No abstract available.
Autografts* ; Cartilage* ; Transplantation, Autologous*

A 78-year-old woman presented to our hospital with progressive dyspnea (NYHA class I-II) and epigastric discomfort that had developed after a traffic accident. She had a history of hypertension and cerebral infarction, but no history of cardiovascular disease. Her blood pressure was 130/70 mmHg and her heart rate was 66 beats/min and regular. The electrocardiogram showed normal sinus rhythm. The chest X-ray revealed bilateral pleural effusions. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) demonstrated an aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta compressing the left atrium (LA). Left and right ventricular systolic function was preserved. Whole-body computed tomography (CT) angiography revealed that a focal 40-mm-diameter saccular aneurysm in the descending aorta at the level of T7-8, with an intramural hematoma, was compressing the LA and left pulmonary vein. After surgical management, follow-up TTE and CT showed decompression of the LA and left pulmonary vein.
Accidents, Traffic ; Aged ; Aneurysm* ; Angiography ; Aorta, Thoracic* ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cerebral Infarction ; Decompression ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria* ; Heart Rate ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Pleural Effusion ; Pulmonary Veins ; Thorax

Wilson's Disease is a rare familial disorder of abnomalities in hepatic copper metabolism usually presenting with neuropsychiatric or hepatic manifestation. Hemolytic anemia is known as one of its initial clinical manifestation, but that with fulminant hepatitis is a rare presentation of Wilson's disease and so fatal leading always to death, to our best knowledge. This 16-year-old woman was transferred to our hospital with problems of acute Coombs' negative hemolytic anemia and unknown fulminant hepatitis features. She was early diagnosed as complications of Wilson's disease by slit-lamp examination of characteristic Kayser-Fleischer ring and later confirmed by raised serum free copper (55.9microgram/dL, control;< 15 microgram/dL) and 24h urine copper (1,546 microgram/dL, control; 38~70 microgram/dL). She was soon treated with D-penicillamine and pyridoxine with the plan of early liver transplantation. She was fortunately recovered with conservative treatment alone but did have active cirrhosis on consequent liver biopsy. She has been followed up for 7months. Wilson's disease should always be thought in childhood or adolescent patient with Coombs' negative hemolytic anemia and unknown fulminant hepatitis.
Adolescent ; Anemia, Hemolytic* ; Biopsy ; Copper ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis* ; Hepatolenticular Degeneration* ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Metabolism ; Penicillamine ; Pyridoxine

PURPOSE: To obtain basic data for development of a glioblastoma-specific immunotoxin, the expression of variable cell surface receptors on a human glioblastoma xenograft model was evaluated, using NOD/SCID mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a xenograft model in NOD/SCID mice implanted with a human glioblastoma cell line (U-87MG). Immunohistochemical studies were performed on implanted tumor nodules (n=8) using antibodies against CD71, EGFR, IGF-IRalpha, CXCR4 and IL-4Ralpha. RESULTS: Expression of IL-4Ralpha, in implanted tumornodules, was the highest of the cell surface receptors evaluated in this study. However, the endothelial cells in, and around, the tumor nodules also revealed immunopositivity against IL-4Ralpha. The immunoreactivity of IL-4Ralpha, and other surface receptors such as CD71, IGF-IRalpha and EGFR, was prominent in tumor nodules associated with tumor necrosis. CONCLUSION: IL-4Ralpha would be a possible target for the development of glioblastoma-specific immunotoxin, although there are limitations due to its endothelial expression.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Cell Line ; Endothelial Cells ; Glioblastoma* ; Heterografts* ; Humans* ; Immunotoxins ; Mice* ; Mice, SCID ; Necrosis ; Receptors, Cell Surface*

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an unusual cause of brain abscess. Among the few cases of Klebsiella pneumoniae brain abscess that have been reported, most were associated with another underlying primary focus of infection. Endogenous endophthalmitis caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae is an infrequent but often devastating septic metastatic infection. We report a rare case of Klebsiella pneumoniae brain abscess and endophthalmitis after acute epiglottitis.

The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spurred an urgent need for vaccination and herd immunity. Recently, mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 have been used widely despite reports of several adverse events. Most adverse effects are mild, although a few are associated with neurological complications. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of information on peripheral nerve complications after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. We report the case of an immunocompetent young male patient who suffered from ipsilateral wrist drop with multiple lymphadenopathy in the cervical and axillary region after Pfizer–BioNTech vaccination.He experienced unilateral wrist drop, which significantly improved with corticosteroid treatment. Based on knowledge of this adverse effect, careful surveillance and increased awareness are needed for early diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the English literature of radial neuropathy resulting in wrist drop in a recently vaccinated and young immunocompetent patient.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of severe hypoglycemia without hypokalemia on the electrocardiogram in patients with type 2 diabetes in real-life conditions. METHODS: Electrocardiograms of adult type 2 diabetic patients during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia and the recovered stage were obtained and analysed between October 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. Patients who maintained the normal serum sodium and potassium levels during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia were only selected as the subjects of this study. Severe hypoglycemia was defined, in this study, as the condition requiring active medical assistance such as administering carbohydrate when serum glucose level was less than 60 mg/dL. RESULTS: Nine type 2 diabetes patients (seven men, two women) were included in the study. The mean subject age was 73.2+/-7.7 years. The mean hemoglobin A1c level was 6.07%+/-1.19%. The median duration of diabetes was 10 years (range, 3.5 to 30 years). Corrected QT (QTc) intervals were significantly increased during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia compared to the recovered stage (447.6+/-18.2 ms vs. 417.2+/-30.6 ms; P<0.05). However, the morphology and the amplitude of the T waves were not changed and ST-segment elevation and/or depression were not found during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia. CONCLUSION: In this study, QTc interval prolongation during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia was observed without hypokalemia. Therefore, the distinct alterations in cardiac repolarization during the episodes of severe hypoglycemia may not be associated with hypokalemia.
Adult ; Depression ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Electrocardiography ; Glucose ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Hypokalemia ; Male ; Medical Assistance ; Potassium ; Sodium

Although occupational low back pain accounts for 20~40% of all occupational illness and injury, there are limited numbers of studies regarding the effectiveness of back school program. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic benefit of back school program for early return to work of occupational low back pain patients in the current occupational injury compensation and management system. The cost-benefit analysis in this study was conducted to evaluate the relative magnitude of benefit to cost. The total cost was estimated by calculating the value of components in back school program according to governmental budget protocol. The back school program was consisted of three major approaches, pain center, work-hardening program and functional restoration program and each of components had various facilities and experts. The total amount of cost was estimated as 250,866,220 won per year. The most promising type of back school program were quite intensive (a 3 to 5-week stay in a specialized center), therefore, if we adopted the 5-week stay course, 10 courses could be held in a year. Following to the medical act, 20 patients per doctor could participate in a each course, ie, total 200 patients in a year. As a result, we could estimate the cost of 1,254,331 won a patient. we estimated the benefit by using data of a few local labor offices about average medical treatment beneficiary and off-duty beneficiary of 46 occupational low back pain patients in 1994. Ullman and Larsson(1977) mentioned that the group of chronic low back pain patients who participated in back school program needed less time to recover by 48.4% of beneficiary duration. And in the trying to estimate the benefit, we asked 10 rehabilitation board certificate doctors about reduction proportion of treatment cost by introducing back school program. The answered reduction proportions were in the range of 30~45%, average 39%. As a final result, we could see that the introduction of back school program in treatment of chronic occupational low back pain patients could produce the benefit to cost ratio as 3.90 and 6.28. And we could conclude that the introduction of back school program was beneficial to current occupational injury compensation and management system.
Budgets ; Compensation and Redress ; Cost-Benefit Analysis* ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Low Back Pain* ; Occupational Injuries ; Pain Clinics ; Rehabilitation ; Return to Work

BACKGROUND: The primary outcome of sugammadex reversal for rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block (NMB) is a train-of-four ratio (TOFR) of 0.9, not first twitch (T1) height. We investigated whether the recovery of TOFR or T1 differs based on the reversal of NMB with neostigmine or sugammadex. METHODS: The acceleromyographic responses from 0.6 mg/kg of rocuronium were monitored supramaximally in 80 patients after induction of anesthesia. The TOFR and T1 height were recorded, and saved in a personal computer using TOF-Watch SX Monitor software in all patients. Patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups to receive either neostigmine 50 µg/kg with glycopyrrolate 10 µg/kg (neostigmine group, n = 40) or sugammadex 2.0 mg/kg (sugammadex group, n = 40). The primary objective was to determine the difference of recovery time between TOFR to 0.9 and T1 to 0.9 after sugammadex or neostigmine administration during moderate rocuronium-induced NMB. RESULTS: The recovery pattern of the TOFR 2 min after sugammadex administration was 1.0 or more, but that of T1 was less than 90% (T1 / control value) up to 6 min after drug was injected. The recovery pattern of TOFR and T1 was similar during the 20 min after reversal with neostigmine. CONCLUSIONS: If you have not performed the T1 monitoring, both TOFR and T1 should be considered to confirm suitable recovery during the 6 min after reversal with sugammadex during rocuronium-induced moderate NMB.
Anesthesia ; Depression* ; Glycopyrrolate ; Humans ; Microcomputers ; Neostigmine ; Neuromuscular Blockade* ; Neuromuscular Monitoring

The confirmatory diagnosis of Moyamoya disease has been obtained by invasive angiographic examination. We report the results of MRI and transcranial doppler sonography of three cases ol Moyamoya disease, which ws disgnosed by clinical and angiography. We think that the diagnosis of Moyamoya disease can be made by noninvasive MRI and transcranial doppler sonography without conventional invasive angiography.
Angiography ; Diagnosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Moyamoya Disease* ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial*