Secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis may occur earlier than other manifestations of disseminated cryptococcosis. A 68-year-old woman presented with multiple ulcerative lesions on the right calf of 2 weeks duration. She had been treated with antibiotics, but the lesions spread rapidly. The initial clinical impression was necrotizing fasciitis, but routine KOH mounting from the ulcerative lesions showed numerous budding yeast cells with peripheral clear zones and further investigations including a skin biopsy, tissue cultures and India ink preparations allowed a rapid and definitive diagnosis of cutaneous cryptococcosis. Studies for other evidence of infection elsewhere revealed an asymptomatic pulmonary lesion. We report a case of secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis clinically mimicking necrotizing fasciitis that occured before other manifestations of disseminated cryptococcosis.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Biopsy ; Cryptococcosis* ; Diagnosis ; Fasciitis, Necrotizing* ; Female ; Humans ; India ; Ink ; Saccharomycetales ; Skin ; Ulcer

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of prolotherapy in relieving the pain of patients with tendon or ligament laxity. METHOD: The subjects were 67 patients (40 male, 27 female) who were suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain, excluding those with metabolic diseases that could influence the nature of the pain. The effect of the treatment was evaluated by checking the VAS score after a monthly injection of 15% dextrose solution injected around the patient's ligaments and teno-osseous junction that were suspicious of laxity. This same procedure was followed after a second injection. To make an accurate evaluation before and after the treatment, the use of NSAID, physical therapy or exercise therapy was prohibited. RESULTS: The mean pain duration of the subjects was 5.48+/-7.04 years, and the mean age of the subjects was 49.58+/-16.52 years. The result from VAS showed a statistically remarkable reduction after the injection (p<0.01). The VAS decreased from 7.00+/-0.17 to 4.31+/-0.21 after the first injection and this score further decreased to 2.55+/-0.19 after the second injection. There was no statistically significant relationship between the duration of pain and the effect of the treatment (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This research demonstrated that prolotherapy is an effective method in treating patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain caused by tendon or ligament relaxation.
Chronic Pain* ; Exercise Therapy ; Glucose ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Male ; Metabolic Diseases ; Musculoskeletal Pain ; Musculoskeletal System* ; Relaxation ; Tendons

No abstract available.
Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Coronary Vessels*

No abstract available.
Lymphocyte Subsets* ; Lymphocytes*

No abstract available.
Cisplatin* ; Humans ; Nausea* ; Ondansetron* ; Vomiting*

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

This report describes two cases of complete heart block associated with acute myocarditis. Both cases developed Adams-Stokes attack. One patients was considered to be due to viral infection as judged by clinical course and the other patient was confirmed as Korean hemorrhagic fever by indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. Both cases improved during about 4 weeks admission without sequelae with general supportive treatment only.
Heart Block* ; Heart* ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome* ; Humans ; Myocarditis*

A variety of experiments concerning the development of ideal prosthetic grafts for correcting circumferential tracheal defects have been performed. The requirements for an ideal tracheal prosthesis are impermeability to air, consistency to prevent collapse, and acceptance by the host tissue causing a minimum inflammatory reaction, allowing fibroblastic infiltration and epithelialization. The synthetic material, polyurethane(PU), is known as a biocompatible polymer with an inert component. In this study, the tracheal prosthesis was made from microporous PU(30 micrometer in diameter) coated with gelatin and reinforced with isoplastic rings. This procedure provides the prosthesis with a compression strength. The out side diameter of the prosthesis was 20 mm with a length of 30 mm. The gelatin used in the study was obtained from pig skin and immobilized and cross-linked by irradiation(60 Co gamma ray) to promote host tissue incorporation and render the prosthesis epithelization after implantation. Animal experiments using 10 mongrel dogs were performed to compare three kinds of prosthesis; gelatin coated polyurethane graft, uncoated polyurethane graft, and prosthesis/ pericadium complex graft. After 6 weeks of implantation, the epithelialization of implants was seen on the gelatin-coated and prosthesis/pericadium complex grafts. Implanted prosthesis were complicated by airway obstruction due to anastomosis granuloma. Early tracheal stenosis was found in the uncoated graft group. Two kind of anastomosis techniques were tested on the gelatin-coated prosthesis. Everted anastomosis resulted severe granuloma than the inverted anastomosis. In the prosthesis/pericadium complex graft, bacteria and inflammation at an anastomotic site was found. Based on these results, gelatin coated porous polyurethane trachea prosthesis is biocompatible and may be useful in clinical application with further investigation.
Airway Obstruction ; Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Bacteria ; Dogs ; Epithelium* ; Fibroblasts ; Gelatin ; Granuloma ; Inflammation ; Polymers ; Polyurethanes ; Prostheses and Implants ; Skin ; Trachea* ; Tracheal Stenosis ; Transplants