A large mass as a sign of an infection is rare, and it might convince a physician that it had the appearance of a malignancy. The patient in this case visited our clinics after attending several hospitals, with a mass that had the appearance of a malignancy, based on the severe destructive findings observed on plain radiographs. We report the first documented case of a patient with a large mass (12×7×20 cm) and a low-grade infection, which developed at the proximal thigh after a hip arthroplasty. It is important to realize that an infection accompanied by a large mass, can mimic a highly destructive malignant lesion on plain radiographs.
Arthroplasty* ; Hip* ; Humans ; Thigh*

The authors report a xase of primary non-gestational choriocarcinoma(PNGCO) of the ovary in a prepubertal female patient and reviewed. It is an extremely rere disease of which incidence is one in 369 million. Major clinical symptom is abdominal pain, precociois puberty and it can be misdiagneosed as ectopic pergnancy. Distinction from gestational choriocarcinoma(GCO) of the ovary is important because of the worse prognosis of PNGCO. But no distinctive ultrastructural or immunohistochemical differences are found between PNGCO and GCO. Most acceptable treatment modality is an aggressive surgical therapy and systemic chemotherapy, but its progrosis is poor.
Abdominal Pain ; Adolescent ; Choriocarcinoma, Non-gestational* ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ovary* ; Prognosis ; Puberty

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is introduced as a marker of disease. At present, a variety of method may be used to quantify expression of this protein. Antigen capture-ELISA is a sensitive and accurate quantification method previously used with ovine, rat, and human IL-6 proteins. However, it has never been reported to quantify porcine IL-6 protein using capture ELISA. In this study, we generated and characterized a set of IgY and mono-specific polyclonal antibodies to recombinant porcine IL-6 (rpIL-6), and combining these with a sensitive and specific capture-ELISA for a diagnostic purpose. cDNA encoding the mature protein coding region of porcine IL-6 was cloned and expressed with pQE-30UA expression vector. rpIL-6 was then expressed and purified by using Ni-NTA resin. Protein mass of 24 kDa was found with SDS-PAGE and the identity of the protein was confirmed by Western-blot. Production of polyclonal antibodies against rpIL-6 was performed using the purified rpIL-6 in mice and hens. An antigen capture-ELISA was developed with the antibodies after their extraction. To compare the IL-6 level in the different sanitary state of farms, pig sera were randomly collected and concentration of IL-6 in the sera was measured with the antigen capture-ELISA. The capture-ELISA with the optimal concentration of antibodies, in this study, was able to detect about 10 ng/ml of rpIL-6. IL-6 levels determined with the capture-ELISA in pig sera showed positive correlation with the sanitary states of the farms. These results suggested that the developed antigen capture-ELISA could be a good tool for the screening of microbial infection in pig farms.
Animals ; Biological Markers/blood ; Blotting, Western/veterinary ; Chickens ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary/genetics/isolation&purification ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel/veterinary ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods/*veterinary ; Female ; Immunoglobulins/*blood ; Interleukin-6/*immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Recombinant Proteins/immunology ; Swine/*immunology

Gastric emptying in patients after several upper gastrointestinal surgeries was studied using the acetaminophen method. The subjects consisted of 23 gastric cancer patients, 2 duodenal ulcer patients, 5 periampullary cancer patients and 4 normal subjects. As an indicator of the gastric emptying rate, the serum acetaminophen concentration was measured by fluorescence polarization immunoassay, in units of g/ml, at 0, 30, 60, 120, and 180 minutes after ingestion of a liquid meal with 1.5 g of acetaminophen. In the normal subjects, the acetaminophen concentrations were 0, 16.35+/-5.06, 18.71+/-5.58, 16.38+/-4.82, and 11.09+/-3.62 g/ml at time 0, 30, 60, 120, and 180 min, respectively. The concentration peaked at 60 min after ingestion of the test meal in the normal subjects. We observed significant delayed gastric emptying after pancreas preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD) and a standard Whipple's operation in the early postoperative period. In all patients with a subtotal gastrectomy, a truncal vagotomy was done. However, in patients with a pancreaticoduodenectomy, the vagus nerves were preserved. The gastric emptying pattern was different between the patients with a subtotal gastrectomy and the patients with a pancreaticoduodenectomy, despite similar reconstructions of the gastroenterostomy (Billroth I or Billroth II type reconstruction). There was more rapid gastric emptying in patients with a truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty than in the normal subjects. Hence, we speculate that the truncal vagotomy was the main cause of the different gastric emptying between the patients with a pancreaticoduodenectomy and the patients with a subtotal gastrectomy.
Acetaminophen* ; Duodenal Ulcer ; Eating ; Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Emptying* ; Gastroenterostomy ; Humans ; Meals ; Pancreas ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Postoperative Period ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Vagotomy, Truncal ; Vagus Nerve

No abstract available.
Blood Coagulation*

No abstract available.
Fever ; Humans ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset* ; Urticaria*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the functional and radiologic outcomes of additive augmentation sutures through rotator cuff for proximal humeral fractures stabilized locking plate in elderly patients. METHODS: We enrolled 74 patients over the age of 60 years who received internal fixation using locking plates for proximal humeral fractures. Of these, 50 patients had additive augmentation sutures through rotator cuff. The mean age at the time of surgery was 72.1 years (range, 60-89 years), and the mean follow-up period was 17.5 months (range, 12-62 months). The humeral neck-shaft angle and humeral head height were used as radiological markers to assess the effect of additive augmentation sutures through rotator cuff. We allocated the patients who received additive augmentation sutures into group A and those who did not into group B. RESULTS: At the final follow-up, the mean Korean Showlder Society score and Constant scores were 88.96 +/- 12.1 and 86.6 +/- 11.9, respectively, in group A and 86.21 +/- 11.8 and 85.3 +/- 11.7, respectively, in group B (p=0.368, 0.271). At the final follow-up, the mean loss in humeral neck-shaft angle from the time of immediate postoperative measurement was 1.6degrees in group A and 4.8degrees in group B, whereas the mean loss in humeral head height was 0.82 mm in group A and 0.52 mm in group B (p=0.029, 0.178). CONCLUSIONS: The surgical outcomes of internal fixation using locking plates for proximal humeral fractures were clinically and radiologically good in elderly patients over the age of 60 years without any observable complications. Further, the loss of humeral head shaft angle at the final follow-up from its initial postoperative measurement was significantly smaller in patients who received an additive augmentation suture than in those who did not. Thus, we conclude that augmentation sutures are a beneficial option for elderly patients that clinicians can consider at the time of surgical decision making.
Aged* ; Decision Making ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humeral Head ; Rotator Cuff ; Shoulder Fractures* ; Sutures*

No abstract available.
Neurothekeoma* ; Scalp*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the Korean version of Fall Efficacy scale(FES) and Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale(ABC) to Korean older adult through an examination of instrument`s internal consistency and validity METHOD: A sample of 90 Korean older adults who lived in a community completed a survey instrument which included Korean version of FES and ABC. Because of comparable data derived from each scale, fear of falling and quality of life, activity daily living were included. Concurrent validity, criterion validity and correlational validity were tested. Reliability was tested by internal consistency, test-retest method. RESULTS: Cronbach`s alpha was 0.9043 in FES, and 0.99623 in ABC. Test-retest correlations in all scales were higher than 7.0. Statistically significant association was found between fear of falling and both scales. Correlation coefficient between Quality of life(SF-8) and ABC was -0.142(p=0.049). Both FES and ABC are correlated significantly each other. CONCLUSION: The Korean version of FES and ABC appears to be a reliable and valid method for meas- uring fear of falling. These instruments may be useful in assessing the independent contribution of fear of falling. ABC scale may be more useful to detect loss of balance confidence in more highly functioning seniors.
Adult ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Weights and Measures

Atypical cutaneous fibrous histiocytoma (ACFH) is not well known and only a small number of cases have been reported. Characteristically, ACFH is found on the trunk and limbs of middle-aged women. Although considerable cellular atypia may be present, it occurs focally, the remainder of the tumor representing more classical cutaneous fibrous histiocytoma. A 37-year-old woman presented with a solitary brownish firm nodule on her right forearm. No other abnormalities were found in her personal or family history. Clinically, the tumor simulated a benign fibrous histiocytoma. Histologic examination revealed a poorly delineated intradermal tumor with the usual appearance of benign cutaneous fibrous histiocytoma, but a variable pro-portion of cells in the tumor were scattered atypical cells or bizarre multinucleated giant cells. We report upon a rare case of ACFH.
Adult ; Extremities ; Female ; Forearm ; Giant Cells ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous* ; Humans