No abstract available.
Empyema, Subdural* ; Haemophilus influenzae* ; Haemophilus* ; Meningitis*

No abstract available.
Pyoderma Gangrenosum* ; Pyoderma* ; Ulcer*

Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) has widely been used in many hospitals. Film digitizer has been used in order to create digital image file from conventional plain radiographic films for PACS. In this study, we quantitatively assessed the characteristics of film digitizer for both laser and CCD camera-based type used in Severance hospital. We created three test films to measure the quality of digitized images. The test films were then digitized by both laser and CCD camera-based film digitizer. Finally, the image files were transferred to the PC in which spatial resolution, contrast, and uniformity were evaluated. We also measured digitization time to evaluate the speed of digitizer. Modulation transfer function (MTF) was measured to evaluate the spatial resolution. Contrast was evaluated by measuring of useful range of optical density (OD). Contrast uniformity was calculated by the percentage of difference between minimum and maximum pixel values on the digitized images. Spatial resolution of laser digitizer was ~~5.0cycles/mm, while that of CCD-based unit was ~~1.5cycles/mm of spatial resolution at 10% of MTF. Useful range of OD for CCD unit was ~~77%, while that for laser unit was 100%. Contrast uniformities of laser unit were better than those of CCD-based unit. Digitization time was ~~10sec/film using CCD unit, and ~~60sec/film using LASER unit at film size of 17x14 inches. Laser digitizer can provide relatively higher image quality, while CCD-based unit has the advantage of higher speed than laser unit.
Radiology Information Systems ; X-Ray Film

PURPOSE: The authors analyzed how the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) findings of patients with major depression differ from the normal control, and our results were compared to previous reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patients fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for major depression who were off all psychotropic medications for >4weeks (male: 7, female: 5, age range: 19~52 years, average age: 29.3+/-9.9 years) and 14 normal volunteers (male: 8, female: 6, age range: 19~53 years, average age: 31.4+/-9.2 years) were recruited. Images of brain perfusion SPECT were obtained using Tc-99m ECD and patterns of the rCBF were compared between patients with major depression and the healthy control subjects. RESULTS: The patients with major depression showed increase of the r-CBF in right lingual gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left precuneus, and left superior temporal gyrus, and showed decrease of r-CBF in right pons, left medial frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus of left limbic lobe, cingulate gyrus of right frontal lobe, and cingulate gyrus of right limbic lobe compared to the normal control. CONCLUSION: The Tc-99m ECD brain perfusion SPECT findings in our study did not differ from the previously reported regional cerebral blood flow pattern of patients with major depression. Especially, decreased rCBF pattern typical to major depression patients in the right pons, left medial frontal gyrus, and cingulate regions was clearly demonstrated.
Brain ; Cysteine ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Frontal Lobe ; Gyrus Cinguli ; Humans ; Organotechnetium Compounds ; Perfusion ; Pons ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

PURPOSE: MMP-2, 72 kDa-type IV collagenase, plays a major role in the migration and growth of tumor cells, a process that requires the disintegration of basement membrane. Activation of MMP-2 is correlated with the invasiveness of various tumors. The aim of this study was to determine the sequence-specific phosphorothioated oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) inhibiting the translation of MMP-2 mRNA and the subsequent invasiveness of tumor cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight types of antisense ODNs were designed and each (8micro gram/ml) were transfected into HT1080 cells. The effects of these antisense ODNs on MMP expression were examined by gelatin zymography, Western blot, Northern blot and matrigel assay. RESULTS: Antisense-5 (+904~923), antisense-6 (+1274~+1293) and antisense-7 (+1646~+1665) reduced the MMP-2 activity of the culture supernatant in HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells. Treatment with antisense-6 showed inhibition of MMP-2 mRNA and protein, and in vitro invasion in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Antisense-6 might be one of the therapeutic candidates for tumor invasion and metastasis.
Basement Membrane ; Blotting, Northern ; Blotting, Western ; Collagenases ; Fibrosarcoma* ; Gelatin ; Humans* ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clostridium difficile is an important cause of diarrhea in hospitalized patients. C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is usually diagnosed following a stool test for C. difficile cytotoxin or stool culture for the presence of toxigenic C. difficile. However, the reported sensitivities of these tests are variable. Sigmoidoscopy may be an effective diagnostic method in patients with a false-negative stool test for cytotoxin. This study examined the role of flexible sigmoidoscopy in the diagnosis of CDAD. METHODS: Among the patients who had diarrhea and were examined with sigmoidoscopy in Eulji University Hospital between January 2005 and July 2008, 102 patients suspected of having antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) based on their clinical symptoms were enrolled. Of the 102 patients, 74 were diagnosed with CDAD based on C. difficile cytotoxin or sigmoidoscopic findings of pseudomembranous colitis. The medical records of these 74 patients were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of the 74 patients, sigmoidoscopic findings revealed a pseudomembrane in 63 patients (85.1%) and colitis in nine (12.2%), while two patients (2.7%) appeared normal. Of the 63 patients with pseudomembranous colitis at sigmoidoscopy, the stool C. difficile cytotoxin assay was negative in 27 (42.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Flexible sigmoidoscopy was highly sensitive in pseudomembranous colitis and is useful in diagnosing patients with a delayed or negative stool test for C. difficile cytotoxin. Therefore, we recommend flexible sigmoidoscopy in patients suspected of having C. difficile-associated diarrhea for the diagnosis of CDAD.
Clostridium ; Clostridium difficile ; Colitis ; Diarrhea ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Sigmoidoscopy

PURPOSE: We applied a simplified method using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based enzymatic digestion for the detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 74 samples of adenocarcinoma of the lung with EGFR exons 19 and 21 that had been previously sequenced. We designed PCR primers and chose a DNA restriction enzyme. Seventy four additional lung cancer samples were tested as a test set. For test sets, the PCR-based method was performed first, followed by validation of the result by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: In the first sample group, we found 15 (20.3%) mutations in exon 19, and 9 (12.2%) mutations in exon 21 using the sequencing method. By using the PCR-based method, we were able to identify all of the mutated samples detected by the sequencing method. The PCR-based method also detected mutations in exon 19 in three additional samples and in exon 21 in one additional sample. In the second sample group, by performing the PCR-based method, we found 10 (13.5%) and 7 (9.5%) mutations in exons 19 and 21, respectively. Additional mutations in exon 19 were identified in 2 samples by the sequencing method. However, the sequencing method failed to identify a mutation in exon 21 in one sample. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity of the PCR-based enzymatic digestion method seems to be comparable to that of the traditional sequencing method for detecting EGFR mutations. Our method can be widely used as a screening test to select patients who may benefit from EGFR targeted therapy.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Digestion ; DNA ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Exons ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mass Screening ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Restriction Mapping

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increased central arterial stiffness is an emerging risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Acute aerobic exercise reduces arterial stiffness, while acute resistance exercise may increase arterial stiffness, but this is not a universal finding. We tested whether an acute resistance exercise program was associated with an increase in arterial stiffness in healthy young men. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirteen healthy subjects were studied under parallel experimental conditions on 2 separate days. The order of experiments was randomized between resistance exercise (8 resistance exercises at 60% of 1 repeated maximal) and sham control (seated rest in the exercise room). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and aortic augmentation index as indices of aortic stiffness were measured using applanation tonometry. Measurements were made at baseline before treatments, 20 minutes, and 40 minutes after treatments (resistance exercise and sham control). RESULTS: There was no difference in resting heart rate or in arterial stiffness between the two experimental conditions at baseline. At 20 minutes after resistance exercise, heart rate, carotid-femoral PWV and augmentation index@75(%) were significantly increased in the resistance exercise group compared with the sham control (p<0.05). Brachial blood pressure, central blood pressure and pulse pressure were not significantly increased after resistance exercise. CONCLUSION: An acute resistance exercise program can increase arterial stiffness in young healthy men. Further studies are needed to clarify the effects of long-term resistance training on arterial stiffness.
Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Collodion ; Exercise ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Manometry ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Resistance Training ; Risk Factors ; Salicylamides ; Vascular Stiffness

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is widely used in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas. We report a case of mult iple liver abscess with bile duct necrosis following gallbladder infarction after TACE in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma. A 62-year old man, wit h four cm sized hepatocellular carcinoma in right lobe, was treat ed by TACE for six times during 18 months. Two days after the last TACE, acute cholecystitis occurred and antibiotics were used until the recovery of cholecystitis. After two months, abdominal CT scan revealed a gas containing liver abscess and percutaneous transhepatic drainage was performed. Cholangiography via drainage cathet er showed findings of bile duct necrosis. Ant ibiotics sensit ive to the causative organism were administered intravenously. However, the abscess persisted despite of treatment for three mont hs.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ants ; Bile Ducts* ; Bile* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholangiography ; Cholecystitis ; Cholecystitis, Acute ; Drainage ; Fendiline ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Infarction ; Liver Abscess* ; Liver* ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the interobserver reproducibility and diagnostic feasibility of a visual grading system for assessing atrophy of the supraspinatus muscle on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three independent radiologists retrospectively evaluated the occupying ratio of the supraspinatus muscle in the supraspinatus fossa on 192 shoulder MRI examinations in 188 patients using a 3-point visual grading system (1, > or = 60%; 2, 30-59%; 3, < 30%) on oblique sagittal T1-weighted images. The inter-reader agreement and the agreement with the reference standard (3-point grades according to absolute occupying ratio values quantitatively measured by directly contouring the muscles on MRI) were analyzed using weighted kappa. The visual grading was applied by a single reader to a group of 100 consecutive patients who had undergone rotator cuff repair to retrospectively determine the association between the visual grades at preoperative state and postsurgical occurrences of retear. RESULTS: The inter-reader weighted kappa value for the visual grading was 0.74 when averaged across three reader pairs (0.70-0.77 for individual reader pairs). The weighted kappa value between the visual grading and the reference standard ranged from 0.75 to 0.83. There was a significant difference in retear rates of the rotator cuff between the 3 visual grades of supraspinatus muscle atrophy on MRI in univariable analysis (p < 0.001), but not in multivariable analysis (p = 0.026). CONCLUSION: The 3-point visual grading system may be a feasible method to assess the severity of supraspinatus muscle atrophy on MRI and assist in the clinical management of patients with rotator cuff tear.
Adult ; Aged ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Joint Diseases ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscular Atrophy/diagnosis/*pathology ; Observer Variation ; Reference Standards ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retrospective Studies ; Rotator Cuff/*pathology ; Young Adult