PURPOSE: We performed a retrospective study to determine the comparative characteristics of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) between the infants less than 1 year and children more than 1 year old and whether early treatment in infantile VUR may be of benefit to preserve the renal function and to prevent the new renal scar. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All of 62 cases (infant group 19 and children group 43) with primary VUR were managed as the ureteral reimplantation from January 1991 to December 1996. RESULTS: The average age of patients was 7.1 months in infant group and 6.0 years in children group. The sex ratio of male to female showed no difference between infant and children group (1.7:1 Vs 1.5:1). The average follow up periods were 20.5 and 23.7 months in infant and children groups, respectively. The high grade reflux and renal scarring in infant group were significantly more frequent than those in children group (P<0.05), but the prevalence of urinary tract infection in children group was significantly higher than that in infant group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the rates of bilaterality and in the sex ratio between infant and children group. The success rate of operation was 100 percent in both groups. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the early surgical treatment in infants with bilateral and higher grade VUR may be of benefit to the preservation of renal function and the decrease of renal parenchymal change.
Child* ; Cicatrix ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Replantation ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Ureter ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux*

No abstract available.
Busan* ; Child* ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Urinary Tract*

No abstract available.
Busan* ; Child* ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Urinary Tract*

Color Doppler ultrasound imaging( DCI), non-invasive technique, provides the informations of vascular distributions and hemodynamic status, which is helpful to make the differential diagnosis between renal cell carcinoma and benign lesions. We evaluated tumor vascularity, peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity, and resistive index(RI) using DCI in 11 cases of renal cell carcinoma and 2 cases of benign lesions. Hypervascularity within the tumor was seen in all patients with renal cell carcinoma. Peak systolic velocity was higher than 3kHz(average 5. 5kHz) in 9 cases. End diastolic velocity was higher than 1kHz(average 2.2kHz) in 9 cases. RI was lower than 0.7(average 0.59) in 9 cases. Arteriovenous shunt was seen in 7 cases. In 4 cases with intermediate mass on CT and USG,' DCI was helpful to make the diagnosis preoperatively. In 2 cases of renal cell carcinoma, DCI was beneficial to evaluate the presence and the extent of tumor thrombi. Whether the hemodynamic parameters could be a prognostic factor needs more cases to be defined.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Ultrasonography*

BACKGROUND: While the effect of the flashlamp pumped dye laser in the treatment of telangiectasia and other vascular disease has been reported by many authors, there have been a few reports on the therapeutic effect of the copper vapor laser(CVL) on telangiectasia and other vascular lesions. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess the clinical results in Korean patients who had cutaneous vascular disorders that were treated with the CVL at 578 nm. METHODS: A total of 23 patients with vascular lesions such as telangiectasia were involved. The effect of the laser treatment was evaluated 3 months after the last treatment. RESULTS: Of the 15 patients with telangiectasia, 12 patients showed good or excellent responses. 2 out of 3 patients with strawberry hemangioma showed good results. As for the other lesions, 2 out of the remaining patients 5 showed excellent results. CONCLUSION: The CVL has a beneficial effect and is a good alternative treatment modality for vascular lesions.
Copper* ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Humans ; Lasers, Dye ; Lasers, Gas* ; Telangiectasis ; Vascular Diseases

PURPOSE: There has been various reports on the inverse association between coffee consumption and serum gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT) activity in the general population of Western countries. However, this association is uncertain in the communities in which coffee consumption is less popular. So we tried to identify this association in men of rural area in Korea. METHODS: We examined the association between coffee consumption and serum GGT activity in cross-sectional study involving 379 male population health examinees aged 40 years and older from rural areas in Kyungnam prefecture in Korea. Those who perceived their health status as poor were excluded. Possible confounding effects of age, body mass index, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking were controlled by multiple regression analysis and analysis of covariance. RESULTS: In multiple regression analysis, serum GGT activity was positively associated with alcohol intake, body mass index(P<0.001) and was negatively associated with coffee consumption(P=0.022), whereas no significant association was observed in cigarette smoking(P=0.094). Adjusted serum GGT activity level at the coffee consumption level of 0, one and two or more cups a day was 37.6 U/l, 35.9 U/l and 26.8 U/l respectively(Ptrend=0.008). CONCLUSION: Decreased serum GGT activity appears to be associated with coffee consumption in men of rural area, and further studies on the interrelationships among coffee consumption, alcohol intake and obesity will be necessary.
Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Coffee* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase* ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Obesity ; Smoking ; Tobacco Products

PURPOSE: Little is known as to risk factors for benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH), especially in this country. We investigated lifestyle factors in relation to BPH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted population-based cross-sectional study including men aged 50 years and older in a rural community and analyzed data on 195 men. BPH was defined as enlargement of the prostate gland of equivalent weight>20gm in the presence of voiding symptoms(IPSS>7) and low urinary peak flow rate(<15ml/sec). Informations on the lifestyle factors were collected by direct personal interview using structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Adjusted prevalence rate ratio was 1.11 for age(95% confidence interval, CI, 1.03-1.19), 1.16 for body mass index(95% CI 0.97-1.38), 2.46 for salty food intake(95% CI 0.83-7.34), 2.09 for skipping breakfast(95% CI 0.45-9.67). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that lifestyle factors may be important risk factors for BPH in the community.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Prostate ; Prostatic Hyperplasia* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Rural Population*

PURPOSE: HIF-1alpha(Hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha) and VEGF(vascular endothelial growth factor) have been reported to be involved in tumor growth and metastasis but little data concerning their role in transitional bladder cancer is available and few studies have yet evaluated their prognostic values. The aim of the present study was to assess HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression and to evaluate the relationship between HIF-1alpha/ VEGF and histopathologic characteristics in bladder tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HIF-1alpha and VEGF immunohistochemical stainings were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival tissues from 27 transitional bladder cancer tissues and from 4 normal bladder tissues as a control group. Interpretation of immunohistochemical staining was performed semi-quantitatively by one pathologist. RESULTS: Expressions of HIF-1alpha and VEGF tended to be higher in the patient group than in the control group. HIF-1alpha expression was correlated with VEGF expression. HIF-1alpha and VEGF tended to be positively correlated with pathologic stage and grade of transitional bladder cancer. CONCLUSIONS: HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression might be independent predictors of outcome, as well as stage and grade of transitional bladder cancer. This study suggests that HIF-1alpha and VEGF may be potential prognostic factors in bladder cancer.
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Anoxia* ; Humans* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of tumor angiogenesis and angiogenic factors such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and c-met in renal cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining on HGF, c-met expression and angiogenesis was performed in 35 renal cell carcinoma tissues and 18 benign renal tissues. HGF and c-met were identified with specific corresponding antibodies. Cases were considered positive when HGF and c-met expression were seen in more than one third of cells. To evaluate the angiogenesis, the microvessels were determined by anti-CD31 immunohistochemistry. We compaired HGF, c-met and microvessel count with clinicopathologic characteristics such as stage, nuclear grade and histology in renal cell carcinoma. RESULTS: Among 35 patients with renal cell carcinoma, 16 patients (45.7%) showed positive stain for HGF and c-met. HGF, c-met overexpression and microvessel count were significantly correlated with tumor stage and nuclear grade of renal cell carcinoma (p<0.05), but not correlated with cell type of renal cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: This results suggested that both HGF and c-met overexpression and angiogenesis measured by microvessels count could be significant prognostic indicators of renal cell carcinoma.
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Antibodies ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor* ; Hepatocytes* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Microvessels ; Prognosis

Long term changes in corneal astigmatism after cataract surgery were evaluated. Phamemulsification with 7mm limbal incision(Group 1) was performed in 68 eyes and ECCE with 101mm limbal incision(Group 2) in 73 eyes. Follow up period was up to 5 years (mean 3.3 years), and the astigmatic change was analysed by Algebraic method. In most cases, postoperative astigmatigm was stabilized at 3 months but showed continuing against-the-rule change up to 5 years. Group 2 and above 60 years of age group showed more against-the-rule change at 5 years follw up although there was no significant differences between groups, up to 2 years. Preoperative against-the-rule group and less than 4 diopters of with-the-rule astigmatism group at 1 week postoperatively developed more against-the-rule change. Diabetic patients showed slightly more shift to against-the-rule astigmation than non-diabetic patients. As a conclusion, corneal astigmatism shifted toward against-the-rule up to 5 years after the cataract surgery continuously and affected by incision length, age of the patients, preoperative astigmatism and diabetes. Thus, surgical modifications would be considered by the patients' status.
Astigmatism ; Cataract* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Phacoemulsification