No abstract available.
Graves Disease* ; Humans ; Thyroid Gland*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cricetinae* ; Cryopreservation* ; Oocytes*

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the technique of the ultrasound-guided selective nerve root injection in the lower cervical spine and to evaluate its accuracy and distribution patterns of injections. METHOD: Thirty-one patients with the cervical radiculopathies (C5 to C7) from cervical disc herniation were enrolled in this study. Targeted nerve root image was obtained and the needle was introduced to its dorsal surface under the ultrasound guidance. Then 2 ml of contrast media was injected which was followed by fluoroscopic image. The accurate injection was defined as the contrast media placed over the neural foramen along the targeted nerve root. RESULTS: 24 of 31 (77.4%) procedures were assesed to be accurately placed and there was no significant complication. The accuracy of injection was lower at the C7 nerve root (70.0%) than other nerve roots. In all cases, large amount of back flow to the brachial plexus and spread to the adjacent nerve roots were observed. CONCLUSION: In the lower cervical spines, ultrasound-guided selective nerve root injections might be considered as a radiation free, safe and available method.
Brachial Plexus ; Contrast Media ; Equidae ; Humans ; Needles ; Radiculopathy ; Spine

Generally, the left kidney from a living donor is more commonly preferred but the right kidney is occasionally donated because of multiple left renal arteries or repeated transplantation. The right donor nephrectomy is usually more difficult compared to the left because the right renal vein is often multiple and short, which complicates dissection of the vascular pedicle. From Jan. 1989 to Sep. 1992, 112 consecutive cases of right donor nephrectomies out of a total of 771 cases were retrospectively reviewed with the preoperative renal angiography and the intraoperative assessment of the right renal vascular pedicle. The indications for right donor nephrectomy include 1) multiple or proximal bifurcating renal arteries of the left kidney (89.3%), 2) repeated transplantation in the recipient (9%). In 26.8% of the cases, there were more than two right renal veins. In the right donor nephrectomy, it is often necessary to perform vena cava cuff resection because of short and frequently occurring multiple right renal veins. For the dissection of the inferior vena cava (IVC), the aberrantly occurring right gonadal vein, the adrenal vein draining above the junction of the renal vein and IVC, and the lumbar vein below the junction should always be looked for and must be ligated if any are found.
Adult ; Blood Vessels/anatomy & histology ; Female ; Human ; Intraoperative Period ; Kidney/*blood supply ; Male ; Nephrectomy/*methods ; Retrospective Studies ; *Tissue Donors

Since nationwide compulsory health insurance started in 1977, shortage of hospital beds has become apparent and this is related in part to the length of hospital stay. To determine the factors which affect the length of stay a total of 1,003 in-patients medical records for appendectomy, cholecystectomy, and Cesarean section discharged in 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980 from a university hospital were studied. The major findings are as follows; The average length of stay showed a statistically significant difference by year among the cholecystectomy and Cesarean section patients. For the appendectomies no statistically significant difference was found. Complications after surgical operation explained the length of stay mostly in all three procedures; the next factors were age, character of surgery, day of the week of surgery, and multiple diagnoses in this order for appendectomy; day of the week of surgery, age, type of accommodation, route of admission in this order for cholecystectomy; and day of the week of surgery, multiple diagnoses, residential area and type of accommodation in Cesarean section respectively.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Child ; Hospitals, Teaching/utilization* ; Hospitals, University/utilization* ; Human ; Korea ; Length of Stay* ; Regression Analysis

In Korea, all domestic made test systems for detecting antibodies in HIV-1 contain the antigens from human immunodeficiency type 1 (HIV-1) subtype B. However, because HIV-1 subtype O is significantly different in amino acid sequences from all other subtypes of HIV-1, there has been a need for developing a test for detecting antibodies in subtype O. For this purpose, the entire nucleotide sequence corresponding to the extracellular domain of the transmembrane glycoprotein of HIV-1 subtype O was synthesized with consideration of Escherichia coli cordon usage. Various regions of the extracellular domain were cloned into E. coli expression vectors and tested for levels of protein production. The nucleotide sequence, named ECTM, that can encode a 129 amino acid-long peptide, was found to be expressed at a high level in E. coli. The protein of approximately 17 kDa specifically reacted with sera from individuals infected with HIV-1 subtype O. The ECTM protein was purified to near homogeneity by the CM-T gel chromatography, using concentrated, denatured inclusion bodies. In Western blot analysis, the purified viral antigen reacted with sera from individuals infected with subtype O more efficiently than subtype B. The enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) system was developed using the subtype O viral protein and compared with the commercially available kit lacking the antigens from subtype O. The ELISA kit containing the subtype O antigen ECTM alone efficiently reacted with sera from individuals infected with subtype O. The subtype O antigen-containing kit produced a positive absorbence even when sera were diluted 512-fold, suggesting a high sensitivity. The commercially available kit also reacted with subtype O sera, but produced a negative result at a dilution of 8-fold. Our results suggest that the currently available kit may not be able to efficiently detect subtype O sera and that the viral protein developed in this study may be added to the current system to maximize the detection of sera from individuals infected with subtype O.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Antibodies ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Western ; Chromatography, Gel ; Clone Cells ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Escherichia coli ; Glycoproteins ; HIV* ; HIV-1* ; Humans* ; Inclusion Bodies ; Korea ; O Antigens

Background: Fever is a common cause of pediatric consultation in the emergency department. However, identifying the source of infection in many febrile infants is challenging because of insufficient presentation of signs and symptoms. Meningitis is a critical cause of fever in infants, and its diagnosis is confirmed invasively by lumbar puncture. This study aimed to evaluate potential laboratory markers for meningitis in febrile infants. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed infants aged <3 months who visited the emergency department of our hospital between May 2012 and May 2017 because of fever of unknown etiology. Clinical information and laboratory data were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. Results: In total, 145 febrile infants aged <3 months who underwent lumbar punctures were evaluated retrospectively. The mean C-reactive protein (CRP) level was significantly higher in the meningitis group than in the non-meningitis group, whereas the mean white blood cell count or absolute neutrophil count (ANC) did not significantly differ between groups. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for CRP was 0.779 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.701–0.858). The AUC for the leukocyte count was 0.455 (95% CI, 0.360–0.550) and that for ANC was 0.453 (95% CI, 0.359–0.547). The CRP cut-off value of 10 mg/L was optimal for identifying possible meningitis. Conclusion CRP has an intrinsic predictive value for meningitis in febrile infants aged <3 months. Despite its invasiveness, a lumbar puncture may be recommended to diagnose meningitis in young, febrile infants with a CRP level >10 mg/L.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly prevalent worldwide and becoming a major cause of liver disease-related morbidity and mortality. The presence of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD is closely related to prognosis, including the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and other complications of cirrhosis. Therefore, assessment of the presence of significant or advanced liver fibrosis is crucial. Although liver biopsy has been considered the “gold standard” method for evaluating the degree of liver fibrosis, it is not suitable for extensive use in all patients with NAFLD owing to its invasiveness and high cost. Therefore, noninvasive biochemical and imaging biomarkers have been developed to overcome the limitations of liver biopsy. Imaging biomarkers for the stratification of liver fibrosis have been evaluated in patients with NAFLD using different imaging techniques, such as transient elastography, shear wave elastography, and magnetic resonance elastography. Furthermore, artificial intelligence and deep learning methods are increasingly being applied to improve the diagnostic accuracy of imaging techniques and overcome the pitfalls of existing imaging biomarkers. In this review, we describe the usefulness and future prospects of noninvasive imaging biomarkers that have been studied and used to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.

Correspondence to editorial on “Optimal cutoffs of vibration-controlled transient elastography and magnetic resonance elastography in diagnosing advanced liver fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis”