No abstract available.
Arthroscopy* ; Bupivacaine* ; Injections, Intra-Articular* ; Knee*

Acute mountain sickness is an illness caused by climbing to a high altitude without prior acclimatization. Neurological consequences, like parkinsonism following acute mountain sickness without lesion of brain MRI have been reported rarely. A healthy 56-year-old man presented with dysarthria and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed tremor of hands, limb rigidity, and bradykinesia. The symptoms developed approximately 30 days following a 3,500 m climb of the Annapurna in the Himalayas. Brain MRI did not reveal any abnormalities including globus pallidus. The parkinsonism symptoms persisted for about 3 months before a complete recovered was made. We suggest that parkinsonism can develop after climbing to a high altitude but that the symptoms can be transient if a brain MRI detects no abnormalities.

Heat treatment which removes internal stress enhances the mechanical properties of the orthodontic arch wire. The main purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of the heat treatment on the mechanical properties of the Elgiloy wire. The Elgiloy wire, 0.016" X 0.022" and 0.018" X 0.025", were heat treated in an electric oven for 5, 10 and 15 minutes at selected temperatures between 300 and 900degreesC. Tensile strength and load deflection rate were measured to reveal the changes of mechanical property at various con?ditions, and each specimen was observed under metallurgic microscope. Also to trace the precipitation material due to overheat treatment, a qualitative analysis was carried out with EDS system. It was found that heat treatment at a low temperature caused an increase in the tensile strength and bending resistance, and a maintenance in the fibrous in the tensile strength and bending resistance, and a maintenance in the fibrous structure of both sizes of wire. The changes observed in properties and appearance were probably due to the relief of internal stresses incurred in the metal during cold working. In both sizes of wire the tensile strength and the bending resistance continued to decrease at high temperature, and the fibrous structure continued to disappear then was not observed at 900degreesC. The carbide precipitation founded in grain boundary at 750degreesC probably was other elements carbide (Ni, Co) except Cr. The grain growth was observed at 1100degreesC. Optimum heat treatment for the 0.016" X 0.022" Elgiloy wire was 10 minutes at 500degreesC, and for the 0.018" X 0.025" Elgiloy wire it was 5 to 15 minutes at 500degreesC.
Edible Grain ; Hot Temperature* ; Tensile Strength

Isolated pulsatile tinnitus is a rare condition in patients with neurological disorders but can be the only clue to a potentially life-threatening disease such as intracranial vascular malformation. We report a patient with pulsatile tinnitus caused by an arteriovenous fistula of the external carotid artery, which was successfully treated with coil embolization.
Angiography ; Arteriovenous Fistula ; Carotid Artery, External ; Humans ; Nervous System Diseases ; Tinnitus ; Vascular Malformations

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical value of the multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) in the quantitative assessment of lung volumes and to assess the relationship between the MDCT results and disease severity as determined by a pulmonary function test (PFT) in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a PFT and MDCT on 39 COPD patients. Using the GOLD classification, we divided the patients into three groups according to disease severity; stage I (mild, n=10), stage II (moderate, n=15), and stage III (severe, n=14). Using the pulmo-CT software program, we measured the proportion of lung volumes with attenuation values below -910 and -950 HU. RESULTS: The mean FEV1 (% of predicted) and FEV1/FVC was 82.2+/-2% and 66.2+/-3% in stage I, 53.5+/-11% and 52+/-6% in stage II, and 32.3+/-7% and 44.2+/-13% in stage III, respectively. Differences in lung volume percentages at each of the thresholds (-910 and -950 HU) among the 3 stages were statistically significant (p<0.01, p<0.01) and correlated well with the FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (r=-0.803, r=-0.766, r=-0.817, and r=-0.795, respectively). CONCLUSION: The volumetric measurement obtained by MDCT provides an accurate means of quantifying pulmonary emphysema.
Humans ; Lung ; Lung Volume Measurements ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Thorax

PURPOSE: To assess the effect of a rectal enema on interfraction prostate movement in bone alignment (BA) for prostate radiotherapy (RT), we analyzed the spatial difference in prostates in a bone-matched setup. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed BA retrospectively with data from prostate cancer patients who underwent image-guided RT (IGRT). The prostate was identified with implanted fiducial markers. The setup for the IGRT was conducted with the matching of three fiducial markers on RT planning computed tomography images and those on two oblique kV x-ray images. Offline BA was performed at the same position. The coordinates of a virtual prostate in BA and a real prostate were obtained by use of the ExaxTrac/NovalisBody system, and the distance between them was calculated as the spatial difference. Interfraction prostate displacement was drawn from the comparison of the spatial differences. RESULTS: A total of 15 patients with localized prostate cancer treated with curative hypofractionated IGRT were enrolled. A total of 420 fractions were analyzed. The mean of the interfraction prostate displacements after BA was 3.12+/-2.00 mm (range, 0.20-10.53 mm). The directional difference was profound in the anterior-posterior and supero-inferior directions (2.14+/-1.73 mm and 1.97+/-1.44 mm, respectively) compared with the right-left direction (0.26+/-0.22 mm, p<0.05). The required margin around the clinical target volume was 4.97 mm with the formula of van Herk et al. CONCLUSIONS: The interfraction prostate displacement was less frequent when a rectal enema was performed before the procedure. A rectal enema can be used to reduce interfraction prostate displacement and resulting clinical target volume-to-planning target volume margin.
Enema* ; Fiducial Markers ; Humans ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Radiotherapy* ; Retrospective Studies

Acute mesenteric infarction is a catastrophic illness representing a diverse spectrum of pathologic conditions which ultimately lead to necrosis of the intestine and which is uniformly fatal if left untreated. Despite better understanding of the disease process, acute mesenteric infarction continues to be a lethal disorder with high mortality rate. We experienced two cases of acute mesenteric infarction due to superior mesenteric arterial and venous branch occlusion, respectively, in recent years: One case was focal segmental ischemia with normal radiologic finding including angiography, successfully treated with segmental resection of the necrotized ileum, another case was mesenteric venous thrombosis, also treated with resection of necrotized small intestine followed by second look operation.
Angiography ; Catastrophic Illness ; Ileum ; Infarction* ; Intestine, Small ; Intestines ; Ischemia ; Mortality ; Necrosis ; Venous Thrombosis

PURPOSE: Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is an infiltrative disease of eosinophils affecting multiple organs including the lung. F-18 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) may accumulate at sites of inflammation or infection, making interpretation of whole body PET scan difficult in patients with cancer. This study was to evaluate the PET findings of HES with lung involvement and to find out differential PET features between lung malignancy and HES with lung involvement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: F-18 FDG PET and low dose chest CT scan was performed for screening of lung cancer. Eight patients who showed ground-glass attenuation (GGA) and consolidation on chest CT scan with peripheral blood eosinophilia were included in this study. The patients with history of parasite infection, allergy and collagen vascular disease were excluded. CT features and FDG PET findings were meticulously evaluated for the distribution of GGA and consolidation and nodules on CT scan and mean and maximal SUV of abnormalities depicted on F-18 FDG PET scan. In eight patients, follow-up chest CT scan and FDG PET scan were done one or two weeks after initial study. RESULTS: F-18 FDG PET scan identified metabolically active lesions in seven out of eight patients. Maximal SUV was ranged from 2.8 to 10.6 and mean SUV was ranged from 2.2 to 7.2. Remaining one patient had maximal SUV of 1.3. On follow-up FDG PET scan taken on from one to four weeks later showed decreased degree of initially noted FDG uptakes or migration of previously noted abnormal FDG uptakes. CONCLUSIONS: Lung involvement in the HES might be identified as abnormal uptake foci on FDG PET scan mimicking lung cancer. Follow-up FDG PET and CT scan for the identification of migration or resolution of abnormalities and decrement of SUV would be of help for the differentiation between lung cancer and HES with lung involvement.
Collagen ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome* ; Hypersensitivity ; Inflammation ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mass Screening ; Parasites ; Positron-Emission Tomography* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vascular Diseases

PURPOSE: Early detection of small brain metastases is important. The purpose of this study was to compare the detectability of brain metastases according to the size between 1.5 T and 3.0 T MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 162 patients with primary lung cancer who were examined for TNM staging. After administration of double dose of Gd-DTPA, MR imaging was performed with SPGR by 3.0 T MRI and then with T1 SE sequence by 1.5 T MRI. In each patient, three readers performed qualitative assessment. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were calculated in 3.0 T and 1.5 T MRI according to size. Using the signal intensity (SI) measurements between the metastatic nodules and adjacent tissue, nodule-to-adjacent tissue SI ratio was calculated. RESULTS: Thirty-one of 162 patients had apparent metastatic nodules in the brain at either 1.5 T or 3.0 T MR imaging. 143 nodules were detected in 3.0 T MRI, whereas 137 nodules were detected at 1.5 T MRI. Six nodules, only detected in 3.0 T MRI, were smaller than 3.0 mm in dimension. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy in 3.0 T MRI were 100 %, 100 %, and 100 % respectively, and in 1.5 T MRI were 95.8 %, 88.3 %, and 85.1 % respectively. SI ratio was significantly higher in the 3.0 T MRI than 1.5 T MRI (p=0.025). CONCLUSION: True positive rate of 3.0 T MRI with Gd-DTPA was superior to 1.5 T MRI with Gd-DTPA in detection of metastatic nodules smaller than 3.0 mm.
Brain* ; Gadolinium DTPA* ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neoplasm Staging

The genes related to specific events or pathways in bacteria are frequently localized proximate to the genome of their neighbors, as with the structures known as operon, but eukaryotic genes seem to be independent of their neighbors, and are dispersed randomly throughout genomes. Although cases are rare, the findings from structures similar to prokaryotic operons in the nematode genome, and the clustering of housekeeping genes on human genome, lead us to assess the genomic association of genes as functional subunits. We evaluated the genomic association of neighboring genes on chromosomes 4 and 5 of Arabidopsis thaliana with and without respectively consideration of the scaffold/matrix-attached regions (S/MAR) loci. The observed number of functionally identical bigrams and trig rams were significantly higher than expected, and these results were verified statistically by calculating rho-values for weighted random distributions. The observed frequency of functionally identical big rams and trig rams were much higher in chromosome 4 than in chromosome 5, but the frequencies with, and without, consideration of the S/MAR in each chromosome were similar. In this study, a genomic association among functionally related neighboring genes in Arabidopsis thaliana was suggested.
Arabidopsis* ; Bacteria ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5 ; Genes, Essential ; Genome ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Operon