No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Amphotericin B* ; Hemoptysis*

Serial neurosonographic examinations are routinely performed at frequent intervals during nursery course of all preterm infants of very low-birth-weight who are admitted to the intensive care nursery of Presbyterian Medical Center from November 1, 1990 to July 30, 1992. After discharge, the following survivors who had received periodic, serial scanning by meas of cranial ultrasonography were longitudinally observed in an interdisciplinary neurodevelopmental follow-up program to a mean corrected age of 13 months. Neurodevelopmental outcome was assessed by means of Vojta's postural reaction and other neurological examinations. The results are as follows: 1) The incidence of PV-IVH in the study was 79%. 2) According to Papile's grading system of PV-IVH, gradel was 20%, gradell was 46%, gradelll was 19%, and grade IV was 13%. 3) The risk factors associated with PV-IVH were birth weight, gestational age, apgar score, ventilator care, RDS, and sepsis. 4) The mortality of PV-IVH was 20% for gradel, 19% for gradell, 44% for gradelll, and 67% for grade lV. 5) According to relationship between PV-IVH and neurodevelopmental outcome, in two of the four subjects with grade lll PV-IVH, moderate/severe CCD was developed. 6) According to relationship between PVE with cysts and nuerodevelopmental outcome, moderate/severe PVE with periventricular cysts larger than 3mm in diameter was associated with development of severe CCD.
Apgar Score ; Birth Weight ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gestational Age ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Critical Care ; Mortality ; Neurologic Examination ; Nurseries ; Protestantism ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis ; Survivors ; Ultrasonography ; Ventilators, Mechanical

The incidence of uterine prolapse during pregnancy is rare. A 34-year-old G3P1 was initially presented at 16 weeks 5days of gestation with a prolapse of the uterine cervix. The cervix was edematous and protruding beyond introitus. Management included bed rest, and the patient was discharged after several days with a vaginal pessary to help maintain cervical placement. At 35 weeks of gestation, the patient did not experience any further prolapse after the removal of the pessary. Pregnancy progressed to term with no further prolapse. She was readmitted at 38weeks 5days of gestation with spontaneous labor. She delivered a 3.36kg male with an Apgar score at 1 minute and at 5 minutes of 7 and 8 respectively. The patient's cervix remained prolapsed in the early postpartum period; however it was easily reduced prior to discharge. After puerperium, the patient's cervix remained prolapsed. She was fitted with a vaginal pessary for uterine support. We reported this case with related literature.
Adult ; Apgar Score ; Bed Rest ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Pessaries ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy* ; Prolapse ; Uterine Prolapse*

Present study aimed to elucidate the immunosuppressive effect of prednisolone on Naegleria fowleri infection in mice. N. fowleri was cultured in CGVS medium (Willert and Le Ray, 1973). White female mice, weighing about 18 g, used for experiments were divided into five groups; untreated control group, prednisolone treated groups (before, during and after infection), and only prednisolone treated group. In the prednisolone treated group, the hormone was injected intramuscularly 5 doses of 10 mg/kg every other day. According to designated time of treatment, each mouse was challenged with 1 x 10(5) N. fowleri intranasally. Changes of body weights, clinical manifestations and number of dead mouse were observed. Brain and lung tissues of dead mice were cultured in the non-nutrient agar (Kasprzak and Mazur, 1972), or stained with hematoxylin-eosin for the examination of histopathological changes. Results of the experiment are summarized as follows: Mortality among the prednisolone treated groups was higher than that in untreated control group, and among the treated groups, the pretreated group showed shorter survival time. Body weights among untreated control mice showed no significant increase, however, treated groups of mice showed the decrease during the administration and recovery of the weights were observed at 2 to 3 days after the completion of treatment. In the treated control groups, the infected mice began to show the pathologic findings 5 days after infection while the untreated mice began to show the findings 8 days after infection. Tissue damages in brain and lung occurred due to virulence of amoeba were more severe among treated mice than that in untreated control group. The above mentioned results suggest that the treatment with prednisolone weaken the resistance of mice against N. fowleri infection, and probably induce more severe primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Especially severe pathological findings were shown in pre-treated group, compared with untreated group.
parasitology-protozoa ; Naegleria fowleri ; meningoencephalitis ; brain ; prednisolone

For 16 years after the finding of HIV as an agent of AIDS in 1981, HIV therapeutic drugs of reverse transcriptase inhibitors (AZT, ddI, ddC, d4T) and protease inhibitors have been developed. Recent studies also were focused on a combination therapy by using HIV therapeutic drugs or natural compounds. Korean red ginseng (KRG) of natural compounds has been well known as a good reinforcement agent in Asia. The percentage of CD3+CD4+ T cell in nine HIV-infected patients without KRG treatment averaged 17.8% on baseline and decreased 15.8% after 6 months, whereas the percentage of the cell in fifteen HIV-infected patients with KRG treatment averaged 15.3% on baseline and increased up to 18.9% after the same period. The average percentage of CD3+CD8+ T cell of KRG-nontreated and KRG-treated HIV patients increased after 6 months 47.8% to 50.7% and 44.7% to 51.4%, respectively; and the average percentage of B and NK cell in the KRG-nontreated and KRG-treated HIV patients decreased 9.4% to 7.9% and 13.0% to 9.7%, 8.9% to 8.5% and 16.2% to 11.6%, respectively, KRG, therefore, didn't have any effects on the CD3+CD8+ T cell, B cell, and NK cell. However, it seems that KRG has a potential activity for stimulating the
Asia ; HIV ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Lymphocyte Subsets* ; Lymphocytes* ; Panax* ; Protease Inhibitors ; Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

Three cases of successful pregnancy outcome after intensive care in the patients with rare mullerian anomaly of complete uterine septum, hypoplastic cervical duplication and longitudinal vaginal septum in infertility clinic are reported. These presented three cases are the reports of supporting the embryologic hypothesis of bidirectional mullerian development which fusion and resorption begins at the isthmus and proceeds simultaneously in both the cranial and caudal directions rather than the classical views of unidirectional(caudal to cranial) mullerian development. Thus, we present here three cases of rare mullerian anomaly and their pregnancy outcomes in an attempt to alert gynecologist to the possible occurrence of such a malformation. In 2 cases, successful pregnancy outcomes were achieved after abdominal or hysteroscopic uterine septotomy before pregnancy and in the last case, successful pregnancy outcome intensive obstetric care was achieved even under uncorrected uterine anomaly and complete removal of uterine septum resulted in uneventful postoperative courses at the same time of cesarean section.
Cesarean Section ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility ; Critical Care* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy*

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to determine the mammographic and ultrasonographic features of the breasts with partial mastectomy and irradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors reviewed the serial studies of 23 patients who had partial mastectomy and irradiation. Mammogram and ultrasonogram were perfomed every 6 months after surgery in all patients. Sixteen of 23 patients took mammogram and ultrasonogram 1 month after surgery additionally. We evaluated skin thickening, edema, new calclfication, and postoperative scar. RESULTS: Skin thickening was observed in all patients at initial study after surgery and were most pronounced 6 months after surgery. In the most of patients, increased breast density suggesting edema was seen at the initial study after surgery. Skin thickening and edema were most pronounced 6 months who had retumed to normal state 18 months after surgery in 3 of 5 patients who had serial studies until 18 months after surgery. Scars were noted in 20 of 23 patients and 9 of 20 patients had scars 6 months after surgery. The postoperative changes including skin thickening, edema, and scar were most pronounced at 6 months after surgery and had retumed to normal at 18 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: We conclude that postoperative imaging should be obtained 6 months after surgery, followed by every 6 month intervals, which can be effective in differentiating postoperative scar from recurrent carcinoma and can avoid invasive studies.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Cicatrix ; Edema ; Humans ; Mastectomy, Segmental* ; Skin ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the whitening effect, morphological and structural changes, and remineralization of the enamel induced by 3 combined agents: amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP), hydroxyapatite (HA), and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSP). METHODS: The study was performed on 90 bovine enamel slabs, which were divided into the 6 groups: negative control-distilled water (Group 1); positive control-opalescence F (Group 2); 10% mixed agent (Group 3); 25% mixed agent (Group 4); 50% mixed agent (Group 5); and 100% mixed agent (Group 6). Changes in the shade of the enamel slabs were evaluated using Shade Eye-NCC. Morphological changes were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to determine the remineralizing effect of the three agents on enamel slabs. RESULTS: The change in shade of the enamel (ad*) was noted to increase significantly with increase in whitening frequency in all groups. The value of Δn* was significantly greater in all groups except for the negative control group (P<0.001). SEM revealed that the control group, Group 5, and Group 6 had similar morphologies. The fluorescence lesion areas in the 4 mixture-treated group were significantly smaller than those in the positive control group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that the mixture of ACP, HA, and TSP was highly effective for bovine enamel whitening and acted by inducing the remineralization of enamel. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: We evaluated the applicability of a new mixture containing ACP, HA, and TSP. This mixture would be highly useful in aesthetic dentistry because of its whitening efficiency, which does not compromise the enamel's integrity.
Calcium* ; Dental Enamel* ; Dentistry ; Durapatite* ; Fluorescence ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Water

OBJECTIVES: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutation are commonly associated with hyperhomocysteinemia, and through their defects in homocysteine metabolism, they have been implicated as a risk factor for recurrent spontaneous abortion. Recent report describe that 28-bp tandem repeat polymorphism in thymidylate synthase enhancer region (TSER) that influence enzyme activity would affect plasma homocysteine level. We have investigated the relationship between TSER genotype and plasma homocysteine level in 54 patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion. METHODS: Plasma homocysteine level was measured by fluorescent polarizing immunoassay. MTHFR mutation (C677T and A1298C) was identified by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay and TSER mutation was analyzed by PCR method. The data were analyzed using the program SAS 8.2 for Windows. RESULTS: Total homocysteine level was significantly higher in MTHFR 677TT genotype (9.80+/-3.87 mumol/L) than MTHFR 677CC genotype (8.14+/-1.74 mumol/L) in Korean patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (p=0.0143). However, the plasma homocysteine level was not significantly different in the MTHFR 1298AA (8.42+/-2.65 mumol/L) and 1298CC (6.09+/-0.32 mumol/L; p=0.2058) and, TSER 2R2R (8.61+/-1.68 mumol/L) and 3R3R (8.05+/-2.81 mumol/L; p=0.9319) mutant genotypes, respectively. In this study, we found the combination effects of TSER and MTHFR C677T genotypes. Plasma homocysteine levels were the highest (11.47+/-4.66 mumol/L) in individuals with TSER 3R3R (8.05+/-2.81 mumol/L) and MTHFR 677TT (9.80+/-3.87 mumol/L) genotypes. Individuals with a combination of both TSER 2R2R/2R3R and MTHFR 677CC/CT genotypes (7.69+/-1.77 mumol/L) had lower plasma homocysteine levels than TSER 2R2R (8.61+/-1.68 mumol/L) and MTHR 677CC (8.14+/-1.74 mumol/L) genotypes, respectively. The effect of MTHFR polymorphism in the homocysteine metabolism appears to be stronger than that of TSER polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Although statistically not significant, we found the elevated level of plasma homocysteine in combined genotypes with TSER and MTHFR (C677T and A1298C) in Korean patients with unexplained habitual abortion. In this study, we reported the possibility that TSER polymorphism is a genetic determinant of plasma homocysteine levels in the Korean patients as well as MTHFR C677T polymorphism. A large prospective study is needed to verify our findings.
Abortion, Habitual ; Abortion, Spontaneous* ; Female ; Genotype ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; Immunoassay ; Metabolism ; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Risk Factors ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Thymidylate Synthase*