We report here several experiences of interphase cytogenetics, using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique, for the detection of chromosome aberrations. FISH, using alpha satellite specific probes of 18, X, Y chromosomes, was done in interphase nuclei from peripheral blood of patients with Edwards' syndrome, Klinefelter's syndrome and Turner's syndrome with healthy male and female controls, respectively. The distributions of fluorescent signals in 100 interphase nuclei were well correlated with metaphase findings. Nowadays FISH plays an increasingly important role in a variety of research areas, including cytogenetics, prenatal diagnosis, tumor biology, gene amplification and gene mapping.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Cell Nucleus/*ultrastructure ; Child ; Chromosome Aberrations/*physiology ; Chromosome Banding ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Infant, Newborn ; Interphase/*physiology ; Male

No abstract available.
Gastrin-Secreting Cells* ; Gastrins* ; Gastrointestinal Tract*

No abstract available.
Aeromonas hydrophila* ; Aeromonas* ; Animals ; Histamine Release* ; Histamine* ; Mast Cells* ; Rats*

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of embryo retention (ER) in the transfer catheter following embryo transfer (ET) in blastocyst transfer and investigate whether retransferring retained embryos has an impact on reproductive outcomes in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-ET. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,131 blastocyst transfers, which comprised 223 single blastocyst transfer (SBT) and 908 double blastocyst transfer (DBT) cycles. Each SBT and DBT group was classified depending on whether ET was performed without retained embryos in the catheter during the first attempt (without-ER group) or whether any retained embryos were found following ET (ER group) for the purpose of comparing reproductive outcomes in a homogenous population. RESULTS: The overall incidence of finding retained embryos was 2.8% (32/1,131). There were no retained embryos in SBT cycles. In DBT cycles, implantation rates (30.0% vs. 26.6%), positive β-hCG rates (57.2% vs. 56.2%), clinical pregnancy rates (45.3% vs. 46.9%), and live birth rates (38.9% vs. 43.8%) were not significantly different between the without-ER and ER groups. There were no significant differences in the mean birth weight (g) 2,928.4±631.8 vs. 2,948.7±497.8 and the mean gestational age at birth (269.3±17.2 days vs. 264.2±25.7 days). A total of nine cases of congenital birth defects were found in this study population. Eight were observed in the without-ER group and one in the ER group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that retransfer of retained embryos does not have any adverse impact on reproductive outcomes in blastocyst transfer cycles. Furthermore, our results support finding that SBT might be advantageous for decreasing the incidence of retained embryos in catheters.
Birth Weight ; Blastocyst* ; Catheters ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Incidence ; Live Birth ; Parturition ; Pregnancy Rate ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the pregnancy rate and time to pregnancy after timed coitus with or without superovulation in infertile young women younger than 35 years old with low serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels (< 25th percentile). METHODS: A total of 202 patients younger than 35 years old were recruited retrospectively between 2010 and 2012. Ninety-eight women had normal serum AMH levels (25–75th percentile), 75 women had low serum AMH levels (5th≤&< 25th percentile) and 29 women had very low serum AMH levels (< 5th percentile), according to reference values for their age group. RESULTS: The clinical pregnancy rate was positively associated with AMH levels, but this trend did not reach statistical significance (43.9% vs. 41.3% vs. 27.6% in the normal, low, and very low AMH groups, respectively). The time to pregnancy was longer in the very low AMH group than in the normal AMH group (13.1±10.9 months vs. 6.9±6.1 months, p=0.030). The cumulative live birth rate over 18 months was lower in the very low AMH group than in the normal AMH group, with marginal significance (20.0% vs. 55.9%, p=0.051). The duration of infertility was negatively correlated with achieving pregnancy (odds ratio, 0.953; 95% confidence interval, 0.914–0.994; p=0.026). CONCLUSION: Conservative management, such as timed coitus with or without superovulation, should be considered in young patients who have low ovarian reserve without any infertility factors. However, for women with a long duration of infertility or very low serum AMH levels, active infertility treatment should be considered.
Anti-Mullerian Hormone ; Coitus* ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility ; Live Birth ; Maternal Age ; Ovarian Reserve* ; Pregnancy Rate ; Pregnancy* ; Reference Values ; Retrospective Studies ; Superovulation ; Time-to-Pregnancy

BACKGROUND: We wondered what type of pain scores is more available and reliable during the immediate postoperative period. In this study, we compared a numerical rating scale (NRS) with a visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores to assess postoperative pain. METHODS: Fifty patients were educated as to how to describe pain intensity using the NRS (11-point) and VAS (10 cm) scores during the evening before elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Following their operation, patients checked their pain intensity using NRS and VAS at postoperative 1 hour in the recovery room with the assistance of an anesthesiologist, and 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h by themselves. The absolute values of the NRS and VAS scores were analyzed for inter-individual variability and for correlations between the two. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients finished this study. The absolute value of the mean NRS score was slightly higher than that of the mean VAS score at each time point. However, the mean difference was only 0.4. Overall, the two parameters correlated well at each of the six measurement times. The correlation coefficients between the absolute values of the NRS and VAS pain scores for all measurement times were over 0.95. CONCLUSIONS: This data suggests that NRS and VAS pain scores are well correlated, and that they are equally useful at assessing immediate postoperative pain.
Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Humans ; Pain, Postoperative* ; Postoperative Period ; Recovery Room ; Visual Analog Scale*

This report is a retrospective clinical analysis fo 84 cases more than 65 years of colorectal carcinoma treated surgically by the Department of General Surgery, College of Medicine, Soon Chun Hyang University from January 1991 to December 1995. The average age was 71.3 years; 49 patients were male and 35 were female. Tumor location was as follows; rectum 39(46.4%), sigmoid 22(26.2), ascending colon 12(14.3%), descending colon 8(9.5%), transverse colon 3(3.6%). The most frequent symptom in colorectal cancer was abdominal pain. The patients whose clinical symptom had been for less than 1 month before the hospitalization was about 31.0%. The rate of curative resection was 88.1%, Emergency operation was performed about 19.0%(16 cases). By Astler Coller classification, there were stage A 2 cases(2.5%), Bl 13 cases(16.5%), B2 28 cases(35.4%), Cl 2 cases(2.5%), C2 24 cases(30.4%), D 10 cases(12.7%). The average size of mass was 4.41 on. The most common pathologic type was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. Postoperative mortality rate was 4.7%(4 cases). The 5 year cumulative survival rate was 42.9%. In conclusion, the postoperative mortality and survival rates obtained in this study encourage us not to consider age as a limiting factor for curative surgical treatment. Early detection of colorectal cancer, adequate management of preoperative underlying disease and aggresive curative resection are improving outcome in the surgery of old aged patients with colorectal cancer.
Abdominal Pain ; Adenocarcinoma ; Aged* ; Classification ; Colon, Ascending ; Colon, Descending ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colon, Transverse ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Emergencies ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Male ; Mortality ; Rectum ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Primary Health Care*

No abstract available.

Background/Aims: We aimed to investigate the silent atherosclerotic burden of cervicocephalic vessels in cirrhotic patients compared with the general population, as well as the relevant risk factors including coronary parameters. Methods: This study included 993 stroke-free patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) who underwent magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the head and neck as a pre-liver transplant assessment and 6,099 health checkup participants who underwent MRA examination. The two cohorts were matched for cerebrovascular risk factors, and the prevalence of atherosclerosis in major intracranial and extracranial arteries was compared in 755 matched pairs. Moreover, traditional, hepatic, and coronary variables related to cerebral atherosclerosis were assessed in cirrhotic patients. Results: Overall, intracranial atherosclerosis was significantly less prevalent in the LC group than in the matched control group (2.3% vs. 5.4%, P=0.002), whereas the prevalence of extracranial atherosclerosis was similar (4.4% vs. 5.8%, P=0.242). These results were maintained in multivariate analyses of the pooled samples, with corresponding adjusted odds ratios [ORs] of LC of 0.56 and 0.77 (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 0.36–0.88 and 0.55–1.09). In the LC group, lower platelet count was inversely correlated with intracranial atherosclerosis (adjusted OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.13–0.76). Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score ≥100 was the only predictive factor for both intracranial and extracranial atherosclerosis (adjusted ORs, 4.06 and 5.43, respectively). Conclusions LC confers protection against intracranial atherosclerosis, and thrombocytopenia may be involved in this protective effect. High CAC score could serve as a potential surrogate for cervicocerebral vascular screening in asymptomatic cirrhotic patients.