrenal Glands ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pheochromocytoma* ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Radionuclide Ventriculography ; Thoracic Surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

The proliferative activity of human gastric carcinoma was measured by means of in vitro incorporation of the thymidine analogue, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), into the newly-synthesized DNA of fresh tumors and immunohistochemical staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) using avidin-biotin peroxidase method. Eighty-two cases of surgically resected human gastric carcinomas consisting of 18 various histologic types were subjected to study. The mean BrdU labelling index (LI) and PCNA LI were 22.9% and 39.1%, respectively. The correlation between BrdU LI and PCNA LI was statistically significant (correlation coefficient mu = 0.61334, p = 0.0001). We concluded that immunohistochemical staining for PCNA may become a practical method instead of in vitro or in vivo BrdU labeling to assess the proliferation fraction of the gastric cancer patient.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antigens, Neoplasm/*metabolism ; Bromodeoxyuridine/*metabolism ; Carcinoma/*metabolism/pathology ; Cell Division ; DNA Replication ; DNA, Neoplasm/biosynthesis ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Nuclear Proteins/*metabolism ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Stomach Neoplasms/*metabolism/pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured