PURPOSE: Purpose of this study is to synthesize 99mTc-labeled transferrin for infection imaging and to compare it with 67Ga-citrate for the detection of infectious foci. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Succinimidyl 6-hydrazino-nicotinate hydrochloride-chitosan-transferrin (Transferrin) was synthesized and radiolabeled with 99mTc. Labeling efficiencies of 99mTc-Transferrin were determined at 10 min, 30 min, 1 hr, 2 hr, 4 hr and 8 hr. Biodistribution and imaging studies with 99mTc-Transferrin and 67Ga-citrate were performed in a rat abscess model induced with approximately 2 x 10(8) colony forming unit of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. RESULTS: Successful synthesis of Transferrin was confirmed by mass spectrometry. Labeling efficiency of 99mTc-Transferrin was 96.2+/-0.7%, 96.4+/-0.5%, 96.6+/-1.0%, 96.9+/-0.5%, 97.0+/-0.7% and 95.5+/-0.7% at 10 min, 30 min, 1 hr, 2 hr, 4 hr and 8 hr, respectively. The injected dose per tissue gram of 99mTc-Transferrin was 0.18+/-0.01 and 0.18+/-0.01 in the lesion and 0.05+/-0.01 and 0.04+/-0.01 in the normal muscle, and lesion-to-normal muscle uptake ratio was 3.7+/-0.6 and 4.7+/-0.4 at 30 min and 3 hr, respectively. On image, lesion-to-background ratio of 99mTc-Transferrin was 2.18+/-0.03, 2.56+/-0.11, 3.08+/-0.18, 3.77+/-0.17, 4.70+/-0.45 and 5.59+/-0.40 at 10 min, 30 min, 1 hr, 2 hr, 4 hr and 10 hr and those of 67Ga-citrate was 3.06+/-0.84, 4.12+/-0.54 and 4.55+/-0.74 at 2 hr, 24 hr and 48 hr, respectively. CONCLUSION: Transferrin is successfully labeled with 99mTc, and its labeling efficiency was higher than 95% and stable for 8 hours. 99mTc-Transferrin scintigraphy showed higher image quality in shorter time compared to 67Ga-citrate image. 99mTc-transferrin is supposed to be useful in the detection of the infectious foci.
Abscess ; Animals ; Mass Spectrometry ; Models, Animal ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Rats ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Stem Cells ; Transferrin

No abstract available.
Humans ; Stroke*

A retrospective study was designed to determine the diagnostic contribution of oblique view in 740 consecutive lumbar spine examinations done in adults. In 12 cases (1.62%) there was a change in the radiographic interpretation when the oblique views were used for diagnosis. Considering the significant gonadal radiation, additional cost, and limited diagnostic value, the authors feel that the oblique view should not be a routine part of the initial lumbar spine examination in adults.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Gonads ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

It is well known that double contrast arthrography of the knee is a safe and technically simple procedure permitting accurate diagnosis of lesion of meniscus, especially tears. It has been utilized infrequently until recent years in our country. During the period of Oct. 1977 through Nov. 1978, double contrast arthrography of the knee had been performed in total of 52 cases with soft tissue injury of the knee and a total of 32 cases among them underwent the operation at the Armed Forces Taegu General Hospital. The arthrographic findings of the meniscus injury were presented and analyzed. The results were as follows: 1. Arthrography of the knee is a valuable diagnostic aid for meniscus injury. The diagnostic accuracy was 87.5 per cent for 32 cases. 2. In one case, tear of both menisci unsuspected on the basis of clinical examination were demonstrated one the arthrogram. 3. Arthrography revealed residual portion of the meniscus left after previous menisectomy in one patient. Reoperation resulted in cure. 4. Unnecessary surgery was reduced. 5. There were no complications of arthrography in thts series.
Arm ; Arthrography ; Daegu ; Diagnosis ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Knee ; Reoperation ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; Tears ; Unnecessary Procedures

There are few reports about generalized hypertrichosis after treatment with topical minoxidil , even though there are numerous reports about generalized hypertrichosis after treatment with oral minoxidil. We experienced a rare case of generalized hypertrichosis after treatment with 3% topical minoxidil in a 5-year-old boy. He visited our hospital for generalized hypertrichosis on face, trunk, arm after treatment with 3% topical minoxidil for 2 months due to alopecia areata. The laboratory examination including CBC, SMA and the level of corticotropin releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone, follicular stimulating hormone, cortisol, estradiol, testosterone were within normal limits. Two months after discontinuation of treatment with 3% topical minoxidil, the hair started to shed and six months after discontinuation of topical minoxidil, he showed almost complete resolution.
Alopecia Areata ; Arm ; Child, Preschool ; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Estradiol ; Hair ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hypertrichosis* ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Male ; Minoxidil* ; Testosterone

No abstract available.
Brain Stem* ; Classification* ; Hemorrhage*

BACKGROUND: Prospective studies suggest that C-reactive protein (CRP) is a novel and indepen-dent risk factor of coronary heart disease. High-sensitivity methods for CRP (hs-CRP) measurement are needed for this purpose. In this study, we evaluated the performance of Cobas Integra 700 (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland) and aimed to establish the distribution of serum CRP concentrations in healthy Koreans with the hs-CRP method. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 853 males (age; 45.9 +/- 9.8 years) and 546 females (age; 45.7 +/- 10.8 years) who visited the Health Promotion Center of the Asan Medical Center for routine health checks. Hs-CRP was measured with the Cobas Integra 700. The within-day precision, the between-day precision, the degree of correlation, the linearity, and the detection limit of hs-CRP were also analyzed with the Cobas Integra 700. RESULTS: The within-day coefficients of variation (CVs) were 0% and 1.3%. The between-day CVs were 4.0% and 3.0%. The percentage of relative nonlinearity was 0.78%. The correlation coefficient of the Cobas Integra 700 with the Behring Nephelometer was 0.994. The lower detection limit was 0.064 mg/L and the functional detection limit was 0.472 mg/L. The geometric mean concentration of CRP in Koreans was 0.69 mg/L. The mean CRP of the male population was 0.79 mg/L, which was higher than that of Korean females (0.54 mg/L) (P<0.0001). There was a significant trend to higher CRP values with increasing age (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The linearity, the precision, the correlation, the detection limit of the Cobas Integra 700 were satisfactory. The age and sex-specific guidelines for hs-CRP would make the early intervention for coronary heart disease possible.
C-Reactive Protein* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Coronary Disease ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Limit of Detection ; Male ; Risk Factors

Tonic smooth muscle exhibit the latch phenomenon: high force at low myosin regulatory light chains (MRLC) phosphorylation, shortening velocity (Vo), and energy consumption. However, the kinetics of MRLC phosphorylation and cellular activation in phasic smooth muscle are unknown. The present study was to determine whether Ca(2+)-stimulated MRLC phosphorylation could suffice to explain the agonist- or high K(+)-induced contraction in a fast, phasic smooth muscle. We measured myoplasmic [Ca2+], MRLC phosphorylation, half-time after step-shortening (a measure of Vo) and contractile stress in rabbit urinary bladder strips. High K(+)-induced contractions were phasic at both 22degrees C and 37degrees C: myoplasmic [Ca2+], MRLC phosphorylation, 1/half-time, and contractile stress increased transiently and then all decreased to intermediate values. Carbachol (CCh)-induced contractions exhibited latch at 37degrees C: stress was maintained at high levels despite decreasing myoplasmic [Ca2+], MRLC phosphorylation, and 1/half-time. At 22degrees C CCh induced sustained elevations in all parameters. 1/half-time depended on both myoplasmic [Ca2+] and MRLC phosphorylation. The steady-state dependence of stress on MRLC phosphorylation was very steep at 37degrees C in the CCh- or K(+)-depolarized tissue and reduced temperature flattend the dependence of stress on MRLC phosphorylation compared to 37degrees C. These data suggest that phasic smooth muscle also exhibits latch behavior and latch is less prominent at lower temperature.
Carbachol ; Contracts ; Kinetics ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myosin Light Chains ; Phosphorylation ; Urinary Bladder

True hermaphroditism represents the rarest of all intersex disorders. The condition is defined by the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue in the same individual. True hermaphroditism is usually diagnosed during the newborn period in the course of evaluating ambiguous genitalia. We present an unusual case of a 15-year-old boy with phenotypically normal male genitalia and bilaterally descended ovotestis, who was seen for evalution of intermittent scrotal swelling and pain.
Adolescent ; Disorders of Sex Development ; Genitalia, Male ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Ovotesticular Disorders of Sex Development*

More than 90% of bladder cancers are transitional cell carcinomas. Transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder ordinarily does not pose diagnostic difficulties and is well known its clinical behavior. However, variation from the classic histology can cause problems in recognition. Recently several variants of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder have been described to promote the recognition of, or to draw attention to, possible differences in clinical behavior. The presence of a micropapillary component in transitional cell carcinoma is associated with high-stage and high-grade transitional cell carcinoma with a tendency of vascular invasion, and with poor prognostic histologic feature. We report a case of micropapillary transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder*