No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Holmium* ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Lithotripsy* ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Calculi*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to identify preoperative predictive factors of prolonged bladder catheterization after anterior vaginal wall sling operation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-seven patients who had undergone vaginal wall sling to treat stress urinary incontinence were reviewed retrospectively. All had got preoperative evaluations that included history, physical examination, voiding cystourethrography and urodynamic study. Voiding difficulty was the main outcome measure. This was determined by the time of suprapubic catheter removal. According to the catheter removal time, we divided the patients into 3 groups: Group A(<10 days), Group B(10-20days), Group C(>20 days). Fourteen parameters of the patients in 3 groups were compared. RESULTS: Median duration of postoperative catheterization was 10 days (range 2 to 50). There was no case of permanent urinary retention. Forty-five patients(52%) were free of catheter within 10 days after operation(Group A). Group B consisted of 24 patients (27%) and group C consisted of 18 patients(21%). There was no significant relationship between preoperative parameters and the duration of catheterization. CONCLUSIONS: We could not find any preoperative predictive factors that prolonged the duration of postoperative catheterization. Risk of prolonged catheterization did not depend on the patients characteristics. Other factors which have not been assessed in this study, such as the amount of tension applied to the sling, should be evaluated as the predictive factors in the further study.
Catheterization ; Catheters ; Humans ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Incontinence ; Urinary Retention ; Urodynamics

PURPOSE: Many pediatric urologists perform diagnostic laparoscopy for the evaluation of the patients with impalpable testis. While laparoscopic procedure is very useful for accurate localization of the impalpable testis, it has potentially significant complications especially in the less experienced hands. Previous studies demonstrated that the contralateral testicular hypertrophy (CTH) could be induced by hemicastration in prepubertal animals. The CTH can occur in the cases of the testicular nubbin (TN), which is usually removed by inguinal approach. If we can perfectly predict the TN by confirming the CTH, the diagnostic laparoscopic procedure could be omitted in case of unilateral impalpable testis with the CTH. Therefore, we studied to determine the correlation between CTH and TN in children with unilateral impalpable testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 1995 to May 1998, 22 boys (1-13y) with unilateral impalpable testis were evaluated at our institution. Preoperative ultrasonography was performed to measure the size of the descended palpable testis. The CTH was defined if the longitudinal diameter of the descended testis was greater than the mean +2 S.D. of the normal testicular size in Korean children. RESULTS: In cases with the CTH, the sensitivity and specificity for prediction of the TN were 82% and 91%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values for TN using the CTH were 90% and 83%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between CTH and TN in unilateral impalpable testis was significantly high (p=0.015), but there were a few exceptional cases. Therefore, we could not replace the diagnostic laparoscopic procedure using the CTH in the evaluation of the children with unilateral impalpable testis.
Animals ; Child ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypertrophy* ; Laparoscopy ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Testis* ; Ultrasonography

Bone morphogenetic proteins have been shown to possess significant osteoinSductive potential, but in order to take advantage of this effect for tissue engineering, carrier systems are essential. Successful carrier systems must enable vascular and cellular invasion, allowing BMP to act as a differentiation factor. The carrier should be reproducible, non-immunogenic, moldable, and space-providing, to define the contours of the resulting bone. The purpose of this study was to review available literature, in comparing various carriers of BMP on rat calvarial defect model. The following conclusions were deduced. 1. Bone regeneration of ACS/BMP, beta-TCP/BMP, FFSS/BMP, FFSS/beta-TCP/BMP, MBCP/BMP group were significantly greater than the control groups. 2. Bone density in the ACS/BMP group was greater than that in beta-TCP, FFSS, FFSS/beta-TCP carrier group. 3. Bone regeneration in FFSS/BMP group was less than in ACS/BMP, beta-TCP/BMP, MBCP/BMP group. However, New bone area of FFSS/beta-TCP/BMP carrier group were more greater than that of FFSS/BMP group. ACS, beta-TCP, FFSS, FFSS/beta-TCP, MBCP were used for carrier of BMP. However, an ideal carrier which was reproducible, non-immunogenic, moldable, and space-providing did not exist. Therefore, further investigation are required in developing a new carrier system.
Animals ; Bone Density ; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins* ; Bone Regeneration ; Rats* ; Tissue Engineering

Genetically engineered mice have provided much information about gene function in the field of developmental biology. Recently, conditional gene targeting using the Cre/loxP system has been developed to control the cell type and timing of the target gene expression. The increase in number of kidney-specific Cre mice allows for the analysis of phenotypes that cannot be addressed by conventional gene targeting. The mammalian kidney is a vital organ that plays a critical homeostatic role in the regulation of body fluid composition and excretion of waste products. The interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells are very critical events in the field of developmental biology, especially renal development. Kidney development is a complex process, requiring inductive interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells that eventually lead to the growth and differentiation of multiple highly specialized stromal, vascular, and epithelial cell types. Through the use of genetically engineered mouse models, the molecular bases for many of the events in the developing kidney have been identified. Defective morphogenesis may result in clinical phenotypes that range from complete renal agenesis to diseases such as hypertension that exist in the setting of grossly normal kidneys. In this review, we focus on the growth and transcription factors that define kidney progenitor cell populations, initiate ureteric bud branching, induce nephron formation within the metanephric mesenchyme, and differentiate stromal and vascular progenitors in the metanephric mesenchyme.
Animals ; Body Fluids ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Developmental Biology ; Epithelial Cells ; Gene Expression ; Gene Targeting ; Hypertension ; Kidney ; Kidney Diseases ; Mesoderm ; Mice ; Morphogenesis ; Nephrons ; Phenotype ; Stem Cells ; Transcription Factors ; Ureter ; Waste Products

The prevalence of parasitic infections was investigated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients (n = 105) who visited Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, during the period from 1995 to 2003. Fecal samples were collected from 67 patients for intestinal parasite examinations, and sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 60 patients for examination of Pneumocystis carinii. Both samples were obtained from 22 patients. Thirty-three (31.4%) of the 105 were found to have parasitic infections; Cryptosporidium parvum (10.5%; 7/67), Isospora belli (7.5%; 5/67), Clonorchis sinensis (3.0%; 2/67), Giardia lamblia (1.5%; 1/67), Gymnophalloides seoi (1.5%; 1/67), and Pneumocystis carinii (28.3%; 17/60). The hospital records of the 11 intestinal parasite-infected patients showed that all suffered from diarrhea. This study shows that parasitic infections are important clinical complications in HIV-infected patients in the Republic of Korea.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/*parasitology ; Adult ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; HIV Infections/*complications ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parasitic Diseases/*epidemiology ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate the presynaptic effects of depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drugs by using slow and fast frequencies of indirect stimulation on partial twitch depression in vitro. METHODS: A rat phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm was dissected and was mounted in an organ bath containing an oxygenated Krebs solution. The phrenic nerve was stimulated supramaximally and the twitch response (0.1 Hz) was stabilized for at least 30 minutes. T200/T1 ratio (twitch height of the 200th stimuli divided by that of the first stimuli) at frequencies of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz using a drug concentration which provided approximately 20% twitch depression at 0.1 Hz was calculated. To compare T200/T1 ratios with TOF ratios, a 2.0 Hz TOF response was measured immediately after the 200th stimuli at either frequency of stimulation. RESULTS: T200/T1 ratios produced by succinylcholine (SCC) and decamethonium (C10) were located between alpha-bungarotoxin (ABX) and hexamethonium (C6), however, significant differences among the four drugs were found at 2.0 Hz. The propensity for a decrease in T200/T1 ratios at 2.0 Hz might differ from this study: C6 > C10 > SCC > ABX. T200/T1 ratios at 2.0 Hz were not different from TOF ratios. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that small doses of C10 have a greater presynaptic activity than that of SCC, when the observed effects in this study were compared with the result of ABX acting predominantly at postsynaptic receptors and C6 acting predominantly at presynaptic receptors.
Animals ; Baths ; Bungarotoxins ; Depression ; Hexamethonium ; Neuromuscular Blockade* ; Neuromuscular Blocking Agents* ; Oxygen ; Phrenic Nerve ; Rats ; Receptors, Presynaptic ; Succinylcholine