No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Biological Factors

No abstract available.
Animals* ; Clone Cells*

An experimental study of the tensile bonding strength of acrylic bone cement was carried out by using the tubular bones of 12 mongolian dogs. Following observations were made: 1. The later the cementing stage, the weaker was the tensile bonding strength of bone cement. 2. When saline or synovial fluid was interposed between the contact surfaces of the recipient bone and the cement, the tensile bonding strength of bone cement decreased by more than 50% of that when the bonding surface was dry. 3. When the bonded bone was stored in Hartmans solution, the tensile bonding strength of bone cement was reduced to 15–25% of the strength when stored in air.
Animals ; Dogs ; Polymethyl Methacrylate ; Synovial Fluid

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy is a very rare and poorly recognized disease in children. This study is performed to describe the clinical course and to define potential predictors of outcome. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed the medical records and diagnostic studies of 11 consecutive patients during the period from Jan.1991 to Aug. 2000. RESULTS: The age at diagnosis was 1.2-13 years (median 7 years) and the duration of follow up was 3-90 months (median 3.6 years). All except one were symptomatic (dyspnea in ten, chest pain in four). The chest pain was associated with significant ST depression on both resting and exercise ECG, suggesting myocardial ischemia. Two had complete heart block as either initial or terminal event. Cardiac catheterization was done in nine ( mean pulmonary arterial wedge pressure 23+/-6mmHg, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure 47+/-14mmHg, mean right atrial pressure 11+/-9mmHg). Echocardiographic dimensional ratio of left atrium and aorta (LA/Ao) was 2.41+/-0.58. Mitral E/A inflow ratio was 2.72+/-1.42, E wave deceleration time was 93.6+/-44.2ms. During follow up, six died. The 2 year and 5 year cumulative survival rates were 54.5% and 18.8% respectively. The predictor for nonsurvivor were pulmonary venous congestion and LA/Ao >2.5(p<0.05). Verapamil was tried in 6 cases without favorable effect in all. CONCLUSION: Considerable numbers of restrictive cardiomyopathy have myocardial ischemia associated with ST depression and chest pain. The patients with pulmonary venous congestion and severe left atrial enlargement (LA/Ao>2.5) were at risk for death, requiring prompt definitive treatment such as cardiac transplantation.
Aorta ; Arterial Pressure ; Atrial Pressure ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Cardiomyopathy, Restrictive* ; Chest Pain ; Child* ; Deceleration ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria ; Heart Block ; Heart Transplantation ; Humans ; Hyperemia ; Medical Records ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Pulmonary Wedge Pressure ; Survival Rate ; Verapamil

No abstract available.
Posterior Cruciate Ligament*

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult*

PURPOSE: We have examined the utility of 99mTc-MAG3 perfusion indices for assessing renal graft function in early post-transplantation period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included 80 renal transplant recipients (48 men and 32 women, mean age: 40.3 years). Diagnosis was based on biopsy, laboratory data and clinical course. Renal scintigraphy (RS) was obtained using 100 MBq of 99mTc-MAG3 from 11 days to 23 days of kidney transplantation. We measured 5 indices in whole-kidney (WK) and cortical (C) renograms; Hilson's perfusion index (PI), transplant perfusion index (TP) and transplant function index (TF) as perfusion parameter, and the time to peak activity (Tmax) and the ratio of renal counts at 20 min to that at 3 min (K20/3) as functional parameter. RESULTS: The diagnoses at the day of RS were normal graft (NG) in 44, acute rejection (AR) in 14, acute tubular necrosis (ATN) in 10, and Cyclosporine A nephrotoxicity (CsA) in 12. TP and TF were significantly decreased in AR, ATN and CsA, compared to those in NG. K20/3 of AR and ATN were significantly greater than that of NG. WK-Tmax of AR was significantly longer than that of NG. K20/3 of AR and C-K20/3 of ATN were significantly prolonged relative to those of CsA. There were no statistically significant perfusion indices among complication groups. CONCLUSION: TP and TF reflecting microperfusion and initial tubular extraction are reliable in assessing graft function. However, it is required to correlate perfusion indices with functional indices and clinical course in differentiating from one another among complication groups.
Biopsy ; Cyclosporine ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Necrosis ; Perfusion* ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Technetium Tc 99m Mertiatide* ; Transplantation ; Transplants

No abstract available.
Erythema Infectiosum*

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder characterized by recurrent cessation of breathing due to complete or partial upper airway occlusion during sleep. The incompetent tone of palatal, pharngeal, and glossal muscles which fail to maintain airway patency during sleep causes narrowing of the airway dimension and increased resistance of breathing. The identification of the sites of upper airway obstruction in patients with OSA is important in understanding the pathogenesis and deciding the treatment modality of snoring and/or OSA. Various upper airway imaging modalities have been used to assess upper airway size and precise localization of the sites of upper airway obstruction during sleep. Dynamic imaging modalities enabled assessment of dimensional changes in the upper airway during respiration and sleep. This article focused on reviews of various upper airway imaging modalities, especially dynamic upper airway imaging studies providing important information on the pathogenesis of OSA.
Airway Obstruction ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Humans ; Muscles ; Respiration ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* ; Snoring

No abstract available.
Lipoma* ; Lipomatosis, Multiple Symmetrical*