BACKGROUND: Solid tumors require neovasculization for growth and metastasis. Recently, several angiogenic factors have been identified. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is thought to be one such angiogenic factor and is also thought to be a selective mitogen for endothelial cells. In this study, we examined the expression of VEGF and its relationship with microvessel density, and we also determined its prognostic significance in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: One hundred one specimens resected from patients with gastric carcinomas were investigated by staining with a polyclonal antibody against VEGF. Correlations between the expression of VEGF, the microvessel density, various clinicopathologic factors, and the patient's survival were studied. RESULTS: The normal gastric mucosa was not immunoreactive with an anti-VEGF antibody. VEGF was mainly localized to the cytoplasm or the membrane of the carcinoma cell. Of the 101 tumors, strong VEGF expression was detected in 48 (47.5%) tumors. VEGF expression was correlated with depth of tumor invasion, lymph-node metastasis, and stage. Microvessel density, determined by immunohistochemical staining for CD31, was significantly higher in VEGF-strong tumors than in VEGF-weak tumors. Also, patients with VEGF-strong tumors had a significantly poorer prognosis than those with VEGF-weak tumors. However, multivariate analysis indicated that the expression of VEGF was not an independent prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The fact that VEGF expression in gastric carcinomas was more prevalent in more advanced tumors means that VEGF may contribute to the progression of the tumor. Further study is needed to evaluate the significance of VEGF as a prognostic factor.
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Cytoplasm ; Endothelial Cells ; Gastric Mucosa ; Humans ; Membranes ; Microvessels ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis* ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) after patterned panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) using pattern scan laser (PASCAL) in patients with diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: This study included 39 patients (50 eyes) treated with patterned PRP using PASCAL and who were followed for at least 3 months. Patients were classified into 2 groups according to severity: severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. SFCT was measured by enhanced depth imaging of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The change in SFCT was analyzed at 1 and 3 months after PRP. RESULTS: SFCT was 270.42 ± 61.44 µm before PRP, 264.52 ± 60.78 µm at 1 month, and 255.74 ± 56.89 µm at 3 months after PRP. Significant change of SFCT was found at 3 months after PRP. Central macular thickness was 275.56 ± 50.61 µm before PRP and increased to 295.18 ± 52.80 µm and 293.10 ± 57.24 µm at 1 and 3 months post-treatment, respectively. There were no significant differences between groups in SFCT at baseline or in the amount of change in SFCT after PRP. CONCLUSIONS: SFCT significantly decreased after patterned PRP using PASCAL.
Choroid* ; Diabetic Retinopathy* ; Humans ; Light Coagulation* ; Tomography, Optical Coherence

PURPOSE: Breast cancers frequently undergo distant metastasis during the early phase, on which the survival of patients is greatly dependent. It has been suggested that the occurrence of micrometastasis relates with other prognostic features of breast cancer, such as lymph node metastasis and the presence of vascular invasion. The aim of this study was to examine the presence of keratin-19 and mammaglobin mRNA in bone marrow aspirates obtained from breast cancer patients, and their possible correlation with tumor staging and disease free survival. METHODS: Bone marrow samples were obtained from 254 breast cancer patients at the time of surgery. We separated the mononuclear fraction from the samples and carried out nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the detection of keratin-19 and mammaglobin mRNA using two different pairs of primers. We also studied the possible correlations between the tumor size, nodal involvement, stage, and distant metastasis. RESULTS: Seventy-five of the 254 samples were studied for cytokeratin 19 and the others for cytokeratin and mammaglobin. The median follow-up time was 21.1 months. Sixty-five (26%) of the 254 samples were cytokeratin 19 positive and 25 (14.3%) of the 175 were mammaglobin positive. Eight cases (12.3%) in the cytokeratin positive group showed a recurrent disease in distant organs. Whereas, six (3.2%) out of 185 cytokeratin negative patients had distant recurrences. Mammaglobin positivity was not correlated with distant metastasis. The stage, nodal status, and estrogen receptor were independent of bone marrow micrometastasis. CONCLUSION: Bone marrow micrometastasis, detected by nested RT-PCR for cytokeratin 19, could be a useful predictive marker for the distant metastasis of breast cancer.
Bone Marrow* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Estrogens ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Keratin-19* ; Keratins* ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis* ; Neoplasm Staging ; Recurrence ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger

Thermal conditions are an important environmental factor in maintaining healthy pigs because they affect feed intake, growth efficiency, reproduction and immune responses in pigs. RAVI, a regenerative far-infrared heating system, can effect pig production by emitting an optimal far-infrared wavelength. Far-infrared radiation has been reported to increase microvascular dilation and vascular flow volume. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immunobiological differences between pigs raised with the RAVI system and the gasoline heater system. Twenty-six-week-old weaned pigs were raised in two rooms that were equipped with a RAVI system or a gasoline heater for 8 weeks. A porcine atrophic rhinitis vaccine was administered after two weeks and transcriptome analysis in whole blood were analyzed at 2-week intervals. Signaling pathway analyses of the RAVI group at 8 weeks showed the activation of pathways related to nitric oxide (NO) production. This suggests that the application of RAVI might induce the production of NO and iNOS, which are important for increasing the immune activity. Similar to the result of microarray, phenotypic changes were also observed at a later period of the experiment. The increase in body weight in the RAVI group was significantly higher than the gasoline heater group at 8 weeks. The antibody titer against the vaccine in the RAVI group was also higher than that the gasoline heater group at 4 weeks and 8 weeks. This evaluation of the use of a far-infrared heating system with pigs will be helpful for applications in the pig farm industry and pig welfare.
Agriculture ; Body Weight ; Gasoline ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Nitric Oxide ; Reproduction ; Rhinitis, Atrophic ; Swine

PURPOSE: We investigated the menstrual features of adolescent school girls to know the characteristics of menarche and dysfunctional uterine bleeding in adolescents. METHODS: In March, 2001, 1,434 primary and middle school girls(10-15 years of age) in Ansan City were investigated for the menacheal age and several aspects of menstruation through questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age of the total subjects were 13.0+/-1.2 years of age, and 68.4% of them experienced menarche. 32.2% experienced menarche after age 12, but 82.9% experienced it after age 13. Mixed type(regular and irregular) menstrual cycle was the most common(35.3%), and changing type(irregular to regular) was 27.6%. In changing type, the mean duration of cycle stabilization was 6.6+/-4.9 months. The most common menstrual cycle was 'within 26-30 days'(31.4%). Abnormal cycles such as 'equal or less than 20 days' and 'equal or more than 41 days' were 17.2% and 2.0%, respectively. The most common menstrual duration was '5-6 days'(44.7%). 7.6% of the subjects experienced short or long menstrual duration. Among the subjects, only 4.0% visited the hospital with menstrual problems. The visiting reasons were 'irregular menstrual cycles'(38.5%), 'dysmenorrhea'(28.2%), 'menorrhagia'(12.8%), and 'hypermenorrhea'(28.2%). CONCLUSION: Most adolescent girls in our study experienced menarche until 13 years of age and some of them got early menarche at the age of 9. Many of them had irregular or unstable menstrual cycles after menarche at any age, but only few of them visited a health care provider. We suggest the careful attention of pediatricians, parents and teachers to the early detection and proper treatment of menstrual problems in adolescent girls.
Adolescent* ; Female ; Female* ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Menarche* ; Menstrual Cycle ; Menstruation ; Metrorrhagia* ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Risk-taking behaviors are defined as patterns of behavior initiated during adolescence which are responsible for the majority of negative health outcomes occurring during the rest of the life. The study was to explore the relationship between the risk-taking behaviors and their predisposing factors among adolescents. METHODS: The study used a survey design with an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered to 1,076 students from first year of middle school to first year of high school in Ansan City. The questions were constructed from nine risk-taking behaviors of independent variables including smoking, alcohol, drug abuse, adaptation at school, use of computer, sexual behavior, vehicle use, suicide, school violence and eight predisposing factors of school grade, gender, academic ranking, academic achievement of the mother, socioeconomic status, living with both parents, religion of the student and the mother. The data was analysed by the statistical methods of X(2) test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The study revealed that the combination of the independent variables of the risk-taking behaviors to have a close association(P<0.05) with the predisposing factors. CONCLUSION: School grades, socioeconomic status, academic rankings, final educational level of the mother and living with both parents were factors strongly correlating with risky behaviors. The role of the clinician to identify those at risk is fundamental for health maintenance long after adolescence.
Adolescent* ; Anonyms and Pseudonyms ; Causality* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Mothers ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk-Taking* ; Sexual Behavior ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Suicide ; Violence

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) treatment on pain and balance in patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy.METHOD: This study included twenty-five patients who were diagnosed with chronic lumbosacral radiculopathy. They underwent PRF treatment in prone position under the fluoroscopic guidance. The effect of PRF was measured by the visual analog score (VAS). Patient ability to balance was evaluated by using the Tetra-ataxiometric posturography (Tetrax).RESULTS: After PRF all patients showed improvement in pain as measured by VAS (p < 0.001) and none of the patients reported any side effects. The posturographic balance, which was evaluated by Tetrax showed no significant decline after PRF treatment. The weight distribution index (WDI) with eyes open before treatment was 5.43 ± 2.88 and after treatment was 5.37 ± 2.65 (p=0.917). The mean stability index (SI) with eyes open before treatment was 16.52 ± 6.05 and after treatment was 16.61 ± 4.85 (p=0.906). The mean WDI with eyes closed before treatment was 5.66 ± 2.81 and after treatment was 5.16 ± 2.70 (p=0.470). Finally, the mean SI with eyes closed before was 25.88 ± 9.88 and after treatment was 25.99 ± 12.30 (p=0.962).CONCLUSION: The results suggest that PRF has an effect on pain in patients with chronic lumbosacral radiculopathy. The patients did not experience adverse effects, such as hypoesthesia, dysesthesia and decreased proprioception after PRF, and there were no significant declines in balance.
Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Methods ; Paresthesia ; Postural Balance ; Prone Position ; Proprioception ; Pulsed Radiofrequency Treatment ; Radiculopathy

The common causes of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in children are intussusception, rectal juvenile polyp, chronic inflammatory colitis and Meckel's diverticulum. Bleeding from Dieulafoy's ulcer at the lower gastrointestinal tract is rare, but this often occurs in the rectum. So far, there has been no report that a Dieulafoy lesion in the ileocecal valve might be formed after acute colitis in a pediatric patient. In this case report, a Dieulafoy-like lesion at the ileocecal valve caused lower gastrointestinal bleeding in an asymptomatic 14-year-old woman. A careful history taking and medical examination are mandatory to identify the bleeding focus in the GI tract and this can be treated by endoscopy.
Adolescent ; Child ; Colitis ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Ileocecal Valve ; Intussusception ; Lower Gastrointestinal Tract ; Meckel Diverticulum ; Polyps ; Rectum ; Ulcer

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between BMI and Mortality. METHODS: This study was based on the analysis and assembly of the 'Kangwha Cohort Study', previously conducted by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University. A total of 2,696 males and 3,595 females were followed for almost ten years and ten months from March 1985 to January 1996, a total of whom 2,420 died during this period. The Cox's proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze this data. RESULTS: We found a U-shaped relationship between BMI and mortality among the aged men in the Kangwha cohort. The hazard ratio of dying was adjusted for age, marital status, occupation, self cognitive health level, chronic disease, smoking, and alcohol frequency, then sorted by body mass index into the following groups; less than 18.5, 18.5 to less than 21.0, 21.0 to less than 23.5, 23.5 to less than 26.0 and greater than or equal to 26. The corresponding ratios for men were 1.81(1.50-2.19, 95%CI), 1.31(1.14-1.51, 95%CI), 1.0(referent), 1.05(0.87-1.26, 95%CI) and 1.39(1.09-1.76, 95%CI), respectively. And for women, 1.46(1.19-1.78), 1.12(0.95-1.31, 95%CI), 1.0(referent), 1.00(0.84-1.20, 95%CI) and 1.09(0.89-1.34, 95%CI), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of death among aged men in Kangwha increased in the under and overweight groups. The relationship between BMI and mortality has been well studied in Western populations, but little is known about the association between BMI and mortality in our country. So, on the basis of this study, it is apparent that more studies of the relationship between BMI and mortality will be needed for future work.
Body Mass Index ; Chronic Disease ; Cohort Studies* ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Marital Status ; Mortality* ; Occupations ; Overweight ; Preventive Medicine ; Smoke ; Smoking

This is a case report of chronic maxillary sinusitis caused by root canal overfilling of Calcipex II (Techno-Dent). A 60 year-old male complained of dull pain in the right maxillary molar area after complicated endodontic treatment using Calcipex II paste and was finally diagnosed with a chronic maxillary sinusitis through a clinical and radiological observation. In the biopsy examination, the periapical granuloma contained a lot of dark and translucent Calcipex II granules which were not stained with hematoxylin and eosin. They were usually engulfed by macrophages but rarely resorbed, resulting in scattering and migrating into antral mucosa. Most of the Calcipex II granules were also accumulated in the cytoplasms of secretory columnar epithelial cells, and small amount of Calcipex II granules were gradually secreted into sinus lumen by exocytosis. However, chronic granulomatous inflammation occurred without the additional recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and lymphocytes, and many macrophages which engulfed the Calcipex II granules were finally destroyed in the processes of cellular apoptosis. It is presumed that Calcipex II granules are likely to have a causative role to induce the granulomatous foreign body inflammation in the periapical region, and subsequently to exacerbate the chronic maxillary sinusitis in this study.
Apoptosis ; Biopsy ; Cytoplasm ; Dental Pulp Cavity* ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Epithelial Cells ; Exocytosis ; Foreign Bodies ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphocytes ; Macrophages ; Male ; Maxillary Sinus* ; Maxillary Sinusitis* ; Middle Aged ; Molar ; Mucous Membrane ; Neutrophils ; Periapical Granuloma