The tricuspid valve is not a simple but a complex structure, tricuspid valve complex. This complex is composed of tricuspid orifice, annulus, valve leaflet, chordae tendineae and papillary muscles. There are flew articles about these structures. The authors studied tricuspid valve complex in 53 cases of normal korean adults, such as circumference of tricuspid annulus, the maximum diameter of the tricuspid orifice, height and breadth of the cusps, including commissures, the ratio of rough to clear zone, the number of scallops of posterior cusp, the number, length and pattern of arrangement of the several types of chordae, the number and morphological characteristics of papillary muscles.
Adult* ; Chordae Tendineae ; Heart* ; Humans ; Papillary Muscles ; Pectinidae ; Tricuspid Valve*

OBJECTIVE: Hysterectomy is one of the most common gynecological operations. The objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of suturing methods of vaginal cuff between laparoscopic and vaginal approach. METHODS: One hundred and sixty one cases of laparoscopic hysterectomy were devided into two groups. In group A(n=67), vaginal cuff was sutured by laparoscopic suture technique and in group B(n=94), vaginal cuff was repaired by vaginal approach. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in uterine weight, hospital stay, pre-and postoperative hemoglobin level and complications including febrile morbidity in two groups. Operation time was significantly shorter in group B(p=0.05). CONCLUSION: Transvaginal repair of vaginal cuff showed shorter duration of operation time than laparoscopic suture technique in total laparoscopichy sterectomy.
Hysterectomy* ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Suture Techniques

The relationship between infective endocarditis and mycotic aneurysm formation appers clear : In about two to ten percent of patients with infective endocarditis harbor septic intracranial aneurysms. But the pathogenesis, natural course and management of these lesions remains controversial. Aggressive medical treatment of the underlying infected cardiac valve or surgical replacement therapy have significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality rates associated with infective endocarditis. Clinical predictors of mycotic aneurysm, especially neurologic prodromes prior to rupture have been ill-defined since most series contain few patients or include patients with infective aneurysms who have no infective endoarditis. Similarly there has been no consensus regarding the indications and timing of cerebral angiography in patients with infective endocarditis. We have experienced a case of cerebral mycotic aneurysm complicated with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to infective endocarditis in a 29 year-old female patient, who admitted to our hospital because of the pain and paralysis of sudden onset in right forearm, which was diagnosed by echocardiography, brain computed tomography and 4-vessel cerebral angiography. The patient died of sudden rupture of mycotic aneurysm in the 7th hospital day despite intensive medical treatment. We report one case of cerebral mycotic aneurysm with a brief of literature.
Adult ; Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Infected* ; Brain ; Cerebral Angiography ; Consensus ; Echocardiography ; Endocarditis* ; Female ; Forearm ; Heart Valves ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Mortality ; Paralysis ; Rupture ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage*

The antihypertensive effect of Doxazocin were evaluated in 20 patients with essential hypertension. Two to eight mg of Doxazocin per day were administered continuously for two or eight weeks. The results were as follows : 1) Doxazocin were effective in 18 out of 20 patients(90%) at the end of 8 weeks treatment. 2) The systolic blood pressure was signigicantly decreased(173+/-20mmHg VS 144+/-33mmHg, P+/-0.001), and the diastolic blood pressure was also decreased(110+/-10mmHg VS 93+/-19mmHg, P<0.01) after treatment. 3) Triglyceride showed a decreasing tendency but statistically significance was not observed. Total cholesteral, HDL-cholesterol, BUN, creatinine, and uric acid did not change significantly before and after treatment with Doxazocin. 4) The side effects were headache in one case and dizziness in to cases. These results suggest that Doxazocin is an effective antihypertensive agent and concerning lipid profile, further long term observation is needed.
Blood Pressure ; Creatinine ; Dizziness ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid

Time intervals and indices of left ventricular diastolic filling were studied by M-mode and pulsed Doppler Echocardiography in 18 dilated cardiomyopathy patients. After one two hours captopril(capril(R)) 25mg medication. 1)Systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, Heart rate were significantly decreased. 2) Dimensions of LVSD, LVDD, LA, Aorta and EF were not changed measured by M-mode echocardiography. 3) IRT measured by M-mode and Pulsed Doppler echocardiography were significantly increased(45+/-33msec VS 74+/-35msec. 84+/-32msec VS 100+/-22msec P<0.05). 4) A2-E measured by M-mode and Pulsed Doppler echocardiography were significantly increased(114+/-45msec VS 134+/-46msec, 156+/-46msec VS 194+/-48msec, P<0.05). 5) Deceleration time was significantly increased(137+/-36msec VS 205+/-40msec P<0.05). 6) Transmitral peak flow velocities were not changed significantly. In summary captopril influences early diastolic time intervals with dilated cardiomyopathy patients and we interpreted these effects be beneficial on diastolic filling pattern.
Aorta ; Blood Pressure ; Captopril ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Deceleration ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Doppler, Pulsed ; Heart Rate ; Humans

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Atherosclerosis* ; Cholesterol* ; Humans ; Korea*

PURPOSE: Tuberculosis is a chronic infection caused by mycobacteria species. M. tuberculosis causes disease predominantly in the lung, although every organ in the body may be involved. Retinal tuberculosis is very rare and usually unilateral. Possible hypotheses on the pathogenesis of tuberculosis-related retinal vasculitis are an infectious process and a hypersensitivity mechanism. In Korea, no case has been reported. METHOD: We experienced a case of bilateral retinal vasculitis who was suffering from tuberculous meningitis. RESULT: His vasculitis was successfully treated with anti-tuberculosis medications. We report a case of tuberculosis-related retinal vasculitis with the review of literature.
Hypersensitivity ; Korea ; Lung ; Retinal Vasculitis* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Meningeal ; Vasculitis

Various surgical methods have been used to reconstruct severe soft tissue defects of the finger with exposed critical structures such as tendon, bone, and nerve. Some of these methods include rotation flap, cross finger flap, or regional flap similar to neurovascular island flap. However, there were often difficult situations where a flap could not be applied depending on the remaining surrounding tissue, injured area, and size of defect. As a result, free flap or distant flap may become necessary. However, distant flaps often cause stiffness of the finger joints since the hands need to be immobilized for a long time, while standard free flaps may be too thick to cover the finger and cause problems such as morbidities of the donor site. Since May, 1997, at Anam Hospital, we have performed reconstruction on 6 patients with soft tissue defect using a thin, flexible medial plantar septo-cutaneous free flap similar to the volar aspect of the finger in anatomical characteristics of the skin and subcutaneous tissue covering. The vessels used for this flap were superficial branches of medial division of the medial plantar artery and vena comitantes, or the subcutaneous veins. The mean size of the flaps was 2.75cm x 4.25cm. Primary repair or split-thickness skin graft was performed on the donor site depending on the size. All the flaps survived without significant complications, except one case of venous insufficiency. The composition of the transferred flaps was good with the recovery of pain, touch and temperature sensation. A free medial plantar septo-cutaneous flap has several advantages, e.g., it is small in comparison with other standard free flaps, having two draining venous pathways, good color and texture, and a good recovery of protective sensation. This flap can be used for the reconstruction of soft tissue defect on the heel and foot, as well as the volar aspect of fingers.
Arteries ; Finger Joint ; Fingers ; Foot ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Hand ; Heel ; Humans ; Sensation ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Tendons ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Veins ; Venous Insufficiency

Kinship testing in forensic casework is largely based on a likelihood ratio (LR) approach with short tandem repeat (STR) markers; however, in order to efficiently identify potential relatives in a specific population, the threshold values for kinship prediction should be determined by analyzing the kinship index distributions of the population in question. In this study, 250,000 DNA profiles were simulated using allele frequencies at 20 autosomal STR loci in Koreans, then the LRs were calculated for true close relatives and unrelated pairs. The LR distributions in related and unrelated pairs under a given relationship were compared in 2 sets of 13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and 20 STR profiles. Using 13 CODIS STRs, true relatives in parent/child and full-sibling relationships were sufficiently discriminated from unrelated pairs with LR thresholds of 1,000 and 100, respectively. However, the CODIS STRs lacked the discriminatory power to differentiate between related and unrelated pairs in uncle/nephew and first cousin relationships due to high false-positive and false-negative rates with a LR threshold of 10. Increasing the number of STR loci to 20 increased discrimination of close relatives, but high false results remained in uncle/nephew and first cousin relationships. The kinship index data from this study will help make decisions on various kinship testing and familial searching in Koreans.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats

Choroidal metastatic carcinoma is very rare. We recently experienced a case of lung adenocarcinoma which presented to the clinic with ocular symptoms. This 57-year-old Korean male patient visited the department of ophthalmology due to decreased visual acuity and pain of the left eye. On MRI scan, a nodule was attached to the retina of the left eyeball. On simple chest radiograph, a large amount of pleural effusion was noted in the left pleural cavity. Emergency enucleation of the left eyeball was done with an impression of malignant melanoma causing an intractable ocular pain. Grossly, the lesion in the eyeball was rising from the choroid. On histologic examination, tumor cells formed many irregular, small gland-like structures. The tumor cells showed alcian blue-positive mucin in the cytoplasm and glandular lumens and were positive for CEA. Chest CT scan was performed postoperatively and showed a huge mass in the left lower lobe and multiple nodular opacities in both lung fields. Bronchoscopic biopsy revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma similar to that of the eyeball.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Biopsy ; Choroid* ; Cytoplasm ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Melanoma ; Middle Aged ; Mucins ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Ophthalmology ; Pleural Cavity ; Pleural Effusion ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retina ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Visual Acuity