BACKGROUNDS: Percutaneous radiofrequency neurotomy of posterior primary ramus has been in use as a treatment for persistent, mechanical low back pain for two decades. However, there has been limited studies regarding to prognostic factors related to outcome. We report our experience with at least 2-year follow up with special aftention on prognostic factors. METHODS: Of total 228 patients who underwent percutaneous radiofrequency neurotomy (PRN) of posterior primary ramus for refractory low back pain during last 3 years, 128 patients whose pain was considered to be originated from facets joints or their surrounding soft tissue and responded to temporary blocks were assigned to a group II. All patients had more than 6 months of pain. These patients were compared with 100 patients to whom PRN were provided for chronic nonspecific low back pain without all inclusion criteria (Group I). RF procedures were done under local anesthesia with C-arm intensifier guidance. Pain reliefs were estimated at 1week, 1month, 6months and 2 years using visual analog scale(VAS). For patients with more that 50% reduction of previous pain was regarded as positive responder. Various clinical variables such as age, sex, symptom duration, types of pain, bilaterality, and previous surgery were studied for prognostic factors. RESULTS: Positive responders were 56% at 1week, 46% at lmonth, 18% at 6months, and 13% at 2years after PRN in group I, and 78.9% at lweek, 75.4% at lmonth, 62.5% at 6months, and 54.7% at 2years in group II. Some variables were found to be significantly related to outcome including prominent local tenderness, percussion tenderness, combination of symptoms with pain on gefting up, extension, transitional movement, pain radiating to buttock and/or posterior thigh, and good immediate response. Age, sex, symptom duration, bilaterality, imaging study results, previous lumbar surgery, and degrees of pain relief from diagnostic block were not related to outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that PRN of posterior primary ramus has a moderate overall long-term beneficial effect, with no morbidity in our series. But, the long-term good results will be anticipated only in properly selected patients with low back pain originating from facet joints and surrounding structures.
Anesthesia, Local ; Buttocks ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Low Back Pain* ; Percussion ; Thigh ; Zygapophyseal Joint

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction(HPV) plays an important role in matching ventilation and perfusion, and in a homeostatic compensatory mechanism for maintaining arterial blood oxygen tension. The purpose of this study was to explore effect of hypoxia on the vascular tension and to elucidate mechanism underlying hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. The ring segments of the pulmonary artery were taken from forty rabbits(2~2.5 kg, male). Each ring was attached to an isometric force transducer(Grass FT-03) and suspended in a tissue bath(37degrees C) filled with 5 ml Krebs solution, aerated with 95% O2 + 5% CO2(pH 7.4) gas mixture. During 90 minutes of equilibrium period, the Krebs solution was changed every 15 minutes and the last resting tension was adjusted to 2 gm. After precontraction of the preparations with K(+) 40 mM, the aerating gas mixture was replaced by hypoxic gas(95% N2 + 5% CO2) and changes in vascular tension of isolated pulmonary artery with(n=36) and without endothelium(n=14) were recorded for 60 minutes. HPV induced biphasic vasoactive effects. To determine the mechanism of the vasorelaxing response, the pulmonary arterial rings were pretreated with indomethacin(n=8), L-nitro(w) arginine methyl ester(L-NAME, n=l0), tetra ethyl ammonium(TEA, n=12), glybenclamide(n=l1). And also to elucidate the mechanism of the hypoxic vasoconstricting response, effects of Ca free solution and pretreatment of ryanodine on the HPV were examined. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Transient phase 1 contraction followed by long lasting(about 30 minutes) relaxation and sustained phase 2 contraction were induced by hypoxic gas(95% N2+5% CO2) in rabbit pulmonary artery. 2) In endothelium removed pulmonary artery, transient phase 1 contraction was not apparent. 3) Vasorelaxation was partially blocked by K' channel blockers(TEA, glybenclamide). 4) Indomethacin and L-NAME pretreatments did not affect on the vasorelaxing response of the HPV to hypoxia. 5) Sustained phase 2 contraction was blocked by calcium free Krebs solution. 6) Indomethacin and ryanodine pretreatments did not change the phase 1 and phase 2 vasocontsricting reponses. The results of present study suggest that hypoxia-induced phase 1 contractile response is endothelium dependent, while phase 2 contractile response is dependent on calcium influx, and that the vasorelaxant response is partially mediated by K(+) channel.
Anoxia ; Arginine ; Calcium ; Characidae ; Endothelins ; Endothelium ; Indomethacin ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Oxygen ; Perfusion ; Pulmonary Artery* ; Relaxation ; Ryanodine ; Vasoconstriction* ; Vasodilation ; Ventilation

We report a rare case of subepithelial hematoma of the renal pelvis (AntopoI-Goldman Lesion). A 55-year-old women visited our hospital because of gross hematuria. Ultrasonogram showed a 4cm well-defined solid mass of the left renal pelvis. Intravenous pyelography revealed compression of the left upper pelvicocalyceal system by the mass with contrast filling within the mass. CT scan revealed Iobulated well defined mass in the left renal pelvis extending into renal parenchyme. A transitional cell carcinoma or renal cell carcinoma was suspected radiologically, and the patient underwent left total nephrectomy. In pathology, the lesion turned out to be a subepithelial hemaroma. In the differential diagnosis of renal malignancy, a subepithelial hematoma of the renal pelvis may be included.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Hematoma* ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Kidney Pelvis* ; Middle Aged ; Nephrectomy ; Pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography ; Urography

No abstract available.
Conus Snail* ; Hemangioblastoma*

No abstract available.
Conus Snail* ; Hemangioblastoma*

No abstract available.
Amniotic Fluid* ; Female ; Humans ; Thiram*

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Caspase 3 ; Caspase 8 ; Cell Line ; Connective Tissue ; Cyclosporine ; Humans ; Islands ; Jews ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Microtubules ; Mitosis ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paclitaxel ; Prognosis ; RNA, Messenger ; Tubulin

OBJECTIVE: To investigate pathologic discrepancies between colposcopy-directed biopsy (CDB) of the cervix and loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) in women with cytologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs).METHODS: We retrospectively identified 297 patients who underwent both CDB and LEEP for HSILs in cervical cytology between 2015 and 2018, and compared their pathologic results. Considering the LEEP to be the gold standard, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2 and 3, adenocarcinoma in situ, and cancer (HSIL+). We also performed age subgroup analyses.RESULTS: Among the study population, 90.9% (270/297) had pathologic HSIL+ using the LEEP. The diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying HSIL+ was as follows: sensitivity, 87.8%; specificity, 59.3%; balanced accuracy, 73.6%; positive predictive value, 95.6%; and negative predictive value, 32.7%. Thirty-three false negative cases of CDB included CIN2,3 (n=29) and cervical cancer (n=4). The pathologic HSIL+ rate in patients with HSIL− by CDB was 67.3% (33/49). CDB exhibited a significant difference in the diagnosis of HSIL+ compared to LEEP in all patients (p<0.001). In age subgroup analyses, age groups <35 years and 35–50 years showed good agreement with the entire data set (p=0.496 and p=0.406, respectively), while age group ≥50 years did not (p=0.036).CONCLUSION: A significant pathologic discrepancy was observed between CDB and LEEP results in women with cytologic HSILs. The diagnostic inaccuracy of CDB increased in those ≥50 years of age.
Adenocarcinoma in Situ ; Biopsy ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia ; Cervix Uteri ; Colposcopy ; Conization ; Dataset ; Diagnosis ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Female ; Humans ; Papanicolaou Test ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions of the Cervix ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

OBJECTIVE: To investigate pathologic discrepancies between colposcopy-directed biopsy (CDB) of the cervix and loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) in women with cytologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). METHODS: We retrospectively identified 297 patients who underwent both CDB and LEEP for HSILs in cervical cytology between 2015 and 2018, and compared their pathologic results. Considering the LEEP to be the gold standard, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2 and 3, adenocarcinoma in situ, and cancer (HSIL+). We also performed age subgroup analyses. RESULTS: Among the study population, 90.9% (270/297) had pathologic HSIL+ using the LEEP. The diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying HSIL+ was as follows: sensitivity, 87.8%; specificity, 59.3%; balanced accuracy, 73.6%; positive predictive value, 95.6%; and negative predictive value, 32.7%. Thirty-three false negative cases of CDB included CIN2,3 (n=29) and cervical cancer (n=4). The pathologic HSIL+ rate in patients with HSIL− by CDB was 67.3% (33/49). CDB exhibited a significant difference in the diagnosis of HSIL+ compared to LEEP in all patients (p<0.001). In age subgroup analyses, age groups <35 years and 35–50 years showed good agreement with the entire data set (p=0.496 and p=0.406, respectively), while age group ≥50 years did not (p=0.036). CONCLUSION A significant pathologic discrepancy was observed between CDB and LEEP results in women with cytologic HSILs. The diagnostic inaccuracy of CDB increased in those ≥50 years of age.

This review of upper cervical spine injuries includes 51 patients admitted to Korea University Hospital, Seoul during the period 1 Jan. 1990 to 31 Dec. 1994. The incidence of upper cervical injury was 13.6% in the 375 spine injury cases and 31.7% in the 161 cervical spine injuries. The most common type of injury was odontoid fracture, ie. 16 cases or 31.3%. The male-to-female ratio was 2.6:1 and the 4th decade showed peak incidence. 33 cases(64.7%) of the injuries were caused by traffic accidents. The chief complaints on admission were neck pain with limited range of motion in 39 cases(76.5%), motor weakness in 3 cases(5.9%), and sensory disturbance in 2 cases(3.9%). Operative treatment was performed in 23 patients resulted in neurologic improvement in 22 Cases(95.7%) and 28 patients were managed by conservative treatment with 25 cases(89.3%) of neurologic improvement. Mortality rate of the upper cervical spine injury was 3.9%. The above represents our experience with 51 patients suffering from upper cervical injuries. Management and follow-up guidelines are also reviewed.
Accidents, Traffic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mortality ; Neck Pain ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Seoul ; Spine*