The abnormalities of left ventricular ejection patterns have been studied using echocardiography, contrast angiography, radionuclide angiography, and apex cardiography in patients with various heart disease. Recently it has been recognized that diastolic impairment may occur in the absence of abnormal systolic performance in hypertension, valvular heart disease, ischemic heart diseases, and cardiomyopathies. In order to identify whether diastolic dysfunction can develop without systolic dysfunction, we evaluated patterns of left ventricular filling and ejection by echocardiography in 10 chronic mitral regurgitations without pulmonary congestion symptom, who were confirmed by cardiac catheterization. Indices of left ventricular systolic function, including ejection fraction, fractional shortening, ejection rate, mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening, and preejection period/left ventricular ejection time revealed no significant difference in mitral regurgitation patients compared with normal control group. Diastolic parameters, including atrial emptying index,mean velocity of circumferential fiber lengthening, rapid filling period, and rapid filling velocity were changed significantly in mitral regurgitation. There were no significant alterations in blood pressure and heart rate between two groups. It is concluded that impaired diastolic performance may be frequently encountered in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation and intact systolic function.
Angiography ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Cardiomyopathies ; Echocardiography ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Rate ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Kinetocardiography ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Radionuclide Angiography ; Ventricular Function, Left*

Retrospective analysis of reoperation and complication was made for 186 patients with lumbar herniated disc. The results showed complication rate of 7%(13 cases) and reoperation rate of 10.2%(19 cases). The primary complications were infections(9 cases), technical errors(2 cases), and scores(2 cases). Rate of discitis was 1.6%(3 cases). The outcomes of reoperation resulted in excellent recovery of 16%(3 cases) and good recovery of 58%(11 cases). The most common intraoperative findings of reoperation were inadequate disectomy or missed disc fragments 31.6% or 6 cases;epidural fibrosis 26.3% or 5 cases;and new herniation at other level 15.8% or 3 cases. Excellent and good results could be achieved in patients operated within 1 month or more than 6 months after while the patients who underwent reoperation between 1 month and 6 months showed poor results. The delicate perioperative menagement and complete discectomy, adequate bleeding control and laminectomy were considered to be essential in reducing the chance of complication and reoperation.
Discitis ; Diskectomy ; Fibrosis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Laminectomy ; Reoperation* ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Bone Marrow* ; Granulocyte Precursor Cells*

Species in the genus Trametes (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) have been used in natural medicine for a long time. Many studies reported that mycelia or fruiting bodies of Trametes spp. exhibited effects of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities.However, comparative analysis in this genus is scarce due to limitation of morphological identification and the sample number. In this study, the 19 strains of seven Trametes species were chosen to generate a five-gene-based phylogeny with the 31 global references. In addition, 39 culture extracts were prepared for 13 strains to test for anticancer and antibacterial activities. Strong anticancer activities were found in several extracts from T. hirsuta and T. suaveolens. Anticancer activities of T. suaveolens, T. cf. junipericola and T. trogii were first described here. The antibacterial ability of T. versicolor and T. hirsuta extracts has been confirmed. The antibacterial activities of T. suaveolens have been reported at the first time in this study. These results suggest an efficient application of the genus Trametes as the drug resources especially for anticancer agents.

BACKGROUND: Activation of the RET proto-oncogene, located on the long arms of chromosome 10, contributes to the development of thyroid cancers in two different ways. Somatic rearrangements of RET with variable genes of activation are frequently found in papillary thyroid carcinomas. And Ggerm-line point mutations are responsible for the development of medullary thyroid carcinoma and the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2(MEN2). There are several conflicting reports on the influences of RET expression and RET/PTC rearrangements on the clinical outcome of thyroid cancer. Therefore, we performed an examination of RET expression and RET/PTC-1, -2, -3 rearrangements in papillary thyroid carcinomas and other thyroid diseases. METHODS: Twenty-six papillary thyroid carcinomas(PTCs), three follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs), one anaplastic thyroid carcinoma(ATC), five follicular adenomas(FAs), nineteen hyperplasias, and two normal thyroid tissues were included in this study. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry analysis were done to identify RET gene, RET/PTC rearrangements, and ret RET protein expression. RESULTS: By RT-PCR, 89.4% of PTCs, 100% of FTCs, and 62.1% of hyperplasias expressed the RET gene, but no RET was observed in ATCs, FAs, and normal thyroid tissues. RET/PTC-1, -2,-3 rearrangements were not detected in any specimens. Immunohistochemical results revealed that 76.9% of PTCs, 50% of FAs, 52.3% of hyperplasias, and 20.6% of normal thyroid tissues expressed the RET ret protein, but FTCs and ATCs did not. Most PTCs showed strong cytoplasmic positivity in RET ret immunostaining, but the positive non- PTCs expressed weak and membranous staining. Overall, the two methods for detecting RET gene, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry showed similar results. CONCLUSION: The RET gene was highly expressed in PTCs. In contrast to the previous reports of that theRET gene expression of RET gene is being limited to PTCs, RET was also expressed in hyperplasias, Fas, and normal thyroid tissues. However, the pattern and the degree of expression of the RET ret protein in non- PTCs were are different from those in PTCs.
Adenocarcinoma, Follicular ; Arm ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10 ; Cytoplasm ; Gene Expression ; Hyperplasia ; Immunohistochemistry ; Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia ; Point Mutation ; Proto-Oncogenes ; Thyroid Diseases* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms

No Abstract Available.
Korea* ; Mumps virus* ; Mumps*

BACKGROUND: The ablation of accessory pathways(APs) using radiofrequency(RF) energy has been establihed as a primary modality of treatment for atrioventricular reentranr tachycardia with probrn safety and high rate of success. However, the ablation of posteroseptal(PS) APs had been recognized as being more difficult to ablate than those in other location because of the complex three dimensional anatony of the posterior apace, and multifarious approaches have been proposed. We analyzed electrophysiologic characteristics and results of catheter ablation of 70 consecutive patients, who underwent RF ablation of PS APs with or without booster direct current(DC) shock. METHODS: Teh AP location was confirmed to be in the PS region, ablation was attepmted at the atrial aspect of the tricuspid annulus adjacent to the coronary sinus ostium, within the coronary sinus in couding middle cardiac vein, or underneath the mitral annulus close to the septum using retrograde transaortic approach if deemed necessory. A continuous, unmodulated sine wave radiofr-equency generator was used as the source of energy for ablation. The site was considered optimal for ablation when the electrogram obtained from the ablation catheter had one or more of the following characteristics : (1) short VA intervals with an A : V ratio of Atrioventricular Block ; Catheter Ablation ; Catheters ; Coronary Sinus ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Learning ; Pneumothorax ; Recurrence ; Shock ; Tachycardia ; Veins

We present two cases with dissecting aneurysm of intracranial vertebral artery. One of them had brain stem infarction and the other one developed subarachnoid hemorrhage. Cerebral angiogram revealed fusiform dilatation with proximal and distal narrowing of the affected vessel. Magnetic resonance imaging showed subacute blood clot inthe right vertebral artery which suggested dissection. Differentiation from vasospasm and from atherosclerosis is critical. At surgical exposure, the aneurysms were appeared as dark-purplish sausage like masses. The proximal portions of the intracranial vertebral arteries were clipped. The post-operative courses were benign and at present they regained their normal daily lives.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Dissecting* ; Atherosclerosis ; Brain Stem Infarctions ; Dilatation ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Vertebral Artery*

A case of multiple intradural schwannomas of the cauda equina is reported without evidence of any other manifestations of neurofibromtosis. The patient had symptoms of cauda equina compression. Following a diagnosis of multiple intradural tumors of the cauda equina, based on lumbar spine MRI with contrast enhancement, the tumors at the L1 body, L3 body, L3-L4 intervertebral space level were removed completely, involving two rootlets. After the operation, the patient is asymptomatic apart from left S3 dermatome hypesthesia.
Cauda Equina* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neurilemmoma* ; Neurofibromatoses* ; Spine

The authors have dealt with six cases of spontaneous intracranial vertebral artery dissection during the past 3 years. Most of the patients were in their fourth or fifth decade of life, and men predominated. All except one patient had severe antecedent headache and half of the 6 cases were hypertensive. The presenting clinical features were subarachnoid hemorrhage, Wallenberg's syndrome, brain stem RIND(reversible ischemic neurologic deficit) and cerebellar infarct. The locations of the dissection were right vertebral artery in four patients, right vertebral and basilar artery in one and left vertebral artery in another one. Most of the patients showed typical intramural hematoma or double lumen on the MRI. In the MR angiography, irregular segmental narrowing of vertebral artery or invisible pathologic vertebral artery were demonstrated. The angiographic findings included alternating irregular stenotic and dilated segment(pearl and string sign), aneurysmal dilatation, occlusion etc. four patients were treated medically while the other two were treated surgically by proximal vertebral artery clipping of the affected artery. Upon follow-up, the outcome were excellent in two, good in two and fair in two.
Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Basilar Artery ; Brain Stem ; Diagnosis* ; Dilatation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Headache ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Lateral Medullary Syndrome ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Vertebral Artery Dissection* ; Vertebral Artery*