PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of scatter correction on the assessment of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function by gated Tc-99m myocardial SPECT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects were 11 normal volunteers, 20 patients with non-cardiac chest pain and 13 patients with coronary artery diseases. We classified above 3 groups into normal and diseased groups. Scatter correction was done using dual-energy-window scatter correction method (DEW-SC). We compared acquired counts, image contrast, corrected maximum relative counts, indices of left ventricular function, extent and severity of perfusion defects calculated by 'CEqual program' between scatter non-corrected and corrected images. RESULTS: Scatter corrected studies was lower in counts by 18+/-3% than uncorrected studies, but image contrast were improved in all cases. Scatter correction using DEW-SC took 3 minutes to complete, and 512 kB memory to store. There were no significant differences among indices of left ventricular function between scatter non-corrected and corrected images. Although extents of perfusion defects were not significantly different, severity was severer in scatter corrected images. CONCLUSION: Scatter correction using DEW-SC is simple to do, and improves image contrast without changing other indices of myocardial perfusion and function.
Chest Pain ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Memory ; Perfusion* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon* ; Ventricular Function, Left*

Ovarian leiomyoma is a rare form of the ovarian mesenchymal neoplasm and about 50 cases have been reported in the literature. It is believed that many cases may go unnoticed because they are usually small in size and frequently mistaken for the more common fibroma or fibrothecoma. Its origin is still controversial and many possibilities are considered including the smooth muscle in the blood vessel wall of the hilum or the multipotential ovarian stromal cell. Herein we describe two cases of ovarian leiomyoma with its characteristic histologic finding.
Blood Vessels ; Female ; Fibroma ; Leiomyoma* ; Muscle, Smooth ; Ovary* ; Stromal Cells

OBJECTIVE: It has been reported that the sleep apnea syndrome in the asthmatic patients is prevalent, however, the systematic study in this field using polysomnography has rarely been performed. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the pulmonary function in asthmatic children. METHODS: This study enrolled 19 male and 12 female asthmatic children aged 6-13 years (average 8.2+/-1.7 years old). Complete overnight polysomnography and pulmonary function test were performed for the participants. RESULTS: Of the 31 asthmatic children, 21 (67.7%) met the diagnostic criteria of the pediatric sleep apnea and the average AHI was 1.7+/-1.5/h. The children with higher AHI showed poorer pulmonary function (FEV1/FVC ratio : p=0.002, FEV1%pred : p=0.047). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the prevalence of the pediatric sleep apnea could be very high among the asthmatic children and the severity of the sleep apnea correlates with the pulmonary function. However, the case-control study to compare the AHI between the asthma and control groups is absolutely necessary because few normative data are available for the children.
Aged ; Asthma ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Polysomnography ; Prevalence ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes

PURPOSE: Myocardial SPECT is an effective test for detecting coronary artery disease in the general population. But the diagnostic accuracy between sexes is not defined. The purpose of this study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy between males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seventy seven male and 98 female patients who underwent myocardial SPECT within 1 month of coronary angiography were studied. Myocardial SPECTs were considered abnormal if fixed or reversible perfusion defects were detected. Stenosis severity of > or = 50% luminal diameter reduction of any artery defined coronary artery disease (CAD). RESULTS: Overall sensitivity for detection of CAD was 98% in men and 97% in women (p=not significant). However, specificities, accuracies, and positive predictive values (PPV) in men and women were 49% vs 31% (p<0.05), 81% vs 57% (p<0.01), 78% vs 48% (P<0.01), respectively Diagnostic accuracies for detection of right coronary artery disease were not different in both sexes, however, accuracies for detection of left anterior descending artery disease and left circumflex artery disease were significantly lower in female (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: A significant difference of diagnostic accuracy between sexes, especially in LAD and LCx disease, was noted. Artifacts from breast attenuation might be a cause for the lower diagnostic accuracy in female.
Arteries ; Artifacts ; Breast ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Perfusion* ; Phenobarbital ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of TGF-beta on proliferation, collagen synthesis, migration, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secretion of human RPE cells in vitro. METHODS: The cultured human RPE cells were treated with either TGF-beta1 or TGF-beta2 in concentrations of 0, 0.1, 1, 10 ng/ml respectively. The cell number was measured in 3, 6, 9 days, and the collagen synthesis and cell migration was measured. [3H]-thimidine uptake assay was done to evaluate the change of DNA synthesis. And the secretions of MMP1, MMP2, MMP3, MMP9, TIMP1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase), and TIMP2 were measured by electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 significantly inhibited the proliferation of RPE cells in a concentration -and time-dependent manner (p<0.05). [3H]-thymidine uptake was decreased by TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 in a concentration-dependant manner. The collagen synthesis of RPE cells was significantly increased by high concentration of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta 2. However, the migration of RPE cells was not affected by TGF-beta. As the concentration of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 increased, the secretions of MMP1, MMP2, MMP3 and MMP9 decreased, while the secretion of TIMP1 and TIMP2 increased after 72 hours. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 may have critical effect on the development of PVR and provide clues to possible therapeutic solutions for controlling PVR process.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Count ; Cell Movement ; Collagen* ; DNA ; Electrophoresis ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Transforming Growth Factor beta2 ; Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reliability of the Korean version of Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and to compare the sensitivity of the SCIM to functional changes of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with that of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). METHOD: Seventeen subjects with SCI were studied. The SCIM was translated and modified to convert as SCIM Korean-version. All patients were evaluated with the SCIM and the FIM by two raters every other week. To determine inter-rater reliability, the relationship between the SCIM scores obtained by two raters was evaluated by Kappa coefficient and linear regression. To determine relative sensitivity of the test to functional changes, changes in the scores on the SCIM and FIM were compared by McNemar test. RESULTS: The Kappa coefficient of the various individual tasks in SCIM ranged between 0.63 and 1.00. High correlations were also found between the total SCIM scores for the paired raters (r=0.99, p<0.01). The SCIM detected all the functional changes detected by FIM total scoring, but in 3 (14%) of 22 sequential test batteries, the FIM missed changes detected by SCIM total scoring. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that the SCIM is reliable and more sensitive than the FIM in reflecting the functional changes of SCI patients.
Humans ; Linear Models ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

No abstract available.
Esophagus* ; Melanoma*

OBJECTIVE: To obtain clinically useful data regarding prenatal diagnosis, proper antepartum counseling and obstetric management in pregnancies with fetal dysplastic kidney disease. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 13 cases of MCDK(Multicystic dysplastic kidney) and PCDK(Polycystic dysplastic kidney), diagnosed by antenatal ultrasound and delivered from June 1994 through July 1999 at Ajou University School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with regard to prenatal ultrasonographic findings, perinatal outcomes, maternal complications and associated fetal anomalies. RESULTS: The incidence of MCDK and PCDK was one in 1,066 and one in 2,398 births, respectively. Of the 9 cases of MCDK, one case was terminated due to severely associated anomaly, and 6 cases were delivered by spontaneous labor or pitocin induction at term, of which 1 case was delivered by pitocin induction at 36 weeks gestation due to intrauterine fetal death. Two cases were delivered by cesarean section. There were no neonatal deaths in 7 cases of MCDK and they have been followed up to date, and alive. Of the 4 cases of PCDK, 3 cases were terminated by induced abortion or induced vaginal delivery, and 1 case was delivered by cesarean section, which was combined with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the baby died within 24 hours after birth. Perinatal complications consisted of small for gestational age, urinary tract infection, hydronephrosis, acute respiratory failure, acute renal failure, periventricular hemorrhage and laryngomalacia in the neonatal period. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that antenatal ultrasonography and genetic analysis to evaluate accurate diagnosis and associated anomalies should be performed to manage and councel properly the pregnancies with fetal dysplastic kidney disease.
Abortion, Induced ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Cesarean Section ; Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Death ; Gestational Age ; Gynecology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Incidence ; Kidney Diseases* ; Kidney* ; Laryngomalacia ; Obstetrics ; Oxytocin ; Parturition ; Pregnancy* ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Tract Infections

We report computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) findings of a patient with polyostotic Paget disease and multicentric giant cell tumor (GCT). Brain CT scan showed widening of diploic space, cortical thickening and enhancing soft tissue mass in occiput with underlying calvarial destruction. Ill-defined soft tissue masses were also detected in maxillary sinus and buttock with underlying bony destruction on CT. MR image showed multifocal nodules in wide diploic space with low signal intensity on T1 -weighted image and bright signal intensity on T2-weighted image. Mass in occiput showed homogeneous hypointensity to bone marrow on T1-weighted image and homogeneous iso- intensity on T2-weighted image. Multiple nodules in diploic space and occipital mass showed contrast enhancement following administration of Gd-DTPA. Biopsy was performed at scal p, maxillary sinus and buttock, and histologic analysis revealed GCT.
Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Brain ; Buttocks ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Giant Cell Tumors* ; Giant Cells* ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Mobius syndrome is generally considered to be a static disorder of congenital origin, and is manifested as unilateral or bilateral facial weakness and lateral gaze limitation. In most instances the syndrome occurs sporadically, but rarely familial cases have been reported. We report a family of three members with Mobius syndrome; a 7-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy, and their 29-year-old mother. Each patient revealed facial diplegia, and unilateral or bilateral lateral rectus palsy. Brain MRI scans showed normal and there were no definite brainstem dysfunctions on electrophysiologic studies.
Abducens Nerve Diseases ; Adult ; Brain ; Brain Stem ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mobius Syndrome* ; Mothers