No abstract available.
Blood Platelets* ; Humans ; Platelet Aggregation* ; Plateletpheresis* ; Tissue Donors*

There has been increased dialysis because of chronic renal failure, and also has been increased cataractous changes. We found 8 eyes(5 patients) who were under dialysis and also had cataractous changes. They received cataract operations. The results were obtained as follows: 1. Male to female ratio is 4:1 and the average age of cataract patients is 45 years old. 2. The cataractous changes after dialysis occurred within 1 year(except example 1). 3. We found that the cataracts developed from posterior subcapsule of lens(except example 1) and the corrected visual acuity at 2 months after surgery were over 0.5. 4. There were no serious problems after surgery(routine I.C.C.E.). 5. On blood chemistry, the average calcium level was 7.88mg% (hypocalcemic state), and we suggest that this condition may be related with cataractous changes.
Calcium ; Cataract* ; Chemistry ; Dialysis* ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Visual Acuity

Spinal arteriovenous malformations(AVM's) may subject patients to the risk of paraplegia or quadriplegia. To determine the clinical features of patients with spinal AVM's, the authors reviewed the medical records of 26 such patients diagnosed and treated in our department, between 1986 and 1996. Among these, there were two cases of dural arteriovenous fistula(dural AVF), eight of perimedullary fistula, twelve of intramedullary AVM, and three of intramedullary cavernous angioma. In one case, the type of AVM was not identified. The most common presenting symptom was acute or slowly progressive myelopathy. The patients were treated with embolization, surgery, or both, and because of residual or recurrent disease, treatment was repeated in six cases, five of which were intramedullary AVM. All patients with dural AVF improved after treatment. Among patients with intradural AVM(perimeudllary AVF or intramedullary AVM), 25% were improved and 25% deteriorated : two of three patients with cavernous angiomas improved. Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations in the cases of AVM of the spinal cord are discussed. Since recurrence or residual arteriovenous shunting is a common problem in the treatment of this condition, follow-up observation of clinical and angiographic findings is mandatory.
Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations ; Fistula ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Paraplegia ; Quadriplegia ; Recurrence ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spinal Cord*

The authors reports a case of giant carotid artery aneurysm at the cavernous portion which was treated by trapping of internal carotid artery(ICA) after external carotid artery(ECA) to middle cerebral artery(MCA) bypass by long saphenous vein graft. It was impossible to clip the aneurysm because of its position and size. The patient suffered from progressive extraocular movement disturbance and decreased visual acuity. She was intolerant to ballon occlusion test. The size of the aneurysm was 3.5x2.5x2 cm. ECA to MCA bypass was done with saphenous vein graft successfully. However, computerized tomography shows hemorrhagic infraction at left temporal lobe postoperatively. Two days later, left temporal lobectomy was done because of uncontrollable increased intracranial pressure. Internal carotid artery was trapped with proximal ligation and distal clipping at the supraclinoid segment.
Aneurysm* ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery, External* ; Carotid Artery, Internal* ; Humans ; Intracranial Pressure ; Ligation ; Middle Cerebral Artery* ; Saphenous Vein* ; Temporal Lobe ; Transplants* ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone produced by the pineal gland. Melatonin has many pharmacological effects in different tissues or organs. Melatonin is especially known to have antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. Hypothermia is a therapeutic tool against hypoxia-ischemia (HI) of the brain. This study examines the effect of combined therapy using melatonin and hypothermia in neonatal rats with HI. METHODS: Seven-day old rats were subjected to HI and randomized into four groups : vehicle, melatonin alone, vehicle and hypothermia, and melatonin and hypothermia. Melatonin (30 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered in two doses: immediately following HI, and 24 h later. Hypothermia consisted of whole-body cooling (3 hours, 27degrees C). Sham-treated animals not subjected to HI were also studied. P10, P14, and P35 rats were sacrificed for experiments. RESULTS: Vehicle-treated P10 rats increased in brain infarction compared to controls in TTC staining study. And also, P35 rats decreased in brain volume of injured hemisphere in H&E stain. Melatonin or hypothermia alone did not show any protective effect against HI. However, a combination of melatonin and hypothermia effectively reduced the brain injury. In addition, the results of in situ zymography, TUNEL assay and immunofluorescence studies showed that neuroprotective effects were achieved only with combined therapy. CONCLUSION: Melatonin may contribute to synergistic effects to neuroprotection of hypothermia on brain damage after HI.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain Infarction ; Brain Injuries* ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Hypothermia* ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Melatonin* ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Pineal Gland ; Rats*

Benign prostatic hyperplasia and urethral stricture are common causes of urethral obstruction over 50 years of age. To evaluate the usefulness of the Gianturco expandable stent for dilatation of the urethra, 14 single stents were placed in the posterior urethra (2 in prostatic urethra, 12 in membranous urethra), 20 in the anterior urethra. And 4 six-eight connected stents ere positioned in the posterior urethra to straddle at the internal sphincter or external sphincter and followed up for 2 weeks (one dog), 1 month (two dog), 2 months (one dog), 3 months (one dog), 5 months (one dog), 9 months (three dogs), and 14 months (two dogs). Seven of 18 stents in the posterior urethra and 5 to 20 in the anterior urethra were migrated during the follow-up. By 2 weeks after placement. 100% expansion was achieved in the posterior urethra, but by 1 month in the anterior urethra. Partial or complete epithelial covering of the stents was observed 1 month after stent placement in the anterior urethra, but mucosal folds were observed in the anterior and posterior urethra. Urinary incontinence was not observed in all cases. Our experience suggests that Gianturco expandable stent can be used in dilating and maintaining the lumen of the prostatic urethra and urethral stricture.
Animals ; Dilatation ; Dogs* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Stents* ; Urethra* ; Urethral Obstruction ; Urethral Stricture ; Urinary Incontinence

Background: Imbalance of T helper (Th) 1/2 cells has been shown to contribute to the development of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). To address the inconsistent results on the role of Th1/Th2 polarization, we evaluated the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in various samples from patients with IgAN. Methods: Thirty-one patients with biopsy-proven IgAN (age, 34.48 ± 12.10 years) and 25 healthy controls (age, 44.84 ± 13.72 years) were enrolled. We evaluated the relationship between the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines and the response to glucocorticoid treatment. Results: The levels of serum interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and urinary monocyte chemoattractant peptide (MCP)-1 were higher in the IgAN group than in the control group. The levels of MCP-1 in urine and secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were significantly different among three groups categorized based on daily proteinuria. The level of urinary MCP-1 was significantly correlated with proteinuria. The levels of urinary MCP-1, serum interleukin (IL)-4, IFNγ, and IL-2 secreted by PBMCs and intrarenal IL-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) were significantly correlated with the ratio of proteinuria at 6 months to baseline proteinuria in patients undergoing glucocorticoid treatment. MCP-1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly upregulated in mesangial cells stimulated with IFNγ among representative Th1/Th2 cytokines. Conclusion IFNγ was shown to be a key cytokine in the pathogenic processes underlying IgAN, and its upregulation induced an increase in urinary MCP-1 production. These findings suggest that Th1 cytokines may play an important role in the development of IgAN.

Background: Imbalance of T helper (Th) 1/2 cells has been shown to contribute to the development of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). To address the inconsistent results on the role of Th1/Th2 polarization, we evaluated the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in various samples from patients with IgAN. Methods: Thirty-one patients with biopsy-proven IgAN (age, 34.48 ± 12.10 years) and 25 healthy controls (age, 44.84 ± 13.72 years) were enrolled. We evaluated the relationship between the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines and the response to glucocorticoid treatment. Results: The levels of serum interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and urinary monocyte chemoattractant peptide (MCP)-1 were higher in the IgAN group than in the control group. The levels of MCP-1 in urine and secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were significantly different among three groups categorized based on daily proteinuria. The level of urinary MCP-1 was significantly correlated with proteinuria. The levels of urinary MCP-1, serum interleukin (IL)-4, IFNγ, and IL-2 secreted by PBMCs and intrarenal IL-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) were significantly correlated with the ratio of proteinuria at 6 months to baseline proteinuria in patients undergoing glucocorticoid treatment. MCP-1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly upregulated in mesangial cells stimulated with IFNγ among representative Th1/Th2 cytokines. Conclusion IFNγ was shown to be a key cytokine in the pathogenic processes underlying IgAN, and its upregulation induced an increase in urinary MCP-1 production. These findings suggest that Th1 cytokines may play an important role in the development of IgAN.

The present study investigated whether organotypic spheroids derived from human fetal brain tissue, cultured at agarose-overlay media, may serve as an optimal invitro model for multidisciplinary studies in human neurobiology, particularly in the fields of tumor invasiveness and its biochemical mechanism, using light microscopy, electron microscopy and immunohistochemical staining. Eight fetal brain tissues of 8-9 weeks of gestation were minced and explanted into agarose-coated culture wells. After three to five days these human fetal brain tissue fragments emerged as spheroids and could be maintained as organotypic spheroids for up to seven weeks. Light and electron microscopic studies of sphereoids demonstrated that most cells were poorly differentiated and there were no definite mature neurons or glial cells after enough culture time, but some cells showed certain evidence suggestive of differentiation to neurons or glial cells. Immunohistochemical staining for glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) and neur on specific enolase(NSE) demonstrated that NSE-positive cells were oval or spherical cells containing abundant cytoplasm and GFAP-positive cells were fibrillary cytoplasma-containing cells which showed some evidence suggestive of differentiation to glial cells by light microscopy. In future, adding some modifications in culture, this organotypic spheroids derived from the human fetal brain may serve as an optimal in vitro model for neurobiology especially in the field of studies on tumor invasiveness through co-culture with microtumor spheroids.
Brain* ; Coculture Techniques ; Cytoplasm ; Humans* ; Microscopy ; Microscopy, Electron ; Neurobiology ; Neuroglia ; Neurons ; Pregnancy

Cephalometric superimposition is unable to evaluate tooth movement along the occlusal plane and the errors of photographing and superimposition of the occlusogram is also inevitable. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the rotational movements of the maxillary posterior teeth following space closure after extraction of maxillary first premolars, using 3D dental images. In 19 adult females, analysis of rotational movements of the maxillary posterior teeth was performed between the initial and final 3D dental images superimposed on the maxillary hard palate. The results showed a diversity of rotational movements of posterior teeth. The causes of various rotational movements may be different rotation of molars in each case at the beginning of treatment, individual characters of the dental arch and tooth morphology. The results of the study indicate that accurate evaluation of rotational movements of posterior teeth following space closure after extraction of premolars using 3D dental images can be obtained through the subdivision of tooth movement during the initial aligning, space closure and finishing stages.
Adult ; Bicuspid* ; Dental Arch ; Dental Occlusion ; Female ; Humans ; Molar ; Palate, Hard ; Tooth Movement ; Tooth*