Discoid meniscus in the knee joint is common. From July 1990 through June 1994, the authors performed arthroscopy on 968 symptomatic knee joints. One hundred and six knees of 102 patients had discoid meniscus. Of the 106 knees, 14(13.2%) cases were associated with other intraarticular anatomic variants. There were 7(6.6%) cases with anomalous insertion of the anterior horn of the medial meniscus into the anterior cruciate ligament, and 7(6.6%) cases with anterior transposition of the insertion of the anterior cruciate ligament below the anterior tibial margin like the insertion of the posterior cruciate ligament. Of the 14 patients, the discoid meniscus were reshaped in 11 knees, partially resected in 2 knees, and one patient was treated with repair of a peripheral tear and reshaping. But had no treatment in associated intraarticular anatomic variants. The follow up was done from 24 to 54 months(average 37 months) after surgery. The results were excellent in 8 knees ; good in 4 knees and fair in 2 knees(Ikeuchi scale, 1982) The patients with excellent or good results were satisfied as were the authors, and these anatomical variants other than the discoid meniscus were not related to the patient's symptoms.
Animals ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Arthroscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Horns ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Menisci, Tibial ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; Tears

OBJECTIVE: So called "minimally invasive procedures" have evolved from chemonucleolysis, automated percutaneous discectomy, arthroscopic microdiscectomy that are mainly working within the confines of intradiscal space to transforaminal endoscopic technique to remove herniated epidural disc materials directly. The purpose of this study is to assess the result of endoscopic spinal surgery and favorable indications in the thoracolumbar spine. METHODS: The records of 71 patients, 73 endoscopic procedures, were retrospectively analysed. Yeung Endoscopic Spine Surgery system with 7 mm working sleeve and 25degrees viewing angle was used. The mean follow up period was 6 months (range,3-9). RESULTS: Operated levels were from T12-L1 disc down to L5-L6 or S1 disc. Of 71 cases, 2 patients underwent transforaminal endoscopic surgery twice due to recurrence after initial operation. MacNab's criteria was used to assess the outcome. Favorable outcome, excellent or good, was seen in 78% (57 procedures) of the patients. Among 11 fair outcomes, only 1 procedure was followed by secondary open procedure, laminectomy with discectomy. Two of 5 poor outcomes were operated again by same procedure which resulted in fair outcomes. One patient with aggravated cauda equina syndrome remained poor and a lumbar fusion procedure was performed in other patient with poor outcome. There were 2 postoperative discitis that were treated with conservative care in one and anterior lumbar interbody fusion in the other. CONCLUSION: Evolving technology of mechanical, visual instrument enables minimal invasive procedure possible and effective. The transforaminal endoscopic spinal surgery can reach as high as T12-L1 disc level. The rate of favorable outcome is mid-range among reported endoscopic lumbar surgery series. Authors believe that the outcome will be better as cases accumulate and will be able to reach the rate of standard open microsurgery.
Discitis ; Diskectomy ; Diskectomy, Percutaneous ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Chemolysis ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Laminectomy ; Microsurgery ; Polyradiculopathy ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

Many cases of retroperitoneal hematoma related to spine surgery have been reported, however, most of them were caused by major vessel injury related to intradiscal or retroperitoneal procedures. We report an unusual case of a retroperitoneal hematoma followed by surgical excision of the lumbar extradural arachnoid cyst without intradiscal procedure. To our best knowledge, this complication without intradiscal procedure has not been described previoulsly. The pathogenetic mechanism of retroperitoneal hematoma in this report is unclear. We discuss the plausible pathophysiological mechanisms of retroperitoneal hematoma which developed after excision of arachnoid cyst.
Arachnoid* ; Hematoma* ; Spine

Intracerebral hemorrhage in the brain is the most common complication of hypertension, aneurysmal rupture, or vascular malformation. The occurrence of symmetrically bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage is an unusual clinical event that develops in only a small percentage of all patients who have intracerebral hemorrhage. Even though, the size of contralateral hemorrhage is not too large, majority of patients with bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage in basal ganglia or thalamus have generally a poor outcome. In all cases of this report, the contralateral intracerebral hemorrhage was resulted from an inadequate control of hypertension. Therefore, optimal control of blood pressure must be considered as the most important treatment option to prevent recurrence. Authors report the characteristic clinical and radiologic features of four cases in which mirror-image bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage occurred.
Aneurysm ; Basal Ganglia* ; Blood Pressure ; Brain ; Cerebral Hemorrhage* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Recurrence ; Rupture ; Thalamus ; Vascular Malformations

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Hemolysis*

From March, 1992 to March, 1996, a total of 279 patients underwent coronary bypass surgery at the Sejong General Hospital, Puchon. We selected 22 patients with severe left ventricular(LV) dysfunction from them. The criteria were the presence of global or segmental abnormalities of left ventricular contraction and LV ejection fraction(EF) less than 35% based on biplane LV angiography by planimetry method. The mean age of 17 male and 5 female patients was 60+/-5.6years(range:47~73 years). All had the anginas, which were Canadian class II in 6, class III in 12 and class IV in 4. All patients except one had the history of previous myocardial infarction more than once. Seven of them had the symptoms and signs of congestive heart failure, such as dyspnea on excertion and increased pulmonary vascular markings. Their mean LVEF was 29.4+/-4 5%(range : 18~35%) and mean LV end-diastolic pressure was 18.7 +/-8. 2mmHg(range:10~42mmHg). 21 patients had 3 vessel-disease and 1 had 2 vessel-disease. Complete revascularization was tried with the use of 16 internal mammary arteries and 60 sapheuous veins and 3 radial arteries grafts. The mean number of distal anastomosis was 3.5+/-1.1. Concomitantly, one mitral valvuloplasty and annuloplasty was performed in the patient with moderate mitral regurtigation. The hospital mortality was 4.5%. During the follow-up, there were 3 late deaths. Of 18 survivors, 2 patients were lost in follow-up 24 and 27 month respectively after operation and the remaining 16 patients have bcen followed up with an average of 30.4 +/-13.4 months.15 patients had improvement with respect to angina but 8 patients still have the continuing or progressing heart failure. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year actuarial survival rate was 85.2, 69.1, 46.1%, respectively. This study indicates that coronary artery bypass sur ery can be performed in the patients with severe LV dysfunction at acceptable risk but does not greatly contribute to the improvement of congestive heart failure.
Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gyeonggi-do ; Heart Failure ; Hospital Mortality ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Mammary Arteries ; Myocardial Infarction ; Radial Artery ; Survival Rate ; Survivors ; Transplants ; Veins ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left*

BACKGROUND: Significant aortic stenosis of various underlying etiologies presents with similar clinical characteristics and is usually treated with aortic valve replacement. We performed a clinical study to evaluate the clinical characteristics, changes of echocardiographic parameters before and after aortic valve replacement in adult aortic stenosis patients. METHODS: From January 1991 through December 1995, 159 patients underwent aortic valve replacement at Sejong General Hospital. Sixty-two cases(39%) of those patients were pure or predominant aortic stenosis. We observed the clinical characteristics, etiology, operative procedure, perioperative complication and mortality, And we observed the changes of echocardiographic parameters such as mean and peak pressure gradients at aortic valve, ejection fraction, systolic and diastolic left ventricular internal dimensions, left ventricular wall thickness, left ventricular mass index retospectively at preoperative and postoperative periods regularly within 1 month, 1 yr, 3 yrs after operation(mean follow up period : 16 months, 1-36 months). RESULTS: 1) The age of patients ranged from 31 to 71 years(mean 55+/-11), and 60%(37 cases) of them were men. 2) Regarding underlying heart disease, the most common etiology of aortic stenosis was rheumatic valvular heart disease(32 cases, 52%), followed by congenital bicuspid aortic valve(16 cases, 25%) and degenerative change(14 cases,23%). 3) 44 cases(77%) of the patients had dyspnea,12 cases(19%) had chest pain, and 5 cases(8%) had history of syncope at the time of operation. Asymptomatic patient was only 1 case. 4) Seven patients(11%) had associated coronary artery disease, and only 1 case(about 2%) underwent concomitant coronary bypass surgery. 5) Post-operative complications which developed within 1 month were bleedings(8 cases, 13%), arrhythmias(7 cases, 11%) and infections(4 cases, 6%). After 1 month, bleedings related with anticoagulation were most common(7 cases, 11%). Other complications were hemolytic anemia(1 case), and aortic dissection(1 case). There was one surgery related mortality(2%) which happened during operatin due to myocardial ischemia. 6) The size of implanted prosthetic valves ranged from 19 to 25mm(mean 22+/-2mm). Larger valves(23-25mm) showed lower peak(p=0.839) and mean pressure gradients(p=0.019) than smaller valves(19-21mm). 7) We observed that peak and mean pressure gradient, left ventricular internal dimension, and left ventricular mass index had decreased significantly after aortic valve replacement. 8) The average preoperative functional class(2.3) had improved significantly at 1 month after surgery(1.2), and 1 year after surgery(1.0). CONCLUSIONS: In our series, the most common etiology of aortic stenosis was rheumatic valvular disease(52%). The incidence of combined coronary artery disease was 11%, lower than other reports. And only 1 case(2%) underwent concomitant coronary artey bypass graft surgery. The average size of implanted valves was 22mm, and the larger size had lower transaortic peak and mean pressure gradients after operation. The most common perioperative complication was bleeding and mortality rate was about 2%. Echocardiography was useful for evaluation of postoperative changes, such as transaortic peak and mean pressure gradient, left ventricular internal dimension and left ventricular mass index.
Adult* ; Aortic Valve Stenosis* ; Aortic Valve* ; Bicuspid ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Postoperative Period ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Syncope ; Transplants

OBJECTIVES: The goal of operation for degenerative lumbar diseases is to relieve radiculopathy and low back pain and to prevent further degeneration. The authors analyzed the surgical results of posterior lumbar interbody fusion(PLIF) and 360degrees fixation to evaluate the proper treatment policy in spinal stenosis, degenerative spondylolisthesis and low grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors performed PLIF on 92 patients and 360degrees fixation on 138 patients with spinal stenosis, degenerative spondylolisthesis and low grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. We retrospectively studied clinical outcomes and subjective satisfaction of these patients by several criteria such as visual analog scale(VAS), Prolo's economic and functional outcome scale, medication usage after operation and questionaire for overall outcome. RESULT: Pre- and postoperative VAS on back pain and leg pain showed decrease of pain from 6.5, 6.7 to 2.2, 2.4 in PLIF group and from 7.0, 7.2 to 2.5, 2.7 in 360degrees fixation group. Excellent and good outcomes on Prolo's scale were 81.5% in PLIF group and 82.6% in 360degrees fixation group. Medication usage after operation was reduced in 79.3% of PLIF group and in 78.3% of 360degrees fixation group. Patients' self-reported overall success of their procedure showed 82% in PLIF group and 84% in 360degrees fixation group. CONCLUSION: Both PLIF and 360degrees fixation showed good outcomes and provided biomechanically stable fusion in spinal stenosis, degenerative spondylolisthesis and low grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. Therefore, only PLIF seems necessary and considered a proper surgical treatment for these disorders.
Back Pain ; Humans ; Leg ; Low Back Pain ; Radiculopathy ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spondylolisthesis

Among 136 patients having undergone mitral valve surgery from September of 1994 through August of 1995 in Sejong Heart Institute, forty four patients(18 males, 26 females) underwent mitral valve reconstruction using prosthetic rings and their clinical results were evaluated. Patients' ages ranged from 5 to 63 years(mean age 38.2 years). Mitral valvular diseases were due to rheumatic origin in 30 patients(68 %), degenerative in 13(30%), and congenital in one patient(2%). Mitral regurgitation(MR) was in 33 patients(76%), mitral stenosis 2(5%), and mitral stenoinsufficiency 9 patients(19%). The patients were divided into Carpentier's functional groups : type I, 5 patients(11%) ; type II, 24 patients(55%) ; type III, 4 patients (9%) ; and mixed(II + III), 11 patients(25%). Average number of anatomic lesions of mitral valve per patient was 3.7. The techniques included prosthetic ring annuloplasty(44 patients, 32 Carpentier ring and 12 Duran ring), leaflet mobilization(24, 55%), chordae shortening(23, 52%), chordae trans- position(23, 52%), commissurotomy(16, 35%), leaflet resection(9, 20%), papillary muscle splitting(8, 18%), and chordae reimplantation(1, 2%). Average 3.4 surgical procedures were applied on mitral valve per patient. There were two hospital mortality and one reoperation due to development of MR(grade III) after 2 weeks. During the mean follow up of 12 months, patients improved in terms of functional class of the New York Heart Association, which was mean 3.0 preoperatively and 1.3 postoperatively. Doppler echocardiographic studies showed adequate valve area(2.07 +/- 0.11 cm2, mean +/- standard error), improved ventricular contractility in 41 patients(93%), absence of MR in 23(53%), trace MR in 18(42%), and grade II MR in 2 patients(5%).
Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart ; Heart Valve Diseases* ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Male ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Annuloplasty ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; Papillary Muscles ; Reoperation