20-40% of cases of acute transverse myelitis are attributed to viral infections, although the specific viral etiology is only rarely identified. We have studied one patient with transverse myelitis in association with acute hepatitis B virus infection. Hepatitis virus should be considered as rare cause of transverse myelitis.
Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis Viruses ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Myelitis, Transverse*

No abstract available.
Gestational Age* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins* ; Infant, Newborn*

In effort to determine whether aircraft noise can have health effects such as hearing loss, hypertension and psychological stress, a total of 111 male professors and administrative officers working a college near a military airport in Korea(exposed group) and a total of 168 males and 112 females matched by age groups(control groups) were analyzed. Personal noise exposure and indoor and outdoor sound level of jet aircraft noise were measured at the exposed area. And pure tone, air conduction test and measurement of blood pressure were given to the exposed(males) and matched control groups(males and females). BEPSI(Brief Encounter Psychological Instrument) and psychological response to aircraft noise were examined for the exposed group. The noise dosimetry results revealed time-weighted averages(TWAs) that ranged from 61 to 68 dBA. However the levels encountered during taking off jet airplanes reached 126 dBA for two half minutes time period. The audiometric test showed that mean values of HTL(hearing threshold level) in exposed group at every frequency(500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz were much lower than them of male and female control groups. And in old age groups, interaction of age and noise was observed at 8,000 Hz in both ears(p< 0.05). Conclusively, aircraft noise does not appear to induce hearing loss directly, but may decreased hearing threshold level by interaction of aging process and noise exposure. However, difference of mean values of exposed and control groups on blood pressure was not significantly. In psychological test, annoyance was the most severe psychological response to noise in exposed group, but mean value of BEPSI was not correlated with job duration in exposed group
Aging ; Aircraft* ; Airports ; Blood Pressure* ; Female ; Hearing Loss* ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Noise* ; Presbycusis ; Psychological Tests ; Stress, Psychological*

PURPOSE: The technique of partial liver transplantation from a living donor was developed to expand the donor pool. However such small grafts may not only be functionally inadequate for the recipient, but will also sustain injury characterized by cholestasis and histological features of ischemia after implantation. Damage to partial liver grafts after reperfusion is frequently observed but the mechanism of injury remains unclear. Injury to partial liver grafts may be related to changes in portal blood flow. In this study, we investigated the histologic changes of the reperfusion of livers after revascularization through the portal vein or hepatic artery following heterotopic partial liver transplantation in rats. METHODS: Inbred Lewis partial liver were transplanted to inbred Brown Norway rats heterotopically in three groups. The first group of transplants, Group I (Portal vein group, n=3) was reperfused firstly through the portal vein. The second group, Group II (Hepatic artery group, n=3) was firstly reperfused through the hepatic artery. The third group, Group III (Control, n=1) was sham-operated. After reperfusion, the liver grafts were procured and fixed in formalin. The reperfusion livers were studied using immunohistochemical staining and in-situ RT PCR. RESULTS: In the H&E staining of the reperfusion livers there were no differences between groups I and II. Using immunohistochemical staining of TNF,R, FAS L, caspase 8 and in-situ RT PCR (NOS mRNA, TNF,R mRNA, FAS mRNA), the hepatic artery first reperfusion liver showed more damage than the portal vein first reperfusion liver. TUNEL staing showed severe apoptosis in hepatic artery reperfusion liver. CONCLUSION: The expression of the apoptosis molecular markers was more prominent in the reperfused liver performed with initial revascularization using the hepatic artery, rather than portal vein. These findings may be due to fact that the high oxygen blood in the hepatic artery is stressful to the reperfusion liver. The routinely used portal vein first revascularization technique decrease reperfusion injury to the graft when compared to hepatic artery first revascularization.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Arteries ; Caspase 8 ; Cholestasis ; Formaldehyde ; Hepatic Artery* ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Ischemia ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors ; Norway ; Oxygen ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Portal Vein* ; Rats* ; Reperfusion Injury ; Reperfusion* ; RNA, Messenger ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Veins

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Propofol is usually used for anesthesia in the case of day surgery. We studied the effects of propofol plus fentanyl for sedation and the effect of oxygenation during gastroscopy. METHODS: 154 patients who asked conscious sedation during gastroscopy were randomly divided into three groups. The first group (PF-O group, 50 patients) and the second group (PF group, 48 patients) were received an initial bolus dose of propofol (40 mg) plus fentanyl (50 microgram) intravenously, followed by additional doses of propofol at one minute interval until conscious sedation. PF-O group was received preoxygenation (3 L/min) via nasal canula, and PF group was not. The third group (56 patients) received an initial bolus dose of midazolam (3 mg) intravenously, followed by additional doses of midazolam at two minutes interval (M group). RESULTS: In PF-O group, time to achieve sedation, regain orientation, and recover walking ability were 118.0 85.2 sec, 67.5 91.2 sec and 11.1 5.3 min. Gag reflex during the procedure was absent or nearly absent in 96% of patients. Despite the changes of blood pressure and heart rate compared to the values taken prior to the procedures were observed, all values were not clinically significant. In PF-O group, transient oxygen desaturation (SaO2<90%) was observed in four (8.0%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: Propofol plus fentanyl with oxygenation seems to be more acceptable and suitable method for sedation during outpatient gastroscopic examination.
Ambulatory Surgical Procedures ; Anesthesia ; Blood Pressure ; Conscious Sedation ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal* ; Fentanyl ; Gastroscopy ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Midazolam ; Outpatients ; Oxygen* ; Propofol ; Reflex ; Walking

Fibrous dysplasia is a slowly progressive benign fibro-osseous disorder of unknown cause. The predilection sites of the craniofacial bones are maxilia and mandible, but fibrous dysplasia of the temporal bone is rarely noted, The usual clinical manifestations of fibrous dysplasia of the temporal bone are mainly otologic complications such as progressive stenosis of the external auditory canal and conductive hearing loss. But its neurologic complications are very rarely reported except facial nerve paresis. We present a case of monostotic fibrous dysplasia of the temporal bone leading to intracranial hypertension with central venous thrombosis. To our knowledge, this association has not been previously described in the literature.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Ear Canal ; Facial Nerve ; Fibrous Dysplasia, Monostotic ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Intracranial Hypertension* ; Mandible ; Paresis ; Temporal Bone* ; Venous Thrombosis*

OBJECTIVE: Distal anterior cerebral artery (DACA) aneurysms are relatively uncommon, and operative management is usually difficult because of narrow operative fields, deep exposure, interhemispheric adhesions, and problems in achieving proximal vessel control. We present our experience with 26 DACA aneurysm cases and analyze the clinical features and surgical outcomes retrospectively. METHODS: From 1998 to 2008, surgical clipping of DACA aneurysms was carried out in 26 patients among a total of 504 patients with intracranial aneurysms. In each case, the clinical and radiological features were carefully reviewed through angiograms, medical records, and intraoperative findings. RESULTS: The most common location of DACA aneurysms was the junction of the pericallosal and callosomarginal arteries: 23 occurred at pericallosal-callosomarginal (PC-CM) junctions while three occurred in the pericallosal-frontopolar (PC-FP) region. Multiple aneurysms were found in 15 cases (58%), and associated vascular anomalies were noted in three cases (12%). Eleven (64.7%) of the 17 ruptured aneurysms and seven (77.8%) of the nine unruptured aneurysms were smaller than 7 mm; only two aneurysms (7.7%) were larger than 10 mm. Seven cases (26.9%) underwent minor premature rupture with proximal artery control. CONCLUSION: Despite the small patient group, our data suggest that in general, DACA aneurysms tend to rupture at a smaller size than do intracranial aneurysms. Thus, unruptured DACA aneurysms require aggressive treatment, even when they are small.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Anterior Cerebral Artery ; Arteries ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Surgical Instruments

Using the 3-D TOF technique of MR angiography, the main intracranial and extracranial vessels of 46 normal controls and 37 patients with ischemic stroke were evaluated. In controls 1 the visibility of internal carotid artery and vertebrobasilar artery was ninety-one percent, and that of the first division of the middle cerebral artery was ninety-four percent. In patient groups, compared with the contrast angiographic findings, the sensitivity of MR angiography in detecting vascular occlusive lesions was 100.0% in anterior circulations, and 80.0% in posterior circulations. But several false positive cases were detected. Which were mainly associated with tortous tuming points of the vessels, and MIP artifacts. In spite of the high sensitivity of MR angiography in detecting vascular abnormalities, the degree of occlusive vascular lesions were more accentuated in MR angiography probably due to MIP artifact. The overestimated rate of vascular stenosis was about 24.6 percent compared with the contrast angiography.
Angiography* ; Arteries ; Artifacts ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Stroke*

An encephalocele is a protrusion of cranial contents beyond the normal confines of the skull, and sincipital variety denotes and encephalocele with an internal cranial defect localized between the frontal and ethmoid bones. Here we report three cases of sincipital encephalocele, which were surgically managed. All patients were boys, and thier deformities were noted since their birth. One patient presented with naso-frontal type of deformity, and the other two with naso-ethmoidal type. The incidence of each type of encephalocele in Korea is still unknown and further study will be necessary in this respect.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Encephalocele* ; Ethmoid Bone ; Humans ; Hypertelorism ; Incidence ; Korea ; Parturition ; Skull

No abstract available.
Animals ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Nitric Oxide* ; Rats*