Pulmonary carcinosarcoma(Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung) is a rare pulmonary malignancy, which is defined as having an admixtture of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components. Pulmonary carcinosarcoma occurs most frequentlly in males between 50 and 80 years of age. It predominantly affects the upper lobe and/or the principal bronchi, and is associated with a history of smoking. Here, we report a case of pulmonary carcinosarcoma with a left lobe atelectasis due to an endobronchial mass in a 56-year-old male. After a left pneumonectomy, the pathologic stage was IIb (T3N0M0). Four months later, an abdominal mass was observed and exploratory laparotomy revealed metastases of the pulmonary carcinosarcoma to the pelvic cavity.
Bronchi ; Carcinosarcoma* ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pneumonectomy* ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Smoke ; Smoking

No abstract available.
Myocardial Infarction ; Obesity

No abstract available.
Heart* ; Thoracic Surgery* ; Thyroid Gland*

PURPOSE: It is very important to obtain vascular access that resists repeated punctures and maintains an adequate blood flow for performing hemodialysis in patients with end stage renal disease. This study was designed to identify the risk factors that may influence the early patency rate of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs). METHOD: We analyzed 304 cases of AVFs in 299 patients who underwent hemodialysis access surgery in our hospital from January 2000 to March 2007. The rate of early access failure and the risk factors of early access patency were evaluated retrospectively. RESULT: The rate of early access failure of an AVF was 14.5%. The early access failure group showed a higher incidence in women and in the patients with a previous history of ipsilateral central venous catheterization. Further examination by multivariate analysis demonstrated that a history of ipsilateral central venous catheterization was an independent risk factor for early access failure of AVFs. CONCLUSION: A history of ipsilateral central venous catheterization was an independent risk factor for early access failure of AVFs in this study.
Arteriovenous Fistula ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Central Venous Catheters ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Multivariate Analysis ; Punctures ; Renal Dialysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

The measurements of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP), when taken together with conventional clinical assessment, may assist in making the prognosis and also for making serial adjustment of such treatment. But although such commercial assays are currently approved for the diagnosis of heart failure, the role of the natriuretic peptides for monitoring the success of congestive heart failure (CHF) therapy has not as yet been submitted for regulatory approval. Moreover, because of the intra-individual biologic variation of the BNP or because of multiple factors that affect the BNP levels, the magnitude of the change of BNP levels must be large to confidently interpret BNP changes within an individual, and just how large has not been determined. Yet the levels of plasma BNP and NT-pro BNP are well correlated with the concurrent haemodynamic measurements and indicators of left ventricular systolic function. Also, BNP and NT-pro BNP serve as significant prognostic information and it is possible that adjustment of anti-heart failure therapy according to serial measurements of BNP (in addition to the standard clinical assessment) may offer improved outcomes. Better understanding of the test characteristics is needed before we can effectively use this valuable test to guide therapeutic strategies.
Diagnosis ; Heart Failure* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain* ; Natriuretic Peptides ; Plasma ; Prognosis

We report a familial case of visceral larva migrans of Toxocara canis after eating raw chicken liver. A 9-year-old female ate raw chicken liver with her father and older brother and was admitted to the hospital with periumbilical pain, a mild fever, and headache. The total peripheral eosinophil count was 9,884/mm3 and the total lgE concentration was 2,317 IU/dL. Chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans demonstrated multiple, poorly-defined, small, nodular lesions scattered in the liver and lung parenchyma. Toxocara ELISA and Western blot tests were positive in the patient, and her father and brother. A liver biopsy revealed extensive eosinophilic infiltrations in the portal and lobular areas. She took albendazole for 5 days and was discharged in good condition. These results suggest that clinicians should consider foodborne toxocariasis in patients with multiple, small nodules in the liver and lung parenchyma with eosinophilia and a history of raw meat ingestion.
Albendazole ; Biopsy ; Blotting, Western ; Chickens ; Child ; Eating ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Fathers ; Female ; Fever ; Headache ; Humans ; Larva Migrans, Visceral ; Liver ; Lung ; Meat ; Siblings ; Thorax ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocariasis

PURPOSE: To report the dynamic nature of human optical aberrations in the scotopic condition. METHODS: A total of 20 eyes who were candidates for laser vision correction were included in the present study. Repeated wavefront data were obtained using WavescanTM (AMO/VISX). From the wavefront analysis data, the sphere, astigmatism, average pupil size, spherical aberration, coma and trefoil were selected and used to investigate any correlation among the parameters. RESULTS: The sphere, spherical aberration, coma and pupil size showed a dynamic change in the scotopic condition. The spherical aberration and pupil size decreased by the amount of 0.10 +/- 0.04 microm and 0.55 +/- 0.37 mm as the sphere changed 1 D in myopic direction. There was significant positive correlation between the sphere and spherical aberration in 13 eyes of 9 patients (65%), between the sphere and pupil size in 5 eyes of 4 patients (25%), and between the sphere and coma in 3 eyes of 3 patients (15%). The spherical aberration decreased significantly in 4 eyes of 4 patients (20%) as the pupil size decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The optical aberration of human eyes showed a dynamic nature in the scotopic condition. In particular, there was significant correlation between the sphere and spherical aberration. The observed correlations have the potential to be used as helpful indicators to select the optimal wavefront data for the laser vision correction.
Astigmatism ; Coma ; Eye ; Humans ; Lotus ; Pupil ; Vision, Ocular

Embryonic stem cells can be differentiated into various types of cells, requiring a tight regulation of transcription. Biomarkers related to each lineage of cells are used to guide the differentiation into neural or any other fates. In previous experiments, we reported the guided differentiation (GD)-specific genes by comparing profiles of random differentiation (RD). Interestingly 68% of differentially expressed genes in GD overlap with that of RD, which makes it difficult for us to separate the lineages by examining several markers. In this paper, we design a prediction model to identify the differentiation into neural fates from any other lineage. From the profiles of 11,376 genes, 203 differentially expressed genes between neural and random differentiation were selected by random variance T-test with 95% confidence and 5% false discovery rate. Based on support vector machine algorithm, we could select 79 marker genes from the 203 informative genes to construct the optimal prediction model. Here we propose a prediction model for the prediction of neural fates from random differentiation which is constructed with a perfect accuracy.
Embryonic Stem Cells ; Stem Cells ; Support Vector Machine ; Biomarkers

OBJECTIVES: Rodenticide Vacor causes a severe peripheral neuropathy in humans. Electrophysiologic studies on a peripheral motor nerve-skeletal system of Vacor-treated rat showed decreased amplitude of muscle action potential without conduction velocity abnormalities. The ultrastructural studies of the neuromuscular junction were performed to clarify the anatomic site of the Vacor-induced peripheral neuropathy in male Wistar rats. METHODS: After oral administration of a single dose of Vacor, 80 mg/kg of body weight, to the experimental animals, neuromuscular junctions within the interosseous muscles of the hind foot were observed in time. RESULTS: No axon terminal change was noted until 24 hours after the administration of Vacor. Remarkable loss of presynaptic vesicles and swollen endoplasmic reticulum in the axon terminal were developed at 3 days after Vacor treatment. Progressive degenerative changes consisting of marked loss of presynaptic vesicles, focal disruption of membrane in the axon terminal with disappearance of the number of the damaged axon terminal appeared, and flattening of postsynaptic folds was also seen. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that degenerative changes in axon terminal at neuromuscular junction may contribute to the peripheral neuropathy developed in the early phase of Vacor poisoning.
Animal ; Diabetic Neuropathies/physiopathology ; Diabetic Neuropathies/pathology* ; Diabetic Neuropathies/chemically induced* ; Human ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Neuromuscular Junction/ultrastructure ; Neuromuscular Junction/physiopathology ; Neuromuscular Junction/drug effects ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/pathology ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced ; Phenylurea Compounds/toxicity* ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Rodenticides/toxicity*

Acinetobacter species encounters frequently with clinical specimens and now accounts for a substantial proportion of endemic nosocomial infections in Korea. Recent trends indicate that the antimicrobial resistant strains of Acinetobacter species are increasing. Sixty-one strains were isolated from specimens of patients suspected of nosocomial infections during 1991 to 1996. At present, phenotypic identification of Acinetobacter using biochemical test may not be reliable and resulted in the difficulty to clarify the source of infections and epidemiological study of hospital-acquired infections. Aware of the importance of rational taxonomic proposal for these isolates, correct species identification of these organisms by molecular typing method was carried out. A total of fifty-four strains of A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii complex species which were identified to genospecies 2 and 13 by biochemical characteristics was subjected to identify by ribotyping using restriction endonuclease EcoRI, ClaI, and SalI. Of fifty-four strains, twenty-five strains were identified as A. baumannii (genospecies 2) and twenty-one strains as genospecies 13, and six strains changed to genospecies 3, and the rest two strains were confirmed as A. haemolyticus (genospecies 4). This result suggests that the ribotyping may be of value for identification of genospecies and epidemiological information of Acinetobacter strains.
Acinetobacter baumannii* ; Acinetobacter calcoaceticus* ; Acinetobacter* ; Cross Infection ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; Humans ; Korea ; Molecular Typing ; Ribotyping*