No Abstract Available.
Natriuretic Peptides*

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate and analyze the brain magnetic resonance imaging (B-MRI) findings of patients with a favorable neurological outcome following cerebral performance category (CPC) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) at single university hospital emergency center. METHODS: Patients with return of spontaneous circulation (> 24 h) after OHCA who were older than 16 years of age and who had been admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (EICU) for over a 57-month period between July 2007 and March 2012 and survived with a favorable neurological outcome were enrolled. B-MRI was taken after recovery of their mental status. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients among the 305 admitted patients had a good CPC, and 33 patients' B-MRI were analyzed (CPC 1: 26 patients, CPC 2: 7 patients). Among these, 18 (54.5%) patients had a normal finding on B-MRI. On the other hand, ischemia/infarction/microangiopathy compatible with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) were found on various brain areas including subcortical white matter (7/13), cerebral cortex, central semiovlae, basal ganglia, putamen, periventricular white matter, and cerebellum. CONCLUSIONS: Survivors with a favorable neurological outcome from OHCA showed HIE on B-MRI, especially all of the patients with a CPC 2. More detail neurologic category including brain imaging would be needed to categorize patients with favorable outcome after OHCA.
Basal Ganglia ; Brain* ; Cerebellum ; Cerebral Cortex ; Emergencies ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; Intensive Care Units ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Neuroimaging ; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest* ; Putamen ; Retrospective Studies ; Survivors

The infant kidney is more vulnerable to infections than the adult kidney. It is common that acute pyelonephritis (APN) during infancy and early childhood manifests growth retardation of kidney, ultimately leading to chronic renal failure. However, little is known about the pathogenesis of renal growth retardation in APN in youth. To understand the mechanism underlying the cortical lesions, urinary tract infection was induced in infant rats. To induce ascending APN, saline solution containing Escherichia coli (ATCC No. 25922) 107 bacteria/ml was infused into the bladder through the 16 gage silicone cannula in three-week-old weaning Sprague Dawley rats (weight 50~60 g, n=66). In the normal control group (n=20), saline was infused. Experimental groups were divided according to the treatment into the APN group (APN without any treatment, n=23) and TRX group (APN with ceftriaxone treatment, n=23). After performing the histopathologic examination, including inflammatory score, fibrosis score, and tubular atrophy score, we measured the apoptosis index in the tubular cells of noninflammatory cortical area at post-infection week 1 and 3 by the in situ TUNEL method. Kidney weight was significantly decreased in the APN group compared with the normal group at postinfection week 1 and 3. In the APN group, tubulointerstitial inflammation with heavy neutrophilic infiltration was found mainly in the upper and lower poles of the kidney in both the first and third week groups. Fibrosis was dominant in the third week of the APN group. However, inflammation and fibrosis were not significantly improved by TRX treatment. The apoptotic index of tubular cells was significantly increased in noninflammatory cortical area in the first week of both APN and TRX groups. It decreased near the normal control value in the third week. TGF-beta1 protein expression was localized in the inflammatory area. There was no TGF-beta1 expression in the tubules of the noninflammatory area. These findings suggest that renal growth retardation in experimentally induced APN in infant rats is related not only with the inflammatory reaction itself but also with the increased apoptosis of tubular cells in noninflammatory area. Ceftriaxone alone does not eliminate the inflammation nor prevent growth retardation effectively.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Atrophy ; Catheters ; Ceftriaxone ; Escherichia coli ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Infant* ; Inflammation ; Kidney ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Neutrophils ; Pyelonephritis* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Silicones ; Sodium Chloride ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Weaning

A 52-year-old women, suffering from generalized pruritus due to intrahepatic and common hepatic duct stones, was treated with astemizole, 30mg daily. Sixty one days later, convulsions and syncope developed suddenly during hospitalization. She had no history of arrhythmia, heart disease, electrolytes imbalance, or CNS disorders. As another case, a 44-year-old man suffering from pruritus due to liver cirrhosis, was treated with astemizole, 30mg daily. Thirty two days later, palpitations and syncope also developed suddenly during hospitalization. He was diagnosed liver cirrhosis, 3 years ago and there was no history of arrhythmia, heart disease, electrolytes imbalance, or CNS disorders. Administration of astemizole was stopped immediately. The laboratory investigations revealed the normal range of serum potassium, calcium and magnesium in both cases. The ECG finding showed the prolongation of QTc interval, frequent VPCs and intermittent polymorphic drugs. On 1st and 3rd day, after discontinue of astemisole, the ECG abnormalities disappeard. It is suggested that astemizole overdose can induce prolongation of QTc interval and torsade de pointes, especially in the patient with liver disease.
Adult ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Astemizole* ; Calcium ; Electrocardiography ; Electrolytes ; Female ; Heart Diseases ; Hepatic Duct, Common ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Magnesium ; Middle Aged ; Potassium ; Pruritus ; Reference Values ; Seizures ; Syncope ; Torsades de Pointes*

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*

No abstract available.
Niemann-Pick Diseases*

In order to extract useful tumor cell-specific information. DNA contents and other morphological parameters were measured by image analysis. Single cell preparation was made from archived paraffin blocks of 14 cases of bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma, poorly differentiated, by protease treatment. The cells were Feulgen stained, and DNA content, area, perimeter, and major axis of the tumor cell nuclei were measured. Inflammatory lymphocytes concurrent with the tumor cells were used as an internal standard. DNA ploidies of the lymphocytes and 2C tumor cells showed simple peaks with Gaussian distribution and mean coefficients of variation of 10% and 14% respectively. By the location and proportion of the tumor cells other than 2C cells, DNA ploidies could be classified into diploidy(1 case), polyploidy(2 cases), and aneuploidy(11 cases). The mean proportion of DNA aneuploidal tumor cells relative to the total tumor cells was 82.8%. In 8 cases, nuclear areas showed more or less overlapped distribution, whereas DNA contents showed discrete peaks. THes results suggest that many bronchogenic squamous cell carcinomas, poorly differentiated, have DNA aneuploidy and high proportion of aneuploidal cells, and that nuclear size and DNA content are more or less independent parameters.

No abstract available.
Heart Diseases* ; Heart*

Recent investigations have revealed that autocrine growth factors and their receptors are closely related and play an important role in controlling cancer cell growth. We performed an immunohistochemical study on the expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R), c-erbB-2, and PCNA labelling index in 60 cases of human gastric carcinomas. TGF-alpha was detected in 38 cases (63.3%), EGF in 26 cases (43.3%), EGF-R in 44 cases (73.3%), and c-erbB-2 in 18 cases (30%). These growth factors, EGF-R and c-erbB-2, were found more often in advanced gastric cancers. The PCNA labeling index was significantly higher in tumors with the expression of EGF-R or c-erbB-2. Tumors with simultaneous expression of EGF, TGF-alpha, EGF-R and c-erbB-2 was associated with a high PCNA labeling index. A correlation was observed between the synchronous expression of growth factors and its receptors and histological differentiation. The results suggest that the expression of EGF, TGF-alpha, EGF-R and c-erbB-2 are closely related and plays an important role in the growth and progression of human gastric carcinoma.
Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Peptides* ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Transforming Growth Factor alpha

The authors have clinically analysed the patients who required the reoperations after the aneurysmal clippings with intention to decrease the rate of reoperation as predicting the risk factors causing the postoperative complications or sequelae of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Between 1991 and 1996, we have performed total operation on 691 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Among these, 72 patients(10.4% of total) required to be reoperated due to various causes. The shunt for hydrocephalus which was the most common cause of reoperation, performed in 57 patients(79.2% of the reoperated), and next, trephination for the subdural hygroma in 12 cases (16.7%), removal of the intracranial hematoma on the operated site in 7 cases(9.7%), reclipping of aneurysms for the regrowing of aneurysm rest or undiscovered aneurysm preoperatively in 5 cases(7%), and decompressive surgery for postoperative brain swelling and vasospasm in 2 cases(2.8%). The authors suggest that the perfect aneurysmal clipping and the detailed evaluation to decrease these complications of aneurysmal surgery, and careful attention should be given to find out the hidden or regrowing of aneurysmal rest are needed on pre-, postoperatively, and during the operation procedure.
Aneurysm* ; Brain Edema ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Intention ; Postoperative Complications ; Reoperation ; Risk Factors ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Subdural Effusion ; Trephining