No abstract available.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone*

No abstract available.
Spine*

Tentative diagnosis of meniscal pathology is very helpful for the successful operative management including arthroscopy. Conventional arthrography has long been used to meet this purpose, but it has some limitations due to complex views and some difficulties in imaging the whole anatomical structures. Recent diagnostic advancement produced post-arthrographic HRCT and MRI for the compensation of these problems of conventional arthrography. Arthrography and post-arthrographic HRCT has been carried out on 49 knees in 43 patients. 38 knees among them could be confirmed by arthroscopy and following results were obtained. 1. Diagnostic accuracies of post-arthrographic HRCT for medial and lateral meniscal injuries of knee were 94.7% and 92.1% repectively. 2. Shape, contour of torn meniscus and the relationships between the torn fragments were better demonstrated with HRCT. 3. Horizontal tear could also be suspected by HRCT. 4. Peripheral detachment could be differentiated with synovial recess on the HRCT, especially in the reformat view, but was more clearly visible in arthrography. 5. Arthrography and HRCT can be used as a good complementary study for the evaluation of meniscal injuries.
Arthrography ; Arthroscopy ; Compensation and Redress ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Knee ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pathology ; Tears

BACKGROUND: To date, a laparoscopic gastrectomy has been performed by a small number of surgeons around the world, but the laparoscopic approach has been extended to Billroth I and a total gastrectomy. To evaluate the validity of the procedure, we present the results of six patients who underwent a gastrectomy using a laparoscopic technique. METHODS: First, two patients had a totally intra-abdominal laparoscopic B-II gastrectomy, and one of two also had a bilateral truncal vagotomy. The rest had a laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy. One patient had concurrently an open reduction and an internal fixation with a K-wire for a patellar fracture. Indications were (a) gastric outlet obstruction due to peptic ulcer disease in five patients and (b) duodenal ulcer bleeding in one patient. RESULTS: Except for one patient who had stump leakage, which was solved by conservative therapy, there were no complications or operative mortality. The operating time and the cost were less for the patients who had their operations later in the series and who had laparoscopic-assisted operation. CONCLUSIONS: These forms of laparoscopic gastric surgery for patients with complications of peptic ulcer disease may be useful from the standpoint of minimal access, rapid recovery, less pain, and good cosmesis.
Duodenal Ulcer ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastric Outlet Obstruction ; Gastroenterostomy ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mortality ; Peptic Ulcer ; Stomach Diseases* ; Vagotomy, Truncal

No abstract available.
Debridement* ; Knee* ; Osteoarthritis* ; Osteotomy*

No abstract available.
Intervertebral Disc* ; Zygapophyseal Joint*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Organophosphate Poisoning* ; Respiratory Insufficiency*

STUDY DESIGN: Authors experienced three cases of malignant schwannoma arising from multiple neurofibromatosis and invading the vertebrae. OBJECTIVE: To report treatment results and preventive idea in three cases of malignant schwannoma transformed from neurofibromatosis within the retroperifoneal area and invading the vertebrae. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The patients with neurofibromatosis are clearly at increased risk to develop the malignant schwannoma. A review of Korean literature revealed no such cases. RESULTS: The first case presented in the L4 body and was treated by surgical excision and chemotherapy, but she expired due to secondary metastasis in six months after diagnosis. The second case was treated by diagnostic biopsy and chemotherapy with adriamycin, ifosfamide, DTIC, mesna. He eventually lived for 14 months. After a diagnostic biopsy, the third case died due to lung metastasis before we could begin the treatment. CONCLUSION: We recommend that neurofibromatsis patients be regularly followed-up and if necessary, CT examination of spine or abdomen should be done. If a malignant schwannoma is detected, then early treatment can be started.
Abdomen ; Biopsy ; Dacarbazine ; Diagnosis ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; Lung ; Mesna ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neurilemmoma* ; Neurofibromatoses ; Spine*

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study are to compare imaging features with operative findings and to determine significance of imaging studies for early detection of craniosynostosis(CS). METHODS: Plain radiograph of skull and three-dimensional(3D) CT reconstruction were analyzed in 10 consecutive patients with CS to assess the presence and the extent of synostosis. The radiological findings were investigated and compared with operative findings. RESULTS: The locations of lesion were coronal suture in 6, sagittal suture in 3 and multiple sutures in one patient, and the age ranged 1 to 53 months(mean age: 17.4 months). Reconstructive procedures with or without advancement of supraorbital rim were performed in coronal CS patients and PI-procedures or synostectomy were done in sagittal CS patients. Radi-ological abnormalities such as sutural indistinctness or sclerosis, bony ridge, bossing and other bony deformities were nearly consistent with surgical findings. CONCLUSION: The interpretation of imaging study are very important for early detection of craniosynostosis, especially, the plain radiographs of skull. Also 3D CT imaging is helpful in diagnosis and surgical planing of craniosynostosis. There are no significant differences between imaging features and operative findings in CS patients.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Craniosynostoses* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Sclerosis ; Skull ; Sutures ; Synostosis

OBJECTIVES: The definite cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is still unknown. Evidences from familial, twin and segregation studies support the role of a genetic factor. There also are growing evidences indicating that OCD has specific neurochemical and neuroanatomical basis. Derived from the effectiveness of serotonin reuptake inhibitors in OCD treatment, several candidate genes related to serotonin regulation have been hypothesized to play on important role in the development of OCD. One of them is the serotonin transporter gene. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serotonin transporter gene and OCD. METHODS: 124 OCD patients and 119 normal controls participated in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from their blood. The genotypes and allele frequencies of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism between OCD group and control group were compared. And we investigated the association between 4 factors derived from YBOCS checklists and 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. RESULTS: In this case-control study, we could not find any association between 5-HTRLPR polymorphism and development of OCD. In OCD group, patients with L (l/s+s/s) genotype had higher scores for the religious/somatic factor than those with S genotype. CONCLUSION: In this study, there was no difference in genotype distributions of 5-HTTLPR between OCD and control groups. But, L genotype of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism had negative effects on some factors of the obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Case-Control Studies ; Checklist ; DNA ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* ; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins* ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors ; Serotonin*