No abstract available.
Administration, Intravenous* ; Cervix Uteri* ; Cisplatin* ; Female ; Fluorouracil*

Patients with C5 or C6 radiculopathy complain of shoulder area pain or shoulder girdle weakness. Typical idiopathic neuralgic amyotrophy (INA) is also characterized by severe shoulder pain, followed by paresis of shoulder girdle muscles. Recent studies have demonstrated that magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) of the brachial plexus and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the shoulder in patients with INA show high signal intensity (HSI) or thickening of the brachial plexus and changes in intramuscular denervation of the shoulder girdle. We evaluated the value of brachial plexus MRN and shoulder MRI in four patients with typical C5 or C6 radiculopathy. HSI of the brachial plexus was noted in all patients and intramuscular changes were observed in two patients who had symptoms over 4 weeks. Our results suggest that HSI or thickening of the brachial plexus and changes in intramuscular denervation of the shoulder girdle on MRN and MRI may not be specific for INA.
Brachial Plexus Neuritis ; Brachial Plexus* ; Denervation ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscles ; Paresis ; Radiculopathy* ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Pain

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a syndrome accompanied with the abnormal secretion or function of insulin, a hormone that plays a vital role in controlling the blood glucose level (BGL). Type 1and 2 DM are most common form and the prevalence of the latter is recently increasing. The aim of this article was to assess whether Type 2 DM could act as a predisposing risk factor on the pulpo-periapical pathogenesis. Previous literature on the pathologic changes of blood vessels in DM was thoroughly reviewed. Furthermore, a histopathologic analysis of artificially-induced periapical specimens obtained from Type 2 diabetic and DM-resistant rats was compared. Histopathologic results demonstrate that the size of periapical bone destruction was larger and the degree of pulpal inflammation was more severe in diabetic rats, indicating that Type 2 DM itself can be a predisposing risk factor that makes the host more susceptible to pulpal infection. The possible reasons may be that in diabetic state the lumen of pulpal blood vessels are thickened by atheromatous deposits, and microcirculation is hindered. The function of polymorphonuclear leukocyte is also impaired and the migration of immune cells is blocked, leading to increased chance of pulpal infection. Also, lack of collateral circulation of pulpal blood vessels makes the pulp more susceptible to infection. These decrease the regeneration capacity of pulpal cells or tissues, delaying the healing process. Therefore, when restorative treatment is needed in Type 2 DM patients, dentists should minimize irritation to the pulpal tissue un der control of BGL.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Vessels ; Collateral Circulation ; Dentists ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Insulin ; Microcirculation ; Neutrophils ; Prevalence ; Rats ; Regeneration ; Risk Factors ; United Nations

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a high-risk drinking scorecard using cross-sectional data from the 2014 Korea Community Health Survey. METHODS: Data were collected from records for 149,592 subjects who had participated in the Korea Community Health Survey conducted from 2014. The scorecard model was developed using data mining, a scorecard and points to double the odds approach for weighted multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: This study found that there were many major influencing factors for high-risk drinkers which included gender, age, educational level, occupation, whether they received health check-ups, depressive symptoms, over-moderate physical activity, mental stress, smoking status, obese status, and regular breakfast. Men in their thirties to fifties had a high risk of being a drinker and the risks in office workers and sales workers were high. Those individuals who were current smokers had a higher risk of drinking. In the scorecard results, the highest score range was observed for gender, age, educational level, and smoking status, suggesting that these were the most important risk factors. CONCLUSION: A credit risk scorecard system can be applied to quantify the scoring method, not only to help the medical service provider to understand the meaning, but also to help the general public to understand the danger of high-risk drinking more easily.
Breakfast ; Commerce ; Data Mining ; Depression ; Drinking* ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Occupations ; Research Design ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

Intraosseous hemangioma is a rare tumor, occurring especially in the maxilla. Because hemangioma is a benign tumor with increased vascularity, some authors call it hamartoma. This tumor originates and expands into bony structures. We experienced a female patient with intraosseous hemangioma of the right maxilla. The tumor was completely removed through a gingivobuccal incision and the feeding vessel was embolized. We report this case regarding the radiologic work-up, differential diagnosis, pathology and treatment with a brief review of the literature.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Hamartoma ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Maxilla ; Vascular Neoplasms

PURPOSE: We present our experiences of intra-arterial tirofiban injection through a deployed Solitaire stent as a rescue therapy after failed mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on 18 patients treated with adjunctive tirofiban injection through a temporarily deployed Solitaire stent after failed mechanical thrombectomy were retrospectively reviewed. Solitaire stent was used as a primary thrombectomy device in 16 of 18 patients. Two patients received manual aspiration thrombectomy initially. If initial mechanical thrombectomy failed, tirofiban was injected intra-arterially through the deployed Solitaire stent and then subsequent Solitaire thrombectomy was performed. RESULTS: Fourteen patients had occlusions in the middle cerebral artery, 2 in the distal internal carotid artery, and 2 in the basilar artery. Successful recanalization was achieved in 14 patients (77.7%) after intra-arterial injection of tirofiban and subsequent Solitaire thrombectomy. Three patients without successful recanalization after rescue method received angioplasty with stenting. Overall, successful recanalization (TICI grades 2b and 3) was achieved in 17 (94.4%) of 18 patients. Periprocedural complications occurred in 5 patients: distal migration of emboli in 5 patients and vessel perforation in 1. Three patients died. Good functional outcome (mRS < or = 2) was achieved in 9 patients (50.0%) at 3 months. CONCLUSION: Rescue intra-arterial injection of tirofiban through a temporarily deployed Solitaire stent may facilitate further recanalization in cases of failed mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
Angioplasty ; Basilar Artery ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Humans ; Injections, Intra-Arterial ; Mechanical Thrombolysis ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents* ; Stroke* ; Thrombectomy*

Vascular disease of the spinal cord occurs less frequently than of the brain, and its incidence is not known. Case reports of spinal cord infarction are uncommon, especially ones with spontaneous causes. We experienced one case with a spontaneous spinal cord infarction in the territory of the Adamkiewicz artery. In this case, the clinical pictures were characterized by sudden onset of paraplegia, bilateral radicular pain, dissociated sensory loss below the level of infarction and sphincter dysfunction. Neuroradiological investigation and CSF analysis ruled out compressive or infectious lesions. Selective spinal angiography revealed an occlusion of the Adamkiewicz artery. The patient had a substantial recovery over a period of weeks with intensive rehabilitation treatments.
Angiography ; Arteries ; Brain ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infarction* ; Paraplegia ; Rehabilitation ; Spinal Cord* ; Vascular Diseases

PURPOSE: This report presents a procedure for performing power Doppler ultrasound-guided sialography using the phenomenon of increased blood flow and illustrates its application to practical patient cases.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The salivary gland was scanned using ultrasound equipment (GE LOGIQ5 Expert® device; GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA) to identify pathological findings related to the patient's chief complaint. To identify the orifice of the main duct, it should be cannulated using a lacrimal dilator. After inserting the catheter into the cannulated main duct, the position of the catheter within the duct was confirmed by ultrasound. A contrast agent was injected until the patient felt fullness, and ultrasound (B-mode) was used to confirm whether the contrast agent filled the main canal and secondary and tertiary ducts. Then, power Doppler ultrasound was performed to determine whether the salivary gland had increased blood flow.RESULTS: In 2 cases in this report, a power Doppler ultrasound scan showed a significant increase in blood flow after contrast medium injection, which was not observed on a preoperative scan.CONCLUSION: Power Doppler ultrasound was found to be a simple, safe, and effective tool for real-time sialography monitoring.
Catheters ; Humans ; Salivary Glands ; Sialography ; Ultrasonography ; Vasodilation

Background/Aims: We studied the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on mortality in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and analyzed the effect of SES on initial treatment allocation. Methods: A cohort study was conducted using data from the National Health Insurance ServiceNational Sample Cohort of Korea. A total of 3,032 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who were newly diagnosed between January 2003 and December 2013 were included. Income level was categorized as Medical Aid and ≤30th, 31st–70th, or >70th percentile as an SES indicator. Results: The proportion of Medical Aid was 4.3%. The highest risks of all-cause mortality associated with Medical Aid were evident in the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization group (fully adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25 to 4.58), the other treatments group (fully adjusted HR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.85 to 4.41), and the no treatment group (fully adjusted HR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.79 to 4.04) but not in the curative treatment group. An association between the lower-income percentile and higher liver cancer-specific mortality was also observed, except in the curative treatment group. The association between income percentile and all-cause mortality was nonlinear, with a stronger association in the lower-income percentiles than in the higher income percentiles (p-value for nonlinear spline terms <0.05). Conclusions Patients in the lower SES group, especially patients not eligible for curative treatment, had an increased risk of mortality. In addition, the association between SES and the risk for mortality was stronger in the lower-income percentile than in the moderate to higher income percentiles.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of infections associated with implantable venous access ports (IVAPs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August 2003 through November 2011, 1747 IVAPs were placed in our interventional radiology suite. One hundred forty four IVAPs were inserted in patients with hematologic malignancy and 1603 IVAPs in patients with solid tumors. Among them, 40 ports (23 women and 17 men; mean age, 57.1 years; range, 13-83) were removed to treat port-related infections. We evaluated the incidence of port-related infection, patient characteristics, bacteriologic data, and patient progress. Univariable analyses (t test, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test) and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the risk factors for IVAP related infection. RESULTS: Overall, 40 (2.3%) of 1747 ports were removed for symptoms of infection with an incidence rate of 0.067 events/1000 catheter-days. According to the univariable study, the incidences of infection were seemingly higher in the patients who received the procedure during inpatient treatment (p = 0.016), the patients with hematologic malignancy (p = 0.041), and the patients receiving palliative chemotherapy (p = 0.022). From the multiple binary logistic regression, the adjusted odds ratios of infection in patients with hematologic malignancies and those receiving palliative chemotherapy were 7.769 (p = 0.001) and 4.863 (p = 0.003), respectively. Microorganisms were isolated from 26 (65%) blood samples, and two of the most causative organisms were found to be Staphylococcus (n = 10) and Candida species (n = 7). CONCLUSION: The underlying hematologic malignancy and the state of receiving palliative chemotherapy were the independent risk factors of IVAP-related infection.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Analysis of Variance ; Catheter-Related Infections/*epidemiology/microbiology ; Catheters, Indwelling/*adverse effects ; Female ; Hematologic Neoplasms/drug therapy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/drug therapy ; Palliative Care/statistics & numerical data ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Access Devices/*adverse effects ; Young Adult