PURPOSE: To compare the outcomes of indocyanine green (ICG) and triamcinolone (TA) assisted internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling during idiopathic macular hole surgery. METHODS: Fifty-four eyes of 54 patients with idiopathic macular hole underwent pars plana vitrectomy including peeling of the posterior cortical hyaloid and peeling of the internal limiting membrane. For enhanced visualization of ILM, ICG was used in 25 eyes and TA in the remaining 29 eyes. Postoperative visual acuity was measured and OCT was performed. RESULTS: Anatomical closure was achieved in 25 eyes (100%) in ICG group and 28 eyes (97%) in TA group, Best corrected visual acuity improvement by > or =2 lines was in 15 eyes (60%) in ICG group and 18 eyes (62%) in TA group. Postoperative visual improvement rates by > or =20/50 were 10 eyes (40%) in ICG group and 9 eyes (31%) in TA group. CONCLUSIONS: Peeling of the internal limiting membrane using triamcinolone and indocyanine green was safe and effective for anatomic and functional success in idiopathic macular hole surgery. Further studies of the toxicity of TA, ICG and the result of internal limiting membrane peeling is needed.
Humans ; Indocyanine Green* ; Membranes ; Retinal Perforations* ; Triamcinolone* ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy

Myotonic dystrophy is the most common systemic disease causing myotonia. We report the case of respiratory failure in a patient with myotonic dystrophy after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We carried out neurologic testing, electromyography and DNA testing in this patient and electromyography in the family of the patient. Through electromyography and DNA testing, this patient was diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy type I. Myotonic dystrophy is characterized by gradual decline of muscle tone and myotonia. It is important that this disease be excluded through preoperative history taking, physical examination and family history taking.
Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; DNA ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Muscles ; Myotonia ; Myotonic Dystrophy ; Physical Examination ; Respiratory Insufficiency

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) is a complicated procedure with a high incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Previous studies indicate that even transient or mild post-LT AKI can result in critical conditions, including prolonged stays in hospitals and intensive care units and increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and occurrence of AKI in LT recipients. METHODS: Medical data from 203 patients who received LT surgery from January 2010 to August 2016 in a single university hospital setting were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Patients were classified as either underweight (BMI <20 kg/m²) or normal weight (20 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m²). Demographic data, anesthetic methods, complications, and perioperative laboratory test values of each patient were assessed. Propensity analyses and logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between BMI and post-LT AKI. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in occurrence of post-LT AKI between underweight and normal weight patients. The underweight patient group had significantly longer hospital stay compared with the normal weight patient group (P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: BMI classification was neither a positive nor negative predictor of postoperative AKI occurrence. However, patients with lower BMI had significantly longer hospital stay compared with their counterparts. Although our study was limited by its retrospective design, our observations suggest that lower BMI might play a role in post-LT AKI.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Body Mass Index* ; Classification ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies* ; Thinness

PURPOSE: To assess macular function before and after vitrectomy and membrane removal in epiretinal membranes by means of multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG). METHODS: The mfERGs (RETIscan(R), Roland, Germany) of 28 consecutive patients (28 eyes) with idiopathic epiretinal membranes were recorded before epiretinal membrane surgery and 3 to 6 months after surgery. The average retinal response density and implicit time of each local response were estimated as anatomic macular areas corresponding roughly to 5 rings. Preoperative and postoperative responses of mfERG were compared. The correlation of the change of retinal response density and postoperative macular configuration on optical coherent tomography (OCT) was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The postoperative value of P1 amplitude and implicit time were not statistically correlated with the preoperative value (p>0.05). There were no significant correlations between the changes of rings 1 and 2 with regard to the retinal response density of the mfERGs and visual acuity. There was no significant correlation between the change of retinal response density and postoperative macular configuration according to OCT. CONCLUSIONS: The use of mfERGs does not seem useful for predicting clinical prognosis after epiretinal membrane surgery. Further studies of influence of internal limiting membrane removal on mfERG response should be conducted.
Epiretinal Membrane ; Humans ; Membranes ; Prognosis ; Retinaldehyde ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy

OBJECTIVES: Cord blood stem cells have been widely used as donor cells for bone marrow transplantation recently. These cells can give rise to a variety of hematopoietic lineages to repopulate the blood. Recent observations reveal that some bone marrow cells and bone marrow stromal cells(MSCs) can grow to become either neurons or glial cells. It is, however, unclear whether or not there exists stems cells which can differentiate into neurons in the blood during the early stages of postnatal life. METHODS: Human cord blood stem cells were prepared from human placenta after full term delivery. To induce neuronal differentiation of stem cells, beta-mercaptoethanol was treated. To confirm the neuro-glial characteristics of differentiated stem cells, immunocytochemical stain for NeuN, neurofilament, glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP), microtubule associated protein2(MAP2) was performed. RT-PCR was performed for detecting nestin mRNA and MAP2 mRNA. RESULTS: We showed in this experiment that neuro-glial markers(NeuN, neurofilament, MAP2, GFAP) were expressed and axon-like cytoplasmic processes are elaborated in the cultured human cord blood stem cells prepared from new born placenta after full term delivery. Nestin mRNA was also detected in fresh cord blood monocytes. Conclusions: These results suggest that human cord blood derived stem cells may be potential sources of neurons in early postnatal life.
Bone Marrow ; Bone Marrow Cells ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Cytoplasm ; Fetal Blood* ; Humans* ; Microtubules ; Monocytes ; Nestin ; Neural Stem Cells ; Neuroglia ; Neurons ; Placenta ; RNA, Messenger ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors ; Umbilical Cord*

This study was undertaken to investigate the characterization and distribution patterns of MHC class II positive dendritic cells[DCs] and ED2 positive tissue macrophages throughout the estrous cycle and during pregnancy in the rat ovary. The immunohistochemical characterization of the cells was carried out using the monoclonal antibodies OX6 and ED2 in cryostat-cut sections. DCs were distributed in the theca cell layer of the growing and mature follicles,stroma and corpus luteum. Tissue macrophages were distributed in the theca externa of the growing and mature follicles, stroma and corpus luteum but they were smaller in number than DCs. None of DC and tissue macrophage was found in the ovum, granulosa layer and follicular cavity of the ovarian follicle. However, DCs and tissue macrophages were present in the granulosa layer and follicular cavity in the atretic follicles. Degenerating corpus luteum contained a vast number of OX6 positive cells. On the contrary, fewer tissue macrophages were founcl in the degenerating corpus luteum. More macrophages tended to be observed in the former follicular cavity and theca lutein cell layer than in the granulosa lutein cell layer of the corpus luteum. In stroma,DCs and tissue macrophages were more frequently found around the blood vessels than in the other region, however, DCs were relatively greater in number than tissue macrophages. There was no estrous cycle and pregnancy dependent variation in the numbers and distribution patterns of DCs and tissue macrophages. In conclusion, the rat ovary contains rich networks of MHC class II positive dendritic cells and ED2 positive tissue macrophages. These findings suggest the existence of a well-developed system of immunological surveillance in the rat ovary. The results of this study have potentially important implications for the understanding not only of the ovarian immune system and the pathogenesis of various ovarian diseases but also of various physiologic functions of the ovary.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Blood Vessels ; Corpus Luteum ; Dendritic Cells* ; Estrous Cycle ; Female ; Immune System ; Immunologic Surveillance ; Luteal Cells ; Macrophages* ; Ovarian Diseases ; Ovarian Follicle ; Ovary* ; Ovum ; Pregnancy ; Rats* ; Theca Cells

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cisplatin* ; Ditiocarb* ; Epithelium* ; Mice* ; Tongue*

BACKGROUND: Maintenance of tracheal intubation is associated with use of sedatives, stress due to mechanical ventilation, or respiratory complications. The aim of this study is to compare the incidence of delirium between early and late extubation groups after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: Medical records from 247 patients who received LT from January 2010 to July 2017 in a single university hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided with 2 groups: Those who underwent early extubation after LT (E group, n = 52) and those who underwent extubation within few hours of intensive care unit (ICU) admission after surgery (C group, n = 195). The patients’ demographic data, perioperative managements and postoperative complications were collected. Early extubation was defined as performing extubation in the operating room after LT. A propensity score matching analysis was performed to reduce the effects of selection bias. RESULTS: Among them, 4/52 (7.69%) in E group and 30/195 (15.38%) in C group occurred postoperative delirium after LT, respectively (P = 0.180). After propensity score matching, there was no difference of the period of hospitalization in ICU (P = 0.961), time to discharge after surgery (P = 0.117) and incidence of delirium between groups (P = 1.000). CONCLUSIONS: Although this study is a retrospective study and limited by the small number of subjects, early extubation does not affect the incidence of delirium after LT. Therefore, further prospective studies on this were needed.
Airway Extubation ; Delirium ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Operating Rooms ; Postoperative Complications ; Propensity Score ; Prospective Studies ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retrospective Studies ; Selection Bias

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) is a complicated procedure with a high incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Previous studies indicate that even transient or mild post-LT AKI can result in critical conditions, including prolonged stays in hospitals and intensive care units and increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and occurrence of AKI in LT recipients. METHODS: Medical data from 203 patients who received LT surgery from January 2010 to August 2016 in a single university hospital setting were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Patients were classified as either underweight (BMI <20 kg/m²) or normal weight (20 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m²). Demographic data, anesthetic methods, complications, and perioperative laboratory test values of each patient were assessed. Propensity analyses and logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between BMI and post-LT AKI. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in occurrence of post-LT AKI between underweight and normal weight patients. The underweight patient group had significantly longer hospital stay compared with the normal weight patient group (P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: BMI classification was neither a positive nor negative predictor of postoperative AKI occurrence. However, patients with lower BMI had significantly longer hospital stay compared with their counterparts. Although our study was limited by its retrospective design, our observations suggest that lower BMI might play a role in post-LT AKI.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Body Mass Index ; Classification ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Thinness

The authors analyzed 52 cases of spinal cord tumor who had been operated upon at the department of neurosurgery of the Koryo General Hospital from 1983 to 1992. The results were summerized as followings: 1) The spinal cord tumor was most common in the 6th decade of age(52 cases, 28.8%) and the ratio of male to female was 1.26:1. 2) The pathologic diagnosis was neurogenic tumor in 25 cases(48.1%), metastatic tumor in 12 cases(23.1%), glial tumor in 6 cases(11.5%), and meningeal tumor in 3 case(5.7%) in order frequency. 3) The tumors were located most frequently in the thoracic area(19 cases, 36.5%) and in the intradural extramedullary space(28 cases, 53.9%). 4) The most common initial presentation was pain(27 cases, 51.9%) and on admission 14 cases(26.9%) showed paraparesis. 5) The rate of abnormality of the plain radiologic study was 59.6% and the most common positive finding was the pedicle erosion(15 cases, 28.8%). 6) The computed tomographic scanning with water soluble contrast media was useful in planning of operation to provide the exact relationship between the tumor, spinal cord and location of dura. 7) The total removal was possible in 27 cases(51.9%). 8) The follow-up results after 19.4 months of the mean follow-up duration in 46 cases were recovery in 29 cases(63.0%), improvement in 12 cases(26.0%), stationary state in 3 cases(6.5%), worse in 2 cases(4.3%). It was excellent particulary in cases of intradural-extramedullary tumor. 9) The incidence of metastatic tumor was 23.1%(12 cases) and the lung was most common primary focus. The follow-up result of metastatic tumor was poor than the other tumors.
Contrast Media ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung ; Male ; Meningeal Neoplasms ; Neurosurgery ; Paraparesis ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms* ; Spinal Cord*