DNA isolated from human tumor cells can induce malignant transfarmation of tissue culture cells. The DNA is then called an oncogene. Its protein produets have been detected in animal and human tumors and are considered to play a significant role in carcinogenesis. In order to evaluate whether the oncogenes are involved in development of tumors of epidermis and whether they could be used as tumor markers, immunoperoxidase staining was performed for the ras product in sections of squamous cell carcinoma, Bowen's disease, actinic keratosis, keratoacanthoma and seborrheic keratosis. Three cases of sgamous cell carcinoma showed 10~20 positive cells per high power field(HPF). Three cases of Bowen's disease revealed 1-9 positive cells per HPF, whereas the actinic keratosis 1~9 or no positive cells per 10 HPF in all three cases. The keratoacanthoma and seborrheic keratosis showed 1~9 or no positive cells in all observed cases. The positive staining was observed in the cytoplasm. The increasing positivity in parallel with the increase of malignant potential strongly suggests that the ras oncogene is closely related to development of epidermal malignancy and also point out the possibility of ras as a cancer marker.
Animals ; Bowen's Disease ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cytoplasm ; DNA ; Epidermis* ; Genes, ras* ; Humans ; Keratoacanthoma ; Keratosis, Actinic ; Keratosis, Seborrheic ; Oncogenes ; Biomarkers, Tumor

OBJECTIVE: We report here on two cases of pseudoaneurysms that were diagnosed using computed tomographic angiography (CTA), with one arising in the superficial temporal artery and the other arising in the occipital artery. METHODS: Case 1: A 29-year-old man presented with a slow growing, pulsatile mass on the left side of his forehead following a blow from a fist 10 days earlier. CTA revealed an 11 x 8 x 11-mm oval pseudoaneurysm arising from the frontal branch of the left superficial temporal artery. Case 2 : A 36-year-old man presented with a pulsatile mass in the right suboccipital region that had been present for the past year. He had no history of direct trauma. CTA revealed a 15 x 8 x 13-mm oval dye-filled sac arising from the right occipital artery. RESULTS: Based on the CTA images, the parent arteries were exposed and ligated proximally and distally to the pseudoaneurysms and then they were completely excised. CONCLUSION: CTA is a minimally invasive technique for making the diagnosis of scalp pseudoaneurysms and CTA is also useful for the preoperative planning.
Adult ; Aneurysm, False ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Forehead ; Humans ; Parents ; Scalp ; Temporal Arteries

Purpose: We wanted to evaluate the clinical and radiologic results of acetabular revision using the acetabular reinforcement ring and also the allograft impaction in the acetabulum having deficient bone stock. Material and Methods: Nineteen hips revision arthroplasty were performed in 18 patients (9 males and 9 females) with using an acetabular reinforcement ring and allograft between July 1993 and December 2003. The patients were followed for an average of 64 months (range: 24-153). The mean age at the time of arthroplasty was 59 years old (range: 34-76). The causes of revision were aseptic loosening of the acetabular component in 16 cases, severe progressive osteolysis around the acetabular component in 2 cases and Girdlestone state after infected total hip arthroplasty in one case. The acetabular deficiency was type II in 5 hips, type III in 13 hips, and type IV in one hip according to the AAOS classification. The clinical results were evaluated using the modified Harris hip score, and the radiologic results were evaluated by assessing the preoperative and serial follow-up radiographs. Results: The mean preoperative Harris hip score of 47 was improved to 86 points at the latest follow-up. Periacetabular osteolysis was found in 2 cases, which did not progress at follow-up. The anatomic hip center was restored after revision arthroplasty (p<0.05). Complications were dislocation in 2 cases, breakage of the hook of the Ganz ring in one case, heterotopic ossification in one case and femoral artery injury in one case. All cases showed stable fixation of the acetabular component and good remodelling of the impacted allograft. There was neither recurrence of dislocation nor progression of the acetabular component loosening on the radiographs. Conclusion: Acetabular revision with acetabular reinforcement ring and allograft impaction showed satisfactory clinical and radiologic results with restoration of the hip center and consolidation of the allograft.
Acetabulum* ; Allografts* ; Arthroplasty ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Classification ; Dislocations ; Femoral Artery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip ; Humans ; Male ; Ossification, Heterotopic ; Osteolysis ; Recurrence

No abstract available.
Facial Nerve* ; Paralysis*

A rare case in the pattern of the origin of the celiac artery was observed in the cadaver of a 64 year old Korean male and the results are summarized as follows. The superior mesenteric artery originated from the abdominal aorta at the level of the intervertebral dusk between first and second lumbar vertebra. At a point 4cm from the origin of the superior mesenteric arterr, a common trunk appeared and ran 1cm and then divided into the common hepatic artery and the splenic artery. The common hepatic artery divided into the right gastric artery and the proper hepatic artery at a point 4.5cm after the bifurcation. A common trunk formed by the left inferior phrenic artery and the lefts gastric artery arose from the abdominal aorta about 0.8cm about the origin of the celiacomesenteric trunk.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Arteries ; Cadaver ; Celiac Artery* ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior ; Spine ; Splenic Artery

The steering committee of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences Guideline for Physical Impairment was fully aware of the social processes of disability evaluation from the beginning and thus, developed a series of strategies to examine and incorporate social property of the evaluation into the evaluation guide. Although those strategies could not be implemented to full extent because of lack of budget and time, we believe it worthwhile to share those in this paper as an example of general framework for developing disability evaluation. A series of strategies will be introduced and discussed that views the evaluation process as social per se, and propose a scheme that is designed to obtain growing legitimacy starting from core experts to expanded experts to general public. Also preliminary analyses on surveys of public attitude and experts' opinion with regard to the relative importance of each possible disability revealed the following three facts: 1) Public had difficulty weighing relative importance of many impairments. 2) Regarding some impairments including complex regional pain syndrome many doctors had varied opinions. 3) Public attitude did not always consistent with doctor's opinion. All these findings strongly suggest the need for developing strategies to draw consensus for legitimate and effective evaluation.
Academies and Institutes ; *Consensus ; *Disability Evaluation ; Expert Testimony ; Humans ; Korea ; *Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Public Opinion ; Public Policy ; Social Support

Pencils are common instruments for children to use and play with. This report describes an unusual penetrating orbitocranial injury in a 5-year-old girl who was struck in her facewith a pencil. She was holding it at a desk, and her friend pushed her back. The pencil penetrated the left lower eyelid and went deep into the right frontal lobe through the base of the skull. It was removed at the emergency room, after which brain CT was performed to detect the development of an intracranial hematoma. No complications occurred after conservative management with antibiotics and an antiepileptic drug. Pencils can be hazardous to children, and a penetrating head injury with a pencil may be managed without cranial surgery.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Brain ; Child ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Emergencies ; Eyelids ; Friends ; Frontal Lobe ; Head Injuries, Penetrating ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Preschool Child ; Skull

BACKGROUND: A study was done to determine if there is any difference in the quality of anesthesia and time to reach maximum anesthesia between the induction of lumbar epidural anesthesia in the sitting and supine position in young male patients undergoing appendectomy. METHODS: We randomly divided 30 patients to 2 groups. An epidural catheter was inserted at L2~3 interspace. In group 1, with the patient sitting, 3 ml of 1% lidocaine with 5mcg/ml epinephrine was injected as a test dose via the epidural catheter, and then 3 minutes later, 0.5% bupivacaine 30 ml was given through the same catheter. After maintaining sitting position for 5 minutes, the patient changed to a supine position and the quality of anesthesia was assessed at 3-minute intervals for 30 minutes. In group 2, after the epidural catheter was inserted at the sitting position, the patient changed to a supine position immediately. Remaining procedures were the same. RESULTS: The two groups showed no difference in maximum cephalad spread of anesthesia and motor block. CONCLUSIONS: The position of the patient during induction of epidural anesthesia has no effect on the cephalad sensory and motor block.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural* ; Appendectomy ; Bupivacaine ; Catheters ; Epinephrine ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Male ; Posture* ; Supine Position

The purine antimetabolite 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) has been in clinical use for over 30 years and is still a widely used agent in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The bioavailibility, clinical efficacy and toxicity of 6-MP administered orally for maintenance therapy of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are highly variable in many studies, as well as at differnt times in same patient. there are many factors affecting the bioavailibility of 6-MP. The most notably factor being that concomitantly administered drugs and foods might contribute to a decrease in the bioavailibity of this drug. In our sociocultural environment milk is a major constituent of child's foods. Cow's milk contains a high concentration of xanthine oxidase, which could potentially transform 6-TM into 6-thioxanthine (6-TX) and 6-thiouric acid (6-TUA) which have no more therapeutic effects. In this study, we evaluated the effect of various milk products on the bioavailability of 6-MP. Incubation at 37degrees C for 30 min raw or pasteurized milk resulted in transformation of a large quantity of clinically relevant concentration of 6-MP into 6-TUA. The concomitant adminstration of folic acid and allopurinol has markedly inhibitory effect on the 6-MP destroying activity of milk at clinically relevant concentrations. These observations may help to optimize modalities of administration of 6-MP for the treartment of patients with childhood leukemia.
6-Mercaptopurine* ; Allopurinol ; Biological Availability* ; Child ; Complement Factor B ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Milk* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Xanthine Oxidase

Authors performed the immunohistochemical study with avidin biotin-peroxi- dase complex staining on the nail unit of the human fetus for determining the presence of keratin and prekeratin. Seven fetuses, ranging from 12 to 27 weeks in age, were examined. In all cases, the keratin and prekeratin were found in the epidermis of nail units, but not found in stratum corneum and nail plate. Keratin was located predominantly in suprabasal cells whereas prekeratin was located diffusely in the epidermis. Interestingly keratin and prekeratin were found as early as 12 week-old gestational period. There was no significant difference in presence of keratin and prekeratin.
Avidin ; Epidermis ; Fetus ; Humans*