No abstract available.
Herpesvirus 3, Human* ; Korea*

This was done to measure the plasma catecholamine concentration esp. norepinephrine and epinephrine in the volunteers and in the operated patents after administration of thiopental sodium, after administration of pancuronium and after the inhalation of halothane. Also studied was the interrelation between blood pressure and pulse rate and catecholamine. Ten healthy subjects were studied under general anesthesia. When compared with the results from patients in the operating room. 1) In the operating room, plasma norepinephrine levels increased 55+/-7.2. pg/ml; The increase int plasma epinephrine was not statistically significant: The increases of the systolic and diastolic pressure were significant : The increase in heart rate was not significant. 2) After the administration of thiopental sodium, plasma concentration of norepinphrine was not significantly increased: the change of plasma eninephrine was not significantly decreased: the increase in systolic and diastolic pressure was less marked: the increase in pulse rate was significant. 3) After the administration of pancuronium, plasma norepinephrine levels were not increased significanty: the decrease in plasma epinephrine was not significant: the increase of systolic pressure was not significant: the diastolic pressure and pulse rate were significant. 4) After the inhalation of halothane, plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine concentration increased significant and the change of the pulse rate was significantly increased.
Anesthesia, General ; Anesthetics, General* ; Blood Pressure ; Epinephrine* ; Halothane ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Norepinephrine* ; Operating Rooms ; Pancuronium ; Plasma* ; Thiopental ; Volunteers

BACKGROUND: The association of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus, or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) with various skin diseases has been described in many reports. However, only 3 human diseases: Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman disease were proved to be associated with HHV8. In addition to Karposi's sarcoma, sarcoidosis and Kikuchi's disease were also described to be associated with HHV8. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was aimed at the association of HHV8 with various skin diseases, such as Kaposi's sarcoma, sarcoidosis, and Kikuchi's disease. METHODS: We performed PCR to examine whether the 233-bp segment of the viral DNA of HHV8 was detected in Korean patients with Kaposi's sarcoma, sarcoidosis, Kikuchi's disease, angiosarcoma, and angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia. The medical records and histopathological specimens of patients diagnosed at Asan Medical Center from 1989 to 1999 were reviewed. RESULTS: HHV8 DNA sequences were identified in 9 (69%) of sarcoid tissues from 12 patients with sarcoidosis and in all (100%) of from 8 patients with Kaposi's sarcoma but not in 2 tissues from 2 patients with Kikuchi's disease, in 3 tissues from 2 patients with angiosarcoma and 2 tissues from 2 patients with angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia. CONCLUSION: HHV8 may be strongly associated with the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma and sarcoidosis. However, the association with Kikuchi's disease, angiosarcoma, and angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia was denied in this study. Further extensive study will be needed.
Angiolymphoid Hyperplasia with Eosinophilia ; Base Sequence ; Chungcheongnam-do ; DNA, Viral ; Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Herpesvirus 8, Human* ; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis ; Humans* ; Lymphoma, Primary Effusion ; Medical Records ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Sarcoidosis ; Sarcoma ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; Skin Diseases

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous malignant melanoma represents a tumor arising within the melanocytic systems of the skin. Once considered an uncommon cancer, melanoma is now rising in incidence at a rate faster than any other cancer. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinico-pathological characteristics of malignant melanoma. METHODS: A total of 61 patients with malignant melanoma were enrolled in this retrospective study. We classified malignant melanoma as follows; ALMM, acral lentigious malignant melanoma, NMM, nodular malignant melanoma, SSMM, superficial spreading malignant melanoma, MM, mucosal melanoma, LMM, lentigo maligna melanoma. We used the staging system of American Joint Committee on Cancer to evaluate the clinical status in our subjects. The hospital charts and histopathological slides of patients with malignant melanoma diagnosed at Asan Medical Center from 1989 to 1999 were reviewed. Immunohistochemical study was performed for S-100 and HMB-45 in 10 cases and for Ki-67 in 5 cases. RESULTS: 1. The male to female ratio was 1.3. The mean age at diagnosis was 52.6 years. ALMM was the most common type(52.5%) in this study. ALMM and NMM developed in elderly persons, while SSMM developed in younger persons. Malignant melanomas arising from pre-existing mole were 10 cases(16.4%). 2. In forty two cases(68.9%), malignant lesions were limited to skin, but 19 cases(31.1%) were disseminated to lymph nodes, skin or internal organ at the initial examination. Sole and heel were the favored sites in ALMM. Lower extremities and back were the favored sites in NMM and SSMM. Four patients were initially presented with metastatic symptoms such as dyspnea, abdominal mass, headache, or axillary mass, and cutaneous malignant melanoma eventually were diagnosed as their origin. 3. Histopathologically, 6 cases were categorized into amelanotic type and 1 case was into desmoplastic type. 4. More than a half cases developed metastases to other organs. Common metastatic sites were lymph nodes, lung, brain, skin, liver, bone, and bladder in decreasing order of frequency. 5. The five-year survival rate was 100% in stage IA, IB, and IIA but 0% in stage IV. Face, chest and lower extremities showed worse prognosis. Men had worse prognosis than women. NMM revealed the lowest 5-year survival rate(30%). CONCLUSION: Among the prognostic factors such as locations, clinical types, ages, and gender, the stages at the initial presentation was the most important predictable value in our study. Therefore, the early recognition of malignant melanoma is the key to possible cure.
Aged ; Brain ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Headache ; Heel ; Humans ; Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle ; Incidence ; Joints ; Liver ; Lower Extremity ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Melanoma* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Survival Rate ; Thorax ; Urinary Bladder

This work was done to measure the plasma concentration of catecholamines esp. norepinephrine and epineparine after eadotracheal intubation and so study the interrelation between the blood pressure and pulse rate and catecholamines. All seven patients studied were normotensive men with general anesthesia including eadotracheal intubation, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate were increased to 36+/-4.72 torr, 31+/-5.71 torr, and 34+/-6.23min. respectively. Norepinephrine and epinsphrine were also increased to 165+/-28.55pg/ml and 88+/-27.97pg/ml respectively. Those results show that the rise of blood pressure and pulse rate after endotracheal intubation may result from increased catecholamines.
Male ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of endovascular therapy as a primary treatment for spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF). METHODS: The authors reviewed 18 patients with spinal DAVFs for whom endovascular therapy was considered as an initial treatment at a single institute between 1993 and 2006. NBCA embolization was considered the primary treatment of choice, with surgery reserved for patients in whom endovascular treatment failed. RESULTS: Surgery was performed as the primary treatment in one patient because the anterior spinal artery originated from the same arterial pedicle as the artery feeding the fistula. Embolization was used as the primary treatment modality in 17 patients, with an initial success rate of 82.4%. Two patients with incomplete embolization had to undergo surgery. One patient underwent multiple embolizations, which failed to completely occlude the fistula but relieved the patient's symptoms. Spinal DAVF recurred in two patients (one collateral development and one recanalization) during the follow-up period. The collateral development was obliterated by repeated embolization, but the patient with recanalization refused further treatment. The overall clinical status improved in 15 patients (83.3%) during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Endovascular therapy can be successfully used as a primary treatment for the majority of patients with spinal DAVFs. Although it is difficult to perform in some patients, endovascular embolization should be the primary treatment of choice for spinal DAVF.
Arteries ; Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Fistula ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Spine

The development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for rapid and accurate detection and typing of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and type-2 (HSV-2), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is very important for clinical diagnosis to allow the deliver of therapy as early as possible. Large scale amplifications by multiplex PCR of viral DNA can lower the cost and time for viral diagnosis. In this study, therefore sensitive quadruplex PCR was achieved by optimizing parameters such as primers, and 1.5 mM magnesium and 200 uM dNTPs concentrations. The concentrations of HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV and EBV primers were 0.5, 0.3, 0.25 and 0.25 pmoles, respectively. Optimal annealing temperature was 54 degrees C. Employing these conditions, we could detect 10 copies of reconstructed template plasmid DNA, which were cloned to vectors containing target sequences of viral DNA. PCR products of 271 bp for HSV-1, 231 bp for HSV-2, 368 bp for CMV, and 326 bp for EBV were separated on 5.0% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and confirmed by direct sequencing. The present study showed that the quadruplex PCR assay described herein has potential application in clinical diagnosis, when rapid, accurate detection and typing of viruses HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV or EBV are necessary.
Cytomegalovirus/classification/*isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 1, Human/classification/*isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 2, Human/classification/*isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/classification/*isolation & purification ; Human ; *Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

An accelerating effect of methyl-deficient diet (MDD) on hepatocarcinogenesis and methylation pattern of nuclear protein(s) by S-adenosylmethionine: protein arginine N-methyltransferase (protein methylase I, PM-I) have been studied with 3'-methyl-4-dimethyl- aminoazobenzene(MeDAB)-treated rats. The MDD+MeDAB-fed group produced typical cancer cells in the liver almost two weeks earlier than the control synthetic diet (CSD)+MeDAB-fed group. Protein methylase I (PM-I) activity in the livers of MDD alone fed rats began to increase at around 2 weeks after MDD-feeding, reaching a peak at 4 weeks and declining thereafter. When nuclei isolated either from normal livers or from cholangiocarcinoma cells were incubated with PM-I preparation from normal liver, 16 and 23-kDa nuclear proteins were the major methylated proteins, regardless of the source of the nuclei. However, when the above mentioned nuclei were incubated with PM-I preparations either from MDD alone fed livers or MDD+ MeDAB-induced cholangiocarcinoma cells, the methylation of 23-kDa protein was not detected. The result suggests that there is a hitherto-unknown PM-I specific to 23 kDa nuclear protein which was lost during methyl deficient diet feeding and hepatocarcinogenesis. The N-terminal 20 amino acids sequence of the 23-kDa protein was found to be (1)Gly-Val-Pro-Leu-(5)X-Arg-Leu-Phe-Asp-(10)His-Ala-Met-Leu-Gln-(15)Ala -His-Arg-Ala-His-(20)Glu, having 94.7% sequence homology with human chorionic somatomammotropin precursor A and B.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Arginine ; Carcinogens ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Division ; Cell Proliferation* ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Diet ; Food, Formulated ; Liver ; Methylation* ; Nuclear Proteins ; p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene ; Placental Lactogen ; Protein Methyltransferases ; Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases ; Rats ; S-Adenosylmethionine ; Sequence Homology

BACKGROUND: Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) may occur anywhere on the skin and on mucous membranes with squamous epithelium. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinico-pathological characteristics of SCC. METHODS: A total of 62 patients with SCC were enrolled in this study. Six cases with metastatic SCC were included. The hospital charts and histopathological slides of the patients with SCC diagnosed at Asan Medical Center from 1989 to 1999 were reviewed. RESULTS: 1. The male and female ratio was 1.8:1. The mean age at diagnosis was 61.5 years in male patients and 71.8 years in female patients. 2. Most commonly involved sites were the face(41.8%). Upper extremities, trunk, lower extremities, genitalia and scalp were followed in decreasing order. The proximal nail fold was involved in 3 case of primary cutaneous SCC and 1 cases of metastatic SCC. 3. Six cases(9.7%) of metastatic SCC were included. Lung cancer(83.3%) was the most common cause of metastatic SCC in this study. Interestingly, one case presented with SCC of the proximal nail fold revealed metastatic SCC from the lung. 4. The possible causative diseases of primary cutaneous SCC were actinic keratosis(12.5%), burn scar(8.9%), immune suppression(8.9%) owing to kidney transplantation and chemotherapy, arsenical keratosis(7.1%), Bowen's disease(5.4%), trauma(5.4%), osteomyelitis(3.6%), and porokeratosis(1.8%). The causes of 25 cases(44.6%) were undetermined. 5. Histopathological differentiation of the primary cutaneous SCC was performed as follows: 29 cases(51.8%) of well-differentiated, 11 cases(19.6%) of moderately-differentiated, 8 cases(14.3%) of poorly-differentiated, 6 cases(10.7%) of acantholytic, and 2 cases(3.6%) of verrucous SCC. 6. Metastatic rate of primary cutaneous SCC was 16.1%. Metastasis of SCC from osteomyelitis (100%) and burn scar(40%) or trauma(33.3%) and that of poorly differentiated SCC(37.5%) were more common. Regional lymph nodes(55.6%), skin(44.4%), and lung(33.3%) were common metastatic organs.
Actins ; Burns ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Epithelium ; Female ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Lower Extremity ; Lung ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteomyelitis ; Scalp ; Skin ; Upper Extremity

BACKGROUND: Basal cell carcinomas(BCC) are seen almost on hair-bearing skin, especially on the face. There have been a few reports about BCC in Korea. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinico-pathological characteristics of BCC. METHODS: A total of 95 patients with BCC were enrolled in this study. The medical records and histopathological slides of BCC diagnosed at Asan Medical Center from 1989 to 1999 were reviewed. We classified our cases based on the predominant histopathological findings as follows; solid, adenoid, pigmented, superficial multicentric, clear cell, keratotic, morpheic, basosquamous, trichoblastoma-like, fibroepithelioma of Pinkus-like. RESULTS: 1. The male- female ratio was 1.1:1. The mean age at diagnosis was 64.8 years in male patients and 66.9 years in female patients. 2. The clinical diagnoses were BCC(76.8%), melanoma, actinic keratoses, seborrheic keratosis, and so on. 3. The face was the most preferred site, especially nose(41.2%). Solid, adenoid, keratotic, morpheic, and basosquamous types developed exclusively on the face, while superficial multicentric types did not show on the favored sites. 4. Pruritus of the lesion, easy bleeding, and rapid increment of the size were the main complaints. 5. Solid type was the most frequent type(30%). Three cases of BCC arising from organoid nevus were included. In two cases of organoid nevus-origin, fibrofolliculoma of Pinkus-like histopathological findings were noted. 3 cases were recurrent after laser therapy or simple curettage. 6. Ninety two cases were successfully treated with wide excision. One case was treated with radiation therapy, but the lesion persisted. The lesion was widely excised without recurrence. Systemic metastases were absent in our study.
Adenoids ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Curettage ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Keratosis, Actinic ; Keratosis, Seborrheic ; Korea ; Laser Therapy ; Male ; Medical Records ; Melanoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nevus ; Organoids ; Pruritus ; Recurrence ; Skin