No abstract available.
Central Venous Catheters* ; Prospective Studies* ; Thrombophlebitis*

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*

PURPOSE: The current organ shortage in renal transplantation underscores the importance of optimizing long- term graft survival. Despite the significant improvement in the results of renal transplantation since the introduction of cyclosporine, graft loss after fist year of transplantation remains a significant and unresolved problem. This study showed renal function at 1 month after transplantation as a prognostic factor influencing long-term renal graft survival. METHODS: The results of 683 cases of renal transplantations performed from 1978 to 2001 in our center were analysed. We divided into 3 groups according to the serum creatinine level (group 1: <1.5, group 2: 1.5~2.0, group 3: 2.0<) at first month of transplantation. And risk factors such as donor age (<60 or >60), donor sex, donor type (related, unrelated, cadevaric), recipient age (<60, or >60), recipient sex, HLA matching, acute rejection, delayed graft function were also analysed. RESULTS: The acute rejection rates in each group were 17.1%, 40.6%, 71.7% retrospectively (P=0.000). The frequencies of delayed graft function were 3.9%, 9.0%, 36.2% retrospectively (P=0.000). There was significant difference of graft survival between each group (P=0.000). In addition, graft survival in group with acute rejection showed significant difference according to creatinine level at 1 month. CONCLUSION: We can predict long-term graft survival and early renal function through serum creatinine levels after transplantation. Therefore, serum creatinine level at first month of transplantation was prognostic factor in predicting long-term graft survival.
Creatinine* ; Cyclosporine ; Delayed Graft Function ; Graft Survival ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants*

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this study is to develop new payment rates for services of Radiation Oncology, considering costs of treating patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey of forty hospitals has been conducted in order to analyze the costs of treating patients. Before conducting the survey, we evaluated and reclassified the individual service items currently using as payments units on the fee-for-service reimbursement system. This study embodies the analysis of replies received from the twenty four hospitals. The survey contains informations about the hospitals' costs of 1995 for the reclassified service items on Radiation Oncology. After we adjust the hospital costs by the operating rate of medical equipment, we compare the adjusted costs with the current payment rates of individual services. RESULTS: The current payment rates were 5.05-6.58 times lower than the adjusted costs in treatment planning services, 2.22 times lower in block making service, 1.57-2.86 times lower in external beam irradiation services, 3.82-5.01 times lower in intracavitary and interstitial irradiation and 1.12- 2.55 times lower in total body irradiation. CONCLUSION: We could conclude that the current payment system on Radiation Oncology does not only reflect the costs of treating patients appropriately but also classify the service items correctly. For an example, when the appropriate costs and classification are applied to TBI, the payment rates of TBI should be increased five times more than current level.
Classification* ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Hospital Costs ; Humans ; Radiation Oncology* ; Whole-Body Irradiation

PURPOSE: Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic disease characterized by nonspecific inflammation of the aorta and its branches, and cerebral ischemia has been considered to be the most life-threatening complication of this disorder. METHOD: We performed a retrospective review of 13 patients who underwent 16 procedures between 1996 and 2006 secondary to cerebrovascular symptoms in Takayasu's arteritis (median follow-up=52.5 months). RESULT: Study subjects included 10 females and 3 males, with a median age of 36.5 years. Procedures included 7 bypasses (2 aorto-bicarotid artery, 1 axillo-axillary artery, 2 subclavian-common carotid artery, 1 common carotid-internal carotid artery, and 1 axillo-vertebral artery), 4 carotid endarterectomies (CEA), and 5 stents (4 common carotid artery [1 for the treatment of re-stenosis of CEA] and 1 vertebral artery). All patients were relieved of their cerebral ischemic symptoms and remained stroke-free during the follow-up period. Re-stenosis was seen in two cases of stenting. Occlusion or stenosis of arterial reconstruction occurred more frequently in patients who had elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) preoperatively (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment was effective in stroke prevention and elimination of cerebrovascular symptoms. The patency of the reconstruction was related to the progression of the disease as indicated by elevated ESR and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, which are useful tools for evaluating disease activity.
Aorta ; Arteries ; Blood Sedimentation ; Brain Ischemia ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery, Common ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Chronic Disease ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Male ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Stroke ; Takayasu Arteritis

Obturator nerve block has been used for analgesia of hip pain, relaxation of adductor muscle spasm related to cerebral palsy or paraplegia and in urologic surgery to prevent inadvertent obturator activity during lateral wall cystoscopy. Recently, ultrasound guidance has gained popularity in the field of peripheral nerve block and have been reported in some benefits. We describe here successfully performed both obturator nerve block under ultrasound guidance.
Analgesia ; Cerebral Palsy ; Cystoscopy ; Hip ; Humans ; Muscles ; Obturator Nerve ; Paraplegia ; Peripheral Nerves ; Relaxation ; Spasm ; Thigh

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to examine 1) whether propofol prevented the increases in intracellular calcium and radical oxygen species (ROS) induced by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in endothelial cell; 2) whether these two types of increases were mediated by common underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) and H2O2 were measured in endothelial cell line (ECV 304) using a laser scanning confocal microscope. The cells, cultured and serum-starved on round coverslips, were incubated with various concentrations of propofol for 30 minutes, and then stimulated with various concentrations of LPA. The samples were excited by a 488 nm argon laser and images were filtered by a 515 nm longpass emission filter. The results were expressed as relative fluorescence intensity (RFI) and fold stimulation (fold). RESULTS: LPA increased in intracellular ROS in the endothelial cell in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, LPA-induced increase in ROS were alleviated by ROS scavengers such as Aspergillus niger catalase and n-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine (2-MPG). LPA also increased in [Ca2+]i in a dose-dependent fashion. Propofol prevented LPA-induced increase in ROS and [Ca2+]i whereas 2-MPG did not affect the change of calcium level induced by LPA application. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that propofol prevented the increases in intracellular calcium and ROS induced by LPA in endothelial cell, and these two types of increases might be mediated by different underlying mechanisms.
Argon ; Aspergillus niger ; Calcium ; Catalase ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelial Cells* ; Fluorescence ; Oxygen ; Propofol* ; Reactive Oxygen Species*

OBJECTIVE: the enzymes cyclooxygenase(COX)-1 and -2 are necessary for the synthesis of prostaglandins. COX-2 is usually absent in normal cells and is upregulated and expressed as a product of the "immediate early" gene during inflammatory processes. In previous studies, the expression of COX-2 has been shown to be induced by prointlammatory cytockines, and suggestions have been made that overexpression of COX-2 supresses apoptosis and is directly related to tumor growth. We the authors have attempted to determine a relationship between the tumor invasion and metastasis of uterine cervical cancer and COX and apoptosis by comparing the protein expression of apoptosis and COX-I and COX-2 in tumor tissues confirmed with cytokeratin, and therefe determine the clinicopathologic risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects were 18 patients who were FIGO stage IB uterine cervical cancer patients who underwent surgery at the Ajou University Medical Center. The 18 cases were comprised of 12 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 3 cases each of adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma. There were 9 cases with lymph node or prarametrial involvement and 13 cases with lymphvascular space involvement. All tissues obtained from the cases were subject to immunohistochemical staining for COX-1, -2 and TUNEL method for apoptosis detection, and the following results were obtained. RESULTS: Tumor tissues confirmed by cytokeratin wae separated into tumor surface, tumor stroma, and invasion site portions, and in which increased apoptosis was observed in the tumor surface and tumor stmma, but not in the invasion sites. COX-2 expression was observed in all tumor tissues, which was especially strong in the tumor invasion site. Therefore, it is suggested that COX-2 expression may supress cell apoptosis at the site of tumor invasion. When COX-2 expression was investigated when the cases were divided into groups with regard to the presence or absence of lymph node or parametrial involvement, there was statistically significant (Mann-Whitney U test) COX-2 expression seen microscopically in the tumor stroma (p-value=0.028) and tumor invasion site (p-value=0.040) compared to the tumor surface (p-value=0.499). In other words, in surgically treated stage IB cervical cancer patients, COX-2 was significantly expressed when lymph node or parametrial involvement was present. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the expression of COX-2 in stage IB cervical cancer patients may downregulate apoptosic processes and thus enhances tumor invasion and metastasis.
Academic Medical Centers ; Adenocarcinoma ; Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Keratins ; Lymph Nodes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases* ; Prostaglandins ; Risk Factors ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Basal cell adenocarcinoma is an epithelial neoplasm which is cytologically and histomorphologically similar to basal cell adenoma but is different because of the infilitrative growth. This tumor, a rare salivary gland tumor newly classified as basal cell adenocarcinoma by the WHO in 1991, is infiltrative, locally destructive and tends to recur but metastasis is less common. The differential diagnosis includes basal cell adenoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and basaloid squamous carcinoma. Nearly 90 percent of these tumors occurr in the parotid gland and can be classified into low grade carcinomas with a relative good prognosis. Basal cell adenocarcinoma of minor salivary gland is very rare and has a less favorable clinical course compared with that of the major salivary glands. This is a case of basal cell adenocarcinoma occurring at the minor salivary gland of the soft palate. We treated this patient with block excision and adjunctive radiation therapy.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adenoma ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial ; Palate, Soft ; Parotid Gland ; Prognosis ; Salivary Glands ; Salivary Glands, Minor*

Tracheotomy and end-to-end anastomosis is a relatively rare operation, but it is one of the most challenging for anesthesiologists. During surgery, the principal anesthetic consideration is to maintain the ventilation and oxygenation throughout the procedure. We experienced anesthetic management of a 49-year-old man with upper tracheal stenosis after long-term intubation and ventilation care. The stenotic lesion was located at 2 cm below the vocal cords, and the length of the stenotic segment was about 2 cm. The anesthesia was induced and maintained with intravenous propofol and alfentanil. The airway was managed with LMA and distal tracheal intubation on the surgical field and we were able to maintain adequate ventilation and oxygenation throughout the operational period.
Alfentanil ; Anesthesia ; Humans ; Intubation ; Laryngeal Masks* ; Middle Aged ; Oxygen ; Propofol ; Tracheal Stenosis* ; Tracheotomy* ; Ventilation ; Vocal Cords