No abstract available.
Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal*

The search for tumor-avid agents for use in nuclear medicine imaging is an ongoing field of importance. The purpose of this study was to determine the affinity for radiolabeled vitamin B12 by a wide histologic variety of tumor types in mice. Seventeen different types of tumor were grown subcutaneously in female Balb/C or Balb nu/nu(nude) mice. When the tumors reached about 1 cm in diameter, mice were injected intraperitoneally with 57Co-vitamin B12. Twenty-foul hours later, the mice were sacrificed. Organs and tissues were removed, weighed, and activity per mg determined by gamma counter. Values represented cpm/mg tissue that was normalized to 20 grams body weight for each mouse. A wide variety of tumor types showed significant uptake and concentration of 57Co-vitamin B12, as evidenced by tumor:tissue activity ratios. For many tissues of great importance in terms of background(bone, muscle, blood), the tumor:tissue activity ratios of uptake were high. These data strongly suggest that further efforts to evaluate the utility of radiolabeled adducts of vitamin B12 for clinical use in oncologic imaging are warranted.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Female ; Humans ; Mice* ; Nuclear Medicine ; Vitamin B 12

A 63-year-old male who had subtotal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer three months ago underwent Tc-99m bone scintigraphy for the evaluation of skeletal metastases. He had no symptoms such as fever, tenderness, or wound discharge. On physical examination, the surgical scar along the midline of the upper abdomen had keloid formation and there was no radiographic evidence of calcification. Bone scintigraphy (Fig. 1A & 1B) demonstrated an unusual linear increased uptake along the midline of the upper abdomen that corresponded to the skin incision for subtotal gastrectomy. Usually, an incisional scar will not be visualized in Tc-99m methylene diphosphate (MDP) scintigraphy beyond two weeks after surgery.1) Upon reviewing the literature, there were only a few reports where localization of Tc-99m MDP in surgical scars were found two months after surgery.2) It was also reported that a few cases with Tc-99m MDP uptake in the keloid scar developed after surgery. Although there are several potential mechanisms that may explain the uptake of Tc-99m MDP in scar tissue, the primary mechanism in older scars is suggested to be a result of pathological calcification.2) Siddiqui et al3) suggested it could be due to microscopic calcification in small resolving hematomas. However, the primary mechanism in keloid scar is not well-known. We should obtain oblique or lateral views to differentiate the uptake in healing surgical scars from the artifactual uptake.
Abdomen ; Cicatrix ; Fever ; Gastrectomy* ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Keloid* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Physical Examination ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Skin ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate* ; Wounds and Injuries

A 60-year-old male with carcinoma of the prostate and cerebral infarction underwent a Tc-99m MDP bone scintigraphy for the evaluation of skeletal metastases. Bone scintigraphy (Fig. 1) showed multiple areas of increased uptake of Tc-99m MDP in the skull, spine, and ribs representing skeletal metastases. Two different patterns of uptake occurred in the skull region (Fig. 1A-C); one represents bony metastasis and the other represents cerebral infarction. The shape, size, location, intensity, and border of the increased uptake differed between the two lesions. An oval-shaped pattern with smaller size, greater intensity and more sharply defined border in the frontal region was consistent with bony metastasis. A rectangular-shaped pattern with larger size, lesser intensity and relatively indistinct border in the temporo-parieto-occipital region was consistent with cerebral infarction. Increased uptake of bone-seeking radiotracers in cerebral infarction has been reported previously.1-4) A suggested mechanism by which bone-seeking radiotracers accumulate in the necrotizing cerebral tissue is an alteration of the blood-brain barrier induced during cerebral infarction, which results in entry of the radiotracers into the extracellular space of the brain.4) Brain CT (Fig. 2) performed 7 days before and one month after the bone scintigraphy revealed lesions on the right temporo-parieto-occipital region consistent with acute hemorrhagic and chronic cerebral infarction, respectively.
Blood-Brain Barrier ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Extracellular Space ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prostate ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Ribs ; Skull ; Spine ; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate*

No abstract available.
Edema* ; Hydrops Fetalis*

No abstract available.
Carotid Artery, Internal ; Carotid Artery, Internal, Dissection ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta

Recently we have experienced two cases of the morning glory syndrome which is an uncommon congenital anomaly of optic nerve head. Visual evoked potentials and fluorescein angiographic findings are described. The visual evoked potentials elicited with bright flashes and patterns revealed delayed latencies and subnormal amplitudes. The amplitude of the traces probably depends on the severity of the involvement of the optic nerve. Also, the possible macular abnormalities and the strabismic or anisometropic amblyopia developing in morning glory syndrome may contribute to the abnormal finding of visual evoked potentials.
Amblyopia ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Fluorescein ; Optic Disk ; Optic Nerve

Previous studies have demonstrated that enalapril and verapamil seem to attenuate the cyclosporine nephrotoxicity. However, the mechanisms have not been completely understood, especially on molecular events. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of individual or combined treatment on osteopontin, TGF-beta, endothelin-1 and procollagen alpha 1(I) mRNA expressions. Enalapril (50 mg/L in drinking water) and verapamil (0.5 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously), alone or in combination, were administered to rats with chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity (cyclosporine, 25 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously) (n = 5 each). Five rats treated with olive oil vehicle were used as control. After 4 weeks, biochemical parameters were measured, and renal cortical mRNA levels were evaluated by Northern blot analysis. Cyclosporine reduced renal creatinine clearance significantly and induced renal cortical osteopontin, TGF-beta, endothelin-1 and procollagen alpha 1(I) gene expressions around 13.5 +/- 1.3, 2.4 +/- 0.2, 1.5 +/- 0.1, 1.9 +/- 0.1 folds, respectively. Individual treatment with enalapril or verapamil significantly suppressed the osteopontin and TGF-beta mRNA expression, but not endothelin-1 and procollagen alpha 1(I). Combined treatment also inhibited the osteopontin and TGF-beta mRNA expression but there was no difference between combined and individual treatment. In conclusion, enalapril or verapamil significantly blunted the cyclosporine-induced osteopontin and TGF-beta gene expressions. However, combined treatment did not show any additive effect.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Animal ; Calcium Channel Blockers/therapeutic use* ; Cyclosporine/adverse effects ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Enalapril/therapeutic use* ; Enalapril/administration & dosage ; Endothelin-1/metabolism ; Endothelin-1/genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects ; Immunosuppressive Agents/adverse effects ; Kidney Cortex/metabolism ; Male ; Nephritis/drug therapy* ; Nephritis/chemically induced ; Procollagen/metabolism ; Procollagen/genetics ; RNA, Messenger/analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sialoglycoproteins/metabolism ; Sialoglycoproteins/genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/genetics ; Verapamil/therapeutic use* ; Verapamil/administration & dosage

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the annual visit days, the annual prescription days and the medical costs of hypertensive patients. METHODS: The medical insurance records of 40,267 incident patients with the diagnostic code of hypertension from September 1998 through August 1999 in Daegu city were reviewed. RESUJLTS: The proportion of the most proper medical care pattern group (Group VIII) who visited for 6-15 days with 240 prescription days or more a year was only 6.2%. The proper care group (Group IX) who visited for more than 16 days with 240 prescription days or more a year was 9.3%. The overall proper care group (Group VIII+IX) was therefore 15.5%. The proportion of the insufficient care group (Group I,IV) in both the number of visiting days and prescription days was 57.4%. The mean prescription day of the most proper group (Group VIII) was 29 days; the mean annual medical expenses, 453,587won; the mean annual amount paid by patients, 218,013won; and mean medical expenses per prescription day, 1,483won. The proportion of the overall proper care group (Group VIII+IX) was significantly higher in adults aged 50-59, those who were enrolled in industrial workers health insurance as well as government employees and private school teachers health insurance, and those who made a higher contribution per month (p<0.01). According to the type of medical facilities, the proportion of the most proper medical care pattern group was highest in the general hospitals (9.3%) but the overall proper care group was higher in the public health centers (22.1%) and private clinics (17.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The management system of hypertension should be reinforced urgently. Therefore, it is necessary to develop guidelines including the number of visiting days per year and prescription days per visit day, and make the system provide medical facilities to more properly care for hypertensive patients.
Adult ; Ambulatory Care ; Daegu ; Direct Service Costs ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Prescriptions* ; Public Health

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the annual visit days, the annual prescription days and the medical costs of hypertensive patients. METHODS: The medical insurance records of 40,267 incident patients with the diagnostic code of hypertension from September 1998 through August 1999 in Daegu city were reviewed. RESUJLTS: The proportion of the most proper medical care pattern group (Group VIII) who visited for 6-15 days with 240 prescription days or more a year was only 6.2%. The proper care group (Group IX) who visited for more than 16 days with 240 prescription days or more a year was 9.3%. The overall proper care group (Group VIII+IX) was therefore 15.5%. The proportion of the insufficient care group (Group I,IV) in both the number of visiting days and prescription days was 57.4%. The mean prescription day of the most proper group (Group VIII) was 29 days; the mean annual medical expenses, 453,587won; the mean annual amount paid by patients, 218,013won; and mean medical expenses per prescription day, 1,483won. The proportion of the overall proper care group (Group VIII+IX) was significantly higher in adults aged 50-59, those who were enrolled in industrial workers health insurance as well as government employees and private school teachers health insurance, and those who made a higher contribution per month (p<0.01). According to the type of medical facilities, the proportion of the most proper medical care pattern group was highest in the general hospitals (9.3%) but the overall proper care group was higher in the public health centers (22.1%) and private clinics (17.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The management system of hypertension should be reinforced urgently. Therefore, it is necessary to develop guidelines including the number of visiting days per year and prescription days per visit day, and make the system provide medical facilities to more properly care for hypertensive patients.
Adult ; Ambulatory Care ; Daegu ; Direct Service Costs ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Prescriptions* ; Public Health