Authors presented the experience of Ender nail treatment for the humeral shaft fractures in 24 patients. The results of treatment in all were satisfactory, though there were four cases of delayed union. Bridging callus was formed at 8.2 weeks on an average. The average clinical union time was 14 weeks. No complications developed during nailing procedure. A case of radial nerve palsy after fracture recovered spontaneously. Longer nails which hit the end of medullary canal of distal fragment distracted the fracture gap, and resulted in delayed union in 4 cases. Therefore, it is recommended to use the proper size of nail to avoid the distraction effect of the inserted nail, and to use two nails at minimum for better fixation. However, when intramedullary Ender nailing is properly done, single nailing also can give consistently good anatomic and functional results.
Bony Callus ; Humans ; Humerus ; Paralysis ; Radial Nerve

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis results from bone loss due to menopause [estrogen(E) deficiency] and aging. Initial skeletal effect of menopause is accelerated bone resorption with an increase in seurm calcium(Ca) and compensatory but inadequate bone formation. Secretion of parathyroid hormone(PTH) is suppressed at this time. Postmenopausal osteoporosis results in fractures predominantly of trabecular bone, i.e., vertebra. With aging, secondary hyperparathyroidism by low serum Ca and vitamin D deficiency superim poses. Senile osteoporosis produces hip fractures, area of cortical bone. The aim of this study was to- examine the association of vitamin D[25(OH)D] and intact(i) PTH with bone mineral density(BMD) after controlling for suggested confounding factors, and the possibility of low serum vitamin D and high serum iPTH concentration could impact bone loss in Korean postmenopausal women. METHODS: Data from 188 postmenopausal Korean women aged 42 to 69 were analyzed through BMD, serum 25(OH)D, iPTH, Ca, phosphorus(P), alkaline phosphatase(ALP) and clinical characteristics. Factors affecting BMD was determined by Pearson correlation and the relationship between lumbar and femoral neck BMD and vitamin D[25(OH)D] and iPTH was assessed by multiple regression analysis after adjus- ting for suggested confounding factors. RESULTS: Lumbar and femoral neck BMD, serum Ca, P were decresaed and serum iPTH was increased with aging. In Pearson`s correlation, significant contributing factors to lumbar BMD was age, height, weight, menarche, year since menopause(YSM) and ALP. And significant contributing factors to femoral neck BMD was age, height, weight, menarche, YSM and iPTH. No relationship could be demonstrated between serum vitamin D[25(OH)D] and lumbar and femoral neck BMD. How ever, after controlling for potential confounding factors, a correlation was found between vitamin D[25(OH)D] and both of lumbar (p=0.013) and femoral neck BMD(p=0.077). iPTH was inversely related to femoral neck BMD(p=0.004) only in multiple linear regression. CONCLUSION: Serum vitamin D[25(OH)D] was influencing both of vertebral and femoral neck BMD, which suggests a significant role of vitamin D deficiency in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteo- porosis. In age related remodeling and loss of bone, increased serum iPTH might have additive role in cortical bone of femur. These findings suggest that vitamin D is very important for optimal bone health and a deleterious effect of increased iPTH on cortical bone loss. Adequate calcium and vitamin D status have to be maintained to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women.
Aging ; Bone Density* ; Bone Resorption ; Calcium ; Female ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Hip Fractures ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism, Secondary ; Linear Models ; Menarche ; Menopause ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; Parathyroid Hormone* ; Spine ; Tolnaftate ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*

To investigate the nature of artifacts caused by air and chemical shift by fat, a test tube phantom study was performed in 2.0T and 0.5T superconducting magnetic resonance imaging systems in various imaging sequences. Spatial mismapping and signal change made image distortion in spin echo images of the air-column and severe signal voids in gradient echo images. Chemical shift artifacts appeared in the planes of frequency-encoding axis as crescent-shaped signal voids and summated bright signals, Both artifacts were more prominent in high field strength, Images at 0.5T showed more severe artifacts in the T2-weighted images than those in the other sequences. As the acquisition matrix increased, truncation artifacts decreased and susceptibility artifacts in gradient echo images diminished. Familiarity with causes, appearances and mechanisms of various artifacts will help radiologists for interpretation of MRI.
Artifacts* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Recognition (Psychology)

Limb salvage operation in primary malignant bone tumors is increasing recently, according to the improvement of diagnostic methods, surgical technique and adjuvant chemotherapy. The purpose of this study is to obtain the interim results of survival rate and the functional grade of the limb in primary malignant bone tumors treated by limb salvage operation. Between 1985 to 1993, 63 primary malignant bone tumors treated by limb salvage operations. Tumor prosthesis arthroplasty was performed in 49 patients, resection arthrodesis in 9 patients, and IM nailing with cement molding in 5 patients. Autoclave autograft was combined in 2 patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy were performed in selected patients. The average follow-up period was 50 months(ranged 12 months to 116 months). In the cases of osteosarcoma, estimated survival rate was 61.9% based on Kaplan-Meier survival plot. In the parosteal sarcoma, the survival rate was 87.5% and 80% in chondrosarcoma patients. According to functional grading by Enneking, 66% was excellent, 20% was good, 11% was fair and one patients was poor. Complications occurred in 16 patients:wound infection was developed in 6 patients, local recurrence in 4, peroneal nerve palsy in 2 patients and femoral stem loosening in 2 patients. Fracture in resection arthrodesis and pulmonary metastasis were also occurred. Reoperation was performed in 10 patients at average 31 months after initial operation. Revision tumor persthesis arthroplasty was performed in one patient due to local recurrence and in 2 patients due to femoral stem loosening. Three amputations were done due to recurrence of tumor. IM nailing with cement molding was performed in one patient due to deep infection and repeated arthrodesis was done in a fracture patients. Scheduled custom-made tumor prosthesis arthroplasty was performed within a year in 2 patients treated with IM nailing with cement molding. In conclusion, with the careful preoperative assessment, adjuvant chemotherapy and skillful surgical technique, limb salvage operation would provide the primary malignant bone tumor patients for longer survival and better quality of life.
Amputation ; Arthrodesis ; Arthroplasty ; Autografts ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Chondrosarcoma ; Extremities ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fungi ; Humans ; Limb Salvage ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteosarcoma ; Paralysis ; Peroneal Nerve ; Prostheses and Implants ; Quality of Life ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Reoperation ; Sarcoma ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

Living-Related-Liver-Transplantation(LRLT) has been established as a reliable method of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease when the scarcity of cadaveric organ donor was considered. But the hepatic artery is high at risk in thrombosis(HAT) following LRLT. So microsurgical technique was introduced in anastomosis of hepatic artery. This study was aimed at using microsurgical technique in LRLT and presenting some technical details of the procedures. From December 1994 to November 1997, a sereis of 41 LRLTs on patients with end-stage liver disease was performed with follow-up period of 5 to 40 months(mean,15.6 months). Organs were donated by living-related donors(n=36) and living-nonrelated ones(n=5). Hepatic artery was reconstructed with microsurgical technique by plastic surgeon. All hepatic arteries were patent intraoperatively and postoperatively except one case, which had leakage at anastomosed site on the postoperative fourth day.Hepatic artery is high at risk in thrombosis(HAT) following LRLT due to the caliber discrepancy and technical difficulties. To overcome these risks, microsurgical technique was introduced. The technique has greatly reduced arterial complication. However, there are some difficulties in microsurgery of LRLT, which are somewhat different from those in other microsurgery fields: the first difficulty is to obtain a good operative field and a sufficient view through the microscope. The second one is to overcome arterial caliber discrepancy. And the last is to achieve a stable posture in narrow and deep operating field against the respiratory movement and heartbeat.With the persistent team approach of plastic and general surgeons in the field of LRLT, we could have reduced the HAT and have had better outcome after LRLT.
Arteries ; Cadaver ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Microsurgery ; Posture ; Tissue Donors*

Radiation therapy is an effective cancer treatment modality as a primary treatment in early cancer and as an adjuvant treatment in advanced cancer, especially in head and neck lesions, but it also causes irreversible chronic damages to overlying normal tissues that may lead to wound complications. As well, at the microscopic level, radiation injury causes both stasis and occlusion of small vessels. Therefore, surgical reconstruction of previously-irradiated lesions in the head and neck poses a great problem. Fifth-six patients with head and neck lesions underwent 57 microsurgical reconstructions between 1990-1998. Thirteen patients were irradiated before surgery. The previous radiation dose was 30-75.6 Gy. The free tissue transfer was successful in 52 of the 57 microsurgical reconstructions(91.2%). The success rate was 92.3%(12/13) in previously-irradiated patients and 90.9%(40/44) in nonirradiated patients. Postoperative complications, such as flap loss, fistula, and infection, developed in 4 irradiated patients and 8 nonirradiated patients. Overall complication rate was 30.8%(4/13) in previously-irradiated patients and 18.2%(8/44) in nonirradiated patients. Although the failure rate of previously-irradiated patients was higher than that of nonirradiated patients, there was no statistically significant difference between them. Thus, free tissue transfers in patients with previously-irradiated head and neck lesions are suitable for one-stage reconstruction.
Fistula ; Head* ; Humans ; Neck* ; Postoperative Complications ; Radiation Injuries ; Wounds and Injuries

In this review, lipid A, from its discovery to recent findings, is presented as a drug target and therapeutic molecule. First, the biosynthetic pathway for lipid A, the Raetz pathway, serves as a good drug target for antibiotic development. Several assay methods used to screen for inhibitors of lipid A synthesis will be presented, and some of the promising lead compounds will be described. Second, utilization of lipid A biosynthetic pathways by various bacterial species can generate modified lipid A molecules with therapeutic value.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Lipid A*

Arterial cannulation for constant monitoring of arterial pressure and blood gase analyses has become commonplace in the care of the critically ill patients. The radial artery is often regarded as causing a negligible complication risk because of extensive collateral arterial flow in the hand. One of other alternative sites for arterial cannulation is femoral artery. Femoral artery cannulation has a high degree of success in very small, critically ill children. It should be considered an acceptable alternative to small-vessel cannulation when the latter is not technically achievable, or in the unstable patient where rapid establishment of reliable artery access is necessary. Arterial cannulation may cause many complications: arterial catheters can directly injure the vessels, resulting in thrombosis, occlusion, distal embolization or ischemia. Local insertion site complications, such as hematoma, hemorrhage, and infection may occur. Arterial catheter may also be a source of systemic sepsis. We report an unusual case of unintentional release of a catheter fragment into the external iliac artery in a 7-month (7.8 kg) male patient with tetralogy of Fallot, which was inadvertently inserted during right femoral artery cannulation. The catheter fragment was successfully retrieved with the Amplatz Goose Neck microsnare under fluoroscopy without any problems.
Arterial Pressure ; Arteries ; Catheterization* ; Catheters* ; Child ; Critical Illness ; Femoral Artery* ; Fluoroscopy ; Hand ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Iliac Artery* ; Ischemia ; Male ; Neck ; Radial Artery ; Sepsis ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; Thrombosis

Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by diverse anti-cancer drugs or phytochemicals has been closely related with the induction of apoptosis in cancers. Also, the downregulation of ROS by these chemicals has been found to block initiation of carcinogenesis. Therefore, modulation of ROS by phytochemicals emerges as a crucial mechanism to regulate apoptosis in cancer prevention or therapy. This review summarizes the current understanding of the selected chemical compounds and related cellular components that modulate ROS during apoptotic process. Metformin, quercetin, curcumin, vitamin C, and other compounds have been shown to downregulate ROS in the cellular apoptotic process, and some of them even induce apoptosis in cancer cells. The cellular components mediating the downregulation of ROS include nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 antioxidant signaling pathway, thioredoxin, catalase, glutathione, heme oxygenase-1, and uncoupling proteins. The present review provides information on the relationship between these compounds and the cellular components in modulating ROS in apoptotic cancer cells.
Apoptosis* ; Ascorbic Acid ; Carcinogenesis ; Catalase ; Curcumin ; Down-Regulation* ; Glutathione ; Heme Oxygenase-1 ; Metformin ; Negotiating ; Phytochemicals ; Quercetin ; Reactive Oxygen Species* ; Thioredoxins