Bacterial meningitis results in significant neurologic dificits despite in spite of much effort in the treatment of the disease. This study was performed to determine the incidence of caustive organisms and to correlate between the organisms and computed tomographic (CT) findings with clinical outcome of bacterial meningitis in newborns and infants. We analyzed the brain CT and clinical records of 15 infants who had been diagnosed as bactrial meningitis by CSF culture. We found that the most common organisms were Group B streptococcus in neonates withou no neurologic complications in all but one and Hemophilus influenza in infants whose clinical outomes were poor in all except one. CT findings related with poor prognosis in this study were cerebral edema, basal cistermal obliteration & enhancement, and cerebral infarction on initial CT and ventriculomegaly on follow-up CT. We concluded that CT diagnosed intracranial complications of bacterial meningitis well and could contributed to better treatment of bacterial meningitis.
Brain ; Brain Edema ; Cerebral Infarction ; Follow-Up Studies ; Haemophilus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Influenza, Human ; Meningitis ; Meningitis, Bacterial* ; Prognosis ; Streptococcus

To examine the usefulness of cardiac MRI in assessing patients (pt) with congenital heart diseases(CHD), informations obtained from MRI and echocardiogrphy (echo) were compared in 91 consecutive pt with CHD and was correlated with findigs at cardiac catheterization (53pt) and at surgery (71pt). Pt were studied with 1.5 Tesla MRI unit and multiplanar images of the heart and great vessels were obtained using ECG-gated multislice spin-echo technique. Age ranged from newborn to 22 years. We obtained the following results. MRI was vary useful in providing important diagnostic informations in 19pt, provided informations which was not crucial to the clinical decision in 28pt, and did not provide additional informations in 44pt. MRI was very useful in assessing complex lesions, particularly in identifying atrial situs, rudimentary ventricular chamber, criss-cross atrioventricular connection, total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, anatomy of ventricular septal defect in double outlet right ventricle, anomalous ventricular muscles, aortopulmonary collateral artery and distal pulmonary artery anatomy. En face view of the ventricular septum was very useful in clearly outlining the ventricular septal defect. MRI gave false information in 17pt. Diagnostic accuracy of MRI was poor for coarctation of the aorta in neonates and small infants, patent ductus arteriosus and pulmonary stenosis. Cardiac MRI is recommended for preoperative planning in selected pt with CHD, particularly with complex lesions.
Aortic Coarctation ; Arteries ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Double Outlet Right Ventricle ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; Echocardiography* ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Heart* ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Muscles ; Pulmonary Artery ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis ; Ventricular Septum

No abstract available.
Coronary Sinus* ; Mitral Valve* ; Tricuspid Atresia*

OBJECTIVES: Baso-apical gradients exist in various cochlear structures including medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent system. This study investigated the cochlear regional differentials in the function and morphology of the MOC system, and addressed the functional implications of regional MOC efferent terminals (ETs) in the mouse cochlea. METHODS: In CBA/J mice, MOC reflex (MOCR) was assessed based on the distortion product otoacoustic emission in the absence and presence of contralateral acoustic stimulation. High, middle, and low frequencies were grouped according to a mouse place-frequency map. Cochlear whole mounts were immunostained for ETs with anti-α-synuclein and examined using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The diameters of ETs and the number of ETs per outer hair cell were measured from the z-stack images of the basal, middle and apical regions, respectively. RESULTS: The middle cochlear region expressed large, clustered MOC ETs with strong MOCR, the base expressed small, less clustered ETs with strong MOCR, and the apex expressed large, but less clustered ETs with weak MOCR. CONCLUSION: The mouse cochlea demonstrated regional differentials in the function and morphology of the MOC system. Strong MOCR along with superior MOC morphology in the middle region may contribute to ‘signal detection in noise,’ the primary efferent function, in the best hearing frequencies. Strong MOCR in spite of inferior MOC morphology in the base may reflect the importance of ‘protection from noise trauma’ in the high frequencies.
Acoustic Stimulation ; Animals ; Cochlea* ; Hair ; Hearing ; Mice* ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Noise ; Reflex

No abstract available.
Dacarbazine* ; Gabexate*

OBJECTIVES: Morphological studies on presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, have been performed in several different strains of mice that demonstrate hearing loss with auditory pathology. The C57BL/6 (C57) mouse is a known model of early onset presbycusis, while the CBA mouse is characterized by relatively late onset hearing loss. We performed this study to further understand how early onset hearing loss is related with the aging process of the cochlea. METHODS: We compared C57 cochlear pathology and its accompanying apoptotic processes to those in CBA mice. Hearing thresholds and outer hair cell functions have been evaluated by auditory brainstem response (ABR) recordings and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE). RESULTS: ABR recordings and DPOAE studies demonstrated high frequency hearing loss in C57 mice at P3mo of age. Cochlear morphologic studies of P1mo C57 and CBA mice did not show differences in the organ of Corti, spiral ganglion, or stria vascularis. However, from P3mo and onwards, a predominant early outer hair cell degeneration at the basal turn of the cochlea in C57 mice without definitive degeneration of spiral ganglion cells and stria vascularis/spiral ligament, compared with CBA mice, was observed. Additionally, apoptotic processes in the C57 mice also demonstrated an earlier progression. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the C57 mouse could be an excellent animal model for early onset 'sensory' presbycusis in their young age until P6mo. Further studies to investigate the intrinsic or extrinsic etiologic factors that lead to the early degeneration of organ of Corti, especially in the high frequency region, in C57 mice may provide a possible pathological mechanism of early onset hearing loss.
Aging ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cochlea ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Hair ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Ligaments ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred CBA ; Models, Animal ; Organ of Corti ; Presbycusis ; Spiral Ganglion ; Stria Vascularis

PURPOSE: With the introduction of H. pylori eradication and proton pump inhibitor, the operative treatments for the acute or chronic complications of peptic ulcer, such as perforation, bleeding and stricture, have decreased. Also owing to the development of non-operative treatment such as interventional endoscopic treatment, the surgical approach to the acute complications, like perforation and bleeding, has diminished. The non-operative treatments for the stricture and obstruction of chronic peptic ulcer in part related to discontinuation of medication have not been satisfactory. We analyzed the clinical outcomes of the patients who underwent operative treatment for outlet obstruction with peptic ulcer. Materials of Methods: From January 1994 to December 2007, we reviewed 31 patients who had been operated on at the National Medical Center for peptic ulcer obstruction. We excluded the cases of adhesive obstructions that were caused by a former ulcer operation and also the cases of obstructions found during emergency operations for treating perforation and bleeding. We classified the surgical treatment group into the bypass operation group and the surgical resection group. We evaluated the effects of the operations by the Visick score. The recurrences were confirmed only by the endoscopic observation of peptic ulcer. RESULTS: The number of patients in the bypass operation group was 6 (19.4%) and that of resection group was 25 (80.6%). The mean age was 57.5 (25~81) years. The number of male patients was 29 (93.5%) and the number of females was 2 (6.5%). The mean symptom duration was 29.6 months. There were 19 smokers (61.3%), 6 NSAID users (19.4%) and 7 H. pylori positive patients (22.6%). Two patients underwent endoscopic balloon dilatation with no success. The locations of lesion were the stomach, the duodenum and both in 9, 20 and 2 cases, respectively. There were operative complications in 13 cases (41.9%), recurrent ulcers in 2 cases (6.5%), and reoperations in 4 cases. The mean Visick score was 1.8 (1~4). There were no statistically significant clinicopathologic differences between the bypass operation group and the resection group. The two groups had 1 case each of recurrence. Although the bypass group had a greater complication rate (83.3%) than the resection group (32%), this was not statistically meaningful (P=0.175). The mean Visick score was 3.0 in the bypass group and 1.6 in the resection group, so the resection group was better (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: For a case of chronic peptic ulcer with outlet obstruction, even though it has been reported that endoscopic balloon dilatation worked well, surgery is still regarded as an important treatment. If you consider the patients' satisfaction and the difficulty of diagnosing malignant ulcers, surgical resection should be recommended more often than a bypass operation.
Adhesives ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Duodenum ; Emergencies ; Female ; Gastric Outlet Obstruction ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Peptic Ulcer ; Proton Pumps ; Recurrence ; Stomach ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hearing loss has been hypothesized to contribute to cognitive decline in the elderly. However, earlier studies yielded conflicting results, and the causal relationship has not been elucidated to date. In the present study, the authors set up a radial maze apparatus for assessment of cognition in mice, and investigated the relationship between cognition and hearing loss that occur immediately after noise exposure. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Spatial learning and memory were assessed in male C57BL/6 mice with or without hearing loss using an unconfined, partially-baited, 8-arm radial maze with different arm length (25 or 50 cm). The performance indicators included total trial time, latency, reference memory error, working memory error, and correct entry ratio. Mice in the hearing loss group were exposed to 60 min of 110 dB white noise for 14 days, and then auditory brainstem response thresholds were measured. RESULTS: Mice showed better performances in a 25 cm-arm radial maze than in a 50 cm-arm maze. The control and the hearing loss groups exhibited similar performance curves, except for the working memory curve in 25 cm-arm radial maze. Hearing-impaired mice were better at working memory tasks than the control mice, probably due to an early cognitive compensatory mechanism. CONCLUSION: A radial maze with 25 cm arm is appropriate for the test of learning and memory in mice. Acute hearing loss after noise exposure was not associated with decreased cognition. Further follow-up research has been planned to find the effect of long-term hearing loss on cognition and the mechanism by which these two domains are connected.
Aged ; Aging ; Animals ; Arm ; Cognition ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced* ; Humans ; Learning ; Male ; Memory ; Memory, Short-Term ; Mice* ; Noise

AIM: Several injectable materials have been used in the application of osteogenic bone substitute; however, nothing has won universal acceptance. This study was performed to investigate whether chitosan-alginate gel/MSCs/BMP-2 composites are potentially injectable materials for new bone formation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The composites were injected into the subcutaneous space on the dorsum of the nude mouse to investigate whether new bone would be tissue engineered in the mouse. The composites were examined histologically over a 12-week period. RESULTS: The composites implanted in the mouse were able to tissue engineer new bone, and the newly formed bone consisted of trabecular bone and calcified bone matrix. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that chitosan-alginate gel/MSCs/BMP-2 composites have the potential to become real injectable materials for new bone formation.
Animals ; Bone Matrix ; Bone Regeneration ; Bone Substitutes ; Chitosan ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Osteogenesis* ; Tissue Engineering

With a purpose to difine risk factors of respective subtypes of cerebrovascular disease, a case-control study was performed in 1,251 cases with cerebrovascular disease who were admitted to twelve large institutions over the country during the year of 1988. All cases were subtype-proven by computerized tomography. Three hundred and eighty three patients were selected as control among the patients who were admitted to the same hospitals during the same period. The variables were collected prospectively and the data were processed by univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses and the significance was tested by chi-square methods. In the univariate analysis, female sex, being a physical worker, history of hypertension either treated or not and previous stroke history were significantly related with cerebral hemorrhage. Male sex, being aged 60 or more, living in city area, being a mental worker, history of hypertension either treated or not, history of stroke, being a diabetic and positive family history of stroke were significantly related with cerebral infarction. In multiple logistic regression analysis hypertension and alcohol drinking were strong independent risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage. Hypertension, being aged 60 or more, and living in urban area were also independent risk facrots for cerbral infarction. Of the other variables analyzed, socioeconomic class, smoking history or body mass index did not constitute significnat risks for either cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction.
Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cerebral Infarction ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infarction ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke