We report a case of giant M llerian duct cyst in a 6 month-old-boy with urinary tract infection. A mass displacing the bladder and prostatic urethra anteriorly was found on the voiding cystourethrogram, and it was a oval shaped retrovesical anechoic cyst on the abdominal ultrasonogram. On MRi, it was a tear-drop shaped cyst of isosignal intensity with a projection toward the prostatic urethra and located in the midline of vesicorectal space. Grossly, the cyst had communication with prostatic urethra and both vas deferenses were drained to the cyst. Pathologically it was confirmed as a M~'llerrian duct cyst lined with squamous epithelium.
Epithelium ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Ultrasonography ; Urethra ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vas Deferens

No abstract available.
Female ; Laparoscopy* ; Methotrexate* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

PURPOSE: We performed this study to describe the findings of MR Myelography(MRM) of herniated disc disease, spinal stenosis and spinal tumor and to evaluate the usefulness of the MRM in comparison to MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MRI and MRM were performed in 31 patients with herniated disc disease(12 patients), spinal stenosis(11 patients) and spinal tumor(8 patients). MRI and MRM were done with 1.5-T Signa MR, using fat suppressed heavily T2-weighted fast spin echo technique. We retrospectively analyzed MRM images about the thecal sac indentation, compression or displacement of the nerve root, extent and degree of narrowing of spinal canal, relationship between spinal tumor and spinal cord. MRM findings were compared with MRI in all cases. RESULTS: In 18 herniated disc cases of 12 patients, focal filling defect with cutoff or displacement of the nerve root in eight cases of paracentral herniated disc was seen. Cutoff and displacement of the nerve root were more clearly delineated on MRM than rvlRI. In the patients of spinal stenosis(11 cases), hourglass deformity of the thecal sac or complete spinal block of the subarachnoid space was clearly demonstrated. The extent and severity of spinal stenosis were more accurately evaluated on MRM than MRI. MRM finding of intramedullary tumor(3 cases) was enlargement of spinal cord. Five cases of intradural extramedullary tumor showed intradural filling defect, which caused contralateral displacement of the spinal cord with meniscus sign on inferior margin of the mass. CONCLUSION: MRM shows characteristic findings of herniated disc disease, spinal stenosis and spinal tumor. MRM yields excellent definition of the thecal sac, nerve roots and nerve root sleeves in relation to herniated disc and may be more accurate in evaluation of the degree and extent of spinal stenosis than MRI.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Myelography* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Diseases ; Spinal Stenosis ; Subarachnoid Space

OBJECTIVES: Home-based nursing care services have increased over the past decade. However, accountability and privacy issues as well as security concerns become more challenging during care provider visits. Because of the heterogeneous combination of mobile and stationary assistive medical care devices, conventional systems lack architectural consistency, which leads to inherent time delays and inaccuracies in sharing information. The goal of our study is to develop an architecture that meets the competing goals of accountability and privacy and enhances security in distributed home-based care systems. METHODS: We realized this by using a context-aware approach to manage access to remote data. Our architecture uses a public certification service for individuals, the Japanese Public Key Infrastructure and Health Informatics-PKI to identify and validate the attributes of medical personnel. Both PKI mechanisms are provided by using separate smart cards issued by the government. RESULTS: Context-awareness enables users to have appropriate data access in home-based nursing environments. Our architecture ensures that healthcare providers perform the needed home care services by accessing patient data online and recording transactions. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method aims to enhance healthcare data access and secure information delivery to preserve user's privacy. We implemented a prototype system and confirmed its feasibility by experimental evaluation. Our research can contribute to reducing patient neglect and wrongful treatment, and thus reduce health insurance costs by ensuring correct insurance claims. Our study can provide a baseline towards building distinctive intelligent treatment options to clinicians and serve as a model for home-based nursing care.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Certification ; Computer Security ; Delivery of Health Care ; Electronic Health Records ; Health Information Exchange ; Health Personnel ; Health Smart Cards ; Home Care Services ; Home Health Nursing ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Methods ; Nursing ; Nursing Care ; Privacy ; Social Responsibility

To determine the ventricular looping pattern in relation to cardiac laterality, we studied rat embryos treated with retinoic acid (RA). A total of 243 Wistar rat embryos from an in vivo treated group (a single dose of 20-40 mg/kg all-trans RA administered to pregnant rats on day 6.5 to 9.5) and 29 control embryos were examined on day 13 of gestation. Twenty-nine embryos from the in-vitro treated group (treated by all-trans RA at 2 x 10(-7) M for 6 hr on day 9.0 or 9.5 during the entire embryo culture for 72 hr) and seven control embryos were examined on day 12 of gestation. Abnormalities in cardiac laterality and ventricular looping were found in the in-vivo groups treated on day 8.5 and 8.75 and in the in-vitro group on day 9.0. Among 25 animals with abnormal laterality, right isomerism was the most common feature (22 cases), while the type of ventricular looping varied. Cases with normal laterality had a low incidence of abnormal looping (1.4%). In rat embryos treated with all-trans RA, normal cardiac looping was expected when cardiac laterality was normal. But in cases with abnormal laterality, the type of abnormal ventricular looping was unexpected.
Animal ; Cell Division ; Female ; Heart/drug effects* ; Heart Defects, Congenital/pathology ; Heart Defects, Congenital/chemically induced* ; Heart Ventricle/pathology ; Heart Ventricle/abnormalities* ; Incidence ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tretinoin/pharmacology*

The anti-melanogenesis effect of glyceollins was examined by melanin synthesis, tyrosinase activity assay in zebrafish embryos and in B16F10 melanoma cells. When developing zebrafish embryos were treated with glyceollins, pigmentation of the embryos, melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity were all decreased compared with control zebrafish embryos. In situ expression of a pigment cell-specific gene, Sox10, was dramatically decreased by glyceollin treatment in the neural tubes of the trunk region of the embryos. Stem cell factor (SCF)/c-kit signaling pathways as well as expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) were determined by western blot analysis. Glyceollins inhibited melanin synthesis, as well as the expression and activity of tyrosinase induced by SCF, in a dose-dependent manner in B16F10 melanoma cells. Pretreatment of B16F10 cells with glyceollins dose-dependently inhibited SCF-induced c-kit and Akt phosphorylation. Glyceollins significantly impaired the expression and activity of MITF. An additional inhibitory function of glyceollins was to effectively downregulate intracellular cyclic AMP levels stimulated by SCF in B16F10 cells. Glyceollins have a depigmentation/whitening activity in vitro and in vivo, and that this effect may be due to the inhibition of SCF-induced c-kit and tyrosinase activity through the blockade of downstream signaling pathway.
Animals ; Embryo, Nonmammalian/drug effects ; Melanins/*biosynthesis ; Melanoma, Experimental/metabolism/pathology ; Mice ; Monophenol Monooxygenase/metabolism ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Pigmentation/drug effects ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/*metabolism ; Pterocarpans/chemistry/*pharmacology ; SOXE Transcription Factors/metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Signal Transduction/*drug effects ; Soybeans/*chemistry ; Stem Cell Factor/*pharmacology ; Zebrafish/embryology/metabolism

A 19-year-old man was referred to Seoul National University Dental Hospital for evaluation of a large painless swelling of the left mandibular angle area in August, 1999. The growth had been first noted 6 years ago. He had visited other hospital in 1997. In spite of the treatment given at the hospital, the mass continued to grow rapidly. Conventional radiographs in 1999 showed an expansile, lobulated, and destructive lesion of the left mandibular body. CT scan demonstrated an expansile mass with a corticated margin. Bony septa were seen within the lesion. Internal calcification noted on the bone-setting CT image, and corresponded to the hypointense area in T1-weighted MRI image. MRI clearly delineated the extent of the lesion which had heterogenous intermediate signal intensity in T1-weighted images and heterogenous hyperintense signal intensity in T2-weighted images. The lesion was well-enhanced. Histopathologically, the lesion was completely encapsulated. Multinucleated giant cells were presented in a fibrous background, demonstrating a storiform pattern. Areas of osteoid rimmed by a few osteoblasts were scattered throughout the lesion. Inflammatory cells, blood vessels, and hemosiderin deposition were also shown. CGCG may show lots of internal calcification foci on the CT, and varied signal intensity in MRI. More cases will be needed to understand the features of the CT and MR finding of CGCG.
Blood Cells ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Giant Cells* ; Granuloma, Giant Cell* ; Hemosiderin ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteoblasts ; Seoul ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

We report two cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma of Bartholin's gland. One of these patients had positive margin on operation and is scheduled for adjuvant radiotherapy. The other was first diagnosed 13 years ago and presented with her second recurrence without distant metastasis. Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin's gland is a rare tumor of the vulva. When diagnosed, the treatment should be individualized to the patient. When the surgical margin is found to be positive, adjuvant radiotherapy seems to be beneficial.
Adenoids* ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic* ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Recurrence ; Vulva

We report two cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma of Bartholin's gland. One of these patients had positive margin on operation and is scheduled for adjuvant radiotherapy. The other was first diagnosed 13 years ago and presented with her second recurrence without distant metastasis. Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin's gland is a rare tumor of the vulva. When diagnosed, the treatment should be individualized to the patient. When the surgical margin is found to be positive, adjuvant radiotherapy seems to be beneficial.
Adenoids* ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic* ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Recurrence ; Vulva

Morus alba L. is well-known for its medicinal and economic value, particularly in Asian countries. Among the isolated compounds from this plant, steppogenin is exhibited as a flavonoid with promising pharmacological properties. This study focused on isolating bioactive compounds, notably steppogenin, from the ethyl acetate extract of M. alba. Additionally, a high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method for the simultaneous quantification of steppogenin and isolated compounds was developed and validated. The calibration curve showed excellent linearity, with a correlation coefficient (R 2 ) value greater than 0.9957. The limit of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.006 to 0.018 μg/mL, whereas the limit of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.020 to 0.061 μg/mL. In precision tests conducted intra-day and inter-day, the accuracy was between 97.32% and 106.39%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 2.27% and 1.65%, respectively. The presence of steppogenin and other flavonoids was confirmed by the study, contributing to the understanding of the chemical composition of M. alba. This validated analytical method offers a reliable means of quantifying steppogenin and aiding future research into its therapeutic potential.