No abstract available.
Cell Line* ; Cytokines* ; Humans* ; Neuroblastoma*

Organ transplantation has become a' widely accepted treatment modality for end-stage organ disease. The shortage of allogenic donors for organ transplantation has brought about the necessity of xenotransplantation as an unlimited source of organ donation. However, organ transplantation between different species have never been successful because of hyperacute rejection. Although the mechanism of this phenomenon is not fully understood, many researchers believe that the natural antibodies present in the recipient's serum may bind to the graft and induce the activation of complement cascade triggering the process of hyperacute rejection. ...continue...
Antibodies ; Complement System Proteins ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Organ Transplantation ; Tissue and Organ Procurement ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Transplants

Experinece in the management of 74 patients with delayed traumatic intracranial hemorrhage(DTICH) of 474 head injury from January 1996 to December 1996 is poresented with emphasis on the incidence, occurring time, risk factors and outcome. The incidence of DTICH was 15.6% of all hospitalized head-injury patients. After an injury, every patient had an immediate computerized tomography(CT) scan to diagnose intracranial pathology and then CT follow-up was carried out according to intial CT finding and reurological deficit. The lesion was almost occurred in patients with initial abnormal CT finding(85.1%). 82.4% of DTICH were noted within 72 hours after injury. The delayed epidural hematoma and intracerebral hemorrhage were almost noted in first 72 hours(>90%), but the delayed subdural hemorrhage was found after a time interval varying from 6 hours to 10 days. So we strongly recommend CT follow-up in 4-8hour, 24-72hour, and then 7th day after head injury, especially in patients with initial abnormal CT findings. The risk factor of the delayed lesion was not hypotension, hypoxia, and consciousness level, but age of patients and the initial CT finding. The development of DTICH was not heralded by neurological deterioration. The prognosis of DTICH was not worse than non-DTICH. The patient with delayed subdural hemorrhage was better than the patient with non-delayed lesion(including hemorrhage and normal CT finding).
Anoxia ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Consciousness ; Craniocerebral Trauma* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head* ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Intracranial Hemorrhages* ; Pathology ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors

ANCA-associated vasculitis is one of the immunologic cause of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). We experienced a rare case of recurrent DAH in a 67-year-old man with ANCA-associated vasculitis who had been on maintenance hemodialysis. Two years ago, he presented with renal failure and hemoptysis. Hemoptysis caused by DAH was resolved immediately and hemodialysis was applied because of persistent uremic symptom. On maintenance hemodialysis, three recurrences have happened so far. At present, oral prednisolone and oral cyclophosphamide are being maintained during outpatient follow-up. Our report suggests that the nephrologist must be concerned about the possibility of recurrent aleveolar hemorrhage in ANCA associated renal disease patients and consider immunosuppressive treatment, even though the patient has been on maintenance hemodialysis.
Aged ; Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis ; Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; Cyclophosphamide ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoptysis ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Outpatients ; Prednisolone ; Recurrence ; Renal Dialysis ; Renal Insufficiency ; Vasculitis*

We found an error in our published article.

No abstract available.
DNA*

This study was undertaken in order to estimate the incidence of leukemia among Koreans. Medical records were studied of patients with diagnoses of either ICD-9 038 (septicemia), or 204-208 (leukemias), or 284 (aplastic anemia), or 289 (other diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs) in the claims sent in by medical care institutions throughout the country to the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC) during the period from January 1, 1986 to December 31, 1987. These records were abstracted in order to identify and confirm new cases of leukemia among the beneficiaries of KMIC, which covers about 10% of the whole Korean population. Using these data from the KMIC, the incidence rates of leukemia among Koreans were estimated as of July 1st, 1986 to June 30, 1987. The crude incidence rate of all types of leukemia among Koreans is estimated to be 3.45 (95% CI; 0.77-9.55) and 2.29 (95% CI; 0.28-7.81) per 100,000 in males and females, respectively. The cumulative rate for the age span 0-64 is 0.25% in males and 0.18% in females, and for the age span 0-74, 0.35% in males and 0.23% in females. The adjusted rates for the standard world population are 3.90 and 2.48 per 100,000 in males and females, respectively. The relative frequencies by type are 51.5% for AML, 21.6% for ALL, 20.2% for CML, and only 1.5% for CLL. The incidence patterns of various types of leukemia, of which this is the first report in Korea, are analyzed and presented.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Korea/epidemiology ; Leukemia/*epidemiology ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell/epidemiology ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/epidemiology ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/epidemiology ; Sex Factors

PURPOSE: The benefits of thrombolytic treatment are time-dependent. We developed a smartphone application that aids stroke patient self-screening and hospital selection, and may also decrease hospital arrival time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The application was developed for iPhone and Android smartphones. Map data for the application were adopted from the open map. For hospital registration, a web page (http://stroke119.org) was developed using PHP and MySQL. RESULTS: The Stroke 119 application includes a stroke screening tool and real-time information on nearby hospitals that provide thrombolytic treatment. It also provides information on stroke symptoms, thrombolytic treatment, and prescribed actions when stroke is suspected. The stroke screening tool was adopted from the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale and is displayed in a cartoon format. If the user taps a cartoon image that represents abnormal findings, a pop-up window shows that the user may be having a stroke, informs the user what to do, and directs the user to call emergency services. Information on nearby hospitals is provided in map and list views, incorporating proximity to the user's location using a Global Positioning System (a built-in function of smartphones). Users can search for a hospital according to specialty and treatment levels. We also developed a web page for hospitals to register in the system. Neurology training hospitals and hospitals that provide acute stroke care in Korea were invited to register. Seventy-seven hospitals had completed registration. CONCLUSION: This application may be useful for reducing hospital arrival times for thrombolytic candidates.
*Cellular Phone ; Geographic Information Systems ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Republic of Korea ; Stroke/*diagnosis

No abstract available.
Humans

BACKGROUND: Post-ischemic myocardial dysfunction (myocardial stunning) is known to be associated with low reflow phenomenon or the reduction of coronary vasodilatory reserve. However, it remains controversial whether a relationship between myocardial stunning and post-ischemic impairment of coronary flow reserve exists. With increased influx of calcium into myocardial cells precipitated by ischemia and reperfusion known to be involved not only in the progression of myocardial tissue damage but also in the pathogenesis of post-ischemic myocardial dysfunction and impaired coronary vasodilatory reserve, it has been hypothesized that calcium channel blockers exert protective effects on post-ischemic myocardial dysfunction and microvascular dysfunction. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker, on post-ischemic myocardial dysfunction and coronary vasodilatory reserve, vehicle or diltiazem was administered before brief coronary artery occlusion in open chest dogs. Peak coronary flow and myocardial contractile function were measured after intracoronary infusion of endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine and endothelium-independent vasodilator adenosine. The parameters measured before and after reperfusion in control dogs and diltiazem-treated dogs were compared. METHOD: Open chest dogs (n-17) underwent 20 minutes occlusion of left circumflex artery followed by reperfusion for 60 minutes:the subjects were divided into two groups (n-10 in control group and n-7 in diltiazem group). Diltiazem dogs received diltiazem (0.2 mg/kg) intravenuously 15 minutes before coronary occlusion. Control dogs received vehicle-a saline solution. Coronary blood flow was measured with electromagnetic flow probe. Coronary flow reserve was determined by peak coronary flow after intracoronary infusion of acetylcholine (ACH, 0.01ug/kg) and adenosine (ADE, 1.5 mg/kg):it was also determined by reactive hyperemia (RH) measured after coronary occlusion for 20 seconds at baseline and 30 and 60 minutes after reperfusion. Segmental left ventricular function was assessed by 2-D echocardiography at the level of mid-papillary muscle, and changes of left ventricular function was expressed as % change of myocardial thickening and % change of endocardial thickening. RESULTS: Peak coronary flow and minimal coronary vascular resistance with ACH, ADE and RH were maintained at 30 and 60 minutes after reperfusion in the diltiazem group, but those in the control group were significantly impaired. There was no difference in reduction of % change of peak flow with ACH in both groups (p-0.44), but the reduction of % change of peak flow with ADE was attenuated in the diltiazem group when compared with the control group (p-0.03) 60 minutes after reperfusion. Total myocardial thickening and endocardial wall motion at 30 and 60 minutes after reperfusion were significantly reduced than those assessed before coronary occlusion in both groups, but the endocardial wall motion was less depressed in the diltiazem group than that in the control group. There was no correlation between % change of peak flow in response to ACH and to ADE and % change of myocardial thickening:there was also no correlation between % change of endocardial wall motion in the control group and % change of myocardial thickening in the diltiazem group. There was however good correlation between % change of peak flow and % change of endocardial wall motion in the diltiazem group. CONCLUSION: The findings that changes in peak coronary flow and minimal coronary vascular resistance do not correlate with the change in myocardial contractile function in the dog model with reperfusion after 20 minutes coronary occlusion suggest that microvascular and myocardial stunning develop independent of each other. The protective effect of diltiazem on impaired coronary flow reserve and contractile dysfunction following reperfusion after brief ischemia also suggests that calcium overloading plays a role in the pathogenesis of microvascular stunning as well as myocardial stunning.
Acetylcholine ; Adenosine ; Animals ; Arteries ; Calcium ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; Calcium Channels ; Coronary Occlusion ; Coronary Vessels ; Diltiazem* ; Dogs* ; Echocardiography ; Hyperemia ; Ischemia ; Magnets ; Myocardial Stunning ; Reperfusion ; Sodium Chloride ; Thorax* ; Vascular Resistance ; Ventricular Function, Left