Advances in gray scale ultrasonography have increased the usefulness of their modality in the clinical diagnostic method. Major improvements in the image resolution have greatly increased the diagnostic value of renal ultrasonography. The non-invasive and safe nature of ultrasound makes this technique ideal for accurate and quick evaluation. It has been well known facts that it is very difficult to obtain precise size, shape parenchymal thickness of the kidneys by conventional radiological techniques such as retrograde pyelography, antegrade percutaneous pyelography or arteriography and also the techniques are invasive to patients comparatively. Because of its simplicity, innocuousness and accurateness, diagnostic ultrasound is quite useful in the evaluation of functionally inactive kidney and should precede or be substitute for other aggressive technique. In those kidneys which remain unseen even after massive dose of dye, the ultrasound scan should be used before retrograde ureteral catheterization is undertaken. The author measured the size of kidney longitudinally, transversely and in thickness by ultrasonogram and compared with that of excretory urogram in 60 normal healthy persons and 32 cases of hydronephrosis. The results were obtained as follows: 1. The length of right kidney on ultrasonogram (11.4+/-0.55 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (12.2+/-0.45 cm) and the difference was 0.8 cm (t value: 2.21, p<0.02), and the length of left kidney on ultrasonogram (11.9+/-0.42 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (12.6+/-0.78 cm) and the difference was 0.7 cm (t value: 2.43. p<0.02). The width of right kidney on ultrasonogram (5.4+/-0.57 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (6.3+/-0.61 cm) and the difference was 0.9 cm (t value: 1.75, p<0.1) and the width of left kidney on ultrasonogram (5.6+/-0.58 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (6.3+/-0.49 cm) and the difference was 0.7 cm (t value: 1.82, p<0.1). The parenchymal depth of right kidney on ultrasonogram (2.2+/-0.48 cm) was larger than on excretory urogram (2.1+/-0.56 cm) and the difference was 0.1 cm (t value: 2.89, p<0.001), and the parenchymal depth of left kidney on ultrasonogram (2.1+/-0.54 cm) was alike on excretory urogram (2.1+/-0.57 cm) and there was no difference (t value: 2.31, p<0.05). 2. Among the 32 cases of hydronephrosis. 17 cases of hydronephrosis could be diagnosed by excretory urogram. In mild hydronephrosis, the length of kidney on ultrasonogram (12.2+/-0.56 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (12.8+/-0.46 cm) and the difference was 0.6 cm, the width of kidney on ultrasonogram (6.1+/-0.27 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram (6.4+/-0.38 cm) and the difference was 0.3 cm, and the parenchymal depth of kidney on ultrasonogram (2.1+/-0.34 cm) was alike on excretory urogram (2.1+/-0.49 cm) and there no difference. In moderate hydronephrosis, the length of kidney on ultrasonogram(13.5+/-0.47 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram(14.2+/-0.67 cm)and the difference was 0.7cm, the width of kidneys no ultrasonogram(7.2+/-0.58 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram(7.8+/-0.73 cm) and the difference was 0.6cm, and the parenchymal depth of kidney on ultrasonogram(1.2+/-0.57 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram(1.47+/-0.27 cm)and the difference was 0.2 cm. In severe hydronephrosis, the length of kidney on ultrasonogram(15.7+/-0.39 cm)was smaller than on excretory urogram(16.6+/-0.53 cm) and the difference was 0.9cm, the width of kidney on ultrasonogram(8.8+/-0.46 cm) was smaller than on excretory urogram(9.5+/-0.48 cm)and the difference was 0.7 cm, and the parenchymal depth of kidney on ultrasonogram was 0.7+/-0.27 cm but could not be measured on excretory urogram. 3. Among 32 cases of hydronephrosis,15 cases of hydronephrosis were non-visualized kidney on excretory urogram. On them, the renal sized and parenchymal depth were measured accurately by ultrasonography. By reviewing the above results, the ultrasonography of kidney is useful in measurement of kidney size and can be substitute for invasive uroradiological methods in evaluation of patients with hydronephrosis.
Adult* ; Angiography ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis* ; Kidney* ; Ultrasonography* ; Urinary Catheterization ; Urinary Catheters ; Urography

Cholesteatoma is a form of squamous metaplasia resulting in a collection of desquamated epithelium Cholesteatomas are commonly found in the ear, brain and less often in the intestinal tract, genitalia, skin and eye. They occur rarely in the urinary tract. Cholesteatoma of renal pelvis was first described by Rokitansky in 1861. Since then total 23 cases have been reported until now. The authors experienced the cholesteatoma of the renal pelvis incidentally in 11 years old male patient who had been chronically suffered from intermittent pair in the right upper quadrant, and report the case with review of the literatures.
Brain ; Child ; Cholesteatoma* ; Ear ; Epithelium ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Kidney Pelvis* ; Male ; Metaplasia ; Skin ; Urinary Tract

Recently the scrotal diseases have been tended toward increment and take a important share in urologic disease entities. The reasons of them are thought for early reconstruction of the scrotal disease, increase of the diseases that need catheter indwelling and inclination of the scrotal injury by accident. Also up-to-date mass vasectomy have been performed for family planning, the scrotal complications have been increased. So authors report a clinical observation was made on 171 cases with scrotal disease who had been admitted to Department of Urology. E.W.U.H., Seoul, Korea, during the period from Apr. 1, 1976 through Mar. 1, 1981. The results were as follows; 1. Among 1025 cases of in-patients for past 5 years, 171 cases belong to scrotal disease giving a rate of 16.7%. 2. The most common population was 1-10 years of age giving a rate of 31.5%. 3. The most common disease was hydrocele giving a rate of 29.2%. The cryptorchism was 21%, epididymitis 15.8%, vasectomy complication 9.9%, scrotal injury 5%, sterility 4.7% and others 14.3%. 4. Of 171 cases, operation was performed in 152 cases (88.9%). 5. Most common operation was hydrocelectomy (27%), orchiopexy (19.1%), epididymectomy (9.9%) and incision and drainage (7.3%) in order.
Catheters ; Cryptorchidism ; Drainage ; Epididymitis ; Family Planning Services ; Infertility ; Korea ; Male ; Orchiopexy ; Scrotum ; Seoul ; Urologic Diseases ; Urology ; Vasectomy

The renoprotective activities of white ginseng radix and rootlet were compared in spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) with diabetes. During oral administration of white ginseng radix (Ginseng Radix Alba, GRA) and white ginseng rootlet (Ginseng Radix Palva, GRP) for four weeks, arterial blood pressure and blood glucose levels were determined at every 10 days. In both GRA- and GRP-treatment groups, arterial blood pressures started to go down after 10 days of administration and maintained throughout the study period. After four weeks administrations of GRA and GRP, diastolic blood pressures were significantly decreased with 17% and 9%, respectively. GRA treatment also decreased blood glucose levels after 10 days of administration when compared with diabetic SHR group. At the end of the experiment, serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were not significantly different between the groups, except 62% higher value of BUN in diabetic SHR group when compared with SHR group. In the diabetic SHR group, the excretion of urinary albumin was increased significantly when compared with SHR. The level of urinary albumin in GRA treated group was markedly reduced when compared with diabetic SHR group (67.8 4.7 vs. 131.3 13.5 mg/24 h). To examine the effects of ginseng radices on an overt diabetic nephropathy, index of kidney hypertrophy and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) protein levels were evaluated. The glomerular and tubular cells stained positive for TGF-beta1 seemed to be more abundant in diabetic SHR than in those with SHR, and GRA treated rats showed somewhat less TGF-beta1 protein in glomerular and tubular cells when compared with diabetic SHR. Our results suggest that GRA might be a useful antihypertensive and antidiabetic agent with renoprotective effect.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Hypertrophy ; Kidney ; Panax* ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

As a result of comparing the phenolic components of cinnamon medicines, the total phenolic component content of Cinnamomi Cortex in China was about 2.65 times higher than that of Cinnamomi Cortex in Vietnam. In addition, the total phenolic component content of Vietnamese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus was about 1.80 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus. Meanwhile, Vietnamese Cinnamomi Ramulus showed a content about 3.29 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Ramulus. Cinnamaldehyde, the main component of cinnamon medicines, showed the same tendency as the total phenolic component content. In terms of the average content of the total phenolic components, Cinnamomi Cortex showed the highest content at 23964 μg/g, followed by Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus at 17489 μg/g and Cinnamomi Ramulus at 5435.8 μg/g. These results showed that Cinnamomi Cortex and Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus with stem bark as usage sites had about 3.22 to 4.41 times higher content of phenolic components than Cinnamomi Ramulus with young branches as usage sites.

Small airway diseases are seen in many clinical conditions. The locations of small airway diseases are small bronchioles including terminal and respiratory bronchioles, and alveolar duct. The histopathologic features of bronchiolar injury have been described variously and have led to confusing and overlapping terms. The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical characteristics and histopathologic interpretation of small airway diseases. We classify the small airway diseases as primary bronchiolar diseases, and secondary bronchiolar diseases including pulmonary parenchymal diseases, and large airway diseases with prominent bronchiolar involvement. Primary bronchiolar diseases include respiratory bronchiolitis, acute bronchiolitis, constrictive bronchiolitis, follicular bronchiolitis, diffuse panbronchiolitis, mineral dust airway diseases, and a few other variants. Pulmonary parenchymal diseases with bronchiolar involvement include respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease, organizing pneumonia, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pulmonary Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Bronchiolar changes can also be seen in large airway diseases such as chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis and asthma. The patterns of bronchiolar response to various injuries are relatively limited and these patterns are generally non-specific in regard to the etiology. Appropriate interpretation and diagnosis of small airway diseases depend on judicious correlation of clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic characteristics.
Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; Asthma ; Bronchiectasis ; Bronchioles ; Bronchiolitis ; Bronchiolitis Obliterans ; Bronchitis, Chronic ; Cystic Fibrosis ; Diagnosis ; Dust ; Histiocytosis ; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Pneumonia ; Sarcoidosis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical course of visual acuity and foveal thickness in the idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) after a vitrectomy with the use of triamcinolone. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 30 patients (30 eyes) with ERM that were treated by vitrectomy from 2004 to 2008. Visual acuity and foveal thickness from optical coherence tomography imaging was obtained preoperatively and at every postoperative follow-up visit. RESULTS: Visual acuity improved by two or more lines of vision in 30%, 50%, 60%, and 70%, and stayed the same within +/-1 line in 47%, 50%, 40%, and 30% at one month, three months, five months, and seven months after surgery. Twenty-three percents of the subjects deteriorated by two or more lines of vision within one month after surgery. None of the subjects had reduced vision three months after surgery. Foveal thickness decreased significantly after surgery. The mean thickness was 409.7+/-107.9 microm before surgery and 288.6+/-66.1 microm seven months after surgery. Parameters which were significantly correlated with the final visual acuity included preoperative visual acuity (0.683), preoperative foveal thickness (0.544), and final foveal thickness (0.643) (p<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Foveal thickness and visual acuity improved until seven months after the vitrectomy in patients with idiopathic ERM. Preoperative visual acuity, foveal thickness, and final foveal thickness had a significant correlation with the final visual acuity.
Aged ; Epiretinal Membrane/pathology/*surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fovea Centralis/*pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Treatment Outcome ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy/*methods

Blunt trauma to the chest may result in various cardiac injuries. But traumatic myocardial infarction with coronary artery fistula as a complication of chest trauma has been reported in very few cases. The etiology of myocardial infarction is not entirely clear. A 40 years old male was admitted after a traffic accident. He complained of acute retrosternal pain of about one hours duration. There was an area of contusion over the right sternal border. The ECQ showed deep Q wave and elevated ST segments in leads 2, 3 and aVF. There was a considerable increase in creatine kinase(CK) peak level and a CK-MB fraction. Coronary angiography revealed a total proximal occlusion of the right coronary that communicated directly with the right atrium. The left ventridulogram showed hypokinesia of the inferior wall. He was managed with conservative treatments and has remained well sebsequently. We reported a middle aged man who developed an acute transmural inferior wall myocardial infarction associated with coronary artery fistula secondary to blunt cheat trauma in an automobile accident.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adult ; Automobiles ; Contusions ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels* ; Creatine ; Fistula* ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Hypokinesia ; Inferior Wall Myocardial Infarction* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; Thorax*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of job satisfaction of hospital nurses. The focus was on work rewards. A causal model of job satisfaction of hospital nurses was constructed based on situational perspectives. METHODS: The sample for this study consisted of 505 nurses from 2 general hospitals located in Seoul and Kyeonggi Province, Korea. Data were collected with self-administrated questionnaires and analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: All variables except workload were positively correlated with job satisfaction. It was found that three task reward variables (workload, meaning, and participation), two organizational reward variables (security and promotional chances) and one social reward variable (family support) had significant influence on nurses' job satisfaction. The explained variance for job satisfaction was 41.4%. The data further indicate that task rewards were the most significant determinants of nurse job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Theses findings provide strong empirical evidence for importance of task, organizational and social reward variables in explaining job satisfaction of nurses. The model used for this study will be useful for predicting nurse job satisfaction.
Attitude of Health Personnel ; Humans ; *Job Satisfaction ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration/*psychology ; Questionnaires ; *Reward ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits ; Social Support ; Workload

Superficial siderosis results from the deposition of hemosiderin in subpial layers of the central nervous system following hemorrhage in subarachnoid spaces. Infratentorial superficial siderosis (ISS) presents with unique clinical features including progressive hearing loss, ataxia, and myelopathy, and the most common cause of idiopathic ISS is dural abnormality. Here we report a case of idiopathic ISS with radiological findings of spontaneous intracranial hypotension, whose clinical symptoms of ISS including cerebellar dysfunction improved after supine position was maintained for 2 months.
Ataxia ; Central Nervous System ; Cerebellar Diseases ; Hearing Loss ; Hemorrhage ; Hemosiderin ; Intracranial Hypotension ; Siderosis ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Subarachnoid Space ; Subdural Effusion ; Supine Position