Eleven cases of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis were reviewed. Average age of patients was 59 years, 4 male and 7 female. Underlying diseases were osteoarthritis in 7 cases, rheumatoid arthritis in 3 cases and one post-traumatic arthritis. At the mean follow up of 15 months, fusion rate was 100%, mean time to complete union was 9.5 weeks. There were no complications such as nonunion, infection and skin problems. All patients stayed at the hospital just overnight after the surgery. Patients satisfaction was high and the functional clinical grade was excellent in 9 patients, good in 1 patient and fair in 1 patient. We concluded that arthroscopic technique was a simple and effective method for ankle arthrodesis in the selected patients and had significant advantages over the open technique.
Ankle* ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthrodesis* ; Arthroscopy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Osteoarthritis ; Skin

Although commercialization of mobile phones has raised much concerns about the effects of radiofrequency radiation on the human body, few experimental studies have been conducted on the effects of radiofrequency radiation on physiological homeostasis, immune and inflammatory responses. Therefore, we presently investigated the effect of 835 MHz radiofrequency radiation on spontaneous wheel exercise, hormone and cytokines levels in the plasm of mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups as control, exercise, radiofrequency radiation, radiofrequency radiation & exercise group. The body weight, corticosterone and blood cytokine levels were checked for 10 weeks. Followed by the exposure to radiofrequency radiation for 6 hours a day, the more increase in body weight was observed in the radiofrequency radiation & exercise group than in the spontaneous exercise group. When the amount of spontaneous exercise was measured for 10 weeks, the amount of exercise was increased in the both control and spontaneous exercise group, while the amount of exercise was decreased in the radiofrequency radiation group. To determine whether the homeostasis, immune and inflammatory responses are indirectly affected by radiofrequency radiation exposure, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12 (p70), TNF-α, IFNγ, and GM-CSF were measured by ELISA kit, respectively. As a result, the blood levels of IL-6, IL-12 (p70) and TNF-α in the spontaneous exercise group were higher than that of control group, and each cytokine levels in the radiofrequency radiation & exercise group were lower than that of control group. However, the corticosterone, IL-1β, IFNγ and GM-CSF didn't show statistically significant differences in all groups. It has been confirmed that exposure to high frequency electromagnetic waves for a long time can affect the amount of exercise, body weight, and some inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-12 (p70) and TNF-α.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Cell Phones ; Corticosterone* ; Cytokines* ; Electromagnetic Radiation ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Homeostasis ; Human Body ; Interleukin-12 ; Interleukin-6 ; Mice* ; Radiation Exposure

The blood management act was revised on December 4, 2020, to enhance transfusion management and has been established in accordance with the department of transfusion management in the medical institution. The department of transfusion management is involved in education related to transfusion, transfusion monitoring, and ward rounding. The department of transfusion management is essential for promoting the stability and safety of transfusions. This paper aims to help the department of transfusion management operation by sharing the experience of the department of transfusion management.

Intralymphatic histiocytosis (ILH) is a rare cutaneous condition with uncertain pathogenesis. It is characterized by dilated lymphatic vessels that contain histiocytes within their lumina. Although the etiology of ILH remains unknown, it has been associated with various inflammatory and neoplastic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), reaction to metal joint implants and Merkel cell carcinoma, breast cancer and colon cancer. An 83-year-old female presented with an erythematous patch on the left forearm that had appeared six months previous. She had suffered from osteoarthritis (OA) and the cutaneous lesion was located in the vicinity of the affected joint. Skin biopsy from the lesion showed dilated dermal vessels and some ectatic vessels that contained many mononuclear histiocytes. Based on the clinical and histopathological findings, we diagnosed her with ILH with OA. Two sessions of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide injection (5 mg/ml) were administered to treat the skin lesion, which gradually improved over a period of a few months. We here report a rare case of ILH associated with degenerative OA.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sleep problems in Korean elementary school children and the differences in sleep problems related to their school grade and gender. METHODS: One public elementary school in Dae-gu, Korea was randomly selected. And, parents who agreed to participate this study were asked to complete a modified version of Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea screening questionnaire (TuCASA). RESULTS: The most common sleep problem was 'falling asleep in a vehicle (44.2%)' and the prevalence rate of this problem differed by school grade. The prevalence rate of falling asleep while watching TV before 8 P.M. (8.0%), daytime fatigue (21.9%) and nocturnal enuresis during the past 6 months (5.3%) were significantly differed by school grade. The prevalence rate of falling asleep while doing home work, falling asleep during a lesson, snoring and bruxism were 12.6%, 1.0%, 26.7% and 13.2% respectively. Although these rates did not show any differences between grades, snoring was more in boys and daytime fatigue was more in girls.. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that many elementary school children may have various sleep problems. Lower grade elementary schoolers had sleep problems which related to neuro-developmental factors, whereas higher grade elementary schoolers had sleep problems related to sleep deprivation and stress. Finally, more female schooler showed signs of fatigue or sleepiness than male schoolers.
Bruxism ; Child ; Fatigue ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Nocturnal Enuresis ; Parents ; Prevalence ; Sex Characteristics ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Sleep Deprivation ; Snoring ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the transforming growth factor-beta family and play an important role in cellular growth. Recent reports suggest that exogenous bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) acts as an antiproliferative agent in a variety of cell lines. We will study whether BMP-2 is altered in human colorectal cancer. METHODS: We analyzed 40 colorectal cancer cases and 6 colorectal cancer cell lines by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to determine the expression of BMP-2. RESULTS: Thirteen of 40 colorectal cancers (33%) and 3 of 6 colorectal cancer cell lines (50%) revealed decreased expression of BMP-2. The rates of decreased expression were 0% (0/7), 42.1% (8/19), 28.6% (2/7), 33.3% (2/6), and 100% (1/1) in stages I, II, III, and IV, respectively. Histologically, the rates were 33.3% (2/6), 32.2% (10/21), 50% (1/2), and 0% (0/1) in well-differentiated, moderately-differentiated, poorly-differentiated and mucinous cancers, respectively. As for location, the rates for colon and rectal cancers were 27.8% (5/18) and 36.4% (8/22), respectively. We identified methylation in the CpG island of the BMP-2 gene in 60% of colorectal cancer cells and in 50% of colorectal cancer cell lines. The 13 cases without BMP-2 gene expression showed no significant correlation with clinicopathological factors. Epigenetic silencing through DNA methylation is one of the key steps during carcinogenesis. CONCLUSION: We found, through an analysis using the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction technique, CpG island methylation of the BMP-2 promoter region in colorectal cancer. Thus, aberrant BMP-2 methylation and the resultant loss of BMP-2 expression may be related to colorectal carcinogenesis.
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins ; Cell Line ; Colon ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; CpG Islands ; DNA Methylation ; Epigenomics ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Methylation ; Mucins ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Rectal Neoplasms

Endometriosis is a relatively common disease, affecting 5-10% of women of reproductive age. But, endometriosis affecting the urinary tract is very rare entity. Involvement of urinary tract by endometriosis occurs in about 1% of women with pelvic endometriosis. Ureteral endometriosis is mostly asymptomatic for a long time, and associated with nonspecific symptoms at clinical presentation and difficult preoperative diagnosis. The involvement of the ureter is rarely intrinsic by implantation of endometrial tissue in the wall of the ureter, but rather due to external compression by adjacent endometriosis and its attendant inflammation and fibrosis. We have experienced a case of right severe hydroureteronephrosis due to ureteral stricture from endometriosis. Laparoscopic nephrectomy was done due to renal atrophy. At the same time, laparoscopic total hysterectomy with right salpingo-oophorectomy was performed because of the uterine adenomyosis and right ovarian endometrioma. So, we report that with a brief review of literatures.
Adenomyosis ; Atrophy ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Diagnosis ; Endometriosis* ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis* ; Hysterectomy ; Inflammation ; Nephrectomy ; Ureter* ; Urinary Tract