Utrasonic evaluation has been suggested as a screening method for early ovarian cancer. This study was designed to evaluate the aceuracy of pelvic ultraesound to measure the ovarian volume as the preliminary study. The ovarian volume me ured. by ultrasound was compared with findings at. surgery. Subjects far this investigation were 25 menstruating patients and 12 climacteric patients who were scheduled for gynecologic surgery chiefly unrelated to adnexal masses. The mean nf ovarian volume with menstruating patients was 5.7+/-5.9cm3 and that of climacteric patients was 2.5+/-l.3cm3(P<0.01). The eorrelation coefficient between the ovarian volurne measurement made by two examiners was 0.80. The correlation coeffieient between the ovarian volume measured by transvaginai ultrasonography and ovarian volume at laparotomy was 0. 37 and poor, The ll ovaries(52%) among the 24 ovaries of 12 climacteric tients were not visualized. So, this study suggested that the ovarian volume measurements af the postmenopauml by transvaginal ultrasonograpy was not simple and demanded the skill and laboraus training.
Climacteric ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Mass Screening* ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Ovary ; Ultrasonography

Growth factors influencing the function of chondrocytes are insulin-like growth factor I(IGF-I), basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF), transforming growth factor-beta1(TGF-beta1), and epidermal growth factor(EGF). To find out the role of four kinds of growth factors in the biosynthesis of type I and II collagen represented as the phenotype of the disc cells, we cultured the disc cells isolated from rabbit intervertebral discs primarily and then checked cell proliferation, the expression of type I and II procollagen mRNA, and the immunohistochemical stains with type I and II collagen antibodies during in vitro culture in the maintenance medium containing low serum concentration with adding four kinds of growth factors. The results are as follows. FBS(10% Fetal bovine serum) group showed the highest cell proliferation potential. EGF and TGF groups showed remarkable cell proliferation, but there was no significant difference in IGF and FGF groups comparing to control group. A partial clone that encodes the rabbit type II procollagen C-propeptide region(RbCo12A1) was successfully isolated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using total RNA extracted from articular chondrocytes of rabbits. The identity of the cDNA clone was confirmed by DNA sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction products. A comparison of human al(II) cDNA sequence showed high sequence homology(83.6%). Type I procollagen mRNA expressed highly in EGF group. FGF, IGF, and TGF groups showed no significant expression comparing to control group. FBS group showed lower expression than control group. Type II procollagen expression was increased with passage of time, so at Day 10 it was the highest in all groups. Control group showed the highest expression among 6 experimental groups. The expression of type II procollagen in FGF and TGF groups was slightly lower than that of control. EGF and IGF groups showed markedly decreased expression comparing to control group. That in FBS group was the lowest, so it was three times lower than control group. In immunohistochemical stains with type I collagen, there was no difference among control, FBS, and EGF groups. FGF, IGF, and TGF groups showed increased positivity on stain comparing to control group, but the positivity didnt exceed 10%. For type II collagen, EGF and FGF groups showed decreased positivity, but there was no significant difference in FBS, IGF, and TGF groups comparing to control group. On the basis of this study, it may be concluded that TGF-pl showed the possibility of regeneration or delay the degeneration process of the intervertebral disc through the contribution to the stimulatory effects of cell proliferation and the synthesis of type II collagen. For the clinical use of this, more studies about the combination effects with FBS or other kinds of growth factors and finding out the ideal concentration about TGF-pl will be needed.
Antibodies ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured* ; Chondrocytes ; Clone Cells ; Collagen Type I ; Collagen Type II ; Collagen* ; Coloring Agents ; DNA, Complementary ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins* ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Procollagen ; Rabbits ; Regeneration ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Orthopaedic Surgeons have recognized for a long time the importance of end-result studies of low back pain, and the analyses of such reports abound in orthopaedic journal. Most studies were designed to answer definite questions relative to the results of a specific treatment. It is unfamiliar for us to use rating systems developed by the Occidental in the analyses of treatment of low back pain. There has not been generally accepted rating systems for the treatment of low back pain in Korea. Therefore a new rating system for the results of treatment of low back pain is proposed.
Korea ; Low Back Pain ; Surgeons

The repair of striated muscle after acute trauma occurs simultaneously by the regeneration of disrupted muscle and formation of connective scar. But, there had been no attention concerning effects of local anesthetics on the degeneration and regeneration process of the injured muscle. The author induced a constant contusion injury on the calf of rats. Lidocaine and/or epinephrine was intramuscularly injected at the site of injury. Morphological and histochemical observation was conducted and the results were as follows: 1. Traumatized striated muscle showed evidences of the healing process for upto 90 days. 2. Morphological and histochemical changes in the traumatized muscle became more severe after the injection of lidocaine and/or epinephrine. 3. Formation of collagenous scar tissue significantly increased after injection of lidocaine and/or epinephrine. Injection of lidocaine or epinephrine developed similar amount of scar after 15 days. 4. Cross section area of the regenerated muscle fibers decreased in the injection groups than in the control groups. Atrophy was significant on day 90 in all types of fiber after injection of the mixture of lidocaine and epinephrine, and in type B after injection of epinephrine. In conclusion, injection of the lidocaine and epinephrine inhibited regeneration of the traumatized striated muscle. Mixture of the drugs showed more inhibitory effect than a single drug.
Anesthetics, Local ; Animals ; Atrophy ; Cicatrix ; Collagen ; Contusions ; Epinephrine ; Lidocaine ; Muscle, Striated ; Rats ; Regeneration

No abstract available.
Spondylolisthesis* ; Zygapophyseal Joint*

No abstract available.
Spondylolisthesis*

The results of surgical treatment for isthmic spondylolisthesis in children and adolescent have been well documented. Successful clinical results with fusion can be expected in children and adolescent. But in adults, instability was not the only problem. In addition to their instability, adults were more likely to have degenerative disc changes and nerve compression not solved by fusion only. The role of decompression in the surgical treatment of adult isthmic spondylolisthesis remains controversial. Anterior interbody fusion could obtain indirect decompression of nerve root through widening of intervertebral space. Posterolateral fusion with transpedicular fixation could get direct decompression. So, the purpose of this study is to compare the clinical results of the anterior interbody fusion and the posterolateral fusion with transpedicular fixation for the treatment of isthmic spondylolisthesis in adults. We reviewed the clinical data of 40 adult patients who had been taken operation due to isthmic spondylolisthesis from June, 1977 to June, 1994. The anterior interbody fusion was performed in 20 patients (Group I) and the posterolateral fusion with transpedicular fixation was performed in 20 patients (Group II). The mean age of group I was 44.1 years old (21-62), and that of group II was 41.3 years old (21-57). The gender of patients was 8 males and 12 females in group I, and 5 males and 15 females in group II. The symptoms and signs of group I and II were similar. The duration of follow-up was average 3.6 years (1.1-16 years) in group I and average 2.3 years (1.1-6 years) in group II. The anterior slippage of group I by Taillard method was 16.1% and was corrected into 10.4% after opera-up was average 3.6 years (1.1-16 years) in group I and average 2.3 years (1.1-6 years) in group II. The anterior slippage of group I by Taillard method was 16.1% and was corrected into 10.4% after operation. That of group II was 15.2% and corrected into 9.8% after operation. The fusion rate at 12 months after operation was 90% in group I and 95% in group II. The clinical results were analysed by Kim's criteria that was focused on the improvement of clinical symptoms. The satisfactory results were obtainted in 85 % of group I and 90 % of group II. So there was no significant difference of clinical results between the anterior interbody fusion and the posterolateral fusion with transpedicular fixation for the treatment of isthmic spondylolisthesis in adults (p<0.05).
Adolescent ; Adult* ; Child ; Decompression ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Spondylolisthesis

No abstract available.
Spondylitis, Ankylosing*

No abstract available.
Cicatrix* ; Diskectomy* ; Laminectomy* ; Rabbits*

BACKGROUND: Early detection and treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is very important because CMN infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after organ transplantation. CMV antigenemia assay has been reported to be very sensitive and specific for detection of CMV infection among many laboratory methods. However, there is no single method correlated well with the infection state up to now. We compared the results of SHARP Signal System Assay (Digene, USA) using PCR and hybridization with those of CMV antigenemia assay (Clonab CMV-kit; Biotest AG, Germany) to evaluate their clinical usefulness. METHODS: We performed SHARP Signal Assay on whole blood samples of 125 from 56 transplanted patients submitted for CMV antigenemia at Samsung Medical Center. We compared the results with those of CMV antigenemia and evaluated the correlation with CMV disease state. RESULTS: Fifty six patients were classified as three groups; 43 patients with no evidence of CMV infection, four patients with CMV infection and 9 patients with CMV disease. Twenty four cases (19.2%) showed discrepant results between the two methods. Of the 22 cases showing positive only by SHARP Signal Assay, two cases were proved to be CMV disease, 12 cases were on antiviral treatment and remaining cases had no evidence of infection. Two cases showing positive only by CMV antigenemia were confirmed to be CMV disease. For CMV disease, the sensitivity of SHARP Signal Assay and CMV antigenemia were 85.7% and 90.5%, respectively and the specificity of them were 73.1% and 93.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CMV antigenemia is thought to be useful for early diagnosis and follow-up of antiviral treatment as a quantitative and highly specific method, and SHARP Signal Assay can be used as a complementary method because it correlates well with disease state.
Cytomegalovirus Infections* ; Cytomegalovirus* ; Diagnosis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mortality ; Organ Transplantation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Transplants