BACKGROUND: The peak flowmeter is very useful in monitoring of out-patients as well as those in emergency departments because of its convenience and simplicity with low cost. There have been many studies aimed at determining the accuracy and reproducibility of the peak flow meter in normal population. However, there is a paucity of reports regarding its accuracy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) or asthma. The accuracy of the peak expiratory flow(PEF) measured with a mini-Wright peak flowmeter was assessed by a comparison with the results of a mass flow sensor. METHODS: The PEF measurements were performed in 108 patients aged 19-82 years presenting with either a chronic obstructive lung disease or asthma before and after inhaling salbutamol. The PEF measurements from the mini-Wright flowmeter were compared with those obtained by the calibrated mass flow sensor. RESULTS: The average of the readings taken by the mini-Wright meter were 37-39 l/min higher than those taken by the mass flow sensor. The average percentage error of the mini-Wright meter were higher, ranging less than 300 l/min. The mean of the differences between the values obtained using both instruments (the bias)±limits of agreement(±2 SD) were 37.1±90 l/min for the PEF(p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The mini-Wright peak flowmeter overestimated the flows in patients with COPD or asthma. It was also found that the accuracy of the mini-Wright peak flowmeter decreased in its mid to low range. The limits of agreement are wide and the difference between the two instruments is signigicant. Therefore, the measurements made between the two types of machines in patients with asthma or COPD cannot be used in terchangeably.
Albuterol ; Asthma* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Flowmeters* ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Outpatients ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* ; Reading

Normal human B cells produce autocrine growth factor in response to Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I strain (SAC). However, the functional role and molecular nature of the B cell derived-B cell growth factor (B-BCGF) are largely unknown. We have tried to investigate the nature of B-BCGF using mAb for several years. We report here that B- BCGF is capable of binding to hemoglobin (Hb). The concentrated culture supernatant from tonsillar B cells stimulated with SAC for 24 h was loaded into the fast protein liquid chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. The peak with BCGF activity was shown to have a M.W. of 16-18 Kda in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver stain. Amino acid sequence of the fraction was found to identical to human hemoglobin (Hb) by more than 85%. However, Hb itself had no BCGF activity. The presence of Hb in culture supernatant was due to the contamination of SRBC during B cell purification. SRSC were completely removed from B cells by percoll-gradient centrifugation and B cells were stimulated with SAC and exogenous Hb was added to the cultures. The Hb fraction from FPLC again showed a BCGF activity. These data strongly suggested that BCGF binds to Hb. We confirmed this in dot blot as well as Western blot. The M.W of Hb-binding BCGF was 20 Kda. This information may provide a rapid progress in research of BCGF.
Amino Acid Sequence ; B-Lymphocytes ; Blotting, Western ; Centrifugation ; Chromatography, Ion Exchange ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Humans ; Silver ; Staphylococcus aureus

Liver is generally known as an organ which is most commonly involved by the metastic tumors. According to the tendency of using fine needle aspiration in the diagnosis of hepatic tumors, the differentital diagnosis between hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic carcinoma frequently has been a main issue in the poorly differentitated cases, especially to the pathologists of Korea, an endemic area of hepatocellular carcinoma. Until now the problem has been usually solved by the comparison of cytologic characteristics of their tumor cells but not by background cytologic features which rarely have been studied. We observed the background cytologic features helpful for the differential diagnosis through the analysis of 20 cases who had confirmed primary cancer and were diagnosed as metastatic carcinomas in the liver by fine needle aspiration cytology. Twenty cases included 9 adenocarcinomas, 7 spuamous cell carcinomas, 1 small cell carcinoma, 1 carcinoid, 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma, and 1 renal cell cacinoma. Analysis of background cytologic features revealed that 77% of adenocacinoma cases showed benign mesenchymal components and hepatocytes and spuamous cell carcinoma cases disclosed benign mesenchymal tissue (71%) and necrosis (57%). Remaining cases showed variable combinations of benign mesenchymal component, necrosis, hepatocytes, and bile duct epithelial cells. No case revealed atypical hepatocytic naked nuclei, a useful cytologic finding of hepatocellular carcinoma. In summary, the background cytologic features more commonly observed in metastatic carcinomas than in the hepatocellular carcinoma were benign mesenchymal components, hepatocytes, necrosis, and bile duct epithelium. The endothelial cells and hepatocytic naked nuclei, two relatively specific findings of hepatocellular carcinoma were not observed except for renal cell carcinoma. Above background cytologic features are thought to be helpful for the differential diagnosis between the hepatocellular carcinoma and various metastatic carcinomas in the poorly differentiated cases.
Adenocarcinoma ; Bile Ducts ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoid Tumor ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endothelial Cells ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome* ; Hepatocytes ; Korea ; Liver ; Necrosis ; Pneumococcal Infections* ; Ulnar Nerve

No abstract available.
Osteochondroma*

No abstract available.
Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Neonatal* ; Oxytocin*

PURPOSE: We designed this study to identify and suggest the reasonable timing of adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of uterine carcinosarcoma according to the surgical intent and patterns of progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed a total of 50 carcinosarcoma patients diagnosed between 1995 and 2010. Among these 50 patients, 32 underwent curative surgery and 13 underwent maximal tumor debulking surgery. The remaining five patients underwent biopsy only. Twenty-six patients received chemotherapy, and 15 patients received adjuvant radiotherapy. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 17.3 months. Curative resection (p < 0.001) and stage (p < 0.001) were statistically significant factors affecting survival. During follow-up, 30 patients showed progression. Among these, eight patients (16.0%) had loco-regional progression only. The patients who had received adjuvant radiotherapy did not show loco-regional progression, and radiotherapy was a significant negative risk factor for loco-regional progression (p = 0.01). The time to loco-regional progression was much earlier for non-curative than curative resection (range, 0.7 to 7.6 months vs. 7.5 to 39.0 months). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of carcinosarcoma might be related to a low loco-regional progression rate. Radiotherapy should be considered in non-curatively resected patients as soon as possible.
Biopsy ; Carcinosarcoma ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

No abstract available.
Chondromatosis, Synovial* ; Knee Joint* ; Knee* ; Osteoarthritis*

To study the effect of indomethacin treatment on the reactivity of contact hypersensitivity and discuss relevant mediators which could affect contact hypersensitivity, the following items were evaluated: the change in the plasma concentration of prostsglandin E following indomethacin treatment; the change of contact hypersensitivity following indomethacin treatment. The results ore summarized as follows: 1. The plasma level of prostaglandin E in indomethacin treated mice decreased. 2. The contact hypersensitivity of indomethacin treated mice was depressed. Considering the suppression of contact hyper sensitivity by indomethacin treatment, the metabolites of cyclo-oxygenase such as prostaglandin E may be the possible mediators of induction of contact hypersensitivity.
Animals ; Dermatitis, Contact* ; Indomethacin* ; Mice* ; Plasma ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases

No abstract available.
Acetazolamide* ; Aneurysm* ; Brain* ; Humans ; Perfusion* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

Serial Brain MRI was performed on a seventeen-year-old girl with Kearns-Sayre syndrome. At the age of 11, she complained bilateral ptosis. Two years later, bilateral blepharoplasty was done and brain MRI was taken. T2-weighted MRI sequence showed high signal intensity areas in the brainstem, thalamus and white matter of the cerebrum and cerebellum bilaterally. Four years later, chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia developed and serial MRI and proton MRS were taken. Follow-up MRI showed similar but slightly progressed findings compared with previous films. The proton MR spectroscopic imaging demonstrated focal localization of abnormally increased lactate content in the involved area of the brain.
Blepharoplasty ; Brain ; Brain Stem ; Cerebellum ; Cerebrum ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Kearns-Sayre Syndrome* ; Lactic Acid ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Ophthalmoplegia, Chronic Progressive External ; Protons ; Thalamus