BACKGROUNDs: A retrospective study was performed to define objective radiologic parameters in diagnosing epiglottitis on soft-tissue lateral neck radiographic study. METHODS: Parameters of soft-tissue structures(epiglottis width, third vertebral body width, ratio of epiglottic width to third vertebral body width) in 30 adult patients compared with those of age and sex-matched controls with foreign body in throat whose radiographic reading was normal. RESULTS: Epiglottis width of more than 11mm, ratio of epiglottis width(EW) to the third vertebral body width(C3W) of more than 0.5 were, respectively, found to be 100% sensitive and specific in differentiating between patients with and without epiglottitis. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that EW/C3W ratio of more than 0.5, EW of more than 11mm, respectively, may be useful in the diagnosis of epiglottitis in adult patients.
Adult* ; Diagnosis* ; Epiglottis ; Epiglottitis* ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Neck ; Pharynx ; Retrospective Studies

The reconstruction of soft tissue defects with open fracture around the knee joint is limited by its unique location. Free tissue transfer is hindered by the selection of the recipient vessel and problems of microsurgery. The arc of rotation, defect size, and location must be taken into consideration in the use of regional muscle transfer such as gastrocnemius. According to Mathes et al, the flap survival can be enhanced by selective division of the dominant segmental pedicles, only a part of which can normally be transposed safely on its minor segmental pedicle. Neovascularization, vascular proliferation, and dilatation have also been produced by the delay procedure using silicone sheets. The authors have used the delay procedures with wrapping of the gracilis or sartorius muscle which enabled distally-based transposition of these muscles. The method showed satisfactory outcome in resurfacing the wound around the knee joint. The indictions for this procedure were defects of moderate size and those difficult to reach with conventional muscle flaps. The flap could reach the upper one-third of the lower leg. Other merits are relative simplicity and reliability without significant extension of hospital stay. The drawbacks are the two operative procedures necessary and the risk of infection due to silicone sheets.
Dilatation ; Fractures, Open ; Knee Joint* ; Knee* ; Leg ; Length of Stay ; Microsurgery ; Muscles ; Silicones ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Wounds and Injuries*

Treatment with cisplatin for cancer therapy has a major side effect such as nephrotoxicity; however, the role of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in necrosis in response to cisplatin nephrotoxicity remains to be defined. Here we report that cisplatin induces primary necrosis through PARP1 activation in kidney proximal tubular cells derived from human, pig and mouse. Treatment with high dose of cisplatin for 4 and 8 hours induced primary necrosis, as represented by the percentage of propidium iodide-positive cells and lactate dehydrogenase release. The primary necrosis was correlated with PARP1 activation during cisplatin injury. Treatment with PJ34, a potent PARP1 inhibitor, at 2 hours after injury attenuated primary necrosis after 8 hours of cisplatin injury as well as PARP1 activation. PARP1 inhibition also reduced the release of lactate dehydrogenase and high mobility group box protein 1 from kidney proximal tubular cells at 8 hours after cisplatin injury. Oxidative stress was increased by treatment with cisplatin for 8 hours as shown by 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and lipid hydroperoxide assays, but PARP1 inhibition at 2 hours after injury reduced the oxidative damage. These data demonstrate that cisplatin-induced PARP1 activation contributes to primary necrosis through oxidative stress in kidney proximal tubular cells, resulting in the induction of cisplatin nephrotoxicity and inflammation.
Animals ; Cisplatin* ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Kidney* ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Lipid Peroxides ; Mice ; Necrosis* ; Oxidative Stress ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases* ; Propidium

We attempted to investigate the effects of curricular change on a basic medical science, anatomy, based on academic achievements including Basic Medical Education Examination (BMEE). We performed an analysis between the academic years of 2011 and 2012. Independent-samples t-test for the academic achievements, paired-samples t-test for the promotion, and correlation analysis for the related subcategory of the anatomy based on the results of BMEE, which was done with SPSS 22.0. In this follow-up study for two academic years, the academic achievements decreased as the students went to the next grade under the changed curriculum of anatomy. The academic achievements decreased as the students went to the next grade in the academic year 2012 while it increased in 2011 (p<0.01). Although averages of school evaluations were similar between the academic years, the academic achievements were different from each other: it was higher in first BMEE for 2012, and in second BMEE for 2011 (p<0.05). Although the correlation was not found among school evaluations, first and second BMEE of 2011, the associations were seen both between school evaluations (p<0.01) and each BMEE (p<0.05), respectively, in 2012. These results suggested that professors of medical school should continue to lead the direction of the curriculum improvement and management depending on the academic achievement, and also to monitor all the processes, maintaining a quality of the assessment system although it might be difficult to be representative or generalize for all medial schools.
Curriculum ; Education, Medical* ; Educational Measurement ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Schools, Medical

Enhanced oxidative stress is a hallmark of cisplatin nephrotoxicity, and inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) attenuates oxidative stress during cisplatin nephrotoxicity; however, the precise mechanisms behind its action remain elusive. Here, using an in vitro model of cisplatin-induced injury to human kidney proximal tubular cells, we demonstrated that the protective effect of PARP1 inhibition on oxidative stress is associated with sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) activation. Exposure to 400 µM cisplatin for 8 hours in cells decreased activity and expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and SIRT3, while it increased their lysine acetylation. However, treatment with 1 µM PJ34 hydrochloride, a potent PARP1 inhibitor, restored activity and/or expression in those antioxidant enzymes, decreased lysine acetylation of those enzymes, and improved SIRT3 expression and activity in the cisplatin-injured cells. Using transfection with SIRT3 double nickase plasmids, SIRT3-deficient cells given cisplatin did not show the ameliorable effect of PARP1 inhibition on lysine acetylation and activity of antioxidant enzymes, including MnSOD, catalase and GPX. Furthermore, SIRT3 deficiency in cisplatin-injured cells prevented PARP1 inhibition-induced increase in forkhead box O3a transcriptional activity, and upregulation of MnSOD and catalase. Finally, loss of SIRT3 in cisplatin-exposed cells removed the protective effect of PARP1 inhibition against oxidative stress, represented by the concentration of lipid hydroperoxide and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine; and necrotic cell death represented by a percentage of propidium iodide–positively stained cells. Taken together, these results indicate that PARP1 inhibition protects kidney proximal tubular cells against oxidative stress through SIRT3 activation during cisplatin nephrotoxicity.
Acetylation ; Catalase ; Cell Death ; Cisplatin* ; Deoxyribonuclease I ; Down-Regulation* ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Kidney ; Lipid Peroxides ; Lysine ; Oxidative Stress* ; Plasmids ; Poly Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose* ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases* ; Propidium ; Sirtuin 3* ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Transfection ; Up-Regulation

BACKGROUNDS: Reflux esophagitis has been known to be a frequent complication after a total gastrectomy. Reflux esophagitis is very annoying to the patients, so various types of reconstructions has been introduced to eliminate this complication. METHODS: This study is a retrospective clinical analysis of 34 patients with gastric cancer who were treated with a total gastrectomy from January 1989 to December 1997 at the Department of Surgery, Seoul Adventist Hospital. RESULTS: During 9 years, the operation was performed on 194 patients with gastric cancer, amomg which 34 (17.3%) were total gastrectomies. The peak age was in the 5th and the 6th decades (58.8%), and the sex ratio of males to females was 1.6:1. The sites of the stomach cancer were the cardia (C) in 10 cases (29.4%), the body (M) in 19 cases (55.9%), and the cardia and body in 5 cases (14.7%). The TNM classification was stage I in 15.6% of the cases, stage II in 15.6% of the cases, stage III in 62.5% of the cases, and stage IV in 6.3% of the cases. Three methods of alimentary tract reconstruction were used:a loop esophagojejunostomy with a Braun anastomosis (27), a Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy (6), and an uncut Roux procedure (1). The reflux esophagitis rates for patients treated with a loop esophagojejunostomy with a Braun anastomosis and for patients treated with a Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy were 25.9% and 16.7%, respectively. The perioperative mortality was 5.8%, and the causes of death were pneumonia and anastomotic leakage. The most common recurrent site was the anastomotic site. CONCLUSIONS: Reflux esophagitis developed more often after a loop esophagojejunostomy with a Braun anastomosis than after a Roux-en-Y anastomosis. This finding was not significant statistically. Thus, further study of more cases is needed.
Anastomosis, Roux-en-Y ; Anastomotic Leak ; Cardia ; Cause of Death ; Classification ; Esophagitis, Peptic* ; Female ; Gastrectomy* ; Humans ; Male ; Mortality ; Pneumonia ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Sex Ratio ; Stomach Neoplasms*

Stenotic or hypoplastic coronary arteries occupy vital features in the clinical situations. The pseudohypoplasia might be defined as a macroscopic hypoplasia based on the diameter of an artery compared with contralateral artery but is not hypoplasia both anatomically and histopathologically. During a routine dissection course, a pseudohypoplasia in right coronary artery was recognized in an 82-year-old Korean female cadaver who had a common mesenteric trunk and a fibromuscular dysplasia in the left vertebral artery. Although macroscopic hypoplasia was discovered, the right coronary artery had normal anatomical features and the left coronary artery showed atherosclerotic changes on the main trunk. The right coronary artery was misread to have hypoplasia due to atherosclerotic aneurysm on left coronary artery. Since macroscopic hypoplasia in radiological and surgical situations may lead to confusion to interpret its pathophysiology just like this case, the better anatomical knowledge on the coronary artery can help to prevent misleading approaches.
Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Cadaver ; Coronary Vessels ; Female ; Fibromuscular Dysplasia ; Humans

Although the sternalis muscle has been well known to anatomists, it is quite unfamiliar to clinicians. During routine educational dissection, we came across a well-defined bilateral double sternalis muscle innervated by the intercostal nerve, respectively. The right sternalis muscle 1) became tendinous to insert into the sternum and 2) crossed midline and then intermingled with the left pectoralis major muscle, which could be classified into a double with single cross based on Snosek et al.'s criteria. The left sternalis muscle was composed of two bellies, which were combined at the midway, and became tendinous to insert into the contralateral manubrium, which could be classified into a bicipital diverging with double cross based on Snosek et al.'s criteria. The detailed knowledge on the sternalisis is important for clinicians as well as for anatomists, since the clinical importance of the sternalis muscle has been highlighted in recent years.
Anatomists ; Cadaver* ; Humans ; Intercostal Nerves ; Manubrium ; Sternum

We found a rare case of uncommon branching pattern with a prominent articular ramus of the inferior gluteal artery in a 39-year-old Korean male cadaver, whose cause of death was rectal carcinoma. The inferior gluteal artery branches off downwards at a time, the muscular rami ran in parallel with one another, and the articular ramus gave another muscular branch and has an anastomosis with the medial circumflex femoral artery. Knowledge of vascular variations in the gluteal region may give useful information of versatile flaps for reconstruction and the prominent articular ramus found in this case is good enough to consider the existence of the anastomosis between the medial circumflex femoral artery and the inferior gluteal artery as normal, not rudimentary
Adult ; Arteries* ; Buttocks ; Cadaver* ; Cause of Death ; Femoral Artery ; Humans ; Male

We found a rare case of uncommon branching pattern with a prominent articular ramus of the inferior gluteal artery in a 39-year-old Korean male cadaver, whose cause of death was rectal carcinoma. The inferior gluteal artery branches off downwards at a time, the muscular rami ran in parallel with one another, and the articular ramus gave another muscular branch and has an anastomosis with the medial circumflex femoral artery. Knowledge of vascular variations in the gluteal region may give useful information of versatile flaps for reconstruction and the prominent articular ramus found in this case is good enough to consider the existence of the anastomosis between the medial circumflex femoral artery and the inferior gluteal artery as normal, not rudimentary
Adult ; Arteries* ; Buttocks ; Cadaver* ; Cause of Death ; Femoral Artery ; Humans ; Male