PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of excision of avascular bleb and advancement of adjacent conjunctiva (EBAC) for treatment of hypotony after trabeculectomy with mitomycin C (MMC). METHODS: Fifteen patients (17 eyes) who received EBAC for correction of hypotony between September 1996 and October 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. The main outcomes were intraocular pressure (IOP) and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Hypotony (IOP <6 mmHg) of eight eyes (47.1%, seven patients) was caused by bleb perforation. Of these, two eyes (two patients) had a history of trauma. Hypotony appeared at 33.9+/-30.8 months, and EBAC was performed at 48.2+/-35.3 months after trabeculectomy with MMC. The mean follow-up period was 38.3+/-29.8 months. The qualified success rate of EBAC was 100% at 51 months after EBAC, and the complete success rate of EBAC was 76.5% at six months and 70.6% at 51 months, as determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Post-EBAC complications included blepharoptosis in four eyes (23.5%) and bleb perforation in one (5.9%). The blepharoptosis resolved within one month after EBAC in two patients. However, in the other patients, mild blepharoptosis remained at 17 and 22 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: EBAC was found to be an effective method for treatment of hypotony after trabeculectomy with MMC, and postoperative blepharoptosis was a major complication.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Blister/etiology/*surgery ; Conjunctiva/*surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma/surgery ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ocular Hypotension/etiology/physiopathology/*surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Trabeculectomy/adverse effects ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The precise mechanism involved in DIC and delayed traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (DT-SAH) remains unclear in multiple-trauma patients. Hereby, we describe a polytraumatized patient with DIC who died due to DT-SAH. A 75-year-old female patient was admitted to our Emergency Department complaining of abdominal pain and drowsiness after a pedestrian accident. Her initial brain computerized tomography (CT) finding was negative for intracranial injury. However, her abdominal CT scan revealed a collection of retroperitoneal hematomas from internal iliac artery bleeding after a compressive pelvic fracture. This event eventually resulted in shock and DIC. An immediate angiographic embolization of the bleeding artery was performed along with transfusion and anti-thrombin III. Her vital signs were stabilized without neurological change. Fourteen hours after admission, she suddenly became comatose, and her follow-up brain CT scan revealed a dense DT-SAH along the basal cisterns with acute hydrocephalus. This event rapidly prompted brain CT angiography and digital subtraction angiography, which both confirmed the absence of any cerebrovascular abnormality. Despite emergency extraventricular drainage to reverse the hydrocephalus, the patient died three days after the trauma. This paper presents an unusual case of DT-SAH in a polytraumatized patient with DIC.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Angiography ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Arteries ; Brain ; Coma ; Dacarbazine ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation* ; Drainage ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Iliac Artery ; Multiple Trauma ; Shock ; Sleep Stages ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Traumatic* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vital Signs

Erythropoietin combined with parenteral iron sucrose therapy is an alternative to blood transfusion in anemic patients. It was shown to be effective in surgical patients in several previous studies when used in conjunction with other methods. However, there are no guidelines about safety limits in dosage amounts or intervals. In this study, we report a case of significant postoperative hemorrhage managed with high dose parenteral iron sucrose, low dose erythropoietin, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and folic acid. An 80-year-old female patient presented for severe anemia after a total hip arthroplasty and refused an allogenic blood transfusion as treatment. The preoperative hemoglobin of 12.2 g/dL decreased to 5.3 g/dL postoperatively. She received the aforementioned combination of iron sucrose, erythropoietin, and vitamins. A total of 1,500 mg of intravenous iron sucrose was given postoperatively for 6 consecutive days. Erythropoietin was also administered at 2,000 IU every other day for a total of 12,000 IU. The patient was discharged in good condition on the twelfth postoperative day with a hemoglobin of 8.5 g/dL. Her hemoglobin was at 11.2 g/dL on the twentieth postoperative day.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anemia/*drug therapy ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip/*adverse effects ; Blood Transfusion ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Erythropoietin/*administration & dosage ; Female ; Ferric Compounds/*administration & dosage ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: We describe a systematic review and meta-analysis of the performance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for detecting metastasis in ovarian cancer. METHODS: MEDLINE and Embase were searched for diagnostic accuracy studies that used 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT for pre-treatment staging, using surgical findings as the reference standard. Sensitivities and specificities were pooled and plotted in a hierarchic summary receiver operating characteristic plot. Potential causes of heterogeneity were explored through sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Eight studies with 594 patients were included. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity for metastasis were 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.61–0.81) and 0.93 (95% CI=0.85–0.97), respectively. There was considerable heterogeneity in sensitivity (I2=97.57%) and specificity (I2=96.74%). In sensitivity analyses, studies that used laparotomy as the reference standard showed significantly higher sensitivity and specificity (0.77; 95% CI=0.67–0.87 and 0.96; 95% CI=0.92–0.99, respectively) than those including diagnostic laparoscopy (0.62; 95% CI=0.46–0.77 and 0.84; 95% CI=0.69–0.99, respectively). Higher specificity was shown in studies that confirmed surgical findings by pathologic evaluation (0.95; 95% CI=0.90–0.99) than in a study without pathologic confirmation (0.69; 95% CI=0.24–1.00). Studies with a lower prevalence of the FDG-avid subtype showed higher specificity (0.97; 95% CI=0.94–1.00) than those with a greater prevalence (0.89; 95% CI=0.80–0.97). CONCLUSION: Pre-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT shows moderate sensitivity and high specificity for detecting metastasis in ovarian cancer. With its low false-positive rate, it can help select surgical approaches or alternative treatment options.
Electrons* ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Laparotomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Population Characteristics ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Prevalence ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

A 52-year-old woman with a history of general weakness, fatigue, weight loss, elevated serum levels of liver transaminase enzyme for three months underwent an F-18 FDG PET/CT scan to evaluate a cause of the hepatosplenomegaly found on abdominal ultrasonography. Initial PET/CT revealed markedly enlarged liver and spleen with intense FDG uptake. Otherwise, there were no areas of abnormal FDG uptake in whole body image. Histological evaluation by a hepatic needle biopsy demonstrated diffuse large B cell type lymphoma and final diagnosis for this patient was hepatosplenic B-cell lymphoma. She received five cycles of CHOP chemotherapy, and second PET/CT scan was followed after then. Follow-up PET-CT revealed normal sized liver with disappearance of abnormal FDG uptake. Hepatosplenic B-cell lymphoma is relatively rare and mostly presents as single or multiple nodules.1,2 Diffuse type hepatosplenic lymphoma is extremely rare and poorly recognized entity.3 The diagnosis is very difficult and complicated by the presence of misleading symptoms.4 In this rare hepatosplenic B-cell lymphoma case, F-18 FDG PET/CT scan provided a initial diagnostic clue of hepatosplenic lymphoma and an accurate chemotherapy response.
B-Lymphocytes ; Biopsy, Needle ; Body Image ; Fatigue ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Middle Aged ; Spleen ; Weight Loss

Flavobacterium odoratum is an obligately aerobic, gram-negative, non-fermentative rod. It has been infrequently isolated from urine, stool, wound, sputum, and blood specimens, but clinical infections caused by this organism are extremely rare. We report a case of bacteremic cholangitis caused by F. odoratum. The organism was simultaneously isolated in blood and bile from a patient, who had fever, sustained jaundice and abdominal pain with adenocarcinoma of the common bile duct. The isolated organism showed the typical biochemical characteristics. The results of antimicrobial sensitivity test showed resistance to aminoglycosides and cephalosporins but susceptibility to imipenem and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
Abdominal Pain ; Adenocarcinoma ; Aminoglycosides ; Bile ; Cephalosporins ; Cholangitis* ; Common Bile Duct ; Fever ; Flavobacterium* ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Jaundice ; Sputum ; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination ; Wounds and Injuries

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is the second most common subtype of primary hepatobilliary cancer. Despite advances in surgical and medical therapy, its survival rate remains poor. Compared to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver malignancy, the underlying mechanisms of cholangiocarcinoma carcinogenesis are poorly characterized. P-cadherin (CDH3) is a cadherin super family member. Although CDH3 is frequently over-expressed in cholangiocarcinoma tissues, its roles have never been characterized. To determine the roles of CDH3 in cholangiocarcinoma, we investigated CDH3 function in HuCCT1 cells using specific siRNA. Transfection with CDH3 siRNA did not affect proliferation of HuCCT1 cells. However, cell migration and invasion were significantly reduced when CDH3 was down-regulated. In addition, expressions of several biomarkers for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were not changed by CDH3 down-regulation. These results suggest that CDH3 regulates cell migration independent of EMT in cholangiocarcinoma cells.
Biomarkers ; Cadherins ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cell Movement ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Down-Regulation ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Neoplasms ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Survival Rate ; Transfection ; Cholangiocarcinoma

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Neck* ; Rupture*

TFAP2C (transcription factor-activating enhancer-binding protein 2C) expression has been positively correlated with poor prognosis in patients with certain types of cancer, but the mechanisms underlying TFAP2C-mediated tumorigenesis in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still unknown. We previously performed a microarray analysis to identify TFAP2C regulation genes, and TGFBR1 (transforming growth factor-β receptor type 1) was found to be upregulated by TFAP2C. We observed that TFAP2C or TGFBR1 overexpression led to oncogenic properties, such as cell viability, proliferation and cell cycle progression. TGFBR1 upregulation induced by TFAP2C also promoted cell motility and migration, leading to malignant development. We also found that PAK1 (p21 protein (Cdc42/Rac)-activated kinase 1) signaling was involved in TFAP2C/TGFBR1-induced tumorigenesis. These results were confirmed by an in vivo xenograft model and patient tissue samples. This study shows that TFAP2C promoted tumor progression by upregulation of TGFBR1 and consequent activation of PAK1 signaling.
Carcinogenesis* ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Movement ; Cell Survival ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Microarray Analysis ; Phosphotransferases ; Prognosis ; Up-Regulation*

BACKGROUND: Penicillin- and multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae became a global problem during recent decades. Multidrug resistance poses a serious threat to clinical medicine due to restriction of selecting appropriate antimicrobial agents to treat with. Current data suggest that any single antimicrobial agent cannot be a satisfactory option to treat pneumococcal infections caused by multidrug-resistant strains, particularly in meningitis. The aim of the study was to assess in vitro efficacy of several antimicrobial combinations that are commonly used in clinical practice, and to obtain reasonable candidate regimens that can be applied to in vivo model. METHODS: We performed time-kill studies of antimicrobial combinations including penicillin, cefotaxime, vancomycin, gentamicin, imipenem and ampicillin against five multidrug-resistant strains and two penicillin-susceptible strains. Penicillin, cefotaxime and vancomycin were combined with gentamicin, respectively. Cefotaxime plus vancomycin, imipenem plus vancomycin, and cefotaxime plus ampicillin combinations were also tested. Synergy was defined as a >or =100-fold or 2-log decrease in colony count at 24 h by the combination compared with that by the most active single agent. RESULTS: Penicillin plus gentamicin, cefotaxime plus gentamicin, and vancomycin plus cefotaxime combinations were demonstrated to have in vitro synergistic activities against multidrug-resistant strains. CONCLUSION: Three combinations showed in vitro synergism against penicillin- resistant pneumococci. Experimental animal study is warranted to determine the clinical relevance of the in vitro results.
Ampicillin ; Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Cefotaxime ; Clinical Medicine ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Gentamicins ; Imipenem ; Meningitis ; Penicillins ; Pneumococcal Infections ; Streptococcus pneumoniae* ; Streptococcus* ; Vancomycin