BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of internal fixation with locking T-plates for osteoporotic fractures of the proximal humerus in patients aged 65 years and older. METHODS: From January 2007 through to December 2015, we recruited 47 patients aged 65 years and older with osteoporotic fractures of the proximal humerus. All fractures had been treated using open reduction and internal fixation with a locking T-plate. We classified the fractures in accordance to the Neer classification system; At the final follow-up, the indicators of clinical outcome-the range of motion of the shoulder (flexion, internal rotation, and external rotation) and the presence of postoperative complications-and the indicators of radiographic outcome-the time-to-union and the neck-shaft angle of the proximal humerus-were evaluated. The Paavolainen method was used to grade the level of radiological outcome in the patients. RESULTS: The mean flexion was 155.0° (range, 90°–180°), the mean internal rotation was T8 (range, T6–L2), and the mean external rotation was 66.8° (range, 30°–80°). Postoperative complications, such as plate impingement, screw loosening, and varus malunion were observed in five patient. We found that all patients achieved bone union, and the mean time-to-union was 13.5 weeks of the treatment. The mean neck-shaft angle was 131.4° at the 6-month follow-up. According to the Paavolainen method, “good” and “fair” radiographic results each accounted for 38 and 9 of the total patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that locking T-plate fixation leads to satisfactory clinical and radiological outcomes in elderly patients with proximal humeral fractures by providing a larger surface area of contact with the fracture and a more rigid fixation.
Aged ; Classification ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humerus ; Methods ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; Postoperative Complications ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Fractures*

PURPOSE: The pvrpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of radioactivity quantitation in Tc-99m SPECT by using combined scatter and attenuation correction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cylindrical phantom which simulates tumors (T) and normal tissue (B) was filled with varying activity ratios of Tc-99m. We acquired emission scans of the phantom using a three-headed SPECT system (Trionix, Inc.) witb two energy windows (photopeak window: 126 154 keV and scatter window: 101 123 keV). We performed the scatter correction with dual-energy window subtraction method (k=0.4) and Chang attenuation correction. Three sets of SPECT images were reconstructed using combined scatter and attenuation correction (SC+AC', attenuation correction (AC) and without any correction (NONE). We compared T/B ratio, irnage contrast [(T-B)/(T+B)) and absolute radioactivity with true values. RESULTS: SC+AC images had the highest mean values of T/B ratios. Image contrast was 0.92 in SC+AC, which was close to the true value of 1, and higher than AC (0.77) or NONE (0.80). Errors of true activity by SPECT images ranged from 1 to 11% for SC+AC, 22-47% for AC, and 2 16% for NONE in a phantom which was located 2.4cm from the phantom surface. In a phantom located 10,0cm from the surface, SC+AC underestimated by ?4%, NON.E 40%. However, AC overestimated by 10%. CONCLUSION: We conclude that accurate SPECT activity quantitation of Tc-99m distribution can be achieved by dual window scatter correc.tion combined with attenuation correction.
Radioactivity ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: It is important to differentiate malignant from benign lesions of intraocular masses in choosing therapeutic plan. Biopsy of intraocular tumor is not recommended due to the risk of visual damage. We evaluated the usefulness of F-18-FDG PET imaging in diagnosing intraocular neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: F-l8-FDG PET scan was performed in 13 patients (15 lesions) suspected to have malignant intraocular tumors. There were 3 benign lesions (retinal detachment, choroidal effusion and hemorrhage) and 10 patients with 12 malignant lesions (3 melanomas, 7 retinoblastomas and 2 metastatic cancers). Regional eye images (256*256 and 128*128 matrices) were obtained with or without attenuation correction. Whole body scan was also performed in eight patients (3 benign and 6 malignant lesions). RESULTS: All malignant lesions were visualized while all benign lesions were not visualized. The mean peak standardized uptake value (SUV) of malignant lesions was 2.64+/-0.57 g/ml. There was no correlations between peak SUV and tumor volume. Two large malignant lesions (>1000 mm3 ) showed hot uptake on whole body scan. But two medium-sized lesions (100-l000 mm3) looked faint and two small (<100 mm3) lesions were not visualized. The images reconstructed with 256*256 matrix showed lesions more clearly than those with 128X128 matrix. CONCLUSION: F-18-FDG PET scan is highly sensitivity in detecting malignant intraocular tumor. For the evaluation of small-sized intraocular lesions, whole body scan is not appropriate because of low sensitivity. A regional scan with sufficient acquisition time is recommended for that purpose. Image reconstruction in matrix size of 256*256 produced clearer images than the ones in 128X128, but it does not affect the diagnostic sensitivity.
Biopsy ; Choroid ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Melanoma ; Orbital Neoplasms ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Retinoblastoma ; Tumor Burden ; Whole Body Imaging

A case of metastatic adrenal cortical carcinoma in which partial remission was achieved with transarterial embolization is presented as probably the first reported case in the literature to date. A 29-year-old woman was admitted because of adrenal cortical carcinoma which had not responded to mitotane. A left adrenalectomy with segmentectomy of the involved liver had been done previously. Abdominal computerized tomography demonstrated multiple large metastatic tumors in the liver. Transarterial embolization with Gelfoam and 20 mCi of 131I-labeled lipiodol was performed and resulted in a decrease in tumor size and biochemical parameters. Transarterial embolization can be one of the therapeutic modalities for metastatic adrenal cortical carcinomas.
Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms/metabolism/*therapy ; Adult ; *Embolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone/metabolism ; Iodine Radioisotopes ; Iodized Oil ; Liver Neoplasms/metabolism/*secondary/*therapy

An adequate supply of dietary iodine is essential for the synthesis of the thyroid hormons. The measurement of dietary iodine intake is important for the clinical assessment of thyroid disease, especially in areas where iodine intake is excessive or deficient.To evaluate dietary iodine intake in Korean and its effects on thyroid function, we measured urinary iodine excretion with morning urine by electrode method in 184 normal subjects, 96 postpartum women and 181 patients with thyroid disease from October 1994 to February 1995. The results were as follows;1) In normal control, the mean value of urinary iodine excretion was 3.8+-2.7mg/L (range 0.1-15.0mg/L). However, there was no sex and age differences in the urinary iodine excretion.2) In postpartum women, the urinary iodine excretion was 9.0+-10.8mg/L who were not taken high iodine diet(Miyok-Guk), the mean value was statistically higher than normal control(p<0.01) and significant increased the urinary iodine excretion after eating of high iodine diet(p<0.01).3) In volunteer, there were increase of urinary iodine excretion more than 10 folds after high iodine diet and medication.4) The urinary iodine excretion in patients with thyroid diseases was not different from normal control, and there were no significant differences of urinary iodine excretion among the patient groups. The urinary iodine excretion in the acute stage of patients with subactue thyroiditis or painless thyroiditis was significantly increased compared to the recovery stage. However, it was not significantly different from that of normal control.In conclusion, urinary iodine excretion in Korean population is very high comparing to the reported data in Western population but similar with Japanese. The urinary iodine excretion is significant increase( more than 10-folds of basal level) after high iodine diet or high iodine containing medication in postpartum women or healthy persons. As a clue of destruction induced thyrotoxicosis, the urinary iodine excretion measurement is not valid in area where iodine intake is excessive like Korea.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Diet ; Eating ; Electrodes ; Humans ; Iodine ; Korea ; Methods ; Postpartum Period ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Thyrotoxicosis ; Volunteers

The CDKN2 (MTS1/p16(INK4A)) and MTS2/p15(INK4B) genes, encoding cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors, were found to be homozygously deleted at high frequency in cell lines from many different types of cancer and some primary cancers. To determine the frequency of CDKN2 and MTS2 mutations in human stomach, liver, and cholangio-cancers, molecular analyses of CDKN2 and MTS2 were performed on 4 stomach cancer cell lines, 14 primary stomach adenocarcinomas, 11 hepatocellular carcinomas, and 5 cholangiocarcinomas. Two (50%) of the four stomach cancer cell lines (SNU1, SNU5, SNU16 and Kato III) had mutations of the CDKN2 and MTS2 gene: SNU16, a homozygous deletion; SNU5, a nonsense mutation, CGA to TGA (Arg to stop) at codon 72 of the CDKN2 gene. No mutations were observed in the 14 primary stomach cancer tissues. In contrast to the mutations of CDKN2 and MTS2, Northern blot analysis showed that expression of CDKN2 was absent or decreased in all the remaining four stomach cancer cell lines and 11: of the 14 (79%) primary stomach adenocarcinomas. Five of the 11 (45%) hepatocellular carcinomas and one of the 5 (20%) cholangiocarcinomas have possible mutations in CDKN2 exon 2 and MTS2. One of hepatocellular carcinoma was expressed mobility shift on PCR-SSCP analysis and a missense mutation, GAC to GAA (Asp to Glu) at codon 105 of CDKN2 gene. These results suggest that mutations or inactivation of the CDKN2 gene may be a critical genetic change in the formation of stomach, hepatocellular, and cholangiocarcinomas.
Adenocarcinoma ; Blotting, Northern ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cell Line ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Codon ; Codon, Nonsense ; Cyclins ; Exons ; Genes, p16 ; Humans* ; Liver ; Mutation, Missense ; Phosphotransferases ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach*

PURPOSE: To assess the quantitative accuracy and the clinical utility of 3D volumetric PET imaging with FDG in brain studies, 24 patients with various neurological disorders were studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each patient was injected with 370 MBq of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose. After a 30 min uptake period, the patients were imaged for 30 min in 2 dimensional acquisition (2D) and subsequently for 10 min in 3 dimensional acquisition imaging (3D) using a GE AdvanceTM PET system. The scatter corrected 3D (3D SC) and non scatter-corrected 3D images were compared with 2D images by applying ROIs on gray and white matter, lesion and contralateral normal areas. Measured and calculated attenuation correction methods for emission images were compared to get the maximum advantage of high sensitivity of 3D acquisition. RESULTS: When normalized to the contrast of 2D images, the contrasts of gray to white matter were 0.75+/-0.13 (3D) and 0.95+/-0.12 (3D SC). The contrasts of normal area to lesion were 0.83+/-0.05 (3D) and 0.96+/-0.05 (3D SC). Three nuclear medicine physicians judged 3D SC images to be superior to the 2D with regards to resolution and noise. Regional counts of calculated attenuation correction was not significantly different to that of measured attenuation correction. CONCLUSION:: 3D PET images with the scatter correction in FDG brain studies provide quantitatively and qualitatively similar images to 2D and can be utilized in a routine clinical setting to reduce scanning time and patient motion artifacts.
Artifacts ; Brain* ; Humans ; Nervous System Diseases ; Noise ; Nuclear Medicine ; Positron-Emission Tomography

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic instruments have been remarkably developed through many trials. Various studies and experiments on laparoscopic instruments are underway in other countries. Laparoscopic surgery is also very actively applied in Korea. However, research on the use and safety of the instruments is stagnant. Furthermore, reuse of some disposable laparoscopic instruments is frequently observed, but there are only rare studies on the safety of this. Thus, we tried to provide study cases on the safety of repeated use of disposable laparoscopic instruments. METHODS: To investigate the effectiveness of sterilization and a re-package procedure, we divided the laparoscopic instruments that are commonly used in our institution into 10 types. Among all the available instruments, 32 instruments were selected for the simulation experiment. Each instrument was sterilized using ethylene oxide gas or glutaraldehyde 2%, and then packaged. Then, each was observed grossly and microscopically under aseptic conditions and we looked for any remnant foreign body or contaminant. When remnant foreign body or contaminant was found, they were collected and separately cultured. RESULTS: Residual contaminants were found in 15 instruments (46.9%) out of a total of 32 and microorganisms, including coagulase-negative staphylococcus and gamma-hemolytic streptococcus, were cultured from (9.38%), and each had different types of microorganisms. CONCLUSION: It is remarkable that the bacteria were cultured from recycled laparoscopic instruments after sterilization. The reuse of laparoscopic instruments might be cost-effective, but further studies on its safety are required. Moreover, careful inspection on the method of surgical instrument sterilization in each institution will be necessary.
Bacteria ; Ethylene Oxide ; Ethylenes ; Foreign Bodies ; Glutaral ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Staphylococcus ; Sterilization ; Streptococcus ; Surgical Instruments

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of color Doppler ultrasound in diagnosis and management of placenta previa with accreta. METHODS: Hospital records were reviewed all cases of placenta previa from December 1999 to June 2002, and seventy-four patients with placenta previa underwent color Doppler ultrasound in their second and third trimester. Four diagnostic criteria of placenta accreta were diffuse lacunar flow pattern, exhibiting diffusely dilated vascular channels throughout the whole placenta: focal lacunar flow pattern showing irregular sonolucent vascular lakes, regionally or focally within the intraparenchymal placental area: absence of subplacental vascular signals in the areas lacking the peripheral subplacental hypoechoic zone: interphase hypervascularity with abnormal blood vessels linking the placenta to the bladder. RESULTS: Twenty-four of the seventy-four patients diagnosed placenta previa with accreta according to the above criteria and thirteen of these have proven to placenta accreta histopathologically. In ten cases hysterectomy were done under the group of suspicious placenta accreta. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100%, 83%, 56% and 100%. CONCLUSION: The color Doppler ultrasound was effective method for the diagnosis of placenta previa with accreta, so proper diagnosis will be helpful to management of placenta previa with accreta patients.
Blood Vessels ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Interphase ; Lakes ; Placenta Accreta ; Placenta Previa* ; Placenta* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography* ; Urinary Bladder

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Proteinuria is associated with hypertension and preeclampsia in pregnancy. However, the impact of random urine proteinuria on fetal and maternal outcomes has not been established. We investigated the influence of random urine proteinuria on the clinical outcomes of pregnancy. METHODS: From January 2008 to December 2010, 2,822 patients were retrospectively studied. A total of 536 pregnant women with proteinuria in random urine and matched controls without proteinuria via propensity score matching were analyzed. Proteinuria was checked by the dipstick method. RESULTS: The patients’ mean age was 33.0 ± 4.7 years, and the mean gestational age was 235.6 ± 50.6 days on admission. The prevalence of hypertension and chronic kidney disease was 2.4% (n = 67) and 1.0% (n = 29), respectively. Women with random urine proteinuria showed higher blood urea nitrogen levels and a higher incidence of hematuria. These women also had a higher incidence of preeclampsia, preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, and intrauterine growth restriction. Proteinuria was strongly correlated with preeclampsia in both propensity score matching (p < 0.001, r = 0.783) and unmatched whole samples (p < 0.001, r = 0.851). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that random urine proteinuria is associated with preeclampsia, preterm labor, premature rupture of membrane, and intrauterine growth restriction.
Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Case-Control Studies* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Membranes ; Methods ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Prevalence ; Propensity Score ; Proteinuria* ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Retrospective Studies* ; Rupture