OBJECTIVES: Some emotional components, such as self-esteem, depression and anxiety, have been reported to be associated with paranoia in non-clinical population and schizophrenia patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between self-esteem and paranoia in healthy controls, in ultra-high risk for psychosis and schizophrenia patients. METHODS: 34 subjects with recent onset schizophrenia, 36 subjects with ultra-high risk for psychosis, and 44 healthy volunteers participated in this study. A detailed assessment was made of the paranoia, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. RESULTS: In all three groups, there were a negative correlation between paranoia and self-esteem, and positive correlations between paranoia and depression and anxiety. In healthy control, lower self-esteem showed a trend to predict higher paranoia, and in ultra-high risk for psychosis, this trend tern on statistically significant level, and in recent onset schizophrenia group, this correlation was disappeared. CONCLUSION: The individual who have lower self-esteem showed higher paranoia tendency under delusional level, but after formation of persecutory delusion, the tendency was disappeared. This result supports the hypothesis that persecutory delusions are a defense against negative affective process.
Animals ; Anxiety ; Charadriiformes ; Delusions ; Depression ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Paranoid Disorders* ; Psychotic Disorders* ; Schizophrenia*

Uterine arteriovenous malformations are very rare but potentially life-threatening lesions. These lesions may be congenital or acquired, but especially in patients with a history of infection, curettage, abortion, pelvic surgery or cancer. Ultimate treatment depends on the patients desire for fertility. Embolization therapy is effective method in reproductive age patients of. We have experienced two clinical cases of arteriovenous malformation of uterus, which is presented with a brief review of literature.
Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Curettage ; Fertility ; Humans ; Uterus*

Infectious sacroiliitis is an uncommon disease and the diagnosis is very difficult due to unawareness of the disease. The predisposing conditions to the disease are pelvic trauma, respiratory or genitourinary infection, skin infection, pregnancy, endocarditis, intravenous drug abuser and recent dental manipulation. The clinical characteristics of the disease are fever, leukocytosis, pain and tenderness of buttock, gait disturbance and positive result of blood culture and imaging study of sacroiliac joint. To our knowledge, the acupuncture induced infectious sacroiliitis with bacteremia is one of the rarely reported cases. We have recently experienced a case of infectious sacroiliitis as a very unusual complication of the acupuncture. In this case, increased signal intensity in the SI joint was found in the MRI, and focal hot uptake in SI joint was observed in bone scan. Staphyolococcus areus were cultured in the blood sample. Under the diagnosis of infectious sacroiliitis with bacteremia, the antibiotics was administered, and the clinical symptoms and laboratory findings were completely improved. This case report emphasizes that an acupuncture is a predisposing factor of the infectious sacroiliitis with bacteremia.
Acupuncture ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteremia ; Buttocks ; Causality ; Diagnosis ; Drug Users ; Endocarditis ; Fever ; Gait ; Humans ; Joints ; Leukocytosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pregnancy ; Sacroiliac Joint ; Sacroiliitis* ; Skin

PURPOSE: We observed new bone formation following the transplantation of allogenic periosteum-derived stem cells and different sizes of hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffold materials into rabbit long-bone defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two white rabbits were grouped according to the material transplanted into their tibial bone defects: group 1 (microscale HA only); group 2 (nanoscale HA only); group 3 (microscale HA plus stem cells); and group 4 (nanoscale HA plus stem cells). Viscosity was controlled by the relative amounts of HA and agar. After surgery, radiologic, microscopic, and biochemical observations were performed weekly for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Nanoscale HA (groups 2 and 4) provided better bone formation than microscale HA (groups 1 and 3). The rabbits that had been transplanted with nanoscale HA plus stem cells (group 4) had more homogeneous bone formation during the natural repair process than the other groups. CONCLUSION: Further study is required using nanoscale HA plus organic substance and stem cells, which are more similar to human bone structure, for better bone formation.
Agar ; Durapatite ; Humans ; Osteogenesis ; Rabbits ; Stem Cells ; Transplants ; Viscosity

Mucormycosis is a rare, invasive fungal infection that progresses aggressively and requires prompt surgery and appropriate treatment. The number of cases of mucormycosis in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients has recently increased, and patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus are particularly at an elevated risk of infection. This report presents a case of mucormycosis-related osteomyelitis of the maxilla in a 37-year-old man with diabetes mellitus. The patient complained of severe and persistent pain in the right maxilla, accompanied by increased tooth mobility and headache. On contrast-enhanced computed tomographic images, gas-forming osteomyelitis of the right maxilla was observed. Destruction of the maxilla and palatine bone then proceeded aggressively. Sequestrectomy was performed on the right maxilla, and the histopathological diagnosis was mucormycosis. Further investigation after the first operation revealed the patient's history of COVID-19 infection.

A 36-year-old primivida, at 29 weeks of pregnancy with no smoking history, was admitted to the hospital complaining of cough for 3 days. Chest X-rays revealed atelectasis of the right upper lobe, and a transbronchial lung biopsy confirmed primary lung adenocarcinoma. After consulting with obstetricians and neonatologists, we wanted to deliver the child and treat the mother with chemoradiotherapy. But as she was adamantly opposed to treatment until fetal lung maturation was complete, we planned to delay the birth until 34 weeks, deliver the baby by caesarian section, and then treat the mother. However, maternal hypoxia and fetal distress resulted in an emergency delivery at 30 weeks. After delivery, we treated the mother's brain metastases with radiation therapy and systemic cisplatin-pemetrexed, but she deteriorated and expired 95 days after the diagnosis. Lung cancer during pregnancy is a rare disease and raises many medical and ethical issues in deciding the best course of therapy. We describe our clinical approach and review the potentially challenging features of managing a pregnant patient with lung cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adult ; Anoxia ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Child ; Cough ; Emergencies ; Fetal Distress ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mothers ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Rare Diseases ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thorax

PURPOSE: Though their clinical effectiveness of intra-arterial thrombolytic treatment has been proven, there is still some controversy in the choice of baseline imaging study for selecting particular hyper acute stroke patients who would benefit from thrombolysis from among patients with hyper acute stroke. In spite of their excellent resolution MR images has limitations for use in a baseline study because of their cost. The purpose of this study was to assess which baseline study, CT image or diffusion-weighted image, was more beneficial in evaluating hyper acute stroke patients who might particularly benefit from intra-arterial thrombolysis of the middle cerebral artery occlusion. METHODS: We divided the patients into two groups: those for whom CT was used for the initial imaging modality and those for whom MRI was used. We compared in-hospital time delay and the disadvantage of time consumed in evaluating of patients between the two groups. Baseline and 24-hour follow-up CT or MR scans of patients treated with intra-arterial thrombolysis were retrospectively scored by using the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS). RESULTS: The analysis included 64 patients with angiographically confirmed middle cerebral artery occlusion. Although there was significant time delay in obtaining a MR diffusion weighted image (130.20+/-71.63 min) compared to a CT scan (73.64+/-28.99 min) (p<0.001), there were no significant clinical loss scored by using National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) (p=0.676) and no significant difference in the prognosis estimated by using the modified Rankin scale (p= 0.162). Diffusion weighted images showed significantly higher ASPECT score (p=0.028) in the good prognosis group, and the ROC curve revealed the diffusion weighted images to be better indication for intra-arterial thrombolysis. CONCLUSION: According to our results, MR diffusion weighted images were more useful than CT scans for predicting the outcome of intra-arterial thrombolytic treatment. Our results suggest MR diffusion weighted images can replace CT scans for baseline imaging studies for hyperacute stroke patients.
Alberta ; Diffusion ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Stroke* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the biological response of alkali- and heat-treated titanium-8tantalum-3niobium surfaces by cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity analysis. METHODS: Commercial pure titanium (group cp-Ti) and alkali- and heat-treated titanium-8tantalum-3niobium (group AHT) disks were prepared. The surface properties were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersed spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The surface roughness was evaluated by atomic force microscopy and a profilometer. The contact angle and surface energy were also analyzed. The biological response of fetal rat calvarial cells on group AHT was assessed by cell proliferation and ALP activity. RESULTS: Group AHT showed a flake-like morphology microprofile and dense structure. XPS analysis of group AHT showed an increased amount of oxygen in the basic hydroxyl residue of titanium hydroxide groups compared with group cp-Ti. The surface roughness (Ra) measured by a profilometer showed no significant difference (P>0.05). Group AHT showed a lower contact angle and higher surface energy than group cp-Ti. Cell proliferation on group AHT surfaces was significantly higher than on group cp-Ti surfaces (P<0.05). In comparison to group cp-Ti, group AHT enhanced ALP activity (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that group AHT stimulates osteoblast differentiation.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Alloys ; Animals ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Proliferation ; Microscopy, Atomic Force ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Osteoblasts ; Oxygen ; Photoelectron Spectroscopy ; Rats ; Spectrum Analysis ; Surface Properties ; Titanium

PURPOSE: Multiple trauma is one of the major causes of deaths and physical disabilities of the young. Thus, a trauma scoring system which is easy, fast, and accurate is the most important factor for reducing the mortality due to multiple trauma. As studies have shows the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score is useful in estimating the severity of and determining the prognosis of the disease, so we investigated the usefulness of the SIRS score as a trauma score. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of data collected from January 2002 to December 2002. Three hundred sixity nine trauma patients who were admitted to the emergency department were included. Patients who were transferred from other hospitals, children under the age of 15 years and patients transferred to other hospitals for ICU care and emergency operations were excluded. The SIRS score was defined according to the criteria of the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (ACCP/SCCM). Patients were grouped by using the SIRS score(0 to 4) calculated at admission. RESULTS: Among the 369 trauma patients, 174 patients (47.2%) had a SIRS score > or =2 at admission, and 30 of the 369 patients expired. The admission SIRS score was significantly correlated with the injury severity score (ISS). The mortality rate and the length of stay (LOS) significantly increased as the admission SIRS score increased. Analysis of the variance, adjusting for age and ISS, should that are SIRS score> or =2 was a significant predictor of mortality and LOS. CONCLUSION: The admission SIRS score has been shown to be useful in estimating the severity of and the prognosis for a trauma. If we apply it to the trauma patients who visit ED, it should provide a more useful means for determining the severity of the trauma and the prognosis for the patient.
Cause of Death ; Child ; Critical Care ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Multiple Trauma ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome* ; Thorax

Promoter CpG island hypermethylation has become recognized as an important mechanism for inactivating tumor suppressor genes or tumor-related genes in human cancers of various tissues. Gene inactivation in association with promoter CpG island hypermethylation has been reported to be four times more frequent than genetic changes in human colorectal cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma is also one of the human cancer types in which aberrant promoter CpG island hypermethylation is frequently found. However, the number of genes identified to date as hypermethylated for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is fewer than that for colorectal cancer or gastric cancer, which can be attributed to fewer attempts to perform genome-wide methylation profiling for HCC. In the present study, we used bead-array technology and coupled methylation-specific PCR to identify new genes showing cancer-specific methylation in HCC. Twenty-four new genes have been identified as hypermethylated at their promoter CpG island loci in a cancer-specific manner. Of these, TNFRSF10C, HOXA9, NPY, and IRF5 were frequently hypermethylated in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue samples and their methylation was found to be closely associated with inactivation of gene expression. Further study will be required to elucidate the clinicopathological implications of these newly found DNA methylation markers in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic/therapeutic use ; Azacitidine/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy/*genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; CpG Islands ; *DNA Methylation ; GPI-Linked Proteins/genetics ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Homeodomain Proteins/genetics ; Humans ; Interferon Regulatory Factors/genetics ; Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy/*genetics ; Neuropeptide Y/genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Tumor Necrosis Factor Decoy Receptors/genetics