OBJECTIVE: The changes of the production of nitric oxide in preeclampsia are still controversial. To determine the changes of nitric oxide production in preeclamptic pregnancies, NOS activity and eNOS and iNOS expression in preeclamptic placentae were compared with those in normal placentae, and to determine the changes of nitirc oxide production according to the sites of placenta, NOS activity and eNOS expression in preeclamptic placentae were also compared with those in normal placentae. METHODS: Human placentae were obtained from 15 normal and 15 preeclamptic pregnant women at the time of cesarean section. NOS activity was assessed by measuring the conversion of [3H]-arginine into [3H]-citrulline. The eNOS and iNOS expression were assessed by using western blot analysis. Data were analyzed by Student t-test and paired t-test where appropriate. RESULTS: The NOS activity(judged by measurement of [3H]-citrulline production) was significantly increased in preeclamptic placentae compared to normal(P<0.05). In normal and preeclamptic pregnant placentae, the NOS activity in main stem villi was increased compared to that in terminal villi. However, the difference of NOS activity between main stem villi and terminal villi was not significant(P>0.05). Quantification of the autoradiographic images demonstrated that the integrated optical density of the immunoreactive bands of eNOS were significantly lower in preeclamptic placentae compared to normal(p<0.05). Conversely, the integrated optical densities of the bands of iNOS were significantly higher in preeclamptic placentae compared to normal(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although the eNOS expression in preeclamptic placentae was lower than that in normal placentae, the NOS activity was significantly higher in preeclamptic placentae than that in normal in this study. These are result from increased production of iNOS in the compensatory mechanisms for the decreased nitric oxide production in pre-eclamptic placentae.
Blotting, Western ; Cesarean Section ; Female ; Humans* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase* ; Nitric Oxide* ; Placenta* ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women

No abstract available.

Papillary eccrine adenoma is a rare sweat gland tumor with a characteristic histopathological appearance and has a benign clinical course. Five cases were reported in Korea since a report by Song et al. in 1988. We report a case of papillary eccrine adenoma in a 38-year-old male who had a firm, dark brown nodule on the medial surface of the left thigh. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of multiple dilated ducts lined by two or more layers of epithelial cells and the luminal cells showed papillary projections into the lumen in some tubules. Immunoperoxidase staining was positive for CEA, S-100, and EMA. We excised the lesion completely and no evidence of recurrence was observed for 6 months.
Adenoma* ; Adult ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Music ; Phenobarbital ; Recurrence ; Sweat Glands ; Thigh

Lichen aureus is regarded as an uncommon variant of the pigmented purpuric dermatosis and resistant to treatment. Recently several authors reported the PUVA therapy to be effective in the pigmented purpuric dermatosis, but there was no report that the PUVA therapy was tried to the lichen aureus. We tried topical PUVA therapy on a 54-year-old male with bilateral lichen aureus. After 23 times of topical PUVA therapy, the lesion improved markedly. This report may provide a new method of treatment for lichen aureus.
Humans ; Lichens* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; PUVA Therapy* ; Skin Diseases

OBJECTIVE: To determine the changes of nitric oxide production in preeclampsia, the concentration of nitric oxide metabolite, nitrite, was measured in umbilical vein after perfusing plasma from normal pregnant women and preeclamptic pregnant women. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 15 normal and 15 preeclamptic umbilical cords were obtained at the time of cesarean section. Two pieces of umbilical cord in equal length(20 cm in length) were prepared from each umbilical cord. Two pieces of umbilical cord were connected in parallel in a perfusion chamber. One piece of umbilical cord was perfused sequentially for 20-minutes' interval with the perfusates in the order of cord buffer, cord buffer including 15% normal pregnant serum, 15% normal pregnant serum with histamine(10-5mol/L), 15% normal pregnant serum with calcium ionophore A23187(5 mol/L) and the other one was perfused exactly same way using 15% preeclamptic serum instead of 15% normal pregnant serum. All the perfusates used were gassed with 95% O2 and 5% CO2 and warmed to 37degree C. Perfusates were collected in eppendorf tube and freezed at -70degree C until assayed. NO was measured by means of Greiss reaction. one way ANOVA and paired t-test were used where appropriate and p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: NO production in normal umbilical cords was not different regardless of perfusate. Although adding histamine and calcium ionophore, the NO production was slightly increased but statistically not significant in both groups. NO production in preeclamtic umbilical cords was significantly increased with 15% preclamptic serum(15% normal serum vs. 15% preeclamptic serum; 0.060+/-0.016microgram/ml/min vs 0.075+/-0.014microgram/ml/min, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The preeclamptic sera may not affect the production of NO in the human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The biologic significance of increased NO production in preeclamptic umbilical cord with perfusing preeclamptic serum is unknown, but it might be compensation for the vasoconstriction of preeclampsia.
Calcium ; Cesarean Section ; Compensation and Redress ; Female ; Histamine ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide* ; Perfusion ; Plasma ; Pre-Eclampsia* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Umbilical Cord ; Umbilical Veins ; Vasoconstriction

OBJECTIVES: There have been several studies documenting the changing level of the conus throughout infancy and childhood, but there is only a little detailed study that documents the range of conus positions in a living adult population, especially in Korean, without spinal deformity. METHODS: we made a sequential study of magnetic resonance images of the lumbar spine to determine the variation in position of the conus medullaris in 650 living korean adults population without spinal deformity who checked MRI to identify the cause of low back pain. The study population consisted of patients over the age of 16 years. A T1-weighted, midline, sagittal image was reviewed for identifying the postion of conus. This location was recorded in relation to the upper, middle, or lower third of the adjacent vertebral body or the adjacent intervertebral disc. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 305 men(47%) and 345 women(53%) with a mean age 45.9 years(range, 16-79 years). The conus existed commonly at the middle third of L1(131cases, 20.2%), at the L1-2 intervertebral space(129cases, 19.8%), and the lower third of L1(123cases, 18.9%). The mean position of conus was the lower third of L1(range, middle third of T12 to middle third of L3). Conclusions:The mean position of conus was at the lower third of L1(range, middle third of T12 to middle third of L3). This results was same as that of foreign study. Our results of living korean adult population could allow for safe clinical procedures such as lumbar puncture, spinal anesthesia, and help to explain the differences among observed neurologic injuries from fracture-dislocation at the thoracolumbar junction.
Adult* ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Conus Snail* ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Low Back Pain ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Spinal Puncture ; Spine

OBJECTIVE: Ischemic postconditioning (IPostC), consisted of transient brain ischemia/reperfusion cycles, is considered to have neuroprotective effect. However, there is no best single protocol of IPostC, because varied factors like species tested and characteristics of the tissue may affect the efficacy of IPostC. Thus, we investgated whether different protocols of IPostC affect neuroprotective effects in experimental animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through occlusion of middle cerebral artery (MCA) with intraluminal suture, stroke was induced in a transient focal ischemia model in mice. We conducted IPostC via brief and repeated MCA occlusion, 2 minutes after reperfusion, followed by different ischemia and reperfusion protocols. After procedure, functional neurological score and histological examination were evaluated. RESULTS: IPostC with different protocols resulted in diverse effects. Among them, a protocol that consists of 3 cycle of IPostC significantly reduced the infarction size 3 days after stroke. CONCLUSION: IPostC was confirmed to reduce infarction size. The effects of IPostC are definitely affected by differences in the protocol used, including the number of cycles, the duration of individual ischemia/reperfusion episode and the entire duration of the IPostC stimuli.
Animals ; Brain ; Infarction* ; Ischemia ; Ischemic Postconditioning* ; Mice ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Models, Animal ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Reperfusion ; Stroke* ; Sutures

OBJECTIVE: Distal middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms are the least frequent aneurysms of the MCA, and they represent about 1.1 to 5% of all MCA aneurysms. Patients with ruptured distal MCA aneurysms generally have a poor clinical outcome. The purpose of this article is to review the characteristics of distal MCA aneurysms to avoid the complications of microsurgical dissection and clipping of distal MCA aneurysms. METHODS: A total of 1187 patients with ruptured aneurysms were treated at our hospital between January 1997 and May 2008. All patients underwent surgical procedures. Computed tomography (CT) revealed rupture of distal MCA aneurysms in 15 (1.26%) patients. The location of the aneurysm were the M2 (insular) segment in seven patients, the M2-3 junction in three and the M3 (opercular) segment in five. Brain CT images revealed the presence of both subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in 11 of 15 (77.3%) patients, with a mean ICH volume of 14.5 cc (range : 5 to 32 cc). Rebleeding occurred in 7 out of the 15 (46.7%) patients. RESULTS: All the patients underwent early surgical procedures, including clipping in seven, trapping in two, bypass surgery in four, Guglielmi detachable coil embolization in one and exploratory craniotomy in one patient. The aneurysm had a fusiform appearance in 9 out of 15 cases (60%), and the mean size of the aneurysm was 10.4 mm (range : 2 to 35 mm). Three patients died due to severe brain swelling (20%). CONCLUSION: In this study, distal MCA aneurysms had a relatively fusiform shape as well as high rates of rebleeding and ICH. A good clinical outcome was associated with early surgery for adequately controlling brain swelling and preventing rebleeding.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Brain ; Brain Edema ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Craniotomy ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Rupture ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Angiokeratoma of the vulva is a relatively rare, benign condition that usually presents as single or a few isolated papules mainly on the labia majora. It is histologically identical to angiokeratoma of the scrotum. A 50-year-old woman presented with a one year history of nonpruritic lesions on the vulva. Her skin lesions used to bleed vith subtle trauma. Several dark purplish papules, ranging in diameter from 3 to 5mm, were noticed on both labia majora. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of angiokeratoma. A simple electrodesiccation of all lesions was performed under local anesthesia. The patient has remained asymptomatic nd without recurrence for the follow-up period of 10 months without any recurrence.
Anesthesia, Local ; Angiokeratoma* ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Scrotum ; Skin ; Vulva*

Chronic actinic dermatitis is an uncommon, persistent, light induced eruption occurring mostly on exposed skin. It is eczematous or pseudolymphomatous in nature, probably representing delayed type hypersensitivity to endogerious photoallergens. It usually worsens in summer and affects elderly men. A 72-old-male was presented with a 14 month history of pruritic skin lesions. They were composed of waxy thickened scaly plaques of the face and dorsa of the hands, and depigmented patches of the neck, which worsened when exposed to sun light. We performed photo test and photopatch test. MED of UVA was lowered and the patch and photopatch test revealed only contact sensitivity to Balsam of Peru, perfume mix and fragrance mix. A biopsy specimen showed hyperkeratosis and spongiosis of the epidermis and perivascular lymphocytic and many eosinophilic infiltrations of the dermis. The patient was treated with systemic and topical corticosteroids with marked improvement.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Aged ; Biopsy ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermis ; Eosinophils ; Epidermis ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Male ; Neck ; Perfume ; Peru ; Photosensitivity Disorders* ; Skin ; Solar System