Controversy persists regarding the abnormality of the bone metabolism in various bone diseases. Osteocalcin, the vitamin K-dependent protein synthesized in bone, has been shown to be a specific and sensitive marker of bone turnover in metabolic bone diseases. The author measured the serum osteocalcin level using newly developed radioimmunoassay (RIA) in the patients with osteogenesis imperfecta, metastatic bone tumor, postmenopausal osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, which can be the causes of osteoporosis, and ankylosing spondylitis. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the value of the osteocalcin measurement comparing the each data of disease group with the normal control group. The results were as followings ; 1. The mean of osteocalcin in normal Korean was 4.43±1.04 ng/ml. (4.45±1.08 ng/ml in male, 4.41±1.01 ng/ml in female). The difference between male and female was not significant statistically. 2. The osteocalcin of osteogenesis imperfects was 9.14±2.21 ng/ml, which was significant statistically, And it was thought to be the result of increasing bone turnover rate and the osteocalcin was useful as biochemical marker. 3. In metastatic bone tumor, osteocalcin was under the normal level in both untreated and treated groups, which meant low bone turnover rate or low osteoblastic activity. Osteocalcin was not a useful marker for the assessment of the effect of treatment in this study, but if the radioimmunoassay was done in the same tumor group, a valuable results could be expected. 4. Osteocalcin level in the patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis was not different with normal control group and osteocalcin was not useful marker for the evaluation of the degree of osteoporosis and bone turnover. 5. Osteocalcin didn't play a role in the pathologic ossification of ankylosing spondylitis. In conclusion, the osteocalcin by radioimmunoassay can be used as a biochemical marker in metabolic bone diseases and metastatic cancer for the disgnosis and the assessment of prognosis or the effect of treatment.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Biomarkers ; Bone Diseases ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Bone Remodeling ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolism ; Ossification, Heterotopic ; Osteoblasts ; Osteocalcin ; Osteogenesis ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; Prognosis ; Radioimmunoassay ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; Vitamins

To search the effective antisense oligonucleotide that inhibit the growth of Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), six kinds of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (S-ODNs) were synthesized and the antiviral activity was assessed by measuring cytopathic effect in Vero cells infected with HSV-1. Of the three dodecamer S-ODNs, cornplernentary to the translation initiation site of IE2 (AS2) and scrambled S-ODN (AS1) showed more significant antiherpetic activity than AS4 complementary to the IE4. Accordingly, the antiviral effect of dodecamer S-ODN was not specific. In contrast to the no inhibitory effect of sense strand S-ODN of ICP8 (AS6), two S-ODNs complementary to the translation initiation site of ICP8 (AS3) and that of IE1 (AS5) showed potent antiherpetic activity assessed in vitro HSV-1 virus yield assay. Antiherpetic effect of AS3 was decreased in proportion to the addition of AS6. The synthesis of viral protein ICPS and IE1 were inhibited in AS3 and AS5 treated HSV-1 infected Vero cells, respectively. These findings suggest that antiherpetic effect of AS3 is specifically mediated by targeting ICPS. S-ODNs had no effect on Vero cell viability. The data suggest that the 19-mer S-ODNs may be effective in antiviral chemotherapy.
Drug Therapy ; Herpes Simplex* ; Herpesvirus 1, Human ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; Phosphorothioate Oligonucleotides* ; Simplexvirus* ; Vero Cells

Iatrogenic damage of the rotator cuff followed by postoperative shoulder function loss is a potential complication after antegrade intramedullary nailing (AIN) for a humeral fracture. The authors present a case of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and subacromial decompression of a non-healed rotator cuff tendon (mainly supraspinatus) and secondary impingement syndrome caused either by the tear or a proud nail after AIN for a mid-shaft humeral fracture. At presentation, the patient complained of right shoulder pain and 'snapping', especially during forward elevation and abduction of the shoulder, of 4 years duration. Right shoulder pain started sometime after pain due to the humeral shaft fracture, operation had subsided, and persisted after nail removal. Arthroscopic findings showed a longitudinal rotator cuff tear at the nail entry point that had not healed and severe fibrous hypertrophy on the acromion underspace, which is a unique finding since most longitudinal splits of tendon fibers are more likely to heal than conventional rotator cuff tears detached from bone. The torn rotator cuff was repaired after debridement and placing side-to-side sutures. At his 34-month follow-up after rotator cuff repair, the patient showed complete recovery and had excellent clinical scores.
Acromion ; Arthroscopy ; Debridement ; Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary* ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; Hypertrophy ; Rotator Cuff ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Pain ; Sutures ; Tendons

The knee joint is one of the most susceptable joint to ligamentous injury. For good results, it is very important to make an early diagnosis and to give prompt management. The aim of treatment is to restore the ligaments to their previous anatomic position and tension. The authors reviewed 420 cases of ligamentous injuries in 400 patients who were admitted and managed for 6 years from March, 1981 to February, 1987. The results were as follows : 1. The athletic injury was the most commcn cause of injury(55%), and fall-down was next(26%). 2. The most common ruptured individual ligament was the medial collateral ligament. Combined ligament rupture was more common in medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament. 3. The ruptured sites of the individual ligament were found to be the following ; a) the medial collateral ligament was ruptured most frequently at the femoral attachment(43%), with the superficial layer ruptured in the midsubstance and the deep layer at the femoral attachment; b) the lateral collateral ligament torn at the fibular attachment(51%); c) the anterior cruciate ligament torn at the femoral attachment(39%); d) the posterior cruciate ligament torn at the femoral attachment(64%). 4. Many ligamentous injuries were associated with fracture(44%) and tear of meniscus- (42%). 5. In stress-radiogram, the significance of ligament injuries was present in more than 10 and 10 mm. 6. Excellent and good results were obtained in 94% by non-surgical treatment and in 92% by surgical treatment. 7. Early surgical repair of the ligament within 2 weeks after injury, gave much better result than later repairs.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Athletic Injuries ; Clinical Study ; Collateral Ligaments ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee Joint ; Knee ; Lateral Ligament, Ankle ; Ligaments ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; Rupture ; Tears

In the standing lateral position, the pelvis is tilted in some degree anteroinferiorly. But there was no accurate and standard measurement about the pelvis tilting. The pelvis tilting affects on the lumbar lordosis, weight bearing area of the hip joint, and the anteversion of acetabulum. In the standing true lateral view of the pelvis, 5 points were marked: midpoint of both anterosuperior iliac spines (M), upper margin of symphysis pubis (S), lower margin of symphysis pubis(S), sacral promontorium (SP), coccyx tip (C). And using the additional horizontal plane (H), we measured the 4 angles : angle I ( < MSH), angle II ( < SPSH), angle III(
Acetabulum ; Adult ; Animals ; Coccyx ; Hip Joint ; Humans ; Lordosis ; Pelvis ; Pubic Bone ; Spine ; Weight-Bearing

The main problem in peripheral nerve repair is adhesion, axonal escape, and the ingrowth of extraneurial tissue into the wound. Meticulous microsurgical neurorrhaphy is one of possible answer for these problem. Shielding of nerve suture is another attractive practice. But the results are still unpredictable. We compared the results of nerve repair between microsurgical epineurial neurorrhaphy plus silastic cuff shielding group and epineurial neurorrhaphy group in the sciatic nerve of white rat. The reasults we obtained are as follows; 1. Silastic cuff shielding method was effective for reducing abnormal neurial growth and neuroma formation into the surrounding soft tissue. 2. Some adhesion was formed over the silastic cuff, but there was no adhesion at the inner space of the cuff. 3. Silastic cuff could prevent fibrous tissue ingrowth into the nerve. 4. The slit of the silastic cuff provided vascular ingrowth between surrounding connective tissue and nerve tissue. 5. No evidence of foreign body reaction was observed in and out of the silastic cuff. 6. Nerve conduction test showed a little supperior results in the silastic cuff shielding group. Silastic cuff shielding method in nerve suture might be recommanded to prevent axonal escape, fibrous scar tissue ingrowth to the nerve, and fibrous adhesion in clinical practice. But, it seemed that the final evaluation of the functional recovery of the nerve needed long term follow-up and nerve conduction study.
Animals ; Axons ; Cicatrix ; Connective Tissue ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Methods ; Nerve Tissue ; Neural Conduction ; Neuroma ; Peripheral Nerves ; Rats ; Sciatic Nerve ; Sutures ; United Nations ; Wounds and Injuries

Ovarian cysts in the newborn are uncormnon. Fetal ovarian cysts are being diagnosed with inaeasing fiequency with development of obstetrical sonography. Most of these cysts are found within the first few months of life and have no clinical significance. But, a large ovarian cyst would be founded antenatally with sonography. A large ovarian cyst can cause life-theatening complications during parturition and in the neonatal period. We have experienced a case of fetal ovarian cyst in a 32-year-old primiparous woman with antenatal sonography and report our experience with a brief review of literatures.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Ovarian Cysts* ; Parturition ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the reproducibility of the quantitative assessment of segmental wall motion and systolic thickening provided by an automatic quantitation algorithm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tc-99m-MIBI gated myocardial SPECT with dipyridamole stress was performed in 31 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (4 with single, 6 with two, 11 with triple vessel disease; ejection fraction 51+/-14%) twice consecutively in the same position. Myocardium was divided into 20 segments. Segmental wall motion and systolic thickening were calculated and expressed in mm and % increase respectively, using AutoQUANTTM software. The reproducibility of this quantitative measurement of wall motion and thickening was tested. RESULTS: Correlations between repeated measurements on consecutive gated SPECT were excellent for wall motion (r=0.95) and systolic thickening (r=0.88). On Bland-Altman analysis, two standard deviation was 2 mm for repeated measurement of segmental wall motion, and 20% for that of systolic thickening. The weighted kappa values of repeated measurements were 0.807 for wall motion and 0.708 for systolic thickening. Sex, perfusion, or segmental location had no influence on reproducibility. CONCLUSION: Segmental wall motion and systolic thickening quantified using AutoQUANTTM software on gated myocardial SPECT offers good reproducibility and is significantly different when the change is more than 2 mm for wall motion and more than 20% for systolic thickening.
Coronary Artery Disease ; Dipyridamole ; Humans ; Myocardium ; Perfusion ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma is characterized by immature lymphoid cells that are indistinguishable from the lymphoblasts and prolymphocytes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Several characteristic clinical features of lymphoblastic lymphoma, with include a high male-to-female ratio, a relatively high incidence in older children and young adults, the frequent presence of mediastinal involvement at the time of diagnosis. Also, this disease is rapidly progressive, and early dissemination to the bone marrow, blood, and central nervous system leads to the evolution of a picture resembling a acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We have experienced a rare case of congenital T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in which 1/365 year old female newborn had generalized multiple irregular protruding mass on her body. On bone marrow biopsy, CSF analysis, ultrasonogram and whole body MRI studies. We found metastasized tumor mass to, orbit, abdominal cavity, bulva, skin, and lower extremities. Histopathologically, specimen from mass on the right thigh showed diffuse infiltration of poorly differentiated and immature lymphoid cells in the skelectal muscle and subcutaneous soft tissue. By immunophenotyping studies using anti T cell and B cell monoclonal antibody, these cells were reactive with UCHL-1, MB2, but unreactive with MB1, L26. Based on these findings, the lesion was diagnosed as lymphoblastic lymphoma of the T-cell type, which occurred congenitally. Most T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma are noted, but congenital case was not reported. So we report it with a brief review of literature.
Abdominal Cavity ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Central Nervous System ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Lower Extremity ; Lymphocytes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Orbit ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes ; Thigh ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of non-nutritive sucking (NNS) on the oxygen saturation level and behavioral state of preterm infants during tube feeding. METHODS: This study was performed prospectively in the NICU, Chonbuk National University Hopspital from November, 2004 through April, 2005. Preterm infants of gestational age 28 to 37 weeks, who had neither major congenital defects interfering feeding nor respiratory difficulty needing ventilatory support, were included. A total of 64 subjects were divided randomly into the control group (n=32), and the non-nutritive sucking (NNS) group (n=32). The patients in each group were tested for changes in oxygen saturation and behavioral state at 3 different times; 2 minutes before, during, and 2 minutes after feeding. RESULTS: The oxygen saturation of the NNS group increased during feeding and gradually decreased after feeding while the control group decreased during feeding and increased slightly after feeding (P<0.001). During feeding, the "quiet awake" state was observed more frequently in the NNS group and the "crying" state was observed more frequently in the control group. During the post-feeding assessment, the "sleep" state was more frequent in the NNS group and the "crying" state was more frequent in the control group. CONCLUSION: The infants in the NNS group showed significantly higher oxygen saturation level and they were less fussy during tube feeding and slept better after feeding.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Enteral Nutrition* ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Jeollabuk-do ; Oxygen* ; Prospective Studies