OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the fetal doppler flow velocimetry and birth weight in low risk pregnancy population. METHODS: From December 1995 to May 1996, We prospectively performed doppler study in 254 uncomplicated, term pregnant women, who visited Pohang Hospital, Dongguk University. Using pulsed color doppler, we measured umbilical artery RI, middle cerebral artery RI and middle cerebral-umbilical artery RI ratio within one week before delivery. RESULTS: The result was that low birth weight group (below 2500gm) had very significant lationship with umbilical artery RI(P<0.01), middle cerebral artery RI(P<0.05) and middle cerebral-umbilical artery RI ratio(P<0.05), but there was no significant relationship in these blood flow indices between normal birth weight group (2501gm- 3999gm) and macrosomia group (above 4000gm). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that application of doppler ultrasonopaphy in the assessment of fetal weight is somewhat helpful for identification of low birth weight, not for macrosomia.
Arteries ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Fetal Weight* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prospective Studies ; Rheology ; Ultrasonography* ; Umbilical Arteries

Mayer-Rokitansky-Kster-Hauser Syndrome is characterized by the absence of the vagina and uterus, the presence of apparently normal tubes and ovaries, feminine appeara-nce, normal female secondary sexual characteristics, a normal 46,XX karyotype, and a fem-inine psychosexual orientation. Various methods of surgical treatment have been introduced, but the ideal method is still not found. The two cases reviewed in this paper were all treated with McIndoe operation using full thickness skin graft. Both women were satisfied with vaginal depth and excellent result was achieved. We report two vaginoplasties in patients of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kster-Hauser Syndr- ome including a brief review of literature.
Female ; Humans ; Karyotype ; Ovary ; Skin ; Transplants ; Uterus ; Vagina

BACKGROUND: Recently, UVB irradiation was found to activate AP-1, which is known to be a major enhancer factor of the collagenase gene. However, tbe effect of UVA irradiation on the activity of AP 1 in derrnal fibroblasts is unclear. Although all trans-retinoic acid(tRA) has been known to prevent. the AP 1 and collagenase stimulatory effect of UVB irradiation, the effect of tRA and ursolic acid(UsA) on the enhancement of AP-1 activity hy UVA irradiation is unknown. OBJECTIVE: In this stuc y, the effect of UVA irradiation on the AP-1 activity in cultured human dermal fibroblasts was studied. The effect. of tRA and UsA on the enhancement of AP-1 activity by UVA irradiation was also investigated. METHODS: Confluent human dermal fibroblasts were irradiated with 15J/cm of UVA. Drugs were administered and kept in a culture rnedia for 12 hrs before or immediately after UVA irra diation. Nuclear protein extracts were isolated 12 hrs after UVA irradiation and were subjected to gel retardation assay ising oligolabeled DNA probe for AP l binding site. RESULTS: 1. The activity of AP-1 was increased by UVA irradiation and prominent activation was detected at 6 and 12 hrs postirradiation. 2. Compared to the UVA irradiated group, tRA and the high concentration(10(-5)M) of UsA administered before or al ter UVA irradiation inhibited the increase of AP-1 activity. CONCLUSION: These res ilts suggest that UVA irradiation enhance the AP-1 activity, which is known to be a major er hancer factor of the collagenase gene, and tRA and UsA downregulate the 1JVA induced AP-l activity enhancement.
Binding Sites ; Collagenases ; DNA ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Fibroblasts* ; Humans* ; Nuclear Proteins ; Transcription Factor AP-1* ; Tretinoin*

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between ST segment elevation during exercise testing and coronary artery disease. METHODS: Treadmill exercise electrocardiography and coronary angiography were performed in 137 patients with angina with no Q waves. The J point elevation of > 0.03mV(0.3mm) measured from baseline, the elevation of ST segment at 80msec. from J point(ST80) measured larger in lead V1than in aV1, or both the elevation of ST segment at J point and at ST80 developed earlier than or concomitantly with ST depression were considered as abnormal responses. RESULTS: 1) There was no clinical significance of ST elevation in lead aV1. 2) Exercise-induced ST elevation in lead V1occurred in 29 of 137 patients with angina. 3) Abnormal St elevation in V1was detected in 26 of 86 patients with coronary artery disease, for a specificity of 98%. The patients with left anterior descending coronary artery or left main coronary artery stenosis were observed in 3 of 5(60%) patients with single-vessel disease, in 7 of 9(79%) with two-vessel disease, and in 9 of 10(90%) with three-vessel disease. 4) The standard ST depression yielded a specificity of 55% in the patients with isolated or predominant ST depression in inferior leads(II. III, and aVF) and of 81% in the patients with isolated or predominat ST depressin in precordial leads(p<0.001). 5) Abnormal exercise-induced ST elevation in V1was detected in 13 of 39(33%) patients with isolated or predominat ST depression in inferior leads and yielded a specificity of 94% for coronary artery disease. CONCLUSION: Abnormal ST segment elevation in V1may increase the specificity in isolated or predominat ST segment depression in inferior leads and may predict left anterior descending or left main coronary artery disease.
Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Stenosis ; Coronary Vessels* ; Depression ; Electrocardiography ; Exercise Test* ; Hexamethonium ; Humans ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Activity of the enteric nervous system (ENS) is controlled by the autonomic nerves under the normal physiological condition, even though ENS has been regarded to be independent from the central nervous system. However, the relation between myenteric neurons and vagus nerves has not been fully clarified. For the defining of topographical and functional relationship between these two nervous systems, we analyzed how many myenteric neurons are activated after electrical vagal stimulation in the rat. Bilateral cervical vagi were electrically stimulated (10 V, 5 msec, 40 Hz) for a duration of 30 minutes, and then each part of the small intestine was obtained. Fos, as a functional marker for neuronal activation, immunohistochemistry was used for the detection of vagally activated myenteric neurons. Total number of myenteric neurons was obtained using cuprolinic blue stained samples, and was calculated as 12,819+/-1,514, 14,261+/-1,452, 15,411+/-2,380 per unit area (1 cm2) in duodenum, jejunum and ileum, respectively. Fos-positive myenteric neurons were scarcely observed in the normal control group. After the electrical vagal stimulation, Fos-immunoreactive (IR) neurons were detected as 31+/-17%, 17+/-9%, 16+/-10% of total number of myenteric neurons in duodenum, jejunum and ileum, respectively. These data demonstrate that only some (16~31%) of myenteric neurons are regulated by vagal efferent input, and the duodenum receives much more vagal input functionally than other distal regions. Furthermore, these findings can be applied to trials defining the functional circuit of the myenteric nervous system linked to the vagus nerves, since Fos-positive nuclei can be easily double-labeled with various neurotransmitters existing in the myenteric neurons.
Animals ; Autonomic Pathways ; Central Nervous System ; Duodenum ; Enteric Nervous System ; Ileum ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intestine, Small* ; Jejunum ; Myenteric Plexus* ; Nervous System ; Neurons* ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Rats* ; Vagus Nerve

Until 1972, many carcinoid tumors of the thymus were not recognized as distinct lesions and were mistakenly labeled as variants of thymomas. Thymic carcinoid tumors are unusual neoplasms that show different morphological, functional, and behavioral characteristics than those of thymomas. We report a case of a 65-year-old woman with thymic carcinoid tumor. The cinicopathological findings are discussed with a review of the literature.
Aged ; Carcinoid Tumor* ; Female ; Humans ; Thymoma ; Thymus Gland

BACKGROUND: CD44 is a cell surface adhesion molecule which has been implicated in various biologic functions as lymphocyte homing and activation, cellular migration and extracellular matrix adhesion. Over-expression of CD44v8- 10 has been found in several cancers and is considered to be associated with tumor progression and metastasis. Recently, a novel molecular method, CD44v8- 10/CD44v10 competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) has been developed for detecting cancer cells over-expressing CD44v8-10. METHODS: We analyzed from benign and malignant pleural effusion and ascites by CD44 competitive RT-PCR and compared to the conventional cytology. RESULTS: The CD44 competitive RT-PCR analysis showed that all the 24 samples associated with benign disease presented a predominant expression of the CD44v10 transcript (v8-10/v10 ratio: 0.126-0.948), whereas 6 of 7 malignant pleural samples associated with cytology positive cancer expressed the CD44v8-10 transcript (v8-10/v10 ratio > 1.00). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that CD44 competitive RT-PCR assay is a useful and adjunct to cytological examination in cancer diagnosis, especially in detecting exfoliated cancer cells in pleural effusion.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antigens, CD44/analysis* ; Ascites/pathology* ; Ascites/immunology* ; Base Sequence ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/pathology ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/immunology ; Comparative Study ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/pathology ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/immunology ; Human ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology ; Lung Neoplasms/chemistry ; Male ; Middle Age ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant/pathology* ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant/chemistry* ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

It has been reported that there are racial differences in the vertebral level of termination of the spinal cord (VLTS) in fetuses. However, the precise analysis about the differences has not been established because the definition of the termination of the spinal cord used in comparing the VLTS was different from one another. The purpose of this study is to measure the VLTS, the length of the spinal cord and vertebral column in Korean fetuses, and to compare the VLTS with that of other nations or races according to the different definitions of the termination of the spinal cord. Two points were considered to measure the length and vertebral level of the spinal cord: One point was where the lowest spinal nerve root emerges (termination of the spinal cord I, SCT I), and the other was the point at which the tapering of the conus medullaris suddenly stops, and after which the diameter remains about the same (termination of the spinal cord II, SCT II). Materials used for this study were 115 normal Korean fetuses ranging from 13th to 37th weeks after the onset of the last normal menstrual period (LNMP). The fetuses were subdivided into 7 groups by gestational age and crownrump length (CRL), respectively. The results were obtained as follows. 1. All lengths of the vertebral column (VCL), spinal cord (SCL) and dura mater (DML) increased with the increase in fetal age, but the rate was somewhat different from one another. Especially, the increase rate of SCL was lowered at 6th month of gestation (Group III). Recession lengths of the two terminations of the spinal cord were also greatest in Group III and the ratio of SCL to VCL was also decreased greatly in Group III. These findings indicate that the relative growth rate of the spinal cord to the vertebral column is lowest during the 6th month, and as a result, the spinal cord ascends most rapidly during this stage of development. The number of cases after 8th month was so few that we could not make any conclusion. 2. With the increase in fetal age, vertebral level and range of the termination of the spinal cord and the dura mater increased gradually. In comparison of our results with others, we confirmed that the vertebral level of the termination of the spinal cord in Korean fetus is similar to that of Saudi Arabian, but is somewhat higher than that of the English, North Indian and South Indian. 3. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female in all measurements except for a very few ones.
Continental Population Groups ; Conus Snail ; Dura Mater ; Female ; Fetus* ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Spinal Cord* ; Spinal Nerve Roots ; Spine

Angiosarcoma is a malignant vascular neoplasm that usually involves the skin or soft tissues. A primary rectal angiosarcoma is exceedingly rare. A 77-year-old female was admitted to the hospital for evaluation of constipation and hematochezia. The patient had a history of uterine cervix carcinoma which was treated with surgery and radiation therapy. A colonoscopy revealed a friable, ulceroinfiltrative tumor with multiple hyperemic mucosae in the rectum. Microscopically, the tumor exhibited vasoformative growth with nuclear atypism and numerous mitoses. The tumor cells were strongly positive for CD31, CD34, and Factor VIII. We report a case of rectal angiosarcoma that developed after radiation therapy.
Aged ; Cervix Uteri ; Colonoscopy ; Constipation ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Humans ; Mitosis ; Mucous Membrane ; Rectum ; Skin ; Vascular Neoplasms

Angiosarcoma is a malignant vascular neoplasm that usually involves the skin or soft tissues. A primary rectal angiosarcoma is exceedingly rare. A 77-year-old female was admitted to the hospital for evaluation of constipation and hematochezia. The patient had a history of uterine cervix carcinoma which was treated with surgery and radiation therapy. A colonoscopy revealed a friable, ulceroinfiltrative tumor with multiple hyperemic mucosae in the rectum. Microscopically, the tumor exhibited vasoformative growth with nuclear atypism and numerous mitoses. The tumor cells were strongly positive for CD31, CD34, and Factor VIII. We report a case of rectal angiosarcoma that developed after radiation therapy.
Aged ; Cervix Uteri ; Colonoscopy ; Constipation ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Humans ; Mitosis ; Mucous Membrane ; Rectum ; Skin ; Vascular Neoplasms