No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Abdominal*

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to test the validity of M-mode and a new cross sectional cehocardiographic quantification of pericardial effusion. METHODS: This study was performed in 12 patients with large pericardial effusion of whom hed M-mode and 2-D echocardiography just before therpeutic drainage of the effusion. The volume of Pericardial fluid removed by pericardiocentesis was compared with te echo-free space estimated by M-mode echocardiography and the volume estimated by new 2-D echocardiographic method. The pericardial sac volume and the cardiac volume were calculated by applying the formula for the volume of a prolate ellipse. RESULTS: 1) There was a good correlation between 2-D echocardiographic estimate and the actual volume removed by pericardiocentesis(r=0.72, p<0.05). 2) The correlation between the echo-free space estimated by M-mode echocardiography at the level of mitral valve and the actual volume was also good(r=0.81,p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The M-mode and 2-D echocardiographic method is successful in helping to estimate large pericardial effusion.
Cardiac Volume ; Drainage ; Echocardiography* ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Pericardiocentesis ; Phosmet

Hematuria is a important clinical sign that is a consequence of significant fenal. urologic or sytemic disease. Recently the morphology of the red cell in hematuria has been used to indicate a renal or non-renal source and also the measurement of red cell volume by red cell analyzer has been used to distinguish glomerular from non-glomerular hematuria. In this study. the MCV(mean corpsular red cell voume). RDW(red cell distribution width) and HDW (hemoglobin distribution width) were measured using H-1 system in57 children with hematuria to assess the diagnostic usefulness of the urinary red cell analyzer in the differentation of glomerular and non-glomerular hematuria. The patients were divided into two groups as glomerular diseases(40cases)and non-glomerular diseases(17 cases)and the location of the bleeding was confirmed by renal biopsy, radiology and the clinical findings. The results were as follows. 1) The urinary red cell MCV waslower in patients with glomerular diseases than that in patients with non-glomerular diseases (79.89 +/- 12.0fl vs. 90.93 +/- 9.71fl vs. 90.93+/-9.71 fL; p<0.01) 2) The urinary RDW and HDW were significantly higher in glomerular diseases than those in non-glomerular diseases (RDW; 19.86 +/- 11.28% vs 11.34+/-5.88%, HDW; 3.37+/-2.07 gm vs. 1.86+/-1.43gm). 3) The urinary red cell MCV was correlated well with the RDW and HDW while there was no correlation between the urinary red cell MCV and the urinary SG or pH. 4) The sensitivity, specificity and positive predictability of the urinsary MCV were 37.8%, 94.1% and 93.7% and those of RDW were 62.5%, 82.3% and 89.2% 5) The sensitivity, specificity and positive predictability of the urinary HDW were 42.5%, 88.2% and 89.4% We concluded from above date that the measurment of the urinary MCV, RDW and HDW would be useful as a primary non-invasive screening test in differentation of glomerular and non-glomerular hematuria in children.
Biopsy ; Cell Size* ; Child* ; Diagnosis* ; Hematuria* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to make a practical comparative evaluation of the first and second trimesters in order to determine the period during which a higher yield of fetal nucleated red blood cells (FNRBCs) can be obtained. METHODS: NRBCs were isolated from maternal blood during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy using double Percoll gradients with different osmolarities. Magnetic activated cell sorting was performed with Kleihauer-Betke stain. We isolated fetal NRBCs from 10 mL of samples of maternal blood and determined fetal sex and fetal aneuploidy by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). RESULTS: The average number of NRBCs was 9.85 in samples obtained during the first trimester and 14.88 in samples obtained during the second trimester (P=0.07). The average number of NRBCs with Y chromosome signals was 5.73 in the first trimester and 8.22 in second trimester (P=0.56). However, the percentage of NRBCs with Y chromosome signals in the first trimester (70.6%) was significantly higher than in the second trimester (59.8%) (P=0.049). We diagnosed the blood samples from 7 pregnant women having fetal aneuploidy using this method and the number of NRBCs was 18.4. CONCLUSION: The method using Percoll osmolarity and a double density gradient system may be a very useful method for separation of NRBCs in the first trimester of pregnancy and also in the second trimester.
Aneuploidy ; Centrifugation, Density Gradient ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Fluorescence ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Osmolar Concentration ; Povidone ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, First ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Silicon Dioxide ; Y Chromosome

Presentation of antigen in a suitable form to lymphocytes is prerequsite for the initiation of primary immune response. Dendritic cells (DC) provide an effective pathway for presenting antigens to lymphocytes in situ. The aim of this study was to establish a dendritic cell-line from human tonsils and to investigate the changes in surface phenotype during culture. Immunohistochemical studies using various surface markers indicated that cultured DC were follicular dendritic cells (FDC) from human tonsils. Cultured DC showed typical dendritic morphology at early stage of culture. Their shape changed into fibroblast-like cells over culture time. Surface phenotype study suggested that cultured DC were distinct from human fibroblast. Antigenic pattern of FDC was changed during culture; I-ILA-DR antigens decreased and HJ2 antigens increased with aging of culture. Functional characteristics of human tosillar FDC will be investigated in the future.
Aging ; Dendritic Cells ; Dendritic Cells, Follicular* ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Palatine Tonsil ; Phenotype

No abstract available.
Endocardial Cushion Defects* ; Endocardial Cushions* ; Ultrasonics*

No abstract available.
Female ; Fertilization* ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Twin*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Obesity is associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Leptin is a hormone which controls appetite and energy homeostasis. Alterations of its level in humans have been linked with obesity and related carcinogenesis. We postulated that the leptin level in plasma or tissues might be different according to the phenotype of GERD. We evaluated this hormone in patients with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and reflux esophagitis (RE) with demographic characteristics to confirm the postulation. METHODS: The patients with typical GERD symptoms such as acid regurgitation and heartburn were prospectively enrolled and evaluated. The demographic data included body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, and the consumption of coffee. Rapid urease test was done to evaluate the status of Helicobacter pylori infection. We measured plasma leptin level along with the tissue level, which was obtained from the fundus of stomach. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients were evaluated (RE 20 cases, NERD 24 cases). No demographic data was different between the two groups, except waist circumference (mean 88.6 cm in RE, 80.9 cm in NERD, p=0.006), smoking (45% in RE, 12.5% in NERD, p=0.021) and coffee consumption (85% in RE, 50% in NERD, p=0.025). The level of plasma leptin was not different between the two groups. The level of tissue leptin was also not different between the two groups with an increasing tendency in RE (mean 32.5 ng/mL vs. 28.0 ng/mL in NERD). CONCLUSIONS: We could not find any association between plasma and tissue leptin levels and the phenotype of GERD. However, increasing tendency in RE could afford to further studies in near future.
Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Coffee ; Female ; Gastroesophageal Reflux/*complications ; Helicobacter Infections/complications ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Leptin/analysis/*blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity/complications ; Phenotype ; Smoking ; Waist Circumference

New treatment strategies to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been introduced recently. We report and review the effect of oral ferrous sulfate administration in a 14 year old girl with ADHD, who has decreased serum iron, ferritin levels. We administered oral ferrous sulfate 120 mg to her for 8 weeks. There were improvements of scores in Attention Diagnostic System (ADS), Clinical Global Improvement (CGI), Conner's ADHD Rating scale and Dupaul ADHD Rating scale
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Ferritins ; Ferrous Compounds ; Iron

New treatment strategies to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been introduced recently. We report and review the effect of oral ferrous sulfate administration in a 14 year old girl with ADHD, who has decreased serum iron, ferritin levels. We administered oral ferrous sulfate 120 mg to her for 8 weeks. There were improvements of scores in Attention Diagnostic System (ADS), Clinical Global Improvement (CGI), Conner's ADHD Rating scale and Dupaul ADHD Rating scale
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Ferritins ; Ferrous Compounds ; Iron