OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate whether maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin(hCG) level measured during second trimester could be used as a predictor of pregnancy-induced hypertension. METHODS: Between March 1996 and November l997, 505 pregnant women undergoing second trimester(14-22 weeks of amenorrhea) triple marker screening for neural tube defect and Down syndrome who delivered at our institution were reviewed. All samples were assayed in the same laboratory and medical records were reviewed about medical and obstetrical history. RESULTS: Maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin level(multiples of the median, MoM) was significantly higher in the pregnancy-induced hypertension group than in the control group. With the use of 2. l multiples of the median as a cutoff value, the sensitivity of human chorionic gonadotropin as a screening marker for development of pregnancy-induced hypertension was 38.7%, the specificity was 95.9%, positive predictive value was 38.7% and negative predictive value was 95.9%. Conlusion: We suggest that second trimester maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin levels can be used clinically as an early predictive marker for pregnancy-induced hypertension.
Chorion ; Chorionic Gonadotropin* ; Down Syndrome ; Female ; Humans ; Humans* ; Hypertension* ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Mass Screening ; Medical Records ; Neural Tube Defects ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Sensitivity and Specificity

No abstract available.
Peptic Ulcer*

No abstract available.

Porokeratosis may be due to an abnormal clone of cells, predisposing affected individusls to development of malignant neoplssm over involved area. A 58-year old female is prsented with basal cell epithelioma associated with PPPD, exhibiting the classical histopathologic criteria of the disease. Total excision for basal cell epithelioma and oral administration of etretinate for the treatment of porokeratosis plantaris, palmaris et disseminata and for the prevention of cancer developrnent resulted in good response.
Acitretin ; Administration, Oral ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Clone Cells ; Etretinate ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Porokeratosis*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Mass Screening* ; Postpartum Period* ; Thyroid Gland*

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Life Style*

"Optic neuritis", described first by Nettleship in 1884, is the general term used to describe involvement of the optic nerve as the result of inflammation, demyelination, or infection. The majority or patients with optic neuritis are between the ages of 20 and 50 years, and the major symptom in most cases is sudden visual loss. It would appear that when optic neuritis occurs in childhood, it is more commonly bilateral and associated with disc swelling. In the majority of cases, the visual prognosis and eventual prognosis with regard to the development of multiple sclerosis is much better than in adult optic neuritis. The authors experienced a case of bilateral optic neuritis in a 14-year-old girl whose visual acuity progressed to no light perception with eventual visual recovery after treatment with steroid and mannitol. A brief review of literature is described.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Mannitol ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Optic Nerve ; Optic Neuritis* ; Prognosis ; Visual Acuity

"Optic neuritis", described first by Nettleship in 1884, is the general term used to describe involvement of the optic nerve as the result of inflammation, demyelination, or infection. The majority or patients with optic neuritis are between the ages of 20 and 50 years, and the major symptom in most cases is sudden visual loss. It would appear that when optic neuritis occurs in childhood, it is more commonly bilateral and associated with disc swelling. In the majority of cases, the visual prognosis and eventual prognosis with regard to the development of multiple sclerosis is much better than in adult optic neuritis. The authors experienced a case of bilateral optic neuritis in a 14-year-old girl whose visual acuity progressed to no light perception with eventual visual recovery after treatment with steroid and mannitol. A brief review of literature is described.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Mannitol ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Optic Nerve ; Optic Neuritis* ; Prognosis ; Visual Acuity

We evaluated the effect of the pregnane X receptor agonist, pregnenolone 16 alpha-carbonitrile (PCN) on the expression levels of plasma monoamine transporter (PMAT) in the intestine. Male C57/BL6 mice were divided into two 2 groups: mice in the PCN group (n=3) were administered PCN once a day for 4 days, while those in the control group (n=3) received the same volume of vehicle once a day for 4 days. After the mice were killed 24 h after administration of the last dose of PCN or vehicle, and the expression levels of PMAT in the intestine tissues were isolated and measured the expression level of PMAT using immunohistochemical and western blotting analyses. The expression level of PMAT expression levels in the small intestine increased after PCN treatment. These results suggest that the induction of PMAT may play a clinically significant role by increasing intestinal absorption of PMAT substrates such as metformin.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Membrane* ; Humans ; Intestinal Absorption ; Intestine, Small ; Intestines ; Male ; Metformin ; Mice ; Plasma ; Pregnenolone Carbonitrile

No abstract available.
Hypertension