No abstract available.

Objective: We investigated the agreement between anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels measured with revised Gen II (rev-Gen II) and automated AMH (Access) assays and evaluated the reproducibility of each method under various blood/serum storage conditions. Methods: AMH levels in blood samples from 74 volunteers were measured by rev-Gen II and Access assays under various conditions: immediate serum separation and AMH measurement (fresh control); serum stored at –20 °C and AMH measured after 48 hours, 1 week, and 2 years; serum stored at 0 to 4 °C and AMH measured after 48 hours and 1 week; and blood kept at room temperature and delayed serum separation after 48 hours and 1 week, with immediate AMH measurement. Results: In fresh controls, all rev-Gen II-AMH values were higher than comparable Access-AMH values (difference, 8.3% to 19.7%). AMH levels measured with the two methods were strongly correlated for all sample conditions (r=0.977 to 0.995, all p<0.001). For sera stored at –20 °C or 0 to 4 °C for 48 hours, Access-AMH values were comparable to control measurements, but rev-Gen II-AMH values were significantly lower. AMH levels in sera stored at –20 °C or 0 to 4 °C for 1 week were significantly lower than in fresh controls, irrespective of method. Across methods, long-term storage at –20 °C for 2 years yielded AMH measurements significantly higher than control values. When serum separation was delayed, rev-Gen II-AMH values were significantly lower than control measurements, but Access-AMH values varied. Conclusion The rev-Gen II and Access-AMH assays showed varying reproducibility across blood/serum storage conditions, but automated Access yielded superior stability to rev-Gen II.

PURPOSE: To compare the clinical results of High intensity laser therapy (HILT) versus Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) in the lateral epicondylitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients who suffer from lateral epicondylitis for more than six month duration were randomly assigned two treatment groups. Group 1 (n=25) was treated with HILT using a HIRO 3.0 laser(ASA srl, Arcugnano, Italy) and total energy was administered approximately 1200J following a standard protocol for each session; Group 2 (n=25) recieved with ESWT treatment using an EvoTron(Switech Medical AG, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland) for a total of 1000 shocks for each session. The patients were evaluated by assessment of pain using visual analog scale (VAS) and simple elbow test (SET). Comparision of overall clinical outcomes were evaluated by Roles and Maudsley score at 9 months. RESULTS: Average VAS and SET scores were significantly improved in two groups, also achieved significant improvement of symptoms at 9 months follow up according to Roles and Maudesley scores(P<0.05). The success rate in the HILT group was 76 % and in the ESWT group was 72 %. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that HILT could be considered as effective and noninvasive treatment modality for lateral epicondylitis.
Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; Shock

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage renal diseases (ESRD) have an increased risk of sleep problems such as daytime sleepiness, insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). However, presently there is limited data available, particularly in Asia. METHODS: To investigate the prevalence of sleep complaints in ESRD patients, 100 patients at the maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and 100 patients at the continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) were surveyed using a specific questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 50.58+/- 14.03 years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.8+/-3.5 kg/m2. The mean duration of dialysis was 44.56 +/-49.74 months. Fifty-six percent of the dialysis patients were poor sleepers. Daytime sleepiness occurred in 24% to 34% of the patients, and insomnia occurred in 35% of the patients, while restless legs syndrome was reported in 44% of the patients. The higher BMI group had a lower risk for insomnia when compared to the lower BMI group (OR=0.11, 95% CI=0.03-0.46). The OR of depression for insomnia was 2.8 (95% CI=1.02-7.69). There was no difference in the prevalence of sleep disturbances between the HD and CAPD patients groups. CONCLUSIONS: Complaints of sleep disturbance and daytime somnolence are very common in dialysis patients and likely contribute to the impaired quality of life experienced by many of these patients. Identifying and treating the sleep complaints in dialysis patients could contribute significantly to their quality of life and avoid potential side effects of nonspecific sedatives.
Asia ; Body Mass Index ; Depression ; Dialysis* ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Prevalence ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Renal Dialysis ; Restless Legs Syndrome ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Sleep Wake Disorders* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage renal diseases (ESRD) have an increased risk of sleep problems such as daytime sleepiness, insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). However, presently there is limited data available, particularly in Asia. METHODS: To investigate the prevalence of sleep complaints in ESRD patients, 100 patients at the maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and 100 patients at the continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) were surveyed using a specific questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 50.58+/- 14.03 years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.8+/-3.5 kg/m2. The mean duration of dialysis was 44.56 +/-49.74 months. Fifty-six percent of the dialysis patients were poor sleepers. Daytime sleepiness occurred in 24% to 34% of the patients, and insomnia occurred in 35% of the patients, while restless legs syndrome was reported in 44% of the patients. The higher BMI group had a lower risk for insomnia when compared to the lower BMI group (OR=0.11, 95% CI=0.03-0.46). The OR of depression for insomnia was 2.8 (95% CI=1.02-7.69). There was no difference in the prevalence of sleep disturbances between the HD and CAPD patients groups. CONCLUSIONS: Complaints of sleep disturbance and daytime somnolence are very common in dialysis patients and likely contribute to the impaired quality of life experienced by many of these patients. Identifying and treating the sleep complaints in dialysis patients could contribute significantly to their quality of life and avoid potential side effects of nonspecific sedatives.
Asia ; Body Mass Index ; Depression ; Dialysis* ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Prevalence ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Renal Dialysis ; Restless Legs Syndrome ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Sleep Wake Disorders* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

No abstract available.
Appendix* ; Cystadenoma, Mucinous* ; Mucins* ; Mucocele* ; Pseudomyxoma Peritonei*

No abstract available.
Appendix* ; Cystadenoma, Mucinous* ; Mucins* ; Mucocele* ; Pseudomyxoma Peritonei*

No abstract available.
Female* ; Humans ; Neck* ; Urinary Bladder* ; Urinary Incontinence*

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of cyclosporine, the short-term renal allograft survival has significantly improved. However, the long-term success is still limited by the development of chronic rejection and recurrent disease. Post-transplant glomerulonephritis (post-Tx GN) including recurrent disease is becoming an important cause of graft dysfunction. METHODS: From November 1988 to June 2004, a total of 629 renal transplants involving 588 patients were performed at our medical center. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of post-Tx GN was 11.9% in 629 renal transplant. Among 75 transplants diagnosed as post-Tx GN, IgA nephropathy (62.7%) was the most common histologic diagnosis, followed by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (26.7 %), membranous glomerulonephritis (8.0%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (1.3%) and diabetic nephropathy (1.3%). Documented histologic recurrence occurred in only 24.2% of patients with prior biopsy-proven glomerulonephritis of their native kidneys. The actuarial allograft survival at 5 and 10 years posttransplantation with post-Tx GN was 80.5 % and 27.9%, respectively; and the corresponding graft survival for patients without post-Tx GN was 74.9% and 52.3%, respectively (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the graft survival according to type of post-Tx GN. The 5 and 10 year graft survival for patients with proteinuria over than 3.5 g/24 hr were 62.5% and 0%, which is significantly lower compared with 85.3% and 28.7% for patients with proteinuria less than 3.5 g/24 hr (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, post-Tx GN is associated with decreased long-term graft survival and nephrotic range proteinuria is most important prognostic factor for graft survival. A prospective study with rigorous efforts to make pretransplant diagnosis and standardized criteria for allograft biopsy will more accurately characterize the natural history of post-Tx GN and may provide insight regarding treatment.
Allografts* ; Biopsy ; Cyclosporine ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Diagnosis ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental ; Graft Survival ; Humans ; Kidney ; Natural History ; Prevalence ; Proteinuria ; Recurrence ; Transplants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Automated DPOAE (Distortion product otoacoustic emission) was tested on workers exposed to a noisy environmnent to determine its feasibility as a screening test for noise-induced hearing loss. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Sensitivity and specificity were analyzed for in both automated DPOAE and Pure tone audiometry conducted on 300 subjects working in a noisy environment. Of these subjects, a subgroup of 40 workers who were available for a follow-up study underwent the same experiment again a year later, and the results were compared with the first one. RESULTS: In terms of the frequency of automated DPOAE, it was noted that it showed 91% sensitivity with a 9% false negative rate. The pass rate according to the period of service indicated statistical significance, although the results of a 1 year follow-up experiment did not indicate statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The automated DPOAE seems feasible to use as a screening test when frequency and adjusted reference criteria are considered.
Audiometry ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; Mass Screening* ; Sensitivity and Specificity