No abstract available.
Empyema* ; Fistula*

Dislocation of the temporomandibular joint(TMJ) is fairly frequent but backward dislocation of TMJ during induction of anesthesia is rarely reported. The causes include congenital weakness of the capsule or malformation of the condyles of both. The physical causes are as follows ; The joint may be strained or injured during general anesthesia, 1) possible straing or injureyto the joint, 2) yawning, 3) attempts by children to insert large objects into the mouth, 4) and positional pressures during sleep. Acase of backward dislocation of TMJ occureed during induction of anesthesia and treated with nanual reduction and subsequent intermaxillary fixation.
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, General ; Child ; Dislocations* ; Humans ; Joints ; Mouth ; Temporomandibular Joint* ; Yawning

No abstract available.
Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
Lung Transplantation* ; Lung*

No abstract available.
Heart, Artificial*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine for upper abdominal pain, the accuracy of emergency abdominal ultrasonography (EAU) performed by emergency physicians with limited training. METHODS: Two PGY-3 emergency physicians, who had received 2 hours of hands-on training, including the normal anatomy of a biliary system, liver, kindney, spleen, and pancreas, and who had studied the pathologic findings for another month were the subjects of this study. They used a Sonosite 180 R to perform EAU on patients with upper abdominal pain within 2 months after training. We determined the agreement between the radiologist 's abdominal ultrasonography(RAU) and EAU by using Kappa statistics. RESULTS: A total of 59 patients were enrolled. The agreement between the EAU and the RAU findings was 0.97, 0.88, 0.79, 0.73, 0.62, and 0.57 for gall bladder (GB) distension, cholelithiasis, GB wall thickening, duct dilatation, choledocholithiasis, and pericholecystic fluid, respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of EAU, performed by emergency physician with limited training on patients suffering from upper abdominal pain had a significant agreement with the RAU. However, more educations and cautions are warranted for diagnosing pericholecystic fluid and choledocholithiasis.
Abdominal Pain ; Biliary Tract ; Choledocholithiasis ; Cholelithiasis ; Dilatation ; Emergencies* ; Humans ; Liver ; Pancreas ; Spleen ; Ultrasonography* ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the predictors of long-term admission in patients with acute diarrhea at an early stage of their emergency department (ED) visit. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 125 patients who visited our ED with complaints of acute diarrhea and abdominal pain and underwent a stool test during one year (Jan. to Dec. 2001). We excluded patients who were transferred out or were self-discharged and those with another illness. We checked the numbers of cases of diarrhea, the presence of fever and abdominal pain, the stool cell counts, the blood cell counts, platelets, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine on admission. We also counted the length of stay and defined a stay of over 4 days in the hospital as a long-term admission. We tried to find parameters that could predict long-term admission at an early stage. RESULTS: A total of 125 patients were enrolled (men : 56 ; women : 69), and their mean age was 44 +/- 0.25 years. The mean length of stay was 3.0 +/- 0.02 days. The length of stay had a statistically significant correlation with the stool WBC (p<0.01, R=0.361). Only the stool WBC a the discriminative variable for long-term admission (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The stool WBC was a statistically significant predictive variable to determinate the long-term admission and the severity of acute diarrhea, and we think it could be used to make an early decision for the close medical attention.
Abdominal Pain ; Blood Cell Count ; Blood Platelets ; Cell Count ; Creatinine ; Diarrhea* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Nitrogen ; Retrospective Studies ; Urea

PURPOSE: The mechanical insights of death of cancer cells by ionizing radiation are not yet clearly defined. Recent evidences have demonstrated that radiation therapy may induce cell death via activation of signaling pathway for apoptosis in target cells. This study is designed whether ionizing radiation may activate the signaling cascades of apoptosis including caspase family cysteine proteases, Bcl2/Bax, cytochrome c and Fas/Fas-L in target cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HL-60 cells were irradiated in vitro with 6 MV X-ray at dose ranges from 2 Gy to 32 Gy. The cell viability was tested by MTT assay and the extent of apoptosis was determined using agarose gel electrophoresis. The activities of caspase proteases were measured by proteolytic cleavages of substrates. Western blot analysis was used to monitor PARP, Caspase-3, Cytochrome-c, Bcl-2, Bax, Fas and Fas-L. RESULTS: Ionizing radiation decreases the viability of HL-60 cells in a time and dose dependent manner. Ionizing radiation-induced death in HL-60 cells is an apoptotic death which is revealed as characteristic ladder-pattern fragmentation of genomic DNA over 16 Gy at 4 hours. Ionizing radiation induces the activation of caspase-2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 of HL-60 cells in a time-dependent manner. The activation of caspase-3 protease is also evidenced by the digestion of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and procaspase- 3 with 16Gy ionizing irradiation. Anti-apoptotic Bcl2 expression is decreased but apoptotic Bax expression is increased with mitochondrial cytochrome c release in a time- dependent manner. In additon, expression of Fas and Fas-L is also increased in a time dependent manner. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis is mediated by the activation of various signaling pathways including caspase family cysteine proteases, Bcl2/Bax, Fas and Fas-L in a time and dose dependent manner.
Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 2 ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival ; Cysteine Proteases ; Cytochromes c ; Digestion ; DNA ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; HL-60 Cells* ; Humans ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Radiation, Ionizing

PURPOSE: We compared the calculated percent depth dose curves of 6 MeV electron beam to that of measured to evaluate the usefulness of Monte-Carlo simulation method in radiation physics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The radiation dose values of 6 MeV electron beam using EGS4 code with one million histories in water were compared values that were measured form the depth dose curve of electron beam irradiated by medical accelerator ML6M. The central exis dose values were calculated according the changing field size, such as 5 X 5, 10 X 10, 15 X 15, 20 X 20 cm2. RESULTS: The value calculated showed a very similar shape to depth dose curve. The calculated and measured value of Dmax at 10 X 10cm2 cone is 15mm and 14mm respectively. The calculated value of the surface radiation dose rate is 65.52% and measured one is 76.94%. The surface radiation dose rate has vaied from 64.43% to 66.99. The calculated values of Dmax are in the range between 15mm and 18mm. The calculated value was fitted well with measured value around the Dmax area, excluding build up range and below the 90% depth dose area. CONCLUSION: This result suggested that the calculation of dose value can be replace the direct measurement of the dose for radiation therapy. Also, EGS4 may be a very convenient program to assess the effect of radiation dose using by personal computers.
Microcomputers ; Water

Acrosyringeal nevus is a rare condition, which includes proliferation of acrosyringeal keratinocytes, and the proliferation extends from the undersurface of the epidermis down into the dermis as thin anastomosing cords. It is, however, controversial whether acrosyringeal nevus is the same lesion as eccrine syringofibroadenoma, because of several clinicopathological differences. We report a case of benign tumor, consisting of eccrine structures, which occurred in a 60-year-old man. The histopathological features of the excisional biopsy were consistent with acrosyringeal nevus.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Middle Aged ; Nevus*