No abstract available.

No abstract available.

High Dose Rate Remote Afterloading system was installed at Wonkwang Universi-ty Hospital in January 1994. In this report, the calibration of a Gammamed 12-i High Dose Rate Remote Afterloading system and the radiation survey around the facility after design and construct a shieding room are discussed. The radiation survey of the facility indicates that the use of ordinary concrete shielding of existing room will provide adequate shielding. Also, the methodologies for performing source calibra-tion are presented.
Calibration* ; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium

PURPOSE: To report three various cases of retinal hemorrhages caused by Plasmodium vivax malaria. CASE SUMMARY: Two 55-year-old male patients and a 52-year-old male patient with cyclic high fever were admitted to the department of internal medicine. Three of the patients were diagnosed with malaria caused by P. vivax based on a peripheral blood smear. The patients were treated with hydroxychloroquine and premaquine but complained of decreased visual acuity. The patients were examined with funduscopy, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography. The first case showed 2 areas of retinal hemorrhages on the macular in the right eye and 1 area of retinal hemorrhage in the left eye. The second case showed many cotton-wool spots along with a number of small retinal hemorrhages and tortuous blood vessels in both eyes. The third case showed 1 area of retinal hemorrhage in the right eye and many cotton-wool spots in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS: P. vivax malaria rarely causes retinal hemorrhage. Manifestations of retinal hemorrhage and degree of visual acuity loss may vary among patients. P. vivax malaria should be considered when patients with unexplained high fever present with retinal hemorrhage, even without a history of overseas travel.
Blood Vessels ; Eye ; Fever ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Humans ; Hydroxychloroquine ; Internal Medicine ; Malaria ; Malaria, Vivax ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasmodium ; Plasmodium vivax ; Retinal Hemorrhage ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Visual Acuity

No abstract available.
Humans ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin*

Purpose: We performed three-dimensional (3D) dose reconstruction-based pretreatment verification to evaluate gamma analysis acceptance criteria in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Pretreatment verification for 28 VMAT plans for prostate cancer was performed using the COMPASS system with a dolphin detector. The 3D reconstructed dose distribution of the treatment planning system calculation (TC) was compared with that of COMPASS independent calculation (CC) and COMPASS reconstruction from the dolphin detector measurement (CR). Gamma results (gamma failure rate and average gamma value [GFR and γAvg]) and dose-volume histogram (DVH) deviations, 98%, 2% and mean dose-volume difference (DD98%, DD2% and DDmean), were evaluated. Gamma analyses were performed with two acceptance criteria, 2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm. Results: The GFR in 2%/2 mm criteria were less than 8%, and those in 3%/3 mm criteria were less than 1% for all structures in comparisons between TC, CC, and CR. In the comparison between TC and CR, GFR and γAvg in 2%/2 mm criteria were significantly higher than those in 3%/3 mm criteria. The DVH deviations were within 2%, except for DDmean (%) for rectum and bladder. Conclusions The 3%/3 mm criteria were not strict enough to identify any discrepancies between planned and measured doses, and DVH deviations were less than 2% in most parameters. Therefore, gamma criteria of 2%/2 mm and DVH related parameters could be a useful tool for pretreatment verification for VMAT in prostate cancer.

No abstract available.

In the previous studies, we found that lumbrokinase an, extract from Korean earthworm, had a strong in vitro thrombolytic effect, and that when added to thrombin had a significant effect in reducing fatality rate in thrombin-induced lung infarction mice model. To determine whether it also has in vivo thrombolytic effect in cerebral embolism model using 9 Spraw Dawly male rats of 200 to 300gm, we cannulated the extemal carotid artery lene tubes and occluded the pterygopalatine arteries. Via the extemal carotid artery, we injected 1 mm3 of human blood clots which were previously mixed with Tc-99m sulfur colloid. After confirming the intracranially situated clot by camera, we injected 3cc of following fiuids to each group of three rats: saline, urokinase, lumbrokinase fraction m Then using Gamma camera of 64*64 m obtained for 1 minute in every 30 minutes. After 150 minutes radioactivities of the clots in the brain were 3.02%, 21 02% urokinase, and lumbrokinase treated animals respectively. In the liver, the uptake of radioactivities was accordingly increased. Brain sections showed no Significant intracranial bleeding in any of the treated animals. Therefore, we conclude that lumbrokinase has in vivo thromboembolism model without producing significant intracranial bleeding. However, compared with its in vitro effects the in vivo effects appear to be less potent. Futher experiments with better designed animal models are warranted.
Animals ; Arteries ; Brain ; Carotid Arteries ; Gamma Cameras ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Intracranial Embolism ; Liver ; Lung ; Male ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Oligochaeta ; Radioactivity ; Rats* ; Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid ; Thrombin ; Thromboembolism* ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator

Although evolution and time course of ischemic brain infarct should be a matter of interest to investigators in the research of brain ischemia as well as traumatic brain injury, few papers have ever been reported. Authors observed quantitatively sequential changes of infarct size and regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF) to assess the evolution of focal ischemic brain infarct in the rat following left MCAO. Fifteen rats, weighting 250 g to 370 g, were used in this experiment. The experiment animals were divided into three groups: 6, 24 and 48 hours groups(HG) after MCAO. The rCBF of bilateral caudate nuclei was measured by hydrogen clearance methods. Areas of brain infarction were delineated by tripheny-tetrazolium chloride(TTC) at the preselected 8 coronal levels of forebrain. The areas of brain damage were drawn on scale diagrams(x4 actual size) of forebrain and measured by a plannimeter. In the experimental groups, just after MCAO, rCBF of the ipsilateral caudate nucleus was reduced to 29.4+/-6.5 to 24.5+/-7.9 ml/100 g/min from the basal value of around 117 to 121 ml/100 g/min and showed a tendency of getting more reduced to 19.4+/-7.6 ml/100 g/min by 48 hours. The rCBF of the contralateral caudate nucleus was maintained in the basal value throughout the experiment. Comparing the total amounts of ischemic damage of 48 HG to those of 5 and 24 HG, the infarction size was significantly increased in cerebral hemisphere as well as cerebral cortex and caudate nucleus(p<0.05). But there was not any significant difference between 6 and 24 HG. The experiment provides evidence for the evolution of focal ischemic brain infarct without any further change of decreased rCBF. The data suggest that it is desirable to observe the change of pathologic findings by not less then 48 hours following the arterial occlusion in the study of ischemic brain infarction in the rat, particularly as long as ischemic damage is delineated by TTC.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain Infarction ; Brain Injuries ; Brain Ischemia ; Caudate Nucleus ; Cerebral Cortex ; Cerebrum ; Humans ; Hydrogen ; Infarction* ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery* ; Middle Cerebral Artery* ; Prosencephalon ; Rats* ; Research Personnel

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the types and severity of subcortical aphasia after stroke and to determine the predictors of the degree of aphasic impairment. METHODS: Medical records of 38 patients with post-stroke subcortical aphasia (19 males; mean age, 61.7±13.8 years) were reviewed retrospectively with respect to the following tests: the Korean version of the Western Aphasia Battery (K-WAB), the Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI), and the Fugl-Meyer Index (FMI). The severity of aphasia was evaluated by the aphasia quotient (AQ) and the language quotient (LQ). RESULTS: Anomic aphasia was the most frequent type of aphasia (n=15, 39.5%), and the lesion most frequently observed in subcortical aphasia was located in the basal ganglia (n=19, 50.0%). Patients with lesions in the basal ganglia exhibited the lowest scores on the FMI for the upper extremities (p=0.04). Severity of aphasia was significantly correlated with the K-MBI (Pearson correlation coefficient: γ=0.45, p=0.01 for AQ and γ=0.53, p=0.01 for LQ) and FMI scores for the lower extremities (γ=0.43, p=0.03 for AQ and γ=0.49, p=0.05 for LQ). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, K-MBI remained the only explanatory variable closely associated with aphasia severity. CONCLUSION: This study showed the general characteristics of post-stroke subcortical aphasia, and it revealed that K-MBI was an associated and explanatory factor for aphasia severity.
Anomia ; Aphasia* ; Basal Ganglia ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Humans ; Language Tests ; Logistic Models ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke* ; Upper Extremity